NM Betancur
@nmbetancur.bsky.social
art & architectural historian / visual, material & religious culture
Reposted by NM Betancur
This bronze head of a goddess with her spooky, hypnotic inlaid silver eyes, will be roaming the shadows tonight on All Hallows Eve! Still looking for her body, 2,000 years later … 😱 🏺 1/
Hellenistic, 150-100 BCE, Mersin, Turkey. #BritishMuseum
📸 me
Hellenistic, 150-100 BCE, Mersin, Turkey. #BritishMuseum
📸 me
October 30, 2025 at 2:14 PM
This bronze head of a goddess with her spooky, hypnotic inlaid silver eyes, will be roaming the shadows tonight on All Hallows Eve! Still looking for her body, 2,000 years later … 😱 🏺 1/
Hellenistic, 150-100 BCE, Mersin, Turkey. #BritishMuseum
📸 me
Hellenistic, 150-100 BCE, Mersin, Turkey. #BritishMuseum
📸 me
Reposted by NM Betancur
Cruck frame barn, dated c 1550, from Llanerch Banna (Flint) and now at St Fagans National Museum of History.
Such curved timbers known as crucks will feature a fair bit in my upcoming online talk on 25 Nov, Dating Ancient Buildings.
Booking is now open.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dating-anc...
Such curved timbers known as crucks will feature a fair bit in my upcoming online talk on 25 Nov, Dating Ancient Buildings.
Booking is now open.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dating-anc...
October 29, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Cruck frame barn, dated c 1550, from Llanerch Banna (Flint) and now at St Fagans National Museum of History.
Such curved timbers known as crucks will feature a fair bit in my upcoming online talk on 25 Nov, Dating Ancient Buildings.
Booking is now open.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dating-anc...
Such curved timbers known as crucks will feature a fair bit in my upcoming online talk on 25 Nov, Dating Ancient Buildings.
Booking is now open.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dating-anc...
Reposted by NM Betancur
This is a big deal. Kudos to @mfaboston.bsky.social for its actions. The institution is proving an important precedent for the restitution of objects that others should follow. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/u...
Enslaved Potter’s Art, Displayed at Boston Museum, Returns to Heirs at Last
www.nytimes.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:24 PM
This is a big deal. Kudos to @mfaboston.bsky.social for its actions. The institution is proving an important precedent for the restitution of objects that others should follow. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/u...
Reposted by NM Betancur
ICYMI: Drop everything and spend 13 minutes with Amy Sherald--with her singular vision and talent, with her clarity about her central place in the jagged American story. You will be stirred by it all. www.cbsnews.com/video/amy-sh...
Artist Amy Sherald: The 60 Minutes Interview
Amy Sherald spent years painting in obscurity, and almost died from a rare heart condition. Now 52, the artist behind Michelle Obama's official portrait is one of America's most celebrated painters.
www.cbsnews.com
October 26, 2025 at 6:39 PM
ICYMI: Drop everything and spend 13 minutes with Amy Sherald--with her singular vision and talent, with her clarity about her central place in the jagged American story. You will be stirred by it all. www.cbsnews.com/video/amy-sh...
Reposted by NM Betancur
Mên-an-Tol is probably from the Bronze Age, making it around 3,500 years old (little evidence has been found). It consists of four stones, the most unusual being the circular and pierced upright stone. The other three stones are more regular granite pillars. #StandingStoneSunday
October 26, 2025 at 4:48 AM
Mên-an-Tol is probably from the Bronze Age, making it around 3,500 years old (little evidence has been found). It consists of four stones, the most unusual being the circular and pierced upright stone. The other three stones are more regular granite pillars. #StandingStoneSunday
Reposted by NM Betancur
Children loved to play with toys in #Roman times too: some 1,800 years ago, a child in Cologne was buried with a terracotta horse with a rider on wheels. It was certainly a much-loved which the child was also supposed to play with in the afterlife.
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
September 29, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Children loved to play with toys in #Roman times too: some 1,800 years ago, a child in Cologne was buried with a terracotta horse with a rider on wheels. It was certainly a much-loved which the child was also supposed to play with in the afterlife.
