Hanes Johansson @hane-s.bsky.social · 25/08/2026A terracotta bust of a goddess from Falerii Veteres, modern Civita Castellana, north of Rome, made around 380 BC. She wears a heavy diadem and a peplos falling in fine folds, and the original paint is still on her. 0102
Hanes Johansson @hane-s.bsky.social · 23/08/2026A gold ring, late fourth century BC, from Crete. The device is not a god, not an animal, not a hero. It is an arrowhead. Cretan archers were the most wanted light infantry in the ancient world. Alexander hired them. Carthage hired them. Rome hired them for centuries afterwards. 051
Hanes Johansson @hane-s.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Black-figure pottery, used on many famous Greek vases, wasn’t invented in Athens. It originated in Corinth around 700 BC, first on small perfume bottles. Figures were painted as silhouettes, then details scratched through before firing. Athens later adopted the technique and took the fame. 0132
Hanes Johansson @hane-s.bsky.social · 19/08/2026For ancient Egypt, the scarab beetle is one of the most important symbols. Scarabs represent rebirth and protection, a fundamental symbol of life. 040
Hanes Johansson @hane-s.bsky.social · 17/08/2026In Mesopotamian theology, Ishtar, associated with Venus, is the daughter of Sîn, the Moon god. Sîn governs lunar cycles and time, while Ishtar embodies love, war, kingship, and Venus’s changing brilliance. Together, they represent the heavens’ rhythms of recurrence, disappearance, and return. 150
Hanes Johansson @hane-s.bsky.social · 16/08/202616th-century art showing Alexander the Great in a glass diving bell to fight boredom and observe underwater sea monsters is peak historical fantasy. 060
