Dr Julie Holder

Apricot and black pug and fluffy white cat snuggled up on my lap

Pet blanket 😍 Kept my legs toasty last night

We are looking straight down the middle of the Great Hall. In the centre is a series of large oak posts which look like they are branching out and up holding the soaring roof above. There is a lot of wood, fit for woodnesday.

Bluesky: It's #woodnesday

Us: Hold our beer.

My photo shows part of a limestone wall panel carved in bas relief from the Fifth Dynasty mortuary temple of king Userkaf at Saqqara, Old Kingdom, 2465-2458 BC. It shows a Hoopoe, a crested bird with black and white wing pattern, and an ibis, with long curved beak, amongst papyrus plants in the marshes of the river Nile. My photo was taken in 2022 at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Lovely naturalistic relief of a Hoopoe and Ibis, carved by an Egyptian artisan some 4,500 years ago!

Limestone wall relief from the 5th Dynasty mortuary temple of Userkaf at Saqqara. Egyptian Museum, Cairo 📷 by me

#ReliefWednesday
#Archaeology

Ghosts feature film officially confirmed as cast and crew unveiled in huge production update Button House is reopening its doors as the BBC comedy favourite Ghosts returns in a big-screen adventure featuring the original cast.

I should be in this film.
I can be the human who annoys the ghosts by always asking questions about tiny details about daily life before they died.
www.radiotimes.com/movies/ghost...

My photo shows the front of a warm-yellow coloured Minoan clay flask, hand painted in black with a frontally depicted octopus. The flask measures 27 cm (about 10.5 inches) in height. It has a short spout at the top with a small loop handle at either side. The octopus is swimming diagonally with its eight writhing, sucker-lined arms covering the whole surface of the flask. It stares out at the viewer with wide, almost cartoon-like eyes. Additional motifs include sea urchins, tritons, small rocks and seaweed. Minoan decoration depicting sea motifs is known by scholars as the ‘Marine Style’. The flask was excavated in 1903 at a Bronze Age settlement site at Palaikastro. The Palaikastro excavations, carried out between 1902 and 1906, were run by R. Bosanquet and R.M. Dawkins from the British School of Athens. The flask is part of the collections at Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Heraklion, Crete.

Marvellous 3,500 year-old Minoan clay flask decorated with a wide-eyed octopus 🐙❤️

Excavated in 1903 from a Bronze Age settlement site at Palaikastro, Crete.

Heraklion Archaeological Museum 📷 by me

#Archaeology

Might help if I could spell #HomeEducation lol 😆

Front cover of Heidi Steel's book "School isn't for everyone (and what to do instead) a practical neuro-affirming guide to unschooling". The cover is orange and shows pictures of a frog, some paintbrushes and a video game controller

Looking forward to reading my copy of Heidi Steel's School isn't for everyone (and what you can do instead). We have flexi schooled since Covid and are now home educating our youngest and I love to see his passion for knowledge when he gets to direct what he learns #HomeEduaction #unschooling

The British Museum photo shows a six-sided, cube-shaped die carved from rock crystal on a grey surface. The six sides are numbered one to six. The numbers are represented by circular incised markings, which comprise of a dark outer ring with a dark dot at the centre. Length: 9 - 13 millimetres, width: 9 - 13 millimetres. Display lighting casts a shadow beneath the die.

Timeless design!

Roman rock crystal gaming die marked one to six like modern dice 🎲 1st-2nd century AD.

📷 British Museum www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o...

#Archaeology

A Verulamian Museum poster advertising their temporary exhibition ‘Religion in Verulamium’ with three images: a close up of the mosaic face of the Roman god Oceanus (perhaps with a nod to the antlered Celtic god Cernunnos!), bronze statue of the goddess Venus, and a close-up of a small bronze reclining figure. All against a dark blue background.

I had a super time at Verulamium Museum yesterday! I recommend it!

Thanks @tonydivey.bsky.social for showing me around the ‘Religion in Verulamium’ exhibition which you co-curated. Well done to you and Sara!

