M. Willis Monroe
@willismonroe.bsky.social
Cuneiform Studies, History of Science/Religion, Quantitative Humanities, Associate Professor at the University of New Brunswick, Co-Director of the Database of Religious History.
The US made a big deal sanctioning Russian business execs who supported Putin in his illegal invasion of Ukraine. Now's the time to do the same for the US. The list of donors to Trump's inauguration is here: www.opensecrets.org/trump/2025-i...
These are businesses/people we need to be sanctioning.
These are businesses/people we need to be sanctioning.
Trump Administrations: 2025 Inauguration Donors
A look into the donors to Trump's 2025 Inauguration
www.opensecrets.org
January 3, 2026 at 5:37 PM
The US made a big deal sanctioning Russian business execs who supported Putin in his illegal invasion of Ukraine. Now's the time to do the same for the US. The list of donors to Trump's inauguration is here: www.opensecrets.org/trump/2025-i...
These are businesses/people we need to be sanctioning.
These are businesses/people we need to be sanctioning.
Reposted by M. Willis Monroe
The field of Assyriology has been moving toward automatic translation of Akkadian for over a decade because, when it does happen, it will be a game changer.
Historians are now putting money on the line to test current capabilities of machine learning. Can automatic translation finally be possible?
Historians are now putting money on the line to test current capabilities of machine learning. Can automatic translation finally be possible?
📣 Competition Launch Alert! Deep Past Challenge: Translate Akkadian to English hosted by Deep Past AI
🎯 Build an AI model that translates 4,000-year-old Old Assyrian business records into English
💰 $50,000 Prize Pool
⏰ Entry Deadline: March 23, 2026
www.kaggle.com/competitions...
🎯 Build an AI model that translates 4,000-year-old Old Assyrian business records into English
💰 $50,000 Prize Pool
⏰ Entry Deadline: March 23, 2026
www.kaggle.com/competitions...
Deep Past Challenge - Translate Akkadian to English
Bringing Bronze Age Voices Back to Life – Machine Translation of Old Assyrian Cuneiform
www.kaggle.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:03 PM
The field of Assyriology has been moving toward automatic translation of Akkadian for over a decade because, when it does happen, it will be a game changer.
Historians are now putting money on the line to test current capabilities of machine learning. Can automatic translation finally be possible?
Historians are now putting money on the line to test current capabilities of machine learning. Can automatic translation finally be possible?
Reposted by M. Willis Monroe
One argument I used to make to my students about why it was important to learn history (and historical thinking) is that someone was always going to be trying to tell you things were natural or had always been this way and that you needed to be able to see that as an exercise of power.
December 7, 2025 at 10:09 PM
One argument I used to make to my students about why it was important to learn history (and historical thinking) is that someone was always going to be trying to tell you things were natural or had always been this way and that you needed to be able to see that as an exercise of power.
Breaking news for you Proto-Elamite fans: our team just had a new article come out in the journal Near Eastern Archaeology (88.4) on our recent progress towards deciphering "one of the few remaining undeciphered scripts from the ancient world".
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
December 5, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Breaking news for you Proto-Elamite fans: our team just had a new article come out in the journal Near Eastern Archaeology (88.4) on our recent progress towards deciphering "one of the few remaining undeciphered scripts from the ancient world".
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by M. Willis Monroe
Would 100% be sharing my Oracc Wrapped.
Can’t wait to share my Loeb Classical Library Online Wrapped with everyone 🤗
December 4, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Would 100% be sharing my Oracc Wrapped.
I asked my students in my Gilgamesh class to divide the epic into three parts on their summary test. Afterwards, in class we all drew them on the board. We talked about how the second division has more salience than the first (i.e. more people agreed on where the second division should go).
November 28, 2025 at 1:47 PM
I asked my students in my Gilgamesh class to divide the epic into three parts on their summary test. Afterwards, in class we all drew them on the board. We talked about how the second division has more salience than the first (i.e. more people agreed on where the second division should go).
