This Twitter Account Shares Interesting Historical Facts The World Should Not Forget (40 Pics)
History is full of war, famine, and plague, but you can't accuse it of being cruel. It's what we made it. So if anything, it's people who are vicious and wicked. The past is just... indifferent. An open book, ready to be explored. Or in this case, a Twitter account.
Ran by Dr. Mohammad Firoz Khan, 'Archaeo - Histories' is an interesting little online project that shares easy-to-digest educational snippets. The word "archaeo" suggests the account revolves around ancient civilizations and while it's true for the most part, every now and then it also features an event, person, or artifact from more recent times.
And you couldn't find a better person to run the show. "I'm a researcher, author, and freelance archaeologist with a profound interest in ancient history who holds a Ph.D. in history and specializes in archaeology," Dr. Mohammad Firoz Khan told Bored Panda. "I'm always eager to learn more about history and the ancient past of mankind and want to share my knowledge and ideas with others."
Since Dr. Mohammad Firoz Khan considers themselves a researcher first, they're always immersed in articles, books, and debates. This allows the historian to acquire more authentic and unbiased sources. "My followers usually like content from the pre-historic period to Renaissance. Usually, they prefer to learn about the rare and unique content and finds across the globe, throughout all the civilizations. I also try hard to cover [everything] with reliable sources."
Continue scrolling to check out some of the most intriguing tweets 'Archaeo - Histories' has blessed its followers with.
More info: Twitter
This post may include affiliate links.
According to historian, college administrator, amateur homesteader, and writer Joshua Wilkey, the bond between archaeology and history is very strong. The two disciplines go hand in hand.
"For some periods of time, virtually the only historical source material we have is the archaeological record," Wilkey told Bored Panda. "Therefore, particularly for historical periods and cultures for which there is little remaining written record, it is essential to use the items left behind as a means of seeking to better understand a given ancient culture."
But that wasn't always the case. Given the impact of imperialism on ancient cultures, Wilkey said that much of the 'history' written by European and US scholars in the late 19th century and the first three-quarters of the 20th century was written from a distinctly Anglocentric point of view. "Archaeologists and anthropologists have often uncovered evidence that counters those Anglocentric narratives as a means of preserving the history of non-European cultures and societies as they were rather [different] than as European colonizers wrote them. Often, in my own experience, I find that historians and anthropologists and archaeologists working in tandem are better able to contextualize and interpret the history of pre-colonial cultures and societies. For example, where I live in the mountains of North Carolina, archaeologists and anthropologists work with historians and linguists to preserve Cherokee history in a way that honors indigenous culture. This is generally a means of countering the narrative that interprets indigenous peoples as extinct or somehow in the past tense, and this work is essential in preserving history and historical memory."
We can dig even deeper. Talking about the things we have inherited from ancient civilizations, Wilkey cautions his students to question the greatness of Western Civilization.
"Over the past three generations, historians have increasingly and necessarily rejected the notion of Western Civilization (roughly defined as the study of primarily Greek and Roman history) as the primary driver of progress in the modern world," he explained. "For example, when I began my career, I taught a course called 'Western Civilization 1', which focused on Ancient Greece and Rome. In previous generations, this course would have instilled in students a sense of importance about the 'classics' (Greek and Roman history and literature) in preserving the alleged greatness of European culture. Absent for generations from the teaching of Western Civilization were people of color and the realities of imperialism and subjugation. Eventually, 'Western Civilization' became 'Western Civilizations', then we dropped the 'Western' bit altogether, more accurately calling the course 'Ancient & Medieval Europe', and including in the course critical analysis of race, class, and gender rather than focusing on the alleged greatness of 'Western' culture, whatever that was even supposed to mean."
You could make a case that archaeology is one of the reasons behind this shift.
"One of the things archaeology teaches us is that history is full of great civilizations from all corners of the globe," Wilkey said. "It is disingenuous at best to focus primarily on Greece and Rome as somehow the greatest of the ancient civilizations when Arabic, Asian, and indigenous American civilizations thrived in the millennia before European imperialism."
The historian highlighted that it's enough to learn that gunpowder was invented in China in the 9th Century and was in widespread use in weaponry by the 11th Century, while Europeans were using swords and trebuchets on war to understand that great civilizations existed in places other than Europe. "Without interdisciplinary work involving both history and archaeology, such comparative historical work would be much more challenging."
By now several of these trees are growing and producing fruit. So cool!
