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Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt. Robin Burke GAM 206. Outline. Bibliographies Game Analysis continued Egypt. Analysis Paper. extension until Monday. Bibliographies. Three possible grades Plus, Check, Minus Era means you forget to specify a historical context (time/place). Reference format.

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Ancient Egypt

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  1. Ancient Egypt Robin Burke GAM 206

  2. Outline • Bibliographies • Game Analysis continued • Egypt

  3. Analysis Paper • extension until Monday

  4. Bibliographies • Three possible grades • Plus, Check, Minus • Era • means you forget to specify a historical context (time/place)

  5. Reference format • Many people had inadequate references • references have a purpose! • doing them correctly is not hard • http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/apa.html

  6. Web references • Very few correct web references • Here is a correct example • Piccione, Peter (1980) "In Search of the Meaning of Senet". Eliott Avedon Museum and Archive of Games. Retrieved September 26, 2006 from http://gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Piccione/ • Note • title, author, name of site, date created, date retrieved • the reader must be able to follow your footsteps

  7. Primary sources • Very few correct references to primary sources • (partly my fault) • usually you will be referring to a document quoted somewhere else • you need both pieces of information • you need to identify your source as specifically as you can • Correct example • Alfonso X, king of Castile and Leon, 1221-1284, "Manufacture of chess board and pieces." From Libros del ajedrez, dados y tablas (Folio 3R). Reproduced in Alphonso X Book of Games. Retrieved September 26, 2006 from http://games.rengeekcentral.com/F03Rchessintro.html

  8. Game analysis • We want to use games as sources • primary sources related to particular periods • What can we learn? • what questions do we ask to understand a game?

  9. Framework • Rules • formal structure of the game • how the game works • how outcomes are determined • Play • what it is like to play the game • Culture • how the game makes contact with society • If this topic interests you, consider taking GAM 224

  10. Experiential • What is the game like to play? • cannot be answered by analysis • you must play the game • not always enough? • Example • awari • What makes a game "fun"?

  11. Core mechanic • What is it that players do? • move pieces • draw cards, discard • run around a field • Are decisions easy to make? • game moves faster • Briscola • Do they involve strategic calculation? • game moves slower • Chess • Do they involve private information? • players may try to guess the others' situation • players may try to deceive each other • Poker

  12. Roles / Simulation • Does gameplay involve roles that players take on? • Tapp Tarock • President • Does it simulate or abstract some real activity • Diplomacy • Fun may be in doing these roles • performance • wish fulfillment

  13. Narrative • Game take place over time • can be said to have narrative structure • For example • every chess game starts the same • but ends (generally) differently • there is a story in there • Simplest example • Rock-Paper-Scissors • For some games this narrative is the whole point • Game of Life

  14. Questions to ask • What makes the game fun? • What do players do to play? • Are there roles? • What degree of performance is involved? • What is the narrative structure of the game? • Is it delineated in advance or emergent?

  15. Cultural • What can we learn from a game about its creators and players? • Some obvious places to start • they enjoy its core mechanic • they enjoy the roles that the game provides • they enjoy its narrative structure

  16. More in-depth • Cultural / societal factors • Predispose players to enjoy these things? • Predispose players to accept a certain narrative? • Yalom's argument • chivalry • mariolatry • existing role models • predisposed players to accept a powerful queen piece

  17. Egypt • "The gift of the Nile" • Herodotus • What was this gift? • water • silt • The other gift of geography • isolation

  18. Geography • East • Arabian desert • West • Sahara desert • North • "blue desert" • South • mountains • cataracts of the Nile • Nile was a natural "highway" • excellent internal mobility • Result: Egypt was difficult to invade

  19. Stability • Maintained cultural and political continuity (more or less) from 3100 BCE to 525 BCE • the same religion • the same art • the same language • Think about this! • Let's go back 2600 years from today • Unique in this extremely long period of relative stability

  20. Civilization Rule #1 • You must grow more food than you can eat • Surplus means • artisans • commerce • taxes • full-time armies

  21. Civilization Rule #2 • Surplus requires infrastructure • In Egypt • irrigation • granaries • land reclamation • port facilities