Amazing mosaics in permanent galleries too! @stalbansmuseums.bsky.social

#Archaeology

We are looking at the exterior of the Hall on a beautiful sunny morning. The sky is blue, the plasterwork between the timber frame is a warm butter yellow and the medieval bricks glow in the early spring sunshine. The flowerbed in front of the Hall has crocuses in white, lilac and purple and the snow drops are waving goodbye as the yellow narcissi pop up to say hello.

What’s better than a medieval guild hall?

A medieval guild hall in the early spring sunshine that’s what! ☀️

Opening pages of Pauline Stafford's British Academy memoir of Dame Jinty Nelson with abstract text: Summary. Jinty Nelson was a leading scholar of early medieval European history, with a special focus on Francia in the late 8th and 9th centuries. She was at the forefront of a generation that re-vivified the study of the early middle ages, in her case especially concerned with the working of the Carolingian political system and the re-evaluation of the role of the aristocracy alongside king and church in early medieval politics. She was a pioneer of the study of women’s and gender history, demonstrating not only its intrinsic interest and importance, but also that political history could not be understood without attention to both. She had a deep and humane interest in the people of the past. Her academic career was spent entirely at King’s College, London, where she was an outstanding and much-loved teacher. Her professional contribution and recognition went far beyond that, and were marked by her election in 2000 as the first woman President of the Royal Historical Society. She became a champion of the subject and its teaching, wherever that was practised. In 2006 she was made a Dame of the British Empire for services to History.

Now available, the British Academy memoir of Dame Jinty Nelson (1942-2024), historian and first female President of the Royal Historical Society: bit.ly/4qUa0ua

The memoir is written by Professor Pauline Stafford @pstafford.bsky.social and available via @britishacademy.bsky.social #Skystorians

Apricot and black pug snuggled up asleep on a grey blanket

My little pug burrito #PugsOfBluesky

Just catching up on @potterythrow.bsky.social Anyone else just sobbing through this week's episode. Such a talented group of potters and all such lovely people as well #pottery

We are looking at the Great Hall - a large room with a tall oak roof. The room is full of 10th century goods from clothes and shoes to jewellery and pots. Lots of people - some in Viking costume are perusing the stalls.

We are looking at the Undercroft - a lower ceilinged room than the Great Hall but with large oak posts holding up the roof. It is full of stalls selling goods such as clothes, jewellery, helmets. Lots of people including some in Viking costume are perusing the stalls.

We survived! Did you miss us?

What do you mean you didn't even notice we'd gone?! 😢

Over the three days of the 10th century traders fair we welcomed over 3,500 people - that's a lot for a little guild Hall!

Photos of the fair courtesy of our friends @jorvikviking.bsky.social.

📢In partnership with St Andrews University, we're looking for a 'Joseph Bell Writer in Residence at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh' to pursue a writing project drawing on our archives. Stipend of up to £15,000. Closing date 6 March 2026. www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

John Kay - Samuel McDonald of The Sutherland Fencibles Art of the Print Original Etching by John Kay entitled Samuel McDonald of The Sutherland Fencibles. Our Gallery offers a wide selection of international fine art. Authenticity is guaranteed and documentation is provided.

Here is Kay's print of Samuel Macdonald, also known as 'Big Sam' due to his height of 6 ft 10 inches. Apparently Sam wasn't a fan of Kay's work though

www.artoftheprint.com/artistpages/...

Wow! This is amazing and well done to the team #Archaeology #Scotland

The story of syringes | National Museums Scotland Syringes are important medical tools and have existed for thousands of years. The humble hypodermic injection is also known in Scotland as the jaborjag. It

Anyone else really enjoying The Artful Dodger on Disney? I spend most programmes looking up history of medicine facts relating to the storyline. Check out the collections @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social for objects from 19th century medicine www.nms.ac.uk/search-our-c...

www.nms.ac.uk/discover-cat...

I remember making a teaching pack full of resources for teaching the histories of slavery during my undergraduate (as part of our public history module assessment). I love that there are now more resources like this so teachers don’t shy away from teaching it. There really is no excuse!

Call out to all my historian and heritage peeps, do you know of any articles or books on beggars' badges? #History #Museums #MaterialHistories

www.nms.ac.uk/search-our-c...

We have so many questions

I never know where crime history research will lead me, and today I’ve been studying the macabre world of mid-Victorian public anatomy museums, following a reference in a historical homicide case.

