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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 6h

🧛 Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’ classic vampire movie is heavily based on Aztec and Mayan mythology. ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ follows two criminal brothers, Richie and Seth Gecko, escaping to Mexico and encountering vampiric monsters who are not your typical Hollywood vampires.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 23h

🩸 Blood! We all have it. But where does the word come from? 🩸 The word “blood” can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic “blodam”, which just means blood, though some scholars think it goes back further to a Proto-Indo-European word that meant “to burst out!”

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

🐸💀 Meet the spirit companions of ancestral Maya rulers: frogs, deer, skeletal bringers of pestilence. Halloween Bash Master Class: read wahy vases & glyphs with Mayanist Zac Lindsey. 🗓️ Sat, Oct 24 · 12 PM EDT · Livestream 🎃 RSVP: ow.ly/iHox50ZXGYv #SASA #SaveAncientStudies #Mayan

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

💀 Have you ever heard of the legendary Brazen Bull? This was a (perhaps mythical) torture device used in Acragas (present-day Sicily) around the 6th century BCE.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Sink your teeth into SASA’s Halloween Bash! 🧛🦇 From mummies to Mayans, we have topics to die for. 🩸 📅 October 24-31 📺 Live on YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook RSVP today 👉 www.saveancientstudies.org/hallowee… #SASA #SaveAncientStudies #HalloweenBash #AncientCivilizations #Masterclass

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

👹 Beware who you cross, because if you make the wrong person an enemy they could send an ancient and vengeful spirit after you.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

WEEK TWO: VAMPIRES 🧛 Each week during the Halloween Bash lead-up, all posts will have a new theme! Stay tuned so see all of our vampire-themed posts and follow to be the first to know future themes! #SASA #halloween #ancientstudies #classics

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Our witches’ brew needs your help! 🎃🧙‍♀️ All October long, we’re raising funds for our Conference Scholarship for Undergraduates. Chip in today and help us reach our goal 👉 www.saveancientstudies.org/scholars… #SASA #SaveAncientStudies #HalloweenBash #Scholarships #Donate

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

🪶 An old witch with a long nose, protruding teeth, and matted hair from a German fairy tale may be more than she first appears. Who is Frau Holle, and what does she have to do with Scandinavian mythology?

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

🐂 Legend tells of an ancient tyrant, one who ruled with fear and who used the most terrifying torture method in history. Oh, and he may have been a cannibal too. Phalaris was born on the island of Astypalaia, but rose to power in Acragas, Sicily.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

🫧 Around 1300 CE, “potion” could mean a medicinal drink or poison. Today, we think of it as a magical concoction. So how did we get here?

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

🧹 Curses were not just a part of Greek and Roman mythology, practiced by witches like Circe & Medea. They were something ancient people tried to cast themselves by burying lead tablets. Archeologists have found thousands of curse tablets in Athens, Rome, Syria, and even England, at old Roman sites.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

🪦 This is the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, an ancient crypt that can be found in modern-day Malta! Archaeologists believe that this enormous crypt was constructed around 4,000 BCE (in the Neolithic period), making it one of the oldest surviving tombs on Earth!

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

🧟 All those who would desecrate a grave beware or risk falling victim to the draugr. Draugr are undead monsters from Norse mythology that somewhat resemble zombies, though they are far stronger, bigger & more intelligent than your modern day walkers.

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SASA Inspires @sasainspires.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

📣 Attention undergrads in the US! Apply by October 31 for our Conference Scholarship for your chance at up to $500 to fund your first academic conference. Many thanks to the Russ Family Foundation for their generous gift. 👉 www.saveancientstudies.org/scholars… #SASA #SaveAncientStudies

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

🌙 What do Romulus and Remus have to do with October? The legendary founder of Rome, Romulus, is said to have overhauled the Roman calendar system around 738 BCE. This follows a cultural pattern of crediting legendary figures with practices whose origins had been lost.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

🐍 The game Snakes and Ladders is actually about the Hindu concept of Karma! 🪜 Snakes and Ladders was originally Moksha Patam, or “liberation game.” It’s been around in India since at least the 13th century, though texts dating back to the 2nd century BCE mention a similar game.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

