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Roberta Mazza

@robertamazza.bsky.social
525 followers 267 following 28 posts

Papyrologist and Ancient Historian www.unibo.it/sitoweb/r.mazza/en facesandvoices.wordpress.com

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Reposted by Roberta Mazza
Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
… @lucygrig.bsky.social, @ivograham.bsky.social , @robertamazza.bsky.social , Matthijs Wibier, Peter Stewart, @peterfrankopan.bsky.social , Mehmet Alkan, Souraya Noujaim, Simon Rettig, Anna Siebach-Larson, Daniel Donoghue, Albrecht Diem, @stephaniemccarter.bsky.social, & more. Thanks for reading!
press.princeton.edu
Sea of Treasures
How goods and people in motion across the ancient world were entangled through consumption
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Carin Ruff @carinr.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Featuring INLIBRIS booksellers, known to some of us for a recent listing of a notably expensive early medieval leaf. #medievalsky
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Roberta Mazza @robertamazza.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Legal and Ethical Aspects of Oxyrhynchus Papyri Sales facesandvoices.wordpress.com/2026/09/05/l...
facesandvoices.wordpress.com
Legal and Ethical Aspects of Oxyrhynchus Papyri Sales
Manuscript and rare book seller INLIBRIS of Vienna has several papyri, parchments and wooden tablets of great interest for papyrologists and other textual specialists in their catalogue. I’ll keep …
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Jacopo Iacoboni @jacopoiacoboni.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Two retired Italian intelligence officers arrested in Rome for spying for Russia. 5 other potential Italian sources working for the Ministry of Defense are under investigation When I wrote the book "Oligarchs," on the Russian infiltration of Italian intel, they called me crazy
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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
My latest at @hyperallergic.com looks at the new Homer papyrus on mummified remains from Oxyrhynchus—& what the press got wrong initially. Thanks to Celsiana Warwick, @robertamazza.bsky.social, @sentantiq.bsky.social & Leah Mascia (+ @christinajriggs.bsky.social & edits by @valentinadl.bsky.social).
hyperallergic.com
Archaeologists Discover Mummy Buried With Lines From Homer’s Iliad
Found in Egypt, the papyrus confirms that Homer was everywhere in the ancient Mediterranean.
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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Fucking incredible. Play this for every university administrator in the nation. She says AI is the next “industrial revolution” and all the students BOO loudly. And then when she says “a few years ago, AI was not part of our lives” they all CHEER. She is shocked by their reactions. I am not!!!
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Roberta Mazza @robertamazza.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Prices and provenance of papyri recently sold or for sale facesandvoices.wordpress.com/2026/04/02/p...
facesandvoices.wordpress.com
Prices and provenance of papyri recently sold or for sale
Collectors, who keep buying despite my many warnings, alerted me on the appearance of few papyri for sale. A Coptic fragment, mislabeled as “Greek”, was auctioned in France last Sunday …
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Ben Waber @bwaber.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Last was "Stolen Fragments" by @robertamazza.bsky.social. This is a riveting academic mystery, going on a mind-boggling tour of the tangled world of trade in ancient artifacts and the development of a massive scandal at its center. Highly recommend Full review: bookwyrm.social/user/bwaber/... (8/8)
sup.org
Stolen Fragments | Stanford University Press
In 2012, Steve Green, billionaire and president of the Hobby Lobby chain of craft stores, announced a recent purchase of a Biblical artefact—a fragment of papyrus, just discovered, carrying lines from...
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Curtis Dozier @curtisdozier.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Now available for preorder, with promo code TCCCR2026, "The Cambridge Companion to Classics and Race," a major intervention against the decades-old orthodoxy of the alleged anachronism of "race" and "racism" for the study of the ancient past. www.cambridge.org/core/books/c...
cambridge.org
The Cambridge Companion to Classics and Race
Cambridge Core - Classical Studies (General) - The Cambridge Companion to Classics and Race
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Governor Tim Walz @governorwalz.mn.gov · 31/01/2026
It should not take a court order to get a toddler out of a prison.
