#Ancient texts

[thebibliosphere]

One thing I really disliked about being sedated and loopy yesterday was hearing a phone ring and my brain being seized by a meme from over a decade ago, i.e., the banana phone song. Only for my brain to then immediately go, "badger badger badger badger mushroom, mushroom, badger badger badger mushroom, mushroom, badger, badger, badger OOhhoOOHhh it's a SNAKE, OH IT'S A SNAAAAKE, badger, badger, badger, badger-- but I'm le tired. Well have a nap zen fire ze missiles."

Like is this what old age holds for me? My ADHD ass will be in the nursing home telling my great nephew about how I'm a cat, a kitty cat, and I dance, dance, dance and I dance, dance dance" and they'll be like "okay aunt Joy. Let's get you your pills."

[trek-tracks]

You don't understand, this is Real Science

[thesilicontribesman]

'The Jewel Of Antiquity' Roman Inscription Stone, Hunterian Museum, Glasgow

This key object identifies and dates the Antonine Wall. It names Urbicus, who was Governor of Britain from 138/9CE to 143CE. It established that the Forth-Clyde wall was the Antonine Wall. As a result, it was described as "The most invaluable Jewel of Antiquity that ever was found in the Island of Britain".

[blueiscoool]

Herculaneum Scrolls Reveal Plato's Burial Place

Researchers used AI to decipher an ancient papyrus that includes details about where Greek philosopher is buried.

The decipherment of an ancient scroll has revealed where the Greek philosopher Plato is buried, Italian researchers suggest.

Graziano Ranocchia, a philosopher at the University of Pisa, and colleagues used artificial intelligence (AI) to decipher text preserved on charred pieces of papyrus recovered in Herculaneum, an ancient Roman town located near Pompeii, according to a translated statement from Italy's National Research Council.

Like Pompeii, Herculaneum was destroyed in A.D. 79 when Mount Vesuvius erupted, cloaking the region in ash and pyroclastic flows.

One of the scrolls carbonized by the eruption includes the writings of Philodemus of Gadara (lived circa 110 to 30 B.C.), an Epicurean philosopher who studied in Athens and later lived in Italy. This text, known as the "History of the Academy," details the academy that Plato founded in the fourth century B.C. and gives details about Plato's life, including his burial place.

Historians already knew that Plato, the famous student of Socrates who wrote down his teacher's philosophies as well as his own, was buried at the Academy, which the Roman general Sulla destroyed in 86 B.C. But researchers weren't sure exactly where on the school's grounds that Plato, who died in Athens in 348 or 347 B.C., had been laid to rest.

However, with advances in technology, researchers were able to employ a variety of cutting-edge techniques including infrared and ultraviolet optical imaging, thermal imaging and tomography to read the ancient papyrus, which is now part of the collection at the National Library of Naples.

So far, researchers have identified 1,000 words, or roughly 30% of the text written by Philodemus.

"Among the most important news, we read that Plato was buried in the garden reserved for him (a private area intended for the Platonic school) of the Academy in Athens, near the so-called Museion or sacellum sacred to the Muses," researchers wrote in the statement. "Until now it was only known that he was buried generically in the Academy."

The text also detailed how Plato was "sold into slavery" sometime between 404 and 399 B.C. (It was previously thought that this occurred in 387 B.C.)

Another part of the translated text describes a dialogue between characters, in which Plato shows disdain for the musical and rhythmic abilities of a barbarian musician from Thrace, according to the statement.

This isn't the first time that researchers have used AI to read ancient scrolls that survived Mount Vesuvius's eruption. Earlier this year, researchers deciphered a different scroll that was charred during the volcanic eruption at a nearby villa that once belonged to Julius Caesar's father-in-law.

By Jennifer Nalewicki.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[distressednoise]

First lines game

Rules: List the first lines of the last ten (10) stories you published. Look to see any patterns you notice youself and see if anyone else notices any. Then tag some friends. 

Thanks for the tag, @colleybri! I don't think I actually have 10 non-orphaned fics on AO3 because I wrote a tonne on LJ back in the 2000s, never moved it over and transitioned seamlessly to sending people snippets in the group chat and never finishing anything. HOWEVER here is what I haven't orphaned.

I came back just the same (Andor, Brassian)

When he was a boy, Brasso thought his mother knew everyone in the world. 

Back when I was 20 and wrote a lot of fic I had this very ingrained idea that your first line should automatically serve as your fic summary, like if you wouldn't use it as a summary it wasn't strong enough for a first line? Which is wrong but explains why I now work in marketing. Starting with a look into Brasso's family background actually represents ~growth here.

Turn you in and sit you down (Andor, Brassian)

Sometimes Cassian is amazed by the number of things he used to want.

This was the first fic I'd written in literal years and as this is very much the kind of first line/fic summary double dutch line 19 year old me always went for. Still young! Still got it!

A burglar's guide to the city (Guardian, Ye Zun/Zhao Yunlan)

It was the size of the place that made Ye Zun pause. 

