Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)
Assyriologist at Wolfson College (Oxford), writer plagued by self-doubt, lover of dead languages. I think we should all be doing what we can to save the planet.
My book is now out! 😎 lnk.to/BetweenTwoRivers
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)The conservative movement has turned against reality on every scientific issue of our time, from gun violence to climate change to epidemiology. If campuses are ideologically homogenous, it's not because academia has ostracized conservatives. It's because conservatives have ostracized academia.
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)🏺
- This tiny fragment of an ancient stone bowl preserves a moment in the life of someone who helped bring babies into the world. The bowl is broken, the name is broken, but the profession is not. This bowl was dedicated to a deity by a sha-zu, a “midwife” sometime around 2500 BCE.
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)10. Someone I've followed forever on twitter (& now here) - I was super excited to have @moudhy.bsky.social on to talk all things ancient near east, particularly kingship www.politicalphilosophypodcast.com/tfk
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)the one on the right is a copy of part of a list of Akkadian synonyms called Malku=sharru. Words that are difficult for some reason (like being old, or from another language) are explained using a more straightforward word. Very helpful list
- I’m so excited to join @lswisnom.bsky.social tomorrow for a panel on ancient Mesopotamia! It’s not too late to buy tickets if you’d like to join two Assyriologists nerd out over old stuff with Shappi Khorsandi events.bl.uk/events/histf...
- Love history? Just had your payday? Come along to HistFest 2025 this weekend at the British Library! Brilliant speakers, fascinating history, Tudor music and original art. Book now: histfest.org/histfest-2025/
- Beautiful photos. The tablet on the left is the “Flood Tablet” of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The tablet on the right looks like it might be a word list.
- Inspired by books authored by Elif Shafak & @moudhy.bsky.social I decided to visit the British Museum while in London. Despite the crowds I managed to see the tablets from Mesopotamia & the lamassus - & picked up a copy of The Epic of Gilgamesh
- A little Sumerian riddle to brighten your day. “When I am small, I am the child of the garden. “When I grow, I am (on) the body of the gods. “When I became an old person, I am the physician of the land.” What am I?
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)The best SBL panel I attended was on the use of ancient stories of genocide in Israel for modern acts of genocide in Israel. My philological take: Religious Mass Murder of Canaanites in Iron Age Israel: Did it Really Happen and Where did the Idea Come From? sethlsanders.wordpress.com/2024/09/30/r...
- I had the pleasure of talking to Dr Philip Davies about ancient Mesopotamia and my book, Between Two Rivers. Early writing, cities, medicine, museums, astronomy, & more. He saved the best for last with a question about wisdom from 5,000 years ago. Hope you enjoy it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez41...
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)I'll be in Oxford tomorrow talking to @moudhy.bsky.social about history and Fall of Civilizations and signing books. Come join us! Date: 22 apr • 17:30 Location: 48-51 Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BQ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/moudhy-al-...
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)Don't sleep on @jonjtaylor.bsky.social's interview with @moudhy.bsky.social, their discussion on scale and detail of historical narratives in particular is lovely: www.buzzsprout.com/1338718/epis...
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)*6 DAYS UNTIL HISTFEST 2025* Have you got your tickets? Join us for a weekend of history at the British Library 26-27 April. Including… 📜 ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA with @moudhy.bsky.social Shaparak Khorsandi & Selena Wisnom ⏰ 5PM, SAT 26 APRIL 🎟️ Book via HistFest.org (click ‘HistFest 2025’)
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)Euphemisms for pot have a long history: the 15th-century study of ḥašīš "weed" in Arabic, by the historian al-Badrī, tells us that 'In Yemen it is “the Green.” In Diyar Bakr, it is “the Dusty.” In Antioch, it is “Cat-head"...In Syria, it is known as “the Toasted” in Hama and “the Cheerer” in Homs.'
- Back on social media after a few days off to recover from a really heavy week, and was not expecting to return to so much book love. You are all so kind. Thank you 🧡
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)A wonderful fascinating book. I was not expecting to find this history, stories from Mesopotamia so engaging. I am loving the glimpses of astronomy, mathematics, neighbour disputes, gods and kings. The author has done an outstanding job. (About half way through but had to proclaim my delight.)
