I will take roll early and enter attendance. Be sure to sign roll and print your name on the "conch."
New features for the Spring.
Humans Bred with Mysterious Species, Neanderthal
Fertile Crescent
Egypt and Black and White
Great Wall
Rome & China
Homer for Veterans
Why Didn’t Sparta Build an Empire?
A History of the Mind and Mental Health in Classical Greek Medical Thought
Roman Shaving
Roman Humor
Teenage Wasteland Rome
Julius Caesar, Veni, Vidi, Vici
Roman Military History
Roman auxilia Provincial Society Augustus to the Severans
What helped hold the Roman Empire together?
Pompeii
Atlas of Rome
Public and Private in the Roman House and Society
Iphigenia in Jerusalem
Brian Joins What Have the Romans Ever Done?
Acts & Roman Imperialism
Julian the Apostate
Roman Crisis of the Third Century
Goths
Collapse and Fall of the Roman Empire
Al-Asqa Mosque
Not Islamism But Rousseau
Holy Roman Empire
Summa Theologiae Aquinas
Hagia Sophia Erdogan
Mayan Complex Discovered
Raphael | Art Analysis
From Byzantium to Italy: Greek Studies in the Italian Renaissance
Renaissance Introduction
Renaissance Map 1587
Reformation and Counter-Revolution
A Mighty Fortress is Our God
Martin Luther Social Networks
http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/12/07/504650215/were-neanderthals-religious
Early Writing
Animated
Ancient Western Civilization
Animated
western-civilisation-appiah-reith-lecture
/2017/nov/02/archaeolgists-discover-mysterious-void-deep-within-great-pyramid-of-giza
/ancient-greece-cultural-hybridisation-theory
The Greek Miracle
Overview:
gods-in-color-exhibition-the-ancient-greek-world-as-never-seen-before-photos
Rome Reborn VR
/#/V5V37U
The Government of Ancient Rome
https://share.nearpod.com/vsph/ErXy4yJXZB
The Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic
Overview
In the year 509 B.C., Roman patricians overthrew the Etruscan kings and founded the Roman Republic. The new government established magistrates with limited powers and terms of office, while taking into account the claims of the Senate and the people. The Republic eventually came to an end with the rise of Julius Caesar and the establishment of the Roman Empire under Augustus Caesar.
/lecture-05
/lecture-05
Julius Caesar & Illness
Caesar
what-toilets-and-sewers-tell-us-about-ancient-roman-sanitation
Church and State
Overview:
In the wake of the disintegration of the Roman Empire and the corresponding collapse of political cohesion throughout Western Europe in the fifth century, there arose numerous small kingdoms whose rulers came to rely on bishops and other leaders of the Church to help provide regional administrative order. The growth of royal power and the close interactions of Church and state officials gave rise to two fundamental political issues of the Middle Ages, which remain relevant even today: what constitutes the appropriate relationship between secular and spiritual authority, and what is the proper relationship between government and the governed.
St. Patrick
Iberia Year by Year
Happy Toy Muslim for Children
1/haledon-man-creates-book-plush-toy-teach-kids-islam
The Renaissance
Overview:
Overview:
The Renaissance represents a discovery and rebirth of the glories of antiquity, as well as the dawn of the modern world. The great universities of Paris, Bologna, and Oxford were products of the Middle Ages, and had initiated the study of Aristotle and other ancient thinkers in relation the tenets of Christianity. The rise of humanism during the Renaissance represented a challenge to the scholastic thought of the Middle Ages: it was a strain of humanism which resulted in the Protestant Reformation. The Catholic Church responded by convening the Council of Trent, which initiated the Counter-Reformation.
“From Elizabeth I to the Glorious Revolution”
Luther on Reformers and Peasants
Luther once said of Zwingli, “I have bitten into many a mutt, believing it to be good, only to find it wormy. Zwingli and Erasmus are nothing but wormy mutts that taste like crap in ones mouth!”
In his treatise Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants, he urged the princes with these words,
As a result, the peasants were brutally suppressed.
The Protestant historian H. A. L. Fisher wrote,
Here are some other quotes by Luther on the matter:
“I, Martin Luther, have during the rebellion slain all the peasants, for it was I who ordered them to be struck dead. All their blood is upon my head. But I put it all on our Lord God: for he commanded me to speak thus.”
In his treatise Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants, he urged the princes with these words,
“Therefore let everyone who can, smite, slay and stab, secretly or openly, remembering that nothing can be more poisonous, hurtful or devilish than a rebel. It is just as when one must kill a mad dog; if you do not strike him, he will strike you, and a whole land with you.”
As a result, the peasants were brutally suppressed.
The Protestant historian H. A. L. Fisher wrote,
“The manner in which he [Luther] dissociated his movement from the peasant rebellion . . . and the encouragement he gave to a course of repression so savage that it left the German peasantry more defenseless and abased than any social class in central or western Europe, are serious blots upon his good name. The German peasants were rough men and rough fighters; but their grievances were genuine, and their original demands were just and reasonable.”
“Like the mules who will not move unless you perpetually whip them with rods, so the civil powers must drive the common people, whip, choke, hang, burn, behead and torture them, that they may learn to fear the powers that be.”
“Peasants are no better than straw. They will not hear the word and they are without sense; therefore they must be compelled to hear the crack of the whip and the whiz of bullets and it is only what they deserve.”
“To kill a peasant is not murder; it is helping to extinguish the conflagration. Let there be no half measures! Crush them! Cut their throats! Transfix them. Leave no stone unturned! To kill a peasant is to destroy a mad dog! If they say that I am very hard and merciless, mercy be damned. Let whoever can stab, strangle, and kill them like mad dogs.”
The Enlightenment
Overview:
The 16th and 17th centuries witnessed a growing crisis in the English monarchy, which was not resolved until the Glorious Revolution. The appeal to natural law, especially as formulated by John Locke, as the standard by which to govern political society, along with the idea of the necessity of the separation of powers to guard against tyranny, influenced not only English politics, but later, American revolutionaries.
100-years-of-rock
Are Some Cultures Better than Others? 5:23
Are some cultures better than others? Or are all cultures and their values equal? Bestselling author Dinesh D'Souza, who was born in India and moved to America, explains.
https://youtu.be/m9vBJCMD69w
God and the White House
bible-studies-at-the-white-house-whos-at-the-heart-of-this-spiritual-awakening
“He recognizes how important that is and that that is a basis of Western civilization,” she continued. “As a believer in Jesus Christ, I could not be more happy with what I am seeing coming out of the Trump White House. This is beyond my wildest expectations.”
31/michele-bachmann-gushes-that-president-donald-trump-is-a-man-of-prayer
31/michele-bachmann-gushes-that-president-donald-trump-is-a-man-of-prayer
Attendance Policy
Discussion: 9:30 pm
Lord of the Flies (2/11) Movie CLIP - Whoever Holds the Conch Gets to Speak (1990) HD, 1:12
https://youtu.be/ipkF3xkP63M
DISCUSSION
If you need to leave early and miss Discussion post your response online for partial credit.
Course Home
Introductory Video HUM 111 Would You Like to Know More?
Student Center
Course Guide (print out)
Professor Information
Announcements
Orai - feedback on voice and presentation
Slack - messages for team outside of class
Class Introductions
Anyone record their own introduction already on Orai?
Would anyone like to introduce themselves for practice using Orai?
Otherwise, everyone else will "pair-share."
Introductions
Find a colleague and introduce them:
Their name; something interesting, unique, or in common with the other person; local high school/or where attended if not in the Philadelphia Metro area; and, what was the last book you read for fun or pleasure and when did you read it?
Then, the person introduced will state for themselves: what do I hope to get out of this class?
Unit Begin
What is Your Discussion Learning Story? Handout
Each week a leader will introduce their Discussion Learning Story assisted by their colleagues.
Every student should prepare for the Discussion at 9:45 pm as well.
What is Story Based Learning Pedagogy?
HUM 111 Story Based Learning
How will the leader and their colleagues communicate and collaborate between classes to prepare for the Discussion?
To communicate outside of class and to collaborate on Weekly Discussion Story Learning you should join Slack.
Welcome to Slack!
You’ve created the new Slack team. Here is a sample account:
H HUM 111 Summer 2017Team URL: hum111.slack.comEmail: gmick.smith@strayer.edu |
Your team is on the free plan, with unlimited messaging and the ability to search the 10,000 most recent messages.
This is the first of several quick emails on how to get the most out of Slack. We’re glad you’re here!
Free Digital Storytelling Tools
https://elearningindustry.com/18-free-digital-storytelling-tools-for-teachers-and-students
Unit End
Week 1 What Is Your Learning Story?
Professionalism in the Digital Age
Social media and other communication technology present today’s business professionals with new and unique challenges.
Do you use your cell phone during business meetings?
Do you use your cell phone during business meetings?
Do you leave the room during business meetings?
If you need to leave are you discreet?
If you need to leave are you discreet?
What does your interaction with your supervisor and team suggest about your work performance?
Have you considered what your communication and social media etiquette says about you?
Week 1 Course Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of these lessons, you will be able to:
- Explain how key social, cultural, and artistic contributions contribute to historical changes.
- Explain the importance of situating a society’s cultural and artistic expressions within a historical context.
- Identify major historical developments in world cultures during the eras of antiquity to the Renaissance.
- Identify and describe key artistic styles in the visual arts of world cultures during the eras of antiquity to the Renaissance.
- Identify and describe key literary works, styles, and writers from world cultures during the eras of antiquity to the Renaissance.
Week 1 Checklist
- If you have not already viewed the Surviving Week 1 of HUM111 video, click the video thumbnail below this checklist.
