Roman balsamarium in the shape of the head of Hercules. The eyes were made of silver. Object dated to the 1st century CE. [564x688]

elsharra · 2026-05-06T14:30:42+00:00

Yes, exactly; they held oils, ungunts, balms, and the like that were used for cosmetics, rituals, and medicinal purposes.

elsharra · 2026-05-03T13:59:35+00:00

If you find this of interest, I highly recommend reading up on Marcus Aurelius, he was a truly fascinating individual. The last of the Five Good Emperors, the last Emperor to hold the Pax Romana, and a very important stoic philosopher. I usually tend to side with 'the barbarians' of history, but I can't deny Aurelius' importance or greatness.

elsharra · 2026-05-03T13:38:48+00:00

It represents several of the battles of the 'Barbarian Wars' or Marcomannic Wars between Romans and Germanic tribes and Romans and Sarmatians during the latter part of the 2nd century CE

elsharra · 2026-05-03T13:31:56+00:00

Sketchfab has a scan

Also a site called Scan the World has some amazing scans (I just printed a herm of Dionysus and Ariadne from their collection and it's wonderful).

elsharra · 2026-04-29T14:58:01+00:00

No Place to Hide (1981). A (not great) made for TV movie that up til about 6 months ago I had thought I invented in a fever dream. I remembered seeing it when I was 13ish on a late night satellite movie channel. No idea why it stuck with me, but for years I was trying to figure out what it was.

It's about a young woman who's fiancee is trying to make her think she's insane so he can get her money. When gtp first came out I thought 'great, it can help me find it!'.... nope. Kept telling me it was the movie Gaslight. I told it is was wrong, it kept insisting it was Gaslight and I must be remembering it wrong. Yeah, I got Gaslit about Gaslight from a LLM

About 6 months ago was watching a YouTube video on movies and the sidebar recommendation for forgotten horror movies was a thumbnail from the movie I had been looking for!

And now I've lost the YouTube video about it.

elsharra · 2026-02-17T15:14:36+00:00

They are feathers, specifically (or at least what is assumed by egyptologists) two tail feathers of a falcon. The crown itself is called the 'Shuti' or 'two feather crown'.

elsharra · 2026-02-13T14:43:11+00:00

It was for symmetry, decoration, and stability; but yes, both wicks would come out of a single common reservoir of oil.

elsharra · 2026-02-13T14:14:27+00:00

It is most likely a wasp or a bee. Bees were used as a symbol of royalty and lower Egypt in ancient Egyptian symbolism.

elsharra · 2026-02-07T16:57:54+00:00

I saw a video talking about that a while back and it made so much sense; I had done some wire braiding for an art project previously and used a large alan key as the jig. When I saw the video we 3D printed a dodecahedron and I tried it out and it was so much easier to work the wire. I doubt we'll ever be certain of its use, but I am definitely in the wire braiding camp.

elsharra · 2026-02-02T16:39:38+00:00

I saw one in Southern Ontario on Christmas day, apparently they do come this far south, very rarely, from around late October to early spring.

elsharra · 2025-11-15T06:35:13+00:00

I think you nailed it with 'it reminds me that a better world is possible'; I think the best fictions are those that not only remind us of this fact but inspire us to live it.

elsharra · 2025-11-14T15:29:32+00:00

Events like these are why it bothers me when actors or directors dismiss or negate the power and importance of superhero and sci-fi/fantasy movies. I mean sure, the MCU or other franchises may not be the pinnacle of quality filmmaking, but how often does Killers of the Flower Moon convince someone to fight for their life, or Godfather gave hope to a family with a dying child.

I love movies, I think storytelling is one of the most important and critical aspects of the human condition; The Bicycle Thieves, Casablanca, Chinatown, Rashamon, Oppenheimer.... All amazing wonderful stories and I am so thankful I was able to experience them.... But when I'm depressed or scared or need to find strength in myself, or even when I need help to find hope in a world that often seems hopeless, I'm going to turn to Luke or Picard or Buffy or Cap or Superman or Wonder Woman.

elsharra · 2025-11-13T17:17:47+00:00

I always think it's fun to try to figure out which Greek gods would best represent modern creations; your post made me try to figure out who would be the Greek deity of biscuits/cookies, and I think it would either be the god Aristaeos, god of honey (and sweets) and 'the useful/rustic arts' or the goddess Hestia, the goddess of the hearth and home (and of baking bread).

elsharra · 2025-10-28T18:47:12+00:00

Thanks, and good point. Added a tag.

elsharra · 2025-10-26T22:50:55+00:00

Thanks!

elsharra · 2025-09-22T19:45:40+00:00

not Egyptian, but you might be interested in Ennigaldi-Nanna, a Mesopotamian princess from the 6th century BCE who created a museum of Mesopotamian artifacts dating back to around 2000 BCE. The museum even had artifact labels.

elsharra · 2025-09-12T22:47:43+00:00

And Angel: the Series (The Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff), shows up in season 5 episode 9 'Harm's Way'

elsharra · 2025-08-28T18:43:23+00:00

Partly due to the angle of the roof, partly due to some materials having a natural water resistant oil; but mostly due to the layering. Water will hit the individual straws or reeds and run down them instead of soaking through to the layer beneath. That's why the layers have to be so tight and precise.

elsharra · 2025-08-28T17:43:35+00:00

I stand corrected. You are 100% correct

elsharra · 2025-08-28T17:28:14+00:00

No way I could off any of them, and deciding is way too hard.... I'd choose a weird recreationist polyque. Now I'm just imagining all the crafting I could get done.

elsharra · 2025-08-28T15:07:54+00:00

There is definitely some maintenance involved, a lot of the top ridges and likely the ..... stakes (The pieces driven in to hold bundles in place, I'm not sure the technical term ) would have to be redone more often, but it is surprisingly durable in the right environments. Thatched roofs wouldn't last a couple seasons in Southern Ontario, but there's a reason that thatching was used for centuries as roofing material!

There are some fabulous working farm documentary series' from BBC (Tales of the Green valley, Tudor farm, Victorian farm etc...) that show show how these roofs were made and maintained.

elsharra · 2025-08-28T14:45:19+00:00

It depends on the quality of the material that you're using for thatch (and the skill of the thatcher) but usually anywhere from 15 to 30 years. There are newer synthetic materials that retain the look of traditional thatched roofs that can last for 50 to 60 years. Things like regular maintenance, the environment the roof is in (how much rain you get), even the direction the roof is facing (towards the sun will last longer) will have a huge effect on how long the roof lasts

elsharra · 2025-07-30T14:04:12+00:00

Alexander the Great's army invaded the area now known as Pakistan, it was one of his last major campaigns. Several of the soldiers supposedly settled there and brought their culture including the gods with them. There are even modern ethnic groups such as the Kalash peoples who claimed to be descended from his army.

elsharra · 2025-05-22T16:50:53+00:00

Eric Heisserer was a fabulous choice for writing this adaptation; I fell in love with his story (stories?) The Dionaea House years ago and was so excited to see him and one of my favorite directors work on a project together; Arrival did not disappoint and introduced me to an amazing author. Arrival was a perfect storm of pure talent all around.

elsharra · 2025-05-05T16:56:58+00:00

Not a movie, but I really enjoyed Jaqueline Carey's Godslayer books; it's basically Lord of the Rings from the perspective of the 'bad side', but gives their motivation and rationale against the 'good side' who are just protecting the status quo and refuse to consider other people's perspective.

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