ASIA

2026 只見線 Tadami Line (2) (3) (4) by hira Sail

Via Flickr:

Erb Bunnag’s sister, Uen at work in the palace kitchen (n.d) by Lady Erb Bunnag

Three young Bunnag princesses examine a camera (n.d.) by Lady Erb Bunnag

Erb Bunnag photographing High Queen (Phra Rachaya Chao) Dara Rasami, possibly for the Wat Benchamabophit photographic contest (ca. 1905)

“She is a Chinese singer, actress, philanthropist and professor. Nicknamed "The Empress of Pop", she has been widely recognized for her artistry and vocal performances. She has been regarded as one of the greatest Chinese entertainers of her generation, and her contributions to music and visual media have made her a prominent and influential Chinese pop culture figure during the 1990s and early 2000s. Largely associated with sports culture and the Olympics, Wei has been an Olympic Cultural Ambassador for China since 1993. Wei's songs have been used as the official theme songs for many major sporting events in China. Her single "I Want to Fly" was chosen by the Chinese Olympic Committee as the official theme song for the 2008 Olympic Sailing events. In 2007, The All-China Women's Federation recognized Wei's contributions to Chinese sports culture by designating her the "Queen of Sports". Having sold an estimated 100-200 million records worldwide, Wei is one of Asia's best-selling recording artists. Considered a "national treasure" in China, Wei is the first Mainland Chinese pop singer to have competed abroad representing the People's Republic of China, the first Zhuang ethnic minority artist to represent China internationally, the first woman to be selected as China's Olympic Cultural Ambassador, and one of China's earliest artists to use the internet for the digital release of music.”

Olkhon (2) (3) by Vat Vjacheslav

Via Flickr:

Kinh; necklace from Vietnam; early 20th century

‼️CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE‼️

“She is a Japanese politician who has served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party since October 2025. She is the first woman to hold either of these positions. A member of the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003 and since 2005, she also held several ministerial posts during the premierships of Shinzo Abe and Fumio Kishida. Takaichi's views have been described as conservative or ultraconservative. Her domestic policy includes support for proactive government spending and continuing Abenomics. She has taken conservative positions on social issues, such as opposition to same-sex marriage, to the recognition of separate surnames for spouses, and to female succession to the Japanese throne. She supports revising Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan, which renounces the use of military force, a pro-Taiwanese foreign policy, and strengthening the US–Japan alliance. A member of Nippon Kaigi, she has been described as holding revisionist views of Japan's conduct during the Second World War, and criticized the Murayama and Kono statements. She has made regular visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine.”

Shirt made of abaca (Manila hemp)

Mindanao Island

Nabataean sculpture of Atargatis, from Khirbet et-Tannur, Mount Tannur, in today's Jordan, c. 100 CE. Jordan Archaeological Museum

Atargatis (known to the Greeks as Derceto) was the principal goddess of northern Syria in Classical antiquity, although her worship is also attested among the Nabataeans in present-day Jordan. Revered primarily as a goddess of fertility, she also served as the baalat (“mistress”) of her people, embodying both civic guardianship and prosperity. Her most important cult centre stood at Hierapolis Bambyce, near present-day Manbij, northeast of Aleppo.

The historian Michael Rostovtzeff referred to her as “the great mistress of the North Syrian lands.” She was commonly associated with the storm god Hadad as her consort. Under the name Ataratheh, both doves and fish were sacred to her—doves symbolizing love and fish representing fertility, abundance, and the life-giving powers of water.

A third-century Syriac source notes that in Syria and Edessa (Urhâi), men once practiced ritual castration in her honor. According to the account, after King Abgar converted to Christianity, he prohibited the custom, bringing the practice to an end in Edessa.

Atargatis is also sometimes depicted as a mermaid-like deity, reflecting her association with a fish-bodied goddess worshipped at Ashkelon.

New article online!  Beer has been part of our diet quite literally since the dawn of history. As soon as writing was invented in the land of the Tigris and Euphrates, our sources testify to the widespread production and distribution of this alcoholic beverage. Breweries continued to operate throughout the entire length of Ancient Mesopotamia’s rich and long history. Initially barley-based, dates became the central component in crafting beer at the turn of the first millennium BCE. This article wishes to shed some light on the beer, beer culture, and beer enterprises of Babylonia, with particular attention to the 1st millennium BCE, drawing on the rich source material left by the various Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid archives from Ancient Iraq.