When I was a kid, I wanted to be an archaeologist. By the time I entered college, I had forgotten my dreams of digging in the dirt and ended up with a degree possibly even less marketable than archaeology—English. My love for ancient history went underground as I threw myself into a career writing marketing materials for banks, corporations, and tech companies. I reconnected with my love of the past when I started telling my kids stories about some of … [Read More...]
Recent Blog Posts
Elvis Never Left the Building!
He's right there on the corner of ancient Roman sarcophagus above. Don't see him? Let's zoom in: That's him on the left. It's supposed to be Medusa who is there to ward off evil, but that never looked like Medusa to me. On my gallery tours for the Michael C. Carlos Museum, I often describe her as "Screaming … [Read More...]
It’s Women’s History Month So Let’s Talk Kick-Butt Ancient Warrior Queens!
Powerful women are always fascinating, but there is something especially intriguing about women in the ancient world who led their kingdoms and also led armies into battle. Both were extraordinarily difficult in eras where women generally had very little economic and social power, let alone political and military … [Read More...]
Wait, This is a CHILD, not Circe!
At first I was beguiled by the sweet intensity and realness of the girl in this image from The Met Collection . Then I saw the artist's title for the photograph: CIRCE. I immediately went into mama-lionness mode: This is a CHILD! Why would the photographer name her after the wily, sexual witch who turned men into … [Read More...]
