Sign in

Scott McDonough

@sjmcdonough.bsky.social
1.2K followers 369 following 1.2K posts

Historian of the late ancient world: Sasanian Iran, the Caucasus, and the Eastern Roman Empire. Professor at William Paterson University. I like cats, photography, and sweet cabbage pierogi.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
A deluge of dots. Esp. in unvocalized texts, dots will help you wend your way amid Syriac grammatical and lexical options. Here are some common uses (from my grammar):
Two charts exhibiting the use of two different kinds of dots in Syriac, one for marking morphological distinctions and one for lexical.
3163
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Chatham Harrison dba TRUMP DELENDUS EST @chathamharrison.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
When I say Democrats are fighting for a future for America's children this is what I mean. You might not have heard about it but the Sternberg is one of the most illustrious centers of paleontology in the United States. It needs to be available for the public to appreciate.
kansasreflector.com
Kansas Legislature's budget cuts compel Fort Hays State University to close Sternberg Museum • Kansas Reflector
Fort Hays State University, grappling with a $2.4 million state-ordered spending cut, will close the Sternberg Museum of Natural History.
113640
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Intaglio gem of Armenian Queen Varazduxt ("Daughter of the Wild Boar/Verethragna"), inscribed ΕΡΜΙΟΝΗΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΑ ΟΥΑΡΑΖΑ ΔΟΥΚΤΑ. Kunsthistorisches Museum Antikensammlung, IX 1989. 1/
Red intaglio gemstone depicting bust of woman wearing high tiara, surrounded by Greek text.
130
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
While we’re talking about campus sexual violence, I want to revisit the recent history of a topic where we have seen some of the biggest backslides: Expelling rapists from school.
328099
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I come to Bluesky for archeology postings, but I stay for the Deep Space 9 discussion and analysis.
010
Reposted by Scott McDonough
SLAM: Islamic Art @slamislamicart.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Small “Chessboard” Carpet www.slam.org/collection/objects/330…
Small “Chessboard” Carpet
032
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Do not carry a cold beverage in their presence. Politely decline any drinks or sweetmeats they may offer. Keep a plain iron nail in your left trouser pocket and a sachet or paper twist of coarse salt in your right shoe. Enter and leave your chair moving clockwise. Follow up with a thank-you note.
543307753
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Glaring lack of The Venture Bros. The 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Image of main characters of The Venture Bros.
000
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Jess Fink🍉🌈 @jessfink.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Tiddys
A screenshot from a BBC historical Documentary called "Why Everything You Know About The Romans Is Wrong". The shot shows an older woman walking along the ruins of an old Roman city in Algeria called Tiddis. Is looks dry, right next to the desert, with sparse trees and sand. The text narration/subtitles say "Even in it's heyday, Tiddys is unlikely to have had more than 1,000 inhabitants".Another screenshot from the same documentary the shot shows a stone carving on a ruin depicting a phallus with wings and legs. The text says "and you can tell it's Roman because of all the winged willies".
3739
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Fred, His Enemy Getting a Vote @thefred.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
My patrician told me Phoenicians keep eating his consuls so I asked how many consuls he has and he said he just goes to Fields of Mars and has a dictator for elections send him a suffect consul afterwards so I said it sounds like he’s just feeding consuls to Phoenicians and then Two started crying.
017424
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
We have *six days* left until the Academy of Natural Sciences, North America's oldest Natural History museum, is scheduled to close it's doors. Here are *six reasons* why we cannot - and will not- let that happen.
a slide that says 6 days until the doors close -- 6 reasons we can keep them open, save-the-academy.org @savetheacademy
1462380
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Shaily Patel @vox-magica.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
wild, because me and mine did not have this shared experience. the fact that you don’t recognize the intense racism that proliferated post-9/11 tells me you can’t see the current political situation clearly, either.
622435
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Dr Florence H R Scott @florencehrscott.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Bayeux Tapestry good but massively upstaged by seeing a cat in a ruff right before
664336771
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Call for papers for an upcoming symposium honoring the inimitable Amir Harrak. Please spread the word widely.
