Craig Barker

Roman mosaic from the Hall of the Complex of Eustolios at Kourion in Cyprus. “A guinea hen, rendered in black, white, and grey marble, with wattles of yellow paste, occupies the center of the first panel.” Penn Museum report in 1938.

Black and White photo of the mosaic from the Penn Museum Bulletin Volume VII, no. 2 (1938)

A guinea hen mosaic from #mosaicmonday

Third century CE; from the Complex of Eustolios at Kourion in Cyprus

#archaeology 🏺

Excavated by the Penn Museum team in 1938
www.penn.museum/sites/bullet...

This FOl enquiry for the Guardian has taken up a great deal of my life for the past 2 years. (1/3)

Sadly true

The mosaic prior to conservation in the 1980s.
Image from N. Stanley-Price's "The Conservation of the Orpheus Mosaic at Paphos, Cyprus"

Roman mosaic in Paphos in Cyprus excavated mid-1980s and underwent conservation work by the Getty Institute. 3rd century CE in date it features Orpheus charming animals with his lyre.

Tomorrow is World Wildlife Day! So for #MosaicMonday here is the titular mosaic from the House of Orpheus in Paphos in Cyprus with Orpheus surrounded by various animals.

#archaeology 🏺 #WorldWildlifeDay

You can read about the conservation work: www.getty.edu/conservation...

Monochrome photograph featuring two women climbing on a rock face with ropes both wearing long dresses and hats

Rock climbers Lucy Smith and Pauline Rankin of the Ladies’ Scottish Climbing Club, 1908, Salisbury Crags, Scotland #WomensArt
Welcome to #WomensHistoryMonth

A wonderful museum and collection if you are ever in Canberra

Australia–Cyprus Achievement Awards honour service, scholarship and the next generation The Australia–Cyprus Achievement Awards were held at the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney on Thursday, February 26.

I am deeply thrilled to have participated in the inaugural Australia-Cyprus Achievement Awards organised by the Cyprus Community of NSW and held at the Chau Chak Wing Museum. Especially thrilled to collect Professor Richard Green's award on his behalf!

greekherald.com.au/community/au...

There was a time when Australian television was impossible without Lorraine Bayly

My cunning plan was to vote for one from each decade - then I realised there were too many decades and I’d still be leaving out beloved albums no matter what. Anyway here goes:

3. OK Computer - Radiohead
2. London Calling - The Clash
1. Graceland - Paul Simon

Will INXS become the third Australian act to be inducted in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame?

While I think you can argue each artist on this list is worthy of induction one way or another you’ve go to admit this would be the weirdest festival line-up ever.

This is fascinating

"The truth behind antiquities trafficking and how to stop it"
a public lecture in Sydney by Colonel Matthew Bogdanos
Coming up at the Chau Chak Wing Museum on 5 March.

🏺🏛️

www.sydney.edu.au/museum/whats...

Detail of a Roman mosaic - a woman grasps a jug container

Today's #MosaicMonday is an image of me on a Friday night holding onto the wine for dear life....

It's actually a detail of the scene of the first bath of Achilles mosaic, depicting Ambrosia bringing water in a golden jar.

South Wing of the House of Theseus, Paphos Archaeological Park, Cyprus.

Cover of the 1984 paperback ‘Indiana Jones and the curse of Horror Island’.

My second hand book acquisition of the day

1984’s ‘Indiana Jones and the Curse of Horror Island’. One of four Indiana J “game books” written by R.L. Strine before ‘Goosebumps’ fame.

12 year old me would have loved this as much as 52 year old me does. Now the completist in me wants the other 3!

The ‘Corbridge Lion’ from Corbridge Roman Town, near Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland. Originally made to decorate the top of a mausoleum, the sculpture was later re-cycled and used as a spout for a large fountain. 📸 My own. #RomanSiteSaturday #RomanBritain #Corbridge

📣 Closing this thriving department would deal a significant blow to archaeology in German-speaking countries. Please sign and share! #AcademicSky #Archaeology 🏺

‘New conservation projects planned for Nea Paphos’

Very exciting news for those of us working in the world heritage site and for the hundreds of thousands of annual visitors.

