G. Mick Smith, PhD, Senior Educational Technology Executive: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmicksmith/
Monday, April 10, 2017
HUM 111 Week 2 Spring 2017
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Break, 15 minutes: 8 pm; Discussion 9:45, Dismiss end of class.
History, myth, theater, and all public events have an entertainment value.
The first written languages arranged by the approximate dates of the oldest existing texts recording a complete sentence in the language. It does not include undeciphered scripts, though there are various claims without wide acceptance, which, if substantiated, would push backward the first attestation of certain languages. It also does not include inscriptions consisting of isolated words or names from a language.
A written record may encode a stage of a language corresponding to an earlier time, either as a result of oral tradition, or because the earliest source is a copy of an older manuscript that was lost. An oral tradition of epic poetry may typically bridge a few centuries, and in rare cases, over a millennium. An extreme case is the Vedic Sanskrit of the Rigveda: the earliest parts of this text may date to c. 1500 BC,[1] while the oldest known manuscript dates to the 11th century AD, a gap of over 2,500 years. Similarly the oldest Avestan texts, the Gathas, are believed to have been composed before 1000 BC, but the oldest Avestan manuscripts date from the 13th century AD.[2]
Because of the way languages change gradually, it is usually impossible to pinpoint when a given language began to be spoken. In many cases, some form of the language had already been spoken (and even written) considerably earlier than the dates of the earliest extant samples provided here.
For languages that have developed out of a known predecessor, dates provided here are subject to conventional terminology. For example, Old French developed gradually out of Vulgar Latin, and the Oaths of Strasbourg (842) listed are the earliest text that is classified as "Old French". Similarly, Danish and Swedish separated from common Old East Norse in the 12th century, while Norwegian separated from Old West Norse around 1300.
Writing first appeared in the Near East at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. A very limited number of languages are attested in the area from before the Bronze Age collapse and the rise of alphabetic writing:
the Sumerian, Hurrian, Hattic and Elamite language isolates,
Afro-Asiatic in the form of the Egyptian and Semitic languages and
Indo-European (Anatolian languages and Mycenaean Greek).
In East Asia towards the end of the second millennium BC, the Sino-Tibetan family was represented by Old Chinese. There are also a number of undeciphered Bronze Age records:
Proto-Elamite script and Linear Elamite
the Indus script (claimed to record a "Harappan language")
Cretan hieroglyphs and Linear A (encoding a possible "Minoan language")[3][4]
the Cypro-Minoan syllabary[5]
Week 2 Notes
3 The Stability of Ancient Egypt FLOOD AND SUN 67
The Nile and Its Culture 68
Egyptian Religion: Cyclical Harmony 70
Pictorial Formulas in Egyptian Art 71
The Old Kingdom 74
The Stepped Pyramid at Saqqara 74
Three Pyramids at Giza 75
Monumental Royal Sculpture: Perfection and Eternity 78
The Sculpture of the Everyday 79
The Middle Kingdom at Thebes 81
Middle Kingdom Literature 81
Middle Kingdom Sculpture 81
The New Kingdom 83
Temple and Tomb Architecture and Their Rituals 83
Akhenaten and the Politics of Religion 87
The Return to Thebes and to Tradition 89
The Late Period, the Kushites, and the Fall of Egypt 91
The Kushites 92
Egypt Loses Its Independence 92
READINGS
3.1 from Memphis, “This It Is Said of Ptah” (ca. 2300 bce) 71
3.2 The Teachings of Khety (ca. 2040–1648 bce) 95
3.3 from Akhenaten’s Hymn to the Sun (14th century bce) 88
3.4 from a Book of Going Forth by Day 90
FEATURES
CONTEXT
Major Periods of Ancient Egyptian History 70
Some of the Principal Egyptian Gods 71
The Rosetta Stone 77
CLOSER LOOK Reading the Palette of Narmer 72
MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES Mummification 86
CONTINUITY & CHANGE Mutual Influence through Trade 93
4 The Aegean World and the Rise of Greece TRADE, WAR, AND VICTORY 97
The Cultures of the Aegean 97
The Cyclades 98
Minoan Culture in Crete 99
Mycenaean Culture on the Mainland 102
The Homeric Epics 105
The Iliad 107
The Odyssey 108
The Greek Polis 110
Behavior of the Gods 112
The Competing Poleis 113
The Sacred Sanctuaries 114
Male Sculpture and the Cult of the Body 118
Female Sculpture and the Worship of Athena 120
Athenian Pottery 121
The Poetry of Sappho 123
The Rise of Athenian Democracy 124
Toward Democracy: Solon and Pisistratus 124
Cleisthenes and the First Athenian Democracy 125
READINGS
4.1 from Homer, Iliad, Book 16 (ca. 750 bce) 128
4.1a from Homer, Iliad, Book 24 (ca. 750 bce) 108
4.2 from Homer, Odyssey, Book 9 (ca 725 bce) 130
4.2a from Homer, Odyssey, Book 4 (ca. 725 bce) 108
4.2b from Homer, Odyssey, Book 1 (ca. 725 bce) 109
4.3 from Hesiod, Works and Days (ca. 700 bce) 112
4.4 from Hesiod, Theogony (ca. 700 bce) 112
4.5 Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian Wars 113
4.6a–b Sappho, lyric poetry 124
4.7 from Aristotle’s Athenian Constitution 125
FEATURES
CONTEXT The Greek Gods 114
CLOSER LOOK The Classical Orders 116
CONTINUITY & CHANGE Egyptian and Greek Sculpture 126
Ancient History Sourcebook: Egyptian Love Poetry, c. 2000 - 1100 BCE
I. Your love has penetrated all within me Like honey plunged into water, Like an odor which penetrates spices, As when one mixes juice in... ......
Nevertheless you run to seek your sister, Like the steed upon the battlefield, As the warrior rolls along on the spokes of his wheels.
For heaven makes your love Like the advance of flames in straw, And its longing like the downward swoop of a hawk.
II. Disturbed is the condition of my pool. The mouth of my sister is a rosebud. Her breast is a perfume. Her arm is a............bough Which offers a delusive seat. Her forehead is a snare of meryu-wood.
I am a wild goose, a hunted one, My gaze is at your hair, At a bait under the trap That is to catch me.
III. Is my heart not softened by your love-longing for me? My dogfoot-(fruit) which excites your passions Not will I allow it To depart from me.
Although cudgeled even to the "Guard of the overflow," To Syria, with shebod-rods and clubs, To Kush, with palm-rods, To the highlands, with switches To the lowlands, with twigs,
Never will I listen to their counsel To abandon longing.
IV. The voice of the wild goose cries,
Where she has seized their bait,
But your love holds me back,
I am unable to liberate her.
I must, then, take home my net!
What shall I say to my mother,
To whom formerly I came each day
Loaded down with fowls?
I shall not set the snares today
For your love has caught me.
V. The wild goose flies up and soars,
She sinks down upon the net.
The birds cry in flocks,
But I hasten homeward,
Since I care for your love alone.
My heart yearns for your breast,
I cannot sunder myself from your attractions.
VI. Thou beautiful one! My heart's desire is
To procure for you your food as your husband,
My arm resting upon your arm.
You have changed me by your love.
Thus say I in my heart,
In my soul, at my prayers:
"I lack my commander tonight,
I am as one dwelling in a tomb."
Be you but in health and strength,
Then the nearness of your countenance
Sheds delight, by reason of your well-being,
Over a heart, which seeks you with longing.
VII. The voice of the dove calls,
It says: "The earth is bright."
What have I to do outside?
Stop, thou birdling! You chide me!
I have found my brother in his bed,
My heart is glad beyond all measure.
We each say:
"I will not tear myself away."
My hand is in his hand.
I wander together with him
To every beautiful place.
He makes me the first of maidens,
Nor does he grieve my heart.
VIII. Sa'am plants are in it,
In the presence of which one feels oneself uplifted!
I am your darling sister,
I am to you like a bit of land,
With each shrub of grateful fragrance.
Lovely is the water-conduit in it,
Which your hand has dug,
While the north wind cooled us.
A beautiful place to wander,
Your hand in my hand,
My soul inspired
My heart in bliss,
Because we go together.
New wine it is, to hear your voice;
I live for hearing it.
To see you with each look,
Is better than eating and drinking.
IX. Ta-'a-ti-plants are in it!
I take your garlands away,
When you come home drunk,
And when you are lying in your bed
When I touch your feet,
And children are in your..........
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I rise up rejoicing in the morning
Your nearness means to me health and strength.
Source:
From: George A. Barton, Archaeology and The Bible, 3rd Ed.,
(Philadelphia: American Sunday School, 1920), pp. 413-416.
This text is part of the Internet Ancient History
Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts
related to medieval and Byzantine history.
Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is
copyright. Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for
educational purposes and personal use. No representation is made about texts which are
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use.
THE WOMEN: WERE THE ANCIENT OLYMPICS JUST FOR MEN?
Along
with the athletic contests held at ancient Olympia, there was a separate
festival in honor of Hera (the wife of Zeus). This festival included foot
races for unmarried girls. Although it is not known how old the festival
was, it may have been almost as old as the festival for boys and men.
Little is known about this festival other than what Pausanias, a 2nd century
AD Greek traveler, tells us. He mentions it in his description of the Temple
of Hera in the Sanctuary of Zeus (model, courtesy of British Museum, shown
above and plan shown below), and says that it was organized and supervised
by a committee of 16 women from the cities of Elis. The festival took place
every four years, when a new peplos
was woven and presented to Hera inside her temple.
Plan of the Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia in the 5th century
BC showing the Temple of Hera, the Hera Altar, and the stadion.
(Plan from H. V. Herrmann, Olympia, Heiligtum und Wettkampfstatte,
fig. 111.)
Pausanias gives us a description of a girl's attire for the Hera games of
the 2nd century AD. The girls wore their hair free down their back and a
tunic hanging almost as low as the knees covering only the left shoulder
and breast. The costume that Pausanias describes may have been the traditional
costume at Olympia and possibly elsewhere for centuries.
Unmarried girls had a number of advantages at Olympia. They not only had
their own athletic contests of the Hera festival in which to participate,
but they were also allowed to watch the men's and boys' contests of the
festival of Zeus. Married women, on the other hand, were not allowed to
participate in the athletic contests of the Hera festival, and were barred
on penalty of death from the Sanctuary of Zeus on the days of the athletic
competition for boys and men. We don't know whether or not the women allowed
the men to watch the girls' contests!
The
lady is a champ...
Attic
Red Figure Amphora, ca. 490 BC. A winged Nike (goddess of victory)
hovers above the ground, holding a flowering tendril and a smoking
censer. The shape of the amphora is similar to those awarded to victorious
athletes in the Panathenaic Games at Athens and therefore may have
been a victory prize. Museum Object Number: 31-36-11.
HUM111 Music for Week 2
In this week's readings (chaps. 3-4), there is no direct mention of a musical selection. However, there is much we can learn about ancient music with a little exploration.
ANCIENT MUSIC:
We have visuals and even some remains of musical instruments from early
cultures (like Mesopotamia), and some ancient literary references to
music and instruments. We even have some lyrics.However,
they did not have sheet music or recording, so it is very difficult to
reconstruct what any ancient music sounded like until we get to the
later age of some traditional religious chants and music that have been
passed down. But, it will be Week 5 (chaps. 9-10) before we reach that point.
However, here in Week 2, we can still learn a great deal about ancient
music of various cultures, and we can be grateful for a few attempts to
reconstruct the sound.
Week 2: Chapters 3 and 4
MUSIC of Ancient Egypt
Chap. 3, pp. 86-7 (fig. 3.21) Ancient Egyptian music
It almost seems strange that we should know as much as we do about
ancient Egyptian music and at the same time have little or no idea of
its real nature. We have texts, representations and even extant
instruments but virtually nothing on the actual musical compositions
that were composed. Musical instruments ranged from very simple, such as
percussion instruments, to very complex, such as harps. Some
instruments were strictly (at least in design) Egyptian, while others
apparently came to Egypt from the Near East. Of course, the most basic
instruments were percussion and the simplest of these were human hands,
used for clapping. Clapping to music is often displayed by singers
depicted in Old Kingdom
tombs, and even today remains an important aspect of modern Egyptian
music. However, the earliest instruments in evidence are
boomerang-shaped clappers, which are not only known in Egypt but also
from southern Palestine as early as the fifth millennium BC. During
the pharaonic period, clappers were often decorated with hands or Hathor faces. There were also smaller clappers or castanets. However, drums did not actually appear until the Middle Kingdom. Initially, these seem to have been drums in the shape of a barrel made from hollowed tree trunks, which became popular in military
bands. Drums in the shape of a goblet and wheel-thrown pots with skin
covered tops and open bottoms were introduced around 1750 BC from the
Palestinian region. When circular frame drums with a skin stretched
across a wooden hoop were introduced during the New Kingdom,
other forms of percussion instruments appear to have lost ground. Of
course, there was also the sistrum which was a metal rattle or
noisemaker, consisting of a handle and a frame fitted with loosely held
rods that could be jingled. These were used especially in the worship of
Isis.
Finally, there were almost certainly bells, and during the Late Period,
Egyptians became acquainted with symbols consisting of a pair of
concave discs about 15 centemeters across that were attached to the
player's hand with leather straps. Though simple, percussion instruments
can produce interesting and complex music, particularly if used in
ensembles. One such large ensemble is depicted in the Middle Kingdom
tomb of a singing instructor named Khesuwer. He is shown coaching ten
sistrum players and ten hand clappers who have been arranged in neat
rows, indicating a highly disciplined performance. Typically, however,
percussion instruments cannot produce different pitches, so the use of
wind and stringed instruments also became an important aspect of
Egyptian music. Both string and wind instruments were used by the
ancient Egyptians as early as the Old Kingdom
and before. We can recognize a number of types of wind instruments,
including flutes, parallel double-pipes and divergent double-pipes. Of
these, the flute is the oldest and is depicted on a predynastic shard as
well as on a slate palette from Hierakonpolis. Hence, the instrument
could possibly have been invented in Egypt. The original flutes never
disappeared altogether and have survived to this day under the Arabic
names of nay and uffafa.
Scene showing a male on the left playing a flue, and on the right a parallel double pipe
At first, all of these instruments were made of reeds, though
later, the earlier reed pipes were imitated in bronze. They could be
short, or as long as a yard in length. There were usually three to five
finger-holes. The various types of pipes differed in the construction of
the mouth-end of the pipe. Flutes had a sharp wedge resting just
outside of the lips. Pipes had a loosely fitting mouthpiece furnished
with double and single vibrating lamellae. None of these mouthpieces
have ever been unearthed, so their details are unknown, but the parallel
pipes that have survived resemble modern Egyptian folk clarinets,
called a zummara, with one lamella. Divergent pipes, which only appear
at the beginning of the New Kingdom, are similar to Greek aulos that had double lamellae like the modern oboe.
A more complex instrument to produce was the trumpet, such as that found in the tomb of Tutankhamun.
These were made of silver and bronze, with mouthpieces of gold or
silver. They were sometimes inlaid with gold. Trumpets seem to have had
mostly a military use, though they became associated as well with gods such as Amun, Re-Horakhty and Ptah. Though we find the first examples of the trumpet at the beginning of the New Kingdom, it is possible that they existed as early as the Old Kingdom.
Instruments made from animal horns do not appear in any reliefs, but it
should be noted that there are terracotta models of such instruments
dating to the New Kingdom.
Stringed instruments mostly consisted of lyre, lutes and harps. There
were three types of lyre consisting of thin, thick and giant. The thin
lyre was used throughout the Fertile Crescent and the Egyptian lyres of
this style were merely the southern extension of this form with no local
characteristics. Thin lyres were introduced into northern Syria around
2500 BC, and the first depictions in Egypt that we know date to around
1900 BC. They became common in Egypt about five hundred years later.
Thick lyre with larger dimensions and more strings than the thin
variety briefly appear in Anatolia around 1400 BC. However, they were
used in Egypt from about 2000 BC and into the Greek Period in Egypt. Giant lyres became popular during the reign of Akhenaten.