022
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
A medieval #ship was reused as basement ceiling in Konstanz (Southern Germany), it reveals rare clues medieval shipbuilding at Lake Constance. archaeologymag.com/2026/08/medi...
The photo shows the ceiling made of a flat-bottomed sailing vessel. The planks are clearly visible. A photographer is taking a picture.
726853
Reposted by Scott McDonough
big bleat from badsville @djepelgesh.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
thank you The New York Post for what may be the funniest image of all time
a picture from the NY Post titled "	today’s leftists are possessed by the spirit of France’s 18th-century guillotine-loving revolutionaries" (way too long) that shows Mamdani (the specter haunting Europe) smiling in the sky as a bunch of French people goof around
216167604235
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Dyckman Farmhouse Museum. Much more recent than most of the things I post, but still pretty old for Manhattan (c.1785). dyckmanfarmhouse.org
View of late 18th century farmhouse with porch. Sunflowers, fence, and stone wall in foreground.
020
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I could spend an entire semester class unpacking this single screenshot.
051
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Carausius @carausius286.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
This incredible monochrome mosaic shows two cloaked figures readying to sacrifice. There is something very modern about the design and the figures, like an illustration from a credit reel in a 1950s sand and sandals movie, and I love it. 🕰️C3rd AD 🏛️ Museo Nazionale Romana 📷 mine #MosaicMonday
614928
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Anyone else print up large-print version of their conference speaking texts as they grow increasingly decrepit with age?
120
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Thanks, I Hate It @mikevago.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The other thing people need to know about ZZ Top starts with a different band. 🧵 The Zombies were a mid-60s psychedelic band built around a show-offy keyboard player (I say approvingly, as a one-time show-offy keyboard player.) They got some critical acclaim but couldn’t score a hit.
184
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Northwestern's administration shows what side they're on.
010
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Any recommendations for must see/do/taste for three days in Budapest next week? For good or ill, my arrival coincides with St. Stephen’s Day. My main goals are to see Migration Era (Hun and Avar) artifacts and the Monomachus crown, soak in a thermal bath, and eat too much paprika.
Monomachus Crown. Gold with cloisonné enamels of Byzantine imperial figures.Humid gold metalwork with lions.Goulash.Rudas Baths. Central pool in colonnaded domed hall.
040
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
New translation of a major part of a vitally important text for the late Sasanian and Early Islamic period, and for the history of the Church of the East. www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978088...
hup.harvard.edu
The Chronicle of Seert, ca. 580–660 — Harvard University Press
The Chronicle of Seert, a Middle Arabic history written in the late tenth or eleventh century, draws on earlier Syriac sources from the Church of the East dating back to the sixth and seventh centurie...
33115
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Dumb question. I've been driving on Long Island (home of my Dad's family) and I'm curious about the parkway names. My relatives stress/shorten them to "Southern/Northern State," but was the stress originally supposed to be on "State Parkway" since they aren't in northern and southern New York State?
000
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
I've never seen Alexander Svoboda's photos of the Ṭāq Kasrā Sasanian Palace at al-Madāʾin, Iraq. Taken before the 1887–88 collapse of the north half of its east façade. Really spectacular. #Sasanian
View of East façade of the Sasanian palace Ṭāq Kasrā at al-Madāʾin, Iraq. Sepiatone photo with huge central arch flanked by multiple level arched arcades.View of south side of Sasanian palace Ṭāq Kasrā at al-Madāʾin, Iraq. Sepiatone photo showing with massive barrel vault.
1338
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
This stucco winged horse from a Sasanian-era house at Umm al-Za'tir, al-Madāʾin, Iraq is gorgeous. I wonder if it's on display at the Iraq Museum?
Stucco winged horse with wavy mane and necklace.