This is a very stream of consciousness piece and I wanted to start off with something banal but definitely in the POV; also I am bad at tense slipping so I like a strong tense statement to refer back to when I inevitably confuse myself.

And the sky shrugged off her stars (Star Trek AOS, mostly gen?)

All McCoy knows is, it happened before Kehli.

To be honest I remember being quite proud of this when I wrote it in, uh, 2009, and I don't want to look back at it and find out if it's terrible so I'm just not. That is a sentence. It was the first one. Well done that sentence.

The Hamlet Effect (Hamlet/Torchwood crossover, major pairing bedhopping)

Everyone knew the rift took things. 

I...was not really in either of these fandoms properly when I was assigned this combo in a fic exchange and I think I managed to find a fun tone that fit them and allowed me to take the story in a circuitous route to my own thing and back to the themes of canon. For such a basic first sentence the fic does quickly get VERY squirrelly - I remember getting recs that were like "YOU WILL NOT UNDERSTAND THE FIRST THIRD, STAY WITH IT", and I like to think the simple opening paragraph helps a little.

Still the new world (Merlin, Merlin/Arthur)

The world is young, and Merlin within it, so when he sees the girl floating face-down in the canal he kicks off his shoes without thinking, shrugs off his jacket and leaps in, kicking through reeds and debris until his fingers close on the sodden fabric of her coat. 

When I wasn't writing first lines that predicted my future in marketing, I liked to do a very tonally serious first line leading into a very flippant joke. These days it's 100% pretentious run-on sentence but back in the day it was 50/50 pretentiousness/gags. Maybe Andor S2 will be a joyful romp and the ability to joke will return to me. Maybe?

The battle of Tulgey Wood (Merlin, gen)

“I’m not doing this anymore,” Merlin announced as he wrangled off his armour.

I have a very clear memory of writing this directly into the post box of my blog at the time, which means you can't read anything into it OR it's incredibly diagnostic, take your pic.

Tagging @programmedradly because I think two of these fandoms were actually their fault; @dixie12 @towez @nebulein and anyone else out there who hasn't done this already

[confrontthefamiliar]

"To change your mood or mental state change your vibration. One may change his mental vibrations by an effort of Will, in the direction of deliberately fixing the Attention upon a more desirable state. Will directs the Attention, and Attention changes the Vibration. Cultivate the Art of Attention, by means of the Will, and you have solved the secret of the Mastery of Moods and Mental States." The Kybalion

[igorlevchenko-blog]

Once again rehearsing the classics in preparation for smuggling my "Molaga Grunda" and "Nerevar and Almalexia" paintings through Reddit's notorious NSFW filter.

[imaydeceiveyou]

[thepastisalreadywritten]

[creature-wizard]

Dunno who needs to hear it, but reading your biases into an ancient text while ignoring historical and cultural context does not constitute "finding evidence."

[decadian]

   ashes to ashes

⚢   ⸝   ♰ Dinah. Pillowden's enchantress & local farmer. ଘ꒰ྀི ◞ ᆺິ ◟ྀི꒱

─ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ── ♡ ── ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ──

♡  Private roleplay blog ; part of the Pillowden Webring . Blog is generally not mobile - friendly . Written by Yves .

─ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ── ♡ ── ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ──

 ✧﹒  # verses ─ original posts  ✧﹒  # ancient texts ─ reblogged text  ✧﹒  # gothic art ─ reblogged images  ✧﹒  # spirited ─ ooc

─ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ── ♡ ── ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ──

 ✧﹒  # beloved ─ @xiiiupright  ✧﹒  # mislead ─ @propheticomen  ✧﹒  tba

─ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ── ♡ ── ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ──

   we all fall down

[thesilicontribesman]

Ancient Tombstones, 5th or 6th Century CE, St. Hywyn's Church, Aberdaron, Llŷn Peninsula, Wales

These are the tombstones of two Christian priests of the late 5th or early 6th Century CE. They were found in the valley of the headwaters of the river Saint, near Gors Farm, Mynnydd Annelog.

The reference to "many brethren" on the second stone suggests that they came from the cemetery of a religious community perhaps a monastery.

It is likely that the religious community at Aberdaron was the successor to the one at Anelog and that both had close links with Bardsey Island.

The stones are natural water- worn boulders, the lettering is careful and sophisticated, with usual abbreviations. The men who inscribed these tombstones probably spoke Latin as well as ancient British [pre-Welsh] and lived within the world of Christian classical culture.

[infinitysisters]

“The New Testament in the original Greek is not a work of literary art : it is not written in a solemn, ecclesiastical language, it is written in the sort of Greek which was spoken over the Eastern Mediterranean after Greek had become an international language and therefore lost its real beauty and subtlety.

In it we see Greek used by people who have no real feeling for Greek words because Greek words are not the words they spoke when they were children. It is a sort of “basic” Greek; a language without roots in the soil, a utilitarian, commercial and administrative language. Does this shock us? It ought not to, except as the Incarnation itself ought to shock us.