Some were even large enough to accommodate dual players. Though giant
lyre players can be seen wearing Canaanite costumes, there are no giant
lyres yet known from the Palestinian region. However, in Mesopotamia,
giant lyres are known from engraved seals found at Uruk and Susa that
date to around 2500 BC.
Lutes, similar to mandolins, made their appearance in Egypt during the New Kingdom.
They had already gained popularity in the Near East at the beginning of
the second millennium BC. Though they gained wide acceptance in Egypt,
their use was mostly abandoned during the Hellenistic age, only to
reappear once more after the Muslim invasion of Egypt in the mid-seventh
century AD. Lutes were typically made with a long oval resonating body
made from wood and perhaps partially covered with leather and partially
by a thin sheet of wood with an opening to release the sound. Most all
of the instruments were patterned after examples found elsewhere in the
Near East, as were stringed instruments such as the lyres and lutes.
However, though the harp seems to first appear in Mesopotamia in about
3000 BC, the harps that showed up in Egypt in 2500 BC take on a shape
that is uniquely Egyptian. Stringed instruments were more complex than
either percussion or wind instruments, and many were indeed finely made
with precious materials. For example, we know that King Ahmose possessed a harp made of ebony, gold and silver, while Tuthmosis III commissioned "a splendid harp wrought with silver, gold, lapis lazuli, malachite, and every splendid costly stone."
There were two primary designs for Egyptian harps. The arched harp
became dominate in pharaonic Egypt. It was made with a sound box which
was joined smoothly to a curved rod encircled by collars for individual
strings. The strings stretched between their collars and a rib in
contact with the skin over the box. When the collars were rotated, the
tension and thus the tuning of the attached strings changed. The second
type of harp was angular, with a rod that was stuck through a hole in an
oblong box. This arrangement resulted in a sharp angle between the rod
and box. Arched harps in a shovel shape were used exclusively during the
Old and Middle Kingdom's, though their size and the position in which they were played varied. However, the New Kingdom a variety of new shapes and sizes of harps appear.
They seem to all have been more or less equally popular. Some of
these were considerably different than the earlier shovel harps shaped
like a hunting bow, though all had the smooth curve characteristic of
arched harps. During the Late Period,
Egyptians sought the glory of their former empire and looked reflected
this desire in archaized designs in architecture, as well as in harp
design. The basic shovel harps were reintroduced, but by the Greco-Roman period,
the variety of shapes was much reduced. Though angular harps appear to
have been invented in Mesopotamia around 1900 BC, and there they
replaced arched harps very quickly, in Egypt their adoption took and
complete replacement of the arched harp took more than a millennium.
However, when the Egyptian finally did embrace the instrument, they did
so with enthusiasm and also with considerable talent. One ancient
writer, Athenaeus, reports that an Alexandrian angular harp player's
music was so popular that citizens in Rome went about whistling his
tunes in the streets.
Surviving angular harps differ from their earlier counterparts in
having many more strings. Most of the arched harps have fewer than ten
strings, and some as few as three. On the other hand, angular harps
typically have twenty-one and as many as twenty-nine strings. Perhaps
the Egyptian reluctance of adopting the angular harp implies a
reluctance to expand the pitch range of their harp music, but that seems
to have changed by the end of the first millennium BC. This also
implies an early conservatism in Egyptian music, which was an
observation confirmed by Plato's assertion that Egyptians "were
forbidden to introduce any innovations in music". Should this be
surprising to us? Considering the Egyptian's formality and structured
approach to visual art, perhaps not.
It is very possible in fact that much of the music corresponded in
many ways to its visual counterpart. Of course, human vocals were an
integral part of almost all Egyptian music, and many scholars maintain
that instrumental music on its own did not exist in ancient Egypt.
Likewise, unaccompanied vocals were also rare. In many instances, we
also see a singer accompanying him or herself, such as a singing
harpist. Scholars have sought to discover some form of musical notation
system from ancient Egypt, but alas, have been unable to do so. However,
some less precise information is available. During the Old Kingdom,
singers within ensembles usually made arm and hand gestures, and Hans
Hickmann claimed that these arm positions communicated pitches to the
musicians.
However, recent research seems to refute his theories, and it is
now believed that such movement was simply spontaneous responses common
to singers even today, though it has also been suggested that these
movements may indicate basic stop or start commands. There is extant a
terra-cotta figurine from the Late Period
that may be adorned with musical notation. This figure portrays an
angular-harp player facing a scribe, who's writing tablet contains
signs. Not much survives beyond a few long horizontal lines crossed by
numerous vertical strokes. If these signs do represent musical notation,
one might expect the length of the verticals to indicate pitches, but
the lengths are insufficient to differentiate among the twenty-one
strings of the angular harp. By the early Greek Period, we do finally find definite musical notation on an Egyptian papyri. However, both the music and the notation system is Greek.
Throughout the entire pharaonic period, musicians are often shown in ensembles, though in the Old Kingdom
singers were frequently accompanied by a single instrument. During the
Old Kingdom, such a group might consist of singers, hand clappers,
several harps, a flute and a clarinet style pipe. Originally, only men
played the full range of instruments while women seem to have been
confined to harps and percussion. However, towards the end of the Old
Kingdom, other female musicians appear, and by the Middle Kingdom, mixed gender ensembles are common. In fact, by the New Kingdom, exclusively female groups become predominate.
Various titles provide some information on musician's social
organization. The best documented of these were referred to a "hnr".
They sang, danced and clapped hands in temples,
palaces and funerary settings. This type of group flourished from about
2500 through 1500 BC and during the Ramessid Period. At first, these
groups had only female members and overseers, but males integrated these
ensembles during the 5th Dynasty and became the sole overseers of such groups during the Middle Kingdom. Royal women were frequently members of these groups, which were attached to palaces, temples
and funerary estates. They performed secular music along with sacred
singing and also performed for the deceased. The female members of the
group wore light dresses and hair braided into plaits, with balls
dangling from the ends. Men usually wore narrow belts or kilts.
Other titles denote temple songstresses (or chantresses) who served deities such as Hathor, Osiris and Isis.
The number of titles meaning "Temple Singer" seems to indicate a
diverse role for sacred music. These songstresses routinely performed in
priestly rituals, but there were also grand events such as one that was
staged on the occasion of Amenhotep III's sed-festival.
Tomb drawing of this extravaganza depict long rows of singers,
percussionists and dancers and we are told that their music "opened the
doors of heaven so that the god may go forth pure". There were also
several deities associated with music. One of Hathor's
titles was "mistress of music" and she was considered the goddess of
singers. Bes was often depicted playing instruments, even outside of
Egypt, including the lyre, harp, tambourine and the oboe like divergent
pipes. Another obscure deity known as the Blind Horus has been
identified as the "harp god", though some scholars believe he was simply
a patron of the harp players. However, many harpists are depicted as
blind, or even blindfolded. Music also played a part outside of its
sacred role. In Old Kingdom
tombs, female family members are shown playing instruments, singing and
dancing for the tomb owner, a theme that is also repeated in New Kingdom
tombs. Private tombs of the Old Kingdom also show occasional scenes of
music among farm workers, such as depictions of a flutist wandering
about while men cut sheaves of barley.
Women clappers and a single divergent double-pipes player
Some tomb scenes provide us with clues to the forms of Egyptian music. For example a song written in an Old Kingdom
tomb appears to have been sung antiphonally by two groups. One group
asks a question and the second group answers it. The first group begins
with a call and a question, "Oh, Western Goddess! Where is the
shepherd?" The second group responds, "The shepherd is in the water
beneath the fish. He talks to the catfish and greets the mormry-fish.",
The song is concluded with the call, "Oh shepherd of the Western
Goddess." The song is accompanied by a scene depicting sheep trampling
seeds in the field. The calls and the questions are shown next to the
foreman, indicating that he is probably the lead singer. The answers are
sung by helpers who drive the sheep across a field.
This antiphonal song dates to about 2200 BC, and is considered to
be among the oldest known in literature and music. A larger musical
form, the rondo, has been suggested for a harper's song, which decorate
the walls of some New Kingdom
tombs. In these, a harpist, and in some rare examples, a lute player,
is shown beside an extensive text. The text usually begins by describing
the inevitability of death and the futility of life. In these, the
reader is encouraged to lie for the moment when told, "Make
holiday...put incense and fine oil together beside you...put music
before you...give drunkenness to your heart every day." Some scholars
believe that songs were performed in the tomb, while others believe they
were intended for life beyond the tomb. Most likely, the songs were
sung at a banquet held in the tomb to buoy the spirits of the living.
We have no idea of the music for these compositions, but a song in
one of the tombs contains a phrase that recurs intermittently seven
times. Hickmann suggested that this refrain corresponded to a
reoccurring melody, making it similar to a modern rondo. This type of
song also is found in Old Kingdom tombs, but in those they are shorter and have an entirely different character than their New Kingdom
counterparts. There, the harpist shares the sage with an ensemble.
Altenmuller analyzed the the texts and their visual settings and
concluded that the music belonged to a tomb ritual intended to bring
back the deceased from the underworld. During this brief spiritual
reincarnation, the tomb owner was known as "the deified one", and was
enabled to join the musicians by the sheer power of their music.
Throughout the world, music has played an important role in almost all
civilizations from the very earliest stages of mankind, and Egypt was no
exception. Certainly even today, music is ver
References:
TitleAuthorDatePublisherReference Number
Atlas of Ancient Egypt Baines, John; Malek, Jaromir 1980 Les Livres De
France None Stated Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, The Shaw, Ian;
Nicholson, Paul 1995 Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers ISBN
0-8109-3225-3 Egyptian Treasures from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo
Tiradritti, Francesco, Editor 1999 Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN
0-8109-3276-8 Life of the Ancient Egyptians Strouhal, Eugen 1992
University of Oklahoma Press ISBN 0-8061-2475-x Oxford Encyclopedia of
Ancient Egypt, The Redford, Donald B. (Editor) 2001 American University
in Cairo Press, The ISBN 977 424 581 4 Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, The Shaw, Ian 2000 Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-815034-2 Valley of the KingsWeeks, Kent R. 2001 Friedman/Fairfax ISBN 1-5866-3295-7
Also see the interesting articles athttp://www.utahloy.com/m6egypttech/muu2.htm
Music & Dance
The Musical
Instruments of Ancient Egypt
A wide variety of musical
instruments were played. Some of these instruments included ivory and bone
clappers, harps and lutes, and percussion instruments such as drums,
sistra, cymbals and the like.
There are four basic types of
musical instruments in Ancient Egypt. These are: idiophones, this
includes clappers, sistra, cymbals and bells. These instruments were
particularly associated with religious worship and the music used in these
rites and ceremonies.
Membranaphones, these instruments
included tambourines, which were usually played at banquets, social
gatherings and the like, as well as drums which were used in both military
processions and in religious functions.
Aerophones include the flute,
double clarinets, double oboes, trumpets and bugles. The latter were
mostly used in connection with the army and military processionals. The
earliest example of aerophones is the reed flute.
Detail of a flute player and listener from the tomb
of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, 5th Dynasty.
Chordophones consisted of three types: the harp,
which was an indigenous Egyptian instrument, the lute and the lyre, which
were imported from the Asiatic invaders.
This wooden model represents a girl playing a harp.
Note how she holds it against her body. In real life she probably would
have rested it on a stand whiles she played it.
Professional
dancers and musicians entertained at social events, and traveling troupes
gave performances in public squares of great cities such as Waset (Thebes)
and Alexandria.
References
Used:
David, A. Rosalie"The Egyptian
Kingdoms" Hart, George "Ancient
Egypt"Manniche, Lise"Music and Musicians in
Ancient Egypt" Manniche, Lise"Ancient
Egyptian Musical Instruments" Steedman, Scott "Pocket
Ancient Egypt"
The first great culture to infuse its entire society with the magic of music
and dance was that of Ancient Egypt. The Ancient Egyptians enjoyed life to its
fullest and no celebration in Ancient Egypt would have been complete without
music and dancing. At parties, singers and dancers performed to the music of
harps, lutes, drums, flutes, cymbals, clappers and tambourines. During
festivals, crowds chanted and clapped, carried along by the vibrant rhythm of
Egyptian orchestras, while dancers performed amazing feats, leaping twirling and
bending their bodies in time with the music.
Most of Egyptian secular
and religious life was marked by the performance of music and dance. This
important aspect of daily life of the Egyptians is depicted as early as the
Pre-Dynastic periods. Ceremonial palettes and stone vessels indicate the
importance that music had even in the earliest of periods. The importance of
music in daily life in Ancient Egypt is underscored by the large number of
musical instruments found in museum collections around the world.
In
many banqueting scenes found within the tombs of the Ancient Egyptians, the
banquets appear to be more secular. Shown in these scenes are an idealized
rather than any actual event. The basic components of these scenes changed very
little throughout Egypt's history, until the New Kingdom. Around the 18th
Dynasty, there is a marked change of character, in the song, dance and the
overall "feel" of these scenes. At this time we see a marked sense of erotic
significance. Lotus flowers, mandrakes, wigs and unguent cones, as well as men
and women clothed in semi-transparent garments and the gestures of the banquet
participants. Music, love and sensuality go hand in hand in most civilizations,
ancient as well as modern, and in different spheres. Overall music is a major
component of life, an important piece of both secular and religious life.
Probably the best indication of the Ancient Egyptian's enjoyment and
value of music and dance is a satirical papyrus wherein an ass is playing a
large harp, a lion with a lyre, a crocodile with a lute, and a monkey with a
double oboe.
Dance in Ancient
Egypt
Dance was far more than just an enjoyable pastime in
Ancient Egypt.During the Pre-Dynastic period were found depictions of female
figures, perhaps of Goddesses or Priestesses, dancing with their arms raised
above their heads. The act of dancing was undoubtedly an important component of
ritual and celebration in Ancient Egypt.
People from every social class
were exposed to music and dancing. Manual laborers worked in rhythmic motion to
the sounds of songs and percussion, and street dancers entertained passers by.
In normal, daily life musicians and dancers were an important and integral part
of banquets and celebrations. Dance troupes were available for hire to perform
at dinner parties, banquets, lodging houses, and even religious temples. Some
women the harems of the wealthy were trained in music and dance. However, no
well-born Egyptian would consider dancing in public. The Nobility would employ
servants or slaves to entertain at their banquets to a offer pleasant diversion
to themselves and their guests.
Elizabeth 'Artemis' Mourat, professional
dancer and dance-scholar categorized the dances of Ancient Egypt into six types:
religious dances, non-religious festival dances, banquet dances, harem dances,
combat dances, and street dances. There were certain ritual dances that were
crucial to the successful outcome of religious and funerary rites. This is
particularly true of the Muu-Dancers. These dancers wore kilts and reed
crowns and performed alongside funeral processions.
With the emergence of
the cult of Wasir (Osiris in Greek) dance was a crucial element in the festivals
held for both He and Aset (Isis in Greek) His sister-wife. These festivals
occurred throughout the year. Dance was also important in the festivals
dedicated to Apis.
The act of dancing was inseparable from music, and so
the depictions of dance in Pharaonic tombs and temples invariably show the
dancers either being accompanied by groups of musicians or themselves playing
castanets or clappers to keep the rhythm. Little distinction seems to have been
made between dancing and what would be considered today as acrobatics. Many
dancers depicted in the temple and tomb paintings and reliefs show dancers in
athletic poses such as cartwheels, handstands and backbends.
Detailed study of the depiction of dancers has revealed
that the artists were often depicting a series of different steps in particular
dances, some of which have been reconstructed. Movements of Egyptian dances were
named after the motion they imitated. For instance, there were "the leading
along of an animal," "the taking of gold," and "the successful capture of the
boat."
Men and women are never shown dancing together, and the most
common scenes depict groups of female dancers often performing in pairs.
My body says, my lips repeat:
Holy music for Hathor, music a million times,
Because you love music, million times music.
