Posts I enjoyed this week from around the web:
Intimate window into ancient Egypt: Letter to mom—please come visit soon, how’s your health?—and dinner invite “to dine on the couch of the lord Sarapis.” Two fragments of papyrus first stowed away in the 1930’s rediscovered in the University of British Columbia library. Have you checked your rare books collection lately? I love when things like this happen. You know in your heart that ancient people must have cared about similar things, but then you hear their voices and, yup, missing mom and the dinner invite circuit are nothing new! Click here for “Window on a Lost World: Rediscovered Papyri at UBC Shed Light on Ancient Egypt” on the University of British Columbia Website
A 2nd Temple period (1st C CE) ritual bath (mikveh) found under the living room floor of a house in Jerusalem. I’ve crawled through remains of ritual baths on the back slope of the Temple Mount many years ago, but this one looks much more complete. I confess I’m confused by the description of how this was found—“Archaeologists of the Israel Antiquities Authority were amazed to discover that a pair of wooden doors beneath a stylized rug in the middle of a pleasant family’s living room concealed an ancient ritual bath.” No one had looked under the rug before? No one asked, hey, what’s under these doors? Is this just a translation confusion and they really dug up the floors while renovating and then put the doors in? There are hints of translation confusion in the “pleasant family” which I’m guessing is actually a “pleasant living room.” If this were a medieval context not 21st century, we could assume a peasant family J Anyway, an exciting discovery. Click here for Israel Antiquities Authority “A Two Thousand Year Old Secret Below the Living Room Floor—July 2015”
I just discovered Nicole Evelina’s write up of the Historical Novel Society conference. I don’t know her but I loved this part, “Midwifery – this panel was really cool. Got to hear how it evolved (or not) from the 15th century BCE to the 17th century CE. This was the most factual and the one I took the most notes on that day. Diana Gabaldon moderated the panel. I didn’t meet her, but she seemed very nice and was gracious with everyone.” I’m actually glad for the feedback that the factual nature of our talk was a hit. I was worried it might seem like a history lecture not a talk for writers, but then all these writers write historicals and midwives make unusually handy characters for reasons we went over in out talk. Also Nicole was thrilled to meet Pat Bracewell, so she clearly has good taste. She’s writing a book set in 19th C America, but also wrote one about Guinevere, so she shows flexibility and clearly gets buried in research, always a good sign. Thanks for the kind words. Click here for Spell Bound Scribes “HNS 2015 Conference Wrap-Up”
Somehow this cartoon totally hit the funny mark with me—I’m rewriting in response to editorial comments (more useful than Lucy’s) and all the massive ideas they inspired (just wait until Snoopy realizes how many changes he’s going to have to make everywhere since he’s changed that opening from weather to a knight—that is where I pretty much am…) Click here for the cartoon on Janet Rudolph’s Mystery Fanfare.
For those of you wondering how and why books get approved on BookBub, here’s an article from them. I haven’t used them yet, but many people do with good results. Click here for “How Bookbub Selection Process Works”