August 2015 in Review

This is an index and summary of the things I’ve talked about over the last month. Links for multi-post subjects go to the first post (even if it’s before this month), you can follow the internal navigation links from there.

Books

Non-Fiction

“Plantagenet England 1225-1360” Michael Prestwich. Part of the New Oxford History of England.

“The Middle East: The Cradle of Civilisation Revealed” Stephen Bourke. Part of the Thames & Hudson Ancient Civilisations series.

Total: 2

Museums

Defining Beauty (Exhibition at the British Museum) – Greek sculpture as aesthetic objects.

Indigenous Australia Enduring Civilisation – Exhibition at the British Museum about Australian art and culture as a continuous thing before and after the British arrived.

Total: 2

Radio

Brunel – In Our Time episode about Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Victorian engineer.

The Earth’s Core – In Our Time episode about what is known about the Earth’s core and how we know it.

Matteo Ricci and the Ming Dynasty – In Our Time episode about the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci who went to China in the 16th Century.

Sappho – In Our Time episode about Sappho, the ancient Greek poetess.

Total: 4

Talks

“The Slaughter Court in Sety I Temple, Abydos” Mohammed Abu el-Yezid – talk at the August EEG meeting.

Total: 1

Trip

Egypt Holiday 2014: Walk from the Valley of the Kings to Deir el Medina.

Egypt Holiday 2014: Colossi of Memnon.

Egypt Holiday 2014: Mortuary Temple of Seti I.

Egypt Holiday 2014: Valley of the Queens.

Total: 4

July 2015 in Review

This is an index and summary of the things I’ve talked about over the last month. Links for multi-post subjects go to the first post (even if it’s before this month), you can follow the internal navigation links from there.

Books

Fiction

The Merchant Princes Trilogy, Charles Stross – part portal/world walking fantasy, part sci-fi thriller. New.

Total: 1

Radio

Al-Ghazali – In Our Time episode about Al-Ghazali, a leading intellectual in the Islamic world of the 11th Century AD.

The California Gold Rush – In Our Time episode about the California gold rush in 1849 and its effects on the USA and the world.

Total: 2

Talks

“Horemheb” Charlotte Booth – July EEG meeting talk.

Total: 1

Trip

Egypt Holiday 2014: Ramasseum.

Egypt Holiday 2014: Valley of the Kings.

Total: 2

June 2015 in Review

This is an index and summary of the things I’ve talked about over the last month. Links for multi-post subjects go to the first post (even if it’s before this month), you can follow the internal navigation links from there.

Books

Fiction

The Rai-Kirah Trilogy by Carol Berg – fantasy with desert flavours, a slave who’s more than he seems, and demons possessing souls. Part of Read All the Fiction, I only ever bought the first two books and these will be going to charity.

Total: 1

Non-Fiction

“Plantagenet England 1225-1360” Michael Prestwich. Part of the New Oxford History of England.

Total: 1

Photos

Gathering of the Clans.

Half the Man I Used to Be.

Head First.

Lord of All He Surveys.

Total: 4

Radio

Beowulf – In Our time episode about the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf.

The Eunuch – In Our Time episode about eunuchs in Assyria, China and Rome.

Total: 2

Talks

“An Ancient Flash Flood and Stratigraphy in the Valley of the Kings” Stephen Cross – talk at the June meeting of the EEG.

Total: 1

Television

Non-Fiction

Shakespeare’s Mother: The Secret Life of a Tudor Woman – Michael Wood presenting a programme that was half a biography of Mary Arden and half general social history of the Tudor period.

Total: 1

Trip

Egypt Holiday 2014: Karnak Temple Complex.

Egypt Holiday 2014: Temple of Mut at Karnak.

Egypt Holiday 2014: Theban Tombs of the Nobles.

Total: 3

May 2015 in Review

This is an index and summary of the things I’ve talked about over the last month. Links for multi-post subjects go to the first post (even if it’s before this month), you can follow the internal navigation links from there.

Books

Fiction

“The Sea Thy Mistress” Elizabeth Bear – third book in the Edda of Burdens series. New.

Total: 1

Photos

All Seeing.

And I Must Scream …

Look to the Stars.

Looking for the Greener Grass.

Symbols of Power.

Total: 5

Radio

The Photon – In Our Time episode about light & photons.

Total: 1

Talks

“The Ark Tablet: How the Life of an Assyriologist Could be Transformed by a Single Tablet with Sixty Lines of Writing” Irving Finkel – the fourth talk in the BSS Study Day on cuneiform.

“Egyptian Fortifications in Canaan” Rupert Chapman – talk at the May EEG meeting.

“The Royal Game of Ur: From Ancient Grave to Modern Rebirth” Irving Finkel – the third part of the BSS Study Day on cuneiform.

Total: 3

Television

Non-Fiction

Cleopatra: A Timewatch Guide – a rather substandard programme about how our ideas of Cleopatra have changed over the years.

Total: 1

Trip

Egypt Holiday 2014: Seti I Temple at Abydos.

Egypt Holiday 2014: Ramesses II Temple at Abydos.

Egypt Holiday 2014: Dendara Temple.

Total: 3

April 2015 in Review

This is an index and summary of the things I’ve talked about over the last month. Links for multi-post subjects go to the first post (even if it’s before this month), you can follow the internal navigation links from there.

