iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Fans, friends, and followers of Herodotus — any thoughts about my college student repeatedly mentioning “Native Americans” in their assignment about Histories III.99? Passage pictured here for reference.

010

Reposted by Shahrouz, PhD

Andrew Curry @andrewcurry.com · 02/09/2026

Ancient parchments, covered in ancient disease DNA! Researchers led by @ucddublin.bsky.social's @gingerhowley.bsky.social recover the genes of a deadly animal pathogen from medieval manuscripts. @science.org

science.org

Ancient sheep virus found hiding in medieval parchment

Newly recovered sheeppox sequences reveal when and how the virus emerged

615559

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Year after year, semester after semester, before me cometh a fresh flock of students, wide-eyed, hungry, hopeful for what college may offer them, and, LO, they receive through me the sublime revelation that AD does not, in fact, mean After Death. And through this I will cure the earth. Amen.

030

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

What do I do if one of my college students told me today that she remembers seeing her parents watch Game of Thrones when she was a little kid? It’s fine if I’m getting older, but other people aren’t supposed to get so much younger.

050

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Also reminds me of a numismatist friend who told me to never trust a coin with BC minted on it.

000

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

This line in Nolan’s Odyssey movie is sooo funny: “Why are we leaving? If this is the end of the Bronze Age, shouldn't we stay and fight for it?” “Hey fellas, are we wrapping up the prehistoric era yet?” “Omg I think we’re entering Late Antiquity now.” “Mom, I’m being deployed to WWI tomorrow.”

231

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Look, Mom! They’re making comics about medievalists! #medievalsky

2356

Reposted by Shahrouz, PhD

Ticia Verveer @ticiaverveer.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Archaeologists uncovered a medieval notebook from a latrine in the city of Paderborn, W-Germany. The 700 to 800 year old notebook consists of wooden tablets coated in wax and is enclosed within a leather binding decorated with embossed lily motifs 📷LWL/ S. Brentführer www.lwl.org/pressemittei...

28423

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Napoleon famously embraced the *brand new* smallpox vaccine (Edward Jenner had developed the vaccine only a few years before Napoleon first rose to power) and tried to mobilize widespread vaccination for both the citizenry and his troops.

030

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Thank you! This fits the sentence. I appreciate the help.

040

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Looking for help. I'm having trouble with the word in the image. "Per se p...am presentem et sequentem." The ending is "am," following "ecclesiam" in the next line, but I can't piece together something sensible from the rest. "Per se patrimoniam"? The lower stroke in "a" is missing elsewhere.

110

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Although, I would have been astonished to learn that there were a watermark for such early paper...

000

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

The author of the letter was a merchant named Fermin de Posquierius, which was the medieval name for the town Vauvert, located just north-east of Montpellier. However, he was sending the letter from Paris. Someone better equipped to answer your question might take these details into consideration. 😬

130

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

I'm not sure! I haven't looked at the paper in person, and the catalog description doesn't mention a watermark or other identifying characteristics. I'd need to do more digging.

110

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

This letter, addressed to a spice merchant in Montpellier, is dated to the 1250s and written mostly in medieval Occitan. The most compelling part to me is that it's written on paper rather than parchment. Remarkably early example of paper in this region, especially among merchants! #medievalsky

1418

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

The linked video is why I am increasing my level of support for MinnMax. I am blown away by the effort needed to put that together. Absolutely remarkable.

030

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

New semester, same tricks. Except I'm adding more banned phrases. (Yes, the worst political climate for me to be banning speech, but an informal poll of me and me alone revealed that phrases like "since the dawn of time" are heinous.) #medievalsky

180

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Students of history will see the parallels between Reza Pahlavi and Napoleon III. Pahlavi might be far less connected, less capable, and less canny than any Bonaparte, but his claim that he'll "step forward" to "lead this transition" via referendum echoes 1848/1852, down to the royalist backsliding.

010

Reposted by Shahrouz, PhD

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Have a friend, relative, or anonymous internet adversary complaining about the “historical accuracy” of the costumes in Nolan’s upcoming Odyssey film? Let ‘em see how medieval artists depicted ancient subjects—including Homeric stories! This 14th-c. portrayal of the Trojan war will melt their brains

A medieval illumination depicting the Trojan war with anachronistic medieval elements (clothing, armor, buildings, etc.)

171

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Source: BNF fr. 60 f. 77. Full folio here. Bonus: f. 117v with a depiction of Thomas Becket’s assassin—I mean, Paris killing Achilles!

