Christopher W. Jones
@cwjones.bsky.social
Historian of the ancient world. Working on imperialism, elite competition, Global Assyria. North Carolinian.
The line from early '00s Reddit-tier atheism to 2020s anti-Semitism runs in a straight line.
November 12, 2025 at 1:28 PM
The line from early '00s Reddit-tier atheism to 2020s anti-Semitism runs in a straight line.
Apparently there was a break in at the National Museum in Damascus last night and several pieces were stolen:
english.news.cn/20251111/4a5...
english.news.cn/20251111/4a5...
Syria launches probe into theft of ancient artifacts from national museum
english.news.cn
November 12, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Apparently there was a break in at the National Museum in Damascus last night and several pieces were stolen:
english.news.cn/20251111/4a5...
english.news.cn/20251111/4a5...
I still haven't seen this new TOS on Academia dot edu? Maybe it's because I already opted out of the AI stuff before they rolled it out?
Apparently, I'm being made to accept Academia . edu's TOS which grant them ownership of everything I upload. I can't get through to any part of my profile without accepting this BS. Is there a way to delete my account without providing this coerced permission first?
November 8, 2025 at 2:20 AM
I still haven't seen this new TOS on Academia dot edu? Maybe it's because I already opted out of the AI stuff before they rolled it out?
FYI everyone there's a way to turn off all the AI in Academia dot edu.
Go to Account Settings > AI Settings and hit the off switch.
Tada! No podcasts, no AI slop comics, etc.
Go to Account Settings > AI Settings and hit the off switch.
Tada! No podcasts, no AI slop comics, etc.
November 7, 2025 at 8:24 PM
FYI everyone there's a way to turn off all the AI in Academia dot edu.
Go to Account Settings > AI Settings and hit the off switch.
Tada! No podcasts, no AI slop comics, etc.
Go to Account Settings > AI Settings and hit the off switch.
Tada! No podcasts, no AI slop comics, etc.
The ASOR programming committee is looking for four new members!
Having served on Program Committee for the last two years, it is a great opportunity to help shape and organize the annual meeting.
Apply at the link below!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Having served on Program Committee for the last two years, it is a great opportunity to help shape and organize the annual meeting.
Apply at the link below!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
ASOR Program Committee Application Form
Thank you for your interest in serving on ASOR's Program Committee (PC). The PC is responsible for the academic content of the Annual Meeting. Specifically, the PC solicits and reviews session and wor...
docs.google.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:18 PM
The ASOR programming committee is looking for four new members!
Having served on Program Committee for the last two years, it is a great opportunity to help shape and organize the annual meeting.
Apply at the link below!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Having served on Program Committee for the last two years, it is a great opportunity to help shape and organize the annual meeting.
Apply at the link below!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Enrollments the first time I taught Modern Middle East (2019): 20
Second time (2022): 16
Enrollment for my Modern Middle East class this coming spring: 7
Are Americans losing interest in the region? Turning inwards, losing interest in understanding the rest of the world?
Second time (2022): 16
Enrollment for my Modern Middle East class this coming spring: 7
Are Americans losing interest in the region? Turning inwards, losing interest in understanding the rest of the world?
November 6, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Enrollments the first time I taught Modern Middle East (2019): 20
Second time (2022): 16
Enrollment for my Modern Middle East class this coming spring: 7
Are Americans losing interest in the region? Turning inwards, losing interest in understanding the rest of the world?
Second time (2022): 16
Enrollment for my Modern Middle East class this coming spring: 7
Are Americans losing interest in the region? Turning inwards, losing interest in understanding the rest of the world?
Reposted by Christopher W. Jones
First time I see an article retracted for (likely) AI hallucinations.
N.B., the authors have PhD´s but don´t seem affiliated with a university.
N.B., the authors have PhD´s but don´t seem affiliated with a university.
"Following publication, concerns were raised by a third party regarding the accuracy and validity of many of the references in this article ... the Editor and the Publisher no longer have confidence in the content presented".
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Retracted Article: Strengthening Caribbean Intelligence: Education and Training for Enhanced Intra- and Inter-Agency Collaboration
We, the Editor and Publisher of International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, have retracted the following article:Smith, T., & Short, A. (2025). Strengthening Caribbean Intelligen...
www.tandfonline.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:40 PM
First time I see an article retracted for (likely) AI hallucinations.
N.B., the authors have PhD´s but don´t seem affiliated with a university.
N.B., the authors have PhD´s but don´t seem affiliated with a university.
Gained a new little member of the family this weekend.
My (apparently Judith Butler-reading) two year old: "when baby sister grows hair, will she be a girl?"
My (apparently Judith Butler-reading) two year old: "when baby sister grows hair, will she be a girl?"
November 4, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Gained a new little member of the family this weekend.
My (apparently Judith Butler-reading) two year old: "when baby sister grows hair, will she be a girl?"
My (apparently Judith Butler-reading) two year old: "when baby sister grows hair, will she be a girl?"
