Jeremy Simmons

And another long-awaited publication to add to the list—this time two volumes related to the EIAD project (hisoma.huma-num.fr/exist/apps/E...), which cataloged ancient south Asian epigraphy from Āndhradeśa #AncientBlueSky 🏺

Sur les routes du désert Oriental égyptien Ce livre explore les réseaux de circulation qui ont permis aux hommes de traverser le désert Oriental égyptien sur près d’un millénaire, entre la fin du ivᵉ s. av. J.-C. et le début du iiiᵉ s. ap. J.-...

Excited to dive into this new book by @berangere.bsky.social on the routes through Egypt's Eastern Desert! #AncientBlueSky 🏺 books.openedition.org/momeditions/...

Nice to see all these recent finds—including an edition of the inscription—in a single publication!

The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.

This essay by @johannawinant.bsky.social is beautiful on what can happen in the classroom, and on the importance of *argument* to literary studies. I especially like how she writes about helping students to "believe in their own significance"
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...

one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.

Yay! Congrats!

End of an era in American Jewish history.

Happy start to the autumn quarter to all who celebrate!

This is much more comprehensive than my own list, and reassuringly familiar from my experience of marking. I’ll be sharing the list with my students, both to think about writing for different audiences (encyclopaedia articles) and being aware of the weakness of LLM generated text.

How Can We Live Together? - Boston Review Ezra Klein is wrong: shame is essential.

"Common decency stigmatizes people that do not participate in it—removes them from voluntary association. We indeed have to live with one another, but terms and conditions apply."

me on why Ezra Klein should be ashamed / why shame is Good Actually

www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...

Another important review

An important review

After the Roman Republic fell in 27 BC, the Roman Empire flourished for another 450 years. Could the same thing happen here?

I did it the other way

Among college graduates ages 22 to 27, computer science and computer engineering majors are facing some of the highest unemployment rates, 6.1 percent and 7.5 percent respectively, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That is more than double the unemployment rate among recent biology and art history graduates, which is just 3 percent.

Considering getting this passage from the NYT article printed on totes for our art history majors. Too much?

Thanks! And yes, gemstones and other beads appear throughout

Congratulations!

So, if humanities produce good job outcomes, humanities have a secure ROI that bring in more than they cost, and STEM now has an even lower ROI due to grant cuts…. shouldn’t we invest more in humanities where less $$ goes a longer way? Apparently not. We should ask why not. /9

as someone who doesn't have to imagine, let me tell you that it's ass

Looking forward to reading this!

Decades of mechanistic talk about university degrees as if they were bundles of 'skills' and 'prep' are about to be proved completely wrong (obviously). Want to get a real boost? Do History or English.

A lovely ram on a tendril, Oplontis

A lovely painted pattern on columns, Oplontis

A lovely peacock with theater mask and architectural background, Oplontis

Lavish architectural fresco, Oplontis

Oplontis, by contrast, was deserted, which always shocks me given the richness of the site and its proximity to Pompeii. Simply stunning paintings and plasters—and the space to appreciate them fully

A fresco of a young girl holding a bird, Pompeii

Venus on a clam shell, Pompeii

Fresco of Silenus, Pompeii

A lovely little screen in the wall of an insula, Pompeii

We certainly did *not* have Pompeii to ourselves—hot, crowded, and too much touching (had to tell off someone reaching for plastered human remains in the antiquarium!). But we managed to see some old and new favorites, as well as a friend who is excavating there

A view of the Capua arena

The substructure of the Capua arena

Marble decoration from the Capua arena.

Mannequins playing gladiators.

And, finally, the imperial amphitheater at Capua. Something for everyone: romps in cryptoportici and substructure; adjacent Samnite tombs; wonderful sculpture. There was even an exhibit for those who come just for the gladiators

A fascinating clay vessel with etching meanders and inset bronze disks, Capua Museum

A lovely piece of bucchero, Capua Museum

Some pretty wild bronze fibulae with wild spirals and anthro-/zoomorphic figures. Still don’t know how these work!

A lovely terracotta head, Capua Museum

Then the archaeological museum in Capua, with its weird and wonderful finds, especially from before the Punic Wars. Such a mix of materials and influences: pottery with inset bronze, wild fibulae, imitative bucchero nero, and lots of terracotta

A lavishly decorated Hellenistic hypogeum, with painted walls, funerary couches (including pillows), and Medusa head. Also a lovely red cocciopesto floor.

Details of painted “legs” of funerary couches, imitating inlaid ivory of the real thing, and a rich yellow for the crossbeam of the couch

Faded details along the pediment of the upper level of a hypogeum, sporting masks

Part of a painted kline and painted base of a candelabra. The bases of two actual modern lamps stand right next to the trompe l'oeil candelabra.

We (amazingly) had a lot of ancient stuff all to ourselves today. First, a series of *spectacular* hypogea, tombs in (re)use from the fourth c. BCE on. Such amazing details preserved on the walls and funerary couches. I got a kick out of the modern lamp bases next to the ancient painted candelabra

A mushroom in the sea

View of Casamicciola harbor, Ischia

Trellises of the Villa Arbusto, Pithecusae Museum, Ischia

Took the afternoon to beat the heat on Ischia—just gorgeous!