040
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Does anyone happen to know where I might find a higher resolution scan of this aerial photo of Antakya from the 1930s (probably 1937)? It's supposed to be archive of the Princeton Excavation of Antioch-on-the-Orontes, but I've been through about 2000 images online and haven't found it.
1930s Black and White aerial view of Antakya/Antioch showing river Orontes/Asi in foreground, mountains in background.
330
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
I wonder if the designers of the current MacBook screen realized they were making the greatest cat head scratcher?
060
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Contemplating spending a ruinous amount on The General Councils of the Eastern Christian Churches, if Brepols offers a discount at the International Congress of Byzantine Studies in Vienna: www.brepols.net/products/IS-... I need my critical edition of the the synodal acts of the Church of the East.
Generic thumbnail image of Corpus Christianorum Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Generaliumque Decreta, vol. 5.
180
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Last week, about a third of the History department were able to gather together on graduation day. Rather than lend our intellectual authority to the official procession and ceremony we invited our students to come and celebrate their achievements with us in a shady courtyard. They came. 1/
A group of world leading historians in their finery, some in gowns, stand together under a tree. Some carry signs saying 'Historian at risk', other raise a glass to the camera.
633199
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
I'd really like to know more about silver talers. This "Wild Man" taler from the principality of Braunschweig-Lüneburg-Calenberg is pretty snazzy.
CNG Electronic Auction 614, Lot 868

GERMANY, Braunschweig-Lüneburg-Calenberg (Principality). Georg Wilhelm. 1648-1665. AR Taler (45mm, 28.75 g, 8h). Zellerfeld mint; mm: crossed keys. Dated 1662 HS. Coat-of-arms surmounted by five ornately crested helmets / Wildman standing facing, holding uprooted tree.

https://auctions.cngcoins.com/lots/view/4-M27DH6/germany-braunschweig-lneburg-calenberg-principality-georg-wilhelm-1648-1665-ar-taler-45mm-2875-g-8h-zellerfeld-mint-mm-crossed-keys-dated-1662-hs-ef
251
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
I like how the Artuqids of Mardin (1101–1409) looked at Islamic numismatic tradition and said, "yes, and..." #numismatics
CNG Keystone 17 Lot 325
Artuqids of Mardin. Nasir al-Din Artuq Arslan. AH 597-637 / AD 1200-1239. Æ Dirham (30mm, 12.56 g, 3h). Citing the Abbasid caliph al-Nasir and Ayyubid ruler al-Adil I as overlords. Mardin mint. Dated AH 599 (AD 1202/3). The zodiac sign Sagittarius: Centaur advancing right, head facing, drawing bow at head of dragon emerging from his tail; mint name and AH date around / Names and titles of Abbasid caliph al-Nasir and Ayyubid ruler al-Adil I in four lines; name of Nasir al-Din Artuq Arslan in margin. CNG Keystone 17 Lot 324:
Artuqids of Mardin. Husam al-Din Yuluq Arslan. AH 580-597 / AD 1184-1200. Æ Dirham (31mm, 12.97 g, 3h). Citing the Ayyubid rulers al-Afdal 'Ali and al-Zahir Ghazi as overlords. Unlisted (Mardin[?]) mint. Dated AH 596 (AD 1199/1200). Turk, in military outfit and cross legged, seated facing, holding severed head and raised sword; name and title of Nur al-Din Arslan Shah to left; ornamental scrollwork in exergue / Name and titles of Abbasid caliph in three lines; names and titles of Ayyubid overlord in inner margin; name of Husam al-Din Yuluq Arslan and AH date in outer margin. Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Seljuk). Artuqids (Mardin). Najm al-Din Alpi, AH 547-572 / AD 1152-1176. Bronze Dirham, Pictorial type with two long-haired busts facing, without mint and date. Diademed and draped male busts facing one another; above, Najm al-Dīn; below, malik Diyārbakr ('King of Diyarbakr' in Arabic).Rev. On left, Byzantine emperor standing facing, wearing crown and loros, holding globus cruciger; on right, the Virgin (Theotokos) standing facing, crowning the emperor; around, genealogy of Alpi in Arabic as:
Abū al-Muẓaffar Alpī / Timurtāsh ibn Īl Ghāzī / ibn / Artuq.Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Seljuk"). Artuqids of Mardin, Husam ad-Din Yulug Arslan AE Dirham. Datec AH 589 (AD 1193"). Three standing figures around central female figure seated to the left in an attitude of lamentation / Citing the ʿAbbasid caliph al-Nasir li-din Allah and the Ayyubid overlord al-ʿAdil Abu Bakr I Sayf al-Din within circle, 'Imam al-Nasir li'l-Dīn, Commander of the Believers. The just king Sayf al-Din' in Arabic'; to right and left, 'Abu Bakr son of Ayyub' in Arabic; in the margin, 'Husam al-Din, king of Diyarbakr, Yuluq Arslan son of Il Ghazi son of Urtuq.
