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Robert Frost

@rfrost1.bsky.social
82 followers 108 following 44 posts

Historical Geographer and historian of ideas, esp on history of Egyptology. Researching how Egyptologists use maps. Leverhulme Fellow at University of Leicester. Moving from Twitter > Bluesky.

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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Amongst much appalling news about Trump's war, I think this wins the award for the last thing anyone would think of doing (after public money has been spent flying them out) www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Wealthy British nationals fleeing Gulf conflict bypass UK to avoid tax bills
High-net-worth residents of UAE heading to Ireland and France to wait out missile attacks before tax year ends
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Having recently exchanged thoughts about criticism over human remains in UK collections, I hope this is not where we are heading (though there are some quite concerning parts about S Asian 1980s human remains trading, used to create part of this). Governance (or lack of it) is an issue here.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
If you look hard enough, there's a Victorian mega-project for every occasion it seems! What could possibly go wrong with oil tankers heading for the Mediterranean via the Orontes?
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
By "good and bad practice": we need to distinguish between human remains dating back millennia (which are treated in much the same way whether in the UK or Egypt) from some of the unethically collected human tissue samples in anthropological collections.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Thanks for sharing. I saw the article (with "war on museums" theme) but not the letter: very well considered. One thing I'd add is that every article on this subject has an Egyptian mummy picture and, whilst it's clearly making headlines, it's impeding us from distinguishing good and bad practice.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
New (short) article in @uk.theconversation.com: here, I explore why many British people (esp academics it seems) in Egypt and the Middle East wore indigenous dress in the C19th/ C20th. Cultural appropriation doesn't capture everything. theconversation.com/cultural-app...
theconversation.com
Cultural appropriation? How westerners have worn Indigenous clothing for a variety of reasons throughout history
The famous images of T.E. Lawrence in Arab robes in the second decade of the 20th century reveal a radical act of solidarity with another culture.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Let's hope so, especially for those seeking "fiscal optimization" yet still expect to be given priority in evacuations ahead of the millions who will actually suffer from all this. Good set of posts though.
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Nick Millea @milleanick.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Our next season for The Oxford Seminars in Cartography ... #TOSCA @bodleian.ox.ac.uk @oxfordgeography.bsky.social Register at: visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/tosca More info at: www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/maps/tosca @bcsmaps.bsky.social @ordnancesurvey.bsky.social 1st speaker is @drpragyaagarwal.bsky.social
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Legend has it that one of the departmental geographers liaised with the architect who designed the Nottingham room, because he (cynically?) suspected estates might remove freestanding cabinets to free up space. So he had them built into the walls, floor to ceiling, making them hard to take away.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Robert Morkot is sadly no longer with us. Three months ago he was as energetic as ever, sharing research on forgotten byways on the history of Egyptology, keen to talk about anything I wanted to do so. His Black Pharaohs, was a key postcolonial work before we came up with the term. Rest in peace.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Not many of these places left unfortunately. Nottingham is an exception and the brilliant cartographer there, Elaine Watts, was showing me some maps last summer. It got "rediscovered" a few years ago after central timetabling tried to get their hands on the room...
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Can you give a clue to the nearest order of magnitude?
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
At least they have got Ukraine correct.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
Brilliant! Do you mind sharing who you went with and whether you needed extra insulation? Asking for a friend.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Congratulations Richard!
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
I certainly had no idea that author names get translated before today!
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Matthew Kressel @matthewkressel.net · 12/08/2025
The absurdity of their argument is basically: "It's too hard to figure out how to pay everyone we stole from." arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...
arstechnica.com
AI industry horrified to face largest copyright class action ever certified
Copyright class actions could financially ruin AI industry, trade groups say.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Congratulations to @issegyptomania.bsky.social for hosting a great conference this weekend. Conferences always bring new insights: pyramids in Ukraine; faux Pharaonic fantasies at the British seaside; and the popularity of ancient in modern Egypt. Look forward to more to come in the future.🎉
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Staff at the Louvre go on strike due to too many visitors. The Louvre is a first-class museum in many ways, but having only one entrance and exit doesn't help visitor flow. And the Mona Lisa doesn't just need its own room, it should be in a separate building. news.artnet.com/art-world/lo...
news.artnet.com
Louvre's Surprise Closure Sparks Tourist Outrage | Artnet News
Thousands of angry tourists waited for hours outside the Louvre on Monday morning after the Paris museum's staff staged a surprise strike.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
I was about to write "not again!", but entirely understandable at the moment.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
10/10 agreed for this case.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
That sounds plausible and makes me wonder what's happening in areas that look like they're doing well in Europe. Very much hope the edgelands you've been studying are a special case, but clearly there's a warning here that they might not be. Thanks also for the news article.
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British Institute for Libyan & Northern African Studies (BILNAS) @bilnas.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
This International Archives Week (9-13 June), BILNAS is celebrating the #ArchivesAreAccessible campaign by spotlighting the Libyan Archive Project, focused on enhancing the Archive’s descriptive metadata to better reflect Libyan cultural contexts and lived experiences. 1/3
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
V interesting, thanks for sharing. Do you think the conclusions are applicable elsewhere too? In Mediterranean Europe (esp N Italy) the opposite trend of succession is occurring and biodiversity is increasing, esp with headline species like wolves and other large mammals. Unsure about other species.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
This article makes some good points about the need to review human tissue samples on display in museums (e.g. in some anthropological collections), but I don't think it's useful to piggyback this onto Egyptology. The picture also shows coffins and not human remains.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
If only...
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Some quite extraordinary scenes in the House of Commons: former hardliners denounce Israel's actions. The ground is shifting. A chance for the government to take leadership www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
