Simon Bralee
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simonbralee.com
Simon Bralee
@simonbralee.com
3.4K followers 870 following 520 posts
Advocate for arts and humanities. I believe in the importance of sharing the stories of research to create impact outside of universities. Comms professional and history postgrad researching Anubis in the Roman World. 🏛️🐍
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simonbralee.com
That’ll do pig. A small bronze figurine of a boar, rendered so realistically you can see the scowl on its face and the individual hair and bristles shaped almost like a porcine combover.

From Colchester, Roman period.

#AncientBluesky
A small bronze figurine of a crouching pig.
January 22, 2026 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Simon Bralee
wittspat.bsky.social
A certain Iron Age boar has been attracting attention recently, so for this #MosaicMonday here's a perky Roman boar. He's from the wonderful Triumph of Neptune and the Seasons mosaic from La Chebba, now in the Bardo in Tunis, and he represents Winter.
#AncientBlueSky 🏺
A detail from a Roman mosaic showing a boar in profile with his head to the right, emerging from reeds. The boar is realistically drawn in detail, with his short tail, ridge fur and tusk shown. Below his feet are shadows to indicate that he is moving.
January 19, 2026 at 10:36 AM
Reposted by Simon Bralee
ideasroadshow.bsky.social
👣 Love this Bowl with Human Feet which is almost 6,000 years old! Egypt, Nile clay, ca. 3700–3450 B.C.

The bowl which has a beautiful polished surface is very similar in form to the Egyptian hieroglyph meaning "to bring."

🏛️ Met

🏺 🗃️ #arthistory #skystorians #ancientbluesky #archaeology #Egypt
Bowl with Human Feet. This simple, round bowl, tipped slightly forward as if to offer its contents, has two such feet solidly attached to its underside
January 14, 2026 at 8:29 AM
simonbralee.com
Jacob Epstein’s Primeval Gods and Sun God from 1910, carved either side of a Hoptonwood stone block. Inspired by the Egyptian sculpture in the British Museum, it is currently on loan from the Met and on display in Tate Britain. International connections.
A relief carving on a square stone block depicting a colossal, monolithicesque human figure facing head on. Its belly contains a tumbling figures and another human figure with hands on head resembling a scarab beetle. A relief carving on a square block of a human figure with stretched out limbs and prominent member male. The figure’s hair emanates from his head like solar rays.
January 18, 2026 at 7:58 PM
simonbralee.com
We all shine on, like the moon and Serapis and the sun.

Oil lamp with image of the god Serapis between a crescent moon and a star or sun. Made in Ephesus, said to be Egyptian, about 100-150 CE. Currently held by British Museum 🏺 #AncientBluesky #Egyptology
A fragmentary mould-made lamp, depicting a bust of the gnarly bearded god Sarapis emerging from a lotus leaves, flanked by a crescent-moon and star or sun.
January 14, 2026 at 8:37 PM
Reposted by Simon Bralee
anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social
#MosaicMonday brings us to #Roman #Carthage in 375 CE, to a well-appointed #domus with a floor #mosaic showing the #seasons and #months. This fragment now in the #BritishMuseum shows #November as a priestess of #Isis, with a #sistrum in her hand. See the ALT text for why. #AncientBluesky 🏺
FLOOR MOSAIC OF THE MONTHS, FRAGMENT WITH NOVEMBER AS ISIS, 375 CE. THE BRITISH MUSEUM This fragment was part of a large floor mosaic depicting the months and seasons, from a wealthy domus in Carthage 2.0, the Roman version, which was the main city of Roman North Africa. The female figure represents November, which we know because she is holding a sistrum, a kind of rattle used in Isaic ceremonies. The main festival for Roman worshippers of Isis was the Isia, which occupied the last days of October and the first day of November. It was a long celebration that may have influenced the Christian feast of Easter: the first days were full of wailing and mourning for the death of Osiris, who had died at the hand of the evil god Set. The body of Osiris was cut into pieces and scattered across Egypt. Isis set out to gather them and reassemble her husband, and November 1 was the Heuresis or "finding", when Osiris returned to life and all was joyous. November 3 was the Hilaria or day of joy.
January 12, 2026 at 2:11 PM
Reposted by Simon Bralee
chapps.bsky.social
This engraved Romano-Egyptian magical gem (green jasper) depicts the Egyptian god and psychopomp Anubis holding an ointment jar and standing over a lion-shaped bier. The mummified body of Osiris lies on top. 💀🏺 #ancientbluesky 1/

