#palimpsesa

[ follow ]
History
fromNature
5 days ago

How DNA forensics is transforming studies of ancient manuscripts

Tim Stinson's curiosity about DNA in ancient manuscripts led to the emergence of a new field in manuscript studies.
Arts
fromHyperallergic
3 days ago

Dice Are 6,000 Years Older Than Previously Believed, Study Says

More than 600 two-sided dice crafted by Native Americans have been identified, dating back over 12,000 years, predating known dice from the Bronze Age.
fromwww.thehistoryblog.com
5 days ago

30 previously unknown verses by Empedocles found on papyrus

The discovery of a few pages from an original edition of Hugo's work would then be a momentous event. This is precisely what specialists in Empedocles are experiencing today.
History
Philosophy
fromMail Online
1 week ago

Bible analysis uncovers clues showing scripture was written by God

A network of over 63,000 connections in the Bible suggests intricate links that some believe indicate divine authorship.
UX design
fromYannglt
2 weeks ago

AI and the Rosetta Stone

AI enhances the translation between design and engineering, increasing speed while challenging the preservation of meaning.
Arts
fromArtnet News
1 week ago

What Did Pompeii Smell Like? A New Study Analyzes Its Ancient Incense

Researchers analyzed ritual residues from Pompeii for the first time, revealing insights into ancient practices through preserved vessels and ash.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 week ago

New Medieval Books: Light on Darkness - Medievalists.net

Liturgy is central to Western cultural history, rich in artistic expression and emotional depth, influencing society for over a thousand years.
Arts
fromArtnet News
2 weeks ago

Who Created the Book of Kells? A Master Craftsman Takes on the Mystery

New evidence suggests the Book of Kells may originate from Portmahomack, challenging the long-held theory of its creation at Iona.
US news
fromwww.npr.org
4 weeks ago

Opinion: An ancient, sophisticated palate

Ancient people 5,000-8,000 years ago in northern Europe prepared sophisticated, carefully selected meals combining hunted fish, gathered plants, roots, and berries, suggesting deliberate culinary practices rather than simple subsistence eating.
Books
fromOpen Culture
1 month ago

How to Rescue a Wet, Damaged Book: A Handy Visual Primer

Syracuse University Libraries provides practical tips for salvaging water-damaged books through a visual guide with both intuitive and specialized restoration techniques.
#ancient-egypt
#archaeology
fromMail Online
2 weeks ago
History

Dark message found inscribed on sling bullet from ancient Holy Land

A 2,000-year-old sling bullet inscribed with 'Learn your lesson' was found in ancient Hippos, showcasing local sarcasm from Greek defenders.
fromNature
2 months ago
Science

Daily briefing: Symbols on ancient pottery could be earliest evidence of mathematics

Ancient Halafian pottery reveals numerical symmetry; engineered TimeVaults record mRNA; US science faces further disruption under the Trump administration in 2026.
History
fromMail Online
2 weeks ago

Dark message found inscribed on sling bullet from ancient Holy Land

A 2,000-year-old sling bullet inscribed with 'Learn your lesson' was found in ancient Hippos, showcasing local sarcasm from Greek defenders.
fromNature
2 months ago
Science

Daily briefing: Symbols on ancient pottery could be earliest evidence of mathematics

fromThe Art Newspaper - International art news and events
1 month ago

Ancient Egyptian 'Tipp-Ex' discovered on papyrus at UK's Fitzwilliam Museum

The corrective fluid analysed using light infrared photography revealed a mixture of huntite and calcite, while images made using a 3D digital microscope show that there also are flecks of yellow orpiment, probably to make it blend in better with the fresh papyrus, which would have originally been pale cream in colour.
Typography
Science
fromNature
1 month ago

How pollutants and poo paint a picture of past civilizations

Environmental archaeologists extract mud cores from swamps to analyze molecular biomarkers like coprostanol, revealing ancient human population trends and behaviors.
OMG science
fromMail Online
1 month ago

