archaicwonder:

Egyptian Cartonnage with Osiris Mourning Scene, Late Period, 664-332 BC

A rectangular cartonnage panel depicting the mummy of Osiris in the center above four canopic jars; a bird is above with one stretched wing; Isis and Nepthys stand to each side of the mummy with raised hands.

This scene depicts a mourning scene of Osiris attended by his sister/wife Isis and their sister Nepthys. Osiris was was defeated by his brother and rival Seth, who cut him into pieces. However, Isis collected all of the pieces and put them back together so her husband Osiris became the ruler of the Underworld. Isis is sometimes represented as a kite, often pictured hovering over her husband’s body as she fans life into him with her wings. The particularly shrill, piercing cry of the kite is thought to have been suggestive of the cries of wailing women in mourning.

(Source: timelineauctions.com)

(Source: wildeyereleasing, via pulpexplosion)

museum-of-artifacts:

Codex Gigas - the largest  ancient manuscript.

It takes two people to lift the book, which is made of more than 160 animal skins. It was written in the 13th century A.D., and it currently resides in the National Library in Stockholm, Sweden. At first glance, the contents of this bizarre book are equally strange. It contains a full Latin Vulgate Bible, interspaced with several other books, including Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus, a collection of medical works by Hippocrates and Theophilus, The Chronicle of Bohemia by Cosmas of Prague, the Encyclopedia Etymologiae by Isidore of Seville, and other, smaller texts. The latter works include a text on exorcism, magical formulas, and an illustration of the heavenly city.

(via museum-of-artifacts)

wehadfacesthen:

Raymond Chandler, author of The Big Sleep; Farewell, My Lovely; The Long Goodbye, screenwriter for Double Indemnity, The Blue Dahlia, and Strangers on a Train, at home with his cat in 1944

archaicwonder:

Roman Amethyst Intaglio of a Girl Riding a Sea Monster, 1st Century BC/AD

This was possibly made by the master carver Dioscurides, who was the favorite gem carver of the Emperor Augustus.

It is possible that this intaglio portrays one of two possible subjects, the nymph Aura or a Nereid riding on a sea-bull, sea-goat or some other type of horned sea monster. A small seal swims in the ocean behind them.

(Source: hermitagemuseum.org)