- Download the Course Guide and Assignments and Rubrics documents located in the Student Center
- Complete and submit the Academic Integrity Quiz for Students
- View the Would You Like to Know More? introduction video on the Course Home page
- Download and read the document "Why Humanities? - The Purpose of HUM111 and HUM112" located below the first Would You Like to Know More? video
- Read the following from your textbook:
- Chapter 1: The Rise of Culture: From Forest to Farm – Around the Globe
- Chapter 2: The Ancient Near East: Power and Social Order – Mesopotamia and Southwest Asia
- View the Week 1 Would You Like to Know More? videos
- Do the Week 1 Explore Activities
- Participate in the Week 1 Discussion (choose only one (1) of the discussion options)
Pre-Built Course Content
PART ONE THE ANCIENT WORLD AND THE CLASSICAL PAST PREHISTORY TO 200 CE XXIV
1 The Rise of Culture: From Forest to Farm 3
2 The Ancient Near East: Power and Social Order 31
3 The Stability of Ancient Egypt: Flood and Sun 67
4 The Aegean World and the Rise of Greece: Trade, War, and Victory 97
5 Golden Age Athens and the Hellenic World: The School of Hellas 135
6 Rome: Urban Life and Imperial Majesty 175
7 Emerging Empires in the East: Urban Life and Imperial Majesty in China and India 217
Week 1 Reading: Chapters 1 & 2
PART ONE THE ANCIENT WORLD AND THE CLASSICAL PAST PREHISTORY TO 200 CE XXIV
1 The Rise of Culture FROM FOREST TO FARM 3
The Beginnings of Culture in the Paleolithic Era 4
Agency and Ritual: Cave Art 4
Paleolithic Culture and Its Artifacts 5
The Rise of Agriculture in the Neolithic Era 6
Neolithic Çatalhöyük and Skara Brae 8
Neolithic Pottery Across Cultures 11
Neolithic Ceramic Figures 12
The Neolithic Megaliths of Northern Europe 14
The Role of Myth in Cultural Life 18
Myth in the Native American Cultures of the Southwest 19
Japan and the Role of Myth in the Shinto Religion 22
Sacred Sites: The Example of the Americas 24
The Olmec 24
The Mound Builders 25
READINGS
1.1 Zuni Emergence Tale: Talk Concerning the First Beginning 21
1.2 The Japanese Creation Myth: The Kojiki 29
FEATURES
MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES
Methods of Carving 7
Post-and-Lintel and Corbel Construction 18
CLOSER LOOK The Design and Making of Stonehenge 16
CONTINUITY & CHANGE Representing the Power of the Animal World 27
2 The Ancient Near East POWER AND SOCIAL ORDER 31
The Cultures of Mesopotamia, 3200–612 bce 32
Sumerian Ur 33
Akkad 39
Babylon 42
The Assyrian Empire 45
Mesopotamian Literature 46
The Blessing of Inanna 46
The Epic of Gilgamesh 47
The Hebrews 52
Moses and the Ten Commandments 52
Kings David and Solomon, and Hebrew Society 54
The Prophets and the Diaspora 55
The Late Empires: Neo-Babylonia and Persia 56
Neo-Babylonia 56
The Persian Empire 58
READINGS
2.1 from the Law Code of Hammurabi (ca. 1760 bce) 44
2.2 The Blessing of Inanna (ca. 2300 bce) 47
2.3 from the Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet I (late 2nd millennium bce) (translated by Maureen Gallery Kovacs) 63
2.3a–e from the Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet I, I, VI, X, XI (late 2nd millennium bce) 48–51
2.4 from the Hebrew Bible, Genesis (Chapters 2–3, 6–7) 63
2.4a from the Hebrew Bible (Deuteronomy 6:6–9) 53
2.4b from the Hebrew Bible (Song of Solomon 4:1–6, 7:13–14) 54
2.5 from the Hymn to Marduk (1000–700 bce) 57
2.6 from the Zend-Avesta (ca. 600 bce) 60
FEATURES
CONTEXT
Timeline of Ancient Near Eastern Empires and Cultures 33
Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses 36
CLOSER LOOK Cuneiform Writing in Sumer 40
MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES Lost-Wax Casting 42
CONTINUITY & CHANGE Mesopotamia and Egypt: A Comparison 61
In many ways, HUM 111 is about the rise of civilization. It surveys vast empires, impressive civilizations, and we ask questions about the nature of people, of culture, and compare societies across the world.
Why is this Course Important?
3:18
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/HUM/111/1146/Week1/WYLTKM-WhyHumanities/story.html
Judaism Handout
Till 2:14
"Moses Receives the Ten Commandments" 3:35
https://youtu.be/tJryxmW_8L8
Suggested: Friday's tour of Jerusalem. Tour Guide: Zahi Shaked. September 2016 0:02 / 1:55 Tomb of King David, Mount Zion Jerusalem, Come and see how it looks. Tour guide: Zahi Shaked
Zahi Shaked A tour guide in Israel and his camera zahigo25@walla.com +972- 54-6905522 tel סיור עם מורה הדרך ומדריך הטיולים צחי שקד 0546905522
King David's Tomb (Hebrew: קבר דוד המלך) is a site traditionally viewed as the burial place of David, King of Israel. It is located on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, near the Hagia Maria Sion Abbey.
The tomb is situated in a ground floor corner of the remains of the former Hagia Zion, a Byzantine church; the upper floor of the same building has traditionally been viewed as the Cenacle of Jesus.
The building is now part of the Diaspora Yeshiva.
The tomb is located in a corner of a room situated on the ground floor remains of the former Hagia Zion a ancient house of worship; the upper floor of the same building has traditionally been viewed as the Cenacle of Jesus.
In 1335, the ancient synagogue and church became a Franciscan monastery, but, due to tensions with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, the monastery was closed in 1551 and ownership of the site was transferred to a Muslim family.
The site was apparently not viewed as David's Tomb until the 12th century.
According to Benjamin of Tudela, writing about 1173, the tomb was discovered during repairs to the church; the motivation for it being declared to be the tomb of David is uncertain.
It is impossible to verify whether the tomb is original to the location, as crusaders[citation needed] removed the tomb from its earlier context, and placed within it a stone sarcophagus, newly built for the purpose; the sarcophagus now rests over a 14th century floor.
After the 1948 Arab--Israeli War, it fell on the Israel side of the Green Line. Between 1948 and 1967 the Old City was occupied by Jordan, which barred entry to Jews even for the purpose of praying at Jewish holy sites.
The closest accessible site to the site of the ancient Jewish Temple was Mount Zion.
Jewish pilgrims from around the country and the world went to David's Tomb and climbed to the rooftop to pray.[1]
Since 1949, a blue cloth, with basic modernist ornamentation, has been placed over the sarcophagus.
The images on the cloth include several crown-shaped Rimmon placed over Torah scrolls, and a violin, and the cloth also features several pieces of text written in Hebrew.
The building is now part of the Diaspora yeshiva.
The contents of the sarcophagus have not yet been subjected to any scientific analysis, to determine their age, former appearance, or even whether there is actually still a corpse there.
The authenticity of the site has been challenged on several grounds.
According to the Bible, David was actually buried within the City of David together with his forefathers; by contrast, the 4th century Pilgrim of Bordeaux reports that he discovered David to be buried in Bethlehem, in a vault that also contained the tombs of Ezekiel, Jesse, Solomon, Job, and Asaph, with those names carved into the tomb walls.
The genuine David's Tomb is unlikely to contain any furnishings of value; according to the first century writer Josephus, Herod the Great tried to loot the tomb of David, but discovered that someone else had already done so before him.
Archaeologists, doubting the Mount Zion location and favouring the biblical account, have since the early 20th century sought the actual tomb in the City of David area. In 1913, Raymond Weill found eight elaborate tombs at the south of the City of David, which archaeologists have subsequently interpreted as strong candidates for the burial locations of the former kings of the city;[6] Hershel Shanks, for example, argues that the most ornate of these (officially labelled T1) is precisely where one would expect to find the burial site mentioned in the Bible.
Among those who agree with the academic and archaeological assessment of the Mount Zion site, some believe it actually is the tomb of a later king, possibly Manasseh, who is described in the Hebrew Bible as being buried in the Garden of the King rather than in the City of David like his predecessors.
https://youtu.be/zPm1waI0U4M
The Dordogne, France: Lascaux's Prehistoric Cave Paintings, 4:32
More info about travel to France: http://www.ricksteves.com/europe/france From about 18,000 to 10,000 b.c., long before Stonehenge and the pyramids, back when mammoths and saber-toothed cats still roamed the earth, prehistoric people painted deep inside caves in what is today the Dordogne region of France.
These cave paintings are huge and sophisticated projects executed by artists and supported by an impressive culture — the Magdalenians.
At http://www.ricksteves.com, you'll find money-saving travel tips, small-group tours, guidebooks, TV shows, radio programs, podcasts, and more on this destination.
https://youtu.be/UnSq0c7jM-A
Finding Altamira Official Trailer #1 (2016) Antonio Banderas Drama Movie HD, 2:12
https://youtu.be/NidxjOIHGR8
Japanese Creation Myth
Shinto Handout
0:02 / 3:51 The Big Myth: The Japanese Origin Story!
The Japanese islands have a rich and detailed history, and the stories that they tell to explain where their people came from are a fantastic story to check out.
This video from The Big Myth is a basic, animated look into the origin story of Japan, featuring IZANAMI and IZANAGI, the first deities whose very children were the islands themselves!
http://www.bigmyth.com/ For more world mythology, myth comics, articles, gods, goddesses and supernatural fun, head over to Mr. P's MYTHOPEDIA: https://www.facebook.com/MrPsMythopedia/ http://mrpsmythopedia.wikispaces.com/
We will review the answers after the video.
Between heaven and earth what is there?
In the darkness what was there?
The heavier material became what?
Heavier and lighter became what?
Could they exist without each other?
All things in the world have what properties?
Who were the two first beings?
Since there was no land what happened when Izanagi thrust a jeweled-tipped spear into the waters?
How are Izanami and Izanagi related?
Did the ritual of walking have to be performed correctly?
How many great islands are there in Japan?
Who did Izanami give birth to and who was she?
Who was her consort?
What did the remainder of the children become?
https://youtu.be/XO5D-24g8Mk
Between heaven and earth what is there?
Darkness
In the darkness what was there?
An enormous egg.
The heavier material became what?
Earth
Heavier and lighter became what?
Yin and yang.
Could they exist without each other?
No.
All things in the world have what properties?
Yin and yang, feminine and masculine
Who were the two first beings?
Izanami and Izanagi
Since there was no land what happened when Izanagi thrust a jeweled-tipped spear into the waters?
Islands
How are Izanami and Izanagi related?
Husband and wife
Did the ritual of walking have to be performed correctly?
Yes
How many great islands are there in Japan?
Eight
Who did Izanami give birth to and who was she?
The Sun Goddess, Amaterasu
Who was her consort?
The moon
What did the remainder of the children become?
gods or elements
For our Discussion later.
The Turtle and the Shark, 3:57
What is the story here?
What is the problem?
What is the solution by the couple?
What is the resolution?
The Turtle and the Shark is one of the most popular Samoan legends. It tells the story of a man and a woman who are deeply in love. Unfortunately, the man is chosen to be the next meal to the cannibal King Malietofaiga.
To avoid this horrible fate, they flee to another island. However, fearing their act of disobedience would bring dishonor on their families, they willingly gave up their lives at the cliffs of Vaitogi. The gods had mercy on them and transformed them into a turtle and a shark to live together, forever.
