Archaeology · The East · Books · Mores · Education

Sumerian poem “School Days” about a negligent pupil and gifts for his teacher

The first documented case of sucking up to a teacher was preserved for us by Sumerian literature. It is probably one of the most popular texts in Sumerian: a poem about a negligent pupil, written around 2000 BC by an unknown teacher. The poem was called "Schooldays". The

NB! · Art · Museums · Society

The Venice Biennale jury "will not award artists from countries whose leaders have been accused of war crimes"

The East · Geography · Society

Forever in Iran's Hands

A Persian inscription on a propaganda billboard depicting the Strait of Hormuz in Tehran. Photo: Abedin Taherkenareh, EPA agency

NB! · Art · Monarchies · Museums · Paris

The Sun King's collection of unique diamonds, lost in the nineteenth century, recreated as full-size models for an exhibition at L'Ecole Van Cleef in Paris in 2018

The Sun King's collection of unique diamonds, lost in the nineteenth century, recreated as full-size models for an exhibition at L'Ecole Van Cleef in Paris in 2018. The blue stone is called the Hope

Architecture · Faith · Art · Heritage · Society · Paris

Will Claire Tabouret's Ugly Botch Still Replace Viollet-le-Duc's Historic Windows, Which Survived the Burning of Notre-Dame?

So, let us take matters in order. In December 2023 Macron announced that in the six chapels of the south nave of Notre-Dame, which came through the fire of 2019 undamaged, Viollet-le-Duc's stained glass would be replaced with contemporary windows by the French artist Claire

Archaeology · Observations · Heritage

At the Greek Consulate General in Chicago, an American family handed over to Greece's Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, a collection of antiquities purchased in the 1970s and 1980s

At the Greek Consulate General in Chicago, an American family handed over to Greece's Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, a collection of antiquities purchased in the 1970s and 1980s. Among the items returned are two black-figure Attic vases, an amphora, a jug, a bronze mirror, a headless

NB! · The East · Society · Humour

So Atatürk turns his back on you as the money runs out

NB! · Archive · Moscow · Society

Dzerzhinsky Square during the days of the GKChP, 20–21 August 1991, photograph by Sergey Rusanov

Science · Society · Nature · Ethnography

Gibraltar's Barbary macaques eat red clay because of tourist food

Gibraltar is home to Europe's only wild monkeys: Barbary macaques, about 230 of them. Tourists feed them ice cream, crisps and bread, despite a fine of £4,000. Yes, Gibraltar is a British territory, disputed by Spain. A recent study records that in response to this diet the

Books · Observations · Society · Humour

Objection to the claim that everyone wrote two million denunciations

The woman who denounced the writer Vladimir Sorokin has spoken about censorship in literature, expressing regret at having started her campaign against him and asking:. Who wrote two million denunciations? Well, all of us "wrote" them No, madam (and "esteemed" is the last thing you are)

NB! · Architecture · Faith · Art · Heritage

The Crucifix in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, painted before 1288 by the Italian painter Cimabue, was severely damaged in the Arno flood of 1966 and has been only partially restored

Art · Books · London · Society · People

Ai Weiwei in “On Censorship” on censorship under authoritarianism and in democracies

Ai Weiwei, one of the best-known and most politically inconvenient artists of our time, has published a book about censorship. His father, the poet Ai Qing, cleaned latrines in a labour camp. Ai Weiwei himself was detained in 2011 for 81 days without charge. His studio was demolished, his

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