Scientists recreate the lost languages of ancient humans

Scientists reconstructed ancient human species languages by analyzing fossilized skeletal imprints of soft tissues like the larynx, tongue, and brain, revealing that Neanderthals likely spoke languages understandable to early Homo sapiens.
History
fromwww.dw.com
3 weeks ago

Ancient graffiti reveals scenes of everyday life in Pompeii

Ancient graffiti reveals insights into the lives of everyday people in Pompeii, showcasing spontaneous expressions from various social classes.
#archimedes-palimpsest
OMG science
fromNature
1 month ago

Daily briefing: Galileo's notes discovered in the margins of an ancient book

Tectonic plates moved 3.3 billion years ago with higher oxygen levels; Galileo's annotations discovered in 400-year-old Ptolemy text; rotator cuff degeneration common in older adults regardless of symptoms.
History
fromMedievalists.net
4 weeks ago

New Medieval Books: Widow City - Medievalists.net

Late medieval Italian widows mourned their spouses and navigated their lives through religious or secular paths, evolving from allegorical subjects to prominent authors who reshaped public discourse on widowed identity.
Books
fromianVisits
1 month ago

New exhibition explores how early printing developed into readable books

William Caxton revolutionized English book printing in the late 15th century, transforming books from elite luxury items into affordable, widely accessible products through rapid technological advancement.
fromMedievalists.net
4 weeks ago

New Medieval Books: Approaching Records of the Household and Wardrobe - Medievalists.net

The Household and Wardrobe Accounts are English records that document the daily needs of the king and his family. This book serves as a guide to these sources, showing how they can be used and what valuable insights they offer into medieval government.
History
Arts
fromArtnet News
1 month ago

3,300-Year-Old Papyrus Reveals How Ancient Egyptians Fixed Drawing Mistakes

Ancient Egyptian artists used a white pigment mixture of calcite and huntite to correct and reshape painted figures on a 3,300-year-old papyrus.
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
4 weeks ago

Mesopotamian Literature: The Earliest Works of the Imagination

Writing was created in response to the need to communicate over long distances in trade and, initially, was focused on the purely practical aspects of record-keeping. Scribes in ancient Mesopotamia recorded what commercial goods had been shipped to which destination, their quantity, purpose, and cost.
History
Philosophy
fromThe Conversation
1 month ago

The apocrypha, Christianity's 'hidden' texts, may not be in the Bible - but they have shaped tradition for centuries

Apocryphal texts, though excluded from official biblical canons, significantly shaped early Christian tradition and provide valuable insights into early religious practices and beliefs.
#medieval-history
UK news
fromwww.bbc.com
2 months ago

Sifting through the Roman rubbish of 'the London lasagne'

London's archaeology reveals layered remains from prehistory to Victorian times, including rare Roman frescoes, a mausoleum, a luxurious villa, and early theatres.
Soccer (FIFA)
fromDefector
1 month ago

An Afternoon With Pliny The Younger | Defector

A rare keg of Pliny The Younger drew solitary beer seekers to a rainy bar amid a quiet sports day, yielding pleasant unexpected company.
Medicine
fromwww.npr.org
1 month ago

That ain't perfume! Ancient bottle contained feces, likely used for medicine

Chemical analysis of ancient Roman vessels confirmed a two-millennium-old medicinal recipe by Galen combining human feces and fragrant materials.
History
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
1 month ago

From Clay to Culture: The Power of Written Language

Cuneiform, invented in Sumer around 3500 BCE, was the first script, enabling civilizations to record human thought and preserve all aspects of human experience through written communication.
Business
fromFast Company
2 months ago

Navigating the ghosts of cultures past

Organizational culture constantly changes; leaders must discern which legacy cultural elements to retain and which to remove while balancing enduring beliefs with adaptive practices.
Brooklyn
fromBrooklyn Eagle
2 months ago

PREMIUM Rare, ancient 'Books of the Dead', part of Brooklyn Museum's Egyptian collection, restored for viewing for the first time