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
Radiolarians are still largely unknown, but it is believed that they hold information about the evolution of life on Earth and how climatic conditions have changed over time.
lithub.com/how-the-disc...
lithub.com/how-the-disc...
How the Discovery of Single-Celled Marine Organisms Resulted in One of the Most Influential Illustrated Books Ever Published
No creatures from the microscopic world have managed to captivate the human imagination as authoritatively as radiolarians. Since the late nineteenth century, they’ve made their existence known in …
lithub.com
October 28, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Radiolarians are still largely unknown, but it is believed that they hold information about the evolution of life on Earth and how climatic conditions have changed over time.
lithub.com/how-the-disc...
lithub.com/how-the-disc...
Reposted by NM Betancur
😴Hypnos, the personification of sleep💤
We’re celebrating all the delights of restful slumber with this beautiful bronze head of Hypnos (not sure about where the rest of the body may be!).
#ReliefWednesday #ClassicsTober25 #AncientGreece
We’re celebrating all the delights of restful slumber with this beautiful bronze head of Hypnos (not sure about where the rest of the body may be!).
#ReliefWednesday #ClassicsTober25 #AncientGreece
October 1, 2025 at 7:46 AM
😴Hypnos, the personification of sleep💤
We’re celebrating all the delights of restful slumber with this beautiful bronze head of Hypnos (not sure about where the rest of the body may be!).
#ReliefWednesday #ClassicsTober25 #AncientGreece
We’re celebrating all the delights of restful slumber with this beautiful bronze head of Hypnos (not sure about where the rest of the body may be!).
#ReliefWednesday #ClassicsTober25 #AncientGreece
Reposted by NM Betancur
"To be human is to be emotional. And if we strip that when we tell our story, we’re doing ourselves a disservice." Paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi, who hosts the BBC and NOVA PBS docuseries “Human,” leans into the complex and dramatic sides of early humans' history: buff.ly/9nWuXng
October 28, 2025 at 11:37 AM
"To be human is to be emotional. And if we strip that when we tell our story, we’re doing ourselves a disservice." Paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi, who hosts the BBC and NOVA PBS docuseries “Human,” leans into the complex and dramatic sides of early humans' history: buff.ly/9nWuXng
Reposted by NM Betancur
My book is now officially out - a little early!
And what luck, you can now get it for 50% off (Or for 40% off after this sale ends with code E25KTRST)
#ancientbluesky #classicsbluesky #byzantinebluesky
And what luck, you can now get it for 50% off (Or for 40% off after this sale ends with code E25KTRST)
#ancientbluesky #classicsbluesky #byzantinebluesky
Duke Press sale! 50% off! FALL25! get @maiakotro.bsky.social's book for a steal!
www.dukeupress.edu/after-transf...
www.dukeupress.edu/after-transf...
After Transformation: A Lyrical History of Christian Late Antiquity
www.dukeupress.edu
October 21, 2025 at 11:52 AM
My book is now officially out - a little early!
And what luck, you can now get it for 50% off (Or for 40% off after this sale ends with code E25KTRST)
#ancientbluesky #classicsbluesky #byzantinebluesky
And what luck, you can now get it for 50% off (Or for 40% off after this sale ends with code E25KTRST)
#ancientbluesky #classicsbluesky #byzantinebluesky
Reposted by NM Betancur
I particular like the colours of Vesuvius looking as though someone has fashioned it out of a lump of smooshed-together-different-coloured Play-Doh.
October 25, 2025 at 11:47 AM
I particular like the colours of Vesuvius looking as though someone has fashioned it out of a lump of smooshed-together-different-coloured Play-Doh.
Reposted by NM Betancur
It's time for a timeline cleanse!
A small Corinthian aryballos in the shape of an owl (circa 630 BC). It served as a perfume container.
On display at Antikensammlung München
A lovely Sunday to all of you 🌞
📷 me
A small Corinthian aryballos in the shape of an owl (circa 630 BC). It served as a perfume container.
On display at Antikensammlung München
A lovely Sunday to all of you 🌞
📷 me
October 26, 2025 at 8:07 AM
It's time for a timeline cleanse!
A small Corinthian aryballos in the shape of an owl (circa 630 BC). It served as a perfume container.