Director: Ryan Woodward Distributed by Tubemogul.
https://youtu.be/JBgdbvTpDKA
What is the story here?
The story of a man and a woman who are deeply in love.
What is the problem?
The man is chosen to be the next meal to the cannibal King Malietofaiga.
What is the solution by the couple?
To avoid cannibalism they flee to another island. However, fearing their act of disobedience would bring dishonor on their families, they willingly gave up their lives at the cliffs of Vaitogi.
What is the resolution?
The gods had mercy on them and transformed them into a turtle and a shark to live together, forever.
Written Word - Birth of Writing, 3:00
Takes us to the Sumerian archaeological sites in present day Iran, Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere, to see the influence of cuneiform, the oldest known writing system in the world. Its development brought about a cultural renaissance,and Sumer rose in the Mesopotamian region. The influence of these Sumerian wedge characters did not end with the fall of Sumer, but also provided a literary foundation for civilizations that followed. Cuneiform influenced Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian writing, evolving over time from rudimentary pictures to standardized symbols.
https://youtu.be/u7JsfwAcCo0
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]
For this week's discussion question, you will be discussing:
- Role of myths or early record keeping
"Myths in Neolithic Cultures Around the Globe" Please respond to the following, using sources under the Explore heading as the basis of your response:
Neolithic societies and myths
- Describe the functions of ancient myths, using examples from two (2) different neolithic cultures, and comment on whether myth is inherently fictional. Using modern examples, discuss ways modern belief systems, secular or religious, function for modern cultures in a similar fashion.
Neolithic societies and myths
- Chapter 1 (pp. 6-8. 18-23, 29), myths in prehistory and early cultures
- Ancient myths in regions around the globe at http://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/worldmap_new.html and http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/.
"Writing and Record Keeping in Mesopotamia" Please respond to the following, using sources under the Explore heading as the basis of your response:
Mesopotamia
- Describe the "envelope”, the seal, and the early Mesopotamian writing process, and discuss expectations of record-keeping. Identify the issue being kept "on file,” and comment on what this reveals about Mesopotamian society in 1500 BC and the primary ways it compares to modern society in these respects.
Mesopotamia
- Chapter 2 (pp. 34-43), early Mesopotamian writing; seal
- University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute: Tablet and envelope at http://oi.uchicago.edu/museum/highlights/meso.html; scroll down to the item called “Clay Tablet and Envelope”.
- Click on the color and black and white images and read the captions and information.
4:39
Journey through the four worlds in Navajo creation myth. Humans tell marvelous stories that explain the world and the roots of their own culture, and they have been doing this since prehistoric times.
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/HUM/111/1146/Week1/WYLTKM-Pre-Columbian/story.html
We love a hero and the lessons of their adventures. The story of Gilgamesh shows a hero grappling with his own mortality and learning the importance of this life.
5:24
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/HUM/111/1146/Week1/WYLTKM-Gilgamesh/story.html
4:28
Why did humans adopt written law codes? Could there be any upside if the laws were harsh and sometimes unfair? Explore these questions with our oldest surviving body of law, the Code of Hammurabi.
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/HUM/111/1146/Week1/WYLTKM-Hammurabi/story.html
Week 1 Explore
Neolithic societies and myths
- Chapter 1 (pp. 6-8. 18-23, 29), myths in prehistory and early cultures
- Ancient myths in regions around the globe at http://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/worldmap_new.html and http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/.
- Chapter 2 (pp. 34-43), early Mesopotamian writing; seal
- University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute: Tablet and envelope at http://oi.uchicago.edu/museum/highlights/meso.html; scroll down to the item called “Clay Tablet and Envelope”. Click on the color and black and white images and read the captions and information.
HUM111 Music for Week 1
The most beautiful Sumerian Mesopotamian chill out music Iraq, 3:28Sumerians lived in the land of Sumer which is south of Iraq between the great Euphrates and Tigris rivers. They where the first established civilization in history. Great inventions such as writing, the wheel, irrigated farming, astronomy, the zodiac, and many more came from the Sumerians. The English word "Beer" is a Sumerian word as they were the first people known to create the beverage beer. They were the first people to write the first expression of freedom and liberty "Ama-Gi" Which means let them go back to their mothers (The slaves). Abraham was from sumer and you can go visit Abrahams house which is located next to the ziggurat near the city of Al-Nassariyah , south of Baghdad. Compilations of first half of video are Sumerian pictures, and then it is some pictures of ancient Babylon and at the end some modern pictures of Iraq.
https://youtu.be/_HzLefeWM3c
In this week's readings (chaps. 1-2), 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 1, 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 1: Chapters 1 and 2
MUSIC of ancient Mesopotamia---
chap. 2, pp. 36-7 (figs. 2.6 and 2.7) ancient Mesopotamian lyre.
We have visuals and even some remains of musical instruments from early Mesopotamia, and some ancient literary references to music and instruments. 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.
Professor Anne Draffkorn Kilmer's article (1998) is still one of the best summaries on this subject:
Stef Connor and Andy Lowings give a 2014 effort:
See http://www.stefconner.com/the-lyre-ensemble/ and http://www.newsweek.com/what-did-ancient-mesopotamian-hits-sound-something-291543.
See interview of Conner at New Scientist article at http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329874.800-im-reverseengineering-mesopotamian-hit-songs.html#.VNSj243wsdU (and it is printed in Slate at also http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2014/09/babylonian_music_recreated_instruments_poetry_and_songs_from_ancient_mesopotamia.html).
The article discusses current attempts--and the challenges--of trying to re-create the music of ancient Mesopotamia.
Here is a YouTube of a 2011 "rough attempt" at presenting ancient Mesopotamian music; and it has good relevant visual images and some just "love of the land" images that go with it:
Pre-Columbian culture:
Journey through the four worlds in Navajo creation myth. Humans tell marvelous stories that explain the world and the roots of their own culture, and they have been doing this since prehistoric times.
This list of pre-Columbian cultures includes those civilizations and cultures of the Americas which flourished prior to the European colonization of the Americas.
Contents
Cultural characteristics
Many pre-Columbian civilizations established permanent or urban settlements, agriculture, and complex societal hierarchies.
Watson Brake, Louisiana 3500 BC
Some of these civilizations had long ceased to function by the time of the first permanent European arrivals (ca. late 15th – early 16th centuries), and are known only through archaeological investigations or oral history from tribes today. Others were contemporary with this period, and are also known from historical accounts of the time. A few, such as the Olmec, Maya, Mixtec, and Nahua had their own written records. However, most Europeans of the time viewed such texts as heretical and burned most of them. Only a few documents were hidden and thus remain today, leaving modern historians with glimpses of ancient culture and knowledge.
From both indigenous American and European accounts and documents, American civilizations at the time of European encounter possessed many impressive attributes, having populous cities, and having developed theories of astronomy and mathematics.
Where they persist, the societies and cultures which gave rise to these civilizations continue to adapt and evolve; they also uphold various traditions and practices which relate back to these earlier times, even if combined with those more recently adopted.
A word on human sacrifice. This was a religious practice principally characteristic of pre-Columbian Aztec civilization although other Mesoamerican civilizations like the Maya and the Zapotec practiced it as well. The extent of the practice is debated by modern scholars.
Northern America
Main article: List of archaeological periods (North America)
- Paleo-Indians, ca. 18,000–8000 BC
- Clovis culture, 11,500–11,000 BC, United States, Mexico, and Central America
- Folsom tradition
- Plano cultures
- Cody complex
- Archaic Period, 8000–1000 BC
- Paleo-Arctic Tradition, 8000–5000 BC, Alaska and Yukon
- Watson Brake and Lower Mississippi Valley mounds sites, 3500 BC–2800 BC, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida
- Poverty Point culture, 2200 BC–700 BC, Lower Mississippi Valley and surrounding Gulf coast
- Post-archaic period, 1000 BC–onward
- Southwest:
- Ancestral Pueblo culture, 1200 BC–1300 AD, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico—one of these cultural groups referred to as Anasazi
- Fremont culture, 1 AD–1300 AD, Utah and parts of Nevada, Idaho and Colorado
- Hohokam, 1 AD–1450 AD, Arizona
- Eastern Woodlands
- Woodland period, 1000 BC–1000 AD
- Adena, 1000–200 BC, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, and parts of Pennsylvania and New York.
- Hopewell culture, 200 BC–500 AD, Southeastern Canada and eastern United States
- Troyville culture, 400–700 AD, Louisiana and Mississippi
- Coles Creek culture, 700–1200 AD, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi
- Plum Bayou culture, 700–1200 AD, Arkansas
- Mississippian culture, 800 AD–1500 AD, Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States
- Caborn-Welborn culture, 1400–1700 AD, Indiana and Kentucky.
- Caddoan Mississippian culture, 1000 AD–1650 AD, Eastern Oklahoma, Western Arkansas, Northeast Texas, and Northwest Louisiana.
- Fort Walton Culture, 1100–1550 AD, Florida.
- Leon-Jefferson Culture, 1100–1550 AD, Florida.
- Plaquemine culture, 1200–1730 AD, Louisiana and Mississippi.
- Upper Mississippian culture,
- Fort Ancient, 1000 AD–1650 AD, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia
- Oneota, 900–1650 AD, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri.