171
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Kelly Lynne D’Angelo ✨ @kellylynnedang.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Please blow up the public comment (included below): BREAKING NEWS (7/15) — The administration wants to destroy Chaco Canyon without consulting Tribal Nations. It’s an irreplaceable historic & cultural site with 4,700 archeological sites that could be lost to the bulldozers of oil & gas development
240683922
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
No, this seems fine www.wsj.com/opinion/why-...
Most of us would struggle to imagine a world in which U.S. soldiers, police officers, Border Patrol agents and elected leaders could be dragged before an international court, tried by judges from random countries across the globe, found guilty under international laws we neither consent to nor control, and then imprisoned thousands of miles from America.
39975831340
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
A game board from the forum of Timgad (Algeria) is a more Roman spin on the trite ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ sign. Replacing hunting w/cheese & and I am in, y’all. ‘venari lavari / ludere ridere / (h)oc{c} est / vivere’: ‘to hunt, to bath, to play, to laugh — This is to live!’ (CIL VIII, 17938). 🛁
A famous board from the forum of Timgad, for instance, gives us an idea of fun pastimes in and around the city: ‘venari lavari / ludere ridere / (h)oc{c} est / vivere’: ‘to hunt, to bath, to play, to laugh — This is to live!’ (CIL VIII, 17938).
08429
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Andy Marshall @fotofacade.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
One of my fave things in York Minster: a medieval wren stalking a spider. It reminds me that history isn't only kings and battles. Someone, centuries ago, found joy in the same things we still notice today. It's a reminder of how much we have in common over our differences.
141078260
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
I have such an expertly curated algorithm that I'm seeing posts from Mexican street food restaurants in the US and this is how they're advertising the game tomorrow night. "Good vibes"
17107172609
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Jakub Sypiański @sypianski.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
I built a free scholary converter for 20 premodern calendar systems — Julian, Hijri, Solar Hijri, Coptic, Armenian, Byzantine, Syriac, Athenian and more: kalkal.online
79943
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Anna M. Thane @annamthane.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Back in the second century, someone in ancient Nubia thought life is better with a frog mug. ❤️
A meroitic clay mug or goblet painted with several frogs that seem to have different moods. 
Made in Faras.
On display at Ägyptische Staatssammlung in Munich.
14763164
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Medieval Illumination @medieval-illuminations.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/06/2026
Scriptorium in the clouds. Gospels of Sainte-Aure, France 9th century. BnF, Arsenal 1171, fol. 17v. #medieval #MedievalArt
Scriptorium in the clouds. Gospels of Sainte-Aure, France 9th century. BnF, Arsenal 1171, fol. 17v.
#medieval #MedievalArt
18318
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
The recent article by Touraj Daryaee, "A Fragrance for Every Woman, Man, and Child: The Smell of the Sasanian Empire" brought this wonderful silk textile in the David Collection of Copenhagen (inv. 23/2011) to my attention. It features a pattern of enthroned Sasanian kings. 1/
Triangular silk textile fragment with pattern of Sasanian-style kings. Closeup of Sasanian king from textile.