Reposted by M. Willis Monroe
Rogue Scientist Has Own Scientific Method https://theonion.com/rogue-scientist-has-own-scientific-method-1819568501/
November 20, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Rogue Scientist Has Own Scientific Method https://theonion.com/rogue-scientist-has-own-scientific-method-1819568501/
On my way to Boston for ASOR and AAR/SBL... Had my students this morning do a really fun exercise in class. We started off by looking at the Theban Mapping Project (thebanmappingproject.com) an amazing website hosted by ARCE. We thought about what sorts of data was available for each of the tombs.
November 19, 2025 at 3:18 PM
On my way to Boston for ASOR and AAR/SBL... Had my students this morning do a really fun exercise in class. We started off by looking at the Theban Mapping Project (thebanmappingproject.com) an amazing website hosted by ARCE. We thought about what sorts of data was available for each of the tombs.
Just checked in for a flight and for the first time (that I'm aware) as part of the check in process there was a hold put on my credit card in case I brought a bag that I didn't pre-check to the gate. The fine print said it would be released once I was admitted onto the flight...
November 18, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Just checked in for a flight and for the first time (that I'm aware) as part of the check in process there was a hold put on my credit card in case I brought a bag that I didn't pre-check to the gate. The fine print said it would be released once I was admitted onto the flight...
Insight from a baller and a scholar... Why do left wing parties again and again move right only to lose to further right parties? What if the voting public has malleable positions that are influence by people speaking (well) and actually standing for something?
We all get it, right? We truly all get it - the argument is easy to understand. If people say that they fear immigrants, it makes logical sense that if the more liberal party gets more xenophobic it can keep those voters in the fold. At some point, though, you have to explain why it doesn't work.
The Danish Social Democrats are currently on course for their worst election result since at least the Second World War, despite their brand of far-right accommodationism being touted as a blueprint for other centre-left parties.
November 18, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Insight from a baller and a scholar... Why do left wing parties again and again move right only to lose to further right parties? What if the voting public has malleable positions that are influence by people speaking (well) and actually standing for something?
In class today my students created a social network of (meme-famous) Ea-naṣir based on the letters in his dossier. It coincided with the most recent episode of the Thin Edge of the Wedge. An excellent roundup by great colleagues on everything we know about Ea-naṣir and his historical context...
For the Ea-nasir fans, Assyriology podcast 'Thin End of the Wedge' just released a special episode about everyone's favorite copper merchant, featuring @gvkonsta.bsky.social, @gabemoshenska.bsky.social, and Steven Garfinkle, and yours truly.
Listen here:
www.buzzsprout.com/1338718/epis...
Listen here:
www.buzzsprout.com/1338718/epis...
80. Ea-nasir: everyone's favourite copper merchant - Thin End of the Wedge
Gina Konstantopoulos, Andrew Deloucas, Gabriel Moshenska, and Steven Garfinkle discuss internet favourite, Ea-nasir. What do we know about the Dilmun traders and their role in the supply of copper to ...
www.buzzsprout.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:10 PM
In class today my students created a social network of (meme-famous) Ea-naṣir based on the letters in his dossier. It coincided with the most recent episode of the Thin Edge of the Wedge. An excellent roundup by great colleagues on everything we know about Ea-naṣir and his historical context...
Reposted by M. Willis Monroe
🗣️ PLEASE SHARE 🗣️
I'm writing an intro & sourcebook on late ancient Gazan literature for Dar al-Kalima University Press. The press and I plan to produce an Arabic translation to make Gazan literature more accessible to Palestinians. Help me compensate the Gazan translator!
spot.fund/dn8t744sc
I'm writing an intro & sourcebook on late ancient Gazan literature for Dar al-Kalima University Press. The press and I plan to produce an Arabic translation to make Gazan literature more accessible to Palestinians. Help me compensate the Gazan translator!
spot.fund/dn8t744sc
Click here to support Chance Bonar's story *AncientGazanLitTranslation
*spotfund is the easiest place to create beautiful and free online fundraisers. It takes just minutes to start raising money today.
spot.fund
October 21, 2025 at 5:25 PM
🗣️ PLEASE SHARE 🗣️
I'm writing an intro & sourcebook on late ancient Gazan literature for Dar al-Kalima University Press. The press and I plan to produce an Arabic translation to make Gazan literature more accessible to Palestinians. Help me compensate the Gazan translator!
spot.fund/dn8t744sc
I'm writing an intro & sourcebook on late ancient Gazan literature for Dar al-Kalima University Press. The press and I plan to produce an Arabic translation to make Gazan literature more accessible to Palestinians. Help me compensate the Gazan translator!
spot.fund/dn8t744sc
Reposted by M. Willis Monroe
Today I published a new section of my website with resources for those who wish to learn, study, and/or teach ancient languages using braille. It rests on work we did over the past year to expand screen reader access to these languages through the LibLouis library. Check it out and share around!