A nearly complete Memphite-style gilded Book of the Dead containing 162 spells, gilding and orpiment traces, owned by Ankhmerwer, was conserved and restored.
fromMail Online
2 months ago

Long-lost Egyptian scroll fuels debate over real-life biblical giants

An ancient Egyptian papyrus held by the British Museum has been cited as possible evidence supporting some of the Bible's most controversial claims about giants. The 3,300-year-old document, known as Anastasi I, has been in the museum's collection since 1839 and has recently resurfaced on the Associates for Biblical Research, renewing interest in its possible links to biblical accounts. The papyrus describes encounters with the Shosu people, said to stand 'four cubits or five cubits' tall, up to eight feet in height.
Books
Science
fromNature
2 months ago

Daily briefing: Scientists delve into the smells of history

Researchers recreate historical smells and use imaging, AI, and biomedical advances to probe heritage, ancient human timelines, medical rescue devices, and rare-disease genetics.
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
1 month ago

Cuneiform: From trade lists to epic tales of gods

Cuneiform is a system of writing first developed by the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia circa 3600/3500 BCE. It is considered the most significant among the many cultural contributions of the Sumerians and the greatest among those of the Sumerian city of Uruk, which further developed and advanced cuneiform circa 3200 BCE and allowed for the creation of literature.
History
fromOpen Culture
2 months ago

The Rohonc Codex: Hungary's Mysterious Manuscript That No One Can Read

Image by Klaus Schmeh, via Wiki­me­dia Com­mons Mag­yar, which is spo­ken and writ­ten in Hun­gary, ranks among the hard­est Euro­pean lan­guages to learn. (The U.S. For­eign Ser­vice Insti­tute puts it in the sec­ond-to-high­est lev­el, accom­pa­nied by the dread­ed aster­isk label­ing it as "usu­al­ly more dif­fi­cult than oth­er lan­guages in the same cat­e­go­ry.") But once you mas­ter its vow­el har­mo­ny sys­tem, its def­i­nite and indef­i­nite con­ju­ga­tion, and its eigh­teen gram­mat­i­cal cas­es, among oth­er noto­ri­ous fea­tures, you can final­ly enjoy the work of writ­ers like Nobel Lau­re­ates Imre Kertész and Lás­zló Krasz­na­horkai in the orig­i­nal. Alas, no degree of mas­tery will be much help if you want to under­stand a much old­er - and, in its way, much more noto­ri­ous - Hun­gar­i­an text, the Rohonc Codex.
Books
#medieval-manuscripts
Science
fromFuturism
2 months ago

Scientists Investigating 2,000-Year-Old Artifact That Appears to Be a Battery

A reconstructed Baghdad battery configuration could have produced about 1.4 volts, comparable to a modern AA battery, using a porous clay separator and an electrolyte.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

New Medieval Books: Silence of the Gods - Medievalists.net

Europe's last pagan peoples underwent Christian conversion from the 14th to 20th centuries while maintaining their indigenous religious traditions despite political pressure to adopt Christianity.
Books
fromBig Think
2 months ago

5 literary conspiracy theories - debunked

Literary conspiracy theories question authorship, use pseudonyms, and misattribute works, sometimes entertaining but often distorting historical understanding.
History
fromwww.thehistoryblog.com
1 month ago

Origin of repatriated erotic mosaic uncovered

A Nazi-looted mosaic depicting an intimate domestic scene was repatriated to Pompeii, but research revealed it originated in Latium, not Pompeii or its surrounding region.
Arts
fromHyperallergic
1 month ago

Did the British Museum Remove Palestine From Its Displays?