Stela of King Wahankh Intef II
M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 1, p.95
Workers harvesting flax are being accompanied by a fluteplayer. The
overseer Iankhef leaning on his staff of office exhorts the musician: "O
fellow, blow and do not oppose our officialdom!"
Hermann Junker, Zu einigen Reden und Rufen auf Grabbildern des alten Reiches, p.32f.
Music in all its forms, be it simple clapping, singing or playing
instruments had an important place in ancient Egyptian life. It was
heard in temples as part of worship, during processions and holidays, at
parties,
and, as one may suppose, in the evenings when the light had become too
low to do any work and people continued to sit together for a while. It
also had economic importance: Boring drudgery was made more bearable by
chanting or by listening to music, making workers more efficient.
Musical instruments
Egyptian musical instruments were well developed and varied. They
included string instruments such as harps, lyres, lutes, percussion
instruments like drums, rattles, tambourines, bells (first used during
the Late Period) and cymbals (Roman Period), wind instruments like
flutes, clarinets, double pipes, trumpets, and oboes.
Singers and flute player
Tomb of Nebamen, New Kingdom
Excerpt. Courtesy Jon Bodsworth
Flutes were among the first musical instruments used. Double flutes were
at first made of two parallel pipes, but later the two pipes were
separated and set at an acute angle. They are still used in Egypt today.
Military trumpeter Source: Dümichen, Johannes [Hrsg.], Die
Flotte einer aegyptischen Koenigin aus dem XVII. Jahrhundert vor
unserer Zeitrechnung und altaegyptisches Militair im festlichen Aufzuge
auf einem Monumente aus derselben Zeit abgebildet: nebst einem Anhange
enthaltend ... als ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Schifffahrt und des
Handels im Alterthume,
Leipzig, 1868, plate X
Double oboes were known since about 2800 BCE. They had two pipes of
unequal length, the longer was used as a drone or to play notes that
the shorter pipe couldn't hit.
In the second century BCE the Alexandrian Ctesibios invented the
hydraulic organ which used water pressure to deliver air to the
organ-pipes.
Harps, developed from the hunting bow and used since the Old
Kingdom, were triangular or arc-shaped. They usually had eight to
twelve strings made of animal gut; and both men and women played them -
sitting, standing or kneeling. At times their soundbox was tapped or
beaten, described in inscriptions as sqr bn.t - striking the harp [10].
They were generally made of wood and probably did not project very
far. Harps were often decorated and could be expensive works of art
[My majesty made] a splendid harp wrought with silver, gold, lapis lazuli, malachite, and every splendid costly stone
From the Coronation inscription of Thutmose III
James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Two, § 165
During the New Kingdom there were harps of various shapes and sizes,
the number of their strings was increased, and their sound boxes were
improved. Some of the harps had columns, but these were rare.
The large sized instruments were often covered with flowery or
geometrical ornamentations. In one picture on a tomb, a harp is shown
with a jaguar's skin, an instrument for rich people. Harps were played
at parties, social gatherings, and ceremonial events, often in
conjunction with other instruments, such as double pipes and rattles.
The marks on the instrument's neck have been interpreted by some as being frets.
The New Kingdom lute consisted of a small oblong wooden sounding box,
flat on both sides, with six or eight holes, and a long neck, often
decorated with ribbons, from which two to four strings were strung. It
was played with a plectrum or bare fingers. Similarly to modern string
instruments different notes were played by pressing the strings against
the neck of the instrument at various spots seemingly marked by frets.
Another string instrument classified as a guitar because of its flat
back and curving sides, may not have looked much like a modern guitar.
It was improved if not invented by the Egyptians.
Sekhmet and Bes were sometimes associated with percussion instruments, in particular with frame drums.
The sistrum and the menat, two small flat slabs of wood or ivory
similar to a castanet, were generally dedicated to Hathor, the goddess
of banquets and music making. But the sistrum was also used in the
worship of the other gods, the Aton during the Amarna Period
Votive ivory clappers
...... the Great King's Wife, his beloved, abounding in her beauty; her
who sends the Aton to rest with sweet voice, and with her two beautiful
hands, bearing two sistrums, the mistress of the Two Lands,
Nefernefruaton-Nofretete, living forever and ever.
From the tomb inscriptions of Ay
James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Two, § 995
or Ptah
......... by command of this thy son, who is upon thy throne, lord of
gods and men, sovereign celebrating the jubilees like thee [when thou]
bearest the two sistrums .....
From the inscription of Ramses II in the temple of Ptah at Memphis
James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Three, § 414
Harpist and drummer
Saite period
Photo by E. Brugsch
Tambourines were either round or square, played by hand, and were mainly
used during popular or religious festivals. They came into use during
the New Kingdom.
Music was part of religious ceremonies [7]
and musicianship was highly valued and mentioned on mortuary stelae
of, among others, Pesheremehit, son of housemistress and musician of Min
Tediusir and of the priest Pehet
... that they may give a mortuary offering of bread, beer, oxen and geese, incense, clothing and everything good
and pure to the spirit of Osiris the priest, the - yz, the hzk-priest, Pehet,
deceased, called Nesihor ..... offspring of the housemistress, the musician of Min, Tesheremehit, deceased.
From the stela of Pehet. Akhmim. Ptolemaic Period
Thomas George Allen: Egyptian Stelae in Field Museum of Natural History, 1936
or the songstress of Amen Inaros, daughter of another songstress
... that he may give a mortuary offering and offerings of food and beer to Osiris the songstress of the temple
of Amon, Inaros, deceased, the possessor of worthiness [in the presence of] the great god, the lord of the sky;
daughter of Harkheb, deceased .... Her mother was the songstress of Amon and Horus, Tesherenetyah, deceased ....
From the stela of Inaros. Roman Period
Thomas George Allen: Egyptian Stelae in Field Museum of Natural History, 1936
During the New Kingdom the singers' titles of Smaj.t and Hsj.t became quite common among the female relatives of high officials. In contrast to the Servant of the God, Hm.t nTr,
of the Old and Middle Kingdoms who had served female deities only,
these songstresses officiated at ceremonies of male gods too.
Some ceremonial texts used during the worship of Isis or Nephthys for
instance have survived. Their structure seems to imply that they were
sung alternatingly by two priests and included solo passages interpreted
by priestesses [4].
In Old and Middle Kingdom tombs inscriptions of songs can be found,
hymns sung to the accompaniment of a harp. These Harpers' songs praised
the dead and death, keeping the name of the deceased alive by repeating
it:
The singer Tjeniaa says:
How firm you are in your seat of eternity,
Your monument of everlastingness!
It is filled with offerings of food,
It contains every good thing.
Your ka is with you,
It does not leave you,
O Royal Seal-bearer, Great Steward, Nebankh!
Yours is the sweet breath of the north wind!
So says his singer who keeps his name alive,
The honorable singer Tjeniaa, whom he loved,
Who sings to his ka every day.
Stela of Nebankh from Abydos
M. Lichtheim Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume 1, p. 194
The somewhat hedonistic Harper
of a King Intef who ruled during the First Intermediate Period or the
Middle Kingdom, saw the ephemeralness of this life and was also much
less positive than earlier harpers about the chances of an afterlife,
but during the New Kingdom there was a religious revival:
This land which has no enemies: [All] [its (lit. our)] kindred [rest in
it] since primeval times. Those who come into being in aeons upon
aeons, they will [all (?)] return to it. There is no lingering in the
Beloved Land (i.e. Egypt). There is no one who will not reach it (i.e.
the afterworld). The time spent on earth has the nature [of a dream]. It
is said, "He may be [whole], he may be whole!" about him who reaches
the West. He who travels north and south will finally land(?) on the
bank. [How beautiful] is your journey when you are united with the lords
of Eternity.
Harper's song, tomb of Thutmose (TT 32), reign of Ramses II
After the transliteration and German translation on the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae web site
Altägyptisches
Wörterbuch, Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften => 4. Poetische
Literatur => Harfnerlieder => Texte seit LÄ II, 1977 =>
Djehutimes (TT 32)
Singing, often accompanied by the clapping [6] of hands, was integral to Egyptian culture, sacred and secular. Tedious long-drawn-out jobs like grinding corn
were accompanied by chanting, though whether these were songs praising
the master of the house as suggested by some tomb inscriptions
May all the gods of this land give strength and health to my master
After Pierre Montet, La vie quotidienne en Egypte
is open to doubt.
At banquets singers played an important part. In the Story of Wenamen, Zakar-Baal, when he wanted to distract Wenamen
....... sent out his letter-scribe to me (i.e. Wenamen), he brought me
two jars of wine and a ram. He sent to me Tentno, an Egyptian (female)
singer, who was with him, saying: "Sing for him; let not his heart feel
apprehension."
From the Report of Wenamen
James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Four, § 589
Herodotus, who was better placed than any other man of his time to
compare between different cultures, often saw similarities which were
probably just happenstance:
Besides other customary things among them which are worthy of mention,
they have one song, that of Linos, the same who is sung of both in
Phoenicia and in Cyprus and elsewhere, having however a name different
according to the various nations. This song agrees exactly with that
which the Hellenes sing calling on the name of Linos, so that besides
many other things about which I wonder among those matters which concern
Egypt, I wonder especially about this, namely whence they got the song
of Linos. It is evident however that they have sung this song from
immemorial time, and in the Egyptian tongue Linos is called Maneros. The
Egyptians told me that he was the only son of him who first became king
of Egypt, and that he died before his time and was honoured with these
lamentations by the Egyptians, and that this was their first and only
song.
Ancient Egyptian music was based on a minor pentatonic scale of five
tones without halftones. This fact can be inferred from the positions of
the holes on flutes [1].
During the New Kingdom, when foreign conquest brought Egyptians into
closer contact with Asiatic peoples and their music and many new
instruments and with them new sound qualities were introduced, they also
encountered the scales prevailing in the Near East. On the whole they
seem to have preferred keeping their traditional tonality, although
some musicologists think that during this period they began to use a
heptatonic scale [4].
The Greeks who settled first in the Delta, and since the third century
BCE in many places upstream, above all in the Fayum, must have had an
even greater impact on Egyptian music. These influences were mutual.
Pythagoras (c.580-500 BCE) who created a musical theory based on
mathematics, was brought up in Egypt.
Egyptian music must have changed a great deal during the last couple of
millennia. We have even less clues to what the music sounded like than
we have to how the Egyptian language was pronounced. One should
therefore be very wary when extrapolating. To get an idea of what the
ancient music may have sounded like, coptic church music, and
Nubian and Egyptian folk music might be helpful. A recording called
"The Music of Upper and Lower Egypt" and published by Ryko, was done
by the Grateful Dead while they were on tour in Egypt of folk singers
and musicians.
There were many occasions for ancient Egyptians to display their joy of life, one of them was the enthronement of a new king:
All the people of all the dwellings of the court heard; they came, their
mouths rejoicing, they proclaimed (it) beyond everything, dwelling on
dwelling therein was announcing (it) in his name; soldiers on soldiers
[were shouting (?)], they leaped and they danced for the double joy of
their hearts.
The coronation of Queen Hatshepsut
J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Two, § 238
But unfortunately, apart from a number of depictions, little is known
about ancient Egyptian dancing. It seems to have been uni-sex.
Acrobatic dancers, Karnak;
Excerpt from a photo by M.Audrain
Mixed gender pair dancing as we know it today was unknown. Egyptian
dancing may heve been influenced by the Nubian tradition, which became
very popular in Rome during the days of the empire, and is still alive
in parts of the Sudan today. Dancers from the south were brought to
Egypt and seemingly much admired.
Egyptian choreography appears to have been complex. Dances could be
mimetic, expressive - similar to modern ballet with pirouettes and the
like, or gymnastic, including splits, cartwheels, and backbends.
A few pictures of acrobatic dancers have been found, generally depicting
a number of dancers performing the same movement in unison.
For sociable banquets the dancing girls were often selected from among the servants or the women living in the harem
of the nobleman in whose house the party was held; possibly
professional dancers were also hired for these occasions. Pictures of
such gatherings show girls performing slow elegant dance steps, which
may have alternated with wild acrobatic movements.
Public celebrations were accompanied by dancing, be it spontaneous or orchestrated
All the people of all the dwellings of the court heard (of the
coronation of Hatshepsut); they came, their mouths rejoicing, they
proclaimed (it) beyond everything, dwelling on dwelling therein was
announcing (it) in his name; soldiers on soldiers [were shouting (?)],
they leaped and they danced for the double joy in their hearts.
James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Two, § 238
Dancing was also part of religious functions. According to tomb
depictions staid ritual dances seem to have been performed by the muu, men wearing crowns of reeds. [9][2][3][8]
One of a line of dancers with weights fastened to their pigtails, dancing to clapping.
It has been suggested that by lifting their legs they were revealing their pudenda as part of fertility rites.
Old Kingdom
The dancing women at the festivities of Hathor were less restrained, if
depictions are anything to go by. One of the highpoints of these
celebrations were energetic dances similar to those depicted in the tomb
of Nenkhetifkai at Sakkara (see picture in the left margin).
Herodotus, at times not the most reliable of witnesses in his eagerness
to make foreign cultures as comprehensible to his Greek audience as
possible, was struck by the absence of organised dancing at the feast of
Osiris, equated by the Greeks with Dionysos, and reported that
... the rest of the feast of Dionysos is celebrated by the Egyptians in
the same way as by the Hellenes in almost all things except choral
dances....
Herodotus, Histories II
while pilgrims to Bubastis
... sail, men and women together, and a great multitude of each sex in
every boat; and some of the women have rattles and rattle with them,
while some of the men play the flute during the whole time of the
voyage, and the rest, both women and men, sing and clap their hands; and
when as they sail they come opposite to any city on the way they bring
the boat to land, and some of the women continue to do as I have said,
others cry aloud and jeer at the women in that city, some dance, and
some stand up and pull up their garments.
Herodotus, Histories II
Exotic dancers exercised a special attraction. When Harkhuf was on his way back from Yam [5] with a dwarf, he received instructions from Pepi II to return as fast as possible.
....... Come northward to the court immediately; [...] thou shalt bring
this dwarf with thee, which thou bringest living, prosperous and healthy
from the land of spirits, for the dances of the god, to rejoice and
gladden the heart of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neferkere, who
lives forever.
Pepi, who was still a child at the time, may have been more impressed
with the diminutive size of the dancer than with the spiritual powers
the dwarf from the land of spirits attempted to express through his movements.
[1] It seems it's not as straightforward. Thomas Hare
(Stanford), knowledgeable in Japanese music, suggests that by tilting
the flute, altering the position of one's lips and half-holing one can
achieve a number of different scales and that the ancient Egyptians
might have done just that. At least in the case of Japan the most easily
played scale, used in folk music, doesn't seem to have been the oldest
according to historical evidence. [5] Yam: tribe and region in Nubia [6] Clapping:
Songs to the harp are made for you,
One sings to you with clapping hands;
Hymn to the Nile
M. Lichtheim Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume 1, p.208
Clapping and stomping also had magical qualities. They were often used to keep daemons at bay. [7] During part of the Osiris worship, prior to the
god's mummification, music was seemingly deemed to be inappropriate but
was taken up again with the Opening of the Mouth ceremony,
the joyful event of revivification. This ritual silence may have been
the inspiration for a handful of Late Period writings prohibiting music. [9] In the Tale of Sinuhe the protagonist got homesick when he thought of how wonderful his funeral would be back home:
A funeral procession is made for you on the day of burial; the mummy
case is of gold, its head of lapis lazuli. The sky is above you as you
lie in the hearse, oxen drawing you, musicians going before you. The
dance of the mww-dancers is done at the door of your tomb; the offering-list is read to you; sacrifice is made before your offering-stone.
