Hello! I'm Zeef! I have a degree in history and I like to ramble! I especially like the middle ages and renaissance eras of Europe, but I have other miscellaneous places I like too!
270 posts
Latest Posts by lil-history-egg - Page 4
Ruth and the Romance of Consent
This year rereading the Book of Ruth I've been making sure to contextualize her within the rest of Tanakh. She's a beautiful little romance in isolation and a pointed moral commentary about sexual accountability in conversation with Genesis. In fact, she's a better romantic text if you deliberately read her in response to Genesis.
Ruth is a descendant of Moab and Boaz is a descendant of Judah. That two people from these specific families meet and marry is no literary/theological accident, since Genesis stans will immediately remember that both bloodlines are born from a sexual crime.
The man Moab for whom the nation is named was conceived by rape-incest, Lot's daughter mounting him when he is drunk. (Genesis 19) While the moral lesson of that sordid episode is complex and murky, the horror is blatant.
Boaz is the great-great-great-grandson of Peretz, who was conceived by Judah sleeping with his disguised daughter-in-law Tamar. (Genesis 38) Judah condemns her as a harlot to be burned, and though he cancels the death penalty once he realizes he is the father, the Biblical author is clear that he has all the power, responsibility, and blame in the situation.
In both cases, a child is born from a man and his daughter figure having sex. Leviticus 19 is explicit that such a relationship is forbidden. (Remember that Biblical law makes an immoral act an illegal one.) Both women acted from desperation in trying to conceive an heir but explanation is not excuse, especially since neither man knowingly consented to the act.
One might think, in a society obsessed with lineage and legitimate inheritance, that Moab and Peretz would be cursed morally and socially for their parents's sin, that their children's children would still bear the shame. But the Book of Ruth upends that expectation by having their descendents act with such morality that they merit the kingdom and the future Messianic dynasty.
When Boaz marries Ruth, he is technically fulfilling an esoteric Biblical inheritance law called yibum, honoring his dead relative Mahlon by marrying his childless widow so that Mahlon will have an heir. All very formal and proper, except that absolutely none of their contemporaries should have expected them to bother! Ruth isn't Jewish, so why should she care about property she's not allowed to access? (Marrying a Moabite woman was also illegal.) Naomi is explicit about releasing Ruth from any obligation she might feel. And Boaz is a wealthy, established community leader who's not even a close relative, so why would he marry Mahlon's goyische ex? The sexual ethics laws don't apply here, no one would notice if they just fucked.
Ruth and Boaz's meet-cute, therefore, is neither just a love story (against all odds!!) nor just a creative case study on how to apply weird property laws. When Ruth slips into Boaz's bed in the middle of the night, the Biblical audience can reasonably expect another murky sexcapade, like in Genesis. Nothing new under the sun, right? Just another desperate woman taking advantage of an oblivious powerful man to secure her survival.
INSTEAD, we get a compassionate, gentle scene where the couple not only does not sleep together, Boaz promises to marry her. In the dark, on the floor, in the middle of the harvest season, two kindred spirits open their hearts and hopes and trust each other to honor their promises the morning after. Your faves could never.
In Jewish tradition, we usually classify yibum as redemption, ie Boaz redeeming Mahlon's property and inheritance. But before the property redemption in front of the court, there was a moral redemption, made in private with no witnesses but the sacks of grain and the LORD.
Ruth and Boaz remind us that consent and dignity are always beautiful and romantic. We respect our sexual partners because it is right, not in expectation of reward or applause. And when we do, we can blot out the memory of any ancestral crimes. The generational trauma is ended, and love & trust will merit the World To Come.
Happy Shavuot!
I'm having a hard idea coming up with an exact point, but I want to talk a bit about my field of expertise. I have a master's degree in history and work in a museum. I know so many people who are leaving the museum field (or who never got in) because it's extremely underfunded so people are overworked and underpaid. Budgets are precarious so most people are working contract to contract because institutions simply can't commit to hiring people permanently. MANY museums have one person doing the work of 3-5 people and they're making little over minimum wage. Burnout is a huge issue.