⚡ Can a mortal defeat the gods? ‘Arion’ is a 1986 anime film directed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, based on the manga he also wrote. After being tricked into going into the Underworld, the titular Arion is convinced by Hades that Zeus blinded his mother, Demeter, and that by killing Zeus he can save her.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

✨ This is an ancient glass perfume bottle! This bottle, called an alabastron, originated in Greece and is estimated to be from around the 1st century BCE. However, the first version of these types of glasses is speculated to be from Egypt.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

⚡Have you heard of the Egyptian god of chaos, confusion, strength & foreigners? Seth was the god of chaos & confusion, causing disorder in the lives of those who lived in the floodplains of Egypt. He’s also the god of the desert (“Red Land”), while Horus was the god of the fertile “Black Land.”

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

🛡️ Who was Vercingetorix, the enemy of Julius Caesar? Vercingetorix (82-46 BCE) was a Gallic chieftain who opposed Julius Caesar’s Roman invasion of Gaul and is now considered the first national hero of France.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

🖋 How did the ancient Olmecs communicate? The Cascajal Block (replica pictured here) is proof that the ancient Olmecs were among the very first civilizations in Mesoamerica to develop a written language! The block has been dated to 900 BCE and is made of serpentine.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

🌉 The Córdoba bridge is in modern-day Andalusia, Spain! For 2,000 years, it was the only bridge that crossed the Guadalquivir River. The bridge was first constructed by Julius Caesar, who ordered a wooden bridge to be built over the river in ~40 BCE to help him defeat Pompey during their civil war.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

🐐 A scapegoat wasn’t originally a person who took the blame for other people. It refers to a literal goat… that took the blame for other people.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

🏺 Who was Medea, the terrible enchantress? In Greek mythology, Medea is the daughter of Aeëtes, King of Colchis, and Eidyia. She’s the granddaughter of Oceanus, Tethys & Helios, and niece of Circe. She appears in Euripides’ ‘Medea’ & Apollonius of Rhodes’ ‘Argonautica’. She’s also Jason's wife.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

⚔️ The 1979 film ‘The Warriors’ is more than just a cult-classic about gangs in New York! It’s also inspired by an ancient Greek epic poem: ‘Anabasis’. ‘The Warriors’ are trying to get back to their home in Coney Island after being framed for the murder of Cyrus, the leader of a more powerful gang.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

🎭 Did you know JRR Tolkein was reluctant to use the eagles in ‘Lord of the Rings’ because he feared that they may be a deus ex machina? A deus ex machina is a literary trope in which the unlikely, fortuitous arrival of some sort of savior resolves a difficult situation (often a story’s climax).

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

🌱 Nettles are an annoying plant, but they can be used to make something tasty! Around 6,000 BCE, ancient Brits used nettles to make a savory dish called “Nettle Pudding”. It’s made by mixing herbs, including nettles, with flour and water, binding it and boiling it, usually with meat!

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

🐏 The Shofar is one of the oldest instruments in human history, and they still play a vital role in modern-day Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services. They are meticulously crafted from the horn of a ram. The horn must be boiled, measured, and drilled into to get the proper sound.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

🪉 In Greek mythology, the Muses are the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, Titaness of memory. They are named Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (singing), Euterpe (lyric poetry), Melpomene (tragedy), Polymnia (hymns), Terpsichore (dancing), Thalia (comedy), and Urania (astronomy).

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

👑 Meet Wang Mang, the man who overthrew the Han Dynasty and the first and only emperor of the Xin Dynasty. Though he’s remembered as a usurper, his story is more nuanced than that.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

🪨🏃 Have you ever heard someone use the phrase “Sisyphean task” to refer to doing their laundry or dishes? Here’s why!

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

🌌 Anaximander was one of the most important pre-Socratic philosophers, and one of the first people to try to figure out exactly how the universe works! He also may be the first Greek philosopher to have written down his theories, though much of his work has been lost to time.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

😁 The Etruscans were an ancient Italian civilization that lasted from 900 BCE until their full absorption into Rome in 27 BCE. They made many interesting contributions to science and culture, but none more unique than their work in dentistry.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

⚡ Whether he’s called Shazam or Captain Marvel, Billy Batson might be the longest-lasting comic book character inspired by ancient cultures, even beating Wonder Woman’s debut by a year!