020

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

171

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

The cover in Spanish by the Gipsy Kings is also phenomenal youtu.be/u1jJ7SA3j1U?...

youtu.be

Gipsy Kings - Hotel California

YouTube video by Paulo Augusto

140

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Jokes aside, can a non-satirical outlet write an article like this about feudalism? The public must be informed.

000

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Who let this slip? Just wait till they discover the truth about the Vikings...

110

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

In my third decade of life, I realized that referring to Superman and his love interest by their first names results in Lois and Clark. Intentional or not, this fact has been on my mind without interruption for about 36 hours and counting.

020

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Please pay your comic artists so they can keep drawing panels like this. #AbsoluteBatman

021

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

The teachers "mistakenly taught their students about the wrong Roman ruler — Augustus Caesar instead of his predecessor, Julius Caesar." Were the teachers not suspicious of the fact that their Caesar managed to live into old age and died in a much less perforated state? apnews.com/article/aust...

apnews.com

Studying the wrong ancient Roman ruler gets Australian high school seniors out of a history exam

Teachers at nine high schools in northeastern Australia discovered days before an ancient history exam that they had mistakenly taught their students about the wrong Roman ruler — Augustus Caesar inst...

152

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

I should be grading, which of course means I have exhausted every possible route on the internet to learn about arrowheads made from meteorites, including the Mörigen Arrowhead, found in Estonia and thought to have been made from one of the Kaali meteorites nearly 3,000 years ago.

070

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

I'll read anything with your name on it. Sorry if I missed it—what's the ETA for this one? Super excited.

000

Reposted by Shahrouz, PhD

Pieter Beullens @pieterbeullens.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Averroes, Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics: fragment from a MS of the Latin translation by Michael Scot (Copenhagen, KB, Fragm. 1091) www5.kb.dk/manus/vmanus...

0294

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

It’s surprising what a battered belly craves!

020

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

I would like to share my recent discovery that a McDonald's Big Mac combo is not a wise choice as the very first meal after a stomach bug.

110

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Reviving this quote from the historian Marc Bloch, killed in 1944 while resisting the Nazis in France. #medievalsky "I think our country sinks beneath the yoke. It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash Is added to her wounds." (Macbeth, 4.3.45-47)

042

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

I have similar feelings when people drop the “rouz” from my name.

110

Reposted by Shahrouz, PhD

Game Informer @gameinformer.com · 25/03/2025

Game Informer is back! The entire team is returning and we can't wait to reconnect. Come join us to celebrate the best in games, the people who make games, and the people who play games from all around the world. www.gameinformer.com/letter-from-...

30361541715

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

I wish I could be that disciplined

000

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Is the Early Modern period a black hole of history? As a medievalist, I am frequently exhilarated and dismayed by how often I encounter something seemingly important but totally unknown to me when venturing past my curfew of 1499.

160

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

I'm amazed by the efforts of the staff at The Getty Villa @gettymuseum.bsky.social to protect the museum during the Palisades Fire. youtu.be/dbt4p7xMfk8?...

youtu.be

Getty Villa employees recount how they raced to save the museum from the Palisades Fire

YouTube video by ABC7

011

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

I've finally done it. The instructions for the papers in my undergraduate history courses explicitly prohibit the use of the phrase "throughout human history." But will it be enough? #medievalsky

5201

Reposted by Shahrouz, PhD

Pew Pew Bang! @pewpewbang.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

PROJECT REVEAL! We're a video game podcast where every episode is a slumber party. Tune in every other Monday to hear four women from around the game industry talk games, stories, & life advice. Spotify: tinyurl.com/59rxjh4w Apple: tinyurl.com/276vpwcx YouTube: tinyurl.com/bdcpca4k

2344186

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

I spent far too much time trying to figure out why there was a photo of Benicio del Toro in a story about a Nintendo veteran.

000

Reposted by Shahrouz, PhD

Lucy Pick @lucykpick.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Very sorry to learn of the death of medieval historian Walter Goffart, who was a friend and an inspiration.

3195

Reposted by Shahrouz, PhD

Daniel Siemens @danielsiemens.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Bob (R.I.) Moore, Professor @newcastleuni.bsky.social for many years, died this morning. He leaves behind an impressive body of academic work, including his masterpiece “The First European Revolution, c. 970-1215”. He was also a pioneer of comparative world history. We will sorely miss him.

316626

Shahrouz, PhD @parchmentwizard.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Norm Macdonald was my coach for a youth basketball league. His son Dylan was on my team.

120