I hit the jackpot when I snagged a permanent full time position in a museum with a relatively healthy workplace culture. I make just enough to make ends meet and pay my student loans, and that's more than I can say for most of the people my age I know in the museum field.
But people constantly complain that our museum is only open 8 hours a day, six days a week, that we don't offer more public programs, that we don't have more exhibit changes. Meanwhile our budget, which comes from the government, has been status quo for almost a decade. That means we have the same budget now as we did ten years ago, even as the cost of utilities, staff, insurance, everything had increased. My museum is running on what is essentially a skeleton staff. We need 12 more people to have a comfortable distribution of duties and 23 to reach our full potential. (We have 24 permanent staff so we essentially need to double our work force).
People want their museums (and their libraries and art galleries and many other institutions) to offer endless, cutting edge services but they aren't willing to pay a small tax hike to fund them. People honestly think it's perfectly reasonable to expect a museum to expand its services when its budget has essentially been cut every year for a decade.
Museum exhibits and programs don't appear out of thin air. They take weeks, months, sometimes years of research, writing, conservation work, graphic design, and community consultations. Before they even start to be installed! The people behind each of these parts have specialized education and training. And most of them are making a bit over minimum wage if they're lucky.
People work in museums because we're passionate about them, but that doesn't pay the bills! People love their local museums until it's time to fund them. People love to complain about what their museum isn't offering but grumble and groan when a museum tries to fundraise from its community.
Basically if you want cultural institutions in your community you need to support them! If you can't donate, visit! TONS of museum grants are based on the number of feet through the door. If a local museum admission fee is too high for you to access, find out which level of government funds it and write to that representative. (Also see if your museum has days with reduced or free admission or if you can rent a membership from your local library, libraries renting out memberships to museums and galleries is becoming more and more common).
This is a very winding post and idk what I was aiming for but I needed to get it out.
Go ahead and email again. They tend to be very busy and emails can get lost! My rabbi was away the week I contacted the synagogue, so it took a bit to hear back. If you haven't heard anything though, you're email probably got lost though, so don't feel bad about contacting them again!
I have a question for other Jews by choice: when you first contacted a rabbi, how long did it take for them to initially respond? I emailed the rabbi in my town over two weeks ago now and still haven't heard anything. Is this normal or should I try contacting the rabbi/the temple again? And would it be better to call than to email?
Menachem Bluming Muses: How to Explain Death to Children After Grandpa’s Passing
Remember when your little brother was born? After being in your mother’s tummy for such a long time, he finally came out to be with you and the family. How exciting. You’d been waiting for so long to meet him and play with him, and then he finally arrived.
Your baby brother was very comfortable inside mummy’s tummy, where it’s warm and he had everything he needed. But he couldn’t stay there forever. When it was time, he came out to be with you.
In a strange way, death is similar to birth. We leave the world we know and enter the great unknown world outside. All the people who have passed away are in that peaceful and happy place. Just as you were waiting for your brother to come and be with you, the souls of past generations were waiting for your grandfather to join them. Now they are all together. We miss them. But there’s nothing to be scared of.
Remember you used to talk to your baby brother, even before he was born? He heard you, though he couldn’t answer and you couldn’t see him. You can talk to your grandfather too. And you can send him a present. Every time you do something good, listen to your parents, do a mitzvah, give charity, learn Torah, think how proud your grandfather would be. At that moment, his soul in heaven gets a good feeling, a gift from you.
Just like he smiled every time you visited him, his soul smiles every time you think: “Grandpa would love seeing me do this." So keep on making him proud.
Mendel (Menachem) Bluming Based on Rabbi Aaron
The Experimental Plastic House // Saint Petersburg 1962
Almost all the “filling” was made of plastic: windows - from plexiglass, pipes - from vinyl plastic, wallpaper - from PVC film.
architect A.P. Shcherbenok and engineer L.G. Levinsky 1961
Journal “Technology of Youth”
Hello! I have created a sims blog for my sims cc reblogs and my stories. I may accidentally reblog things to this account until I get used to it, but if you're interested in historical sims cc and content, follow me at @zeef-sims !
