Ziggurats 

What are the cyclades and what was their importance in ancient greek culture?

∙ Power structures (height/staircases)

∙ Ritualistic/spiritual

Gudea 

∙ Perhaps a form of advertising/reinforcing beliefs

o Cultural conventions- something recognized and understood by most people in the culture

∙ Brings up the idea of written literacy vs visual literacy

o The purpose of gudea was written down, but the message could be understood by those who couldn't read as well  based on the costuming/pose/etc

∙ Holding the "cup of the gods"-symbolic of food, water, prosperity, etc.

o The gods are happy b/c the water from the cup is flowing

What is egypt culture and traditions?

∙ Droughts are considered the priest's fault

o This statement can easily be turned its head: "it's the people's fault for not worshiping properly" ∙ We know he's a priest b/c of the hat

Clay model of boat 

∙ The importance of water-tigres and the euphrates frequently shifted course, making farming difficult ∙ Boats important because they had the power--could charge tolls, could segregate people out, etc ∙ Water itself has spiritual/mystical properties

Bulls head lyre 

∙ Musical enhancement is often seen as a bridge to a spiritual plane

o For these reason it is often used in ritual

What is a ziggurat and what is it used for?

∙ Images on it portray a popular myth - hero journeys to the underworld, where the animals have taken on human-like  characteristics. Most of the animals are ferocious, but at the end the hero emerges having made friends with them ∙ Highlights the idea that going on a journey like this could help one find where the world Don't forget about the age old question of What is the value of a good on the free market?

Property markers 

∙ Sometimes the markers tell us a little about the property owner

Cylinder seals 

∙ A cylinder with pictures etched into the sides

∙ When rolled over wet clay, it produces and image

∙ The particular image shown emphasizes prayer and ziggurats

Stele of Hammurabi 

∙ Cuneiform writing-first written language

o Assumed that writing/reading was limited to the upper class

∙ Stele-generally made to be understood by the general public, like a billboard

∙ The stele of hammurabi at least 6 feet tall

∙ You can tell which one is Hammurabi because he is bigger, seated, and his headdress/clothing is reminiscent of a ziggurat ∙ He is handing the priest a circle (symbol of heavenly power), and a staff (symbol of earthly power) ∙ Under the picture everything is written out in cuneiform

∙ The stele lays out the laws of the land

o Most famous is "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"

Stele of Naramsim We also discuss several other topics like What does the supremacy clause state?

∙ Ruler believed he had a foot in both words (heaven and earth)

∙ 2 stars on top of the mountains

o Gods were often depicted as astrological bodies

o Coveys the winning of the bottle of naramsim and marks his "ascension to god-dom"

**Tests will probably ask: what's the context; what's the cultural convention; how do they fall into  spiritual/environmental/governmental**

cultural convention-something that is commonly understood across a culture

CYCLADIC CULTURE 3800-3200 BCE 

∙ Cyclades-islands in the age an/ Mediterranean sea off the coast of Greece

o Water is extremely important

o rocky and super uninhabitable

o need to be thinking about trade and where you can get other supplies (not isolated, but interacted with other  cultures)

∙ spiritual world in this culture seems different than in other cultures; very watery-type world ∙ water patterns emphasized aver t over again  

o reminiscent of Celtic spiral

FEMALE FIGURES 

∙ some very simplistic, missing heads If you want to learn more check out Who was the fifth caliph?

o Symbolic of fertility

∙ also more advanced versions Don't forget about the age old question of How do you find the difference quotient of a quadratic function?

o feet angled as if they are lying down

o mostly found in graves/burial mounds  

∙ those figures that are actually doing activities seem to be all male in nature

o indicative that men are the authority figures in the rituals

EGYPTIAN CULTURE 

∙ communicating by boat with the rest of the Mediterranean

∙ dry desert with one life source: the Nile 

o divided into upper and lower Egypt (with lower being the most northwards, as the river flows northward)  o source of the mile is in mount Kilimanjaro

∙ the Nile has a seasonal cycle.

o it would flood every year-irrigating

∙ you get one chance to farm every year

Egyptian Mythology 

∙ Axis Mundi-mythological axis that the world rotates around We also discuss several other topics like What is a tendon sheath?

o In Egypt, this axis is the Nile

∙ astrological features represent the god

o Ra (most important god/sun god) thought to circle the world in a boat

o night, the boat is thought to travel under the Nile though the underworld

Egyptian Mythology 

∙ Idea that in the underworld you need to take with you everything you need to live

o Common people didn't have all that much with them

o Pharaohs, on the other hand, had took a lot of stuff with them

∙ All of the people, animals, etc they need would be killed and taken with them mass execution style ∙ Some of the more benevolent pharaohs would create dioramas instead of actually killing everyone ∙ This is all important because it means we have a lot of artifacts that show us how Egyptians lived ∙ For this ritual, you need both a temple (east of the Nile) and a burial site (west of the Nile) If you want to learn more check out What would william james criticize for examining a movie frame by frame instead of seeing the motion?

o This is why all the pyramids and tombs are on the west bank of the Nile

∙ If the husband dies, the wife is responsible for getting the mummified body from the east side to the west side of the Nile to  be buried

o Bark--shallow funeral boat that crosses the Nile

∙ After crossing the Nile, the body is carried with much ritual to the burial site

o Funeral processions had wailers, who always wore yellow and were always women and whose job was to express grief  during the procession

Ti watching a hippopotamus hunt 

∙ We can tell figure is a pharaoh because he's larger than everyone, distinctive headdresses and because of his stance o Pharaoh stance: legs profile, torso strait on, head profile again

∙ Everyone else in the picture has tools, normal looking bodies, and are much smaller, and often their skin color is darker as  they have been working in the sun

Dynasties 

∙ The pharaoh was seen as the bringer of all that is good

o An intermed

o iary between the heavens and the earth

∙ Egypt ruled by dynasty

o Changes in dynasty often happens in times of famine

o In years that are bad, they would literally just replace the pharaoh

∙ The first thing a new pharaoh would build is his tomb, so he could start collecting stuff to put in it

Lotus flowers 

∙ Grow along the banks of the Nile

∙ Reddish white in color

∙ Flower follows the suns and then "dies" at the end of the day

o Becomes a symbol of the Egyptian's cosmological cycle

∙ A popular decorative motif

Egyptian makeup 

∙ Egyptian women wanted the fairest skin possible

o In Egypt, there are not many pale people so they would paint themselves (makeup)

∙ Unfortunately this paint was often made with lead

o Symbol of status because women who were wealthy had a lot of servants and so therefore never had to go outside-- they stayed pale

Narmer Palette

∙ Thought to have been used for mixing makeup

o Kohl (eye makeup) is thought to have been used as old-fashioned sun glasses, in order to attract the sun away from the  eyes

∙ Divided into registers 

o Each register tells a different story

∙ Front side depicts the gods; a pharaoh smiting someone; and the underworld

∙ Back side depicts the gods (again), pharaoh inspecting the dead after a battle

∙ Used to apply makeup to the pharaoh in a ritualistic way, then placed on display to remind the pharaoh of his  accomplishments/for propaganda purposes