Reposted by Christopher W. Jones
The book to read is James Tan’s Power and Public Finance in Rome. Which argues (among other things) that Roman taxpayers had real leverage over elites due to being taxpayers. Turning point: by 167 the empire was so profitable that direct taxation ended. Which ended that leverage.
Using his powers to extract tribute from foreign countries, "donors," etc. and then using those extraconstitutional slush funds to bypass the Constitution and the rule of law. Literally the opposite of originalism and a profound threat to the continuation of constitutional democracy in this country.
$550 billion in Japanese funding.
Directed by the President.
Outside Congress’s control.
My new @justsecurity.org piece explains how the agreement bypasses the Appropriations Clause and violates the laws that safeguard Congress’s power of the purse.
www.justsecurity.org/123478/trump...
Directed by the President.
Outside Congress’s control.
My new @justsecurity.org piece explains how the agreement bypasses the Appropriations Clause and violates the laws that safeguard Congress’s power of the purse.
www.justsecurity.org/123478/trump...
October 31, 2025 at 6:21 AM
The book to read is James Tan’s Power and Public Finance in Rome. Which argues (among other things) that Roman taxpayers had real leverage over elites due to being taxpayers. Turning point: by 167 the empire was so profitable that direct taxation ended. Which ended that leverage.
I don't think my field has really reckoned with how the essential transience of the Internet has severed many people's lived experience of having a connection to the past.
At the societal level, digital culture takes on some aspects of oral culture.
At the societal level, digital culture takes on some aspects of oral culture.
October 28, 2025 at 12:25 AM
I don't think my field has really reckoned with how the essential transience of the Internet has severed many people's lived experience of having a connection to the past.
At the societal level, digital culture takes on some aspects of oral culture.
At the societal level, digital culture takes on some aspects of oral culture.
Fascinating find from the Jezreel Valley! A tomb containing an impressive assortment of wealthy grave goods. Authors suggest it could have been an Assyrian governor of Megiddo province, but I'm not aware of any Neo-Assyrian cremation burials? Who else could it be? www.haaretz.com/archaeology/...
Archaeologists stunned by lavish Assyrian-period tomb in northern Israel
Hundreds of Luxury Artifacts Accompanied the 2,700-year-old Burial. Could These Be the Remains of an Assyrian Governor Who Ruled Over the Vanquished Kingdom of Israel?
www.haaretz.com
October 26, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Fascinating find from the Jezreel Valley! A tomb containing an impressive assortment of wealthy grave goods. Authors suggest it could have been an Assyrian governor of Megiddo province, but I'm not aware of any Neo-Assyrian cremation burials? Who else could it be? www.haaretz.com/archaeology/...
Is anyone else getting tons of clearly AI-written emails asking to read your work?
All appear to be impersonating real scholars while placing them in departments they don't teach in or nonexistent departments at real schools.
All appear to be impersonating real scholars while placing them in departments they don't teach in or nonexistent departments at real schools.
October 24, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Is anyone else getting tons of clearly AI-written emails asking to read your work?
All appear to be impersonating real scholars while placing them in departments they don't teach in or nonexistent departments at real schools.
All appear to be impersonating real scholars while placing them in departments they don't teach in or nonexistent departments at real schools.
Rome Q:
The Late Republic is often described as a hardened oligarchy, but it seems to me that the upper ranks of Roman society were actually more open than in the middle Republic, and this contributed to political instability.
Same for the Crisis of the Third Century.
Thoughts?
The Late Republic is often described as a hardened oligarchy, but it seems to me that the upper ranks of Roman society were actually more open than in the middle Republic, and this contributed to political instability.
Same for the Crisis of the Third Century.
Thoughts?
October 22, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Rome Q:
The Late Republic is often described as a hardened oligarchy, but it seems to me that the upper ranks of Roman society were actually more open than in the middle Republic, and this contributed to political instability.
Same for the Crisis of the Third Century.
Thoughts?
The Late Republic is often described as a hardened oligarchy, but it seems to me that the upper ranks of Roman society were actually more open than in the middle Republic, and this contributed to political instability.
Same for the Crisis of the Third Century.
Thoughts?
Another great thing about going low-tech in the classroom is that a few weeks ago we had a campus-wide power outage just before our midterm.
We proceeded with blue books, pens, and natural light just as intended.
We proceeded with blue books, pens, and natural light just as intended.
Today with Canvas down we sat as a class and contrasted Paul's athletic metaphors with Novatian's condemnation of Roman spectacles, exactly as we would have done anyways.
October 21, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Another great thing about going low-tech in the classroom is that a few weeks ago we had a campus-wide power outage just before our midterm.
We proceeded with blue books, pens, and natural light just as intended.
We proceeded with blue books, pens, and natural light just as intended.
Sooo would now be a bad time to email a Louvre department manager about publication permissions?
October 20, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Sooo would now be a bad time to email a Louvre department manager about publication permissions?
Today with Canvas down we sat as a class and contrasted Paul's athletic metaphors with Novatian's condemnation of Roman spectacles, exactly as we would have done anyways.
October 20, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Today with Canvas down we sat as a class and contrasted Paul's athletic metaphors with Novatian's condemnation of Roman spectacles, exactly as we would have done anyways.
