Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
@blindscholar.bsky.social
PhD in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East from Brandeis, postdoc at Stanford. Interests in disability, myth, economics, and materiality. More at www.blindscholar.com.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
I had fun doing this podcast episode for The Ancients about Old Babylonian letters! We discussed messengers, scribes, and even a certain copper trader of dubious repute! #eanasir #cuneiform #Mesopotamia
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
The World's Oldest Letters
Podcast Episode · The Ancients · 11/27/2025 · 55m
podcasts.apple.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:40 PM
I had fun doing this podcast episode for The Ancients about Old Babylonian letters! We discussed messengers, scribes, and even a certain copper trader of dubious repute! #eanasir #cuneiform #Mesopotamia
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
I won't stand for Mesopotamia catching strays like this
can't believe this ancient mesopotamia shoe wearing ass said people need to dress up at the airport
November 26, 2025 at 1:39 AM
I won't stand for Mesopotamia catching strays like this
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
I always suggest that people think about what urban centres like New York or London were like 150 years ago — dangerous, unbelievably polluted air and water, desperately inequitable, few trees or green space.
And then imagine building the cities where we look back to *today* and see the same thing.
And then imagine building the cities where we look back to *today* and see the same thing.
At its peak, 100-200k NYC horses, 30 lbs of poop/day each. People would use these boot scrapers, that you can still see everywhere today built into the brownstone wrought iron fences, to scrape, 70%? of the poop off the bottom of their shoes before they went into the house. Horse poop everywhere.
November 28, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I always suggest that people think about what urban centres like New York or London were like 150 years ago — dangerous, unbelievably polluted air and water, desperately inequitable, few trees or green space.
And then imagine building the cities where we look back to *today* and see the same thing.
And then imagine building the cities where we look back to *today* and see the same thing.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
“… ‘I am Ozymandias, Candle of Candles / Look on my wicks, ye Mighty, and despair!’…”
jdandkateindustries.com/products/ozy...
jdandkateindustries.com/products/ozy...
November 27, 2025 at 10:05 PM
“… ‘I am Ozymandias, Candle of Candles / Look on my wicks, ye Mighty, and despair!’…”
jdandkateindustries.com/products/ozy...
jdandkateindustries.com/products/ozy...
Telling that they're all named things like Palantir, Erebor, and Anduril, and not things like The Shire, Old Toby, or Bombadil Industries.
They should all be named Moria.Or Isildur.
They should all be named Moria.Or Isildur.
My rule of thumb is if the company is named after something in Lord of the Rings, it’s almost certainly evil.
Since its founding in 2017, Anduril Industries has become one of the hottest companies in a crowded field of defense-tech startup.
Its fast-moving approach comes with its share of setbacks.
Its fast-moving approach comes with its share of setbacks.
November 27, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Telling that they're all named things like Palantir, Erebor, and Anduril, and not things like The Shire, Old Toby, or Bombadil Industries.
They should all be named Moria.Or Isildur.
They should all be named Moria.Or Isildur.
I wrote a fun little book about how religion is always material and social, and so always economic, and how some ancient ritual economies were justified in myth!
Makes a great present for the nerdiest and second nerdiest person you know!
https://bookshop.org/a/115568/9781009559911
Makes a great present for the nerdiest and second nerdiest person you know!
https://bookshop.org/a/115568/9781009559911
November 26, 2025 at 11:19 PM
I wrote a fun little book about how religion is always material and social, and so always economic, and how some ancient ritual economies were justified in myth!
Makes a great present for the nerdiest and second nerdiest person you know!
https://bookshop.org/a/115568/9781009559911
Makes a great present for the nerdiest and second nerdiest person you know!
https://bookshop.org/a/115568/9781009559911
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
I guess I now have to do a thread on shoes in ancient Mesopotamia in response to this (which happens to be from one of my favourite accounts).
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
can't believe this ancient mesopotamia shoe wearing ass said people need to dress up at the airport
November 26, 2025 at 9:03 AM
I guess I now have to do a thread on shoes in ancient Mesopotamia in response to this (which happens to be from one of my favourite accounts).
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
November 25, 2025 at 11:22 PM
This will doubtless be very good!
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buttondown.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:42 PM
This will doubtless be very good!
Since today is Freddy Mercury's Yahrzeit, an appropriate quote for the SBL conference:
“Does it mean this, does it mean that, that’s all anybody wants to know. I’d say what any decent poet would say if anyone dared ask him to analyse his work: if you see it, darling, then it’s there!”