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Roberta Mazza @robertamazza.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
Where is the Sappho Brothers Poem papyrus? We only know that it is LOST. Again. #Sappho #classics #papyrology facesandvoices.wordpress.com/2026/02/01/t...
facesandvoices.wordpress.com
The lost, found and lost again Sappho Brothers Poem papyrus
Screenshot of the Brothers Poem papyrus in the box made for the Christie’s London sale: A couple of weeks ago I gave an online talk for the Paideia Institute and realized that many are unawar…
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Rose A. McCandless @rosemccandless.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
My review of @robertamazza.bsky.social’s “Stolen Fragments”—an excellent piece of detective work and a thoughtful commentary on our responsibilities as stewards of cultural heritage—is available OA in Manuscript Studies. I loved this book and I think you will too :)
muse.jhu.edu
Project MUSE - Stolen Fragments: Black Markets, Bad Faith, and the Illicit Trade in Ancient Artefacts by Roberta Mazza (review)
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight www.cityam.com/the-british-...
cityam.com
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
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l_aforista @aforista.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Indimenticabili ❤️ youtu.be/sppynyZh9AI?...
youtu.be
Alberto Sordi il dentone - scena con le gemelle Kessler - "I Complessi" (1965)
YouTube video by Memorie Cinematografiche
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Classical Studies Memes for Hellenistic Teens @csmfht.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Fascinating world of ancient #glass ! A small-scale but colourful mosaic glass inlay depicting an Ibis. This inlay, originating from a workshop in Roman-era Egypt, was discovered in Tawern, near Trier, Germany. The ibis was considered a sacred animal of Thoth, the Egyptian deity...🧵1/2 📷 me 🏺
A small square mosaic glass inlay displayed against a dark background, showing an ibis, a long-legged bird with a curved beak walking on a thin red ground line. The inlay is light green with a slightly porous, pitted surface and slightly chipped edges.
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Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) @csmc-hamburg.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
We’re thrilled that @robertamazza.bsky.social is at the CSMC today! Tonight, she will give a talk on ‘Papyrology and Reparations’, addressing the regimes of violence, injustice, and inequality that papyrology has been enmeshed in since colonial times. Hybrid event, all welcome! uhh.de/csmc-mazza
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 19/08/2025
‘Thanks to journalists such as Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues who risked their lives, for over six hundred days the genocide has been live-streamed for the world to see. And yet we are told we must wait for the experts.’ Stefan Tarnowski on Gaza and the media: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/au...
lrb.co.uk
Stefan Tarnowski | Plausible Deniability
From the sieges within the siege, Palestinian journalists are smeared as terrorists and assassinated by airstrike. Even...
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Peter Tarras @petertarras.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Currently compiling a mailing list for my blog. If you would like to be added to the list to receive updates about new posts and related presentations, please send me a brief message at the address given here:
medisi.hypotheses.org
About
This blog is dedicated to the dispersed manuscript heritage of St Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai, Egypt. The library of this ancient monastery hosts one of the world’s most important manuscript ...
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Dr Louise O'Brien @egypto-lou-gist.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Okay I'm going to join in. One like, one fact/opinion about portrait panels/Roman Egypt.
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Roberta Mazza @robertamazza.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
When students are better than those who teach them...
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Gerco Wolfswinkel 🇪🇺🍁🇨🇦 @gj.wolfswinkel.net · 06/08/2025
By the way, it's a very interesting podcast, thank you for working on that with the BBC! For those who haven't listened to it yet: pca.st/6qsrnxx4
pca.st
Intrigue
Ben Lewis unravels the tangled story of a Christian billionaire family, stolen relics, fake treasures and the scholar turned sleuth who exposed the scandal of biblical proportions. Intrigue: 'Jaw-drop...
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rogueclassicist ~ david meadows @rogueclassicist.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
Second Rare Inscription Honoring Justinian and Theodora Unearthed in Kosovo’s Ancient City of Ulpiana - Arkeonews arkeonews.net/second-rare-...
arkeonews.net
Second Rare Inscription Honoring Justinian and Theodora Unearthed in Kosovo’s Ancient City of Ulpiana - Arkeonews
A second rare inscription dedicated to Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora has been unearthed at the ancient city of Ulpiana, offering new
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Dr. Melissa Funke @melissakafunke.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
This was an incredible season to record. I would like to thank our season 4 guests for sharing their wisdom and making our fields better through their scholarship and advocacy. They demonstrate everyday that things do not need to go on as they always have.
