Favorite "humans being human" history posts, please
I've seen the collections of favorite tumblr fiction posts; now I'd like to see what your favorite "humans being human" historical posts are. (Because sometimes it is Nice to be reminded that compassion is not something easy for us to lose; we laugh at the same bad jokes; there are entire fossil records of our kindness.)
Here are my favorites-- add on yours.
The story of the RMS Carpathia, with a follow-up (aka one of if not the best pieces of short nonfiction historical writing in the modern age and one that reduces me to tears every goddamn reread)
Bronze-age grave of teenage gamer girl lovingly buried with her sheep ankle bone collection
The 1st-2nd century CE Roman tombstone with a bar joke that reads like a Dril tweet
And even earlier: A 4500-1900 BCE Sumerian bar joke
"Please know that there's an 84yo museum docent in the Bronx who would cry simply at the thought of you spending so much effort to quietly create something that's beautiful to you"
Reconstructing Otzi's shoes
The Paleolithic grandmother and the child's fingerprint
Stone-age toddlers had art lessons
Ice-age children played in megafauna-footprint puddles
There once was a little boy who loved ducks
The oldest human burial found in Africa is a toddler; they made a pillow for his head
Henry Kenelm Beste's father loved him very much
"I have a folder called Time is a Flat Circle in which I collect evidence of humanity. Here is most of them."
"I got to hold a 500,000 year old hand axe at the museum today. It's right-handed. I am right-handed"
A 3rd century dog carved on a marble tomb; a 1st century dog lovingly described and named for posterity
Patrice, a 1st-2nd century dog, was dearly loved
And: we found a Paleolithic dog, buried with its bone
Humanity, unified across time by everyday experiences
The Golden Record sent into space in the 1970s
Ancient Egypt had archaeologists
Egyptian figurine of a woman waiting for her bread to finish baking
Ancient Greek tourist graffiti at the tomb of Ramses V
Hidden messages on circuit boards
The earliest examples of someone chewing on the end of their pencils
"im having feelings about the uffington white horse again"
The vast relatability of Medieval marginalia (and cats peeing on things)
What our ancient ancestors would think, seeing us prosper
Engage with older art; it keeps you from forgetting their humanity
"They were just like you and me. They write don't forget eggs, and wondered if their neighbors secretly hated them or if they are reading into it too much. They loved and were loved and they wondered. They wondered about you."
"Why do you study history" web-weaving
And ending on a high note: Ea-nasir and his shitty copper
gracieabrams
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