- Woodland period, 1000 BC–1000 AD
- Southwest:
Caribbean
Early South American cultures
- Ortoiroid people, ca. 5500—200 BC[2]
- Krum Bay culture, Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, 1500—200 BC[2]
- Coroso culture, Puerto Rico, 1000 BC–200 AD[2]
- Ciboney people, Greater Antilles, ca. 1000—301 BC[3]
- Guanahatabey, Cuba, 1000 BC
- Saladoid culture, 500 BC—545 AD[2]
- Ostionoid culture, 600—1500 AD[2]
- Arawak people, ca. 500–1500 BC[2]
Mesoamerica
Main article: Mesoamerican chronology
- Aztec, 1325–1521 AD, central Mexico
- Purépecha Empire or Tarascan state, 1300–1530 AD, Michoacán
- Huastec, 1000 BC–1500 AD, Hidalgo, Veracruz, San Luis Potosí and Tamaulipas
- Mixtec, unknown–1600 AD, western Oaxaca
- Maya, 2600 BC–1697 AD, Mexican Southern states: Chiapas, Tabasco,Campeche and Yucatán Peninsula; Central America: Belize; Guatemala; El Salvador; Honduras
- Toltec, 900–1100 AD – may be mythical
- Formative Period, 2500 BC–200 AD, La Blanca, Ujuxte, Monte Alto Culture, Mokaya Culture
- Teotihuacán, 200 BC–800 AD, near Mexico City
- Totonac, unknown–1500 AD, eastern Mexico
- Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition, 300 BC–400 AD, Jalisco, Nayarit, and, to a lesser extent, Colima
- Zapotec, 500 BC–1500 AD, Oaxaca
- Mixe, 400–present
- Olmec, 5100–400 BC, Veracruz and Tabasco
- Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition, 1500–300 BC, Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit
- Teuchitlan tradition, 300 BC – 500 AD, north-central Jalisco
Isthmo-Colombian area
- Cueva people, ?–1530 AD, Panama
- Diquis culture, 700–1530 AD, Costa Rica
South America
| Period | Dates | Cultures |
|---|---|---|
| Ceramic | ||
| Late Horizon | 1476 AD – 1534 AD | Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia: Inca Empire; Brazil: Cambeba |
| Late Intermediate | 1000 AD – 1476 AD | Bolivia: Aymara nations; Colombia: Muisca, Nariño, Tairona; Ecuador: Los Huancavilca, Kingdom of Quito, Manteño, Nariño; Peru: Chimú, Chincha, Cajamarca, Piura, Chancay, Chachapoyas, Chiribaya, Chucuito, Huaman Huilca, Ilo, Qotu Qotu, Pacacocha, Palli Marca, Piura, Sican, Tajaraca, Huaylas, Conchucos, Huamachuco, Rucanas, Chanka, Ayabaca, Bracamoros, Huancabambas, Tallan culture, Huarco, Ichma, Parinacota, Cuntis, Chinchaycochas, Huarochiri, Kheswas, Tarmas, Paltas, Camanas |
| Middle Horizon | 600 AD – 1000 AD | Bolivia: Tiwanaku; Brazil: Marajoara culture; Colombia: Cauca culture, Nariño, Quimbaya, Tairona; Ecuador: Cañari culture, Nariño; Peru: Huari, Piura |
| Early Intermediate | 200 AD–600 AD | Bolivia: Tiwanaku; Colombia: Quimbaya, San Agustín, Tairona, Tierradentro, Tolima; Ecuador: La Bahía, Cara, Quitu; Peru: Moche, Nazca, Lima, Pechiche, Piura |
| Early Horizon | 900 BC–200 AD | Colombia: Calima culture (200 BC–400 AD), Chibcha; Ecuador: Chorrera, La Tolita; Peru: Chavín, Cupisnique, Late Chiripa, Paracas, Pechiche, Sechura |
| Initial Period | 1800/1500 BC – 900 BC | Ecuador: Cotocollao; Machalilla; Peru: Early Chiripa, Kotosh, Toríl (The Cumbe Mayo aqueduct was built ca. 1000 BC), Argentina: Tehuelches (?-1820) |
| Preceramic | ||
| Period VI | 2500 BC – 1500/1800 BC | Ecuador: Valdivia; Peru: Norte Chico (Caral), Buena Vista, Casavilca, Culebras, Ventarrón, Viscachani, Huaca Prieta |
| Period V | 4200 BC – 2500 BC | Ecuador: Valdivia; Peru: Honda, Lauricocha III, Viscachani |
| Period IV | 6000 BC – 4200 BC | Peru: Ambo, Canario, Siches, Lauricocha II, Luz, Toquepala II |
| Period III | 8000 BC – 6000 BC | Ecuador: Las Vegas, 8000–4600 BC; Peru: Arenal, Chivateros II, Lauricocha I, Playa Chira, Puyenca, Toquepala I |
| Period II | 9500 BC – 8000 BC | Ecuador: El Inga; Peru: Chivateros I, Lauricocha I |
| Period I | ? BC – 9500 BC | Colombia: El Abra, (12,500–10,000 BC); Peru: Oquendo, Red Zone (central coast; Argentina & Chile: Patagonia |
5:24
Pre-Built Course Content
Epic of Gilgamesh:
We love a hero and the lessons of their adventures. The story of Gilgamesh shows a hero grappling with his own mortality and learning the importance of this life.
4:28
Pre-Built Course Content
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia. Dating from the Third Dynasty of Ur (circa 2100 BC), it is often regarded as the first great work of literature. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about 'Bilgamesh' (Sumerian for 'Gilgamesh'), king of Uruk. These independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic. The first surviving version of this combined epic, known as the "Old Babylonian" version, dates to the 18th century BC and is titled after its incipit, Shūtur eli sharrī ("Surpassing All Other Kings"). Only a few tablets of it have survived. The later "Standard" version dates from the 13th to the 10th centuries BC and bears the incipit Sha naqba īmuru ("He who Saw the Deep", in modern terms: "He who Sees the Unknown"). Approximately two thirds of this longer, twelve-tablet version have been recovered. Some of the best copies were discovered in the library ruins of the 7th-century BC Assyrian king Ashurbanipal.
The first half of the story discusses Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and Enkidu, a wild man created by the gods to stop Gilgamesh from oppressing the people of Uruk. After an initial fight, Gilgamesh and Enkidu become close friends. Together, they journey to the Cedar Mountain and defeat Humbaba, its monstrous guardian. Later they kill the Bull of Heaven, which the goddess Ishtar sends to punish Gilgamesh for spurning her advances. As a punishment for these actions, the gods sentence Enkidu to death.
In the second half of the epic, distress about Enkidu's death causes Gilgamesh to undertake a long and perilous journey to discover the secret of eternal life. He eventually learns that "Life, which you look for, you will never find. For when the gods created man, they let death be his share, and life withheld in their own hands".[1][2] However, because of his great building projects, his account of Siduri's advice, and what the immortal man Utnapishtim told him about the Great Flood, Gilgamesh's fame survived his death. His story has been translated into many languages, and in recent years has featured in works of popular fiction.
Contents
History
| “ | ...this discovery is evidently destined to excite a lively controversy. For the present the orthodox people are in great delight, and are very much prepossessed by the corroboration which it affords to Biblical history. It is possible, however, as has been pointed out, that the Chaldean inscription, if genuine, may be regarded as a confirmation of the statement that there are various traditions of the deluge apart from the Biblical one, which is perhaps legendary like the rest | ” |
— The New York Times, front page, 22 December 1872 | ||
The discovery of artifacts (ca. 2600 BC) associated with Enmebaragesi of Kish, mentioned in the legends as the father of one of Gilgamesh's adversaries, has lent credibility to the historical existence of Gilgamesh.[3]:40–41
Versions
From the diverse sources found, two main versions of the epic have been partially reconstructed: the Standard Akkadian version, or He who saw the deep, and the Old Babylonian version, or Surpassing all other kings. Five earlier Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh have been partially recovered, some with primitive versions of specific episodes in the Akkadian version, others with unrelated stories.Standard Akkadian version
The standard version was discovered by Hormuzd Rassam in the library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh in 1853. It was written in a dialect of Akkadian that was used for literary purposes. This version was compiled by Sin-liqe-unninni sometime between 1300 and 1000 BC from earlier texts.The standard Akkadian version has different opening words, or incipit, than the older version. The older version begins with the words "Surpassing all other kings", while the standard version has "He who saw the deep" (ša nagba īmuru), "deep" referring to the mysteries of the information brought back by Gilgamesh from his meeting with Uta-Napishti (Utnapishtim) about Ea, the fountain of wisdom.[11] Gilgamesh was given knowledge of how to worship the gods, why death was ordained for human beings, what makes a good king, and how to live a good life. The story of Utnapishtim, the hero of the flood myth, can also be found in the Babylonian Epic of Atrahasis.
The 12th tablet is a sequel to the original 11, and was probably added at a later date. It bears little relation to the well-crafted 11-tablet epic; the lines at the beginning of the first tablet are quoted at the end of the 11th tablet, giving it circularity and finality. Tablet 12 is a near copy of an earlier Sumerian tale, a prequel, in which Gilgamesh sends Enkidu to retrieve some objects of his from the Underworld, and he returns in the form of a spirit to relate the nature of the Underworld to Gilgamesh.
Content of the standard version tablets
(Based on Andrew George's translation)Tablet one
The story introduces Gilgamesh, king of Uruk. Gilgamesh, two-thirds god and one-third man, is oppressing his people, who cry out to the gods for help. For the young women of Uruk this oppression takes the form of a droit du seigneur — or "lord's right" to sleep with brides on their wedding night. For the young men (the tablet is damaged at this point) it is conjectured that Gilgamesh exhausts them through games, tests of strength, or perhaps forced labour on building projects. The gods respond to the people's pleas by creating an equal to Gilgamesh who will be able to stop his oppression. This is the primitive man, Enkidu, who is covered in hair and lives in the wild with the animals. He is spotted by a trapper, whose livelihood is being ruined because Enkidu is uprooting his traps. The trapper tells Gilgamesh about the man, and it is arranged for Enkidu to be seduced by Shamhat, a temple prostitute, his first step towards being tamed, and after six days and seven nights of continuous love making she takes Enkidu to a shepherd's camp to learn how to be civilized. Gilgamesh, meanwhile, has been having dreams about the imminent arrival of a beloved new companion.Tablet two
Shamhat brings Enkidu to a shepherds' camp, where he is introduced to a human diet and becomes the night watchman. Learning from a passing stranger about Gilgamesh's treatment of new brides, Enkidu is incensed and travels to Uruk to intervene at a wedding. When Gilgamesh attempts to visit the wedding chamber, Enkidu blocks his way, and they fight. After a fierce battle, Enkidu acknowledges Gilgamesh's superior strength and they become friends. Gilgamesh proposes a journey to the Cedar Forest to slay the monstrous demi-god Humbaba, in order to gain fame and renown. Despite warnings from Enkidu and the council of elders, Gilgamesh will not be deterred.Tablet three
The elders give Gilgamesh advice for his journey. Gilgamesh visits his mother, the goddess Ninsun, who seeks the support and protection of the sun-god Shamash for their adventure. Ninsun adopts Enkidu as her son, and Gilgamesh leaves instructions for the governance of Uruk in his absence.Tablet four
Gilgamesh and Enkidu journey to the Cedar Forest. Every few days they camp on a mountain, and perform a dream ritual. Gilgamesh has five terrifying dreams about falling mountains, thunderstorms, wild bulls, and a thunderbird that breathes fire. Despite similarities between his dream figures and earlier descriptions of Humbaba, Enkidu interprets these dreams as good omens, and denies that the frightening images represent the forest guardian. As they approach the cedar mountain, they hear Humbaba bellowing, and have to encourage each other not to be afraid.Tablet five
Tablet V of the Epic of Gilgamesh
In 2011 a partially broken tablet V of the Epic of Gilgamesh was found according to the Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq.