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Angela S Chiu @chiuangelas.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Project Brazen, producer of the “Dynamite Doug” podcast, has published 3 letters illustrating some of the historic collaboration between London dealer Spink & Son and indicted trafficker Douglas Latchford. There are many interesting details. Here are a few. (Thread) shorturl.at/jabhT
shorturl.at
Explosive Rockefeller Letters Expose Met Museum's Looted Harihara
At Whale Hunting, we illuminate hidden worlds and expose closely-held secrets. Today, we’re pulling back the velvet curtain on one of the world’s most prestigious museums: the Met. Our latest investi...
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Rhiannon Garth Jones @rhigarthjones.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
This seems to have resonated on here too (I cannot tell you how happy this makes me) so I'll add some of the reasoning: I asked a lot of friends & family who are not academics (often not readers of non-fiction what they would do if they wanted to know more about a topic they were interested in). 🧵
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Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 06/07/2025
See also Nadia Abu El-Haj's _Facts on the Ground: Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society_ (2002)
press.uchicago.edu
Facts on the Ground
Archaeology in Israel is truly a national obsession, a practice through which national identity—and national rights—have long been asserted. But how and why did archaeology emerge as such a pervasive ...
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Martha Smith @mostlymartha.bsky.social · 29/06/2025
The needs of our communities cannot be subject to the whims of the wealthy. Charity is no substitute for taxation.
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Kristina Killgrove @killgrove.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Check out this gorgeous Sri Lankan purple sapphire ring found in a medieval castle in Slovakia. It might have belonged to a bishop. 🏺🧪
livescience.com
Medieval gold ring found in castle in Slovakia has rare purple sapphire imported from Sri Lanka
An analysis of a 700-year-old ring found in a Hungarian castle reveals a unique reddish-purple sapphire set in 18-karat gold with a lion decoration.
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plowdensmith.bsky.social @plowdensmith.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Fascinating feature in @theobserveruk.bsky.social about identifying counterfeit objects from contemporary luxury goods to ancient papyrus. @msrachelcooke.bsky.social and @donnalferguson.bsky.social speak to experts on spotting fakes. observer.co.uk/style/featur...
observer.co.uk
The real deal: our fascination with fakes – and how to sp...
With talented counterfeiters at the top of their game, how on earth do you spot a fake? And does it really matter anyway?
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James Bielo @secondhandsacred.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
What’s next on ‘Collecting Religion?’ Kathryn Barush digs into Major Arcana iconography, working across historical collections & her own. Read “Shuffle the Codex: Collecting tarot cards as medieval pilgrimage narratives” here: collectingreligion.wordpress.com/2025/06/09/s...
collectingreligion.wordpress.com
Shuffle the Codex: Collecting tarot cards as medieval pilgrimage narratives
by Kathryn Barush Twenty years ago, I set off for Dharamsala, a hill station in North India, with a backpack stuffed full of notebooks, watercolor tubes, brushes, masking tape, and folding plastic …
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Sarah Lidwell-Durnin @sarahlidwelldurnin.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
What a gorgeous postdoc - for a moment I thought they were looking for a papyrologist with Latin AND Greek AND Demotic, which seemed like a LOT for 34k, but there are TWO jobs on this great project - phew! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNL359/p...
jobs.ac.uk
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Papyrology (Demotic Papyri) at University of Exeter
Discover Postdoctoral Research Associate in Papyrology (Demotic Papyri) jobs and more in higher education on jobs.ac.uk. Apply for further details on the top job board.