New: Braille Resources for Reading Ancient Languages
[Photo by me. Tactile graphic by Crystal Peng.] I recently created a new section of my website, which provides educational resources for anyone who wants to read ancient Middle Eastern and North …
www.blindscholar.com
October 16, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Today I published a new section of my website with resources for those who wish to learn, study, and/or teach ancient languages using braille. It rests on work we did over the past year to expand screen reader access to these languages through the LibLouis library. Check it out and share around!
Reposted by M. Willis Monroe
Weirdly enough I was telling my first-years about "warrior ethos" last week.
Here's the skill set of a Top Viking, as set out by a dude who'd have gone through anyone using the phrase "warrior ethos" like a well-aimed axe.
Here's the skill set of a Top Viking, as set out by a dude who'd have gone through anyone using the phrase "warrior ethos" like a well-aimed axe.
September 30, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Weirdly enough I was telling my first-years about "warrior ethos" last week.
Here's the skill set of a Top Viking, as set out by a dude who'd have gone through anyone using the phrase "warrior ethos" like a well-aimed axe.
Here's the skill set of a Top Viking, as set out by a dude who'd have gone through anyone using the phrase "warrior ethos" like a well-aimed axe.
This exhibit from the Derbyshire Record Office hosted on Google Arts and Culture is really cool! Beautiful images of handwriting throughout the last 800 years. Relevant because I just finished teaching lectures on cuneiform and its change over time...
artsandculture.google.com/story/800-ye...
artsandculture.google.com/story/800-ye...
800 Years of English Handwriting - Google Arts & Culture
Google Arts & Culture features content from over 2000 leading museums and archives who have partnered with the Google Cultural Institute to bring the world's treasures online.
artsandculture.google.com
September 25, 2025 at 12:45 PM
This exhibit from the Derbyshire Record Office hosted on Google Arts and Culture is really cool! Beautiful images of handwriting throughout the last 800 years. Relevant because I just finished teaching lectures on cuneiform and its change over time...
artsandculture.google.com/story/800-ye...
artsandculture.google.com/story/800-ye...
Reposted by M. Willis Monroe
September 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
We've got a new poll up on the DRH focused on ritual, we're always recruiting more scholars to create entries (and we've got honoraria available!).
The DRH is excited to announce the release of our new Religious Ritual poll (religiondatabase.org/landing/poll...). Experts can now submit entries on specific rituals, with detailed questions about every aspect of timing, participants, practices and purposes.
September 15, 2025 at 5:18 PM
We've got a new poll up on the DRH focused on ritual, we're always recruiting more scholars to create entries (and we've got honoraria available!).
These threads are a pretty amazing example, by Will, of how dangerous LLMs are when consulted for advice, information, etc... (basically anything). Lots of "yes and"ing and pushing the user to extremes choices.
Today's round of "is ChatGPT still racist AF"
I asked it to make a graph showing the effects of an illegal & dangerous skin lightening product. Chatbot knows it's dangerous, but thinks it makes you smarter. And overall: the boosts to intelligence, confidence, etc outweigh serious health risks.
1/8
I asked it to make a graph showing the effects of an illegal & dangerous skin lightening product. Chatbot knows it's dangerous, but thinks it makes you smarter. And overall: the boosts to intelligence, confidence, etc outweigh serious health risks.
1/8
June 19, 2025 at 11:35 AM
These threads are a pretty amazing example, by Will, of how dangerous LLMs are when consulted for advice, information, etc... (basically anything). Lots of "yes and"ing and pushing the user to extremes choices.