The British Museum amended some Middle East gallery labels to use ancient regional terms like 'Canaan' while continuing to use 'Palestine' in many displays.
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

New Project Explores the Craft of Writing in the Medieval Nordic World - Medievalists.net

CHARM is built around a large-scale survey of material connected to three major writing centres-Turku, Naantali, and Viipuri-in the 15th century. By comparing charters and book fragments together, the researchers aim to map how writing practices were adopted, modified, and localised, and what that meant for society and administration in a region that was then part of the Swedish realm.
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

Dreaming of Owning a Medieval Artefact? Here's Your Chance - Medievalists.net

TimeLine Auctions' March 3 online sale features hundreds of medieval historical objects including a 13th-century Limoges cross, 1224 Chinese armor, Viking silver mount, and Anglo-Saxon brooch.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

The Survival of Roman Education in Early Medieval Britain - Medievalists.net

Roman cultural practices persisted in Britain for generations after AD 410, with aristocrats maintaining traditional education and Christian learning similar to their Gallic counterparts.
fromMail Online
1 month ago

Ancient time capsule found in Iraq corroborates the Bible

King Nebuchadnezzar II himself 'speaks' in the text, proudly describing how he restored an old, crumbling stepped temple tower in the city of Kish that was dedicated to the Mesopotamian god and goddess of war, Zababa and Ishtar. He explained that earlier kings had built and fixed the ziggurat before, but it had fallen into disrepair again from age and rain.
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

East Roman Archaeology: Goals and Challenges, with Marica Cassis - Medievalists.net

Archaeology reveals material evidence of daily life, settlement patterns, and economic systems in the East Roman world that textual sources cannot provide, while facing challenges in establishing itself as a distinct field separate from classical and Islamic archaeology.
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Rules of a Medieval Library - Medievalists.net

When universities began to emerge in Europe during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, they soon became important centres of knowledge. Their libraries could hold hundreds of books, and many of the most valuable volumes were kept under close control - sometimes even chained to desks. We have few details about how medieval university libraries operated, but a revealing set of rubric headings survives from the University of Angers in western France.
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Reading in Byzantium: Literacy, Books, and a World of Texts - Medievalists.net

Byzantine reading was communal and performative, woven into religious, educational, and administrative life while preserving classical learning within a Christian intellectual framework.
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

New Medieval Books: Chasing the Pearl-Manuscript - Medievalists.net

This is a book about a book: the small, cropped, somewhat ragged but brightly illustrated volume now known formally, and rather forbiddingly, as British Library MS Cotton Nero A.x/2. The fame and beauty of its four Middle English poems have given it sobriquets beyond the shelfmark, however, which are more familiar and intimate: it is also the Gawain-Manuscript or, as I will call it, the Pearl-Manuscript.
History
History
fromianVisits
2 months ago

2m heritage funding will make London's papyrus archive easier to visit

A £2 million National Lottery Heritage Fund grant will modernize the Egypt Exploration Society's London headquarters, protecting irreplaceable papyri collections and expanding public access.
#roman-archaeology
History
fromOpen Culture
1 month ago

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Discover the Secrets of the Bible's Oldest and Strangest Texts

Dead Sea Scrolls include the oldest known biblical manuscripts, diverse texts (biblical, apocryphal, sectarian, unknown) that complicated but did not completely upend understanding of Christianity.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

Previously Unknown Medieval Chronicle Discovered - Medievalists.net

A previously unknown 8th-century Maronite chronicle (dated 712–13 CE) offers early Christian perspective on Arab-Islamic expansion and Late Antique religious-political change.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Medieval manuscript lost in World War II returns to Poland - Medievalists.net

A 12th-century Cistercian manuscript looted during World War II has been returned from Yale University to the Republic of Poland.
History
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
2 months ago

Scribes in Ancient Mesopotamia: The Beginning of History

Ancient Mesopotamian scribes mastered cuneiform and broad knowledge to record transactions, administer society, and preserve history across civilizations.
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

New Medieval Books: The Forsaken 14th Century - Medievalists.net

In this volume, the authors aim to provide a truly global overview of the 14 century, with each region given approximately the same space. It is obviously impossible to cover every event in every country of the world in a single volume, just as you would not be able to visit every city in every country if you traveled around the world for a year.
History
#ancient-mathematics
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

