Årstein Justnes
@arsteinjustnes.bsky.social
Professor, University of Agder
Reposted by Årstein Justnes
An interesting PhD opportunity (i.e. job!) at Oslo on the project POLYCHROME: "Candidates should propose a research project that examines, in one form or another, historical sources that shed light on changing attitudes to medieval objects after the Reformations in the Scandinavian countries."
Doctoral Research Fellowship (SKO 1017) at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (293057) | University of Oslo
Job title: Doctoral Research Fellowship (SKO 1017) at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (293057), Employer: University of Oslo, Deadline: Sunday, March 22, 2026
www.jobbnorge.no
January 12, 2026 at 1:21 PM
An interesting PhD opportunity (i.e. job!) at Oslo on the project POLYCHROME: "Candidates should propose a research project that examines, in one form or another, historical sources that shed light on changing attitudes to medieval objects after the Reformations in the Scandinavian countries."
Reposted by Årstein Justnes
January 11, 1897: After finding little, 70 Egyptian workers are sent by Grenfell & Hunt to excavate a trash heap near Oxyrhynchus. They immediately found a fragment of the Gospel of Thomas & 1000s more papyri, proving trash heaps are archaeological treasures. oxyrhynchus.web.ox.ac.uk/waste-paper-...
January 11, 2026 at 12:32 PM
January 11, 1897: After finding little, 70 Egyptian workers are sent by Grenfell & Hunt to excavate a trash heap near Oxyrhynchus. They immediately found a fragment of the Gospel of Thomas & 1000s more papyri, proving trash heaps are archaeological treasures. oxyrhynchus.web.ox.ac.uk/waste-paper-...
Reposted by Årstein Justnes
Back at work this week and I wanted to share something that's actually a cool history post and not just, like, anti-imperialist rage. This is a Buddhist 'dharani' amulet found in a tomb at Chang'an (modern Xi'an) in northern China. It was *printed* (probably by monks) circa 650-670 CE.
January 7, 2026 at 2:06 PM
Back at work this week and I wanted to share something that's actually a cool history post and not just, like, anti-imperialist rage. This is a Buddhist 'dharani' amulet found in a tomb at Chang'an (modern Xi'an) in northern China. It was *printed* (probably by monks) circa 650-670 CE.
Reposted by Årstein Justnes
remarkable that media coverage of Trump’s ambitions for Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) is failing to mention that Indigenous Inuit people make up 89% of the population
January 7, 2026 at 8:29 AM
remarkable that media coverage of Trump’s ambitions for Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) is failing to mention that Indigenous Inuit people make up 89% of the population
Reposted by Årstein Justnes
This arrived, just in time to be packed up for moving. My chapter on the Apocryphon of Ezekiel argues that it was not a single composition in antiquity, and it mostly made up of independent short sayings. Thanks to the editor Marieke Dhont and @tandtclark.bsky.social for publishing.
Happy new year
Happy new year
December 31, 2025 at 1:26 PM
This arrived, just in time to be packed up for moving. My chapter on the Apocryphon of Ezekiel argues that it was not a single composition in antiquity, and it mostly made up of independent short sayings. Thanks to the editor Marieke Dhont and @tandtclark.bsky.social for publishing.
Happy new year
Happy new year
A screenshot from 2000 – Martin Schøyen flirts with the market
#post2002DSS
#post2002DSS
January 3, 2026 at 7:14 PM
A screenshot from 2000 – Martin Schøyen flirts with the market
#post2002DSS
#post2002DSS
Reposted by Årstein Justnes
British Library Manuscripts Catalogue back online www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2025/...
British Library Manuscripts Catalogue back online
Via Bluesky (is this a first?) I learn that the British Library Manuscript catalogue is now back online, two years after the cyber-attack destroyed it. The post is from Calum Cockburn who is the…
www.roger-pearse.com
January 3, 2026 at 6:06 PM
British Library Manuscripts Catalogue back online www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2025/...
4QWhereIsWilly?
www.deadseascrolls.org.il/explore-the-...
www.deadseascrolls.org.il/explore-the-...
January 3, 2026 at 1:28 PM
4QWhereIsWilly?
www.deadseascrolls.org.il/explore-the-...
www.deadseascrolls.org.il/explore-the-...
January 3, 2026 at 12:57 PM
«Det vil alltid være usikkerhet om ny kunnskap. Jeg tror vi i større grad bør formidle forskningens usikkerhet og at kunnskap er i bevegelse.»
John-Arne Røttingen: — Tilliten til forskning er svekket etter pandemien
— Det vil alltid være usikkerhet om ny kunnskap. Jeg tror vi i større grad bør formidle forskningens usikkerhet og at kunnskap er i bevegelse, sier forskningstoppen John-Arne Røttingen i Wellcome Trus...
www.khrono.no
December 27, 2025 at 9:04 AM
«Det vil alltid være usikkerhet om ny kunnskap. Jeg tror vi i større grad bør formidle forskningens usikkerhet og at kunnskap er i bevegelse.»
“When I teach about ancient letter writing, one of the things I emphasize is the precariousness of sending letters any great distance in the Roman world. Without an organized postal service, the delivery of letters could be quite haphazard.”
Practicalities of Letter Delivery in Antiquity
When I teach about ancient letter writing, one of the things I emphasize is the precariousness of sending letters any great distance in the Roman world. Without an organized postal service, the del…
brentnongbri.com
December 20, 2025 at 10:00 AM
“When I teach about ancient letter writing, one of the things I emphasize is the precariousness of sending letters any great distance in the Roman world. Without an organized postal service, the delivery of letters could be quite haphazard.”