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

⚔️ Can humans beat the gods? Watch ‘Record of Ragnarok’ to find out. After the gods council decides to wipe out humanity, they decide to give mortals one last chance: a combat tournament. If humans can beat the gods in 7 out of 13 fights, they live. If they lose, it’s the end of the world.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

🍂 If ‘sept-’ means ‘seven’, why is September the ninth month of the year? 🍂 Along with being the first month of Autumn, September is the first in a series of months with numerical root words. But the root word doesn’t match the month's place on the calendar!

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

🦁 This “City of Iron” was called Meroë, a magnificent metropolis of the ancient Kingdom of Kush located in modern-day Sudan. Flourishing from 750 BCE to 350 CE, this UNESCO World Heritage Site grew into a prosperous trade hub, so wealthy that it once tempted the Persian Empire to conquer it.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

🐍 Who is this woman holding a snake skin on her knees? 🐍 This is Lamia, a monster from Greek mythology. Known to devour children and seduce men, she was considered a sort of boogeyman in ancient Greece and appeared for the first time in literature around the 6th century BCE.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

👑 When most people think of a female Pharaoh, they may think of Cleopatra or Nefertiti. But there’s another female Pharaoh who, up until very recently, was erased from history: Hatshepsut.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

🔪 Sarcasm can hurt ... literally. 🔪 The word “sarcasm” comes from the ancient Greek word “sarkasmos,” which means “tearing flesh.”

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

🦀 Cancer has been a scourge on humanity for as long as we’ve existed, and our smartest have been trying to cure it since 3,000 BCE. The earliest written description of cancer comes from ancient Egypt on an ancient piece of papyrus, possibly written by the physician Imhotep, a priest of Ra.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

🪽 This artifact is, perhaps incorrectly, known as the “Harpy Tomb”! Though this archaic marble chamber is named for the infamous Harpy, it’s actually an Anatolian depiction of Sirens! In Greek Archaic thought, Sirens were winged bird-women. Here they are depicted at the edges of the reliefs.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

🕷️ How did Arachne doom herself by defying the gods? In Greek and Roman mythology, Arachne was a woman famous for her weaving. However, her hubris led to her challenging the goddess of handicrafts Minerva (or her Greek counterpart Athena) to a weaving contest, according to Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

👑 What do you know about Welsh kings? 🐦‍⬛ This is a famous line from Gansey, one of the protagonists of ‘The Raven Cycle’. This YANA book series follows a group of five teens exploring the wilderness of western Virginia in search of Owain Glyndŵr (Romanized in the series as Owen Glendower).

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

💡 Eureka! 💡 The word “eureka” comes from the ancient Greek “εὕρηκα” (romanized: heureka), which means “I have found.” It’s most famously associated with the scientist and mathematician Archimedes, inventor of the lever and the Archimedes’ Screw.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

🟤 For over 13,000 years, this tiny crop has been shaping human history. When our ancestors finally moved away from their nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles to build settled communities, they needed a reliable, year-round food supply, and that's where lentils come in!

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

⛰️ These cliff dwellings are in Mesa Verde National Park in the United States!. ⛰️ This site was built between 1180 CE and 1300 CE by ancestors of the Pueblo people and provides important insight into what life was like during the thousands of years of American history before European contact.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

☠️ From the rage of springtime comes a goddess of ghosts, all ye best beware Melinoe; the dark-minded! For fans of Hecate’s witchcraft and Persephone’s deadly reign, Melinoe is not an apple far from her mother’s terrifying tree.

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Save Ancient Studies Alliance @saveancientstudies.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

🌜 Let’s meet history’s first named poet: Enheduanna! Enheduanna was the chief priestess of the temple complex at Ur. She lived around 2300 BCE in the time of Sargon. She’s often referred to as his daughter, but whether that title is literal or figurative is unclear.

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