2026-02-05 00:47:41
From the collection of the Met, an Egyptian artist’s sketch of a sparrow circa 1479–1458 BCE. Much of the art that filters down to us from ancient civilizations was used for official purposes (state, religion, commerce); it’s nice to see something simpler like this drawing. Archaeologist Alison Fisk:
From that link about ostracon:This may have been a practice drawing of the sparrow hieroglyph which was used for words meaning ‘small’, ‘poor’, or ‘bad’
The Egyptian artisans who decorated tombs and temples, drew sketches and jotted down notes on the plentiful limestone flakes which were by-products of temple and rock-cut tomb construction. Egyptologists refer to them as ‘ostraca’ (singular: ostracon). More info: ancientegyptonline.co.uk/ostracon/
The word “ostracon” is derived from the Greek “ostrakon” (meaning a piece of pottery used as a voting ballot). When a vote was held on whether to banish a person from society these shards were used to cast votes. This is the origin of the word “ostracism” (literally meaning “to be voted out”).
Tags: Alison Fisk · archaeology · art · Egypt · language · Met Museum · museums
2026-02-05 00:04:41
The Evolutionary Brilliance of the Baby Giggle. “Laughter and humor are fundamental to how babies learn about and participate in the world.” *Highly recommend* watching the laughing baby videos to brighten up your day.
2026-02-04 23:35:44
Only 7 gasoline cars were sold in Norway last month. Seven! 98 diesel cars & 29 hybrids were also sold, but the rest were EVs. And this comes after Norway cut EV incentives.
2026-02-04 23:00:41
Roxane Gay: “Humanity is, always, enough. We have a right to protest, legally carry a firearm, drive while Black, walk in a neighborhood at night, play in a park, sleep in a bed or do anything else whether we are wonderful people, and beloved or not.”
2026-02-04 22:24:37
Good god, this story: Mother Says Asking 13-Year-Old Son to Swim Four Hours to Save Family ‘One of the Hardest Decisions’. “I knew he was the strongest and he could do it.” Australia: a nation of athletes.
2026-02-04 07:22:06
This Github project from Ankur Gupta allows you to “generate beautiful, minimalist map posters for any city in the world”. There are a variety of different themes you can choose from and the resulting images are big enough to print out actual posters (20-inch height maximum).
You can install the Python scripts on your computer or use this website (which seems quite slow). Also, I wonder if the height/width minimums can be changed to output bigger posters?
Tags: Ankur Gupta · design · maps