Wilkey is well-versed in the part history, as a subject, has in internet culture and he's really glad to see that people have largely moved past the before-mentioned false narratives.
"Perhaps my favorite historical meme of the moment is the British Museum meme which rightly portrays the British as looters of the highest order. Perhaps because the British Museum became a great collector of stolen artifacts, many in Europe and the US came to think of Europeans as the 'discoverers' of the world," Wilkey explained. "It is essential to note, though, that when looters from the Royal Museum arrived to plunder, they were plundering the remains of breathtakingly advanced societies of the past. It's important to focus on the theft of artifacts by Europeans, but more important to recognize the amazing and rich non-European (and necessarily non-White) civilizations of the world."
"In archaeology, we have the opportunity to recognize greatness anywhere it exists, even (and perhaps necessarily) in places it has not previously been recognized in the primary historical narrative we think about in the US and Europe."
Archaeology is a brilliant example that shows how studying the past can help us progress into the future.
The good news is that it seems there's still plenty of things for us to unearth. In 2021, for example, archaeologists have discovered perforated shells dating back 150,000 years (which they believe to be the oldest jewelry in the world) and 4,000-year-old etchings on a slab that looks like an ancient 3D map. Who knows what treasures are still waiting to be dug up.
Except, of course for the whole sinking less than a mile after starting part 😉
Load More Replies...That one was an epic fail. There was only one deck of cannons planned, but the king demanded 2, so 2 were built. But that shifted the point of gravity above the water line, making the whole thing unstable. Normally they conduct stability tests with new ships by having sailors run from one side of the ship to the other and back, like they did in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie. But it quickly became clear they had to stop or the ship would sink. The day it sank wasn't even particularly windy, the whole thing was just a fail of epic proportions.
Yes, The history of Wasa has become the Wasa syndrome, that is to say, the illustration of a disaster due to the dilution of responsibilities and lack of communication: To sum up, the ship was commanded by the king of Sweden, the carpenter in charge of its construction had never built a ship of this size and it turns out that it was too heavy, too narrow and too high on the water. Pretty much everyone on the job site knew it but no one communicated on the problem, people being too scared for their heads. On the day of its inauguration, the boat was too unstable on the water, and the heel caused it to sway dangerously from one side to the other. The ports having remained open, the water engulfed causing its sinking.
Load More Replies...Absolutely gorgeous. Maybe I'll get a chance to see it one day. In the UK we have the Mary Rose, housed in the best museum I have ever been in. I've taken the family several times, it's just stunning too. The Mary Rose sank on her side into the mud, so one side is preserved, meaning the other side is open and we can see inside the ship. This one was a trusted war ship of Henry VIII, not brand new, but, still, it is possible that height and weight above the water may have been the ship's downfall.
They shouldn't, the ship was a disastrously bad design!
Load More Replies...The museum has a special dehumidifying system because the boat is still saturated.
The short version is that the hull were submerged in mud, hence not much oxygen to sustain the composting process - you can read much more here :-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)
Load More Replies...Sooo... just want to set some facts straight here. The Vasa sank not because it was badly designed (in the beginning) but because it was top heavy. Why do you ask? Because the king thought it didn't look majestic enough so he added another floor. And who can say no to the king? It was his pride of the fleet after all. So when a gust of wind hit it, with all it's sails were up to look super fancy even though that's a baaad idea, at its maiden journey, it capsized after 6-9 minutes.
I was an exchange student in 1976 and got to see it when it first was being brought up. Kept in a mist room to prevent drying out. It was Absolutely incredible!
The people are a great addition to the photo to show perspective in the size of the ship.
What a waste to not only build, but recover a boat that wasn't worth a single mile. Doesn't matter how pretty it is if it doesn't work.
