Dr. Rachel Schine

The Sultan's Sex Potions Arabic erotic literature has a long and rich history, which goes back as far as the ninth century. Far from being the pursuit of prurient pornographers, eroticism and sexuality received considerable a...

And of course there's also a male counterpart in the 'materia medica' adjacent genre. Nasir al-Din al-Tusi is known among historians of astronomy for his mathematical devices, but while looking up what else he wrote during his career, suddenly I was like wait, what? 👀 indiepubs.com/collections/...

YouTube video by Sailor J Contouring 101

(Must cite sources) youtu.be/VtYEgKE1tZs?...

Lololol it’s giving “if they find out we can shape shift they’re going to tell the church!”

She’s always off doing something somewhere 😂

I’m sure! lol

Love it!

Yes cosmetics are not distinguished sharply from skin treatments and are in medical literature all the time, it’s more the discussion of the context of application that is making me question here 😊

Yeah it seems to have been a base layer, exactly

(We still do this with wellness culture and skin care as not-makeup that is in fact makeup, etc.)

and often they’re not treated as distinct from medicines, so I see why the confusion happens

!!!!!! Aghghghgh

Also as if Darius isn’t the most Persian name to ever Persian a name lol 😂 but I digress

Anyway sabidaj in Persian, or isfidaj in Arabic, is a very oft-discussed skin lightener used by medieval women. It’s made from lead ash, and is forerunner to Europe’s “Venetian ceruse.” It doesn’t seem to be discussed as unhealthy until the 19th C in Arabic journals as far as I’ve found.

I feel like this rant is probably its own article but I won’t do that.

Also on a journey thru secondary literature. FYI, the assumption that Arab or Jewish women were using skin lighteners in the Middle Ages to “significantly alter” their appearance tells me you’ve never met anyone from the Middle East and just jumped to “ahh the swarthy Orientals” in your head.

I'll add the hashtag for our metadata...

two women are sitting next to each other and one of them is saying `` let 's do a makeover '' . ALT: two women are sitting next to each other and one of them is saying `` let 's do a makeover '' .

Anyway, I'm just a girl, standing in front of a vanity, asking if you think the physicians are into this.

Like I might be wrong in the final offing, because I suck at this finicky stuff, but I've gotta think there are other examples.

So as I sit here badly transcribing a piece of 'materia medica' that appears to be about a women's salon where everyone's putting on makeup, I've gotta wonder how many mistaken bits of medieval medical text there are out there that are really just narrative sources about... girlies being girlies?

A LATE-BREAKING TT JOB.....

Assistant Professor, Near Eastern Archaeology, University of Toronto

Archaeology of the Levant (from south-central Türkiye to northwestern Saudi Arabia) during the Bronze and Iron Ages (3,000 to 500 BCE),

universityaffairs.ca/search-jobs/...

Ellie the opossum crawling on a fence. she is 10 months old currently

Ellie the opossum at 3 months old last year

happy to report that Cincinnati zoo has an orphaned opossum named Ellie as an animal ambassador and she is adorable

True!

Same 🫠

bots don’t usually delete when they’ve been publicly shamed but 🤷🏻‍♀️

Looks real from what others have said

See okay I'm not gonna trawl her feed because I can already tell that many valiant neurons have died many horrific deaths on that battlefield, but y'all have fun.

lol SO LITTLE GREY MATTER, SO FEW FOLDS

a man with a horse drawn carriage says tradition ALT: a man with a horse drawn carriage says tradition

*wheels out the old tv* *gestures madly*

fyi, i have a podcast and it's really great and fun. and there are a lot of super-smart people who've been on to talk about not just the Middle Ages but how and why it's studied here in the USA. please give it a listen.

AmericanMedieval.com

We are very much looking forward to this exciting talk by @rachelschine.bsky.social. If you would like to join, just DM or email me.

2 Ingredient Poppyseed Filling Recipe My 2-ingredient homemade poppyseed filling is simple to make and versatile to use in your sweet breads, rolls, and pastries.

I’ve never tried this myself but it doesn’t look too hard! www.proportionalplate.com/poppyseed-fi...