iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I love these double herm figures in greek pentelic marble…this one shows two men - bearded guy one side and beardless on the other, likely two intellectuals - no knowledge on who…my guess is from opposing political/philosophical standpoints. c. 120 CE. National Archaeology Museum Naples Italy.

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Iris, the messenger goddess - equivalent of an angel in Hebrew Bible. Wonderfully carved c450 BCE. Her wings made separately in bronze and long since lost. Drapery clings to her body, beautifully defining her breast and abdomen, before billowing & flowing as if by the wind. Incredible artistry

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Egyptian book of the dead papyrus …which includes much of the 10 commandments - on murder, theft, adultery and lying/false witness. It also has looser parallels to not coveting and not disrespecting deity…originally written 1550 BCE, this example dates back to c. 100 BCE - Historisk Museum, Oslo.

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Norway’s oldest wheel…found in 2003 and dated to c. 400 BCE

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Arguably, earliest eg of ‘revenge porn’. c1050 BCE King Ashur-bel-kala sent versions of this statue around his kingdom, over 3,000 years ago. The only surviving example shows a completely naked woman. The inscription suggests viewers would know who she was meant to be and “laugh at her expense”.

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

The new, Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo - a wonderful museum, brilliantly designed and absolutely jam-packed with Egyptian history #archaeology #cairo #tutankhamun #GEM

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Petra - the ancient Nabataean city in Southern Jordan. A UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New 7 Wonders of the World #petra #archaeology

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

The worst accident that could happen to potters is for the temp to rise in the kiln to ‘melting’ what they had crafted for days. Nabataean potters used agricultural waste - esp olive pressings - to fire their kilns; wind would have caused such unexpected rise in temperature. 3rd century CE.

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

Bronze statue of Artemis, swept by a flood, in a side wadi near Petra's city centre. The only known large cast-bronze statue from Petra; melting metal objects during this era was common practice. She was probably portrayed holding down an animal with her knee. Petra/ Roman period (2nd century CE)

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

Antikythera mechanism @ Athens Archaeological museum #antikythera #archaeology

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

This 1st - 3rd CE lagynos jug caught my eye in the Archaeological museum in Tirana, Albania

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

King Idrimi of Alalakh…the oldest autobiography in the world and the first cuneiform written mention of “Canaan”. #Idrimi #canaan #habiru #hebrew #BritishMuseum

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Zeus or Poseidon…was it a thunderbolt or a trident in his hand originally, which would have provided the much needed insight…I go for Zeus personally. 460 BCE. @Archeological Museum Athens

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Found in the 'House of the Poseidoniastai of Beryttos' (Beirut), Delos. Aphrodite attempts to fend off the goat-footed god Pan who makes erotic advances to her. She holds her sandal threateningly in her right hand, while the winged god Eros comes to her aid. About 100 BCE.

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

DISCOBOLUS Roman, 2nd century CE. It would’ve been copied from a Greek statue from c.500 BCE. Romans loved the Greek works. This statue was discovered in 1791 in the Villa of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (AD 117-138) at Tivoli outside Rome. @BritishMuseum

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

King Idrimi’s cuneiform inscription tells his dramatic rise from exile. Forced to flee with his mum’s family, he sought refuge in Canaan. There, he lived among the Habiru, who some scholars believe were early Hebrews. 7 years later, Idrimi reclaimed his land as king of Alalakh. 1570 - 1500 BCE.

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

Gold Indo-Pacific nautilus associated with the Avars, nomads who migrated west from the northeast Asian Steppe. In the late 700s, Charlemagne waged war against them. Treasures like this bankrolled Charlemagne's imperial ambitions, including gold ink used in some luxury Carolingian manuscripts. 750CE

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

4 x dwarf god Bes, guardian of mothers and infants. Brandishing sword while seizing a snake. A ferocious protector of the family, relied on to ward off evil. Featured at shrines concerned with childbirth and sexuality, and his powers served humans as well as the gods. 1st century BCE #BritishMuseum

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

Jewish community of Fustat (Cairo's earlier twin city) placed all old texts in a geniza, in the synagogue. Not to dispose of anything with the name of God in, they kept over 400,000 texts…Bibles, private letters, bills, slave receipts etc …over 400,000 texts from spain to India. From c.900 CE. #BM

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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Some things never change! A 2,000 year-old Roman souvenir pen with a joke inscription roughly equivalent to: “I went to Rome and all I got you was this cheap pen!" 😂 Dated to about 70 AD, this iron stylus pen was found in London during excavations by MOLA. 📷 MOLA #EpigraphyTuesday #Archaeology

The photo shows a Roman iron stylus pen used to write on wax-filled wooden writing tablets. It has an inscription which runs along its length on four sides. The image shows the four lines of inscribed text which read:

‘ab urbe v[e]n[i] munus tibi
gratum adf(e)ro acul[eat]um ut habe[a]s memor[ia]m nostra(m) rogo si fortuna dar[e]t quo possem largius ut longa via ceu sacculus est (v)acuus’

‘I have come from the City. I bring you a welcome gift
with a sharp point that you may remember me. I ask, if fortune allowed, that I might be able (to give)
as generously as the way is long (and) as my purse is empty.’