Passover
This potsherd from 475 BC was found on the island of Elephantine, close to the border between Egypt and Nubia, which was home to a small, close-knit Jewish community at the time.It reads; “To Hoshaya. Greetings! Take care of the children until Ahutab gets there. Don’t trust anyone else with them! If the flour for your bread has been ground, make a small portion of dough to last until their mother gets there. Let me know when you will be celebrating Pascha (Passover). Tell me how the baby is doing!”Besides a wonderfully evocative peek inside a daily conversation, the sherd contains one of the earliest non-biblical references to #Passover. Passover commemorates the liberation of the ancient Israelites from Egypt and is observed annually by Jewish people all over the world. This year, Passover begins tonight and ends on Thursday 16 April. You can find out more about this sherd and many other fascinating objects relating to Judaism in our collection in ‘The Jewish Journey’ by Rebecca Abrams, available online.
Having to bite the bullet and reach out for help.
GC waitlists are long and Doctors simply do not care enough to help trans people when they need it.
I am tired of arguing and begging and getting progressively more and more poorly, of the mental pain that comes with being attached to something that doesn't belong to me.
Private healthcare is the last attempt I have at getting the help I need before it is too late.
Any shares or donations mean more to me than you could possibly know. 🖤🖤
neato: a 13th-century number notation system created by european monks
Dog, 1915, Sweden.
Bonnet Hair Edits
Here are 9 hairs that would look lovely with bonnets… if only the buns fitted underneath. Well now they can!
I have done very little to the meshes, just removed the buns and pushed a few spots in so they fit under the bonnets. All credit goes to the creators who I’ve linked along with their original meshes. Since the bun removal involved editing the meshes, you don’t need the originals for these to work but I would highly recommend getting them. Mostly because they’re all so beautiful, but also these edits are meant to be hidden by bonnets and look rather odd on their own.
Each edit was cloned from its original so they should be found next to each other but some are a bit further apart for some mystical reason. They have the same thumbnails but with a red circle saying ‘bonnet’ on them.
1. Get Famous hair - requires Get Famous
2. Charity Hair - original mesh by @cazmari-mods found here
3. Marigold Hair - original mesh by @saurussims found here
4. Maple Hair - original mesh by @hazelminesims found here
5. Venice Hair* - original mesh by @okruee found here
6. Danae Hair - original mesh by @teanmoon found here
7. Paulette Hair - original mesh by @birksche found here
8. Victoria Hair - original mesh by @batsfromwesteros found here
9. Sapphire Hair - original mesh by @stephanine-sims found here
Download (sfs)
Linzlu’s bonnets: Straw, Fancy and Christmas
*The headband for the Venice hair conflicted with the bonnets so I moved it. This means it works with the bonnets but no longer works with the headband overlay
a lot of you hate historians and archaeologists, and i think that’s a problem
look, i fully recognize that there are reasons to be skeptical of history and archaeology. i am very on board with criticizing academia as an oppressive institution, and the way that researchers take their bigotry and bias with them to their work. i also recognize that academia does a pretty bad job of communicating what it does to the public, and that’s a part of why people’s hostility to it is able to flourish.
but i am disturbed by the pervasive narrative in online leftist spaces that people who research the human past are ignorant and bigoted, and i think we need to do more to combat that narrative.
historians being homophobic has become a whole meme, and it feels like people are just using historians as a homophobia scapegoat, when in reality the humanities are overwhelmingly left-leaning. people also keep blaming historians for erasing the homoeroticism of fictional literary characters, which is just… not what historians do. homophobic biases and erasures in the interpretation of history over the past few hundred years are a very real thing that’s important to learn about, but scholars have radically shifted away from that approach in recent generations, and these memes are not helping people outside the field to understand history and reception. instead, a lot of people are coming away with the impression that…
(source… really? nobody?)
this thread gets bonus points for the comments claiming that modern historians argue about whether achilles was a top or a bottom using homophobic stereotypes, which i can only guess is a misunderstanding of the erastes/eromenos model (a relationship schema in classical greece; i think people have debated whether achilles and patroclus represent an early version of it). also a commenter claims that the movie troy invented the idea of achilles and patroclus being cousins when no, they were also cousins in lots of ancient sources.
