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Ancient civilizations and their impact
Ancient civilizations and their impact
Ancient civilizations and their impact
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Life Before the Pharaohs
For more than half of the twentieth century, much like the pyramids, the predynastic Egypt was a mystery to archeologists. The little discoveries that had been made from the period preceding the pharaohs were not enough to either prove or disprove the various theories circulating at the time.
One of the first artifacts dated at the time of the unification to be unearthed was Narmer's palette, discovered by the English archeologist James Edward Quibell at the end of the nineteenth century. The discovery was made at Hierakonpolis, about four hundred and fifty miles outside of Cairo. The object depicted the unification of the Lower and Upper Egypt, the event being attributed to Narmer; he also found a macehead that carried the insignia of Scorpion, a king which was believed to have ruled Upper Egypt just before the unification. Not far from the spot where Quibell had found the palette, his colleague, Frederick W. Green, discovered an extremely decorated tomb that had been built for a ruler who dominated the surrounding region almost two centuries before Narmer. Their discoveries were the first ones to document this moment of extreme importance in history: a time of political and cultural change and evolution. Unfortunately they were not nearly enough to explain that evolution.
The little evidence available led several archeologists to come up with more or less "believable" theories about the predynastic Egypt. Some sustained that the society before the pharaohs was a primitive and one that could not have evolved into the great Egyptian state without any outside help. Walter Brian Emory was one of the supporters of this theory.
Only three years before this amazing discovery, another English archeologist, William Fliders Petrie, had unearthed at Naqada about twenty-one hundred graves containing such objects as fired-clay pots, palettes, and amulets made of stone, bone, and ivory. The latest graves were dated to about 3100 BC, while the earliest were dated to the predynastic period. Petrie assigned the objects found in the "predynastic graves" to three major periods: the Amratian (3800-3500 BC), the Gerzean (3500-3200 BC), and the Protodynastic (3200-3100 BC) periods; a fourth period, the Badarian (before 4000-3800 BC), is added in the 1920's. Using the scarce evidence they had, Petrie and other archeologists concluded that life before the pharaohs was quite a primitive one and it wasn't until very short before the dynastic era that the culture would evolve.
Writing around the same time period as Phillips, though from the obverse vantage, was Richard Wright. Wright’s essay, “The Inheritors of Slavery,” was not presented at the American Historical Society’s annual meeting. His piece is not festooned with foot-notes or carefully sourced. It was written only about a decade after Phillips’s, and meant to be published as a complement to a series of Farm Credit Administration photographs of black Americans. Wright was not an academic writing for an audience of his peers; he was a novelist acceding to a request from a publisher. His essay is naturally of a more literary bent than Phillips’s, and, because he was a black man writing ...
Arguably one of the most important discoveries made regarding the historical and cultural study of ancient Egypt is the translation of the writing form known as hieroglyphics. This language, lost for thousands of years, formed a tantalizing challenge to a young Jean François who committed his life to its translation. Scholars such as Sylvestre de Sacy had attempted to translate the Rosetta Stone before Champollion, but after painstaking and unfruitful work, they abandoned it (Giblin 32). Champollion’s breakthrough with hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone opened up new possibilities to study and understand ancient Egypt like never before, and modern Egyptology was born.
Egypt had the earliest large scale political economy in Africa. The Egyptians were led by Pharaohs, whose roles were appointed based off of their believed holy lineage. Pharaohs were thought to be descendants of the Egyptian goddess Isis, making them the only people fit to lead Ancient Egypt. The citizen’s strong religious views meant they eagerly followed everything their leaders commanded and this strong devotion is what made it possible to build the pyramids. Devoted Egyptians citizens built the tombs for their rulers over decade long periods as the ultimate tribute. Built from thousands of pounds of limestone many of the pyramids are still standing today. But, much like its preceding civilizations, Egypt’s greatest accomplishments were belittled because Eurocentric explorers refused to believe that black Africans could be responsible for something as grand as the pyramids. This can even be seen in modern culture, where Egyptians are portrayed as white or European, despite being rooted in Africa. The video turns to Afrocentric researcher Cheikh Anta Diop, who attempts to prove Egyptians were dark skinned by pointing to ancient pictures from the tomb of Ramses III, where Egyptians were portrayed as having dark skin like many Africans do today. Even Greeks, who knew Egypt well, believed Egyptians were black (Different but Equal). But Khapoya argues in his book that classifying Egyptians as either ‘black’ or ‘white’ is extremely inaccurate, “Ancient Egyptians had many different shades of skin color, from very light brown Mediterranean-type skins to very dark Nubian-type skins” (Khapoya, 66). Egyptians were very diverse with many different people of many different races living together. Nonetheless Egyptians, whether dark or light skinned, are Africans, and their accomplishments are ultimately African
In Ancient Egypt there were over 29 Kings and Pharaohs and over 5 Queens. Some of the most famous kings and queens were: Ramses II, Ramses III, King Tut, Cleopatra, and Nefertiti.
Perhaps one of the main reasons the Epic of Gilgamesh is so popular and has lasted such a long time, is because it offers insight into the human concerns of people four thousand years ago, many of which are still relevant today. Some of these human concerns found in the book that are still applicable today include: the fear and concerns people have in relation to death, overwhelming desires to be immortal, and the impact a friendship has on a person’s life. It does not take a great deal of insight into The Epic of Gilgamesh for a person to locate these themes in the story, and even less introspection to relate to them.