2144
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
As someone who has spend a lot of time over the years reading acts of Church councils as a sideline to my research this is just...*chef's kiss*.
120
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
A Sasanian-era seal of a Bābōy "the head" with an image of the Good Shepherd on it. Christelle Jullien, et. al. argue in a recent (2023) article that it might be the seal of the late 5th century Church of the East Catholicos Bābōy. If it actually is, then there's a hell of a story attached to it 1/
From the Christie's description (Live auction 1583, lot 26):
A SASANIAN BANDED AGATE RING STONE
CIRCA 5TH CENTURY A.D.
The flat oval stone engraved with a man wearing a belted tunic, shouldering a ram, his body depicted frontally, his head turned in profile to the left, the scene framed on either side by an inscription; mounted as a ring in a modern gold setting
11/16 in. (1.8 cm.) long; ring size 11
Provenance
American Private Collection, acquired in the 1980s.
38312
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Ennius @enniusredloeb.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
The symbols of the evangelists BnF MS Latin 9392; Gospels of Senones Abbey (dioc. of Saint-Dié); 11th century; ff.7v, 26v, 63r, 121v @gallicabnf.bsky.social
0228
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
I picked up this very text-heavy denarius to give my students a chance to puzzle out the meanings of Latin imperial titles and offices. Domitian really put it all out there on this little coin. 1/
Silver Denarius of Roman Emperor Domitian (81–96 CE) with right-facing bust of emperor with diadem on obverse, and Minerva advancing right, holding spear and shield on reverse.
130
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Bill McKay @mckay4senate.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Guys has anyone actually read this article?
The figure opened the door. Tall and gaunt, its hand reached out to grab the doorknob from the darkness of the house that obscured its face and all its defining features. Decades of life had taught me that all bipeds of this height and shape were human beings, and that experience, that supposed fact, served as a flimsy barricade that rattled against the waves of reptilian terror beating against my psyche, telling me something was wrong.
"Congressman Kean?" I asked.
"Congressman Kean," rattled back the figure.
Shivers ran down my spine. An idea occurred to me. I could turn and run. I could run into the bright sun and the green grass under the blue sky, my shoes striking the hot asphalt again and again, until I disappeared into the endless New Jersey suburbs, far from the darkness inside that house and whatever lived in it.
But that idea was nonsense. The second I knocked on that door I was dropped with a noose around my neck from Owl Creek Bridge, and fantasize as I might about taking a different path I would continue on the one I was on until I reached the end of the rope.
"Can I come in?" I asked. I was suddenly not afraid, because I knew that fear would not change what would come next.
"Congressman Kean," the voice rattled in agreement.
And so I entered the darkness of the house that had once been the Congressman's with the thing that claimed to be the Congressman. The door shut behind me.
351246235
Scott McDonough @sjmcdonough.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
I love tetradrachms. Here's one in the collection minted by Tigranes II the Great of Armenia (r. 95–55 BCE). Love his spiky tiara with eagles and ear flaps, and the Tyche of Antioch and the river god Orontes on the reverse, commemorating his assumption of power over Syria from the Seleucids.
Tigranes II ‘the Great’. 95-56 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26.5mm, 15.53 g, 1h). Tigranocerta mint. Struck circa 80-68 BC. Diademed and draped bust right, wearing tiara decorated with star between two eagles / Tyche of Antioch seated right on rock, holding laurel branch; below, river-god Orontes swimming right; monogram on rock, monogram to inner right; all within wreath. Inscribed ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΤΙΓΡΑΝΟΥ. SCADA Group 4, obv. die A41
050
Reposted by Scott McDonough
Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Then it's worth mentioning the Middle Persian word for "giraffe": /uštargāwpalang/ (NP شترگاوپلنگ /šotorgāvpalang/) (camel+cow+leopard)
The word uštargāwpalang ("camel" in Middle Persian) in Latin script and in Pahlavi script. From MacKenzie's dictionary.
311542