Kea Johnston
@kjohnston.bsky.social
I’m an Egyptologist and digital humanist. I obtained my PhD from UC Berkeley in 2022.
I’m now a postdoctoral scholar working at the Field Museum and the ISAC Museum at the University of Chicago.
I’m now a postdoctoral scholar working at the Field Museum and the ISAC Museum at the University of Chicago.
These were some of the hardest texts I’ve worked on yet, because one of these pieces is in very rough stone and the other—well, Duke Alexander was buried in it. In a turn that would have thrilled Poe and Lovecraft, his Mausoleum slowly sank into the ground. My inner Goth was thrilled by this project
Duke Alexander and his Sarcophagi - BAR Publishing
Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton (1767–1852), was one of the great collectors of his day. Among his possessions were two Egyptian anthropoid stone sarcophagi. One belonged to Pabasa, a high o...
www.barpublishing.com
December 13, 2025 at 10:57 PM
These were some of the hardest texts I’ve worked on yet, because one of these pieces is in very rough stone and the other—well, Duke Alexander was buried in it. In a turn that would have thrilled Poe and Lovecraft, his Mausoleum slowly sank into the ground. My inner Goth was thrilled by this project
Reposted by Kea Johnston
New publication from Sidestone Press on Egyptologist, F. W. von Bissing:
THE BISSING LINK. The Collections and Network of Egyptologist F. W. von Bissing (1873–1956)
Edited by Lars Petersen & Ben van den Bercken | 2025
1/
THE BISSING LINK. The Collections and Network of Egyptologist F. W. von Bissing (1873–1956)
Edited by Lars Petersen & Ben van den Bercken | 2025
1/
December 12, 2025 at 1:37 AM
New publication from Sidestone Press on Egyptologist, F. W. von Bissing:
THE BISSING LINK. The Collections and Network of Egyptologist F. W. von Bissing (1873–1956)
Edited by Lars Petersen & Ben van den Bercken | 2025
1/
THE BISSING LINK. The Collections and Network of Egyptologist F. W. von Bissing (1873–1956)
Edited by Lars Petersen & Ben van den Bercken | 2025
1/
My husband is pretty sure this article was by AI. I’m pissed she disses Tale of Two Cities. I’m even more pissed she dismisses the one book I had to read in US public high school that had a female main character, Scarlet Letter! I know it’s the melodramatic dregs, but it’s the only dregs we got!
The 40 Famous Classics You're Allowed to Skip (And Why Everyone Secretly Agrees)
The follow-up nobody asked for (except Antonio in the comments) :)
open.substack.com
December 12, 2025 at 1:37 AM
My husband is pretty sure this article was by AI. I’m pissed she disses Tale of Two Cities. I’m even more pissed she dismisses the one book I had to read in US public high school that had a female main character, Scarlet Letter! I know it’s the melodramatic dregs, but it’s the only dregs we got!
Reposted by Kea Johnston
This is not a birth certificate and that footprint does not belong to the child discussed on the tablet. They're not even from the same city; the footprint is from Nippur, the text is from Ur.
So why did the Penn Museum bring these objects together like this since 2016?
So why did the Penn Museum bring these objects together like this since 2016?
Sumerian birth certificate. A clay tablet found at the Sumerian city of Nippur in southern Iraq.
Estimated to be around 2000-1600 BC. Contains a birth announcement, its gender, the names of its parents, and a footprint of the newborn.
@menavisualss #globalmuseum #history #Sumerian #archaeology
Estimated to be around 2000-1600 BC. Contains a birth announcement, its gender, the names of its parents, and a footprint of the newborn.
@menavisualss #globalmuseum #history #Sumerian #archaeology
December 5, 2025 at 5:53 AM
This is not a birth certificate and that footprint does not belong to the child discussed on the tablet. They're not even from the same city; the footprint is from Nippur, the text is from Ur.
So why did the Penn Museum bring these objects together like this since 2016?
So why did the Penn Museum bring these objects together like this since 2016?
Every year around Thanksgiving, I see tons of grad students post heartbreaking messages on social media about how their loved ones don’t understand or support their decision to study what seems like something pointless or silly.
Perhaps my American Scientist essay can help!
🧪🌎🦑 #SciComm
Perhaps my American Scientist essay can help!
🧪🌎🦑 #SciComm
“Why Are We Funding This?”
Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.
www.americanscientist.org
November 26, 2025 at 3:51 AM
2/2 I soon left for industry where the number of women engineers was even smaller. Summers’ remarks, couched in the language of science, were instead rooted in deep misogyny, As proof, see the recent Epstein letters, where Mr Summers can be found interacting with Epstein as a friend and fellow pig.
November 13, 2025 at 7:16 PM
2/2 I soon left for industry where the number of women engineers was even smaller. Summers’ remarks, couched in the language of science, were instead rooted in deep misogyny, As proof, see the recent Epstein letters, where Mr Summers can be found interacting with Epstein as a friend and fellow pig.