#archaeologynews 🏺

cyprus-mail.com/2026/02/19/n...

Rock poster for Letz Zep Australian tour in May in Enmore in Sydney

With Letz Zep touring soon, and in a world of The Australian Doors Show, I wonder what is the greatest named tribute/cover band is of all time?

I would think the Antarctic Monkeys with honourable mentions to the all-female Lez Zepplin and all-female Radiohead tribute Labiahead.

What is yours?

Description from auction house: “Roman, Early Imperial Period, possibly from Roman Tunisia, ca. 1st to 2nd century CE. An impressive, lifelike mosaic depicting a rooster, his body clearly modeled from life, with comb, hackle, feathers, and claws all nicely depicted. Red, pinks, greys, blacks, and pale yellows provide shading and shadow, contributing to the realistic look of the animal. He stands proudly on a grey parallelogram, placed to give the impression of depth, against a cream-colored background and within a black border.”

✨A Roman rooster ✨

This #MosaicMonday we celebrate the majesty of the rooster who is looking rather snappy in this mosaic. The provenance is unknown, though thought to be Tunisia. What can’t be overlooked is his confident pose.

#AncientRome #History #Rooster

Man charged after Egyptian artefacts stolen from Caboolture museum A 52-year-old man has been charged and 'priceless' Egyptian artefacts have been recovered after a break-in at a small museum in Caboolture on Friday.

‘Egyptian artefacts recovered and arrest made after 'amateur' Caboolture museum heist’
#archaeologynews

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...

'Priceless' Egyptian artefacts stolen from museum north of Brisbane An ancient burial mask, cat figurine and jewellery are among the "priceless" Egyptian artefacts stolen from the Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology yesterday.

‘Police appeal for help after 'priceless' Egyptian artefacts stolen from Caboolture museum north of Brisbane’
#archaeologynews

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...

Did you know pygmy hippos, only ~76 cm (2.5 ft) tall, used to roam Cyprus? They were possibly driven to extinction by humans based on the discovery of the remains of hundreds at the Pleistocene site of Akrotiri Aetokremnos 🦛

🔗 from 1991 (£) doi.org/10.1017/S000...

The old and the new.

An image shared on a Paphos Facebook group showing the ancient theatre, Fabrika hill and the Kings Avenue Mall in the background.

#archaeology

A row of five mummified cats in the British Museum. Each one is standing on a small square plinth, and essentially resembles a long tube wrapped in strips of (presumably) papyrus, in a variety of patterns, and with a carved (wooden?) cat’s head at the top.

It’s the 136th anniversary today of some highly prized artefacts from Ancient Egypt being auctioned in Liverpool. From there, the 180,000 mummified cats in question went to their splendid and dignified final resting place. A museum?

No. They were ground up and used for fertiliser 🧵

William Ritchie Research Scholarship in Classics Provides financial assistance to research students, recent PhD recipients, post-doctoral researchers and academics planning to travel to the University of Cambridge to undertake research in the Classi...

Applications now open!
William Ritchie Research Scholarship in Classics
A postgraduate research scholarship
For MA (research), PhD students, and academics planning to travel to the University of Cambridge to undertake research in the Classics.
www.sydney.edu.au/scholarships...

Why this artist is turning Australia’s feral animals into ‘mummies’ Taking his inspiration from animal mummies held by the Chau Chak Wing Museum, WA sculptor Abdul-Rahman Abdullah has turned his eye to our introduced species.

'Why this artist is turning Australia’s feral animals into ‘mummies’'

Our new art exhibition at Chau Chak Wing Museum, @sydney.edu.au by Abdul-Rahman Abdullah called 'Undying' is in today's Sydney Morning Herald (paywalled)

www.smh.com.au/culture/art-...

By Thomas D. Jensen 🏺⚱️

Paphos Theatre Archaeological Project Inventory 1. Marble cladding with Greek inscription.

9 February is designated by UNESCO World Greek Language Day

This fragment of marble cladding was the first object found by our team above the cavea of the theatre in Paphos in Cyprus in 1995.

It's 2nd century CE. Although fragmentary we see Greek lettering from almost two thousand years ago.