Teacher education | Doctorate - leadership, decision making & ethics l Spurs EPL supporter | Old Falconian | Ancient History fanatic | All views my own

Sydney, Australia
Joined April 2013
Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
The Norman Kingdom of Sicily is one of history's great experiments in civilisational encounter. Arabic, Greek and Latin were all official court languages. Arab poets wrote odes to Norman kings. Norman architects built churches with Islamic geometric decoration and Byzantine mosaics in the same building. It lasted barely a century and nothing quite like it has existed since. @peterfrankopan on what it produced — and why it ended.
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Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
No wonder then that the mosaics of Gaza from the Christian Byzantine period depict elephants, lions and giraffes From the exhibition Trésors sauvés de Gaza - 5000 ans d'histoire at L'Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris
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Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
👁️ WHAT Was This Stone Hand Really Holding? Ancient Egypt’s Hidden Message At first glance, it looks like nothing more than a carved stone hand. But look closer… This remarkable artifact, carved from dark granite around 1500 BCE, may be carrying one of the most powerful messages from ancient Egypt. The tightly clenched fist grips two sacred symbols that every Egyptian would have instantly recognized. Was it simply a work of art, or was it meant to remind everyone that the power of the pharaoh came from the gods themselves? The long staff in the hand is called the was scepter, a symbol of strength, control, and divine authority. Wrapped around the fist is the famous ankh, often called the “key of life,” representing eternal life and immortality. Together, these symbols sent a clear message: true power was believed to last forever, even beyond death. What makes this piece even more fascinating is the incredible craftsmanship. Carved from extremely hard granite over 3,500 years ago, every detail—from the fingers to the sacred symbols—shows remarkable skill. When sunlight strikes the stone, the deep carvings come alive, making it feel as though the ancient hand is still holding its sacred power after thousands of years. Artifacts like this are more than beautiful sculptures—they are silent messages from a civilization that believed life, death, and the gods were deeply connected. Standing before it today, you can’t help but wonder… what secrets did this stone hand witness that history has long forgotten? 🏺✨
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Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
How the Romans Invented Apartment Living. It Was Brilliant, Brutal, and Often Deadly zmescience.com/feature-post/…
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Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
Some highlights of a jaunt to the Bay of Naples Part II Agnes Crawford understandingrome.substack.c…
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Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
The Imperial Propaganda Hidden in the Aeneid Written between 29 and 19 BCE, Virgil's Aeneid rewrote Roman origins to solidify Emperor Augustus's rule and legitimize the Julian dynasty's divine power. thecollector.com/imperial-pr…
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Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
Magnifique.
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Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
How Ancient Athens Used Diplomacy to Build Its Mighty Navy With Macedonian Timber greekreporter.com/2026/10/22…
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Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
Excavations Reveal Commercial Life at Ancient Argilos  greekreporter.com/2026/10/20…
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Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
The Lute Player of Damascus and the First Islamic Paintings Deep in the black basalt desert east of Amman stands a small, honey-coloured bathhouse that is one of the most surprising buildings in the Islamic world. Qusayr 'Amra was built in the 720s or 730s for the Umayyad prince al-Walid ibn Yazid, "a passionate drinker with prodigious skill and energy as a musician," who came here to hunt, bathe and drink far from the disapproving eyes of Damascus.
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Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
🍽️ A 1,096-Year-Old Feast Hidden in Stone Has Just Revealed a Forgotten World For more than a thousand years, this stone inscription kept its secrets buried beneath the earth. Discovered in Indonesia and dating back around 1,096 years, the inscription records a decision by King Mpu Sindok to declare a tarukan rice field tax-free land. At first glance, it appears to be a simple legal document. But hidden within its ancient words is something far more remarkable. The inscription describes a banquet held after the royal decree was announced. Guests were served alcohol, salted fish, eggs, beef jerky, boiled vegetables, coconut, and other foods. In just a few lines, it preserves a rare snapshot of everyday life in an ancient Javanese kingdom. This is what makes the discovery so fascinating. Most ancient inscriptions focus on kings, battles, or religious ceremonies. This one goes beyond politics and power. It reveals how people celebrated, what they ate, what they drank, and how an important event was marked more than a millennium ago. The feast ended over 1,000 years ago. The people who attended it are long gone. Yet their gathering, their meal, and their celebration survived because someone chose to carve the moment into stone. Today, that inscription still speaks. Not only about taxes and royal authority, but about community, tradition, and the ordinary people whose lives are rarely preserved in the historical record. A thousand years later, an ancient banquet continues to tell its story.
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The students brought two of Antonio Vivaldi’s works, Gloria and The Four Seasons, to life through the unique sounds of the marimba. Their performance showcases not only their musicality and teamwork, but also reminds us why music education is so important in schools. Children put their whole hearts into making music, and it’s a beautiful thing to see!
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Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
⛏️ The Tunnel of Eupalinos: A 2,500-Year-Old Engineering Marvel Hidden beneath the island of Samos, Greece, the Tunnel of Eupalinos is one of the most remarkable engineering feats of the ancient world.
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Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
Cybele's Blood Bath: The Roman Taurobolium 204 BCE Rome shipped in a stone Mother of the Gods, put a matron's chastity on trial to explain a stuck boat suddenly floated. 3,000yrs later, initiates were climbing into a pit to be drenched in bull's blood. veiledantiquity.com/posts/cu…
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The buildings of the Roman Forum
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Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
Found in a Roman-era house in Crimea, this marble head portrays Laodice, the woman who may have helped her city win freedom  futura-sciences.com/en/found…
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Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
A slab-shaped tin ingot recovered from the Uluburun shipwreck, dating to around 1300 BC. The ship carried copper and tin in the exact 10-to-1 ratio required to cast bronze.
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Rod Leonarder Ed.D retweeted
A historic 2000 year-old stone staircase and pilgrimage road in Jerusalem, photographed around 1900 by the pioneer photographer Khalil Raad (one of the earliest and most prominent local photographers active in Palestine during the late 19th and early 20th centuries).... A historical documentation of ancient stone steps uncovered during early excavations in Jerusalem, commonly attributed to the Second Temple period. These stone steps formed part of the landscape of Jerusalem during the Second Temple period, when large numbers of Jewish pilgrims traveled to the city from across the Land of Israel and beyond. These stone pathways and steps were used by Jewish pilgrims traveling up toward the Temple Mount area or connecting ancient parts of the city. Three times a year, during Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot, Jewish pilgrims made the journey to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. Jerusalem was the religious and national center of Jewish life. Then came the Romans. In 70 CE, Roman forces under Titus captured Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple. Much of the city was devastated, and the world in which these stones had been used disappeared. But the stones remained. Around 1900, they were photographed during excavations in the Kidron Valley. #archaeohistories
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