M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol.1, p.229
[10] Hermann Junker ed., Grabungen auf dem Friedhof des Alten Reiches, Band IV: "Die Mastaba des Kai-em-anch", Wien und Leipzig 1940, p.87
Composer Douglas Irvine tries to reconstruct ancient Egyptian music, but there is a lot of guesswork in the endeavor:http://www.aldokkan.com/mp3/mp3.htm;
Egyptian Music
Comparison Between Egyptian Music and Spanish Flamenco
Criteria
Egyptian Music
Traditional Spanish Flamenco
Images
Early development
The music and singing in the life of Egypt had considerable attention since the 1st Dynasty, c. 3000 BC
Music in the North of the Iberian Peninsula has a clear Celtic influence which dates to pre-Roman times,
Southern flamenco music is certainly reminiscent of Eastern influences, Moors and Jews starting form 711 A.D.
State Sponsorship
priests and senior clergy and the state, headed by the Pharaoh all gave music special attention
Flamenco sprang from the lower levels
of Andalusia society, and thus lacked the prestige of art forms among
the middle and higher classes
Religious Role
- Highly developed
Music was an integral part of religious worship in Egypt, and had a
central role in the religious rituals, hymns and prayers.
- Hathor was the patron of music.
Folk music - no religious role
Musical instruments
Large variety
All the major categories of musical instruments percussion, wind and stringed were represented in pharaonic Egypt.
Instruments were frequently inscribed with the name of the owner and
decorated with representations of the goddess Hathor of music.
Few instruments
- There is disagreement as to whether primitive flamenco was accompanied by any instrument or not
- Classical flamenco used only guitar and hand clapping as a rhythmic accompaniment
Musicians
Professional musicians occupied a variety of positions and social levels in Egypt:
- The highest status belonged to temple musicians a position frequently held by women.
- Musicians connected with the royal household were held in high esteem, as were certain gifted singers and harp players.
- Somewhat lower on the social scale were musicians who acted as entertainers for parties and festivals, frequently accompanied by dancers
- There is little evidence for the amateur musicians in pharaonic Egypt.
Amateur Gypsies and dancers
Musical characteristics
Rhythmic music? - most musical scenes show dancers accompanied by musicians playing instruments
- Egyptians did not notate their music, so attempts to reconstruct pharaonic music remain speculative.
- Representational evidence can give a general idea of the sound of Egyptian music:
Music was based on a scale of 5 tones without halftones. This fact can be concluded from the position of holes on flutes
Ritual temple music was largely a matter of the rattling of the sistrum, accompanied by voice, sometimes with harp or percussion.
Party scenes show naked female acrobatic dancers performing the same movement in unison.
Both male and female voices were used in Egyptian music.
- Originally Vocal music - primitive flamenco consisted of unaccompanied singing (cante)
- Later, the songs were accompanied by flamenco guitar (toque),
rhythmic hand clapping (palmas), rhythmic feet stomping (zapateado) and
dance (baile)
-
Prior to the Middle Kingdom, depictions of harpists feature men as the
chief musicians. Harps and other instruments were used for praise
singing and entertainment at ritual, court, and military events.
- Harps were favorite instruments during the New Kingdom and were
shown in the hands of processional female musicians performing alone or
in ensembles with singers, wind instruments, sistrums, and rattles.
- Playing techniques varied as shown in paintings, including one and two handed playing
Characteristics
- Egyptian harps were made of wood, inlaid with bone and faience.
- Harps varied greatly in form, size and the number of their strings.
- They are represented in the ancient paintings with 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 20, 21,and 22 strings
- There was two types of harps:
1. The small shoulder harps
shaped as shallow arches. These were used during the Old and Middle
Kingdoms. Most of the arched harps have fewer than ten strings
2. The
larger angular harp was invented in Mesopotamia around 1900 BC They
replaced the arched harps during the New Kingdom, but their full
adoption in Egypt took more than a millennium.
This implied an early
conservatism in Egyptian music, which was an observation confirmed by
Plato's assertion that Egyptians "were forbidden to introduce any
innovations in music"
Historical Developments
-
The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt are credited for
introducing the harp, known to date from about 5,000 years ago.
- Egyptian arched harps appear in depictions of the Old kingdom
strating from the 4th Dynasty onwards, these developed from the hunting
bow
- Romans spread the use of harps in their vast empire, One ancient
writer, Athenaeus, reports that an Alexandrian angular harp player music
was so popular that citizens in Rome went about whistling his tunes
- During the middle ages in Europe however a further development
took place: adding a third structural member, the pillar, to support the
far ends of the arch and sound box. The 'Triangular Frame harp' is
depicted in manuscripts and sculpture from about the 8th century
- In the early 19th century the harp lost popularity with Western
music composers, being thought of primarily as a woman's instrument
after Marie Antoinette popularised it as an activity for women.
- Consists of a pair of slightly concave metal plates which produce a vibrant sound of indeterminate pitch
- The ancient Egyptian cymbals closely resembled modern examples,
the British Museum possesses two pairs of Egyptian cymbals which are
thirteen centimetres in diameter, found in the coffin of Ankhhape a
sacred musician
Historical Developments
- Known in Europe since the Middle Ages, they were introduced into the European orchestra by Nikolaus Adam Strungk in 1680
- In Egypt Cymbals are used today in Egyptian belly dances
Flutes known as ugads, were among the first musical instruments used
Characteristics
- Ancient Egyptians used very long flutes 90 cm in length and about 1.5 cm wide, the performer generally sat on the ground
- They were made of nile bamboo, though later were imitated in
bronze. The bamboo is characterisied by the presence of nodes which
tends to narrow the diameter of the air column at each node.
- The Egyptians blew the instrument through a lateral opening near
one end, producing the modulations by means of holes on the sides.
Flutes had usually five to seven finger-holes.
- Double flutes made of two parallel pipes were known since the Old
Kingdom. They had two pipes of unequal length, the longer was to play
notes that the shorter pipe couldn't hit.
Historical Developments
- The flute was invented in ancient Egypt, and are depicted on a predynastic palettes from Hierakonpolis
Some ancient Egyptian flutes have survived, preserved in tombs by the arid desert climate.
- The pan flute was used in Greece from the 7th century BC, and
spread to other parts of Europe during the Roman period. It was shorter
than the Egyptian counterpart and did not exceed 30 cm in length
- Flutes almost disappeared from Europe after the fall of the Roman
Empire, until the Crusades brought Europeans into contact with the
Arabs. and are still used in the Balkans and the Basque regions of Spain
- They never disappeared from te Egyptian culture and have survived to this day under the Arabic name of nay
The sistrum was a sacred instrument in ancient Egypt, used in dances and religious ceremonies, particularly in the worship of Hathor
Characteristics
- It consisted of a handle and a U-shaped bronze frame, 30 cm in width.
- When shaken the small rings on its movable crossbars produced a sound that ranged from soft tinkling to loud jangling.
Historical Developments
- The sistrum was revived in 19th century Western orchestral music, appearing in Act 1 of the opera Les Troyens.
- Sistra are still used in the rites of the Egyptian Coptic churches
-
The trumpet was not a military instrument. The sound it created were
related to rebirth motifs, a transition from one stage to another. As
such, they were utilized in:
During funerary processions to wake up the deceased. As such, it was attributed to Osiris, the principle of resurrection.
To announce both the new day at dusk and the end of the night at dawn. Trumpets in temple rituals always appeared in pairs. With the typical two horns: one was sounded at dawn, the other at dusk.
-They were generally 60 to 90 cm long, and made of bronze, with mouthpieces, and with bells at the other end.
Historical Developments
- Horns appeared in Ancient Egypt since the New Kingdom, and wer known as Buq meaning mouth
The Earliest known examples are the bronze and silver trumpets from Tutankhamen tomb
- In Roman times, trumpet playing was a guarded craft. The trumpet
players were often among the most heavily guarded members of a troop
armies, as they were relied upon to relay instructions to other sections
of the army.
- The Buq survived in the Spanish term 'Alboque' for the trumpet
- Improvements to instrument design and metal making in the
Renaissance period led to an increased usefulness of the trumpet as a
musical instrument
I learnt the incredible melody heard in this video, from an amazing CD,
"Music of the Ancient Sumerians, Egyptians & Greeks" by "The
Ensemble De Organographia". This video features my arrangement for solo
lyre, of the academic reconstruction of this ancient Egyptian melody,
from c.1400BC!! The scale used, was taken from a three-holed Egyptian
vertical flute, still in a playable condition. The images in the video
feature incredible, vibrant illutrations of ancient Egyptian Theban
Banquets and ancient Egyptian dancers...
The academic
reconstruction of the melody heard here, was deciphered from
illustrations on a tomb painting of a Banquet Scene found at Thebes -
the specific hand gestures of the individuals depicted in this scene
were found to be an example of an ancient system of musical notation
often used in antiquity, called called "Chironomy" - this is a system of
hand gestures which were used, to denote both the pitch and
ornamentation of a melody.This ancient lost art is discussed at length
in this fascinating article:
The
Theban Banquet Scene depicting these chironomy genstures, shows a scene
of four rows of seated guests preparing to attend a banquet, with the
guests on the left of each row displaying these chironomy signs,
depicting the melody being played by the musicians on the sitting on the
right.
My Albums of Ancient Lyre Music are available, anywhere in the world, from iTunes:
Also,
my 3 CD albums, "King David's Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel", "An
Ancient Lyre" & "Lyre of the Levites" are available anywhere in the
world from CD Baby:
See this article by Armand D'Angour for an update on current insights and evidence that may help scholars reconstruct the sound of ancient Greek music:http://www.bbc.com/news/business-24611454. There is a link of a brief audio clip early in the article.
How did ancient Greek music sound?
By Armand D'Angour .
Image caption
Greek theatre used music with the drama. But what did it sound like?
Media captionDr David Creese plays a song originally found on stone inscriptions from ancient Greece on an eight-string "canon" instrument
The
music of ancient Greece, unheard for thousands of years, is being
brought back to life by Armand D'Angour, a musician and tutor in
classics at Oxford University. He describes what his research is
discovering.
"Suppose that 2,500 years from now all that survived
of the Beatles songs were a few of the lyrics, and all that remained of
Mozart and Verdi's operas were the words and not the music.
Imagine
if we could then reconstruct the music, rediscover the instruments that
played them, and hear the words once again in their proper setting, how
exciting that would be.
This is about to happen with the classic texts of ancient Greece.
It
is often forgotten that the writings at the root of Western literature -
the epics of Homer, the love-poems of Sappho, the tragedies of
Sophocles and Euripides - were all, originally, music.
Dating
from around 750 to 400 BC, they were composed to be sung in whole or
part to the accompaniment of the lyre, reed-pipes, and percussion
instruments.
Finding the pitch
But
isn't the music lost beyond recovery? The answer is no. The rhythms -
perhaps the most important aspect of music - are preserved in the words
themselves, in the patterns of long and short syllables.
The
instruments are known from descriptions, paintings and archaeological
remains, which allow us to establish the timbres and range of pitches
they produced.
Image caption
Time travellers: Academics are reconstructing the lost sound of ancient Greece
And now, new revelations about ancient Greek music
have emerged from a few dozen ancient documents inscribed with a vocal
notation devised around 450 BC, consisting of alphabetic letters and
signs placed above the vowels of the Greek words.
The Greeks had
worked out the mathematical ratios of musical intervals - an octave is
2:1, a fifth 3:2, a fourth 4:3, and so on.
The notation gives an
accurate indication of relative pitch: letter A at the top of the scale,
for instance, represents a musical note a fifth higher than N halfway
down the alphabet. Absolute pitch can be worked out from the vocal
ranges required to sing the surviving tunes.
While the documents,
found on stone in Greece and papyrus in Egypt, have long been known to
classicists - some were published as early as 1581 - in recent decades
they have been augmented by new finds. Dating from around 300 BC to 300
AD, these fragments offer us a clearer view than ever before of the
music of ancient Greece.
The research project that I have embarked on, funded by the British Academy, has the aim of bringing this music back to life.
Folk music
But it is important to realise that ancient rhythmical and melodic norms were different from our own.
Image copyrightReutersImage caption
Temple of Poseidon: The music might have sounded unfamiliar to modern ears
We must set aside our Western preconceptions. A
better parallel is non-Western folk traditions, such as those of India
and the Middle East.
Instrumental practices that derive from
ancient Greek traditions still survive in areas of Sardinia and Turkey,
and give us an insight into the sounds and techniques that created the
experience of music in ancient times.
So what did Greek music sound like?
Some of the surviving melodies are immediately
attractive to a modern ear. One complete piece, inscribed on a marble
column and dating from around 200 AD, is a haunting short song of four
lines composed by Seikilos. The words of the song may be translated:
While you're alive, shine: never let your mood decline. We've a brief span of life to spend: Time necessitates an end.
The notation is unequivocal. It marks a regular rhythmic beat, and indicates a very important principle of ancient composition.
In
ancient Greek the voice went up in pitch on certain syllables and fell
on others (the accents of ancient Greek indicate pitch, not stress). The
contours of the melody follow those pitches here, and fairly
consistently in all the documents.
Tuning up
But
one shouldn't assume that the Greeks' idea of tuning was identical to
ours. Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD provides precise mathematical ratios
for numerous different scale-tunings, including one that he says sounds
"foreign and homespun".
Dr David Creese of the University of
Newcastle has constructed an eight-string "canon" (a zither-like
instrument) with movable bridges.
When he plays two versions of
the Seikilos tune using Ptolemy's tunings, the second immediately
strikes us as exotic, more like Middle Eastern than Western music.
Image copyrightCopenhagen musuemImage caption
The epitaph of Seikilos is carved on stone. Pic: National Museum of Denmark
The earliest musical document that survives
preserves a few bars of sung music from a play, Orestes by the
fifth-century BC tragedian Euripides. It may even be music Euripides
himself wrote.
Music of this period used subtle intervals such as
quarter-tones. We also find that the melody doesn't conform to the word
pitches at all.
Euripides was a notoriously avant-garde composer,
and this indicates one of the ways in which his music was heard to be
wildly modern: it violated the long-held norms of Greek folk singing by
neglecting word-pitch.
However, we can recognise that Euripides
adopted another principle. The words "I lament" and "I beseech" are set
to a falling, mournful-sounding cadence; and when the singer says "my
heart leaps wildly", the melody leaps as well. This was ancient Greek
soundtrack music.
And it was received with great excitement in the
Greek world. The historian Plutarch tells a moving story about the
thousands of Athenian soldiers held prisoner in roasting Syracusan
quarries after a disastrous campaign in 413 BC. Those few who were able
to sing Euripides' latest songs were able to earn some food and drink.
What about the greatest of ancient poet-singers, Homer himself?
Homer
tells us that bards of his period sang to a four-stringed lyre, called a
"phorminx". Those strings will probably have been tuned to the four
notes that survived at the core of the later Greek scale systems.
Professor
Martin West of Oxford has reconstructed the singing of Homer on that
basis. The result is a fairly monotonous tune, which probably explains
why the tradition of Homeric recitation without melody emerged from what
was originally a sung composition.
"What song the Sirens sang,"
is the first of the questions listed by the 17th Century English writer,
Sir Thomas Browne, as "puzzling, though not beyond all conjecture".
"The reconstruction of ancient Greek music is bringing us a step closer to answering the question."
Chap. 4: p. 105 discusses the epic poems (Iliadand Odyssey) attributed to Homer; these poems were sung. Homer is believed to have been a "bard", a singer of songs and of epics like these.
Chap. 4, pp. 123-124 (fig. 4.28) ancient Greek music (archaic age)
Lyric poetry (like that of Sappho)--sung to music of a lyre. These were short poems (songs ) of nature, love, etc. See the lyric poems on pp. 123-124. The term "Lyric poetry" originates from such ancient poems that were designed to be sung to the music of the lyre.
Here
is a YouTube of a bit more modernized presentation of the same
tune--with the Greek lyrics (from an actual ancient epitaph) and an
English translation below the YouTube:
Lyre 'n' Rhapsody - Oson Zeis (Epitaph of Seikilos/Ancient Greek Music), 4:34
Seikilos Epitaph (1st C. A. D.)