1/2 In 2005, I was one of a handful of woman Computer Science majors at Brown University. This was the year when Larry Summers, president of Harvard, pontificated at length that the unequal numbers of women in science were due to natural lack of interest and aptitude. Biological differences.
November 13, 2025 at 7:10 PM
1/2 In 2005, I was one of a handful of woman Computer Science majors at Brown University. This was the year when Larry Summers, president of Harvard, pontificated at length that the unequal numbers of women in science were due to natural lack of interest and aptitude. Biological differences.
It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the bad news these days. I know I often want to help but don’t know how. For now though, I’ve donated to the Food Banks in Chicago. There are a lot of awful, self righteous, cowardly people out there, but I think there are a lot of people who want to help, too.
Greater Chicago Food Depository
SNAP is our nation’s most important anti-hunger tool. With benefits paused during the federal government shutdown, 41 million Americans, including 900,000 neighbors n Cook County are at greater risk o...
giving.chicagosfoodbank.org
November 2, 2025 at 9:02 PM
It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the bad news these days. I know I often want to help but don’t know how. For now though, I’ve donated to the Food Banks in Chicago. There are a lot of awful, self righteous, cowardly people out there, but I think there are a lot of people who want to help, too.
Reposted by Kea Johnston
Reposted by Kea Johnston
Courtesy of colleagues at Penn
October 12, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Courtesy of colleagues at Penn
Reposted by Kea Johnston
Spectacular googly-eyed octopus does battle with a lobster in this 2,000 year-old Roman mosaic from Pompeii! 🐙 🦞
Fantastic fishy onlookers too! 👀
From the House of the Geometric Mosaics. Now at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
📷 by me
#MosaicMonday
#Archaeology
Fantastic fishy onlookers too! 👀
From the House of the Geometric Mosaics. Now at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
📷 by me
#MosaicMonday
#Archaeology
October 6, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Spectacular googly-eyed octopus does battle with a lobster in this 2,000 year-old Roman mosaic from Pompeii! 🐙 🦞
Fantastic fishy onlookers too! 👀
From the House of the Geometric Mosaics. Now at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
📷 by me
#MosaicMonday
#Archaeology
Fantastic fishy onlookers too! 👀
From the House of the Geometric Mosaics. Now at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
📷 by me
#MosaicMonday
#Archaeology
Whelp, one of the universities I’ve been involved with has done the dog-walk for Trump (and won’t receive another red cent if mine). Let’s see if Berkeley does it too.
October 4, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Whelp, one of the universities I’ve been involved with has done the dog-walk for Trump (and won’t receive another red cent if mine). Let’s see if Berkeley does it too.
Reposted by Kea Johnston
FREE HYBRID Event!
Investigating “Their Walls”: The 2024 Season at el-Hibeh (ancient Teudjoi)
Lecturer: Prof. Jean Li, Toronto Metropolitan University
University College, Rm 244 or by zoom: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
For more information sseatoronto.wordpress.com/2025/07/30/j...
Investigating “Their Walls”: The 2024 Season at el-Hibeh (ancient Teudjoi)
Lecturer: Prof. Jean Li, Toronto Metropolitan University
University College, Rm 244 or by zoom: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
For more information sseatoronto.wordpress.com/2025/07/30/j...
September 30, 2025 at 12:23 AM
FREE HYBRID Event!
Investigating “Their Walls”: The 2024 Season at el-Hibeh (ancient Teudjoi)
Lecturer: Prof. Jean Li, Toronto Metropolitan University
University College, Rm 244 or by zoom: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
For more information sseatoronto.wordpress.com/2025/07/30/j...
Investigating “Their Walls”: The 2024 Season at el-Hibeh (ancient Teudjoi)
Lecturer: Prof. Jean Li, Toronto Metropolitan University
University College, Rm 244 or by zoom: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
For more information sseatoronto.wordpress.com/2025/07/30/j...
Reposted by Kea Johnston
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary said that it is “hard to watch” kids with autism and that “we can end the suffering” and that autism “may be entirely preventable.”
What a grotesque way to talk about human beings; about children.
What a grotesque way to talk about human beings; about children.
Autism, MAHA, and the Face of God
One part junk science, two parts incompetent government, and with a dash of blasphemy, for seasoning.
www.thebulwark.com
September 23, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary said that it is “hard to watch” kids with autism and that “we can end the suffering” and that autism “may be entirely preventable.”
What a grotesque way to talk about human beings; about children.
What a grotesque way to talk about human beings; about children.
I’ve mentioned how I loathe RFK Jr, but have you noticed that Autism is also always mom’s fault? Whether she’s not seen as “warm” enough to her child or doesn’t suffer the maximum amount for 9 months, it’s always the mom’s fault.
