Lions and snakes on astronomical ceiling at Dendera
Rhaomi has a fabulous in-depth post on the very fabulous Dendera temple complex, home to "some of the most superbly-preserved ancient Egyptian art known, ranging from early Roman times back to the Middle Kingdom period over 4,000 years ago." Amazing photography, video, interviews, background, blog posts, and a "slick zoomable scroller." So much. So good.
Alexander on his deathbed, illustration by Walter Crane [Public domain]
There's a chance - remote, but a chance - that Alexander's body is in Venice. It's my favourite body-snatching story in all of history. — Bora Horza Gobuchul on the disposition of the body of Alexander the Great
WindowFrog 002 by cygnus921 (cc by)
Verstegan has a great answer for nebulawindphone's question about how biblical Egypt's plague of frogs came to be imagined by many as a "rain" of frogs.
MacMummy - Birth (Harry Burton Style) by vintagedept (cc by)
ominous sarcophagus; exhilarating ichnology; how now Homo sapiens?; exasperation excavation; crowdfunded dig dug; preservation annihilation; dig diaries; parched plots expose lots.
Helix desertorum. Forskal. From a living specimen in the British Museum, March, 1850.
In the mid-1800s, a snail spent years glued to a specimen card in the British Museum (now the Natural History Museum) before scientists realized it was still alive. What became of this snail? Ask Metafilter found out!
nicebookrack tracks down a gastropodean mystery and reports back on the amazing story of the snail that came back to life after years glued to a specimen card in the British Museum... and what happened next.
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