An interesting paper has been published documenting the damage to the ancient Assyrian site of Khorsabad from military entrenchments from the 2003 Iraq invasion and from 2014-2016 during the war with ISIS: journals.openedition.org/syria/18291
Contemporary military damage at Khorsabad: A case study for conflic...
Introduction Khorsabad, in ancient times Dūr Šarrukin, is located in the northern part of the district of Mosul, in the sub-district of Bashiqa which is 20 km north of the city of Mosul (administra...
journals.openedition.org
October 19, 2025 at 7:43 PM
An interesting paper has been published documenting the damage to the ancient Assyrian site of Khorsabad from military entrenchments from the 2003 Iraq invasion and from 2014-2016 during the war with ISIS: journals.openedition.org/syria/18291
Assyrian court scholars of the Nabû-zuqup-kenu family had people murdered, carried out human sacrifices, and conducted medical experimentation on enslaved human beings. The dark side of cuneiform scholars.
October 16, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Assyrian court scholars of the Nabû-zuqup-kenu family had people murdered, carried out human sacrifices, and conducted medical experimentation on enslaved human beings. The dark side of cuneiform scholars.
Want a bright spot to your day?
Two hours ago, the faculty at my institution voted to approve launching a new major and minor in Classics!
What? An institution, in the year 2025, launching a Classics program instead of closing one down? Yes indeed. And I'm proud to be part of making it happen.
Two hours ago, the faculty at my institution voted to approve launching a new major and minor in Classics!
What? An institution, in the year 2025, launching a Classics program instead of closing one down? Yes indeed. And I'm proud to be part of making it happen.
October 6, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Want a bright spot to your day?
Two hours ago, the faculty at my institution voted to approve launching a new major and minor in Classics!
What? An institution, in the year 2025, launching a Classics program instead of closing one down? Yes indeed. And I'm proud to be part of making it happen.
Two hours ago, the faculty at my institution voted to approve launching a new major and minor in Classics!
What? An institution, in the year 2025, launching a Classics program instead of closing one down? Yes indeed. And I'm proud to be part of making it happen.
Historical misunderstandings derived from playing World of Tanks are starting to make their way into serious policy publications.
Like this is such a wrong statement that anyone making it should not be taken seriously at all (this piece annoyed the shit out of me at the time and I have not had the opportunity to litigate it lol)
October 6, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Historical misunderstandings derived from playing World of Tanks are starting to make their way into serious policy publications.
What are the 'pillar tomes' of your field? The bricks of a book that are undertheorized yet are basically a directory of every source on a topic that exists, and are therefore indispensable?
A few that come to mind:
Frame, Babylonia 681-629 BC
Younger, A Political History of the Aramaeans
A few that come to mind:
Frame, Babylonia 681-629 BC
Younger, A Political History of the Aramaeans
October 2, 2025 at 11:26 PM
What are the 'pillar tomes' of your field? The bricks of a book that are undertheorized yet are basically a directory of every source on a topic that exists, and are therefore indispensable?
A few that come to mind:
Frame, Babylonia 681-629 BC
Younger, A Political History of the Aramaeans
A few that come to mind:
Frame, Babylonia 681-629 BC
Younger, A Political History of the Aramaeans
Feel like I'm going crazy this morning tracking this down, so I'll ask:
Has anyone published the Akkadian & Elamite portions of Darius I's trilingual inscriptions from Naqsh-i-Rustam?
Has anyone published the Akkadian & Elamite portions of Darius I's trilingual inscriptions from Naqsh-i-Rustam?
October 2, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Feel like I'm going crazy this morning tracking this down, so I'll ask:
Has anyone published the Akkadian & Elamite portions of Darius I's trilingual inscriptions from Naqsh-i-Rustam?
Has anyone published the Akkadian & Elamite portions of Darius I's trilingual inscriptions from Naqsh-i-Rustam?
Reposted by Christopher W. Jones
Last night, we watched an episode of Zillow Gone Wild wherein a young girl in the 1970s convinced her parents in Lake Tahoe to paint her bedroom like the palace at Knossos and I have never felt closer to a small child.
September 29, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Last night, we watched an episode of Zillow Gone Wild wherein a young girl in the 1970s convinced her parents in Lake Tahoe to paint her bedroom like the palace at Knossos and I have never felt closer to a small child.
Reposted by Christopher W. Jones
Thoguhts Of Life—Ive replaced evero screen in my goon cave w/ a diff. translation of the Epic Of Gilgamesh. My mind has become rather Honed
December 31, 2024 at 10:47 AM
Thoguhts Of Life—Ive replaced evero screen in my goon cave w/ a diff. translation of the Epic Of Gilgamesh. My mind has become rather Honed
In case anyone was wondering how these tools are being used, now AI companies are directly advertising AI detectors to students as a tool for making sure their AI-written paper doesn't get flagged by AI detectors.
September 22, 2025 at 2:38 AM
In case anyone was wondering how these tools are being used, now AI companies are directly advertising AI detectors to students as a tool for making sure their AI-written paper doesn't get flagged by AI detectors.