Mark Humphries | Lightnews

Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 11d

After Islamic State militants took Mosul, Iraq in 2015, they vandalised the Mosul Cultural Museum and its collections. Now, the museum is gradually being brought back to life so that the citizens of Mosul can again identify with and learn from Iraq’s rich cultural heritage.

🏺 #Archaeology 1/2

A man in a suit (Zaid Ghazi Saadallah, Director of the Mosul Cultural Museum) in front of the damaged interior of a building, lecturing to a group of schoolchildren.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · 11d

More defaced images of Constantius II and Eudoxia from Friday's Being Human event in Cardiff.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · 11d

Really busy week, part two. I was invited by colleagues in Cardiff to participate in a Being Human Festival event on satire for high school pupils. I got them to deface images of Constantius II and Eudoxia in line with how those figures had been lampooned. The results were fabulous.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · 11d

Really busy week, part one: on Wednesday I participated in an online discussion of Hendrik Dey and Fabrizio Oppedisano's new book in Justinian's Legacy. Thanks to colleagues at Perugia for honouring me with the invitation.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · 18d

Pedagogical highlight of the week: (1) discussing Ammianus Marcellinus' account
of the death of Valentinian I, in which the emperor, in his fatal seizure, attempts to communicate by flailing his arms like a boxer; and (2) having one of the students voluntarily acting out what this looked like.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · 21d

And now for something completely different: more proofs! This time featuring: how I became a historian of the ancient world thanks to the combined effects of a trip to Egypt and growing up in Belfast and Dublin.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Oct 10

This is a terrific novel. The cadences of the language brought me back to a Belfast I left more than forty years ago.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Oct 3

Shostakovich: a programme marking 50 years since his death. There is, for understandable reasons, a small group with Ukrainian flags outside the hall.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Oct 3

All set for an orchestral concert for the first time in goodness knows how long. I used to go quite frequently to such events. I couldn't pass up a chance to listen to the mighty Seventh: it must be twenty years since last I heard it performed live.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 26

#readingcharitably Orbital, by Samantha Harvey, from the Swansea Oxfam Bookshop. A lyrical exploration of the meanings of humanity and existence. The looming presences of the Earth and the space station impressiveness not as much as the astronauts carrying all humankind's dreams and anxieties.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 24

Episode 4, which I think will air this Friday -- we watched all episodes on streaming.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 24

Always a satisfying feeling. Incidentally, the new Mitchell and Webb series on Channel 4, though very, very hit and miss, contains one gem of a sketch in which E. M. Forster discusses writing Howards End with members of a writers' workshop, who attempt to offer him advice on how to make it better.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 24

In my lunch today, I found a happy chickpea with a very unconvincing comb over.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 24

More proofs. This time for a review of a gem of a book.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 17

Exciting new series from @livunipress.bsky.social , Translated Texts from Antiquity (TTA to join TTH and TTB) , launches with two excellent volumes on #pomponiusmela and #suetonius I'm very honoured to be involved in this new venture.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 17

#readingcharitably I just finished Bernardine Evaristo's _Girl, Woman, Other_. (Purchased for a quid in the Swansea British Heart Foundation shop.) What a revelation of a book: a life affirming, celebration of a Britain enriched by multiculturalism and intersectionalities.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 17

Summer reading 2025, eclectic as ever. (Not shown: articles, typescripts, student drafts.)

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 11

Hunting the (bitter and belligerent) legacy of antiquity in Place Vendôme, Paris.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 10

Yes, indeed: with that horror McGregor somehow being presented as an acceptable choice for the presidency. (Telling that *he* got to see the Orange Mussolini on actual St Patrick's day, but the government reps were shunted to another day.)

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 10

It is shocking how retrograde opinions have become mainstream in recent years. This country has changed so much in the 18 years since I moved here. The poisonous debates that began with the Brexit referendum have just grown worse.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 9

*Notre 🤦

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 9

Not only have I made the TTH book cover drawings into t-shirts, but today I wore one (Conference of Carthage 411) to visit its inspiration, Van Loos' Augustine disputing with the Donatists, Note Dame des Victoires, Paris @livunipress.bsky.social

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Aug 27

Congratulations to Dr Croman @croeuan.bsky.social

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Aug 6

Further adventures in wearable book covers: tie-dye Hormizd II #TTH @livunipress.bsky.social

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Aug 5

This dropped into my inbox from the Climate History network and might be of wider interest. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

The Future of (Environmental) History: A Roundtable Discussion | Transactions of the Royal Historical Society | Cambridge Core

The Future of (Environmental) History: A Roundtable Discussion

www.cambridge.org

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Aug 5

#readingcharitably A surprise purchase (from Oxfam Books in Swansea, naturally). I think Mario Vargas Llosa was the first "grown up" author I read for fun, with his "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter". This one gripped me from beginning to end.

Clare Rowan @ancient-tokens.bsky.social · Jul 15

I know it's only part time, since this is cover for Alison Cooley being made head of Warwick Institute of Advanced Studies (take it up with the powers who decide these buy outs), but there is a 3 year teaching gig at in Roman history at Warwick.
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNX770/a...

Assistant Professor (Teaching Focussed) in Roman History (110578-0625) at University of Warwick

Apply now for the Assistant Professor (Teaching Focussed) in Roman History (110578-0625) role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.

www.jobs.ac.uk

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Jul 9

Celebrating 40 years of Translated Texts for Historians with @livunipress.bsky.social

Nora White @ndefaoite.bsky.social · Jul 8

Happy International Day of Ogham! Although the OG(H)AM project has sadly now finished, work on ogham continues. Here is a sneak preview of our digital corpus, still under development, but due to be launched in September! #InternationalDayOfOgham
#OG_H_AM

screenshot showing a map of ogham locations (more to add) with search filters and an index of ogham inscriptions below

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Jul 7

With the team from @livunipress.bsky.social at the @imc-leeds.bsky.social

Add to Home Screen

Light up
your news

Add to Home Screen

Light upyour news

Sign in to Lightnews

Sign up to start reading

Connect Bluesky

Connect with Bluesky

Light up
your news