there’s this post about roman dodecahedra (link includes explanation of why the original post is misleading).
there’s this thread about how some thin gold spirals from ancient denmark look exactly like materials used in gold embroidery to this day but archaeologists are stupid and don’t know that because they dont talk to embroiderers enough. in fact, the article says they were most likely used for decorating clothing, whether as a fringe, braided into hair, or embroidered. so the archaeologists in the article basically agree with the post, theyre just less certain about it, because an artifact looking similar to a modern device doesn’t necessarily mean they have identical uses.
this thread has a lot of people interpreting academic nuance as erasure. the museum label literally says that this kind of statue typically depicts a married couple, giving you the factual evidence so you can interpret it. it would be false to say “these two women are married” because there was no gay marriage in ancient egypt. (interpreting nuance as erasure or ignorance is a running theme here, and it points to a disconnect, a public ignorance of how history is studied, that we can very much remedy)
lots of other conspiracy theory-ish stuff about ancient egypt is common in social justice communities, which egyptologists on this site have done a good job of debunking
oh, and this kind of thing has been going around. the problem with it is that there are loads of marginalized academics who research things related to their own lives, and lived experience and rigorous research are different forms of expertise that are both valuable.
so why does this matter?
none of these are isolated incidents. for everything i’ve linked here, there are examples i havent linked. anti-intellectualism, especially against the humanities, is rampant lately across the political spectrum, and it’s very dangerous. it’s not the same as wanting to see and understand evidence for yourself, it’s not the same as criticizing institutions of academic research. it’s the assumption that scholars are out to get you and the perception that there is no knowledge to be gained from thorough study. that mindset is closely connected to the denial of (political, scientific, and yes historical) facts that we’ve been seeing all around us in recent years.
on a personal note, so many marginalized scholars are trying to survive the dumpster fire of academia because we care that much about making sure the stories that are too often unheard don’t get left out of history… and when that’s the entire focus of my life right now, it’s disheartening to see how many of my political allies are just going to assume the worst about the entire field
Please make a post about the story of the RMS Carpathia, because it's something that's almost beyond belief and more people should know about it.
Carpathia received Titanic’s distress signal at 12:20am, April 15th, 1912. She was 58 miles away, a distance that absolutely could not be covered in less than four hours.
(Californian’s exact position at the time is…controversial. She was close enough to have helped. By all accounts she was close enough to see Titanic’s distress rockets. It’s uncertain to this day why her crew did not respond, or how many might not have been lost if she had been there. This is not the place for what-ifs. This is about what was done.)
Carpathia’s Captain Rostron had, yes, rolled out of bed instantly when woken by his radio operator, ordered his ship to Titanic’s aid and confirmed the signal before he was fully dressed. The man had never in his life responded to an emergency call. His goal tonight was to make sure nobody who heard that fact would ever believe it.
All of Carpathia’s lifeboats were swung out ready for deployment. Oil was set up to be poured off the side of the ship in case the sea turned choppy; oil would coat and calm the water near Carpathia if that happened, making it safer for lifeboats to draw up alongside her. He ordered lights to be rigged along the side of the ship so survivors could see it better, and had nets and ladders rigged along her sides ready to be dropped when they arrived, in order to let as many survivors as possible climb aboard at once.
I don’t know if his making provisions for there still being survivors in the water was optimism or not. I think he knew they were never going to get there in time for that. I think he did it anyway because, god, you have to hope.
Carpathia had three dining rooms, which were immediately converted into triage and first aid stations. Each had a doctor assigned to it. Hot soup, coffee, and tea were prepared in bulk in each dining room, and blankets and warm clothes were collected to be ready to hand out. By this time, many of the passengers were awake–prepping a ship for disaster relief isn’t quiet–and all of them stepped up to help, many donating their own clothes and blankets.
And then he did something I tend to refer to as diverting all power from life support.
