u/bjornthehistorian

I’ll be the first to admit I went into this production with a negative bias—I saw the a professional production of JCSS about 10-15 years ago and it was awful—but to say I was proven wrong is an understatement.

This show is still in previews so all is subject to change.

Spoilers ahead!

This production usurps all past attempts at the show. Beyond its phenomenal cast; the staging, sound and lighting created such a haunting atmosphere; it was truly immersive. The opening, last supper and closing sequences of the show were possibly the most powerful moments of the production. There were only a few moments that felt slightly flat (such as King Herod’s ‘comedy’ sequence), but otherwise it felt solid.

I managed to grab last minute seats and got an incredible view, plus I was actually sat next to the creative team of the show! What a fantastic job they have done (they were also very pleased at the massive applause the last dinner scene got).

The cast were great and both the vocals and dancing were outstanding; however it does seem in some instances vocals were prioritised over acting (which in this sort of show makes sense). Also, my first time experiencing a standing ovation mid-way through an act after a song.

The costuming was contemporary, which worked with the gritty-ness of the production, however the costuming for the Roman soldiers fell flat and looked rather cheap and out of place. The dancer who played Temptation was captivating.

Sam Ryder, Desmond Cathabel and Billy Nevers were all perfect—I do applaud the casting in this production. The rest of the cast; David Thaxton, Bob Harms, Marty J and Phil King, Jesse Tyler Ferguson were all excellent too, along with the brilliant ensemble.

There are some things I would personally change in this production as some things don’t work for me personally. I will say I did get a bit lost at the beginning with who is who, it’s a bit of guessing work to start with. I will say glitter is an odd choice to show liquid and whipping, but it did work! Plus the silver that stains Judas’s hands when he takes the Roman’s money is a brilliant way of showing that he has Jesus’s blood on his hands.

The crucifixion scene at the end of the performance is truly a masterpiece and is a perfect crux to end at.

It’s very hard to describe everything about this show, so I would recommend to go watch it.

I can also see how this show can be very hit or miss for some people. Personally I love to see a show that is monumental in both set and music, and I can see how people may prefer the acting side to it instead.

This show is a solid 4.5/5 for me.

(Also I’ve never written a review before so this is more of a ramble lol)

In all seriousness does anyone know how to fix this lol?

Canopic Jar head of Imseti, lower stomach portion of an Amarna period statue (possibly Akhenaten or Nefertiti), Faience Amarna period ring in the shape of the Eye of Horus, Naqada I white crossline bowl, Greco-Roman oil lamp, shrimp-shaped weight and a Middle Kingdom face!

Recently purchased this edition of Around the World in 80 Days as part of my growing Jules Verne collection, however I cannot find much information about this specific publication online (as it includes no date, however there is a hand written note inside dating to 1936). Any information will be appreciated!

The Meidum Pyramid, located in Lower Egypt (around 45 mi south of Cairo) is a really facinating structure as the majority of its outer casing is gone, leaving the interior mudbrick stacked-mastaba core remaining. Construction of the pyramid began in the 4th Dynasty by King Sneferu; however, there are arguments that construction originally started under King Huni in the 3rd Dynasty.

Decending into the pyramid, you travel down a slope (now with fitted wooden steps) which is carved smooth. However, when reaching the bottom of this slope, you are immediately met with an unfinished room/chamber. Walking across this small chamber, you reach a small shaft which, climbing up, opens into the burial chamber, fitted with a corbelled ceiling (similar to that of the Gizan Relieving Chambers) which is now absolutely full of bats!

Outside of the pyramid, as was common in the Old Kingdom, a funerary temple was erected on the east-face of the outer-casing. The temple is not of large proportion and bares no decoration; the most likely cause of this was that the temple itself was never finished (along with the uncompletedness of the pyramid structure). Weaving your way through the small temple, an opening leads to a courtyard that contains two undecorated stele and a large offering table.

Meidum pyramid was first excavated by John Perring (1837), then Lepsius (1843) and then it fell into the hands of Flinders Petrie, the main excavator of the mortuary temple which was under the rubble of the fallen out-cases of the pyramid. Further excavations were carried out in the 1920s (Ludwig Borchardt, who designated the construction of the pyramid happened in three stages), then in 1928 (Alan Rowe) and the later 1970s (Ali el-Kholi).

The perversion of ancient history by generative Alis unfortunately becoming more and more of a problem.

These accounts that create Al videos of
walking through historic places or talking to famous queens and kings are created in ill faith, misguiding casual consumers of ancient history content. Providing false information as fact.

Gen AI too has such a large cultural and environmental impact, as well as having its own biases that can, in many circumstances, be factually incorrect and chauvinistic/xenophobic.

The rate at which these accounts are appearing and overtaking reels and platforms as such is worrying, at what point will AI completely take over peoples feeds, pushing away and hiding factual and information content made by real historians, or will it get to a point where people stop caring and will openly consume these videos purely because they're more visually appealing.

Image 1 & 3 is from them, image 2 & 4 is from me.

I’ve never had an experience really with the SU - we had gotten support from students, lecturers, departments, etc to create this society (we also had all the requirements the SU needed) and to be hit with a denial is harsh.

Is there any recommendation for the next steps. I’m feeling like giving up but I know student at my university really need this society.

Edit: to note, they’ve had en Egyptology society before - we’ve also had 20+ signitures from people interested in joining it