“Does it mean this, does it mean that, that’s all anybody wants to know. I’d say what any decent poet would say if anyone dared ask him to analyse his work: if you see it, darling, then it’s there!”
November 24, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Since today is Freddy Mercury's Yahrzeit, an appropriate quote for the SBL conference:
“Does it mean this, does it mean that, that’s all anybody wants to know. I’d say what any decent poet would say if anyone dared ask him to analyse his work: if you see it, darling, then it’s there!”
“Does it mean this, does it mean that, that’s all anybody wants to know. I’d say what any decent poet would say if anyone dared ask him to analyse his work: if you see it, darling, then it’s there!”
Last morning at SBL for me. Hit me up if you'd like to say hi!
November 24, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Last morning at SBL for me. Hit me up if you'd like to say hi!
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 12:49 PM
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
wake up babe new ea-nāṣir just dropped
Well this 2,600-year-old clay letter was a journey.
It comes from the archive of a goldsmith named Nabû-zeru-iddin in the heart of ancient Assyria. We’ve got someone left on read, a lawsuit, a mean step-mom, and people who get drunk and steal silver.
It comes from the archive of a goldsmith named Nabû-zeru-iddin in the heart of ancient Assyria. We’ve got someone left on read, a lawsuit, a mean step-mom, and people who get drunk and steal silver.
November 21, 2025 at 11:03 AM
wake up babe new ea-nāṣir just dropped
My SBL name tags are doing that thing where they print out blank again, which means that my kids are making bespoke ones just for me.
So if you see me wandering SBL with a name tag that says "You Can't Say Barberic Without Eric!" at least now you know why.
So if you see me wandering SBL with a name tag that says "You Can't Say Barberic Without Eric!" at least now you know why.
November 20, 2025 at 11:47 PM
My SBL name tags are doing that thing where they print out blank again, which means that my kids are making bespoke ones just for me.
So if you see me wandering SBL with a name tag that says "You Can't Say Barberic Without Eric!" at least now you know why.
So if you see me wandering SBL with a name tag that says "You Can't Say Barberic Without Eric!" at least now you know why.
Hello, fellow nerds of a certain kind!
I'll be at ASOR Fri-Sat and AARSBL Sat PM-Sat afternoon.
Drop me a line if you'd like to say hi, catch up, or meet for the first time! It'll be a hoot!
I'll be at ASOR Fri-Sat and AARSBL Sat PM-Sat afternoon.
Drop me a line if you'd like to say hi, catch up, or meet for the first time! It'll be a hoot!
November 19, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Hello, fellow nerds of a certain kind!
I'll be at ASOR Fri-Sat and AARSBL Sat PM-Sat afternoon.
Drop me a line if you'd like to say hi, catch up, or meet for the first time! It'll be a hoot!
I'll be at ASOR Fri-Sat and AARSBL Sat PM-Sat afternoon.
Drop me a line if you'd like to say hi, catch up, or meet for the first time! It'll be a hoot!
Hi, @margaret.bsky.social! I'm loving your turn toward the ancient on Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff.
I think you should go even *ancienter.*
I'm talking about the Babylonians. Did you know they had a myth about a revolutionary labor movement a millennium before Rome was founded? It rules.
I think you should go even *ancienter.*
I'm talking about the Babylonians. Did you know they had a myth about a revolutionary labor movement a millennium before Rome was founded? It rules.
November 19, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Hi, @margaret.bsky.social! I'm loving your turn toward the ancient on Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff.
I think you should go even *ancienter.*
I'm talking about the Babylonians. Did you know they had a myth about a revolutionary labor movement a millennium before Rome was founded? It rules.
I think you should go even *ancienter.*
I'm talking about the Babylonians. Did you know they had a myth about a revolutionary labor movement a millennium before Rome was founded? It rules.
omg no.
The term for a blind person in Ur-III Sumerian is sig7-a.
I'm reviewing a bunch of texts with this term in them now and all I can hear in my head is a chorus of grade-school voices repeating "sig-seeeeven, sig-seeeeven."
Make it stop.
The term for a blind person in Ur-III Sumerian is sig7-a.
I'm reviewing a bunch of texts with this term in them now and all I can hear in my head is a chorus of grade-school voices repeating "sig-seeeeven, sig-seeeeven."