Tablet six
Gilgamesh rejects the advances of the goddess Ishtar because of her mistreatment of previous lovers like Dumuzi. Ishtar asks her father Anu to send Gugalanna, the Bull of Heaven, to avenge her. When Anu rejects her complaints, Ishtar threatens to raise the dead who will "outnumber the living" and "devour them". Anu becomes frightened, and gives in to her. Ishtar leads Gugalanna to Uruk, and it causes widespread devastation. It lowers the level of the Euphrates river, and dries up the marshes. It opens up huge pits that swallow 300 men. Without any divine assistance, Enkidu and Gilgamesh attack and slay it, and offer up its heart to Shamash. When Ishtar cries out, Enkidu hurls one of the hindquarters of the bull at her. The city of Uruk celebrates, but Enkidu has an ominous dream about his future failure.Tablet seven
In Enkidu's dream, the gods decide that one of the heroes must die because they killed Humbaba and Gugalanna. Despite the protestations of Shamash, Enkidu is marked for death. Enkidu curses the great door he has fashioned for Enlil's temple. He also curses the trapper and Shamhat for removing him from the wild. Shamash reminds Enkidu of how Shamhat fed and clothed him, and introduced him to Gilgamesh. Shamash tells him that Gilgamesh will bestow great honors upon him at his funeral, and will wander into the wild consumed with grief. Enkidu regrets his curses and blesses Shamhat. In a second dream however he sees himself being taken captive to the Netherworld by a terrifying Angel of Death. The underworld is a "house of dust" and darkness whose inhabitants eat clay, and are clothed in bird feathers, supervised by terrifying beings. For 12 days, Enkidu's condition worsens. Finally, after a lament that he could not meet a heroic death in battle, he dies.Tablet eight
Gilgamesh delivers a lamentation for Enkidu, in which he calls upon mountains, forests, fields, rivers, wild animals, and all of Uruk to mourn for his friend. Recalling their adventures together, Gilgamesh tears at his hair and clothes in grief. He commissions a funerary statue, and provides grave gifts from his treasury to ensure that Enkidu has a favourable reception in the realm of the dead. A great banquet is held where the treasures are offered to the gods of the Netherworld. Just before a break in the text there is a suggestion that a river is being dammed, indicating a burial in a river bed, as in the corresponding Sumerian poem, The Death of Gilgamesh.Tablet nine
Tablet nine opens with Gilgamesh roaming the wild wearing animal skins, grieving for Enkidu. Fearful of his own death, he decides to seek Utnapishtim ("the Faraway"), and learn the secret of eternal life. Among the few survivors of the Great Flood, Utnapishtim and his wife are the only humans to have been granted immortality by the gods. Gilgamesh crosses a mountain pass at night and encounters a pride of lions. Before sleeping he prays for protection to the moon god Sin. Then, waking from an encouraging dream, he kills the lions and uses their skins for clothing. After a long and perilous journey, Gilgamesh arrives at the twin peaks of Mount Mashu at the end of the earth. He comes across a tunnel, which no man has ever entered, guarded by two terrible scorpion-men. After questioning him and recognizing his semi-divine nature, they allow him to enter it, and he passes under the mountains along the Road of the Sun. In complete darkness he follows the road for 12 "double hours", managing to complete the trip before the Sun catches up with him. He arrives at the Garden of the gods, a paradise full of jewel-laden trees.Tablet ten
Gilgamesh meets alewife Siduri, who assumes that he is a murderer or thief because of his disheveled appearance. Gilgamesh tells her about the purpose of his journey. She attempts to dissuade him from his quest, but sends him to Urshanabi the ferryman, who will help him cross the sea to Utnapishtim. Gilgamesh, out of spontaneous rage, destroys the stone-giants that live with Urshanabi. He tells him his story, but when he asks for his help, Urshanabi informs him that he has just destroyed the only creatures who can cross the Waters of Death, which are deadly to the touch. Urshanabi instructs Gilgamesh to cut down 120 trees and fashion them into punting poles. When they reach the island where Utnapishtim lives, Gilgamesh recounts his story, asking him for his help. Utnapishtim reprimands him, declaring that fighting the common fate of humans is futile and diminishes life's joys.Tablet eleven
Gilgamesh observes that Utnapishtim seems no different from himself, and asks him how he obtained his immortality. Utnapishtim explains that the gods decided to send a great flood. To save Utnapishtim the god Ea told him to build a boat. He gave him precise dimensions, and it was sealed with pitch and bitumen. His entire family went aboard together with his craftsmen and "all the animals of the field". A violent storm then arose which caused the terrified gods to retreat to the heavens. Ishtar lamented the wholesale destruction of humanity, and the other gods wept beside her. The storm lasted six days and nights, after which "all the human beings turned to clay". Utnapishtim weeps when he sees the destruction. His boat lodges on a mountain, and he releases a dove, a swallow, and a raven. When the raven fails to return, he opens the ark and frees its inhabitants. Utnapishtim offers a sacrifice to the gods, who smell the sweet savor and gather around. Ishtar vows that just as she will never forget the brilliant necklace that hangs around her neck, she will always remember this time. When Enlil arrives, angry that there are survivors, she condemns him for instigating the flood. Ea also castigates him for sending a disproportionate punishment. Enlil blesses Utnapishtim and his wife, and rewards them with eternal life. This account matches the flood story that concludes the Epic of Atrahasis (see also Gilgamesh flood myth).The main point seems to be that when Enlil granted eternal life it was a unique gift. As if to demonstrate this point, Utnapishtim challenges Gilgamesh to stay awake for six days and seven nights. Gilgamesh falls asleep, and Utnapishtim instructs his wife to bake a loaf of bread on each of the days he is asleep, so that he cannot deny his failure to keep awake. Gilgamesh, who is seeking to overcome death, cannot even conquer sleep. After instructing Urshanabi the ferryman to wash Gilgamesh, and clothe him in royal robes, they depart for Uruk.
As they are leaving, Utnapishtim's wife asks her husband to offer a parting gift. Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh that at the bottom of the sea there lives a boxthorn-like plant that will make him young again. Gilgamesh, by binding stones to his feet so he can walk on the bottom, manages to obtain the plant. Gilgamesh proposes to investigate if the plant has the hypothesized rejuvenation ability by testing it on an old man once he returns to Uruk.
'There is a plant that looks like a box-thorn, it has prickles like a dogrose, and will prick one who plucks it. But if you can possess this plant, you'll be again as you were in your youth'Unfortunately, when Gilgamesh stops to bathe, it is stolen by a serpent, who sheds its skin as it departs. Gilgamesh weeps at the futility of his efforts, because he has now lost all chance of immortality. He returns to Uruk, where the sight of its massive walls prompts him to praise this enduring work to Urshanabi.
'This plant, Ur-shanabi, is the "Plant of Heartbeat", with it a man can regain his vigour. To Uruk-the-sheepfold I will take it, to an ancient I will feed some and put the plant to the test!'[12]
Tablet twelve
This tablet is mainly an Akkadian translation of an earlier Sumerian poem, Gilgamesh and the Netherworld (also known as "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld" and variants), although it has been suggested that it is derived from an unknown version of that story.[3]:42 The contents of this last tablet are inconsistent with previous ones: Enkidu is still alive, despite having died earlier in the epic. Because of this, its lack of integration with the other tablets, and the fact that it is almost a copy of an earlier version, it has been referred to as an 'inorganic appendage' to the epic.[13] Alternatively, it has been suggested that "its purpose, though crudely handled, is to explain to Gilgamesh (and the reader) the various fates of the dead in the Afterlife" and in "an awkward attempt to bring closure",[14] it both connects the Gilgamesh of the epic with the Gilgamesh who is the King of the Netherworld,[15] and is "a dramatic capstone whereby the twelve-tablet epic ends on one and the same theme, that of "seeing" (= understanding, discovery, etc.), with which it began."[16]Gilgamesh complains to Enkidu that various of his possessions (the tablet is unclear exactly what — different translations include a drum and a ball) have fallen into the underworld. Enkidu offers to bring them back. Delighted, Gilgamesh tells Enkidu what he must and must not do in the underworld if he is to return. Enkidu does everything which he was told not to do. The underworld keeps him. Gilgamesh prays to the gods to give him back his friend. Enlil and Suen don't reply, but Ea and Shamash decide to help. Shamash makes a crack in the earth, and Enkidu's ghost jumps out of it. The tablet ends with Gilgamesh questioning Enkidu about what he has seen in the underworld.
Old-Babylonian versions
This version of the epic, called in some fragments Surpassing all other kings, is composed of tablets and fragments from diverse origins and states of conservation.[17] It remains incomplete in its majority, with several tablets missing and big lacunae in those found. They are named after their current location or the place where they were found.Pennsylvania tablet
Surpassing all other kings Tablet II, greatly correlates with tablets I-II of the Standard version. Gilgamesh tells his mother Ninsun about two dreams he had. His mother explains that they mean that a new companion will soon arrive at Uruk. In the meanwhile the wild Enkidu and the priestess (here called Shamkatum) are making love. She tames him in company of the shepherds by offering him bread and beer. Enkidu helps the shepherds by guarding the sheep. They travel to Uruk to confront Gilgamesh and stop his abuses. Enkidu and Gilgamesh battle but Gilgamesh breaks off the fight. Enkidu praises Gilgamesh.Yale tablet
Surpassing all other kings Tablet III, partially matches tablets II-III of the Standard version. For reasons unknown (the tablet is partially broken) Enkidu is in a sad mood. In order to cheer him up Gilgamesh suggests going to the Pine Forest to cut down trees and kill Humbaba (known here as Huwawa). Enkidu protests, as he knows Huwawa and is aware of his power. Gilgamesh talks Enkidu into it with some words of encouragement, but Enkidu remains reluctant. They prepare, and call for the elders. The elders also protest, but after Gilgamesh talks to them, they agree to let him go. After Gilgamesh asks his god (Shamash) for protection and both equip, they leave with the elder's blessing and counsel.Philadelphia fragment
Possibly another version of the contents of the Yale Tablet, practically irrecoverable.Nippur School Tablet
In the journey to the cedar forest and Huwawa, Enkidu interprets one of Gilgamesh's dreams.Tell Harmal tablets
Fragments from two different versions/tablets tell how Enkidu interprets one of Gilgamesh's dreams on the way to the Forest of Cedar, and their conversation when entering the forest.Ishchali tablet
After defeating Huwawa, Gilgamesh refrains from slaying him, and urges Enkidu to hunt Huwawa's "seven auras". Enkidu convinces him to smite their enemy. After killing Huwawa and the auras, they chop down part of the forest and discover the gods' secret abode. The rest of the tablet is broken.The auras are not referred to in the standard version, but are in one of the Sumerian poems.
