"Nice country. I think I'll take it."

https://piefed.social/c/historymemes/p/2127750/nice-country-i-think-i-ll-take-it

Agi: Tra le rovine di Tolomeo spuntano antiche tavole da gioco

AGI - Un'eccezionale scoperta archeologica sta svelando il lato più ludico e quotidiano dell'antichità in Libia. Oltre cento tavole da gioco in pietra scolpita sono state rinvenute tra le rovine di Tolemaide, l'odierna Tolmeita.
Il ritrovamento, effettuato nella zona orientale del Paese, offre una prospettiva inedita sulle abitudini sociali dei cittadini dell'antico insediamento greco, dimostrando come il gioco fosse una componente essenziale della vita pubblica.
Le indagini sul campo, condotte da una missione archeologica polacca guidata dalla ricercatrice Zofia Kowarska dell'Università di Varsavia, sono riprese nel 2023 dopo una lunga sospensione causata dall'instabilità politica dello Stato.
La scoperta in Libia 
Come riportato dalla testata spagnola specializzata La Brújula Verde, il numero di reperti ha superato ogni previsione iniziale. La concentrazione di queste incisioni in aree specifiche suggerisce che gli spazi pubblici della città fungessero da centri di aggregazione sociale dove gli abitanti si sfidavano abitualmente.
Caratteristiche delle tavole da gioco
Le tavole rinvenute consistono in piccoli fori circolari disposti con precisione geometrica su blocchi di pietra, porzioni di mura e fusti di colonne. Le griglie documentate presentano diversi formati, tra cui schemi da 3x3 e 5x5 fori, che richiamano versioni ancestrali di passatempi ancora noti come il tris, la dama o il mancala.
Valore culturale della scoperta
Questa scoperta non solo arricchisce il patrimonio culturale della Libia orientale, ma conferma l'importanza di Tolemaide come centro urbano vibrante, dove l'architettura monumentale conviveva con i segni tangibili della socialità popolare.

Among the ruins of Ptolemy, ancient game boards emerge.

AGI - An exceptional archaeological discovery is revealing the more playful and everyday aspects of antiquity in Libya. Over one hundred stone game boards have been found among the ruins of Ptolemais, modern-day Tolmeita.

The discovery, made in the eastern part of the country, offers a novel perspective on the social habits of the citizens of the ancient Greek settlement, demonstrating how games were an essential component of public life.

Excavations on site, conducted by a Polish archaeological mission led by researcher Zofia Kowarska of Warsaw University, resumed in 2023 after a long suspension caused by the political instability of the state.

The discovery in Libya

As reported by the Spanish-language specialist publication La Brújula Verde, the number of artifacts has exceeded all initial expectations. The concentration of these engravings in specific areas suggests that the public spaces of the city served as social aggregation centers where residents regularly challenged each other.

Characteristics of the game boards

The boards found consist of small circular holes arranged with precise geometric precision on stone blocks, sections of walls, and column stems. The grids documented present various formats, including 3x3 and 5x5 hole schemes, which evoke ancestral versions of pastimes still known as checkers, chess, or mancala.

Cultural value of the discovery

This discovery not only enriches the cultural heritage of eastern Libya, but also confirms the importance of Ptolemais as a vibrant urban center, where monumental architecture coexisted with the tangible signs of popular sociality.

#Ptolemy #Libya #Ptolemais #Greek #Polish #ZofiaKowarska #WarsawUniversity #Spanish #LaBrújulaVerde

https://www.agi.it/cultura/news/2026-04-28/libia-archeologia-tavole-gioco-tolomeo-36794158/

University of Wisconsin Milwaukee: Digitized Copy of 1478 Ptolemy’s ‘Geography’ Available Online. “Thanks to the work of Digital Collections & Initiatives, the American Geographical Society Library has recently made available a digitized 1478 copy of Ptolemy’s Geography. The AGSL holds over 30 volumes from copies of Ptolemy’s Geography, with this digitization marking the tenth volume […]

One of my favorite atlas -- the 1513 Strasburg edition of Ptolemy's Geography, with maps by Martin Waldseemüller, printed by Johannes Schott, with some maps in color!!! - has been imaged by Osher map Library and is available online at https://oshermaps.org/map/4073.0184 (link to this page: Ptolemaic map of the ecumene)

#maps #cartography #maphistory #ptolemy #geography

On a cloudy day in January, historian Ivan Malara sat in Italy’s National Central Library of Florence poring over seven 16th century printings of the ancient world’s most influential astronomy text.

The pages belonged to The #Almagest, in which second century polymath Claudius #Ptolemy described his vision of an Earth-centered cosmos.

As Malara flipped through the pages, he spotted something out of place.

Someone had transcribed Psalm 145 on an otherwise blank page—in handwriting reminiscent of a very, very famous Tuscan astronomer.

That book, Malara came to realize, had been extensively annotated by none other than Galileo #Galilei.

Malara’s discovery, described in a paper now under review at the Journal for the History of Astronomy, promises new insights into one of the most famous ideological transitions in the history of science: the moment when #Earth was thrust from the center of our #universe.

#science #astronomy #history
https://www.science.org/content/article/galileo-s-handwritten-notes-found-ancient-astronomy-text

Alexander the Great's successors were wild

https://piefed.social/c/historymemes/p/1838107/alexander-the-great-s-successors-were-wild

PROTIP: It was

https://piefed.social/c/historymemes/p/1754834/protip-it-was

How the oldest science in the world flourished in Toledo 1,000 years ago.

An international conference on the origins of galaxies pays tribute to the pioneering scientific cooperation between Muslims, Jews, and Christians that took place in Spain at the end of the Middle Ages.

https://mediafaro.org/article/20250515-how-the-oldest-science-in-the-world-flourished-in-toledo-1000-years-ago?mf_channel=mastodon&action=forward

#Toledo #Science #Astronomy #Galaxies #Spain #Muslims #Jews #Christians #Ptolemy #AlZarqali #Copernicus #Almagest #MiddleAges #History