On display at Antikensammlung München
A lovely Sunday to all of you 🌞
📷 me
A small Corinthian aryballos in the shape of an owl (circa 630 BC). It served as a perfume container.
On display at Antikensammlung München
A lovely Sunday to all of you 🌞
📷 me
Reposted by NM Betancur
It is a little known fact that tonight's clock re-adjustment was pioneered by German-British artist Frank Auerbach, to the great dismay of the proponent of the original change, politician Konrad Adenauer
October 25, 2025 at 12:16 PM
It is a little known fact that tonight's clock re-adjustment was pioneered by German-British artist Frank Auerbach, to the great dismay of the proponent of the original change, politician Konrad Adenauer
Reposted by NM Betancur
That magical moment when the pumice is gently cleared away revealing, for the first time in nearly 2000 years, a white mosaic.
#MosaicMonday #Pompeii
#MosaicMonday #Pompeii
September 22, 2025 at 10:54 AM
That magical moment when the pumice is gently cleared away revealing, for the first time in nearly 2000 years, a white mosaic.
#MosaicMonday #Pompeii
#MosaicMonday #Pompeii
Reposted by NM Betancur
#TerracottaTuesday
Two little baby feeders c. 320 BC, both made in Sicily, then Magna Graecia.
One Gnathian (style from Apulia) w ivy chain decoration; one w hippocamp figures.
And who wouldn't want to feed their baby through a mouse's tail??
#Ancient #Greek #Pottery 🏺
BM
Two little baby feeders c. 320 BC, both made in Sicily, then Magna Graecia.
One Gnathian (style from Apulia) w ivy chain decoration; one w hippocamp figures.
And who wouldn't want to feed their baby through a mouse's tail??
#Ancient #Greek #Pottery 🏺
BM
October 21, 2025 at 9:36 AM
#TerracottaTuesday
Two little baby feeders c. 320 BC, both made in Sicily, then Magna Graecia.
One Gnathian (style from Apulia) w ivy chain decoration; one w hippocamp figures.
And who wouldn't want to feed their baby through a mouse's tail??
#Ancient #Greek #Pottery 🏺
BM
Two little baby feeders c. 320 BC, both made in Sicily, then Magna Graecia.
One Gnathian (style from Apulia) w ivy chain decoration; one w hippocamp figures.
And who wouldn't want to feed their baby through a mouse's tail??
#Ancient #Greek #Pottery 🏺
BM
Reposted by NM Betancur
Un paysage sur Mars, capturé par le rover Perseverance !
©NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/ASU/NeV-T
©NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/ASU/NeV-T
October 21, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Un paysage sur Mars, capturé par le rover Perseverance !
©NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/ASU/NeV-T
©NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/ASU/NeV-T
Reposted by NM Betancur
Here are three wonderfully preserved Roman shoes that were discovered at Bar Hill Roman fort on the Antonine Wall in Scotland in the early 1900s. Shoes made for men, women and children have been found there, reminding us that frontier zones were not an exclusively military environment. #FindsFriday
October 10, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Here are three wonderfully preserved Roman shoes that were discovered at Bar Hill Roman fort on the Antonine Wall in Scotland in the early 1900s. Shoes made for men, women and children have been found there, reminding us that frontier zones were not an exclusively military environment. #FindsFriday
Reposted by NM Betancur
The engraved entrance stone to the famous Neolithic passage tomb of Newgrange at County Meath in Ireland. 📸 My own. #TombTuesday #Newgrange #Prehistory #Ireland
October 21, 2025 at 6:20 AM
The engraved entrance stone to the famous Neolithic passage tomb of Newgrange at County Meath in Ireland. 📸 My own. #TombTuesday #Newgrange #Prehistory #Ireland
Reposted by NM Betancur
For #FindsFriday just a few of the fabulous Viking age beads discovered at Haithabu/ Hedeby - 📷 Schloss Gottorf Museum.
October 17, 2025 at 10:05 AM
For #FindsFriday just a few of the fabulous Viking age beads discovered at Haithabu/ Hedeby - 📷 Schloss Gottorf Museum.