Partial fragment in Baghdad
Partially overlapping the felling of the trees from the Ishchali tablet.Sippar tablet
Partially overlapping the Standard version tablets IX-X. Gilgamesh mourns the death of Enkidu wandering in his quest for immortality. Gilgamesh argues with Shamash about the futility of his quest. After a lacuna, Gilgamesh talks to Siduri about his quest and his journey to meet Utnapishtim (here called Uta-na’ishtim). Siduri attempts to dissuade Gilgamesh in his quest for immortality, urging him to be content with the simple pleasures of life.[18] After one more lacuna, Gilgamesh smashes the "stone ones" and talks to the ferryman Urshanabi (here called Sur-sunabu). After a short discussion, Sur-sunabu asks him to carve 300 oars so that they may cross the waters of death without needing the "stone ones". The rest of the tablet is missing.The text on the Old Babylonian Meissner fragment (the larger surviving fragment of the Sippar tablet) has been used to reconstruct possible earlier forms of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and it has been suggested that a "prior form of the story – earlier even than that preserved on the Old Babylonian fragment – may well have ended with Siduri sending Gilgamesh back to Uruk..." and "Utnapistim was not originally part of the tale."[19]
Sumerian poems
There are five extant Gilgamesh stories in the form of older poems in Sumerian.[20] These probably circulated independently, rather than being in the form of a unified epic. Some of the names of the main characters in these poems differ slightly from later Akkadian names, e.g. "Bilgamesh" is written for Gilgamesh, and there are some differences in the underlying stories (e.g. in the Sumerian version Enkidu is Gilgamesh's servant):- `The lord to the Living One's Mountain` and `Ho, hurrah!` correspond to the Cedar Forest episode (Standard version tablets II–V). Gilgamesh and Enkidu travel with other men to the Forest of Cedar. There, trapped by Huwawa, Gilgamesh tricks him (with Enkidu's assistance in one of the versions) into giving up his auras, thus losing his power.
- `Hero in battle` corresponds to the Bull of Heaven episode (Standard version tablet VI) in the Akkadian version. The Bull's voracious appetite causes drought and hardship in the land while Gilgamesh feasts. Lugalbanda convinces him to face the beast and fights it alongside Enkidu.
- `The envoys of Akka` has no corresponding episode in the epic, but the themes of whether to show mercy to captives, and counsel from the city elders, also occur in the standard version of the Humbaba story. In the poem, Uruk faces a siege from a Kish army led by King Akka, whom Gilgamesh defeats and forgives.
- `In those days, in those far-off days` is the source for the Akkadian translation included as tablet XII in the Standard version, telling of Enkidu's journey to the Netherworld.
- `The great wild bull is lying down`, a poem about Bilgames' death, burial and consecration as a semigod, reigning and giving judgement over the dead. After dreaming of how the gods decide his fate after death, Gilgamesh takes counsel, prepares his funeral and offers gifts to the gods. Once deceased, he is buried under the Euphrates, taken off its course and later returned to it.
Later influence
The Epic of Gilgamesh has influenced both ancient and modern literature and culture, and themes from the Epic can be found in later biblical and classical literature.[citation needed]Relationship to the Bible
Further information: Panbabylonism
Various themes, plot elements, and characters in the Epic of Gilgamesh have counterparts in the Hebrew Bible, notably the accounts of the Garden of Eden, the advice from Ecclesiastes, and the Genesis flood narrative.Garden of Eden
The parallels between the stories of Enkidu/Shamhat and Adam/Eve have been long recognized by scholars.[21] In both, a man is created from the soil by a god, and lives in a natural setting amongst the animals. He is introduced to a woman who tempts him. In both stories the man accepts food from the woman, covers his nakedness, and must leave his former realm, unable to return. The presence of a snake that steals a plant of immortality from the hero later in the epic is another point of similarity.Advice from Ecclesiastes
Several scholars suggest direct borrowing of Siduri's advice by the author of Ecclesiastes.[22]A rare proverb about the strength of a triple-stranded rope (a triple-stranded rope is not easily broken) is common to both books.
Noah's Flood
Andrew George submits that the Genesis flood narrative matches that in Gilgamesh so closely that "few doubt" that it derives from a Mesopotamian account.[23] What is particularly noticeable is the way the Genesis flood story follows the Gilgamesh flood tale "point by point and in the same order", even when the story permits other alternatives.[24] In a 2001 Torah commentary released on behalf of the Conservative Movement of Judaism, rabbinic scholar Robert Wexler stated: "The most likely assumption we can make is that both Genesis and Gilgamesh drew their material from a common tradition about the flood that existed in Mesopotamia. These stories then diverged in the retelling."[25] Ziusudra ("he who found long life"), Utnapishtim ("he who found life") and Noah ("he who found rest") are the respective heroes of the Sumerian, Akkadian and biblical flood legends of the ancient Near East.Other biblical parallels
Matthias Henze suggests that Nebuchadnezzar's madness in the biblical Book of Daniel draws on the Epic of Gilgamesh. He claims that the author uses elements from the description of Enkidu to paint a sarcastic and mocking portrait of the king of Babylon.[26]While not directly discussed in the Epic itself, many of the characters in the Epic also have myths associated with them with close biblical parallels, notably Ninti, the Sumerian goddess of life, was created from Enki's rib to heal him after he had eaten forbidden flowers. Some scholars suggest that this served as the basis for the story of Eve created from Adam's rib in the Book of Genesis.[27]
Influence on Homer
Numerous scholars have drawn attention to various themes, episodes, and verses, that indicate a substantial influence of the Epic of Gilgamesh on both of the epic poems ascribed to Homer. These influences are detailed by Martin Litchfield West in The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth.[28] According to Tzvi Abusch of Brandeis University, the poem "combines the power and tragedy of the Iliad with the wanderings and marvels of the Odyssey. It is a work of adventure, but is no less a meditation on some fundamental issues of human existence."[29]In popular culture
Main article: Gilgamesh in popular culture
The Epic of Gilgamesh has inspired many works of literature, art, music, as Theodore Ziolkowski points out in his book Gilgamesh Among Us: Modern Encounters With the Ancient Epic (2011).[30][31] It was only after the First World War that the Gilgamesh epic reached a wide audience, and only after the Second World War that it began to feature in a variety of genres.[31]Law code of Hammurabi:
Why did humans adopt written law codes? Could there be any upside if the laws were harsh and sometimes unfair? Explore these questions with our oldest surviving body of law, the Code of Hammurabi.
The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian law code of ancient Mesopotamia, dating back to about 1754 BC. It is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world. The sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi, enacted the code, and partial copies exist on a man-sized stone stele and various clay tablets. The code consists of 282 laws, with scaled punishments, adjusting "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" (lex talionis)[1] as graded depending on social status, of slave versus free man.[2] Nearly one-half of the code deals with matters of contract, establishing, for example, the wages to be paid to an ox driver or a surgeon. Other provisions set the terms of a transaction, establishing the liability of a builder for a house that collapses, for example, or property that is damaged while left in the care of another. A third of the code addresses issues concerning household and family relationships such as inheritance, divorce, paternity, and sexual behavior. Only one provision appears to impose obligations on an official; this provision establishes that a judge who reaches an incorrect decision is to be fined and removed from the bench permanently.[3] A few provisions address issues related to military service.
The code was discovered by modern archaeologists in 1901, and its editio princeps translation published in 1902 by Jean-Vincent Scheil. This nearly complete example of the code is carved into a basalt stele in the shape of a huge index finger,[4] 2.25 m (7.4 ft) tall (see images at right). The code is inscribed in the Akkadian language, using cuneiform script carved into the stele. It is currently on display in the Louvre, with exact replicas in the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, the library of the Theological University of the Reformed Churches (Dutch: Theologische Universiteit Kampen voor de Gereformeerde Kerken) in the Netherlands, the Pergamon Museum of Berlin, and the National Museum of Iran in Tehran.
History
Hammurabi ruled for nearly 42 years, about 1792 to 1750 BC according to the Middle chronology. In the preface to the law, he states, "Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared Marduk, the patron god of Babylon (The Human Record, Andrea & Overfield 2005), to bring about the rule in the land."[5] On the stone slab are 44 columns and 28 paragraphs that contained 282 laws. The laws follow along the rules of 'an eye for an eye'.[6]
It had been taken as plunder by the Elamite king Shutruk-Nahhunte in the 12th century BC and was taken to Susa in Elam (located in the present-day Khuzestan Province of Iran) where it was no longer available to the Babylonian people. However, when Cyrus the Great brought both Babylon and Susa under the rule of his Persian Empire, and placed copies of the document in the Library of Sippar, the text became available for all the peoples of the vast Persian Empire to view.[7]
In 1901, Egyptologist Gustave Jéquier, a member of an expedition headed by Jacques de Morgan, found the stele containing the Code of Hammurabi during archaeological excavations at the ancient site of Susa in Khuzestan.[8]
Law
Main article: Babylonian law
The Code of Hammurabi was one of several sets of laws in the ancient Near East.[9] The code of laws was arranged in orderly groups, so that all who read the laws would know what was required of them.[10] Earlier collections of laws include the Code of Ur-Nammu, king of Ur (circa 2050 BC), the Laws of Eshnunna (circa 1930 BC) and the codex of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin (circa 1870 BC), while later ones include the Hittite laws, the Assyrian laws, and Mosaic Law.[11] These codes come from similar cultures in a relatively small geographical area, and they have passages which resemble each other.[12]
Figures at top of stele "fingernail" above Hammurabi's code of laws
Other copies
Hammurabi stele at American Museum of Natural History, New York, 2012
A version of the code at the Istanbul Archaeological Museums
In July, 2010, archaeologists reported that a fragmentary Akkadian cuneiform tablet was discovered at Tel Hazor, Israel, containing a circa-1700 BC text that was said to be partly parallel to portions of the Hammurabi code. The Hazor law code fragments are currently being prepared for publication by a team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[21]
Laws covered
 | |
 Law Code Stele of King Hammurabi, 1792-1750 B.C., Smarthistory |
- Slander
- Ex. Law #127: "If any one "point the finger" at a sister of a god or the wife of any one, and can not prove it, this man shall be taken before the judges and his brow shall be marked. (by cutting the skin, or perhaps hair.)" [22]
- Trade
- Ex. Law #265: "If a herdsman, to whose care cattle or sheep have been entrusted, be guilty of fraud and make false returns of the natural increase, or sell them for money, then shall he be convicted and pay the owner ten times the loss." [22]
- Slavery
- Ex. Law #15: "If any one take a male or female slave of the court, or a male or female slave of a freed man, outside the city gates, he shall be put to death." [22]
- The duties of workers
- Ex. Law #42: "If any one take over a field to till it, and obtain no harvest therefrom, it must be proved that he did no work on the field, and he must deliver grain, just as his neighbor raised, to the owner of the field." [22]
- Theft
- Ex. Law #22: "If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death."[22]
- Food
- Ex. Law #104: "If a merchant give an agent corn, wool, oil, or any other goods to transport, the agent shall give a receipt for the amount, and compensate the merchant therefor. Then he shall obtain a receipt from the merchant for the money that he gives the merchant." [22]
- Liability
- Ex. Law #53: "If any one be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition, and does not so keep it; if then the dam break and all the fields be flooded, then shall he in whose dam the break occurred be sold for money, and the money shall replace the corn which he has caused to be ruined." [22]
- Divorce
- Ex. Law #142: "If a woman quarrel with her husband, and say: "You are not congenial to me," the reasons for her prejudice must be presented. If she is guiltless, and there is no fault on her part, but he leaves and neglects her, then no guilt attaches to this woman, she shall take her dowry and go back to her father's house."[22]
- Ex. Law #196: "If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye. If one break a man's bone, they shall break his bone. If one destroy the eye of a freeman or break the bone of a freeman he shall pay one gold mina. If one destroy the eye of a man's slave or break a bone of a man's slave he shall pay one-half his price."[22]
Music Folder
Pre-Built Course Content
HUM111 Music for Week 1
In this week's readings (chaps. 1-2), 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 1, 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 1: Chapters 1 and 2
MUSIC of ancient Mesopotamia---
chap. 2, pp. 36-7 (figs. 2.6 and 2.7) ancient Mesopotamian lyre.