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Roberta Mazza @robertamazza.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
👇👇👇
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Damien Huffer @damienhuffer.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Excellent reporting on the surge in looting in Syria post-Assad. Featuring @atharproject.bsky.social. @counteringcrime.bsky.social @museumofloot.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
theguardian.com
Looted from Syria, sold on Facebook: antiquities smuggling surges after fall of Assad
Collapse of once-feared security apparatus, coupled with widespread poverty, has triggered a gold rush
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Christine Johnston @archaeologuest.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
a must listen for anyone who loves museums! When and why were cultural &anthropological museums founded? What is the connection to empire & colonialism? Listen to learn about museum origins & what we can do to move museums in more ethical directions 👏 #PeoplingThePast #CulturalHeritage #MuseumLife
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MOLA @museumofloot.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Case of the Day: Head of Alexander In February 2018, the Manhattan DA's office seized this long-missing head of Alexander from dealer Alan Safani's Safani Gallery, in NYC. Excavated from the Basilica Emilia in the Roman Forum some time after 1909, it was stolen from Museo Forense in 1958.
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Matthew L Reznicek @drreznicek.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
I think I'd honestly like to know how someone justifies this with their faith www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
theguardian.com
Family of four-year-old who would ‘die within days’ fighting deportation from US to Mexico
Deysi Vargas, her husband and ‘Sofia’ entered country legally in 2023 on humanitarian grounds to seek medical care
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Roberta Mazza @robertamazza.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
👇👇👇👇
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Roberta Mazza @robertamazza.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
New episode featuring superstar Heba Abd el Gawad #peoplingthepast #egyptology #colonialism🔥🔥🔥👇👇👇
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Roberta Mazza @robertamazza.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
I was dreaming of being a guest of #PeoplingPodcast @peoplingthepast.bsky.social and then it finally happened! Follow them NOW 🔥❤️👇
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Roberta Mazza @robertamazza.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
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Marco Perale @mperale.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
Intervista ad Enrico Livrea su La Repubblica di oggi, con alcune riflessioni sulla diatriba con Sebastiano Timpanaro.
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Angela S Chiu @chiuangelas.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
Outrage as Buddhist relics go under the hammer in Hong Kong. "The Dhamma teaches us not to take others' possessions. Auctioning these objects to the highest bidder is inconsistent with their spiritual value." www.sundaytimes.lk/250504/news/...
sundaytimes.lk
Outrage as Buddhist relics go under the hammer in Hong Kong
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Hannah Čulík-Baird @opietasanimi.com · 02/05/2025
It is my enormous pleasure to share the most recent issue #ResDiffJournal: Res Diff 2.1 (2025) With contributions from Maia Kotrosits (@maiakotro.bsky.social), Chance Bonar (@chancebonar.bsky.social), Chiara Bozzone and Daniela Negro, Erin Lam #openaccess resdifficiles.com/res-diff-2-1...
resdifficiles.com
Res Diff 2.1 (2025)
Maia Kotrosits, The Matter of Form: Rewriting Our Way to a Changed Field Keywords: academic writing, black studies, colonialism, crip theory, disability studies. Abstract: This essay argues that th…
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Angela S Chiu @chiuangelas.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Auction by Sotheby's of ancient Indian gems ‘imbued with presence of Buddha’ condemned www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
theguardian.com
Auction of ancient Indian gems ‘imbued with presence of Buddha’ condemned
Sotheby’s sale of Piprahwa gems, excavated after burial with Buddha’s remains, denounced as perpetuating colonial violence
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Roberta Mazza @robertamazza.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
🔥 Powerful talk by Katie Paul on the key role of Facebook as facilitator in antiquities, human remains, drug etc. trafficking and war crimes. I especially agree on policies "just window dressing for PR" @peoplingthepast.bsky.social @atharproject.bsky.social @anthropaulicy.bsky.social
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Peopling The Past @peoplingthepast.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
The #PeoplingPodcast is BACK! Today, to kick off Season 4, we are joined by Katie Paul to discuss the role of Facebook in the illicit antiquities trade, and how the company has been complicit in the sale and destruction of cultural heritage. Listen here: peoplingthepast.com/2025/04/29/p...
A headshot of Katie wearing a black dress. Her black hair is worn loose, and falls across her shoulders. She is also wearing a long necklace with green beads. Around the headshot is the text "Trafficking Through the Metaverse: The Antiquities Trade in the Internet Age with Katie Paul".
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