Oson Zeis
Ancient Greek
Ὅσον ζῇς, φαίνου,
μηδὲν ὅλως σὺ λυποῦ•
πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐστὶ τὸ ζῆν,
τὸ τέλος ὁ xρόνος ἀπαιτεῖ.
Modern Greek
Όσο ζεις να λάμπεις, καθόλου μη λυπάσαι
Λίγη είναι η ζωή, το τέλος ο χρόνος απαιτεί.
English
As long as you live, shine
Feel no grief at all
Life is short
Life demands its toll
Music by
Lyre 'n' Rhapsody
Music by
Lyre 'n' Rhapsody
Aliki Markantonatou- Composition, Archean Lyre, Vocals
Areti Miggou- Percussions, arrangement-performance on Daouli and Udu, Vocals
Athena Chioti- Vocals
Guest
Dianna Deligianni- Vocals, Vocal Composition on track 6 (Seikilos)
Nenad Radosevic- Audio Engineering/ Production
Video by
Andreas Markovic
Music and Video Production By
Sound Arch Productions http://www.sound-arch.com
https://youtu.be/8Vkcolt-nmU
If
you go to the following link, please scroll down to the very bottom and
click on the last video (time 7:19) called "Ancient Greek Music". Some interesting information appears on screen while you listen (4:05):
The history of Greece and Rome can be looked at in two different ways. It can be seen as forming a single whole, all the way from the emergence of the Greek city state (the polis) in the eighth century BC to the enormous expansion and eventual disintegration of the Roman Empire, a society which rested on Roman military and political power but whose culture, literature, and arts were truly Greco-Roman. It can also be seen as two separate stories: first, the rise of the Greek polis from poverty and obscurity to the self-confidence splendors of the 'classical' period in the fifth century BC, its extension over great areas of Asia by the conquest of Alexander, and its eventual subjugation by the Roman legions. Then there is the second story: the small city of Rome fighting its way to supremacy, first in Italy, and then in the whole of the Mediterranean basin; losing its republican constitution and becoming an empire; conquering and exploiting the cities and kingdoms of Greece, and ruling the world until the barbarians gradually became too strong and transformed the empire into a number of states which rested on quite different practices and beliefs. Each of these two perspectives contains some important truth (p. 1, The Oxford history of Greece and the Hellenistic world, Boardman, et. al).
How The Rosetta Stone Unlocked Hieroglyphics, 2:45
Thanks to the British Museum! Go help choose their first YouTube series: https://youtu.be/luXVd6M-wQM
The Rosetta Stone is one of the most famous archaeological finds in history: and it was the key to cracking Egyptian hieroglyphics. And while it took scholars years to work it out, there was one clue in there that helped unlock everything that followed. After hours in the British Museum, I went to explain...
How did the Egyptians grapple with mortality? Is there an afterlife, and does this life impact it? Explore Egyptian myths of gods and goddesses, and consider the great achievements that resulted.
What were the Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean cultures?
Cycladic civilization (also known as Cycladic culture or The Cycladic period) is an Early Bronze Age culture of the Cyclades, Greece, in the Aegean Sea, spanning the period from approximately 3200–2000 BC.[1]
The name "Cyclades" derives from the islands that form a circle ("kyklos" in Greek) around the sacred island of Delos, in the Aegean Sea. Greek mythology mentions that the Cyclades were created by Poseidon, which transfigured the Nymphs Cyclades into islets when they angered him. The Cycladic civilization flourished in the 3rd millennium BC, mostly because of the strategic geographical position of the island complex as well as of their mineral richness.
Every island presents its special characteristics and its own beauty; however, all of them share the fascinating coexistence of blue and white in the Cycladic architecture, the endless sandy beaches, the rocky landscapes the traditional settlements, the blue color of the sky and the Aegean Sea, the wind and the blinding sunshine.
https://youtu.be/umNf888sVc8
The significant Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Cycladic culture is best known for its schematic flat female idols carved out of the islands' pure white marble centuries before the great Middle Bronze Age ("Minoan") culture arose in Crete, to the south. These figures have been stolen from burials to satisfy the Cycladic antiquities market since the early 20th century. Only about 40% of the 1,400 figurines found are of known origin, since looters destroyed evidence of the rest.
A distinctive Neolithic culture amalgamating Anatolian and mainland Greek elements arose in the western Aegean before 4000 BC, based on emmer wheat and wild-type barley, sheep and goats, pigs, and tuna that were apparently speared from small boats (Rutter). Excavated sites include Saliagos and Kephala (on Keos), which showed signs of copper-working. Each of the small Cycladic islands could support no more than a few thousand people, though Late Cycladic boat models show that fifty oarsmen could be assembled from the scattered communities (Rutter). When the highly organized palace-culture of Crete arose, the islands faded into insignificance, with the exception of Delos, which retained its archaic reputation as a sanctuary through the period of Classical Greek civilization (see Delian League).
The chronology of Cycladic civilization is divided into three major sequences: Early, Middle and Late Cycladic. The early period, beginning c. 3000 BC segued into the archaeologically murkier Middle Cycladic c. 2500 BC. By the end of the Late Cycladic sequence (c. 2000 BC) there was essential convergence between Cycladic and Minoan civilization.
There is some tension between the dating systems used for Cycladic civilization, one "cultural" and one "chronological". Attempts to link them lead to varying combinations; the most common are outlined below:
Minoan
The Minoan civilization was an Aegean Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and other Aegean islands such as Santorini and flourished from approximately 3650 to 1400 BCE.[1] It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of British archaeologist Arthur Evans. Will Durant referred to it as "the first link in the European chain."[2]
The Minoans!!! Ancient Civilization of Crete, Greece in 3D High Definition, 3:59
The Minoan civilization was an Aegean Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and other Aegean islands and flourished from approximately 3650 to 1400 BC.[1] It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of British archaeologist Arthur Evans. Historian Will Durant referred to it as "the first link in the European chain."[2]
It was not until roughly 5000 BC in the late Neolithic period, that the first signs of advanced agriculture appeared in the Aegean, marking the first signs of civilization. The term "Minoan" refers to the mythic King Minos. Minos was associated in Greek myth with the labyrinth and the minotaur, which Evans identified with the site at Knossos, the largest Bronze Age Minoan site. The poet Homer recorded a tradition that Crete once had 90 cities.[3]
The Minoans were primarily a mercantile people engaged in overseas trade. Their pottery provides the best means of dating. As traders and artists, their cultural influence reached far beyond the island of Crete — throughout the Cyclades, to Egypt's Old Kingdom, to copper-bearing Cyprus, Canaan, and the Levantine coasts beyond, and to Anatolia. Some of its best art is preserved in the city of Akrotiri, on the island of Santorini, very near the Thera eruption.
Though we cannot read their language (Linear A), and there is much dispute, it is generally assumed there was little internal armed conflict in Minoan Crete itself, until the following Mycenaean period. The armed Mycenaeans or the eruption at Thera are two popular theories for the eventual demise of Minoan civilization around 1,400 BC.
https://youtu.be/P3Ez8drCIvc
There is recent stone tool evidence that humans – either prehuman hominins or early modern humans – reached the island of Crete perhaps as early as 130,000 years ago; however, the evidence for the first anatomically modern human presence dates to 10,000–12,000 years ago.[3][4] It was not until 5000 BCE in the Neolithic period that the first signs of advanced agriculture appeared in the Aegean, marking the beginning of civilization.
Mycenaean
The "Palace" and Grave Circle A at Mycenae, c. 1600-1100 B.C.E., 4:12
Speakers: Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
More free lessons at: http://www.khanacademy.org/video?v=S7...
https://youtu.be/S7HJB0PtiW0
Mycenaean Greece refers to the last phase of the Bronze Age in Ancient Greece (c. 1600–1100 BCE). It represents the first advanced civilization in mainland Greece, with its palatial states, urban organization, works of art and writing system.[1]
Mycenaean Greece perished with the collapse of Bronze-Age culture in the eastern Mediterranean. Various theories have been proposed for the end of this civilization, among them the Dorian invasion or activities connected to the “Sea People”. Additional theories such as natural disasters and climatic changes have been also suggested. The Mycenaean period became the historical setting of much ancient Greek literature and mythology, including the Trojan Epic Cycle.[9]
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-science...
Homer's "Odyssey" recounts the adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus during his journey home from the Trojan War. Though some parts may be based on real events, the encounters with monsters, giants and magicians are considered to be complete fiction. But might there be more to these myths than meets the eye? Matt Kaplan explains why there might be more reality behind the "Odyssey" than many realize.
Lesson by Matt Kaplan, animation by Mike Schell.
ORIGINAL TRANSLATION A 1-25
Cherish the wrath in song. Goddess. Of Peleus' son Achilleus'
destructiveness. The tens of thousands of Achaians whose pains were set into place.
Many strong souled heroes, to Hades gone before there time.
They then the spoils and tools of war beseech
birds of prey of all kinds. This be Zeus' everlasting council.
5
Out, should we not then, with the first that set them apart in rivalry
Atreides, also king of the high council of men, and Zeus-like Achilleus.
Who shall we say of the Gods set common rivalry upon both warriors?
Leto's and Zeus' son: Since then, ruling lameness
through disease, upon the army he let loose this evil. Causing the tribes to perish.
10
It was pointless for Chryseus to prepare prayers
for Atreide. While then coming quickly around the ships of the Achaians
in a fury, he had also brought for his daughter the fixed ransom.
With wreaths in hand as well as far-shooting Apollo's
golden high sceptre. And releasing it always upon the Achaians.
15
The Atreides' then naturally were two. Commanders of the people.
‹‹Atreides and also you other Achaians with the well-wrought greaves.
To you may the Gods grant, them who have bed-chambers on Olympus,
complete destruction of Priam's city. Blessing your home-coming afterwards.
The child of mine release friends. The ransom accept.
20
Regard with awe Zeus' son far-shooting Apollo.››
There the other Achaians of which all shouted out
to accept in reverence the holy and pure ranson.
But not Atreides Agamemnon who chose to delight in anger.
Yet badly he discharged.
Holding the highest of word he spoke:
https://youtu.be/kSDO9FnWFWA
When he lived, as well as whether he lived at all, is unknown. Herodotus estimates that Homer lived no more than 400 years before his own time, which would place him at around 850 BCE or later.[1]
Pseudo-Herodotus estimates that he was born 622 years before Xerxes I placed a pontoon bridge over the Hellespont in 480 BCE, which would place him at 1102 BCE, 168 years after the fall of Troy in 1270 BCE. These two end points are 252 years apart, representative of the differences in dates given by the other sources.[2]
The importance of Homer to the ancient Greeks is described in Plato's Republic, which portrays him as the protos didaskalos, "first teacher", of the tragedians, the hegemon paideias, "leader of Greek culture", and the ten Hellada pepaideukon, "teacher of [all] Greece".[3]
Homer's works, which are about fifty percent speeches,[4] provided models in persuasive speaking and writing that were emulated throughout the ancient and medieval Greek worlds.[5]
Fragments of Homer account for nearly half of all identifiable Greek literary papyrus finds in Egypt.[6]
The Greeks of the sixth and early fifth centuries BCE understood by the works of "Homer", generally, "the whole body of heroic tradition as embodied in hexameter verse".[59]
Other works, such as the corpus of Homeric Hymns, the comic mini-epic Batrachomyomachia ("The Frog-Mouse War"), and the Margites, were also attributed to him.
Herodotus mentions both the Iliad and the Odyssey as works of Homer.[60]
He quotes a few lines from them both, which are the same in today’s editions.
The passage quoted from the Iliad mentions that Paris stopped at Sidon before bringing Helen to Troy.
From the fact that the Cypria has Paris going directly to Troy from Sparta, Herodotus concludes that it was not written by Homer. The doubting process had begun.
There he won with a hymnos and took away the prize of a tripod, which he dedicated to the Muses of Mount Helicon, where he first began with aoide, “song.”
One of the vitae, the “Certamen”, picks up this theme. Homer and Hesiod were contemporaries, it says.
They both attended the funeral games of Amphidamas, conducted by his son, Ganyctor, and both contended in the contest of sophia, “wit.”
In it, one was required to ask a question of the other, who must reply in verse.
Unable to decide, the judge had them each recite from their poems.
Hesiod quoted Works and Days; Homer, ‘Iliad’, both as they are now, but neither poem can have been the modern.
Hesiod cannot have described beforehand the very event in which he was participating.
The Iliad is supposed to have been written already.
It is not called that, however. The victory was given to Hesiod because his poem was about peace, but Homer’s, about war.
After the contest, Homer continued his wandering, composing and reciting epic poetry.
The “Certamen” mentions the Thebais, quoting the first line, which differs but little from the first line of the Iliad as it is now.
It had 7000 lines, as did the subsequent Epigoni, with a similar first line.
The “Certamen” qualifies the attribution to Homer with “some say ….” Subsequently he wrote the epitaph for Midas’ tomb, for which he got a silver bowl, and then the Odyssey in 12,000 lines (today’s is 12110).
He had already written the Iliad in 15,500 lines (today’s is 15693). Just these three epics alone are 34,500 lines, word-for-word, we are asked to believe, without reference to the rest of the prodigious Epic Cycle.
Then he went to Athens, and to Argos, where he delivered lines 559-568 of Book 2 of the Iliad with the addition of two more not in the current version.
Subsequently he went to Delos, where he delivered the Hymn to Apollo, and was made a citizen of all the Ionian states. Going finally to Ios he slipped on some clay and suffered a fatal fall.
The term “Epic Cycle” (Epikos Kuklos) refers to a series of ten epic poems written by different authors purporting to tell an interconnected sequence of stories covering all Greek mythology. Themes were selected from them for Greek drama as well. The name appears in the Chrestomathia of Eutychius Proclus, a synopsis of Greek literature, known only through further abridged fragments written by Photios I of Constantinople. No etymology was given. Evelyn-White hypothesizes that they were “written round” the Iliad and Odyssey and had a “clearly imitative” structure.[62] In this view Homer need have written no more than the Iliad, or the Iliad and Odyssey, with the Homeridae responsible for all the rest. The unity of theme and structure came from the close association of the authors in the guild or school.
Proclus does not subscribe to the authorships of the “Certamen”. He provides the names of other authors where they were available in his sources. These 10 epics, of which only Photius’ abridgements of Proclus’ synopses survive, and scattered fragments of other authors in other times, are as follows.
The Theban Cycle consists of three epics:[64] “Story of Oedipus” (Oidipodeia), 6600 lines by Cinaethon of Sparta, floruit 764 BCE;[65] “Thebaid” (Thebais), attributed to Homer;[66] and “Epigoni (Epigonoi), attributed to Homer.[67] The Trojan Cycle consists of six epics and the Iliad and Odyssey, eight in all:[62] “Cyprian Lays” (kupria) in 11 books, attributed to either Homer, Stasinus, a younger contemporary of Homer, or one Hegesias;[68] “Aethiopis” (Aithiopis) in five books, sequent of the Iliad, which is a sequent of Cypria, by Arctinus;[69] “Little Iliad” (Ilias Mikra) in four books by Lesches of Mitylene, floruit 660 BCE;[70] “Sack of Ilium” (Iliou Persis) by Arctinus;[71] “Returns” (Nostoi) by Agias of Troezen,[72] floruit 740 BCE; and “Telegony” (Telegonia), by Eugammon of Cyrene, floruit 567 BCE.
What is a polis and how did poleis shape Greek culture?
A basic documentary on the role of the Polis in ancient Greek society.
https://youtu.be/6r3kY4p5beY
The Ancient Greek city-state developed during the Archaic period as the ancestor of city, state, and citizenship and persisted (though with decreasing influence) well into Roman times, when the equivalent Latin word was civitas, also meaning "citizenhood", while municipium applied to a non-sovereign local entity.