Ever since the beginning of time, man has learned to mature by trials and tribulations. In the beginning of The Epic of Gilgamesh, the protagonist Gilgamesh appears to be an arrogant person who only cares about himself. He abuses all his powers and takes advantage of people with his physical abilities. Basically in the beginning he thinks that no one on earth is better than him. However, just like all epic poems, the protagonist encounters many challenges that make him a better person. So as the story progresses Gilgamesh slowly starts to change his personality. Various events help transform this tyrant to a humble person.
Lady Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous and frightening female characters. As she is Macbeth’s wife, her role is significant in his rise and fall from royalty. She is Macbeth’s other half. During Shakespearean times, women were regarded as weak insignificant beings that were there to give birth and look beautiful. They were not thought to be as intelligent or equal to men. Though in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is the highest influence in Macbeth’s life. Her role was so large; in fact, that she uses her position to gain power, stay strong enough to support her unstable Lord, and fails miserably while their relationship falls apart. Everything about Lady Macbeth is enough to create the perfect villain because of her ability to manipulate everyone around her. It appears that even she can’t resist the perfect crime.
When a member of the Egyptian royal family became pharaoh, he became much more than ruler of a mighty empire, he ascended to the rank of god. This position allowed the pharaoh to commission monuments to himself and to his reign, controls his subjects regardless of their rank, and maintain Egypt’s status among her enemies. Just as in any hierarchical governmental system, the pharaoh treated different classes of individuals and groups in different ways from the austere priest to the lowly peasant. The them, Pharaoh was a god and he would allow no one to forget that fact; but to him, the world was below him and he treated each group accordingly. This is illustrated in some of the few surviving works from the Egyptian dynastic periods. Through personal letters, official government correspondence, and fiction, a broad picture can be painted as to how the pharaoh interacted with his people and how they reacted towards him.
In the old Shakespeare play Macbeth, women wear the pants, while the men wear the dresses, this is the theme throughout the play. It focuses on the marriage of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth takes the lead role, while she convinces her husband to kill Duncan. Shakespeare play concerning gender roles, shows the untraditional marriage in Scotland; what one sees is not what one gets. It also show how one starts is not how they end. The story of Macbeth shows power and betrayal. It shows power because it shows how one can take charge and get it done. It shows betrayal because he kill Duncan just to get the crown.
to 2650 B.C., changed his name to the more commonly known Zoser. It was Zoser
Ancient Egypt was a very important time in our time period. They had their own way of life. Egyptians had their own writing, burials, government, religion, cooking, and games. They were educated people with many talents. They were good with their hands and brains. Ancient Egyptians were a magnificent race of people.
According to The Society for American Archaeology, the definition of Archaeology is, “to obtain a chronology of the past, a sequence of events and dates that, in a sense, is a backward extension of history.” The study of ancient civilizations and archaeology is rather ambiguous due to the primitive nature of the time period. With little imagery and even less textual evidence, professionals in the field must work diligently when studying their subjects. Naturally, archaeologists cannot see or communicate with those whom they are studying, so they must be extraordinarily meticulous when analyzing past cultures. This relates to all aspects of the ancient world including; foods, raw materials, artifacts, agriculture, art work and pottery. All of these elements can collectively provide new and innovative information to curious archaeologists who may wish to gain a better understanding of those who came before us. This information is equally beneficial for both historians and archaeologists who plan to compare the histories of societies from all around the world. In the world of archaeology, archaeologists strive to better explain human behavior by analyzing our past. Therefore, the study of archaeology is a key element in understanding a time before our own.
Shakespeare’s famous play, Macbeth, is the story of a man named Macbeth who kills the present king of Scotland, Duncan, in order to become the king, and the aftermath of that event. Within Macbeth, very few female characters are introduced. The first female characters are the three witches, who prophecize the whole play, and then Lady Macbeth, the wife of Macbeth and the most prominent female character in the play. Both the witches and Lady Macbeth lead Macbeth to kill Duncan, but once he does, they find themselves unable to live with the consequences. Shakespeare purposefully wrote the main female characters in this derogatory way so as to assert the idea that women cause ambition, ambition is bad, and therefore, women are bad, but then shows that once the women cause bad things to happen, they can’t deal with them. In Macbeth, Shakespeare documents his belief that women are not only deceitful and cause deadly ambition, but cannot withstand the ramifications of that ambition once they come to pass.
In Shakespeare's play, "Macbeth", there is a definite difference between male and female roles. Women were not to hear violent information nor speak their minds. Although Macbeth committed the murders himself, Lady Macbeth was the driving force and evil behind him, making her more responsible. She drives her husband to perform the murder and therefore is more to blame than Macbeth. Lady Macbeth possess more dominant characteristics in the relationship and uses them against Macbeth, pressuring him into murdering King Duncan.
...n 1163 B.C., Egypt entered a period of slow decline (Scarre 1997:116). Pharaohs became less powerful, and their prestige dwindled. Hungry soldiers were terrorizing the community, while tomb robbers were raiding the pyramids for resources that were very much needed. They had buried their pharaohs with food, goods and jewelry, all of which were needed to keep the civilization in tact. They had built too many pyramids, and there were setbacks in Asia which corrupted trade. People did not understand why the pharaohs could not fix the problems that were going on. They viewed them as gods and lost trust and faith. Egypt fell apart as these things culminated with loss of belief in the pharaohs.