100-125 CE. #GettyVilla
📸 me
Oval green jasper gemstone with an engraved scene of the jackal-headed god Anubis standing behind a funerary bier, which is shaped like a striding lion. Anubis holds an ointment jar over the mummified body of his father, Anubis, who is fully wrapped in bandages.
January 11, 2026 at 1:28 AM
Reposted by Simon Bralee
ucl.ac.uk
One month to go… UCL turns 200! 🎉

On 11 February, we kick off #UCL200 – a year of celebrations marking our radical founding in 1826 as London’s first university, open to all. Expect parties, exhibitions, student festivals, art, books, performances, and more.

Get ready!

@uclspeccoll.bsky.social
January 11, 2026 at 2:08 PM
simonbralee.com
Items related to the Egyptian gods found in Tenea, Greece including votive clay mask possibly depicting Harpocrates, an oil lamp with image of Serapis and gold lotus leaves, dated late Hellenistic to Roman period 🏺 #AncientBluesky #Egyptology
Significant New Archaeological Findings in Tenea, Greece - The National Herald
ATHENS – The Greek Ministry of Culture on January 9 announced the results of the systematic excavation of ancient Tenea,… Continue reading Significant New Archaeological Findings in Tenea, Greece
www.thenationalherald.com
January 12, 2026 at 11:04 AM
Reposted by Simon Bralee
theclassicslibrary.bsky.social
Margam park Roman villa find could be 'Port Talbot's Pompeii'

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Margam park Roman villa find could be 'Port Talbot's Pompeii'
The largest Roman villa ever found in Wales lies less than a metre under Margam Country Park.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 12, 2026 at 6:18 AM
simonbralee.com
Article about retrieval of items stolen from the British Museum. 654 out of an estimated 1,500 missing items have been recovered 🏺 #AncientBluesky
Inside the hunt for British Museum’s missing treasures
More than two years have passed since the British Museum revealed it was missing hundreds of precious artefacts. Alex Ross spoke to the man tasked with tracking the prized items down
www.independent.co.uk
January 11, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Reposted by Simon Bralee
sarahebond.bsky.social
January 11, 1897: After finding little, 70 Egyptian workers are sent by Grenfell & Hunt to excavate a trash heap near Oxyrhynchus. They immediately found a fragment of the Gospel of Thomas & 1000s more papyri, proving trash heaps are archaeological treasures. oxyrhynchus.web.ox.ac.uk/waste-paper-...
Workers extracting papyri, photo by Arthur Hunt, probably in 1903; image source: POxy Oxyrhynchus Online
January 11, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Reposted by Simon Bralee
debborahdonnelly.bsky.social
Ancient Greek Sites Serve as Unexpected Havens for Wildlife
#Greece #heritage
greekcitytimes.com/2026/01/09/a...
January 9, 2026 at 2:54 PM
simonbralee.com
“Tech industry sources refer to the process of "Harvest Now, Decrypt Later" to describe how state agencies are believed to be saving all of the worlds encrypted data at home and abroad with the expectation of future generations being able to access it”.
Google Willow: The secrets of the world's most powerful quantum computer
Faisal Islam gets rare access to Willow - Google's quantum computer.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 8, 2026 at 8:16 PM
simonbralee.com
War trumpet in 'shape of a snarling wild animal' and bronze boar head battle standard showing the importance of animals to iron age self presentation. Great discovery. 🏺 #AncientBluesky
‘Extraordinary’ iron age war trumpet find in Britain may have Boudicca links
Bronze instrument or carnyx dug up in Norfolk in area inhabited by Celtic tribe led by warrior who fought Romans
www.theguardian.com
January 7, 2026 at 8:50 AM
simonbralee.com
A bronze figurine of Isis-Tyche-Fortuna holding a steering oar and not one but two cornucopias for double the blessings. Don’t settle for anything less this year.