seen it, it was amazing, the reason it sunk was that there was not enough balast at the bottom, on the maiden voyage the captain opened all the cannon "doors" water came in , and it sunk. if you can go see it is an amazing ship
"The ship was built on the orders of the King of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus as part of the military expansion he initiated in a war with Poland-Lithuania (1621–1629). Richly decorated as a symbol of the king's ambitions for Sweden and himself, upon completion she was one of the most powerfully armed vessels in the world. However, Vasa was dangerously unstable, with too much weight in the upper structure of the hull. Despite this lack of stability, she was ordered to sea and foundered only a few minutes after encountering a wind stronger than a breeze. The order to sail was the result of a combination of factors. The king, who was leading the army in Poland at the time of her maiden voyage, was impatient to see her take up her station as flagship of the reserve squadron at Älvsnabben in the Stockholm Archipelago. At the same time the king's subordinates lacked the political courage to openly discuss the ship's problems or to have the maiden voyage postponed. An inquiry was organised by the Swedish Privy Council to find those responsible for the disaster, but in the end no one was punished. During the 1961 recovery, thousands of artifacts and the remains of at least 15 people were found in and around Vasa's hull by marine archaeologists. Among the many items found were clothing, weapons, cannons, tools, coins, cutlery, food, drink and six of the ten sails." Wikipedia
They knew it was there somewhere and were very careful during the excavation and then they floated it. There was a day in 1988 when it was afloat again and Stockholmers could see it one last time as it 'sailed' to a temporary dock where it was sprayed with paraffin for years. Unfortunately they were in a rush to start displaying it (gotta earn some benjis) so they figured it had enough wax on it, but alas it was too soon so the ship is slowly rotting.
Load More Replies...Very similar to the Mary Rose, which sank in 1545. It’s now in its own museum in Portsmouth.
And lets not forget that poor soldier that was on board it and whos brain turned into soap.
They also recovered the skeletal remains of 17 men, women, and one child. The vast majority of the remains likely belonged to adult men who were the crew of the ship. Some of the skeletal remains were so well preserved that sculptor and archeologist Oscar Nillson was able to make facial reconstruction of some of the crew.
Load More Replies...Had one, it was beautiful. Funniest bit about it: it was about 35-40 kg. And nothing to grab or hold on to. My mom suggested to my dad that it would look so much nicer in the large upstairs bathroom. So he somehow dragged it upstairs on the narrow stairs. Mom: "hmmmm.... I think it's better where it was, you don't mind bringing it back down, right?"
Age is controversial: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smith_(Chippewa_Indian)#Biography
I had to look twice to realize it is really a carpet and not, you know, a building.
"With this finger-ring I take you to be my wedded wife." would raise quite some eyebrows. Including those of the bride.
If I was ever to be eaten by this creatures, I think I would easily hide between his teeth and then given the chance I would escape
I'm from Bologna! In the Middle Ages a tower was a status symbol, every wealthy family had one. Sadly during '800 renovation may towers were destroyed to make space for bigger roads.
They are talking about two different things. But is is true. While renovating the natural harbour in Roskilde in Denmark, where the museum is situated, they found 9 ships ranging from around year 1000 to 1330. The longest, Roskilde 6, being 37.4 metres long. https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/nyheder/roskildeskibene-og-verdens-laengste-vikingeskib
Surely this was ceremonial and not for battles. I cannot imagine it being practical at all.
Nope, not Dracula's castle. We went to Drac's "castle" in 1979. We were told that he had "several" castles and none of them were in any shape to "visit." However, the one we did go to was restored and we were assured that it looked pretty much like it would have. However, Romania was communist at the time and the guides were all "government employees" and sometimes they just didn't want to be bothered by actually having to do their job. However, if you ever go to this area, there is a really great restaurant [if it still exists] called the Dacia Hut. Great food. Way up in the mountains.
In the British Museum, of course. Many people outside the UK have to go to London to see their national treasures.
Seems like the legend of Freddy Kruger, has been around longer than I thought! 🤔
There is a wine bottle which was found in Speyer which is believed to be the oldest intact wine bottle still containing its fluids. (A mix of wine and others fluids, as well as olive oil to preserve the wine!) I am not quite sure how old the bottle is supposed to be tho!
Imagine if people were less arrogant and had left these in situ until we had the technology/ability to preserve these pigments for posterity.
So in less than 2 years we have an anniversary of the tomb being opened? Anyone else feel uneasy about it?
This is not the staircase of Chenonceau and Da Vinci designed the staircase of the Castle of Chambord, Another Loire castle and this is also not a picture of that staircase .... as that is a double helix open staircase.
Weren´t these proven to be collector items, kinda like prop swords from videogames? For fans of classic novels like Vampyre and Dracula?
Considering how careful archaeologists are, the effort that went into this would’ve been monumental.
The final boss battle! The armour is the loot you get. This looks really incredible.
Sadly, the only part of him on display that is genuine these days is his head. His body is a replica as it wasn't preserved as well after discovery.
The process to achieve this is very fascinating. Apparently, it takes a very long time and not every monk who attempts this is successful. I can't imagine how those who failed must feel.
"an adult male... her face..." Something may have gone wrong with the translation.
But it’s not safe! Needs the extra British Museumic protection!!!!