Make it stop.
November 18, 2025 at 7:32 PM
omg no.
The term for a blind person in Ur-III Sumerian is sig7-a.
I'm reviewing a bunch of texts with this term in them now and all I can hear in my head is a chorus of grade-school voices repeating "sig-seeeeven, sig-seeeeven."
Make it stop.
The term for a blind person in Ur-III Sumerian is sig7-a.
I'm reviewing a bunch of texts with this term in them now and all I can hear in my head is a chorus of grade-school voices repeating "sig-seeeeven, sig-seeeeven."
Make it stop.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
In applying AI to material science, biology, etc, capitalism is trying to shed science.
The point is to substitute the engineering of a machine that can generate what science has hitherto done, but without having people know things. Knowledge ultimately residing in private property is the dream.
The point is to substitute the engineering of a machine that can generate what science has hitherto done, but without having people know things. Knowledge ultimately residing in private property is the dream.
Jeff Bezos Creates A.I. Start-Up Where He Will Be Co-Chief Executive
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:12 PM
In applying AI to material science, biology, etc, capitalism is trying to shed science.
The point is to substitute the engineering of a machine that can generate what science has hitherto done, but without having people know things. Knowledge ultimately residing in private property is the dream.
The point is to substitute the engineering of a machine that can generate what science has hitherto done, but without having people know things. Knowledge ultimately residing in private property is the dream.
I had a great time doing this interview. Go check it out if you are into Bible-y stuff and/or the economics of religion!
It’s the siege of Jerusalem and the end of the Davidic dynasty on this “season finale” of the Bible Lore Podcast. Along the way, scholar @blindscholar.bsky.social joins me to discuss the way elites justified their own class position through mythology. This is the big one, gang.
November 15, 2025 at 6:21 PM
I had a great time doing this interview. Go check it out if you are into Bible-y stuff and/or the economics of religion!
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
We could solve like half the problems in education with smaller class sizes (like 15 instead of 30 kids crushed in a room). Including that it would be easier to find teachers b/c they wouldn’t get so burnt out.
Every decade, we hear "the kids can't read or write!"
Interventions that don't work are proposed. Those that do work are ignored: reducing class sizes, making kids & families feel safe at school and welcome, becoming a community resource.
When their expensive reform fails, they yell at us again.
Interventions that don't work are proposed. Those that do work are ignored: reducing class sizes, making kids & families feel safe at school and welcome, becoming a community resource.
When their expensive reform fails, they yell at us again.
November 15, 2025 at 1:29 AM
We could solve like half the problems in education with smaller class sizes (like 15 instead of 30 kids crushed in a room). Including that it would be easier to find teachers b/c they wouldn’t get so burnt out.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
siddhartha: I wonder if there’s more to life than this
ny post: get a load of this nepo baby
ny post: get a load of this nepo baby
November 14, 2025 at 2:47 PM
siddhartha: I wonder if there’s more to life than this
ny post: get a load of this nepo baby
ny post: get a load of this nepo baby
Erra's Housesitting: Keeping things interesting while you're away
Athena's Migraine Clinic. We will bust whatever's in there right out of your forehead
Theseus' Marina and Repairs. We can replace *everything*
November 14, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Erra's Housesitting: Keeping things interesting while you're away
Odysseus's GPS: Because the Journey is the Destination′.
Athena's Migraine Clinic. We will bust whatever's in there right out of your forehead
Theseus' Marina and Repairs. We can replace *everything*
November 14, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Odysseus's GPS: Because the Journey is the Destination′.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
I got this useful bon mot from a middle school teacher recently.
In response to, “I DONT UNDERSTAND,” he calmly said, “okay what steps have you taken to understand?”
And that’s when I realized that a lot of folks have no steps.
In response to, “I DONT UNDERSTAND,” he calmly said, “okay what steps have you taken to understand?”
And that’s when I realized that a lot of folks have no steps.
November 10, 2025 at 6:05 PM
I got this useful bon mot from a middle school teacher recently.
In response to, “I DONT UNDERSTAND,” he calmly said, “okay what steps have you taken to understand?”
And that’s when I realized that a lot of folks have no steps.
In response to, “I DONT UNDERSTAND,” he calmly said, “okay what steps have you taken to understand?”
And that’s when I realized that a lot of folks have no steps.
Benjamin Lay was the best!
November 11, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Benjamin Lay was the best!