Roman, 2nd Century CE. British Museum. 🏺 #AncientBluesky #Egyptology
A small bronze unpainted figurine of a standing woman. On her head an elaborate crown consisting of a horned solar headdress topped with two (ostrich) feathers. In her right hand she holds a steering oar, symbolising her patronage of sailors and her role as a guide over humans. In her left hand she holds two cornucopias or possibly torches.
January 1, 2026 at 6:46 PM
Reposted by Simon Bralee
kpw1453.bsky.social
Happy New Year and good fortune to everyone during 2026! Below is a relief of the Roman goddess Fortuna which was found at Castlecary Roman Fort on the Antonine Wall. Now part of the collections at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. 📸 My own. #RomanFortThursday #NewYear
January 1, 2026 at 7:38 AM
Reposted by Simon Bralee
birdsinmuseums.com
Votive Plaque: Swallow (Egypt, Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 BCE)

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
Votive Plaque: Swallow (Egypt, Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 BCE) Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
December 30, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Simon Bralee
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
'Josephine Burton...was recently appointed practitioner in residence at the University of London’s Institute of Classical Studies, where she will be working on a music-theatre project, Songs of Solidarity, to create a collective epic for our time drawing on both Classical and non-Western models.'
Artist-academic collaborations can lead to ‘unexpected magic’
Joint projects require academics to ‘show up and feel a bit uncomfortable’, argues theatre maker who is taking up a new position at the University of London
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 29, 2025 at 1:17 PM
simonbralee.com
This may be how the shepherds appeared at the manger in Bethlehem, those many years ago.

A small statuette of a satyr carrying a goat, Egyptian, 1 or 2 century CE. Held in the British Museum.

🏺 #AncientBluesky #Egyptology
A small terracotta figurine of a naked buff man carrying a large furry creature on his shoulders. It is held on a wooden plaque which states ‘SATYR CARRYING A GOAT. Presented by Rev GJ Chester, 1878’. The object is similar to other images from antiquity of figures carrying a ram on their shoulders (criophoroi).
December 28, 2025 at 1:27 PM
simonbralee.com
Just found out there’s a new movie about Mother Ann Lee and the Shakers to be released in February. Love a bit of millenarianism (and interiors inspo).
Film lookahead: Twenty highlights to watch out for in 2026
We look ahead to 20 notable films to watch for in 2026, from Oscar hopefuls to potential blockbusters.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 28, 2025 at 10:05 AM
simonbralee.com
Highlights from Boxing Day walk around Rainham, initially the site of a Thames ferry (part of a pilgrim route) and later ‘Havering Riviera’ with pleasure trips from London before a fish manure works put stop to it all. A fascinating area with Georgian houses, industry and a bird sanctuary #history
RIBA award winning Rainham Riverside picnic shelter in front of a large factory. View east over the River Thames towards Erith on the South bank. 18th century Georgian building Rainham Hall. The gates and walls are decorated with Christmas wreaths. A yellow Robin Reliant three wheel van with the name ‘Keebles Independent Traders: New York, Paris and Rainham’ on the side. This is inspired by an iconic van from the popular British sitcom Only Fools and Horses, which is shown a lot at Christmas time.
December 27, 2025 at 9:55 AM
simonbralee.com
As I wait for festivities to begin, I am thinking of my favourite Christmas mornings in literature. Nothing beats Oscar and Lucinda when the hero tries a Christmas Pudding against the wishes of his puritanical father who has strong feelings towards “Satan's fruit”.
What’s your favourite? 📚💙
Goodreads quote from Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda “Theophilus Hopkins was a moderately famous man. You can look him up in the 1860 Britannica. There are three full columns about his corals and his corallines, his anemones and starfish. It does not have anything very useful about the man. It does not tell you what he was like. You can read it three times over and never guess that he had any particular attitude to Christmas pudding.”
December 25, 2025 at 11:06 AM
simonbralee.com
1. It has Joe Pesci in it.
2. It has a Christmas tree in it.

It’s a Christmas film.
evansmithhist.bsky.social Evan @evansmithhist.bsky.social · 28d
Goodfellas is a Christmas movie
December 24, 2025 at 8:58 PM
simonbralee.com
For unto us a child is born. Ceramic images of mothers and children from Cyprus, possibly goddesses c. 700-300 BCE. Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates. 🎄 🏺 #AncientBluesky
Two terracotta figurines in the British Museum. At the back, a woman is sat on a seat, possibly a throne. She holds a child in her lap, who wears a large cone hat. At the front, a smaller figurine of a standing woman who holds a simplified baby to her body.
December 24, 2025 at 12:23 PM