New Medieval Books: Ipomedon - Medievalists.net

A twelfth-century Anglo-French romance about Ipomedon, an incognito prince tested by adventures, tournaments, and ironic narration exploring chivalry, humour, and social values.
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

Why were pseudo-Arabic inscriptions placed on churches in Greece?, with Alicia Walker - Medievalists.net

A conversation with Alicia Walker on the pseudo-Arabic inscriptions (or pseudo-kufic) that appear on a number of tenth- and eleventh-century churches in Greece, most notably at the monastery of Hosios Loukas. What did the Arabic script signify in Orthodox culture at the time if not tension with Islam? Alicia Walker is Professor of History of Art at Bryn Mawr College.
History
#old-high-german
fromMail Online
2 months ago

Mysterious symbols spanning the globe hint at a lost civilization

His investigation began after identifying recurring giant T-shapes, three-level indents, and step pyramids carved into ancient stones worldwide. 'These specific symbols that are built in different size proportions, and the symbols are found in ancient stones around the world, are not supposed to exist; no cultures are supposed to have any cross-platform,' LaCroix explained. The symbols appear in locations ranging from Turkey's Van region to South America and Cambodia.
History
History
fromwww.ianvisits.co.uk
2 months ago

Archaeologists uncover Victorian children's schoolwork in east London

Victorian East Londoners, including children, left material traces—school slates, marbles—and the dockside community accessed imported luxuries such as Chateau Margaux wine seals.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

Medieval Hebrew Prayerbook Could Fetch $7 Million at Auction - Medievalists.net

The 1415 Rothschild Vienna Mahzor, a richly illuminated Ashkenazi High Holiday prayerbook, will be auctioned at Sotheby's with an estimated $5–7 million.
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

New Medieval Books: Interconnected Traditions - Medievalists.net

This open-access book brings together more than thirty essays on languages and the ways they develop, interact, and influence one another. Its main focus is the Middle East, where Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic long existed side by side and often overlapped in everyday use, scholarship, and culture. In line with Geoffrey (Khan)'s commitment to the maximally accessible dissemination of research, this Festschrift has been published in both open-access digital editions and affordable printed formats.
History
History
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
1 month ago

Mesopotamian Education: Creating the First Written Works in History

The Sumerians established formal scribal schools (edubba) after inventing writing, training students in cuneiform, Sumerian and Akkadian, and a broad range of scholarly subjects.
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

10 Medieval Studies' Articles Published Last Month - Medievalists.net

In this paper we investigate whether infant and childhood feeding practices influenced the imbalanced adult sex ratio reported in medieval Europe from historical and osteological evidence. First, we examine hypotheses for the observed imbalanced sex ratios in Europe and the evidence presented to support these hypotheses. We then use stable isotope analysis (δ13C and δ15N) of incremental dentine in 64 first molars from adults at three medieval sites (Aulla, Badia Pozzeveri, and Montescudaio) in north-western Tuscany (11th-15th c. CE).
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

New Medieval Books: A Crusade Against the Turks as a Means of Reforming the Church - Medievalists.net

This project will focus on the Camaldolese hermits' proposal for achieving what they considered to be the most crucial task in the repair of the church, eliminating Islam and all Muslims. Our study will begin with an examination of the recipient of the Libellus, Giovanni de' Medici, who would become Pope Leo X. Next will be an exploration into the backgrounds of Paolo Giustiniani and Pietro Querini,
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 months ago

New Medieval Books: The Horse in History - Medievalists.net

Eleven studies examine horse equipment, training, folklore, and material culture across time and Europe, emphasizing archaeological evidence and diverse methodological approaches.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 month ago

New Medieval Books: Celtic Magic - Medievalists.net

Ancient and medieval Celtic-speaking peoples maintained distinctive magical beliefs and practices whose evidence appears in inscriptions, classical accounts, medieval manuscripts, charms, and medical recipes.
[ Load more ]