Jim Cleary

@jimcleary.bsky.social

Archaeology, travelling, Greece, rugby, Wrexham, shouting at the tv.

It does seem to me that a lot of the information contained in the most recent set of Epstein files has been specifically chosen to expose British participants in this shoddy affair & thus divert our attention from elsewhere. Or am I simply seeing UK media naturally focussing on the British angle?

#TombTuesday The interior of the tomb of Seuthes III, King of Odrysia in ancient Thrace in the 4th century BCE. Located in the Golgama Kosmatka Tumulus near Kazanlak in modern day #Bulgaria. His famous bronze portrait head can be seen in the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia.

Ashlar masonry forming the corridor leading to the tomb-chamberThe roof of the tomb-chamber with concentric circles of ashlar masonryOne of the doors of the tomb-chamber. Marble, carved to resemble wood with metal reinforcing bosses. There is also a small Gorgon head on the upper half of the doorBronze portrait head of Seuthes in a glass display case. He has a large moustache, and long beard.

From the Silk Roads exhibition at the British Museum: the earliest known group of chess pieces, dated to the 700s AD/CE, found in Afrasiab (modern day Samarkand). and Afrasiab today. "The spider weaves the curtains in the palace of the Caesars, the owl calls the watches in the towers of Afrasiab"

A group of ivory chess pieces, with a decorative bowl behind them.A herd of sheep grazing on lush green grass. The field is very undulating, and there are some buildings just visible on the horizon behind them. These are the modern-day inhabitants of Afrasiab.

Quinctilius Varus, give me back my legions! This is a cuirass from the Teutoburg Forest battlefield, currently on display in the Legion exhibition in the British Museum.

Roman body armour, constructed of individual iron plates

#MosaicMonday A rather elegant dolphin, C1 CE. Found in Marseilles during the construction of the Cathedral de la Major in the 19th century, and now on display in the superb Museum of the History of Marseilles (Musee d’histoire de Marseille)

A simple black and white image of a dolphin, oriented diagonally in a border. Tail is bottom left and head is top right