Books

Non-Fiction

“Plantagenet England 1225-1360” Michael Prestwich. Part of the New Oxford History of England.

Total: 1

Museums

From Cairo to Constantinople: Early Photographs of the Middle East. Exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery of photos from the then Prince of Wales’s trip to the Middle East in 1862.

Total: 1

Radio

Ashoka – In Our Time episode about Ashoka who ruled a vast empire including much of India in the 4th Century BC.

Total: 1

Talks

“Cuneiform: The World’s Oldest and Most Marvellous Writing System” Irving Finkel – the first part of the BSS Study Day on cuneiform.

“The Cyrus Cylinder: Unexpected Discoveries and the Rediscovery of Meaning” Irving Finkel – the second part of the BSS Study Day on cuneiform.

“From King to Ancestor: Transition to Napatan Royal Afterlife (A Glimpse of a Funerary Ritual)” Birgitte Balanda – April EEG meeting talk.

Total: 3

Television

Non-Fiction

Art of China – Andrew Graham Dixon talking about the history of art in China.

Total: 1

Trip

Egypt Holiday 2014: Petrified Forest and the Desert.

Egypt Holiday 2014: Qasr el Sagha.

Egypt Holiday 2014: Karanis.

Egypt Holiday 2014: Luxor Temple.

Total: 4

March 2015 in Review

This is an index and summary of the things I’ve talked about over the last month. Links for multi-post subjects go to the first post (even if it’s before this month), you can follow the internal navigation links from there.

Books

Fiction

“By the Mountain Bound” Elizabeth Bear – second book in the Edda of Burdens series. New.

Total: 1

Non-Fiction

“Plantagenet England 1225-1360” Michael Prestwich. Part of the New Oxford History of England.

Total: 1

Radio

Magna Carta (In Our Time Special Series).

Thucydides – In Our Time episode about this Greek historian.

Total: 2

Talks

“Ten Years in the Harem: Excavating the Gurob Harem Palace 2005-2015” Hannah Pethen – March EEG meeting talk.

Total: 1

Trip

Egypt Holiday 2014: Dashur.

Egypt Holiday 2014: Lahun.

Egypt Holiday 2014: Hawara.

Egypt Holiday 2014: Dimai.

Total: 4

February 2015 in Review

This is an index and summary of the things I’ve talked about over the last month. Links for multi-post subjects go to the first post (even if it’s before this month), you can follow the internal navigation links from there.

Books

Fiction

“Chill” Elizabeth Bear – generation ship, arthurian science fiction, part of the Jacob’s Ladder series. Part of Read All the Fiction, kept.

“Grail” Elizabeth Bear – generation ship, arthurian science fiction, part of the Jacob’s Ladder series. Part of Read All the Fiction, kept.

Eternal Sky Trilogy, Elizabeth Bear – secondary world epic fantasy in a world based on Asian history. New.

“All the Windwracked Stars” Elizabeth Bear – fantasy heavily influenced by Norse mythology. Part of Read All the Fiction, kept but replaced with an ebook.

Total: 4

Non-Fiction

“Plantagenet England 1225-1360” Michael Prestwich. Part of the New Oxford History of England.

Total: 1

Films

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

Total: 1

Talks

“Uncovering the Quarry Workers at Gebel Silsila” Sarah K Doherty – February EEG meeting talk.

Total: 1

Television

Non-Fiction

Britain’s Bloodiest Dynasty” – Dan Jones giving us biographies of 4 of the Plantagenet Kings.

Total: 1

Trip

Egypt Holiday 2014: Temples and Tombs (Overview: 18th-20th November).

Egypt Holiday 2014: Temples and Tombs (Overview: 21st-24th November).

Egypt Holiday 2014: Cairo Museum.

Egypt Holiday 2014: Giza Plateau.

Total: 4

January 2015 in Review

This is an index and summary of the things I’ve talked about over the last month. Links for multi-post subjects go to the first post (even if it’s before this month), you can follow the internal navigation links from there.

Books

Fiction

“Ancillary Sword” Ann Leckie – space opera, sequel to Ancillary Justice. New.

Total: 1

Non-Fiction

“Plantagenet England 1225-1360” Michael Prestwich. Part of the New Oxford History of England.

Total: 1

Trip

Egypt Holiday 2014: Temples and Tombs (Index).

Egypt Holiday 2014: Temples and Tombs (Overview: 14th-17th November).

Total: 2

December 2014 in Review

This is an index and summary of the things I’ve talked about over the last month. Links for multi-post subjects go to the first post (even if it’s before this month), you can follow the internal navigation links from there. (TV shows without full posts will not be linked, but will be listed.)

Talks

“Times of Transition: Herihor and the High Priests of Amun at the End of the New Kingdom” Jennifer Palmer – talk given at the December meeting of the EEG.

Total: 1

Television

Fiction

Doctor Who: Last Christmas.

Total: 1

November 2014 in Review

This is an index and summary of the things I’ve talked about over the last month. Links for multi-post subjects go to the first post (even if it’s before this month), you can follow the internal navigation links from there. (TV shows without full posts will not be linked, but will be listed.)

Talks

“New Discoveries at Hierakonpolis” Renee Friedman. Talk given at the November meeting of the EEG.

Total: 1

Television

Fiction

Doctor Who: Dark Water.

Doctor Who: Death in Heaven.

Total: 2