The same divine humility which decreed that God should become a baby at a peasant-woman’s breast, and later an arrested field-preacher in the hands of the Roman police, decreed also that He should be preached in a vulgar, prosaic and unliterary language. If you can stomach the one, you can stomach the other.

The Incarnation is in that sense an irreverent doctrine: Christianity, in that sense, an incurably irreverent religion. When we expect that it should have come before the World in all the beauty that we now feel in the Authorised Version we are as wide of the mark as the Jews were in expecting that the Messiah would come as a great earthly King.

The real sanctity, the real beauty and sublimity of the New Testament (as of Christ’s life) are of a different sort: miles deeper or further in.”

—

CS Lewis, intro to JB Phillip’s translation of the New Testament letters, 𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘯�� 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴, 1947

[king-of-vertigo]

fuck it. I am sick of having so much oc lore and having it just sit in my brain. so. ((plus I'm pretty busy with art fight atm, I'll be posting attacks soonish?))

time to ramble about toni.

btw, he is on art fight if you wanna draw him >:DD

I put some of the stuff here on his pfp already, but I'm gonna go more in depth. read if you like, ramble is under the cut + a smidge of backstory/headcanons for a couple canon characters <33

I'll start off with a silly fun fact. I made him before I got the second bendy novel where there was a mention of a Mr. Russo. completely unplanned and sheer coincidence-- but it inspired a lot of his lore.

family originates from Italy, it was his grandparents who moved to New York. however, his father was the one to properly find quite well paying work. it was because of that work that Toni was born to a decently well-off family that already had ties in the entertainment industry.

Rodolfo, his dad, often helped direct productions trying to get off the ground, and though he's given up a role in the director seat in more recent times, he still helps financially back certain projects in the industry. a somewhat short-tempered, traditional, and blunt man. not fond of pleasantries unless they're strictly needed, in which case-- he can be quite charming. or at least charming enough. Rodolfo has very high expectations for his son, and found the whole cartoon thing quite childish-- until he realized how much money could be made. he doesn't consider it in the same league as actual movies, and Toni isn't saved from the snarky comments when he comes over for dinner-- but the job pays well enough.

Antonio's mother has been out of the picture for some time now, becoming very sick when Toni was very young-- he doesn't remember much about her, and his dad is quite cagey when discussing the subject. Toni's made peace with it, even if he sometimes mourns the relationship there could have been.

there was still a motherly figure in his life growing up, though. and that came in the form of his aunt, Clara. though she is incredibly kind, make no mistake, she can be fierce when needed. growing up with a brother like Rodolfo, she learned how to push back against loud personalities. Clara is sweet, but honest. she'll comfort and soothe, while also holding whoever accountable. one of Antonio's most trusted confidants, only coming second to Clara's daughter and his cousin, Isabella.

Isabella, while only being his cousin, is loved like a sister. she's a constant source of stability in his life, though as an up and coming actress she can be a bit dramatic. they're a duo, the one who loves the spotlight, and the one who would rather stay behind the scenes. they were joined at the hip as kids, and while both are now busy working adults-- they still find time for each other. Isabella does her best to get Toni out of his shell, and has provided a huge boost in confidence the last few years. she's incredibly quick witted, cheeky, social, and just generally a gem of a human to be around.

Antonio has always been a bit on the quieter side, so as his fascination with movies and cartoons matured, he became really interested in the work that happened off the big screen. specifically in sound effects. how objects were used to make noises for completely different sounding things. him trying to break into such a specific part of the entertainment industry lined up perfectly with Joey expanding his Music Department, though a couple more stars had aligned before to lay the groundwork.

he'd been a fan of Sammy and Jack's shows for at least a year by this point, even if Toni himself wasn't entirely musically or vocally inclined-- there was something so charming about the pair that he couldn't resist. and seeing as they were often hired to play at ritzier parties, Antonio could see them perform on a mildly consistent schedule if he could get himself invited by the right people. of course, his family wasn't infamous by any means, and Toni hated to throw around his last name as leverage... but in this case-- it was a guilty pleasure, and did no real harm to anyone. plus, his family was happy to see him get out more.

the way Antonio ends up getting hired on is-- still in the works. but the idea I'm probably going to go with is this: while Sammy was given full control on who was hired in his department, the people he knew were all very-- refined artists. classical folks. people who performed for the sake of the art, and not for movies and such. Jack had a better hand in it, as I imagine he tried to get a start in comedy, which didn't end up going anywhere. one way or another the name 'Antonio Russo' travels down the grapevine. Sammy is a very critical man, very hard to please. Toni probably still doesn't know what earned him a spot in the studio's employ-- but he's so thankful for it regardless.

I'll maybe make another post about his inky arc, because that's it's own can of worms-- regardless, I'll probably add little pics of his family as I make references for them.

but now-- sleep. cause I am tired. if you read all this, thank you. it means a lot :DD

[santmat]

The Gnostic Christian Writings Read at Oxyrhynchus: https://youtu.be/-x7CPpVNApw?si=_fLCAvNEs9JJMIKi