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1. Chapter One: The Beginnings of Civilization
3. Defining Civilized Urban life: permanent constructions
System of regulatory government
Class distinction (wealth and occupation)
Tools/skills --> production/trade
Written communication
Shared system of religious belief
** Not a value judgment! **
4. Origins of Western Civilization Paleolithic World View (Old Stone Age)
Art
Religion
Neolithic Civilizations (Late Stone Age)
Domestication of animals
Cultivation of vegetation
Community
War / Weaponry
5. 1.2 Hall of the Bulls, c. 15,00013,000 bce. Left wall, Lascaux (Dordogne), France. Largest bull c. 116? (3.5 m) long. Caves of Lascaux, Dordogne, France/The Bridgeman Art Library1.2 Hall of the Bulls, c. 15,00013,000 bce. Left wall, Lascaux (Dordogne), France. Largest bull c. 116? (3.5 m) long. Caves of Lascaux, Dordogne, France/The Bridgeman Art Library
6. 1.3 Venus of Willendorf, c. 28,00023,000 bce. From Willendorf, Austria. Limestone, 41/4? (11 cm) high. Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria// Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY1.3 Venus of Willendorf, c. 28,00023,000 bce. From Willendorf, Austria. Limestone, 41/4? (11 cm) high. Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria// Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY
7. The Bronze Age (3000-1000 B.C.E.) Mesopotamia
Sumerian (3500-2350 B.C.E.)
Semitic (2350-612 B.C.E.)
Egypt
Aegean Cultures
8. Sumerian Culture Agricultural/Urban settlements
Fertile Crescent
Writing/record-keeping: Cuneiform
Shared system of religious belief
Civil ruler / Religious rulers
9. Epic of Gilgamesh Gilgamesh ruled at Uruk c. 2700 B.C.E.
Composed in Sumerian (2000 B.C.E.) on cuneiform tablets
Pessimistic work
Asserts universal questions about human existence
10. Semitic Culture Akkadian Period
King Sargon and descendants (2350-2150 B.C.E.)
Focus on HUMAN achievement
Gutian invasion / return to tradition
Babylonian Legacy
King Hammurabi
Assyrians
Culmination of Mesopotamian culture
11. 1.8 Ziggurat at Ur, Iraq, c. 21002000 bce. Mudbrick faced with baked brick laid in bitumen. Ur, Iraq// Topham/The Image Works1.8 Ziggurat at Ur, Iraq, c. 21002000 bce. Mudbrick faced with baked brick laid in bitumen. Ur, Iraq// Topham/The Image Works
12. 1.9 Seated Statue of Gudea, c. 2100 bce. From Telloh, Iraq. Diorite, 171/4? (43.8 cm) high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA//Image copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource, NY1.9 Seated Statue of Gudea, c. 2100 bce. From Telloh, Iraq. Diorite, 171/4? (43.8 cm) high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA//Image copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource, NY
13. 1.10 Stele of Hammurabi (upper part), c. 1780 bce. From Susa, Iran. Basalt, entire stele height 74? (2.25 m) high. Louvre, Paris, France// Runion des Muses Nationaux (Herv Lewandowki)/Art Resource, NY
1.10 Stele of Hammurabi (upper part), c. 1780 bce. From Susa, Iran. Basalt, entire stele height 74? (2.25 m) high. Louvre, Paris, France// Runion des Muses Nationaux (Herv Lewandowki)/Art Resource, NY
14. Fall of Mesopotamia Medes
Nomadic warriors
Conquered Nineveh in 612 B.C.E.
Conquered and absorbed by Persians
Persians
Nomadic warriors
Conquered by Alexander the Great (330 B.C.E.)
15. Ancient Egypt Manethos History of Egyptian Greek
31 dynasties / 4 groups:
Old Kingdom (2700 B.C.E.)
Middle Kingdom (1990 B.C.E.)
New Kingdom (1570 B.C.E.)
Late Period (1185-500 B.C.E.)