  22. Civilization Rule #3 • Infrastructure requires organization • the state • In Egypt • theocracy • the ruler (pharoah) was a god • coronation was ascension to godhood • succession took place through female progeny • "marry the right woman" • and also through assertion of power

  23. Periods • Early Dynastic • 3100-2686 • Upper and lower suddenly (or gradually?) became united • Old Kingdom • 2686-2181 • Pyramids are built • Middle Kingdom • 1991-1786 • Advances in technology and crafts • New Kingdom • 1567-1085 • Colonial expansion and then collapse

  24. Isolation Ends • Nubians • 8th century BCE • Assyrians • 7th century BCE • Persians • 6th century BCE • Greeks • 4th century BCE • Romans • 30 BCE • Persians • 616 CE • Arabs • 639 CE

  25. Sources • Many written sources • papyrus scrolls • well preserved

  26. Forms of writing • Hieroglyphic • "sacred pictures" • Hieratic • shorthand for hieroglyphic • easier to write fast

  27. Demotic • Evolved to replace hieratic • except in religious texts

  28. Rosetta stone • Contains the same inscription in • hieroglyphic • demotic • Greek • deciphered byJean Francois Champollion in 1822

  29. What do they say • Political • Lists of kings • establishing legitimate succession • Laws • Accounts of battles • Commercial • tax records • land records • contracts • Religious • prayers • instructions for rituals

  30. Example: The Negative Confession I have not blasphemed a god,I have not robbed the poor.I have not done what the god abhors,I have not maligned a slave to his master.I have not caused pain,I have not caused tears.I have not killed,I have not ordered to kill,I have not made anyone suffer.I have not damaged the offerings in the temples,I have not depleted the loaves of the gods,I have not stolen the cakes of the dead.I have not copulated nor defiled myself.I have not increased nor reduced the measure,...I have not added to the weight of the balance,I have not falsified the plummet of the scales.I have not taken milk from the mouths of children,...I am pure, I am pure, I am pure, I am pure!From The Book of the Dead

  31. Other sources • Many artifacts • pottery • funereal artifacts • jewelry • statues • Bodies • mummified remains

  32. Death and Mummies • Egyptians were obsessed with death • probably the desert was one reason • earliest, clearest articulation of an afterlife • Afterlife = Continuation of Life • in the land of the gods • very materialistic • you could take it with you

  33. Case in Point • Tutankhamen • a totally minor king • last of his dynasty • disgraced because of his father Akhnaten • And yet he is buried with a mound of loot • http://www.kingtut.org/chicago/gallery2.htm

  34. Including this • A board for the game of Senet • actually 4 different Senet boards in the tomb

  35. Social Organization • Court • royal family • multiple wives / concubines • advisors / ministers • Priesthood • mostly hereditary • secluded in temples and religious cities • embalmers • Commoners • farmers • artisans • Slaves • usually foreigners captured in battle • could hold important jobs

  36. Egyptian Technology • Egyptians were great builders of stone and brick • pyramids • temples • wood was rare and very precious • Egyptians had very advanced medicine • much admired and copied by the Greeks • Egyptians developed mathematics • especially geometry and surveying • Erotosthenes (276-194 BCE) measured the circumferences of the earth

  37. Egyptian Religion • Religion was very concrete • Images of the gods were the gods • They had to be fed, robed, sung to, praised, and otherwise cared for • Gods expected perfection • Religion was not particularly public • There were regular public rituals • Temples were built to exclude common people • especially from the innermost holy places • Many of the rituals were secret knowledge • severe penalties for disclosure

  38. Gods • Amun-Ra • national god of Egypt • identified with the pharaoh • sun god • bringer of life, creator • Osiris • order and virtue • killed by Seth and resurrected • god of the dead • Isis • wife and sister (!) of Osiris • Horus • son of Osiris after his rebirth • represented as a falcon • Seth • god of evil and disorder

  39. Afterlife • Egyptian beliefs very influential • some argue Christian views derive from them • After death • join with the Amun-Ra when setting • travel through the underworld • soul would be judged • passing through 12 "houses" • reward • eternal life • rising with the sun god

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