The term "city-state", which originated in English (alongside the German Stadtstaat), does not fully translate the Greek term. The poleis were not like other primordial ancient city-states like Tyre or Sidon, which were ruled by a king or a small oligarchy, but rather political entities ruled by their bodies of citizens. The traditional view of archaeologists—that the appearance of urbanization at excavation sites could be read as a sufficient index for the development of a polis—was criticised by François Polignac in 1984[1][a] and has not been taken for granted in recent decades: the polis of Sparta, for example, was established in a network of villages. The term polis, which in archaic Greece meant "city", changed with the development of the governance center in the city to signify "state" (which included its surrounding villages). Finally, with the emergence of a notion of citizenship among landowners, it came to describe the entire body of citizens. The ancient Greeks did not always refer to Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and other poleis as such; they often spoke instead of the Athenians, Lacedaemonians, Thebans and so on. The body of citizens came to be the most important meaning of the term polis in ancient Greece.
The Greek term that specifically meant the totality of urban buildings and spaces is ἄστυ (pronounced [ásty]).
The polis in Ancient Greek philosophy
Plato analyzes the polis in The Republic, whose Greek title, Πολιτεία (Politeia), itself derives from the word polis. The best form of government of the polis for Plato is the one that leads to the common good. The philosopher king is the best ruler because, as a philosopher, he is acquainted with the Form of the Good. In Plato's analogy of the ship of state, the philosopher king steers the polis, as if it were a ship, in the best direction.
Books II–IV of The Republic are concerned with Plato addressing the makeup of an ideal polis. In The Republic, Socrates is concerned with the two underlying principles of any society: mutual needs and differences in aptitude. Starting from these two principles, Socrates deals with the economic structure of an ideal polis. According to Plato, there are five main economic classes of any polis: producers, merchants, sailors/shipowners, retail traders, and wage earners. Along with the two principles and five economic classes, there are four virtues. The four virtues of a "just city" include, wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice. With all of these principles, classes, and virtues, it was believed that a "just city" (polis) would exist.
Archaic and classical poleis
The basic and indicating elements of a polis are:
Self-governance, autonomy, and independence (city-state)
Agora: the social hub and financial marketplace, on and around a centrally located, large open space
Greek urban planning and architecture, public, religious, and private (see Hippodamian plan)
Temples, altars, and sacred precincts: one or more are dedicated to the poliouchos, the patron deity of the city; each polis kept its own particular festivals and customs (Political religion, as opposed to the individualized religion of later antiquity). Priests and priestesses, although often drawn from certain families by tradition, did not form a separate collegiality or class; they were ordinary citizens who on certain occasions were called to perform certain functions.
Political life: it revolved around the sovereign Ekklesia (the assembly of all adult male citizens for deliberation and voting), the standing boule and other civic or judicial councils, the archons and other officials or magistrates elected either by vote or by lot, clubs, etc., and sometimes punctuated by stasis (civil strife between parties, factions or socioeconomic classes, e.g., aristocrats, oligarchs, democrats, tyrants, the wealthy, the poor, large, or small landowners, etc.). They practised direct democracy.
Publication of state functions: laws, decrees, and major fiscal accounts were published, and criminal and civil trials were also held in public.
Synoecism, conurbation: Absorption of nearby villages and countryside, and the incorporation of their tribes into the substructure of the polis. Many of a polis' citizens lived in the suburbs or countryside. The Greeks regarded the polis less as a territorial grouping than as a religious and political association: while the polis would control territory and colonies beyond the city itself, the polis would not simply consist of a geographical area. Most cities were composed of several tribes or phylai, which were in turn composed of phratries (common-ancestry lineages), and finally génea (extended families).
Social classes and citizenship: Dwellers of the polis were generally divided into four types of inhabitants, with status typically determined by birth:
Citizens with full legal and political rights—that is, free adult men born legitimately of citizen parents. They had the right to vote, be elected into office, and bear arms, and the obligation to serve when at war.
Citizens without formal political rights but with full legal rights: the citizens' female relatives and underage children, whose political rights and interests were meant to be represented by their adult male relatives.
Citizens of other poleis who chose to reside elsewhere (the metics, μέτοικοι, métoikoi, literally "transdwellers"): though free-born and possessing full rights in their place of origin, they had full legal rights but no political rights in their place of residence. Metics could not vote, be elected to office, bear arms, or serve in war. They otherwise had full personal and property rights, albeit subject to taxation.
Slaves: chattel in full possession of their owner, and with no privileges other than those that their owner would grant (or revoke) at will.
What does kouros mean?
A kouros (Ancient Greek: κοῦρος, plural kouroi) is the modern term[1] given to free-standing ancient Greek sculptures which first appear in the Archaic period in Greece and represent nude male youths.
Marble Statue of a Kouros (New York Kouros), c. 590–580 B.C.E. (Attic, archaic), Naxian marble, 194.6 x 51.6 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
More free lessons at: http://www.khanacademy.org/video?v=Ax...
https://youtu.be/Ax8vcxRtmHY
In Ancient Greek kouros means "youth, boy, especially of noble rank." The term kouros, was first proposed for what were previously thought to be depictions of Apollo by V. I. Leonardos in 1895 in relation to the youth from Keratea,[2] and adopted by Henri Lechat as a generic term for the standing male figure in 1904.[3] Such statues are found across the Greek-speaking world, the preponderance of these were found in sanctuaries of Apollo with more than one hundred from the sanctuary of Apollo Ptoios, Boeotia, alone.[4] These free-standing sculptures were typically marble, but also the form is rendered in limestone, wood, bronze, ivory and terracotta. They are typically life-sized, though early colossal examples are up to 3 meters tall.
The female sculptural counterpart of the kouros is the kore.
Who or what inspired the rise of democracy in Athens?
The Cyclades
Minoan Culture in Crete
Minoan Painting
Minoan Religion
One Goddess or Many?
The Palace of Minos
The Legend of Minos and the Minotaur
Mycenaean Culture on the Mainland
The Homeric Epics
The Ancient Greek Hero (Hours 6-11): The Hero in Epic and Iconography | HarvardX on edX |About Video
1:44
The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours (Hours 6-11): Signs of the Hero in Epic and Iconography
Focusing on the interaction of Homeric epic and the visual arts, this is the second of five modules on the Ancient Greek Hero as portrayed in classical literature, song, performance, art, and cult.
HUM 2.2x. The second of five modules in The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours, “Hours 6-11: Signs of the Hero in Epic and Iconography” explores the interactions of text and image in a culture where the “text” is not a written document but a live performance and where the “image” is not based on anything that is written down but exists as a free-standing medium of the visual arts, expressing the same myths that are being systematically expressed by the medium of Homeric poetry. Almost all of the images we will be studying are samples of a form of vase painting known as the “Black Figure” technique. We will practice how to “read” such a medium, analyzing what it tells us about ancient Greek heroes like Achilles, in conjunction with our “reading” the performance tradition of the Homeric Iliad itself.
It is important to keep in mind, as we read these images and texts together, that the myths expressed by these media were meant to be taken very seriously. In the ancient Greek song culture, myth was not mere fiction. Just the opposite: myth was a formulation of eternal cosmic truths! So, the myths conveyed by the images of the paintings we will study are just as “truthful,” from the standpoint of ancient Greek song culture, as are the related myths conveyed by the Homeric Iliad. We need to read both the texts and the images of these myths as an accurate formulation of an integral system of thought the expresses most clearly and authoritatively all those things that really matter in life.
Additionally, this module foregrounds the historical fact, explored more fully in the third module (“Hours 12-15: The Cult of Heroes”), that the heroes who were characters in the myths of ancient Greek epic, lyric, and other verbal media were at the same time worshipped as superhuman forces by the communities where their bodies were thought to be hidden from outsiders. When we take for example the Homeric Odyssey, we find that the main hero of this epic, Odysseus, was a cult hero, not only an epic hero. And the agenda that center on the idea of a cult hero, like the prospect of immortalization after death, can be clearly seen in the overall plot of the Odyssey, especially in the memorable scene where the hero experiences his homecoming to Ithaca at the same moment when the sun rises as he wakes from a mystical overnight sleep while sailing homeward.
See other courses in this series: Module 1, “Hours 1-5: Epic and Lyric” Module 3, “Hours 12-15: Cult of Heroes” Module 4, “Hours 16-21: The Hero in Tragedy” Module 5, “Hours 22-24: Plato and Beyond”
Although the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war, the Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege; the earlier events, such as the gathering of warriors for the siege, the cause of the war, and related concerns tend to appear near the beginning.
Then the epic narrative takes up events prophesied for the future, such as Achilles' looming death and the sack of Troy, prefigured and alluded to more and more vividly, so that when it reaches an end, the poem has told a more or less complete tale of the Trojan War.
The Iliad is paired with something of a sequel, the Odyssey, also attributed to Homer. Along with the Odyssey, the Iliad is among the oldest extant works of Western literature, and its written version is usually dated to around the eighth century BC.[2] Recent statistical modelling based on language evolution gives a date of 760–710 BC.[3] In the modern vulgate (the standard accepted version), the Iliad contains 15,693 lines; it is written in Homeric Greek, a literary amalgam of Ionic Greek and other dialects.
It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second oldest extant work of Western literature, the Iliad being the oldest. Scholars believe it was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the Greek coastal region of Anatolia.[2]
The poem mainly focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus (known as Ulysses in Roman myths) and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War.[3] In his absence, it is assumed he has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors, the Mnesteres (Greek: Μνηστῆρες) or Proci, who compete for Penelope's hand in marriage.
It continues to be read in the Homeric Greek and translated into modern languages around the world. Many scholars believe that the original poem was composed in an oral tradition by an aoidos (epic poet/singer), perhaps a rhapsode (professional performer), and was more likely intended to be heard than read.[2]
The details of the ancient oral performance, and the story's conversion to a written work inspire continual debate among scholars. The Odyssey was written in a poetic dialect of Greek—a literary amalgam of Aeolic Greek, Ionic Greek, and other Ancient Greek dialects—and comprises 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter.[4][5] Among the most noteworthy elements of the text are its non-linear plot, and the influence on events of choices made by women and serfs, besides the actions of fighting men. In the English language as well as many others, the word odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage.
The Odyssey has a lost sequel, the Telegony, which was not written by Homer. It was usually attributed in antiquity to Cinaethon of Sparta. In one source, the Telegony was said to have been stolen from Musaeus by Eugamon or Eugammon of Cyrene (see Cyclic poets).
As the battle rages, Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) attempts to rally support in Sparta for her husband. The story is framed by a voice-over narrative by the Spartan soldier Dilios (David Wenham). Through this narrative technique, various fantastical creatures are introduced, placing 300 within the genre of historical fantasy.
300 was released in both conventional and IMAX theaters in the United States on March 9, 2007, and on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and HD DVD on July 31, 2007. The film received mixed reviews, receiving acclaim for its original visuals and style, but criticism for favoring visuals over characterization and its depiction of the ancient Persians in Iran, a characterization which some had deemed racist; however, the film was a box office success, grossing over $450 million, with the film's opening being the 24th largest in box office history at the time. A sequel, 300: Rise of an Empire, which is based on Miller's unpublished graphic novel prequel Xerxes, was released on March 7, 2014.
https://youtu.be/QkWS9PiXekE
The Sacred Sanctuaries
The sacred geography of ancient Greece, 6:49
The sacred geography of Ancient Greece.
The ancient Greek wised men claimed that the ancient Greek sanctuaries and cities were not founded in random places, but there was a mathematical and geometrical link between them. This claim meant to be proved nowadays by the use of modern resources. The equal distances between cities and sanctuaries that continually are being discovered, is the evidence that ancient Greece is a vast geometric world. The huge question is how the ancient Greek succeeded to use perfectly such a technology without the modern tools we have today? Which is the lost knowledge that it hasn' t been reached nowadays? A big thanks to my dear friend Kassandreia for the translation in English Music song : Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene 2
https://youtu.be/fS4MeCZJ4XI
Olympia and the Olympic Games
The ancient origins of the Olympics - Armand D'Angour, 3:19
View full lesson:
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-ancient-origins-of-the-olympics-armand-d-angour#review
Thousands of years in the making, the Olympics began as part of a religious festival honoring the Greek god Zeus in the rural Greek town of Olympia.
But how did it become the greatest show of sporting excellence on earth? Armand D’Angour explains the evolution of the Olympics.
Lesson by Armand D'Angour, animation by Diogo Viegas.
A man and woman are working in a government laboratory when the man discovers that a fellow scientist has perished during time travel. The female scientist offers to go in his place for the purpose of warning the Athenians of their doomed democracy. When she arrives in Ancient Athens, she meets an Athenian man whom she attempts to warn. Meanwhile, they discuss the differences between American and Athenian democracies before the female scientist heads back to the future, only to meet her own doom.
https://youtu.be/7hsJQTndbCM
Female Sculpture and the Worship of Athena
Athenian Pottery
Oakley: Athenian Potters and Painters, 2:14
Classical studies professor John Oakley previews the upcoming Athenian Potters and Painters conference as well as the complementary exhibition at the Muscarelle Museum of Art.
4:40 Consider these two great epics of heroes and choices, along with their virtues and flaws. Dip into these bedrock stories of the western tradition.
To meet the overall objectives we will cover the following topics in Part 1:
Minoan culture
The Minoan civilization flourished on the island of Crete from 2700 B.C. to 1450 B.C. Most historians believe it was destroyed by the Mycenaeans from the Greek mainland. The Mycenaean civilization consisted of powerful monarchies that flourished between 1600 B.C. and 1100 B.C. After the collapse of this civilization, Greece entered a period known as the Dark Age. Food production decreased, and the population declined. At the same time, Greeks sailed extensively on the Aegean Sea and settled on islands and in Asia Minor. Iron replaced bronze in the making of tools and weapons. During the eighth century, the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, and Homer wrote his famous epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, chronicling the Trojan War.
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/HUM/111/1116/Week3-1116/Lecture2/player.html Alexander and the Hellenistic Era
http://gmicksmithsocialstudies.blogspot.com/2012/07/world-history-i-chapter-4-ancient_5032.html
Question 1: Multiple Choice
Why did the Neolithic era witness increased pottery creation?
Given Answer:
Fragile pottery was impractical for Paleolithic hunter-gatherers.
Correct Answer:
Fragile pottery was impractical for Paleolithic hunter-gatherers.
Question 2: Multiple Choice
The Ise shrine is razed and then rebuilt every 20 years to
Given Answer:
ritually celebrate renewal.
Correct Answer:
ritually celebrate renewal.
Question 3: Multiple Choice
According to the most recent discoveries, Stonehenge was constructed as a
Given Answer:
burial ground.
Correct Answer:
burial ground.
Question 4: Multiple Choice
In the Zuni emergence tale, the Pueblo people originated in
Given Answer:
the womb of Mother Earth.
Correct Answer:
the womb of Mother Earth.
Question 5: Multiple Choice
Japanese emperors claimed divinity as
Given Answer:
direct descendants of the sun goddess.
Correct Answer:
direct descendants of the sun goddess.
Question 6: Multiple Choice
Why is the Epic of Gilgamesh a first in known literary works?
Given Answer:
It is the first to confront the idea of death
Correct Answer:
It is the first to confront the idea of death
Question 7: Multiple Choice
What classic struggle do Gilgamesh and Enkidu represent?
Given Answer:
Nature versus civilization
Correct Answer:
Nature versus civilization
Question 8: Multiple Choice
What were ziggurats most likely designed to resemble?
Given Answer:
A mountain
Correct Answer:
A mountain
Question 9: Multiple Choice
Which of the following differentiates the Hebrews from other Near Eastern cultures?
Given Answer:
They worshipped a single god
Correct Answer:
They worshipped a single god
Question 10: Multiple Choice
As noted in the chapter's "Continuity and Change' section, what most distinguishes Mesopotamia from Egypt?