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)Next up #booksky 💙📚 A break from the sci-fi to learn about ancient Mesopotamia with @moudhy.bsky.social
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)Looking for a #history pod to listen to this weekend? I had a super time speaking with brilliant @moudhy.bsky.social about her book on ancient Mesopotamia & the 'history of history' #BetweenTwoRivers, for @intelligence2.bsky.social Available on all your pod platforms: megaphone.link/NSR8766235582
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)I'm with @cosmicrami.com on this. Hands down one of the best books I've read in the last few years. An absolute banger by @moudhy.bsky.social
- Book review 🧵👇🏽 ‘Between Two Rivers’ by @moudhy.bsky.social I finally got a moment this weekend to sit down and finish the last chapter. I’ve been holding off because, I didn’t want it to end. What a wonderful journey across time this book is. Probably my favourite book I’ve read in last 5 years.
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)In this book @moudhy.bsky.social opens and closes with the story of Ennigaldi-Nanna — a princess and high priestess that might have curated thousands of years of her own past and history. Moudhy’s book is today’s version of Ennigaldi-Nanna’s museum - a collection and look into ancient Mesopotamia.
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)Of course for me, the early beginnings of astronomy stood out. The passion and enthusiasm I have for this topic today forms a bridge that stretches thousands of years back through time to my ancestors who defined the mathematics of eclipses and recorded comets passing through their skies.
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)I had goosebumps as each chapter ended. My brain was like a Time Machine that transported me back to be an observer in each of these stories — just there, present and watching the daily lives of the people of Mesopotamia. Their joys, struggles, thinking, pain, learnings, marvel and communications.
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)Of course, I am biased here. I’m a big fan of @moudhy.bsky.social work AND I am a direct descendant of the people this book is about (I’m Assyrian). But this book taught me more about my own ancestors than my parents, the internet and our church (when I was a kid) ever did — through their words.
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)Book review 🧵👇🏽 ‘Between Two Rivers’ by @moudhy.bsky.social I finally got a moment this weekend to sit down and finish the last chapter. I’ve been holding off because, I didn’t want it to end. What a wonderful journey across time this book is. Probably my favourite book I’ve read in last 5 years.
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)@moudhy.bsky.social The shop at the Leiden Museum of Antiquities. It's gone now. 😄
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)A gorgeous and evocative timeline cleanse. (I'm sure you know this piece of work, but this is interesting post might be new to you @moudhy.bsky.social)
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)🎉 NEW ARTICLE! 🎉 www.workingclassicists.com/zine/book-re... @rhigarthjones.bsky.social has just finished Between Two Rivers, @moudhy.bsky.social’s book about Mesopotamia, and has been absolutely entranced by what’s between two covers.
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)I ADDED THIS TO ALL MY WISH LISTS SO FAST I WENT BACK IN TIME AND NOW I DON’T NEED TO READ IT.
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)Always love me some ancient Mesopotamia shade 🤣
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)
- Two stats made me stop eating beef. 1. The water footprint is astronomical with different estimates (eg 16,000 litres of embedded water to produce 1kg beef). They’re all horrifying 2. Meat production is single biggest driver of deforestation I only wish I’d learned this stuff sooner.
- 🔴 NEW 🔴 Revealed: Meat Industry Behind Attacks on Flagship Climate-Friendly Diet Report A new document shows that vested interests were behind a “mud slinging” PR campaign to discredit the 2019 EAT-Lancet study. 📝 @clarecarlile.bsky.social
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)What I take from this is: If you ever feel bad about not writing that thing, remember that people have been struggling with procrastination since writing was invented.
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)Ancient Assyrian glazing is on another level
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)I really do not appreciate being called out by ancient civilizations.
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)… now I want to be spanked while someone tells me to do my homework in Assyrian. lol.
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)The more people change, the more we stay the same
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)"research activity conducted by Universities is fantastically loss-making," Vivien Stern, @universities-uk.bsky.social on BBC4 today Reckless choice of word to describe a public good, produced by public service institutions, charities and their workforce. This is what got us into this mess.
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)An inscription mentioning 'ama-gi₄' from the reign of Entemena (ca 2400 BC) reads: ama-gi₄ lagašᵏⁱ e-ŋar ama dumu i₃-ni-gi₄ dumu ama i₃-ni-gi₄ [Entemena brought] freedom to Lagash he placed child back with mother and mother back with child
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)why did I go into tech and not become a Sumerologist? Fuck a computer, let’s break out the cuneiform tablets
- Reposted by Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)Guess where I am today.