Excavated in London by MOLA. Photo by Juan Jose Fuldain/MOLA

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

The Book of the Fixed Stars 964 CE. describing northern and southern constellations, and constellations of the zodiac. The author, al-Sufi, produced dual illustrations of constellations - the upper image as portrayed on a celestial globe, and the lower as viewed directly in the night sky.

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs by Jean François Champollion - 1824. The first stages of his Rosetta Stone understanding. Showing both the hieroglyphic and the later Demotic alphabet, allowing him to start reading texts. #archaeology #BritishMuseum

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

4 figures of the Egyptian dwarf god Bes, guardian of mothers and infants, brandishes a sword while seizing a snake. A ferocious protector of the family, much relied upon to ward off evil. Seen at shrines for childbirth and sexuality: his powers served humans & gods. 1st century BCE #archaeology #BM

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Temple of Mithras built here underneath Bloomberg’s offices, on the banks of the Walbrook river, around AD 240, in the ancient Roman city known as Londinium….quite a cult, males only…

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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 13/01/2025

Suzie Imber is a co-investigator for the BepiColombo mission, currently on its way to Mercury. She explains how it will cast new light on the planet's many oddities, from its massive core to its epic solar storms. www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...

newscientist.com

The space physicist on a mission to discover why Mercury has shrunk

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

The Red Lady of Paviland …actually a Man…and the oldest ceremonial burial in Britain. 32,000 BCE. Found in between Port Eynon and Rhossili now in a surprisingly non-descript museum case at Oxford University Natural History Museum #archaeology #archeology

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

Sumerian proverbs tablet still relevant - written over 4000 years ago: In the city where there are no dogs, the fox is boss. A malicious wife living in the house is worse than all diseases. He who possesses many things is constantly on guard. One does not return borrowed bread #Ashmolean museum

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Babylonian map of the world - shown in bird's-eye view as a disc surrounded by a ring labelled 'bitter-river. Babylon straddles the Euphrates. Beyond edge of the known world is mountain where the Ark landed after the Flood beyond Urartu (Ararat in Hebrew bible), where I’m pointing to. @BM c 650 BCE

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Icarios seen holding the reins of an ox-driven double wheeled cart, filled with sacks of wine. Further to the right, there are two shepherds in a state of inebriation. Writing says “the First Wine Drinkers” - House of Dionysus, Paphos, ….wine here so good, big change over last 20yrs. #mosaicmonday

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Picrolite cruciform figurines and pendants found at various sites in Cyprus 3900-2400 BCE - Cruciform figurines evolved from Neolithic prototypes and became the iconic type of figurative art on the island - 3400-2800 BCE. Precursor seeds of the christian motif. #archaeology #neolithic #cruciform

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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

Turns out you can be the richest man in the world *and* so cravenly hungry for adulation that, when all else fails, you’ll beg for it from the very worst of your fellow humans. Musk’s interest in the U.K. is directly proportionate to the volume of our far right Twitter. The ultimate simp symbiosis.

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

Geometric Mosaic floor Late 2nd/early 3rd cent. CE . Nea Paphos Archaeological Site. #MosaicMonday

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Marble statue of Aphrodite Anadyomene, found in the sea near the Paphos Lighthouse. Late Hellenistic period (2nd/1st c. BCE)

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

Medical ingenuity from the 1st C BCE! Clay vessels, shaped like body parts, served as ancient hot water bottles. Found in Paphos, used for therapeutic heat treatments, relieving pain, rheumatism and cramps in a pioneering medical center. Ancient healthcare at its finest! #archaeology #archeology

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

Copper safety-pin (1200 BCE) found in Paphos…designed for longevity - over 3000 years and still relevant and effective

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Helsbels @helenus3.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

With a few more balls in evidence 😅

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

⚽ England or Scotland? Who invented football? England codified the rules in 1863. Scotland shaped the modern passing game in the 1870s. Could the answer lie further back? Ancient Greece had a game called Episkyros 🇬🇷🤔 400-375 BCE #archaeology #archeology #greece

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michaeljflynn @michaeljflynn.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

The Rosetta Stone. Written in 196 BCE. Deciphered in 1822 CE. The key to understanding 4000 years of ancient Egyptian history!

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Chris Stringer @chrisbstringer.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Far from triumphantly breezing out of Africa, modern humans went extinct many times before going on to populate the world, new studies have revealed www.bbc.com/news/article...

bbc.com

Humans may not have survived without Neanderthals

A new DNA analysis has shown that the arrival of modern humans from Africa was far from smooth.

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