Remorseful Nero

History is inescapable, so you might as well write about it.

[ancientpeoples]

Diadem with two gazelle heads 

Early 18th Dynasty, New Kingdom

c.1479-1425 BC

(Source: Met Museum)

[lilithsplace]

Cover page of‘ ‘Opera grafica’. Livorno 1982, featuring “La Liseuse”, 1899 - Alfredo Müller.(1869–1939)  |  etching

[remorsefulnero]

Lovely

[hadrian6]

Parade Burgonet.  1541.

Filippo Negroli. Italian 1510-1597. armourer. a gift to the Emperor Karl V. from his brother Ferdinand.

http://hadrian6.tumblr.com

[history-museum]

The minoan object called “ The Master’s Seal” depicts a multistore building complex above the hill of Kasteli and a figure of a young man, perhaps a worshiper. Chania of Crete - 1600 BC [7720x695]

[archaicwonder]

Neo-Assyrian Glazed Terracotta Tile from Nimrud (Kalhu), Iraq, c. 883-859 BC

A clue to the colour scheme of an ancient palace:

This glazed tile was found by the excavator Henry Layard at the Assyrian city of Nimrud. Along with the stone reliefs, it was part of the decorative scheme of the royal palace, although few examples survived Nimrud’s destruction in the seventh century BC.

This example depicts an Assyrian king, possibly Ashurnasirpal II (reigned 883-859 BC), accompanied by his bodyguard and attendants. It was probably part of a sequence showing the king as triumphant warrior and hunter. Such tiles provide a clue to the kind of colour scheme used for the relief panels. The decoration was executed in yellow, black and green (perhaps originally red) paint. These were made from natural materials.

It is likely that most major Assyrian buildings had paintwork at least in the reception rooms. Ashurnasirpal recorded that he had represented his triumphs in paintings. There were murals on the walls above the carved stone panels and the ceilings were also painted.

Glazed bricks are mentioned first in the second half of the second millennium BC when the mastery of the mechanical properties of glass had become known.

[fishstickmonkey]

Helmet

Date: 18th century

Culture: Indian

Medium: Steel, brass, gold, textile

Classification: Helmets

Metropolitan Museum of Art

[erikkwakkel]

Medieval Batman

Quite a way to test your pen: drawing a figure that looks like, well, Batman. The nib of medieval quills needed constant adjusting, cutting with a knife. In order to see if it had the right shape, the scribe would test it out on a blank page. This one is filled with such pen trials, most of them written vertically: nonsense words, elongated letters and wobbly lines, all at least 500 years old. The biggest trial, however, looks familiar: a hooded man in which we may see Batman. Long live the needy medieval pen, which produced such delightful creations!

Pic: Paris, Bibliothèque Mazarine, MS 3475 (15th century).

[smuglo6ekystradalec]

[itwillalwaysgetworse]

emmy.lundholm

[historical-nonfiction]

The ship-shaking device was invented by the great mathematician and inventor Archimedes around 214 BCE. The Carthaginians used the device against Roman ships’ invasions. With the help of two poles, a pulley system, and a large hook, the Carthaginians were able to successfully combat the Romans for over two years. The Romans came to fear the sight of a hook and pole dangling over an enemy wall, for they knew that once hooked, their ship would be dropped on its side or even capsized. (Ship Shaping Device, Syracuse, 214 BCE)

[bubblypotentially-blog]

[ancientart]

The interior of the hypogeum of the Volumnus family. This Etruscan tomb is located in Ponte San Giovanni in central Italy, and thought to date to approximately the 3rd century BCE.

Photo taken by CyArk.

[990000]

louvre.fr:

Helmet of a Thracian Gladiator

Troisième quart du Ier siècle ap. J.-C. Found in the gladiators’ barracks at Pompei, Campagna, southern Italy Campagna, southern Italy

This bronze helmet, richly decorated with a Gorgon’s and a griffin’s head, was probably used by Thracian gladiators during the parades preceding the games in the amphitheater at Pompeii, just before Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. The shape of the visor, which evolved over the course of the first century, is typical of the period. The eye openings have been replaced by a grill covering the upper part of the face, and plume holders have been added on either side of the helmet.

Armor discovered at Pompeii

This bronze helmet is one of a number of pieces of armor given in 1802 to the First Consul Bonaparte by Ferdinand IV, king of Naples. They were buried when Vesuvius erupted and the region of Naples was laid waste on 24 August, AD 79, but saw the light of day when excavations were carried out (1766-67) in the gladiators’ barracks at Pompeii. They were kept at Malmaison until the death of Josephine and thereafter entered the Durand collection (1814) and the Comte de Pourtalès collection (1825), before being purchased by the Musées Impériaux in 1865. Finally, they were transferred to the Louvre from the Musée des Antiquités Nationales at Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1892. The armor, which is richly embossed, was probably used in the parades that preceded the games in the arena.

[sakrogoat]

Pelle Swedlund - Le soleil de Rome

[peterspear]

I think that some aspects of military service belong to a common experience across ancient and modern civilizations — part of our human experience in general really. Things like worry and homesickness.

Grant Adamson. “Ancient Egyptian Soldier’s Letter Home Deciphered” (via peterspear)

[historical-nonfiction]

Persian cast stone horse, a reproduction of one excavated from Persepolis, ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire, or First Persian Empire (550-330 BCE)

[historical-nonfiction]

You know George Washington, right? Tall guy, beat the British, seen on every one dollar bill? Here are a few more facts about this most famous president.

he started school at six and left at fifteen, because his mother could not afford university

some of his favorite dishes were cream of peanut soup, mashed sweet potatoes with coconut, and string beans with mushrooms.

he bred hound dogs

though he personally surveyed and decided where the US capitol would be, Washington never lived in Washington

Mount Vernon, his home, is next to Jefferson’s home at Monticello, but it took half a day to get there in a carriage so they did not often visit each other

[maudelynn]

c. 1925. “Girls rifle team of Drexel Institute.” 

via shorpy.com