Here’s the thing about steamships: They run on steam. Shocking, I know; but that steam powers everything on the ship, and right now, Carpathia needed power. So Rostron turned off hot water and central heating, which bled valuable steam power, to everywhere but the dining rooms–which, of course, were being used to make hot drinks and receive survivors. He woke up all the engineers, all the stokers and firemen, diverted all that steam back into the engines, and asked his ship to go as fast as she possibly could. And when she’d done that, he asked her to go faster.
I need you to understand that you simply can’t push a ship very far past its top speed. Pushing that much sheer tonnage through the water becomes harder with each extra knot past the speed it was designed for. Pushing a ship past its rated speed is not only reckless–it’s difficult to maneuver–but it puts an incredible amount of strain on the engines. Ships are not designed to exceed their top speed by even one knot. They can’t do it. It can’t be done.
Carpathia’s absolute do-or-die, the-engines-can’t-take-this-forever top speed was fourteen knots. Dodging icebergs, in the dark and the cold, surrounded by mist, she sustained a speed of almost seventeen and a half.
No one would have asked this of them. It wasn’t expected. They were almost sixty miles away, with icebergs in their path. They had a responsibility to respond; they did not have a responsibility to do the impossible and do it well. No one would have faulted them for taking more time to confirm the severity of the issue. No one would have blamed them for a slow and cautious approach. No one but themselves.
They damn near broke the laws of physics, galloping north headlong into the dark in the desperate hope that if they could shave an hour, half an hour, five minutes off their arrival time, maybe for one more person those five minutes would make the difference. I say: three people had died by the time they were lifted from the lifeboats. For all we know, in another hour it might have been more. I say they made all the difference in the world.
This ship and her crew received a message from a location they could not hope to reach in under four hours. Just barely over three hours later, they arrived at Titanic’s last known coordinates. Half an hour after that, at 4am, they would finally find the first of the lifeboats. it would take until 8:30 in the morning for the last survivor to be brought onboard. Passengers from Carpathia universally gave up their berths, staterooms, and clothing to the survivors, assisting the crew at every turn and sitting with the sobbing rescuees to offer whatever comfort they could.
In total, 705 people of Titanic’s original 2208 were brought onto Carpathia alive. No other ship would find survivors.
At 12:20am April 15th, 1912, there was a miracle on the North Atlantic. And it happened because a group of humans, some of them strangers, many of them only passengers on a small and unimpressive steam liner, looked at each other and decided: I cannot live with myself if I do anything less.
I think the least we can do is remember them for it.
Risu just sent me this and I am SO DELIGHTED
Ahhhhhhh!!! Go read it! Go read it!! The cording was plied by Neanderthals!!! The article talks about how we can’t keep thinking about them as being stupid it’s so delightful! In these trying times, let’s read about some joyful anthropological and archaeological discoveries!!!
Being weird together in museums is a love language
A prehistoric grave in Austria may represent the oldest burial of twins on record, a new study finds. And what makes it even more exciting is that the twins did not die at the same time. Yet the twins were buried together in the same grave, separate from another infant burial a few feet (1.5 meters) away. Read the full story here…
As of yesterday, I have officially applied for grad school. Everyone send me some good vibes or thoughts or prayers or whatever you feel most suitable! I really really want to get into this school.
These past four years have been extremely hard for me. We were in a really bad financial state with my dad on disability and my mom out of work, and my dad was very ill with kidney and heart failure and in and out of the hospital. Then my mom good a job last winter, then the plague hit, then we moved, then my dad died. It has been a fight to stay in school, to do well enough to graduate. It feels like every semester is a boss battle and I'm doing my best to stay afloat. It's been hell, it really has, but I'm doing my best, I'm pushing through, and now I'm getting ready for grad school and graduation.
If I can make it through this, I can make it through anything, and we'll all get through this together. Have faith in yourself! And wish me luck on getting in, this is a big deal.
Please don't reblog!
I just wanted to say thank you for the comment you left on my post a few days back. It actually made my night... I’ve been so stressed and worried and I still have two more days of waiting for biopsy results - I keep going back to it and it makes me smile every time. So thank you. From the bottom of my heart.
