Jim Cleary
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jimcleary.bsky.social
Jim Cleary
@jimcleary.bsky.social
Archaeology, travelling, Greece, rugby, Wrexham, shouting at the tv.
#TombTuesday The interior of the tomb of Seuthes III, King of Odrysia in ancient Thrace in the 4th century BCE.
Located in the Golgama Kosmatka Tumulus near Kazanlak in modern day #Bulgaria.
His famous bronze portrait head can be seen in the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia.
June 3, 2025 at 8:16 AM
#MosaicMonday These ones are in the superb Bishop’s Basilica of Philippopalis (modern day Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
April 28, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Something a little different for this #MosaicMonday - some lovely modern mosaics on the wall of Globe Primary School, in Bethnal Green
April 21, 2025 at 11:33 AM
#MosaicMonday
This Dionysos looks like he has seen a few too many parties!
4C AD, from Ancient Halicarnassus (modern day Bodrum) and now on display in Room 70 of the British Museum.
April 7, 2025 at 9:58 AM
#MosaicMonday
This wonderfully goofy looking Medusa is in the Benaki Museum in Athens, described as:
"Mosaic floor with head of Medusa.
Possibly from Asia Minor, Late Roman period."
March 31, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Many thanks to @alisonfisk.bsky.social for inspiring me to visit Ham House - the crocuses are stunning again this year!
March 6, 2025 at 10:28 PM
#FrescoFriday
A lovely Roman altar from Milan, on display in the marvellous Civic Museum of Archaeology. 1st/2nd century CE. Side A has an embedded black marble head of Dionysos/Bacchus.
February 6, 2025 at 10:32 PM
#MosaicMonday
The extraordinary interior of the Cappella Palatina, in Palermo, Sicily. 12th century.
January 27, 2025 at 12:15 PM
#FrescoFriday
The Flotilla Fresco, from the West House in Akrotiri, Thera.
Preserved by the volcanic eruption of Santorini/Thera around 1,600 BCE, and now on display in the Museum of Prehistoric Thera, in Fira, Santorini.
January 24, 2025 at 10:29 AM
#MosaicMonday
The Triumph of Dionysos, on display in the marvellous museum in Sousse, Tunisia.
From the house of Vergil, Sousse.
Roman, C3 CE.

Full description in Alt text.
January 20, 2025 at 3:34 PM
#MosaicMonday
I’m not sure why this representation of November is looking at her sistrum so suspiciously!
From Ancient Halicarnassus, now in the British Museum.
January 13, 2025 at 1:13 AM
#MosaicMonday
The birth of Alexander the Great; mosaic found near Baalbek, and now on display in the National Museum of Lebanon, in Beirut.
January 6, 2025 at 9:34 AM
#MosaicMonday
Marvellous sea-creatures from Ostia Antica.
December 2, 2024 at 10:43 AM
#MosaicMonday
A lovely sinuous pattern of dolphins and swans, from the House of the Dolphins, a massive (over 3,000 sq metre) house in El Jem, now on display in the museum in El Jem, Tunisia.
First half of the 3rd c. AD/CE.
November 18, 2024 at 9:12 AM
From the Silk Roads exhibition at the British Museum: the earliest known group of chess pieces, dated to the 700s AD/CE, found in Afrasiab (modern day Samarkand).

and Afrasiab today.

"The spider weaves the curtains in the palace of the Caesars, the owl calls the watches in the towers of Afrasiab"
November 13, 2024 at 6:13 PM
Quinctilius Varus, give me back my legions! This is a cuirass from the Teutoburg Forest battlefield, currently on display in the Legion exhibition in the British Museum.
February 6, 2024 at 6:34 PM
#MosaicMonday
L’ivresse d’Hercule - Hercules’ Drunkenness- C3 AD found in Vienne & now on display in the fine museum in Lyon.
November 6, 2023 at 1:23 PM
#MosaicMonday
A rather elegant dolphin, C1 CE. Found in Marseilles during the construction of the Cathedral de la Major in the 19th century, and now on display in the superb Museum of the History of Marseilles (Musee d’histoire de Marseille)
October 16, 2023 at 8:42 AM
#MosaicMonday: Another Alexander?
A hunter, suggested to be Alexander the Great. He can be seen in the Piazza della Vittoria in Palermo.
October 9, 2023 at 3:27 PM