The Top Three Things I Learnt in 2025 That I Think People Ought To Know

2025 has not been a terribly good year for me, so I am rather glad to see it come to its conclusion in the hope that 2026 is better for me and everyone else. I doubt it will, but I have a cynical bent: if you manage expectations, things don’t seem so bad. 

That said, my research and interests throughout this year have led me to three things that I did not previously know and feel that I ought to have known. I do not know if readers already know these things, but given my own previous ignorance, I figure enough are to warrant making an effort to increase awareness. So without further ado, the top three things I learnt this year.

Number 3: Bananas Were First Domesticated in Papua New Guinea.

In case it wasn’t obvious, I am Australian, so my ignorance of the fact that bananas were first domesticated on the island directly north of my home state of Queensland actually upset me. Why was this not taught in schools? I was taught about the domestication of plenty of other plants and animals, and upon reflection, these typically had an extremely Eurocentric bent. People living in greater Oceania or the South Pacific, which includes Australia in my opinion, ought to be taught about the domestication of local species, if for no other reason than an attempt at addressing the ongoing effects of colonialism in our education system. 

I grew up seeing many banana plantations, especially those around Coffs Harbour on the north coast of New South Wales (home to the underwhelming Big Banana), but at no time did I see or hear “hey, this crop was first domesticated in Papua New Guinea.” Bananas are also grown in abundance throughout Queensland, especially the Far North, and thus not that far from Papua New Guinea. At one stage, I even had bananas growing in my back yard in Brisbane, and they are growing in my current neighbour’s right now. I shook my head and thought “no wonder they grow so bloody well here!”

So, the earliest evidence for banana cultivation comes from Kuk Swamp in the Western Highlands Province dating to at least 7,000 years ago, and perhaps as long ago as 10,000 years ago. You can read about the research into this at Tracing antiquity of banana cultivation in Papua New Guinea. 

I had not given thought previously as to where bananas had actually come from prior to the random conversation which led to this surprising (at least to me) discovery. I had expected either India or Africa, places to which bananas were later spread via maritime trade. 

Wikipedia has a well referenced entry on the history of the banana which you can read here.

Number 2: Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) Was First Domesticated in New Guinea*

I came across this information before my banana revelation while writing a paper on the 14th century medical manuscript, Peterhouse 222, which has been the topic of other blogs. The manuscript features a number of prescriptions which likely originally came from Arabic texts which feature sugar as an ingredient. This paper was addressing the spread of texts in the medieval period, so I was already thinking about cultural movements, so I naturally pondered where did this sugar originally come from anyway. 

I was expecting India, not New Guinea. Now crystalline sugar production likely did start in northern India, but I have had difficulty finding exact arguments around times and places. However, except for some Chinese scholars who hold to the idea that the domestication of Succharum sinense in southern China and Taiwan predates the Papuan domestication and cropping of Succharum officinarum, New Guinea seems to be the more popular candidate amongst scientists and historians.

It is thought that sugarcane was domesticated and cultivated probably between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago. Indeed, sugarcane was being cultivated well enough that it was available 3,500 years ago to be brought with Austronesian people as they expanded into Oceania. In addition to this, archaeological investigations show evidence for the use of drainage, grids, and raised beds for crops at Kuk (yes, the same place as the banana evidence was found) between 4,000 and 2,500 years ago which curiously matches Ibn-el-Awwam’s description of how sugarcane was being cultivated in 12th century CE Spain (see John Daniels and Christian Daniels, 1993. “Sugarcane in Prehistory,” Archaeology in Oceania, vol 28, page 6).

Again, sugarcane has been grown in plantations along Australia’s northern east coast since the 1860, but I was never taught that it was domesticated in New Guinea. And yes, that angers me somewhat.

*I say New Guinea here as there are questions about whether the earliest domestication might have been in Papua New Guinea (the eastern side of the island) or West Papua (the Indonesian controlled western side of the island).

Number 1: The Ancient Egyptian Weighing of the Heart Ritual in the “Book of the Dead” as an Act of Judgement is a European Fantasy

In October ASOR’s The Ancient Near East Today newsletter dropped in my inbox and included the article “The European Invention of the Ancient Egyptian Afterlife.” This immediately grabbed my attention. Its opening paragraph concludes with:

We might point to imagery such as the famous weighing of the heart scene, but the idea that this represents an ancient Egyptian counterpart to the Christian Final Judgment is not actually expressed in the accompanying texts and has to be supplied in the modern commentary.

This statement metaphorically blew my mind! So much of what I was taught and read from a very young age was a complete fabrication. And this goes beyond just my experience. The idea that many children were fascinated with ancient Egypt has basically become a meme. Take this one tumblr post which has was screenshot and shared again, and again, and again ad infinitum:

So many of us assumed that what we were told in our books, those we had in childhood and as well as adults, was correct. And when I discovered this I felt, in a sense violated and betrayed. This interpretation predates the modern translation of Egyptian hieroglyphs, and is basically a European fantasy. Rune Nyord, in this article and his new book for which this acts as a preview, illustrates how “the Egyptians’ obsession with judgement leading to a life of eternal bliss…” is not accurate.

I had unwittingly and casually questioned this before, but had never followed through: I always laughed about the inclusion of fly-whisks among funerary equipment. I have said multiple times that my idea of paradise would not include flies and pondered, but not terribly deeply, what this said about Egyptian concepts of the afterlife. 

Conclusion

I did not notice that a theme tied these together until I typed the “Conclusion” sub-heading. Eurocentrism and Western colonialism deeply impacts many aspects of history, and it is not always easy to see it. 

If you already knew all three of these, I am very happy for you. If you did not, well, now you do. 

May 2026 be kind to you.