Portrait of Mary Anning in a green cloak, lace cap and straw bonnet tied with a red ribbon. She holds a hammer and has a basket over her arm. A small black and white dog lies at her feet and an ichthyosaur skull is shown faintly at the bottom right.

The famous portrait of #MaryAnning, probably in her 'Sunday best' rather than fieldwork clothes, was painted from life in February 1842 perhaps by William Gray (1815–85). Intended for exhibition at the Royal Academy, it seems not to have been shown and may have hung in Anning's fossil shop or home.

Charles West gives the Society's annual medieval lecture on European queenship - RHS On Friday 6 February the Society hosted the first lecture in its 2026 programme. Our great thanks to Professor Charles West (University of Edinburgh) who spoke on: ‘"Alike in Appearance but not in Sco...

Our great thanks to Professor Charles West for his excellent Society lecture yesterday evening: ‘”Alike in Appearance but not in Scope”: Queens and the Making of Medieval Europe’ bit.ly/4tluezd

The recording of Charles's lecture will be available shortly.
@pseudo-isidore.bsky.social #Skystorians

An image of an ancient Egyptian wooden box with a separate flat lid placed on top slightly ajar. Dimensions 29.5 cm x 22 cm x 49 cm. The inside of the box is divided into compartments (obscured in the image by the lid). The exterior of the box is decorated with a painted checkerboard pattern, with lotus bud and blossom border. The box’s contents are displayed next it. Small jars and containers made of alabaster, faience, and blue glass decorated with yellow and white festoons. Some still contain traces of original unguents and fat based creams. A blue glass eye-makeup tube decorated with white and yellow festoons, contains an applicator stick for applying kohl, a black eye cosmetic ‘made from soot and antimony that was applied to the eyelids and eyelashes as a protective filter against the rays of the sun and as a disinfectant’. This beauty box belonged to a woman named Merit. It was discovered in 1906 by Italian archaeologist Ernesto Schiaparelli inside Theban tomb (TT8) which belonged to Merit and her husband Kha. Kha was a high ranking official responsible for the design and construction of three 18th-Dynasty royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. An inscription on the beauty box, possibly added just before burial, states that the box is a funerary offering for Merit’s spirit. Dated New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty, 1425–1353 BC.

A 3,400 year-old ancient Egyptian beauty box with original containers for makeup and beauty products! 🤩

📷 Museo Egizio, Turin

#Archaeology

Apricot and black pug laying on the top of a grey sofa with his paws crossed in front of him

Puggo is such a wee poser! 😍 #PugsOfBluesky #DogsOfBluesky

Black and white print showing three soldiers in uniform and a dog wearing a medal on his collar. The title of the print is "Four Old Campaigners of the Scots Fusiler Guards", 1856

Absolutely love this print that I came across at work yesterday @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social titled "Four Old Campaigners of the Scots Fusilier Guards 1856". One of the campaigners is Bob the dog! You can visit Bob at the National War Museum where he still wears his medal #DogsOfBluesky #Museums

Cracked piece of sandstone with three circles overlaid onto parts of its surface. The areas in the circles are zoomed in on, showing flecks of blue pigment on the stone.

Feeling blue this #BlueMonday? Perhaps some blue #archaeology will brighten your day! This is the earliest blue mineral pigment found in Europe, dating to the Upper Palaeolithic. This one-of-a-kind find was likely used for dyeing clothes or body decoration 🏺

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

An apricot and black pug is looking at a white cat whilst sitting on the lap of someone in blue jeans

A white cat is sprawled over the lap of someone in blue jeans with an apricot and black pug laying asleep alongside. The cat's bottom is resting on the pugs back

Lazy Sundays with Puggo and Lightning #PugsOfBluesky #CatsOfBluesky

Left: portrait of GB Greenough, balding head, bright eyes and a hint of a smile; right: his coloured geological map of England and Wales, 1820.

18 January 1778, London: birth of George Bellas (Greenough from 1795), founding president of the Geological Society and compiler of the Society's 1820 geological map of England and Wales. In 1813 he visited Lyme Regis and purchased a fossil 'crocodile' from 'Mrs Anning's curiosity shop'. #MaryAnning