16. Ancient Egyptian Culture
Unified and consistent
Resistant to change
Worldview affected by external events
17. Political Structure Pharaoh
Head of the central government
Regarded as a living god
Exercised absolute power
Ordered and controlled visible world
Priests
Preservation of religious beliefs
Divine kingship of Pharaohs
18. Egyptian Religion Obsession with immortality / life after death
Book of the Dead
Osiris, Isis, Horus
Deities, subdeities, nature spirits
Responsible for all aspects of existence
19. Egyptian Art Principal function of artists: to produce images of deities
Form of worship
Standards set forth by Pharaoh
Artists also provided temples and shrines for honoring deities
20. The Old Kingdom Imhotep
First architect known to history
Pyramids
Funerary monuments for pharaohs, upper class
Mummification
Preservation of the body was necessary for the survival of the soul
21. Great Age of the Pyramid Pyramids at Giza (Dynasty IV)
Cheops
Chefren
Mycerinus
Who built the pyramids?
Farmers
Slaves
22. Pyramids Constructed of limestone blocks
Quarried, ferried, cut, dragged into place
Center chamber contained mummified body of pharaoh surrounded by treasures
Plundered by robbers
23. Chefrens Sphinx Created as the guardian for Chefrens tomb at Giza
Adopted as a divine symbol of the mysterious and enigmatic (Greeks)
24. 1.13 The Great Sphinx, c. 25752525 bce. At Gizeh, Egypt. Sandstone, c. 65 (19.8 m) high, 240 (73.2 m) long. Steve Vidler/SuperStock1.13 The Great Sphinx, c. 25752525 bce. At Gizeh, Egypt. Sandstone, c. 65 (19.8 m) high, 240 (73.2 m) long. Steve Vidler/SuperStock
25. Art of the Old Kingdom Reflects confidence and certainty
Idealized realism
Conceptual, symbolic
26. Art of the Middle Kingdom Loss of trust in divine providence
Artists attempted to recapture lofty serenity of Old Kingdom
Troubled spirit captured in weight and somber expressions
27. The New Kingdom Artistic traditions continued
Conceptual
Pharaoh Amenhotep IV/ Akhenaton
Massive religious/political reform
Tel el-Amarna Art
Tutankhamen
Howard Carter (1922-1923)
28. 1.16 Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and Three of Their Children, c. 13701350 bce. From Amarna, Egypt. Limestone relief, 17? (43 cm) high. gyptisches Museum,
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany// Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY1.16 Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and Three of Their Children, c. 13701350 bce. From Amarna, Egypt. Limestone relief, 17? (43 cm) high. gyptisches Museum,
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany// Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY
29. 1.17 Queen Nefertiti, c. 13551335 bce. From Tel el-Amarna, Egypt. Painted limestone, 20? (50.8 cm) high. gyptisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany// Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Margarete Bsing)/Art Resource, NY1.17 Queen Nefertiti, c. 13551335 bce. From Tel el-Amarna, Egypt. Painted limestone, 20? (50.8 cm) high. gyptisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany// Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Margarete Bsing)/Art Resource, NY
30. 1.19 Death Mask of Tutankhamen, c. 1323 bce. From Thebes, Egypt. Gold with inlay of semiprecious stones, 191/4? (54 cm) high. Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt// Franois Guenet/Art Resource, NY1.19 Death Mask of Tutankhamen, c. 1323 bce. From Thebes, Egypt. Gold with inlay of semiprecious stones, 191/4? (54 cm) high. Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt// Franois Guenet/Art Resource, NY
31. 1.20 Temple of Ramses II, c. 12751225 bce. At Abu Simbel (now relocated), Egypt. Colossi c. 65 (19.8 m) high. Vanni/Art Resource, NY1.20 Temple of Ramses II, c. 12751225 bce. At Abu Simbel (now relocated), Egypt. Colossi c. 65 (19.8 m) high. Vanni/Art Resource, NY
32. The Late Period Artists revisited earlier period styles
Recapture realism, volume
Return to pyramid-shaped tombs
Egypt invaded by Nubians (the Cush) 750-720 B.C.E.