Reposted by Årstein Justnes
Come and become my new colleague: Two fully funded PhD positions (3yrs, start 9/2026) advertised at the Faculty of Theology (all disciplines) at #UniversityofCopenhagen, deadline: 16 March 2026
employment.ku.dk/phd?show=154...
employment.ku.dk/phd?show=154...
Two PhD Scholarships at the Faculty of Theology
employment.ku.dk
December 20, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Come and become my new colleague: Two fully funded PhD positions (3yrs, start 9/2026) advertised at the Faculty of Theology (all disciplines) at #UniversityofCopenhagen, deadline: 16 March 2026
employment.ku.dk/phd?show=154...
employment.ku.dk/phd?show=154...
Reposted by Årstein Justnes
Religious studies/theology folks: Please share word of this 3-year postdoc (junior research fellowship) at Trinity College, Oxford. Application deadline January 21.
Full details available here:
www.trinity.ox.ac.uk/sites/defaul...
Full details available here:
www.trinity.ox.ac.uk/sites/defaul...
December 15, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Religious studies/theology folks: Please share word of this 3-year postdoc (junior research fellowship) at Trinity College, Oxford. Application deadline January 21.
Full details available here:
www.trinity.ox.ac.uk/sites/defaul...
Full details available here:
www.trinity.ox.ac.uk/sites/defaul...
“A classic from 2019. Manuscript collector Martin #Schøyen greets newspaper journalists by asking, ‘Are you from Jehovah’s Witnesses?’”
#Loot #MagicBowls
#Loot #MagicBowls
December 15, 2025 at 11:19 AM
“A classic from 2019. Manuscript collector Martin #Schøyen greets newspaper journalists by asking, ‘Are you from Jehovah’s Witnesses?’”
#Loot #MagicBowls
#Loot #MagicBowls
Eva Mroczek contextualizes deepfakes in relation to the history of fakery and forgery
The deep history of deepfakes: Q&A with Spatz Chair Eva Mroczek
In her public lecture this week, Dr. Eva Mroczek, the Simon and Riva Spatz Chair in Jewish Studies at Dalhousie, traced the winding history of authenticity and forgery in how we discover, study, and…
www.dal.ca
December 13, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by Årstein Justnes
This is an important point - LLMs are credulous, they take what is written at face value. Not surprising since they model written language, so anything written is their ground truth. It’s kind of unfortunate for science, though.
These systems are also credible.. they tend to trust what they find and if your source includes poor quality or even outright fraud or retracted papers, it will often cite them like gospel. There are ways to mitigate but no perfect solution (3)
December 13, 2025 at 9:18 AM
This is an important point - LLMs are credulous, they take what is written at face value. Not surprising since they model written language, so anything written is their ground truth. It’s kind of unfortunate for science, though.
“Going forward, Bishop Gylver has a clear sense of her tasks as bishop: ‘To stand up and to try to be very clear about what I think is the essence of the Gospel,’ she said. ‘Justice and poverty are central themes.’”
With Dreadlocks and Yoga, Oslo’s Bishop Practices an Atypical Evangelism
www.nytimes.com
December 13, 2025 at 9:24 AM
“Going forward, Bishop Gylver has a clear sense of her tasks as bishop: ‘To stand up and to try to be very clear about what I think is the essence of the Gospel,’ she said. ‘Justice and poverty are central themes.’”
I had completely forgotten how crazy old BAR articles could be. This is from “Update: Finds or Fakes?” Biblical Archaeology Review 31.3 (2005): 46–51.
December 13, 2025 at 9:14 AM
I had completely forgotten how crazy old BAR articles could be. This is from “Update: Finds or Fakes?” Biblical Archaeology Review 31.3 (2005): 46–51.
«Multiple studies have found that AI data centers are relying heavily on fossil fuels and stand to add millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.»
The Architects of AI Are TIME's 2025 Person of the Year
The Architects of AI drove the economy, shaped geopolitics, and changed the way we interact with the world
time.com
December 12, 2025 at 5:00 AM
«Multiple studies have found that AI data centers are relying heavily on fossil fuels and stand to add millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.»
Reposted by Årstein Justnes
December 9, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Reposted by Årstein Justnes
We are delighted to announce that the volume, Performance, Space, and Time in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Papers from the Eleventh Meeting of the IOQS, Zürich 2022 has been published by Brill as volume 154 of the STDJ series. Find it here: brill.com/edcollbook/t... - Thank you to all our contributors!
December 9, 2025 at 6:56 PM
We are delighted to announce that the volume, Performance, Space, and Time in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Papers from the Eleventh Meeting of the IOQS, Zürich 2022 has been published by Brill as volume 154 of the STDJ series. Find it here: brill.com/edcollbook/t... - Thank you to all our contributors!
Reposted by Årstein Justnes
Happy to announce that I have received an @erc.europa.eu Consolidator grant for the project "Authoritarian Threats to Scientific Knowledge". AutoKnow will study how authoritarian regimes and politics affect scientific progress, contents and topics in different fields.
www.sv.uio.no/isv/english/...
www.sv.uio.no/isv/english/...
Large EU-grant to Tore Wig to study the state of science in autocracies
- Department of Political Science
Will scientific progress slow down if more countries in the world become autocratic? That is one of the questions political science professor Tore Wig will seek to answer with two million euros from t...
www.sv.uio.no
December 9, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Happy to announce that I have received an @erc.europa.eu Consolidator grant for the project "Authoritarian Threats to Scientific Knowledge". AutoKnow will study how authoritarian regimes and politics affect scientific progress, contents and topics in different fields.
www.sv.uio.no/isv/english/...
www.sv.uio.no/isv/english/...