We have visuals and even some remains of musical instruments from early Mesopotamia, and some ancient literary references to music and instruments. 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.
Professor Anne Draffkorn Kilmer's article (1998) is still one of the best summaries on this subject:
Stef Connor and Andy Lowings give a 2014 effort: See http://www.stefconner.com/the-lyre-ensemble/ and http://www.newsweek.com/what-did-ancient-mesopotamian-hits-sound-something-291543. See interview of Conner at New Scientist article at http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329874.800-im-reverseengineering-mesopotamian-hit-songs.html#.VNSj243wsdU (and it is printed in Slate at also http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2014/09/babylonian_music_recreated_instruments_poetry_and_songs_from_ancient_mesopotamia.html).
The article discusses current attempts--and the challenges--of trying to re-create the music of ancient Mesopotamia.
The article discusses current attempts--and the challenges--of trying to re-create the music of ancient Mesopotamia.
The Flood CD - new music from ancient times, 5:13
This is a look at The Flood, a new CD by the Lyre Ensemble of Stef Conner, Andy Lowings and Mark Harmer, featuring new music based on Sumerian and Babylonian texts. You can find out more and purchase the CD from http://www.lyre-ensemble.com
https://youtu.be/DFghrbuuUWk
Here is a YouTube of a 2011 "rough attempt" at presenting ancient Mesopotamian music; and it has good relevant visual images and some just "love of the land" images that go with it:
Sumerians lived in the land of sumer which is south of Iraq between the great Euphrates and Tigris rivers. They where the first established civilization in history. Great inventions such as writing, the wheel, irrigated farming, astronomy, the zodiac, and many more came from the Sumerians. The English word "Beer" is a Sumerian word as they were the first people known to create the beverage beer. They were the first people to write the first expression of freedom and liberty "Ama-Gi" Which means let them go back to their mothers (The slaves). Abraham was from sumer and you can go visit Abrahams house which is located next to the ziggurat near the city of Al-Nassariyah , south of Baghdad.
Compilations of first half of video are Sumerian pictures, and then it is some pictures of ancient Babylon and at the end some modern pictures of Iraq.
https://youtu.be/_HzLefeWM3c
Week 1 Explore
Neolithic societies and myths
- Chapter 1 (pp. 6-8. 18-23, 29), myths in prehistory and early cultures
- Ancient myths in regions around the globe at http://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/worldmap_new.html and http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/.
- Chapter 2 (pp. 34-43), early Mesopotamian writing; seal
- University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute: Tablet and envelope at http://oi.uchicago.edu/museum/highlights/meso.html; scroll down to the item called “Clay Tablet and Envelope”. Click on the color and black and white images and read the captions and information.
Highlights of Trump's speech addressing the Polish people on July 6th, 2017. We must use our will to survive and overcome the powers that be who use their bureaucratic system to strip away our individuality and economic power, the same powers who use mass migration in an attempt to squash our culture and history.
https://youtu.be/n2-eHreur8w
What elements do you think are important when building a successful civilization?
Is a government important?
What role should government play in the lives of people?
What type of social structure do civilizations possess?
Why is religion significant?
Small group discussion:
What elements do you think are important when building a successful civilization?
What role do cities play?
Is a government important?
What role should government play in the lives of people?
What type of social structure do civilizations possess?
Is writing important?
Why is religion significant?
What is the role of art?
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of The World by Niall Ferguson Epsd. 1-5 (Full Documentary), 4:00:14
Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance. Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: Call it what you like, it matters. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. But in The Ascent of Money, Niall Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress. What's more, he reveals financial history as the essential backstory behind all history.Through Ferguson's expert lens familiar historical landmarks appear in a new and sharper financial focus. Suddenly, the civilization of the Renaissance looks very different: a boom in the market for art and architecture made possible when Italian bankers adopted Arabic mathematics. The rise of the Dutch republic is reinterpreted as the triumph of the world's first modern bond market over insolvent Habsburg absolutism. And the origins of the French Revolution are traced back to a stock market bubble caused by a convicted Scot murderer.
With the clarity and verve for which he is known, Ferguson elucidates key financial institutions and concepts by showing where they came from. What is money? What do banks do? What's the difference between a stock and a bond? Why buy insurance or real estate? And what exactly does a hedge fund do?
This is history for the present. Ferguson travels to post-Katrina New Orleans to ask why the free market can't provide adequate protection against catastrophe. He delves into the origins of the subprime mortgage crisis.
Perhaps most important, The Ascent of Money documents how a new financial revolution is propelling the world's biggest countries, India and China, from poverty to wealth in the space of a single generation—an economic transformation unprecedented in human history.
Yet the central lesson of the financial history is that sooner or later every bubble bursts—sooner or later the bearish sellers outnumber the bullish buyers, sooner or later greed flips into fear. And that's why, whether you're scraping by or rolling in it, there's never been a better time to understand the ascent of money.
https://youtu.be/fsrtB5lp60s
VIDEO
Joseph Campbell--Mythology of the First City States, 8:57
Agriculture and the domestication of animals 10,000 years ago in the Near East creates larger communities and new cultural organization - from herders to warriors...
This video is a brief excerpt from interviews filmed with Joseph Campbell shortly before his death in 1987, previously unreleased by the Joseph Campbell Foundation - http://www.jcf.org
https://youtu.be/EwPh4dHDmx0
Japan and the Role of Myth in the Shinto Religion
Shinto
Some important aspects of the course to consider are the following topics:
- Sumeria
- Akkad
- Babylon
- Law Code of Hammurabi
- Assyrian Empire
- Epic of Gilgamesh
- The Hebrews
- Neo-Babylonia
- Persian Empire
Terms, People, and Places
Sargon
Hammurabi
codify
civil law
criminal law
Nebuchadnezzar
barter economy
money economy
Zoroaster
colony
alphabet
How do civil law and criminal law differ?
Name a significant contribution made by the Hittites, Assyrians, and Babylonians after each group’s conquest in the Middle East.
What are two steps that Darius took to unite the Persian Empire?
How has the Phoenician development of an alphabet been a lasting contribution to civilization?
Reading Skill: Identify Main Ideas
How did various strong rulers unite the lands of the Fertile Crescent into well-organized empires?
Comprehension and Critical Thinking
Demonstrate Reasoned Judgment
What do you think was the most important achievement of Sargon? Of Hammurabi? Why?
Draw Inferences
How do you think the Persian policy of tolerance helped the empire grow so large?
Draw Conclusions
One effect of warfare and conquest was that knowledge and beliefs spread among different peoples. How else did people of the ancient Middle East spread their ideas?
THE HEBREWS
Surprising Mosaics Revealed in Ancient Synagogue in Israel
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150717-mosaics-synagogue-israel-magness-discovery-archaeology/?sf11065074=1
Bible Quotes on Scrolls
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/07/21/scientists-were-astonished-to-find-bible-quotes-on-most-ancient-hebrew-scroll-since-the-dead-sea-scrolls/
Moses and the Ten Commandments
Kings David and Solomon, and Hebrew Society
The Prophets and the Diaspora
To consider other important material keep in mind the following topics:
- Nile culture
- Old Kingdom
- Middle Kingdom
- New Kingdom
- Pharaohs: Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, and Tutankhamen
- Late Period
- Fall of Egypt
Terms, People, and Places
cataract
delta
dynasty
pharaoh
bureaucracy
vizier
Hatshepsut
Thutmose III
Ramses II
How did the yearly floods of the Nile influence life in ancient Egypt?
How was Egyptian government structured during the Old Kingdom?
In what ways was the Middle Kingdom turbulent?
What role did Egyptian conquest of others play during Egypt’s New Kingdom?
For what reasons do you think Hatshepsut wanted to leave a record of her accomplishments?
How did the Nile influence the rise of the powerful civilization of Egypt?
Comprehension and Critical Thinking
Summarize
How did the Nile play a crucial role in uniting Egypt?
Analyze Information
What knowledge did Egyptians gain from their conquerors the Hyksos? How do you think this helped them later on?
Draw Conclusions
What types of information about ancient Egypt can we learn from colossal monuments such as the Great Pyramids or the building projects of Hatshepsut and Ramses II?
Egyptian Civilization
Terms, People, and Places
Amon-Re
Osiris
Isis
Akhenaton
mummification
hieroglyphics
papyrus
decipher
Rosetta Stone
Which details about the Egyptian gods show the importance of agriculture to Egyptian society?
How did mummification reflect Egyptian beliefs about the afterlife?
Which social class grew in size as a result of trade and warfare?
Describe three advances in learning made by the ancient Egyptians.
What art forms were common in ancient Egypt?
Primary Source
How did religion and learning play important roles in ancient Egyptian civilization?
Comprehension and Critical Thinking
Predict Consequences
Egyptians believed that their pharaohs received the right to rule from Amon-Re. How do you think replacing him with the god Aton would have affected the authority of the pharaohs?