Nubians and Nobatae preserved ancient culture
33. Aegean Culture Crete
King Minos / Knossos
Cyclades Islands
Bronze tools
Imaginative/humorous pottery
Marble statues/idols
34. 1.22 Cycladic idol,
c. 2500 bce. From Cyclades, Greece. Marble, 191/4? (50 cm) high. British Museum, London, UK// British Museum/Art Resource, NY1.22 Cycladic idol,
c. 2500 bce. From Cyclades, Greece. Marble, 191/4? (50 cm) high. British Museum, London, UK// British Museum/Art Resource, NY
35. The Bronze Age in Crete Arthur Evans, 1894-1900
Early Minoan
Increasing growth
Contacts with Egypt and Mesopotamia
Scattered Towns
36. Middle Minoan Evolution of large urban centers
Art = lively and colorful
Little interest in monumental art
Light-wells
Writing system of hieroglyphic signs (Linear A and Linear B)
37. [Image 1.22]
Palace of Minos at Knossos 1.23 Ruins of the Palace of Minos, Knossos (Crete), Greece, c. 16001400 bce. Note the Minoan
columns tapering downward and on the wall below, the faint remains of a fresco of a giant, charging
bull. This image would have been the first impression of Knossos for many visitors because the
walkway (on the right) led to this main north entrance of the palace. { Gail Mooney/CORBIS}1.23 Ruins of the Palace of Minos, Knossos (Crete), Greece, c. 16001400 bce. Note the Minoan
columns tapering downward and on the wall below, the faint remains of a fresco of a giant, charging
bull. This image would have been the first impression of Knossos for many visitors because the
walkway (on the right) led to this main north entrance of the palace. { Gail Mooney/CORBIS}
38. [Image 1.25]
Wasp Pendant 1.26 Wasp Pendant, c. 1700 bce. From Mallia (Crete), Greece. Gold, 17/8? (5 cm) wide. Heraklion Museum, Crete, Greece/The Art Archive//Gianni Dagli Orti1.26 Wasp Pendant, c. 1700 bce. From Mallia (Crete), Greece. Gold, 17/8? (5 cm) wide. Heraklion Museum, Crete, Greece/The Art Archive//Gianni Dagli Orti
39. [Image 1.27]
Snake Goddess 1.26 Wasp Pendant, c. 1700 bce. From Mallia (Crete), Greece. Gold, 17/8? (5 cm) wide. Heraklion Museum, Crete, Greece/The Art Archive//Gianni Dagli Orti1.26 Wasp Pendant, c. 1700 bce. From Mallia (Crete), Greece. Gold, 17/8? (5 cm) wide. Heraklion Museum, Crete, Greece/The Art Archive//Gianni Dagli Orti
40. Late Minoan Period of rebuilding after earthquakes
High point of Minoan culture
Wall paintings
Religion centered upon mother goddess connected with fertility
41. [Image 1.28]
Funerary Mask 1.29 Funerary mask, c. 16001500 bce. From Grave Circle A, Shaft Grave V, Mycenae, Greece. Beaten gold, 101/8? (26 cm) high. National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece// Nimatallah/Art Resource, NY1.29 Funerary mask, c. 16001500 bce. From Grave Circle A, Shaft Grave V, Mycenae, Greece. Beaten gold, 101/8? (26 cm) high. National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece// Nimatallah/Art Resource, NY
42. Mycenaean Culture Heinrich Schliemann, 1870-1873
The Trojan War (1250 B.C.E.)
Strongly influenced by Minoan Culture
Art = preoccupied with death and war
Fall of the Mycenaean empire (1200 B.C.E.)
43. Chapter 1: Discussion Questions What can be determined about the roles of women in early civilizations based on their artistic depictions? Explain, citing examples from each culture.
Based on the universal questions evoked in the Epic of Gilgamesh, what can we assume about the Sumerian people and their lifestyles? In what ways are their concerns shared by people of our culture and generation? Explain.
What role did geography play in the development and preservation of Ancient Egyptian culture? In what fundamental ways was Egyptian culture different from the Mesopotamian and Aegean cultures?
Discuss the role of the archeologist. What impact do the discoveries of ancient cultures have on us today? Explain.