And on top of that, this is all incredibly insulting to Autistic ppl
And on top of that, this is all incredibly insulting to Autistic ppl
September 23, 2025 at 1:41 AM
I’ve mentioned how I loathe RFK Jr, but have you noticed that Autism is also always mom’s fault? Whether she’s not seen as “warm” enough to her child or doesn’t suffer the maximum amount for 9 months, it’s always the mom’s fault.
And on top of that, this is all incredibly insulting to Autistic ppl
And on top of that, this is all incredibly insulting to Autistic ppl
Reposted by Kea Johnston
Random 12 year old: I fucked your mom
Republican: That's it I'm calling ICE, you insensitive bully
Republican: That's it I'm calling ICE, you insensitive bully
September 17, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Random 12 year old: I fucked your mom
Republican: That's it I'm calling ICE, you insensitive bully
Republican: That's it I'm calling ICE, you insensitive bully
I think a better title might have been “RFK Jr Falsely links SSRIs and Mass Shootings,” because <<surprise>> science says he’s full of shit. Of all of Trump’s goons, I loathe RFK Jr. the most. I’m increasingly convinced he’s a eugenicist who wants people he thinks are unfit to die.
RFK Jr. links SSRIs and mass shootings. What does science say? — The Washington Post
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested that psychiatric drugs may have played a role in the Minnesota Catholic school shooting — a statement widely criticized as unsupported by science.
apple.news
August 30, 2025 at 12:00 AM
I think a better title might have been “RFK Jr Falsely links SSRIs and Mass Shootings,” because <<surprise>> science says he’s full of shit. Of all of Trump’s goons, I loathe RFK Jr. the most. I’m increasingly convinced he’s a eugenicist who wants people he thinks are unfit to die.
Reposted by Kea Johnston
Привет, товарищи! It’s another glorious day in which Trump’s America is increasingly indistinguishable from Stalinist Russia, so I thought an armchair comparative analysis was in order.
Specifically about Jay Bhattacharya's twin from times past, Trofim Lysenko.
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
Specifically about Jay Bhattacharya's twin from times past, Trofim Lysenko.
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
Bhattacharya is the New Lysenko
Starving the NIH through ineptitude, bitterness, and thirst for revenge
open.substack.com
August 18, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Привет, товарищи! It’s another glorious day in which Trump’s America is increasingly indistinguishable from Stalinist Russia, so I thought an armchair comparative analysis was in order.
Specifically about Jay Bhattacharya's twin from times past, Trofim Lysenko.
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
Specifically about Jay Bhattacharya's twin from times past, Trofim Lysenko.
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
🎶Toad Maaannn🎶 (to the tune of Spoon Man. Like George R R Martin, I’ve gotten into mini painting. It’s relaxing and quick. Unlike Martin, I intend to work on my manuscript, to which I know the ending.
August 10, 2025 at 2:13 AM
🎶Toad Maaannn🎶 (to the tune of Spoon Man. Like George R R Martin, I’ve gotten into mini painting. It’s relaxing and quick. Unlike Martin, I intend to work on my manuscript, to which I know the ending.
Aw yiss! Look what I just scored!
July 17, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Aw yiss! Look what I just scored!
Reposted by Kea Johnston
A letter from Egypt by a woman called Serapias to her son-in-law. More information about it here: papyri.info/ddbdp/p.oxf;... and here press.umich.edu/Books/W/Wome...
July 4, 2025 at 4:55 PM
A letter from Egypt by a woman called Serapias to her son-in-law. More information about it here: papyri.info/ddbdp/p.oxf;... and here press.umich.edu/Books/W/Wome...
Reposted by Kea Johnston
Happy 4th of July, Batman.
July 4, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Happy 4th of July, Batman.
Reposted by Kea Johnston
This rubbing of an ancient Egyptian stela was produced in the early 20th century by Chinese antiquarian Duanfang #ManuscriptMonday 🏺
Lost during the 20th century, its rediscovery in the early 2000s sheds light on Egyptology in Late Imperial China.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Lost during the 20th century, its rediscovery in the early 2000s sheds light on Egyptology in Late Imperial China.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
June 30, 2025 at 12:25 PM
This rubbing of an ancient Egyptian stela was produced in the early 20th century by Chinese antiquarian Duanfang #ManuscriptMonday 🏺
Lost during the 20th century, its rediscovery in the early 2000s sheds light on Egyptology in Late Imperial China.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Lost during the 20th century, its rediscovery in the early 2000s sheds light on Egyptology in Late Imperial China.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
When I was an angsty young thing, the character from Dickens I identified with was Sydney Carton. Now it’s Madame Defarge. Here she is making stitches for a snitch. (Illustration by A. A. Dixon)
July 3, 2025 at 12:08 AM
When I was an angsty young thing, the character from Dickens I identified with was Sydney Carton. Now it’s Madame Defarge. Here she is making stitches for a snitch. (Illustration by A. A. Dixon)