Yeah, I've seen this before! The water that the diver is in has no sea life, and is pretty much sediment-free. Pretty cool!
Don't be daft - If you go to Wells, Bristol, Oxford and Hereford Cathedrals (which are all reasonably young in the grand scheme of things), you will find tombs / carvings and graves dating back way further than the 1200's !! In fact, my last little jaunt down to Dartmouth in Devon to St Petroc's church on the headland had at least 10 incumbent (ie buried under the flagstones in the church) that dated back to the early 1100's .......
Bhudevi is the Goddess who represents Earth/ground and one of the Avatar of Goddess Laxhmi. As well as Varaha(Boar)deva is one of the 10th principal avatars of Lord Vishnu where he lifts the Earth or Bhumati out of the Cosmic Ocean.
I might be thinking of a different site, but wasn't this castle built using pounded earth? It's a fantastic and ecological building material. It's unfortunate I part because of racism and white blindness there has been little exploration and research done on it which means no schools teach it and no building codes allow it. Generally I don't know how earthships are allowed to use it.
"Hey Horus, look at my balls!" "Shut up. I've got sky things to do, like taxes."
I wonder why he moved the capital? Ours was moved because it was too close to the US and the two big metropolises of the day tried fighting it out. Out of irritation and the need for a compromise our first prime Minister suggested a tiny logging village half way in between the two. The queen agreed and Ottawa was "born". Must to the horror of Toronto and Montreal. First capital was Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
How are most of these 'historical facts'??? Interesting historical things is more apt.
Wow, I’m not sure what cursed magic you have that you got two of the bots on your tail.
Load More Replies...A lot of comments regarding the British Museum's acquisition of other country's cultural objects. What about the Vatican collections?
To the British people defending the theft of resources and artifacts from multiple lands, why is that when you stole other nation's resources, you should be thanked by us for stealing our culture but then you draw complicated immigration processes for the same people to legally come to your country and your politicians call them barbarians? If looting is a matter of pride, how about let other nations do the same. But you have a double standard and that's the problem we have. You cannot condemn ISIS as savages for destroying monuments and engage in your typical white supremacist tsk tsk while simultaneously defending your own extremists for looting our wealth and stealing our cultural heritage and building your so called modern state because of that loot. That makes you a bloody hypocrite.
Mr. Shah, you have thoroughly proved your historical knowledge on multiple occasions throughout this post. Yes, you know things, we get it! However you don't seem to comprehend that we no longer live in the Victorian era over here in old Blighty. Many items have been returned to their home countries, many items have a rotational display agreement between countries so that all can enjoy. It was 200+ years ago that the 'evil Britons ' tried to dominate the universe, and you're blaming modern day Britain? Will you hate the entirety of Germany because of all the national treasures the Nazi's stole? For the love of God LET IT GO!!!
Load More Replies...Wow! Wow! Wow! This is just incredible and just adds to the list of things I have to explore. Thanks
Its just a history lesson, its should not be an interesting fact, its history.
How are most of these 'historical facts'??? Interesting historical things is more apt.
Wow, I’m not sure what cursed magic you have that you got two of the bots on your tail.
Load More Replies...A lot of comments regarding the British Museum's acquisition of other country's cultural objects. What about the Vatican collections?
To the British people defending the theft of resources and artifacts from multiple lands, why is that when you stole other nation's resources, you should be thanked by us for stealing our culture but then you draw complicated immigration processes for the same people to legally come to your country and your politicians call them barbarians? If looting is a matter of pride, how about let other nations do the same. But you have a double standard and that's the problem we have. You cannot condemn ISIS as savages for destroying monuments and engage in your typical white supremacist tsk tsk while simultaneously defending your own extremists for looting our wealth and stealing our cultural heritage and building your so called modern state because of that loot. That makes you a bloody hypocrite.
Mr. Shah, you have thoroughly proved your historical knowledge on multiple occasions throughout this post. Yes, you know things, we get it! However you don't seem to comprehend that we no longer live in the Victorian era over here in old Blighty. Many items have been returned to their home countries, many items have a rotational display agreement between countries so that all can enjoy. It was 200+ years ago that the 'evil Britons ' tried to dominate the universe, and you're blaming modern day Britain? Will you hate the entirety of Germany because of all the national treasures the Nazi's stole? For the love of God LET IT GO!!!
Load More Replies...Wow! Wow! Wow! This is just incredible and just adds to the list of things I have to explore. Thanks
Its just a history lesson, its should not be an interesting fact, its history.