theguardian.com
Senior Tory MPs and peers break ranks to call for recognition of Palestine
Exclusive: Conservatives ask Keir Starmer to stand ‘against indefinite occupation’ and ‘reinforce international law’
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Some interesting stats on reading. Not much of a gap (as is sometimes reported) between men and women for amount of reading, but a more significant one for fiction vs non-fiction. 45% don't have an organizing system, see the page for size of personal libraries. yougov.co.uk/entertainmen...
yougov.co.uk
40% of Britons haven’t read a single book in the last 12 months | YouGov
The median Briton has read just three books in the past year
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Sad to see damage to Sudan's National Museum in Khartoum as a result of the civil war: traces of the ancient kingdom of Kush, indigenous to Sudan, have been destroyed alongside Egyptian artefacts. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
theguardian.com
New images reveal extent of looting at Sudan’s national museum as rooms stripped of treasures
Only a few statues remain, with thousands of priceless artefacts from Nubian and Kushite kingdoms missing
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Exciting plans for displaying the newly-discovered parts of the Roman Basilica in London. www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/mor...
ianvisits.co.uk
More details for London’s new Roman Basilica museum revealed
More details have been shown for a new museum of Roman London's history following the recent discovery of Roman ruins in the City of London.
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Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery @naturerecovery.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Can't wait to visit this new exhibition, especially as our colleague Sophus zu Ermgassen is featured there in a short film about biodiversity, humanity's role in biodiversity loss, and the policies of the future which are needed to turn the tide on nature loss.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
The rationale behind the tariffs is nonsensical and not remotely reciprocal. Running a year-on-year trade deficit signifies a strong currency and hence a privileged position. No other country can buy the world's labour at cut prices on such a huge scale. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Trump's tariffs on China, EU and more, at a glance
A 10% rate of import tax will apply globally - with higher rates for a list of Trump's
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
This is a big problem, and not just for books. What to do when the companies that own the big academic journals which we want to publish in have AI harvesting written into the Ts & Cs?
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Indeed! I found the picture of Ephesus before + after excavation that it made me think of.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Fascinating! You wonder how a theatre could be lost, but then it just looks like part of the hillside in that last photo.
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Suze Zijlstra @suzezij.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Fellowships! The National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, has published a new Fellowship call for research proposals, for maritime historical research relating to objects in the museum's collection. Deadline: 20-5-2025. Call texts: www.hetscheepvaartmuseum.com/collection/r...
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Bodleian Libraries @bodleian.ox.ac.uk · 28/03/2025
The Weston Library’s Blackwell Hall is the festival hub for this year’s Oxford Literary Festival. We're running extended opening hours at the Weston from Sunday 29 March to Sunday 6 April. Blackwell Hall & the café will be open: Monday – Saturday: 9am – 6pm Sunday: 9am – 4pm. Image: Joby Sessions.
Silhouette of the Oxford skyline - with the domed Radcliffe Camera roof and tall Old Bodleian tower - against sun rays coming from behind cloudsA roof line view of buildings including the Clarendon Arch, Old Bodleian Library and Sheldonian Theatre
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Bob Marshall @bobmarshall.co.uk · 29/03/2025
Royal Observer Corps Monitoring Post. This cutaway illustration began as a personal project in 2011, and I updated it in 2015. Although it deals with a rather bleak subject, I'm amazed at how much attention this image has grabbed. It's been shared millions of times, and usually out of context!
Cutaway reconstruction illustration of an underground Royal Observer Corps Monitoring Post used during the Cold War between 1955 and 1991. © Bob Marshall 2015.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Likewise!
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
I haven't heard of that idea before, but I wouldn't be surprised about different indigenous people and groups voicing different ideas. It's also notable that legislation and cases are Australia + N America centric. There seems to be far less controversy in central/ South America or indeed Africa.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Amazingly it's a decade since Richard III was interred in Leicester Cathedral. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Richard III's final path to rest in Leicester 10 years on
The reinterment of the last of the Plantagenets marked a unique moment in British history.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Failing to enforce copyright legislation in favour of a wild west style free-for-all also sets the absurd precedent that AI has more rights than people in this regard (who cannot appropriate knowledge like this). www.publishers.org.uk/publishers-a...
publishers.org.uk
Publishers Association statement on The Atlantic article on LibGen and Meta
Recently, an article was published in The Atlantic on the use of pirated books in the training of AI. It references documents in which Meta admits that the notorious pirate network LibGen has been use...
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British Association for Local History @balhnews.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
For the final part of our lecture series with the Historic Towns Trust, join us on 29 April to hear Tom Pickles give a talk entitled 'A City of Flows?: Chester, 400-1500.' Find out more: ow.ly/YuV950TOiSb #WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll
The logo of the Historic Towns Trust with a map
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
And that's not even to mention your point on the potentially even more interesting question of understanding the Denisovans.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
An interesting article. Repatriating recent human tissue needs to be addressed, but it is hard to see where syntheses of Australian prehistory go from here. To reject Out of Africa is to restore polygenism: the ideology that wrought the most othering and violence ag indigenous peoples in the C19th.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Great digitised resources on the Egypt Exploration Society's Flickr account!
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Better a bidding war than a trade war I guess
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
All day I've been wondering what a note in my diary ("1st Doctor") was, having totally forgotten what it referred to. Thanks for the reminder!
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The Society of Antiquaries of London @antiquaries.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Come to our free lecture this Thursday and learn all about satirical portrayals of antiquarians being confounded by inscriptions! www.sal.org.uk/event...
The Puzzle, John Bowles (died 1784)

A caricature showing antiquaries stood in front of large stone inscriptions looking confused.
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Robert Frost @rfrost1.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Congratulations Kiran!
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