If you need to talk you can always come message me here on Tumblr through the messaging thingy! We have been mutuals for so long that I think of you as a bit of a friend, you know? I like to keep up, I just don't post much personal stuff, especially not on this blog.
Here's that dog's YouTube channel, I hope it can brighten your day!
i offer a gif of a cute puppy giving a high five
Oh my god that puppy is so adorable it made me forget my distress for a moment to just smile at the screen! Thank you so much for sharing this cute pup with me!
a lot of ppl in the notes of the previous post are mentioning museums hoarding stolen cultural objects which is important beyond measure but museums shutting down due to lack of funding will not result in repatriation of cultural materials, they would most likely be auctioned off to private ultra-wealthy collectors to recoup some of their debt and we'd never find these objects again let alone be able to repatriate them. i understand the desire to say 'fuck museums let them die' for this reason but it won't have the result you think it will, and it will also mean that all of their ethically sourced and donated materials (which for most museums are the vast majority of their collections) will no longer be cared for by experts but again, sold off to private collectors who can do whatever they want with them or deteriorate in storehouses indefinitely. this would be catastrophic for public history and collective knowledge-sharing across the globe across cultures, and museums in post-colonial and run by/for racialized or otherwise oppressed ethnic groups will fall first because they receive FAR less funding than the large western institutions. just repeating phrases and sentiments you've seen online as a form of performative activism without knowing anything about what you're talking about does more harm than good and doesn't make you look smart or clever just foolish it's so deeply annoying and frustrating
Holy shit, can you imagine if mediaeval monks had figured out flipbooks?
I cannot emphasize enough, museums/zoos/aquariums and the like are at an incredibly dangerous point right now, and it’s breaking my heart that not only is it happening, but it’s happening so much more quietly than it deserves. The main people I have seen sharing information about the crisis museums are in right now are others in the field, and while I know it’s not out of malicious ignorance, because people love these places and don’t want to see them gone, it’s scary that these places are dying with so much less fanfare than some of the other institutions threatened by the current situation in the US.
I came across an article from NPR the other day suggesting that unless something changes, ONE-THIRD of museums in the entire country (a loose term that includes certain places like aquariums as well) could be dead before the end of the year (source). A third! Can you even imagine the incalculable loss? And it goes so far beyond the services museums generally provide to the public, like field trips or a place to go on the weekends – not that those aren’t important. But museums do so much more than that. If these places die, where do their collections go? Often there’s no one else who can take them in, and as someone who has spent a significant amount of time in the bellies of museum collections, most people have no idea how many specimens or artifacts would become homeless and in danger of being lost forever. In the case of zoos and aquariums, what happens to their animals? Another friend of mine mentioned on Facebook the other day that the Aquarium of the Pacific is not only in dire need right now, but that a person they know who works with them has said that if they close, they’ll have to euthanize a significant number of their animals. And for the places that do survive, they won’t be unchanged. The science museum I used to work for isn’t in danger of permanently closing – yet – but still had make the incredibly difficult call to do a 39% reduction in staff positions, meaning that even when they reopen, the jobs that I and over a hundred and fifty people held before the pandemic – educating, running programs, engaging with visitors on an extra personal level – won’t exist anymore. Another friend of mine doing a museum studies degree has said that even the Smithsonian (the SMITHSONIAN) had to make a similar call and many of her friends doing work there are now jobless.
Your local museum isn’t getting help from the government. Museums, zoos, and aquariums have had to beg desperately for stimulus money that hasn’t manifested. These are non-profits, that rely on revenue from visitors and memberships for the most part, and as they are responsibly staying closed for everyone’s safety, they aren’t getting visitors. Without some form of help, they are going to drop off the face of the planet, or appear at the other end of this as gutted shells of their former selves.
If you want to help, you have two options: get money into the hands of these places directly, or put pressure on your representatives to offer museums and other institutions like them some kind of federal stimulus money. If you can afford it, this is a great time to get a membership to a place you love – many of them are even offering special online programming for members, so it’s more than just a donation. Or you could make a donation, if that’s a more practical amount for you to spend, because at this point anything helps. And if you can’t do that (or even if you can), yell at your senators and representatives to do something. Many places even are offering guidelines for the sorts of things to talk about, like this script from the Monterey Bay Aquarium (although repetitive scripts are less likely to have an impact than individual e-mails, something is still better than nothing, and you could even read over it to figure out how to formulate your own message).