Reposted by NM Betancur
Broch-tastic news. Taking experimental #archaeology to the extreme! Such a fantastic project, great news for #Caithness and Scottish archaeology. #IronAge #Broch #Scotland
www.northern-times.co.uk/news/scotlan...
www.northern-times.co.uk/news/scotlan...
Scotland’s first new broch for 2000 years wins planning approval
The approval of the Caithness Broch Project’s plans represents a major milestone for their bid to build a “faithful replica” on a site near Latheron.
www.northern-times.co.uk
October 21, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Broch-tastic news. Taking experimental #archaeology to the extreme! Such a fantastic project, great news for #Caithness and Scottish archaeology. #IronAge #Broch #Scotland
www.northern-times.co.uk/news/scotlan...
www.northern-times.co.uk/news/scotlan...
Helen Levitt adopted children's play as her leitmotif, the imaginative play of children taking over city spaces.
N.Y.C. Masked Children
1942
Gelatin silver print
6 1/2 × 8 7/8"
Holden Luntz Gallery
#helenlevitt #streetphotography #nmbetancur #halloween
www.holdenluntz.com/artists/hele...
N.Y.C. Masked Children
1942
Gelatin silver print
6 1/2 × 8 7/8"
Holden Luntz Gallery
#helenlevitt #streetphotography #nmbetancur #halloween
www.holdenluntz.com/artists/hele...
October 23, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Helen Levitt adopted children's play as her leitmotif, the imaginative play of children taking over city spaces.
N.Y.C. Masked Children
1942
Gelatin silver print
6 1/2 × 8 7/8"
Holden Luntz Gallery
#helenlevitt #streetphotography #nmbetancur #halloween
www.holdenluntz.com/artists/hele...
N.Y.C. Masked Children
1942
Gelatin silver print
6 1/2 × 8 7/8"
Holden Luntz Gallery
#helenlevitt #streetphotography #nmbetancur #halloween
www.holdenluntz.com/artists/hele...
Reposted by NM Betancur
For #MosaicMonday this fantastic photo of a mosaic (and a lovely fish 🐟) that was discovered in the submerged ruins of #Roman Baiae.
Photo: Parco Archeologico Campi Flegrei
Photo: Parco Archeologico Campi Flegrei
August 18, 2025 at 7:44 AM
For #MosaicMonday this fantastic photo of a mosaic (and a lovely fish 🐟) that was discovered in the submerged ruins of #Roman Baiae.
Photo: Parco Archeologico Campi Flegrei
Photo: Parco Archeologico Campi Flegrei
Reposted by NM Betancur
"The dog understands: 'Take it!' It does not understand: 'Put it down!'" True 3,900 years ago when a young Mesopotamian scribe copied the proverb onto a round school tablet; still true today! #cuneiform #Mesopotamia #dogs Tablet: BM U.17207.77, CDLI P346305; sculpture: Louvre AO 4349, CDLI P386356
August 13, 2025 at 11:17 PM
"The dog understands: 'Take it!' It does not understand: 'Put it down!'" True 3,900 years ago when a young Mesopotamian scribe copied the proverb onto a round school tablet; still true today! #cuneiform #Mesopotamia #dogs Tablet: BM U.17207.77, CDLI P346305; sculpture: Louvre AO 4349, CDLI P386356
Reposted by NM Betancur
The FBI has returned a priceless manuscript page signed by Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes to Mexico.
FBI returns stolen Hernán Cortés manuscript to Mexico
The FBI has returned a priceless manuscript page signed by Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés to Mexico.
bit.ly
August 14, 2025 at 3:00 AM
The FBI has returned a priceless manuscript page signed by Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes to Mexico.
Reposted by NM Betancur
Rosemary Sweet and I have written a book about #18thc British travellers to Spain and Portugal, and I'm really happy it's now free to download here: uclpress.co.uk/book/no-coun... (hard copies also available!) #skystorians #c18th
No Country for Travellers?
No Country for Travellers? explores the rise and nature of British travel to Spain and Portugal between 1760 and 1820, across a region that is conventionally overlooked in studies of British travel to...
uclpress.co.uk
August 15, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Rosemary Sweet and I have written a book about #18thc British travellers to Spain and Portugal, and I'm really happy it's now free to download here: uclpress.co.uk/book/no-coun... (hard copies also available!) #skystorians #c18th