Make Comparisons
How do the Book of the Dead and the tomb of Tutankhamen offer different types of information about Egyptian views of the afterlife?
Summarize
What jobs were Egyptian women allowed to hold? What jobs were they not allowed to hold?
Analyze Information
Considering the materials that ancient Egyptians used to create their writing and art, what do you think are the challenges of locating examples of them today?
Supplemental Lecture 1
- Sumerian Ur
- Akkad
- Babylon
- The Assyrian Empire
- Mesopotamian Literature
- The Hebrews
- Neo-Babylonia
- The Persian Empire
Supplemental Lecture 2
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/HUM/111/1116/Week1-1116/Lecture2/player.html
DISCUSSION
Question 1: Multiple Choice
-
Among prehistoric paintings, what is distinctive about the painting of a bird-headed man, a bison, and a rhinoceros in Lascaux Cave?Given Answer: 
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.
Question 2: Multiple Choice
- What is the most basic architectural technique for spanning space?
Given Answer: post-and-lintelCorrect Answer: post-and-lintel
Question 3: Multiple Choice
- Neolithic Nok heads have an artistry based upon
Given Answer: abstract geometrical shapes.Correct Answer: abstract geometrical shapes.
Question 4: Multiple Choice
- Japanese emperors claimed divinity as
Given Answer: direct descendants of the sun goddess.Correct Answer: direct descendants of the sun goddess.
Question 5: Multiple Choice
- Why are the Chauvet animal paintings probably NOT associated with the hunt?
Given Answer: Less than half of the animals painted on the walls are believed to have been hunted.Correct Answer: Less than half of the animals painted on the walls are believed to have been hunted.
Question 6: Multiple Choice
-
What did lost-wax casting enable the Mesopotamian sculptors to create?Given Answer: 
More lifelike-looking bronze piecesCorrect Answer: Larger and more lightweight bronze pieces
Question 7: Multiple Choice
- Why did Mesopotamian scribes move from pictograms to the more linear cuneiform writing?
Given Answer: Drawing lines instead of curves in wet clay was easierCorrect Answer: Drawing lines instead of curves in wet clay was easier
Question 8: Multiple Choice
- According to our text, what did the Hebrews believe their status as "chosen people" meant?
Given Answer: They were to set an example of a higher moral standardCorrect Answer: They were to set an example of a higher moral standard
Question 9: Multiple Choice
- Why did the arts develop in Mesopotamia?
Given Answer: As celebrations of the priest-kings' powerCorrect Answer: As celebrations of the priest-kings' power
Question 10: Multiple Choice
| What was the role of the Hebrew prophets in the era following Solomon's death? | ||||
| |||||
Question 1: Multiple Choice
- Among prehistoric paintings, what is distinctive about the painting of a bird-headed man, a bison, and a rhinoceros in Lascaux Cave?
Given Answer: 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.
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
- Paleolithic cave paintings may have been intended to do all of the following EXCEPT
Given Answer: commemorate the dead buried in the caves.
Correct Answer: commemorate the dead buried in the caves.
Question 4: Multiple Choice
- What can myths tell about their cultures?
Given Answer: views and beliefsCorrect Answer: views and beliefs
Question 5: Multiple Choice
- The Great Serpent Mound differs from most Hopewell mounds in its
Given Answer: absence of burial sites.Correct Answer: absence of burial sites.
Question 6: Multiple Choice
- What is the Persian Zoroaster's greatest contribution to religious thought?
Given Answer: The emphasis on free willCorrect Answer: The emphasis on free will
Question 7: Multiple Choice
- Why is the Royal Standard of Ur such an important discovery?
Given Answer: It is one of the earliest example of historical narrativeCorrect Answer: It is one of the earliest example of historical narrative
Question 8: Multiple Choice
- What about the Royal Standard of Ur illustrates social perspective or hierarchy of scale?
Given Answer: The most important figures are represented as larger than othersCorrect Answer: The most important figures are represented as larger than others
Question 9: Multiple Choice
- What did lost-wax casting enable the Mesopotamian sculptors to create?
Given Answer: Larger and more lightweight bronze piecesCorrect Answer: Larger and more lightweight bronze pieces
Question 10: Multiple Choice
| What classic struggle do Gilgamesh and Enkidu represent? | ||||
| |||||
Question 1: Multiple Choice
- What do the Hopewell culture’s elaborate burials tell about them?
Given Answer: They had an extensive trade network.Correct Answer: They had an extensive trade network.
Question 2: Multiple Choice
- Why are the Chauvet animal paintings probably NOT associated with the hunt?
Given Answer: Less than half of the animals painted on the walls are believed to have been hunted.Correct Answer: Less than half of the animals painted on the walls are believed to have been hunted.
Question 3: Multiple Choice
- Why did the Chauvet painters utilize perspectival drawing?
Given Answer: to convey a sense of three-dimensional spaceCorrect Answer: to convey a sense of three-dimensional space
Question 4: Multiple Choice
- According to the most recent discoveries, Stonehenge was constructed as a
Given Answer: burial ground.Correct Answer: burial ground.
Question 5: Multiple Choice
- Neolithic Nok heads have an artistry based upon
Given Answer: abstract geometrical shapes.Correct Answer: abstract geometrical shapes.
Question 6: Multiple Choice
- Why is the legend of Sargon I considered a "rags to riches" story?
Given Answer: Child abandoned at birth grows up to be kingCorrect Answer: Child abandoned at birth grows up to be king
Question 7: Multiple Choice
- Which of the following differentiates the Hebrews from other Near Eastern cultures?
Given Answer: They worshipped a single godCorrect Answer: They worshipped a single god
Question 8: Multiple Choice
- What classic struggle do Gilgamesh and Enkidu represent?
Given Answer: Nature versus civilizationCorrect Answer: Nature versus civilization
Question 9: Multiple Choice
- What was the role of the Hebrew prophets in the era following Solomon's death?
Given Answer: To provide moral instruction according to the laws of the TorahCorrect Answer: To provide moral instruction according to the laws of the Torah
Question 10: Multiple Choice
| What distinguishes the Law Code of Hammurabi from its predecessors? | ||||
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Question 1: Multiple Choice
- Japanese emperors claimed divinity as
Given Answer: heads of the Shinto religion.Correct Answer: direct descendants of the sun goddess.
Question 2: Multiple Choice
- According to the most recent discoveries, Stonehenge was constructed as a
Given Answer: burial ground.Correct Answer: burial ground.
Question 3: Multiple Choice
- Neolithic Nok heads have an artistry based upon
Given Answer: abstract geometrical shapes.Correct Answer: abstract geometrical shapes.
Question 4: Multiple Choice
- Paleolithic cave paintings may have been intended to do all of the following EXCEPT
Given Answer: commemorate the dead buried in the caves.
Correct Answer: commemorate the dead buried in the caves.
Question 5: Multiple Choice
- Which of the following beliefs is NOT reflected in Pueblo emergence tales?
Given Answer: Humans can take on animal form if they offer proper sacrifices.Correct Answer: Humans can take on animal form if they offer proper sacrifices.
Question 6: Multiple Choice
- What was the Mesopotamian ruler's role in religion?
Given Answer: To act as intermediary between the gods and humansCorrect Answer: To act as intermediary between the gods and humans
Question 7: Multiple Choice
- How did the Mesopotamians view human society?
Given Answer: As part of a larger societyCorrect Answer: As part of a larger society
Question 8: Multiple Choice
- According to our text, what did the Hebrews believe their status as "chosen people" meant?
Given Answer: They were to set an example of a higher moral standardCorrect Answer: They were to set an example of a higher moral standard
Question 9: Multiple Choice
- Which of the following differentiates the Hebrews from other Near Eastern cultures?
Given Answer: They worshipped a single godCorrect Answer: They worshipped a single god
Question 10: Multiple Choice
| What about the Royal Standard of Ur illustrates social perspective or hierarchy of scale? | ||||
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Question 1: 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 2: Multiple Choice
- Neolithic Nok heads have an artistry based upon
Given Answer: abstract geometrical shapes.Correct Answer: abstract geometrical shapes.
Question 3: Multiple Choice
- In prehistoric times, communication with the spiritual world is thought to have been largely conducted in
Given Answer: Caves.
Correct Answer: Caves.
Question 4: Multiple Choice
- According to the most recent discoveries, Stonehenge was constructed as a
Given Answer: burial ground.Correct Answer: burial ground.
Question 5: 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 6: Multiple Choice
- What was the role of the Hebrew prophets in the era following Solomon's death?
Given Answer: To provide moral instruction according to the laws of the TorahCorrect Answer: To provide moral instruction according to the laws of the Torah
Question 7: Multiple Choice
- How did the Mesopotamians view human society?
Given Answer: As part of a larger societyCorrect Answer: As part of a larger society
Question 8: Multiple Choice
- What about the Royal Standard of Ur illustrates social perspective or hierarchy of scale?
Given Answer: The most important figures are represented as larger than othersCorrect Answer: The most important figures are represented as larger than others
Question 9: 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 deathCorrect Answer: It is the first to confront the idea of death
Question 10: Multiple Choice
| Why did visitors to the ziggurats often leave a statue representing themselves? | ||||
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HUM 111 Week 1
How to Understand Myths (and videos)
The Big Myth: The Japanese Origin Story
The Japanese islands have a rich and detailed history, and the stories that they tell to explain where their people came from are a fantastic story to check out.
This video from The Big Myth is a basic, animated look into the origin story of Japan, featuring IZANAMI and IZANAGI, the first deities whose very children were the islands themselves!
We will review the answers after the video.
Between heaven and earth what is there?
In the darkness what was there?
The heavier material became what?
Heavier and lighter became what?
Could they exist without each other?
All things in the world have what properties?
Who were the two first beings?
Since there was no land what happened when Izanagi thrust a jeweled-tipped spear into the waters?
How are Izanami and Izanagi related?
Did the ritual of walking have to be performed correctly?
How many great islands are there in Japan?
Who did Izanami give birth to and who was she?
Who was her consort?
What did the remainder of the children become?
We will review the answers after the video.
Between heaven and earth what is there?
In the darkness what was there?
The heavier material became what?
Heavier and lighter became what?
Could they exist without each other?
All things in the world have what properties?
Who were the two first beings?
Since there was no land what happened when Izanagi thrust a jeweled-tipped spear into the waters?
How are Izanami and Izanagi related?
Did the ritual of walking have to be performed correctly?
How many great islands are there in Japan?
Who did Izanami give birth to and who was she?
Who was her consort?
What did the remainder of the children become?
