The Ancient World

Context

I. The Stone Age A. Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age)

- Beyond 1 million BCE (Before Common Era) - Hunter and Gatherer - Discovered fire, clothing, basic techniques for

hunting and gathering, simple social organization.

Context

I. The Stone Age B. Neolithic Period (New Stone Age)

- 8000- 3000 BCE - Settle down and raise crops - Improvement in stone tools - Ability to make pottery and textiles - Humans learn to live together in small villages - Domesticate and use animals- milk

Context

II. Mesopotamia “land between the rivers”- Tigris and Euphrates

A.  Sumerians 6000 BCE - earliest recognizable culture - lived in villages and organized around religious centers that grew into cities - sophisticated mathematics - invented wheel, glass, pottery

Context

II. Mesopotamia “land between the rivers”- Tigris and Euphrates

B. Babylon 1700 BCE - the hub of the world - Hammurabi was most famous leader - kingdom was based on elaborate, centralized administrative system

Context

III. Ancient Egypt confined to Nile River Delta - civilization depended on annual flood of the Nile. - death or everlasting life was the focus of life and art. - art and architecture was used to service a god or glorify a pharaoh.

Concepts

I. Individuality and Symbols - to understand reality - to share what they learned - to express beliefs - people had a complex relationship with the world.

Concepts

II. Civilization - when villages evolved into cities - needs 5 things: - urban centers - written language - trade - common religion - central government

Concepts

III. Religion A. Stone Age - evidenced as early as 100,000 BCE when Neanderthals buried their dead with ceremony and care. This suggested a belief in an afterlife.

Concepts

III. Religion B. Sumerians - pantheon- a long list of gods - gods had hierarchy and took on human/ animal attributes - gods had individual responsibilities- water, sun, air, wheat, love, etc. - king was a priest

Concepts

III. Religion C. Egyptians - king was earthly manifestation of gods - idea of god changed over the years - death was a doorway to afterlife, so they had careful burial and mummification - mortuary buildings were the most important architecture - pharaoh was a link between mortals and gods. Common people made offerings to keep pharaoh in good standing.

Concepts

IV. Literacy - use pictures as symbols - wrote with reeds and clay tablets - Sumerian cuneiform made of wedges - Egyptians hieroglyphics made of pictures - writing stabilizes society by fixing it to the past - used as tools of control and power

Arts

I. Paintings A. Caves of Lascaux France - discovered in 1940, sealed in 60’s to

prevent damage. Visit an exact replica. - sanctuary for sacred ceremonies - Hall of Bulls- some images up to 12ft tall. - succession of artists - showed that they were capable

technicians.

Arts

I. Paintings B. Tombs of Thebes - shows funeral art - reinforces religion - portrays daily life - Queen Nefertari in low relief - limited hues and not life like

Arts

II. Sculpture A. Sumerians - statues from Tell Asmar and Temple of Abu - rough human figures - He- goat shows wisdom and perfection of diety in an animal form

Arts

II. Sculpture B. Egyptians - life like colors and use of paint to decorate - wear costumes of the time - facial characteristics and skin tone - admiration of the body

Arts

II. Sculpture B. Egyptians - Great Sphinx - carved from rock - shows divinity of pharaoh - royal head and body of lion - six stories high

Arts

II. Sculpture B. Egyptians - Akhenaton’s reign changed art. - Pharaoh was depicted in more intimate scenes of life.

- He and Queen Nefertiti worshiped the sun god

- moved his court to Tell el Amarna- a new order based on a new religion. - city failed and was left in waste after his death- so it is an unspoiled record.

Arts

II. Sculpture B. Egyptians - funeral mask of Tutankhamun - son of Akenhaton - most popular Egyptian artifact - solid gold and precious stones - covers the face of the mummy

Arts

III. Architecture A. Pyramids - world’s oldest existing buildings, among the largest- taller than 40 stories and bigger than 10 football fields - to protect pharaoh’s bodies after death - held body and all the goods he would need in the after life. - Giza temple complex- 3 pyramids with a specific layout of unknown meaning

Arts

IV. Music A. Sumerians - essential to culture - mostly secular and religious - stringed instruments, some percussion - solo with accompaniment - preferred soft tones

Arts

IV. Music A. Egyptians - instruments depicted in art - some found in antiquity - string instruments, some flutes, pipes, and bells- harps the most popular

Arts

V. Dance A. Sumerians - sacred in function - some secular, like festivals

Arts

V. Dance B. Egyptian - dance was significant as a funeral dance or fertility dance

Arts

VI. Literature A. Sumerian - Gilgamesh - oldest known story in the world - episodic tale of a hero’s adventures - describes a flood similar to Noah’s Ark story - deals with a quest against nature, man, and gods - tells of a world of the dead and a place of the gods

Arts VI. Literature

B. Egyptian - Book of the Dead - spells or magic formulas placed in tombs to protect and serve the deceased in the afterlife. - contains 200 chapters, some dating to 2350 BCE - title was given by a German Egyptologist who published the first collection in 1842.