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Reposted by Nina Willburger

Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 14h

A Roman fibula shaped like a panther with a human rider on its back, crafted in bronze with colorful enamel inlay.
Panthers were linked to the god Dionysus/Bacchus, often depicted as his favored mounts, suggesting a symbolic or protective function for fibulae ...🧵1/2

📷 me

🏺 #archaeology

Roman bronze fibula shaped like a panther with a human rider on its back. The panther’s body features small enamel inlays, and the piece rests on display in a museum case.

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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1d

This Hellenistic bronze depicts Herakles after his final Labor, holding the apples of the garden of the Hesperides. This may originally have represented a Hellenistic king in the guise of Herakles - the tree and snake behind him may be modern. 🏺 1/

@heraklescitharede.bsky.social

📸 me

This bronze group depicts a well-muscled Herakles after accomplishing his final labor, heroically naked, standing contrapposto, and holding three of the golden apples in his left hand (which are guarded by a giant serpent hanging from a tree behind him). These apples were the source of the hero's eternal youth and Herakles' own passport to eternal life: the only hero to become a god.

Originally the figure might have represented a Hellenistic king in the guise of Herakles. The realistic facial features and thick sideburns were characteristics of royal portraiture and many Hellenistic dynasties claimed descent from Herakles to legitimise their authority. The tree with the serpents and the base are probably a modern addition.

Hellenistic, Byblos (historic Phoenicia), from a temple (which one?), Lebanon, ca. 250-230 BCE.

Height: 0.76 meters (2.49 feet)
Weight: 37 kg (81.6 lbs.)

British Museum, London (1805,0703.38)

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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 7h

Wow, great shot!

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Malcolm Stoneman @malcolmstoneman.bsky.social · 1d

Duomo #Siena #Italy

Beautiful in the floodlight.

A view over the rooftops to the floodlight Duomo with its black & white striped stonework

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Malcolm Stoneman @malcolmstoneman.bsky.social · 14h

“Tree of Jesse” window - 1864
Artist - Edouard Didron

Another example of the conservation & cleaning of the cathedral.

Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris, #Paris

#StainedGlassSunday

Stained glass window of four lights with roundels showing the Tree of Jesse.

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Kevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 13h

Tingwall Standing Stone on Shetland. The stone is also known as the ‘Murder Stone’, and is connected with the death of Lord Skaldale by his cousin the Earl of Orkney in the late 14th century. 📸 My own. #StandingStoneSunday #Shetland

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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 14h

....featuring this motif beyond their practical role as garment fasteners.

Found in Rottweil, dating 2nd/3rd century AD

On display at Dominikanermuseum Rottweil.
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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 14h

A Roman fibula shaped like a panther with a human rider on its back, crafted in bronze with colorful enamel inlay.
Panthers were linked to the god Dionysus/Bacchus, often depicted as his favored mounts, suggesting a symbolic or protective function for fibulae ...🧵1/2

📷 me

🏺 #archaeology

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Reposted by Nina Willburger

Morgan Fairchild @morgfair.bsky.social · 21h

Diane was an icon and an inspiration for women of my generation! So multi-faceted, and known to be one the nicest ladies in our biz. A huge loss! #RIPDianeKeaton 💔💔💔💔💔💔

MSNBC @msnbc.com · 21h

Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton has died at age 79. No cause of death has yet been made available.

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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 23h

Sit tibi terra levis - May the earth rest lightly on you

Diane Keaton 1946-2025

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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 1d

Current mood....

An Egyptian shabti (a figurine who acted as servant for a deceased to perform the manual labour in the afterlife), on display at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology

🏺 AncientEgyptBluesky

A display of ancient Egyptian shabti figurines, small human-shaped burial statues made of different materials and colors, including brown, beige, and turquoise blue. The figures are arranged in rows, with carved facial features and crossed arms, some inscribed with hieroglyphs.
In the center a whimsical shabti figurine, made of light brown material with black painted hieroglyphs on its body. The figure has a rounded head, large dark eyes, and an unevenly painted large mouth, giving it a quirky and slightly unusual appearance.

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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 2d

#FindsFriday! A Roman brush found in Bregenz.

Roman brush fragments are sometimes difficult to interpret; in this case, their function may relate to textile production, as suggested for similar finds in Eschenz.The bristled surface is suitable for carding or teasing wool fibers. 🧵1/2

📷 me

🏺

A photo of a well-preserved fragment of a Roman brush in a show case. The object consists of a rectangular base with rounded and scalloped edges, formed from wood into which hundreds of stiff rushes have been densely embedded.