We just finished watching season 2 of Andor (loved it) and this was a fun and insightful read:
A new blog post in which I argue that Andor's commitment to a historical mode of storytelling sets it apart from the legendary mode that dominates the Skywalker Saga and allows it to succeed where so many of the other prequel stories fall flat.
joshuapnudell.com/2025/05/31/h...
joshuapnudell.com/2025/05/31/h...
Historical Star Wars
An exploration of the legendary and historical modes of storytelling in Star Wars.
joshuapnudell.com
June 1, 2025 at 9:47 AM
We just finished watching season 2 of Andor (loved it) and this was a fun and insightful read:
Reposted by M. Willis Monroe
We may never know everything about the past, but we do know how to say in Akkadian 'Speak out, revolt' (tisiʾā tuqumta)!
That's thanks to one of the earliest Flood myths, Atra-hasis, composed nearly four thousand years ago.
That's thanks to one of the earliest Flood myths, Atra-hasis, composed nearly four thousand years ago.
My folks are visiting Armenia, so naturally they asked about Mount Ararat and that really means they wanted to better understand the reception history of Bronze Age political myths:
May 23, 2025 at 1:32 PM
We may never know everything about the past, but we do know how to say in Akkadian 'Speak out, revolt' (tisiʾā tuqumta)!
That's thanks to one of the earliest Flood myths, Atra-hasis, composed nearly four thousand years ago.
That's thanks to one of the earliest Flood myths, Atra-hasis, composed nearly four thousand years ago.
You should download this while you can, Andrew is an excellent scholar and has a unique way of distilling quite complex historical narratives into compelling and edifying prose.
Today is the second to last day to download my "Element" for free. The argument is basically that we ought to think of ethnic authors as individuals who 1) locate themselves within overarching strategies and 2) deploy those strategies in unique and individual ways
Israel and its Heirs in Late Antiquity
Cambridge Core - Religion: General Interest - Israel and its Heirs in Late Antiquity
www.cambridge.org
April 22, 2025 at 12:15 PM
You should download this while you can, Andrew is an excellent scholar and has a unique way of distilling quite complex historical narratives into compelling and edifying prose.
I just want to highlight this figure, it is so shocking... Students use AI to create not learn. They're not scaffolding their learning, they're not working their way up a pyramid of skills... they're just having the AI write their assignments.
There's a lot in there, but this figure is the standout. Students use AI to create work, not to understand tricky problems or figure out how to apply concepts. They're just using AI as a shortcut not a tool. Quoting the authors of the white paper: "An inverted pyramid, after all, can topple over."
April 16, 2025 at 12:44 PM
I just want to highlight this figure, it is so shocking... Students use AI to create not learn. They're not scaffolding their learning, they're not working their way up a pyramid of skills... they're just having the AI write their assignments.
If you're concerned about AI use in higher education check out this whitepaper from the AI company Anthropic www.anthropic.com/news/anthrop... about how students use their product (Claude™) there's some really fascinating and worrying stuff in here—kudos to the authors for putting it all out there..
Anthropic Education Report: How University Students Use Claude
AI systems are no longer just specialized research tools: they’re everyday academic companions. As AIs integrate more deeply into educational environments, we need to consider important questions abou...
www.anthropic.com
April 16, 2025 at 12:27 PM
If you're concerned about AI use in higher education check out this whitepaper from the AI company Anthropic www.anthropic.com/news/anthrop... about how students use their product (Claude™) there's some really fascinating and worrying stuff in here—kudos to the authors for putting it all out there..
I've been thinking about an analogy of AI LLMs as junk food: readily available, easy and fast, and rewiring our brains to want more. And how time and money is spent by health organizations trying to get people to eat their vegetables! This article seems to confirm that: futurism.com/the-byte/cha...
Something Bizarre Is Happening to People Who Use ChatGPT a Lot
ChatGPT "power users," or those who use it the most, are becoming dependent upon — or even addicted to — the chatbot.
futurism.com
March 25, 2025 at 3:12 PM
I've been thinking about an analogy of AI LLMs as junk food: readily available, easy and fast, and rewiring our brains to want more. And how time and money is spent by health organizations trying to get people to eat their vegetables! This article seems to confirm that: futurism.com/the-byte/cha...