Given Answer:
The Egyptians had a more limited form of writing
Correct Answer:
The Egyptians were united by a more stable succession of rulers
3 The Stability of Ancient Egypt FLOOD AND SUN 67
The Nile and Its Culture 68
Egyptian Religion: Cyclical Harmony 70
Pictorial Formulas in Egyptian Art 71
The Old Kingdom 74
The Stepped Pyramid at Saqqara 74
Three Pyramids at Giza 75
Monumental Royal Sculpture: Perfection and Eternity 78
The Sculpture of the Everyday 79
The Middle Kingdom at Thebes 81
Middle Kingdom Literature 81
Middle Kingdom Sculpture 81
The New Kingdom 83
Temple and Tomb Architecture and Their Rituals 83
Akhenaten and the Politics of Religion 87
The Return to Thebes and to Tradition 89
The Late Period, the Kushites, and the Fall of Egypt 91
The Kushites 92
Egypt Loses Its Independence 92
READINGS
3.1 from Memphis, “This It Is Said of Ptah” (ca. 2300 bce) 71
3.2 The Teachings of Khety (ca. 2040–1648 bce) 95
3.3 from Akhenaten’s Hymn to the Sun (14th century bce) 88
3.4 from a Book of Going Forth by Day 90
FEATURES
CONTEXT
Major Periods of Ancient Egyptian History 70
Some of the Principal Egyptian Gods 71
The Rosetta Stone 77
CLOSER LOOK Reading the Palette of Narmer 72
MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES Mummification 86
CONTINUITY & CHANGE Mutual Influence through Trade 93
4 The Aegean World and the Rise of Greece TRADE, WAR, AND VICTORY 97
The Cultures of the Aegean 97
The Cyclades 98
Minoan Culture in Crete 99
Mycenaean Culture on the Mainland 102
The Homeric Epics 105
The Iliad 107
The Odyssey 108
The Greek Polis 110
Behavior of the Gods 112
The Competing Poleis 113
The Sacred Sanctuaries 114
Male Sculpture and the Cult of the Body 118
Female Sculpture and the Worship of Athena 120
Athenian Pottery 121
The Poetry of Sappho 123
The Rise of Athenian Democracy 124
Toward Democracy: Solon and Pisistratus 124
Cleisthenes and the First Athenian Democracy 125
READINGS
4.1 from Homer, Iliad, Book 16 (ca. 750 bce) 128
4.1a from Homer, Iliad, Book 24 (ca. 750 bce) 108
4.2 from Homer, Odyssey, Book 9 (ca 725 bce) 130
4.2a from Homer, Odyssey, Book 4 (ca. 725 bce) 108
4.2b from Homer, Odyssey, Book 1 (ca. 725 bce) 109
4.3 from Hesiod, Works and Days (ca. 700 bce) 112
4.4 from Hesiod, Theogony (ca. 700 bce) 112
4.5 Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian Wars 113
4.6a–b Sappho, lyric poetry 124
4.7 from Aristotle’s Athenian Constitution 125
FEATURES
CONTEXT The Greek Gods 114
CLOSER LOOK The Classical Orders 116
CONTINUITY & CHANGE Egyptian and Greek Sculpture 126
Question 1: Multiple Choice
Why did the Egyptian sculptors idealize rulers in their sculptures?
Given Answer:
The rulers' perfection mirrored the perfection of the gods themselves
Correct Answer:
The rulers' perfection mirrored the perfection of the gods themselves
Question 2: Multiple Choice
Why are archaeologists so certain that Egypt had contact with other civilizations?
Given Answer:
Egyptian artifacts have been discovered throughout the Aegean, Mediterranean, and Mesopotamian worlds
Correct Answer:
Egyptian artifacts have been discovered throughout the Aegean, Mediterranean, and Mesopotamian worlds
Question 3: Multiple Choice
Which god did the Egyptians believe the king personified?
Given Answer:
Horus
Correct Answer:
Horus
Question 4: Multiple Choice
Why is Nebamun Hunting Birds a sort of visual pun?
Given Answer:
The artist depicts actions that reflect sexual procreation, not hunting
Correct Answer:
The artist depicts actions that reflect sexual procreation, not hunting
Question 5: Multiple Choice
The Egyptian word for sculpture is the same as the word for what other act?
Given Answer:
Giving birth
Correct Answer:
Giving birth
Question 6: Multiple Choice
Why is the palace at Knossos known as the House of the Double Axes?
Given Answer:
Representations of double axes decorated it
Correct Answer:
Representations of double axes decorated it
Question 7: Multiple Choice
What are the three orders of classical Greek architecture?
Given Answer:
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
Correct Answer:
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
Question 8: Multiple Choice
What is the Greek concept of arête?
Given Answer:
Being the best one can be
Correct Answer:
Being the best one can be
Question 9: Multiple Choice
The term ceramics comes from which of the following?
Given Answer:
Kerameikos, a cemetery in Athens
Correct Answer:
Kerameikos, a cemetery in Athens
Question 10: Multiple Choice
How do Minoan frescoes differ from Egyptian frescoes?
Given Answer:
Minoan frescoes appear on walls of homes and palaces, not tombs
Correct Answer:
Minoan frescoes appear on walls of homes and palaces, not tombs
Question 1: Multiple Choice
Why were Egyptians buried with Books of Going Forth by Day (Books of the Dead)?
Given Answer:
To help them survive the ritual of judgment
Correct Answer:
To help them survive the ritual of judgment
Question 2: Multiple Choice
Why did Egyptian artists paint human's faces, arms, legs, and feet in profile?
Given Answer:
They believed it was the most characteristic view
Correct Answer:
They believed it was the most characteristic view
Question 3: Multiple Choice
The Egyptian word for sculpture is the same as the word for what other act?
Given Answer:
Giving birth
Correct Answer:
Giving birth
Question 4: Multiple Choice
Why did the Egyptians bury their dead on the west side of the Nile?
Given Answer:
Because of the symbolic reference to death and rebirth, as the sun sets in the west
Correct Answer:
Because of the symbolic reference to death and rebirth, as the sun sets in the west
Question 5: Multiple Choice
Why can the reliefs on Ramses II's pylon gate at Luxor be viewed as propaganda rather than historical?
Given Answer:
The battle scene they describe was not the major success depicted
Correct Answer:
The battle scene they describe was not the major success depicted
Question 6: Multiple Choice
How do Minoan frescoes differ from Egyptian frescoes?
Given Answer:
Minoan frescoes were painted with oil, not water-based, pigment
Correct Answer:
Minoan frescoes appear on walls of homes and palaces, not tombs
Question 7: Multiple Choice
What new architectural form did the Mycenaeans develop to bury their kings?
Given Answer:
Tholos
Correct Answer:
Tholos
Question 8: Multiple Choice
As
discussed in the chapter's "Continuity and Change," which of the
following cultures seems to have had the greatest influence on Archaic
Greek sculpture?
Given Answer:
Cycladic
Correct Answer:
Egyptian
Question 9: Multiple Choice
What is the Greek concept of arête?
Given Answer:
Being the best one can be
Correct Answer:
Being the best one can be
Question 10: Multiple Choice
Why are the more than 100 Aegean islands between mainland Greece and Crete known as the Cyclades?
Given Answer:
The islands form a rough circular shape
Correct Answer:
The islands form a rough circular shape
Question 1: Multiple Choice
Why were Egyptians buried with Books of Going Forth by Day (Books of the Dead)?
Given Answer:
To provide instructions for resurrection
Correct Answer:
To help them survive the ritual of judgment
Question 2: Multiple Choice
Why did the Egyptians believe that a good deity like Osiris required a bad deity like Seth?
Given Answer:
Opposites were necessary for balance, harmony, and cycles
Correct Answer:
Opposites were necessary for balance, harmony, and cycles
Question 3: Multiple Choice
What is one of the greatest changes that took place during the Middle Kingdom?
Given Answer:
Writing and literature moved from the sacred to the imaginative
Correct Answer:
Writing and literature moved from the sacred to the imaginative
Question 4: Multiple Choice
Why are archaeologists so certain that Egypt had contact with other civilizations?
Given Answer:
Egyptian artifacts have been discovered throughout the Aegean, Mediterranean, and Mesopotamian worlds
Correct Answer:
Egyptian artifacts have been discovered throughout the Aegean, Mediterranean, and Mesopotamian worlds
Question 5: Multiple Choice
Why was deciphering the Rosetta Stone so significant?
Given Answer:
The Stone provided the key to reading hieroglyphs
Correct Answer:
The Stone provided the key to reading hieroglyphs
Question 6: Multiple Choice
The term ceramics comes from which of the following?
Given Answer:
Kerameikos, a cemetery in Athens
Correct Answer:
Kerameikos, a cemetery in Athens
Question 7: Multiple Choice
Why are the more than 100 Aegean islands between mainland Greece and Crete known as the Cyclades?
Given Answer:
The islands form a rough circular shape
Correct Answer:
The islands form a rough circular shape
Question 8: Multiple Choice
Why is the palace at Knossos known as the House of the Double Axes?
Given Answer:
Representations of double axes decorated it
Correct Answer:
Representations of double axes decorated it
Question 9: Multiple Choice
How do Minoan frescoes differ from Egyptian frescoes?
Given Answer:
Minoan frescoes appear on walls of homes and palaces, not tombs
Correct Answer:
Minoan frescoes appear on walls of homes and palaces, not tombs
Question 10: Multiple Choice
What are the three orders of classical Greek architecture?
Given Answer:
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
Correct Answer:
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
Question 1: Multiple Choice
The Egyptian word for sculpture is the same as the word for what other act?
Given Answer:
Giving birth
Correct Answer:
Giving birth
Question 2: Multiple Choice
Why did the Egyptians believe that a good deity like Osiris required a bad deity like Seth?
Given Answer:
Opposites were necessary for balance, harmony, and cycles
Correct Answer:
Opposites were necessary for balance, harmony, and cycles
Question 3: Multiple Choice
What creature, part crocodile, part lion, and part hippopotamus, would devour the unworthy deceased at the final judgment?
Given Answer:
Ammit
Correct Answer:
Ammit
Question 4: Multiple Choice
Why was the Palette of Narmer created?
Given Answer:
For a votive gift to a god or goddess
Correct Answer:
For a votive gift to a god or goddess
Question 5: Multiple Choice
Why is Nebamun Hunting Birds a sort of visual pun?
Given Answer:
The artist depicts actions that reflect sexual procreation, not hunting
Correct Answer:
The artist depicts actions that reflect sexual procreation, not hunting
Question 6: Multiple Choice
What are the three orders of classical Greek architecture?
Given Answer:
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
Correct Answer:
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
Question 7: Multiple Choice
Why do we think the Cycladic figurines served a mortuary function?
Given Answer:
Most were found in graves
Correct Answer:
Most were found in graves
Question 8: Multiple Choice
Why is the palace at Knossos known as the House of the Double Axes?
Given Answer:
Representations of double axes decorated it
Correct Answer:
Representations of double axes decorated it
Question 9: Multiple Choice
The term ceramics comes from which of the following?
Given Answer:
Kerameikos, a cemetery in Athens
Correct Answer:
Kerameikos, a cemetery in Athens
Question 10: Multiple Choice
What is the Greek concept of arête?
Given Answer:
Being the best one can be
Correct Answer:
Being the best one can be
Question 1: Multiple Choice
What is Imhotep's distinction?
Given Answer:
He is the first artist or architect whose name survives
Correct Answer:
He is the first artist or architect whose name survives
Question 2: Multiple Choice
Why was deciphering the Rosetta Stone so significant?
Given Answer:
The Stone provided the key to reading hieroglyphs
Correct Answer:
The Stone provided the key to reading hieroglyphs
Question 3: Multiple Choice
The Egyptian word for sculpture is the same as the word for what other act?
Given Answer:
Giving birth
Correct Answer:
Giving birth
Question 4: Multiple Choice
Which god did the Egyptians believe the king personified?
Given Answer:
Horus
Correct Answer:
Horus
Question 5: Multiple Choice
What kind of government was found in Ancient Egypt?
Given Answer:
Theocracy
Correct Answer:
Theocracy
Question 6: Multiple Choice
How do we know that the Mycenaeans were a warlike people?
Given Answer:
Battle and hunting scenes dominate their art and massive stone gates
Correct Answer:
Battle and hunting scenes dominate their art and massive stone gates
Question 7: Multiple Choice
What is the Greek concept of arête?
Given Answer:
Being the best one can be
Correct Answer:
Being the best one can be
Question 8: Multiple Choice
What new architectural form did the Mycenaeans develop to bury their kings?
Given Answer:
Tholos
Correct Answer:
Tholos
Question 9: Multiple Choice
Why are the more than 100 Aegean islands between mainland Greece and Crete known as the Cyclades?
Given Answer:
The islands form a rough circular shape
Correct Answer:
The islands form a rough circular shape
Question 10: Multiple Choice
What is the bull associated with in Minoan art?
Given Answer:
Male virility and strength
Correct Answer:
Male virility and strength
Question 1: Multiple Choice
Correct
Why in part did Sparta form its own Peloponnesian League?
Given Answer:
Correct
Athens' use of Delian Fund leagues to rebuild its acropolis
Correct Answer:
Athens' use of Delian Fund leagues to rebuild its acropolis
out of 3 points
Question 2: Multiple Choice
Correct
What qualities define Hellenistic art?
Given Answer:
Correct
Animation, drama, and psychological complexity
Correct Answer:
Animation, drama, and psychological complexity
out of 3 points
Question 3: Multiple Choice
Correct
Why does Sophocles' Antigone oppose her uncle, Creon?
Given Answer:
Correct
She believes that burying her brother is her democratic right
Correct Answer:
She believes that burying her brother is her democratic right
out of 3 points
Question 4: Multiple Choice
Correct
Why did fifth-century Greeks not see themselves as at the mercy of the gods?
Given Answer:
Correct
They believed natural forces were knowable, not punishment from a god
Correct Answer:
They believed natural forces were knowable, not punishment from a god
out of 3 points
Question 5: Multiple Choice
Correct
With which cult was drama originally associated?
Given Answer:
Correct
The cult of Dionysus
Correct Answer:
The cult of Dionysus
out of 3 points
Question 6: Multiple Choice
Correct
Why did Augustus permanently banish the poet Ovid from Rome?
Given Answer:
Correct
For indiscretion and writing Ars Amatoria, a guidebook for having affairs
Correct Answer:
For indiscretion and writing Ars Amatoria, a guidebook for having affairs
out of 3 points
Question 7: Multiple Choice
Correct
What is the symbolic heart of a Roman domus?
Given Answer:
Correct
The atrium
Correct Answer:
The atrium
out of 3 points
Question 8: Multiple Choice
Correct
Why was the Arch of Titus constructed?
Given Answer:
Correct
To celebrate Titus's sack of the Second Temple of Jerusalem
Correct Answer:
To celebrate Titus's sack of the Second Temple of Jerusalem
out of 3 points
Question 9: Multiple Choice
Correct
Why, by the end of the third century, were the Romans justified in feeling politically and culturally threatened by the Christians?
Given Answer:
Correct
Christians made up nearly one-tenth of the empire's population
Correct Answer:
Christians made up nearly one-tenth of the empire's population
out of 3 points
Question 10: Multiple Choice
Correct
Why was the Pantheon constructed with a 30-foot-diameter oculus (hole) in its roof?
Given Answer:
Correct
To symbolize Jupiter's ever-watchful eye over Rome
Correct Answer:
To symbolize Jupiter's ever-watchful eye over Rome
Question 1: Multiple Choice
Correct
According to the most recent discoveries, Stonehenge was constructed as a
Given Answer:
Correct
burial ground.
Correct Answer:
burial ground.
out of 4 points
Question 2: Multiple Choice
Correct
Paleolithic cave paintings may have been intended to do all of the following EXCEPT
Given Answer:
Correct
commemorate the dead buried in the caves.
Correct Answer:
commemorate the dead buried in the caves.
out of 4 points
Question 3: Multiple Choice
Correct
In prehistoric times, communication with the spiritual world is thought to have been largely conducted in
Given Answer:
Correct
Caves.
Correct Answer:
Caves.
out of 4 points
Question 4: Multiple Choice
Correct
Why can the potter’s wheel be considered one of the first mechanical and technological breakthroughs in history?