I’m not usually one to beg people to signal boost something, but it’s breaking my heart that this issue is being ignored. Every day it feels like I have to explain these places are struggling to someone else who didn’t know it was a problem, and while I don’t blame them for not knowing, I want people to know. I want people to be aware that we are at risk of losing some of our most valuable cultural and educational institutions, not find our after all this is over that they’re gone. Please talk with people you know about what’s going on. We need our museums. And right now, they need us too.
Tombstones of Ancient Roman Dogs
Aeolidis tumulum festivae cerne catellae, quam dolui inmodice raptam mihi praepete fato.
Behold the tomb of Aeolis, the cheerful little dog, whose loss to fleeting fate pained me beyond measure.
Raeda[r]um custos numquam latravit inepte. nunc silet et cineres vindicat um- bra suos.
This guard of the coaches never barked unsuitably. Now he is silent and his shade protects his ashes.
Quam dulcis fuit ista quam benigna quae cum viveret in sinu iacebat somni conscia semper et cubilis o factum male Myia quod peristi latrares modo si quis adcubaret rivalis dominae licentiosa o factum male Myia quod peristi altum iam tenet insciam sepulcrum nec sevire potes nec insilire nec blandis mihi morsib(us) renides.
How sweet and friendly she was! While she was alive she used to lie in the lap, always sharing sleep and bed. What a shame, Midge, that you have died! You would only bark if some rival took the liberty of lying up against your mistress. What a shame, Midge, that you have died! The depths of the grave now hold you and you know nothing about it. You cannot go wild nor jump on me, and you do not bare your teeth at me with bites that do not hurt.
Portavi lacrimis madidus te nostra catella, quod feci lustris laetior ante tribus. ergo mihi, Patrice, iam non dabis osculla mille nec poteris collo grata cubare meo. tristis marmorea posui te sede merentem et iunxi semper manib(us) ipse meis, morib(us) argutis hominem simulare paratam; perdidimus quales, hei mihi, delicias. tu dulcis, Patrice, nostras attingere mensas consueras, gremio poscere blanda cibos, lambere tu calicem lingua rapiente solebas quem tibi saepe meae sustinuere manus, accipere et lassum cauda gaudente frequenter
Bedewed with tears I have carried you, our little dog, as in happier circumstances I did fifteen years ago. So now, Patrice, you will no longer give me a thousand kisses, nor will you be able to lie affectionately round my neck. You were a good dog, and in sorrow I have placed you in a marble tomb, and I have united you forever to myself when I die. You readily matched a human with your clever ways; alas, what a pet we have lost! You, sweet Patrice, were in the habit of joining us at table and fawningly asking for food in our lap, you were accustomed to lick with your greedy tongue the cup which my hands often held for you and regularly to welcome your tired master with wagging tail.
Source: Electronic Archive of Greek and Latin Epigraphy
a little kid came up to the desk (it came up to his like, collarbone) and very seriously asked me about baby name books, because he wanted to help name his new sibling. i guided him to the shelf (there were only two book of names) and pointed out the differences between them, and after some serious contemplation he went, “I think I should take both, just in case.” So I gave him both and he thanked me and went on his way.
And I went back to my desk and screamed into my arm for like 45 years because HE WAS SO FUCKING ADORABLE AAAAA
Every post where it says “history books leave this out” and “historians are trying to hide this from us” is just code for “I have literally never picked up a history book outside of high school history class in my entire life”
Again, if you follow me for starkid or other fandom stuff, follow @r-we-taire-yet because I actually post things on there. This blog is only used occasionally for random history stuff because I'm going into it as a career.
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I don't use this blog, I use the side blog @r-we-taire-yet .
Friendly reminder that this is technically my main blog but I am actually using and reblogging on my blog @r-we-taire-yet so I'll follow you on this blog and like your posts on this blog and then reblog stuff on there!