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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 1d

Awwww 🤗

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Malcolm Stoneman @malcolmstoneman.bsky.social · 1d

St Nicholas’ Chapel, #KingsLynn #Norfolk

The tower of c. 1220 & a steeple in 1500. However, this was down down in a gale of 1741 & the present replacement spire (by George Gilbert Scott) was completed in 1870.
There is beautiful carved decorative detail on the 15th Century porch.

#SteepleSaturday

A view of the south porch, square tower & spire against a blue sky.

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Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 1d

#CastleSaturday
15th C Aragonese Castle of Otranto: also title of 1st ever Gothic novel.

Horace Walpole's 1764 story played on medievalism + terror, generating a lasting tide of ghosts + ghouls.

He chose name as it was 'well sounding', not even aware of real castle on Puglian coast till 1786.

View of stone built 15th C Castle of Otranto with bridge leading over deep moat to gateway in wall. Huge round towers either side of bridge have bases slanting outwards into moat.

Two round towers of Castle of Otranto, with bases sloping slightly outwards into moat. Only a few horizontal slit windows/openings penetrate the very solid stone walls.

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Isabelle Marie @isabellemarie.bsky.social · 1d

2,700-year-old temple with 'sacred cave' discovered in Turkey — and it may honor the 'mother goddess'.
www.livescience.com/archaeology/...

2,700-year-old temple with 'sacred cave' discovered in Turkey — and it may honor the 'mother goddess'

The temple may have been dedicated to a mother goddess worshipped by many cultures, including the Greeks and the Romans.

www.livescience.com

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Isabelle Marie @isabellemarie.bsky.social · 1d

#Paléontologie. Découverte d’une nouvelle espèce de reptile marin préhistorique.
www.courrierinternational.com/article/pale...

Découverte d’une nouvelle espèce de reptile marin préhistorique

Une nouvelle espèce d’ichtyosaure, cette famille de reptiles marins qui hantaient les océans au temps des dinosaures, a été identifiée par des chercheurs britan...

www.courrierinternational.com

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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 1d

Yes a Ushabti, the term Shabti is commonly employed in English for these figures

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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 1d

Marvellous Minoan clay vessels made by creative potters on the island of Crete during the Aegean Bronze Age around 3,500 years ago! 🤩

Heraklion Archaeological Museum 📷 by me

#Archaeology

From the Aegean Bronze Age, Minoan clay vessels with black handpainted decoration.on a pale biscuity-coloured slip

Top left - clay flask decorated in Minoan ‘Marine Style’’ with an octopus with tentacles writhing around the body of the vase. Additional motifs such as seaweed and rocks represent the seabed. From Palaikastro, 1500-1450 BC

Top right - clay rhyton in the shape of a bull’s head. A rhyton is a type of pouring vessel used for filling cups or making liquid offerings. There is a pouring hole at the bull’s mouth. From Knossos Little Palace, 1450-1375 BC

Bottom left - Nautilus vessel - clay rhyton depicting the seabed with nautili, corals and seaweed. From Phaistos Palace, 1500-1450 BC

Bottom right - Basket shaped rhyton decorated with double-axe motif. There is a small pouring hole in one of the bottom corners. From Pseira, 1500-1450 BC

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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 1d

🥰 You're the best, Peter!

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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 1d

Current mood....

An Egyptian shabti (a figurine who acted as servant for a deceased to perform the manual labour in the afterlife), on display at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology

🏺 AncientEgyptBluesky

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Reposted by Nina Willburger

Octo(ber) @octodontidae.bsky.social · 3d

to add one of my favourite roles of her

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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 2d

Pot of gold!

Rare Roman gold coin hoard uncovered near Didcot, Oxfordshire, by a metal detectorist in 1995. The pot contained 126 gold aurei, struck between AD 54-160. It would have taken a legionary soldier over ten years to earn this large sum!

Ashmolean Museum 📷 by me

#FindsFriday
#Archaeology

My photo shows a pile of shiny Roman gold coins below five fragments from a grey pot

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Durotriges Dig @durotrigesdig.bsky.social · 2d

The *Commodus Passage reopens*

(Oo-er)

Secret tunnel used by Roman emperors inside Colosseum reopens

It is believed Emperor Commodus survived an assassination attempt while walking through the tunnel

www.independent.co.uk

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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 2d

I totally agree! The real treasures

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