Given Answer:
Correct
It allowed artisans to produce uniformly shaped vessels in short periods of time.
Correct Answer:
It allowed artisans to produce uniformly shaped vessels in short periods of time.
out of 4 points
Question 5: Multiple Choice
Correct
The Great Serpent Mound differs from most Hopewell mounds in its
Given Answer:
Correct
absence of burial sites.
Correct Answer:
absence of burial sites.
out of 4 points
Question 6: Multiple Choice
Correct
As noted in the chapter's "Continuity and Change' section, what most distinguishes Mesopotamia from Egypt?
Given Answer:
Correct
The Egyptians were united by a more stable succession of rulers
Correct Answer:
The Egyptians were united by a more stable succession of rulers
out of 4 points
Question 7: Multiple Choice
Correct
What classic struggle do Gilgamesh and Enkidu represent?
Given Answer:
Correct
Nature versus civilization
Correct Answer:
Nature versus civilization
out of 4 points
Question 8: Multiple Choice
Correct
What is the Persian Zoroaster's greatest contribution to religious thought?
Given Answer:
Correct
The emphasis on free will
Correct Answer:
The emphasis on free will
out of 4 points
Question 9: Multiple Choice
Correct
What was the role of the Hebrew prophets in the era following Solomon's death?
Given Answer:
Correct
To provide moral instruction according to the laws of the Torah
Correct Answer:
To provide moral instruction according to the laws of the Torah
out of 4 points
Question 10: Multiple Choice
Correct
What does Hammurabi's code tell about the position of Mesopotamian women?
Given Answer:
Correct
They were inferior to men, on the same level as slaves in some ways
Correct Answer:
They were inferior to men, on the same level as slaves in some ways
Question 1: Multiple Choice
Correct
Among prehistoric paintings, what is distinctive about the painting of a bird-headed man, a bison, and a rhinoceros in Lascaux Cave?
Given Answer:
Correct
It is one of the few cave paintings to depict a human.
Correct Answer:
It is one of the few cave paintings to depict a human.
out of 4 points
Question 2: Multiple Choice
Correct
Which of the following statements reflects the changed thinking regarding prehistoric art due to the discovery of Chauvet Cave?
Given Answer:
Correct
Art did not necessarily evolve in a linear progression from its early days in prehistory.
Correct Answer:
Art did not necessarily evolve in a linear progression from its early days in prehistory.
out of 4 points
Question 3: Multiple Choice
Correct
The Anasazi built their kivas with a small, round hole in the floor to
Given Answer:
Correct
represent a belief that their ancestors emerged from the depths of the Earth.
Correct Answer:
represent a belief that their ancestors emerged from the depths of the Earth.
out of 4 points
Question 4: Multiple Choice
Correct
The Great Serpent Mound differs from most Hopewell mounds in its
Given Answer:
Correct
absence of burial sites.
Correct Answer:
absence of burial sites.
out of 4 points
Question 5: Multiple Choice
Correct
Paleolithic cave paintings may have been intended to do all of the following EXCEPT
Given Answer:
Correct
commemorate the dead buried in the caves.
Correct Answer:
commemorate the dead buried in the caves.
out of 4 points
Question 6: Multiple Choice
Correct
Why is the legend of Sargon I considered a "rags to riches" story?
Given Answer:
Correct
Child abandoned at birth grows up to be king
Correct Answer:
Child abandoned at birth grows up to be king
out of 4 points
Question 7: Multiple Choice
Correct
What does Hammurabi's code tell about the position of Mesopotamian women?
Given Answer:
Correct
They were inferior to men, on the same level as slaves in some ways
Correct Answer:
They were inferior to men, on the same level as slaves in some ways
out of 4 points
Question 8: Multiple Choice
Correct
What was the Mesopotamian ruler's role in religion?
Given Answer:
Correct
To act as intermediary between the gods and humans
Correct Answer:
To act as intermediary between the gods and humans
out of 4 points
Question 9: Multiple Choice
Correct
What did lost-wax casting enable the Mesopotamian sculptors to create?
Given Answer:
Correct
Larger and more lightweight bronze pieces
Correct Answer:
Larger and more lightweight bronze pieces
out of 4 points
Question 10: Multiple Choice
Correct
What classic struggle do Gilgamesh and Enkidu represent?
Given Answer:
Correct
Nature versus civilization
Correct Answer:
Nature versus civilization
Question 1: Multiple Choice
Correct
What do the Hopewell culture’s elaborate burials tell about them?
Given Answer:
Correct
They had an extensive trade network.
Correct Answer:
They had an extensive trade network.
out of 4 points
Question 2: Multiple Choice
Correct
Implying a community’s sense of historical continuity, what was buried beneath some of the Neolithic Çatalhöyük houses?
Given Answer:
Correct
human bodies and skulls
Correct Answer:
human bodies and skulls
out of 4 points
Question 3: Multiple Choice
Correct
Japanese emperors claimed divinity as
Given Answer:
Correct
direct descendants of the sun goddess.
Correct Answer:
direct descendants of the sun goddess.
out of 4 points
Question 4: Multiple Choice
Correct
Venus of Willendorf’s original red color is suggestive of
Given Answer:
Correct
menses.
Correct Answer:
menses.
out of 4 points
Question 5: Multiple Choice
Correct
The Anasazi built their kivas with a small, round hole in the floor to
Given Answer:
Correct
represent a belief that their ancestors emerged from the depths of the Earth.
Correct Answer:
represent a belief that their ancestors emerged from the depths of the Earth.
out of 4 points
Question 6: Multiple Choice
Correct
Which of the following differentiates the Hebrews from other Near Eastern cultures?
Given Answer:
Correct
They worshipped a single god
Correct Answer:
They worshipped a single god
out of 4 points
Question 7: Multiple Choice
Correct
What were ziggurats most likely designed to resemble?
Given Answer:
Correct
A mountain
Correct Answer:
A mountain
out of 4 points
Question 8: Multiple Choice
Correct
What about the Royal Standard of Ur illustrates social perspective or hierarchy of scale?
Given Answer:
Correct
The most important figures are represented as larger than others
Correct Answer:
The most important figures are represented as larger than others
out of 4 points
Question 9: Multiple Choice
Correct
What new technology followed agriculture in defining Mesopotamia?
Given Answer:
Correct
Metallurgy
Correct Answer:
Metallurgy
out of 4 points
Question 10: Multiple Choice
Correct
Why did visitors to the ziggurats often leave a statue representing themselves?
Given Answer:
Correct
To serve as prayer offerings to the gods
Correct Answer:
To serve as prayer offerings to the gods
Question 1: Multiple Choice
Correct
Why was deciphering the Rosetta Stone so significant?
Given Answer:
Correct
The Stone provided the key to reading hieroglyphs
Correct Answer:
The Stone provided the key to reading hieroglyphs
out of 4 points
Question 2: Multiple Choice
Correct
How are the figures on the Palette of Narmer similar to those on the Mesopotamian Royal Standard of Ur?
Given Answer:
Correct
The king is shown as larger than anyone else
Correct Answer:
The king is shown as larger than anyone else
out of 4 points
Question 3: Multiple Choice
Correct
What creature, part crocodile, part lion, and part hippopotamus, would devour the unworthy deceased at the final judgment?
Given Answer:
Correct
Ammit
Correct Answer:
Ammit
out of 4 points
Question 4: Multiple Choice
Correct
On what measure are the squares in the Egyptian grid system based?
Given Answer:
Correct
One clenched fist
Correct Answer:
One clenched fist
out of 4 points
Question 5: Multiple Choice
Correct
How can we tell that an Egyptian statue portrays a lesser person?
Given Answer:
Correct
Lesser persons' statues were often made of less permanent materials
Correct Answer:
Lesser persons' statues were often made of less permanent materials
out of 4 points
Question 6: Multiple Choice
Correct
How do we know that the Mycenaeans were a warlike people?
Given Answer:
Correct
Battle and hunting scenes dominate their art and massive stone gates
Correct Answer:
Battle and hunting scenes dominate their art and massive stone gates
out of 4 points
Question 7: Multiple Choice
Correct
How do Minoan frescoes differ from Egyptian frescoes?
Given Answer:
Correct
Minoan frescoes appear on walls of homes and palaces, not tombs
Correct Answer:
Minoan frescoes appear on walls of homes and palaces, not tombs
out of 4 points
Question 8: Multiple Choice
Correct
According to Greek legend, why did Greece sink into a Dark Ages around 1100 BCE?
Given Answer:
Correct
Dorians from the North overran Greece
Correct Answer:
Dorians from the North overran Greece
out of 4 points
Question 9: Multiple Choice
Correct
The term ceramics comes from which of the following?
Given Answer:
Correct
Kerameikos, a cemetery in Athens
Correct Answer:
Kerameikos, a cemetery in Athens
out of 4 points
Question 10: Multiple Choice
Correct
What new architectural form did the Mycenaeans develop to bury their kings?
Given Answer:
Correct
Tholos
Correct Answer:
Tholos
Hand
in at the end of class and I will return your Learning Story next week.
3
The Stability of Ancient Egypt FLOOD AND SUN 67
The Nile and Its Culture 68
Egyptian Religion: Cyclical Harmony
70
Pictorial Formulas in Egyptian Art
71
The Old Kingdom 74
The Stepped Pyramid at Saqqara 74
Three Pyramids at Giza 75
Monumental Royal Sculpture:
Perfection and Eternity 78
The Sculpture of the Everyday 79
The Middle Kingdom at Thebes 81
Middle Kingdom Literature 81
Middle Kingdom Sculpture 81
The New Kingdom 83
Temple and Tomb Architecture and
Their Rituals 83
Akhenaten and the Politics of
Religion 87
The Return to Thebes and to
Tradition 89
The Late Period, the Kushites, and the Fall of Egypt 91
The Kushites 92
Egypt Loses Its Independence 92
READINGS
3.1 from Memphis, “This It Is Said
of Ptah” (ca. 2300 bce) 71
3.2 The Teachings of Khety (ca.
2040–1648 bce) 95
3.3 from Akhenaten’s Hymn to the Sun
(14th century bce) 88
3.4 from a Book of Going Forth by
Day 90
FEATURES
CONTEXT
Major
Periods of Ancient Egyptian History 70
Some of the
Principal Egyptian Gods 71
The Rosetta
Stone 77
CLOSER LOOK Reading the Palette of
Narmer 72
MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES
Mummification 86
CONTINUITY & CHANGE Mutual
Influence through Trade 93
4 The Aegean World and the Rise of Greece TRADE, WAR, AND VICTORY 97
The Cultures of the Aegean 97
The Cyclades 98
Minoan Culture in Crete 99
Mycenaean Culture on the Mainland
102
The Homeric Epics 105
The Iliad 107
The Odyssey 108
The Greek Polis 110
Behavior of the Gods 112
The Competing Poleis 113
The Sacred Sanctuaries 114
Male Sculpture and the Cult of the
Body 118
Female Sculpture and the Worship of
Athena 120
Athenian Pottery 121
The Poetry of Sappho 123
The Rise of Athenian Democracy 124
Toward Democracy: Solon and
Pisistratus 124
Cleisthenes and the First Athenian
Democracy 125
READINGS
4.1 from Homer, Iliad, Book 16 (ca.
750 bce) 128
4.1a from Homer, Iliad, Book 24 (ca.
750 bce) 108
4.2 from Homer, Odyssey, Book 9 (ca
725 bce) 130
4.2a from Homer, Odyssey, Book 4
(ca. 725 bce) 108
4.2b from Homer, Odyssey, Book 1
(ca. 725 bce) 109
4.3 from Hesiod, Works and Days (ca.
700 bce) 112
4.4 from Hesiod, Theogony (ca. 700
bce) 112
4.5 Thucydides, History of the
Peloponnesian Wars 113
4.6a–b Sappho, lyric poetry 124
4.7 from Aristotle’s Athenian
Constitution 125
FEATURES
CONTEXT The Greek Gods 114
CLOSER LOOK The Classical Orders 116
CONTINUITY & CHANGE Egyptian and
Greek Sculpture 126
Briefly, what is your Learning Story for Week 1?
Week 2 Discussion Option A
"Egyptian Love Poetry and
Mummies" Please respond to the following, using
sources under the Explore heading as the basis of your response:
From
the samples of Egyptian love poetry, identify one (1) or two (2) lines
that you especially enjoy or find interesting, and compare this poetry to
some aspect of modern life. Next, describe two (2) aspects of Egyptian
mummification and the early Egyptians’ beliefs related to mummification
that you find surprising or intriguing. These funerary practices were
driven by certain Egyptian ideas of the afterlife; compare these to modern
beliefs and practices.
"Ancient Greece and
Athletics" Please respond to the following, using
sources under the Explore heading as the basis of your response:
Describe
the ancient Greek competitive character, and compare the ancient Olympics
(as a festival featuring athletics) to the Olympics today, identifying any
major differences. Explain what the Olympic rules regarding females and
evidence, such as the "running girl" artifact, reveal about
female status and Greek athletics in particular Greek city-states.
Explore
Ancient Greek Athletics and Female
Status
Chapter
4 (p. 118), Olympics. Chapters 4 (pp. 113-114), women in Sparta; For
Athens later, see pp. 137-8.
Thick lyre with larger dimensions and more strings than the thin
variety briefly appear in Anatolia around 1400 BC. However, they were
used in Egypt from about 2000 BC and into the Greek Period in Egypt. Giant lyres became popular during the reign of Akhenaten.
Some were even large enough to accommodate dual players. Though giant
lyre players can be seen wearing Canaanite costumes, there are no giant
lyres yet known from the Palestinian region. However, in Mesopotamia,
giant lyres are known from engraved seals found at Uruk and Susa that
date to around 2500 BC.
Various titles provide some information on musician's social
organization. The best documented of these were referred to a "hnr".
They sang, danced and clapped hands in temples,
palaces and funerary settings. This type of group flourished from about
2500 through 1500 BC and during the Ramessid Period. At first, these
groups had only female members and overseers, but males integrated these
ensembles during the 5th Dynasty and became the sole overseers of such groups during the Middle Kingdom. Royal women were frequently members of these groups, which were attached to palaces, temples
and funerary estates. They performed secular music along with sacred
singing and also performed for the deceased. The female members of the
group wore light dresses and hair braided into plaits, with balls
dangling from the ends. Men usually wore narrow belts or kilts.
Workers harvesting flax are being accompanied by a fluteplayer. The
overseer Iankhef leaning on his staff of office exhorts the musician: "O
fellow, blow and do not oppose our officialdom!"
Egyptian musical instruments were well developed and varied. They
included string instruments such as harps, lyres, lutes, percussion
instruments like drums, rattles, tambourines, bells (first used during
the Late Period) and cymbals (Roman Period), wind instruments like
flutes, clarinets, double pipes, trumpets, and oboes.
Flutes were among the first musical instruments used. Double flutes were
at first made of two parallel pipes, but later the two pipes were
separated and set at an acute angle. They are still used in Egypt today.
Sekhmet and Bes were sometimes associated with percussion instruments, in particular with frame drums.
The sistrum and the menat, two small flat slabs of wood or ivory
similar to a castanet, were generally dedicated to Hathor, the goddess
of banquets and music making. But the sistrum was also used in the
worship of the other gods, the Aton during the Amarna Period
For sociable banquets the dancing girls were often selected from among the servants or the women living in the harem
of the nobleman in whose house the party was held; possibly
professional dancers were also hired for these occasions. Pictures of
such gatherings show girls performing slow elegant dance steps, which
may have alternated with wild acrobatic movements.
Dancing was also part of religious functions. According to tomb
depictions staid ritual dances seem to have been performed by the muu, men wearing crowns of reeds. [9][2][3][8]
Angular harp
Arched harp
Why did the Neolithic era witness increased pottery creation?
Fragile pottery was impractical for Paleolithic hunter-gatherers.
Minoan frescoes were painted with oil, not water-based, pigment
