History of Western Civilization

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History of Western Civilization
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Prehistoric Art

• Lascaux Cave Paintings- 15,000-11,000 B.C.
• Chauvet Cave Drawings- 28,000 B.C
• Venus of Willendorf - 25,000 B.C.
• Stonehenge - 3,000-2,000 B.C.

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The Fertile Crescent- MesopotamiaThe Earliest
Civilizations
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Sumeria - early as 4500 B.C

• Ziggurat- a stepped mountain made of
  brick-covered earth
• Ziggurat at Ur- 2100 B.C. (reproduction shown
  below)
• Tower of Babel- c. 3500 B.C.

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Sumeria

• Bull-headed lyre soundbox.
• Ur, Iraq c. 2685 B.C.
• Sumerian Votive figures

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The Akkadian Period (ca. 23502150 B.C.)

• Sargon of Akkad-
• c. 2300 B.C. 
• King Naram-Sim- c. 2230 B.C.
• Celebrates military victory

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The Akkadian Period (ca. 23502150 B.C.)

• Cuneiform Writing with wedge-shaped characters.
• The earliest known written language

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Babylonian Period

• Code of Hammurabi- 1772 BC
• a list of common sense laws etched in stone
• 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 mana of
  silver. 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.

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The Age of Empires
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Assyrian Empire- 2500 BC to 605 BC

• Human-headed winged bull
• and winged lion.
• ca. 883859 B.C

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Neo-Babylonian Empire 626 BC - 539 BC

• King Nebuchadnezzar-
• 605 BC 562 BC

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Persian Empire 626 BC - 539 BC

• Audience Hall
• of Darius and Xerxes
• 500 B.C.

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The Art of Ancient Egypt
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Table of Contents

• The Growth of Egyptian Civilization
• Three major Periods of Egyptian History
• The Pyramids
• Temple of Amun
• Sculpture and Painting
• The Great Sphinx
• Hieroglyphics
• False Door Stela

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The Growth of Egyptian Civilization

• 7,000 years ago people first settled in the Nile
  River Valley.
• They are the direct ancestors of most Egyptian
  people.
• Because of the Nile River soil deposits they
  became a society of producers instead of hunters
  and gatherers.
• They started to build more permanent homes of
  mud, wood and reeds.

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The Formation of Kingdoms

• The settled existence brought increased
  population in villages and towns.
• Towns took over villages and formed kingdoms.
• End of the prehistoric period there were only two
  kingdoms in Egypt
• Lower Egypt delta region on the Mediterranean
  Sea
• Upper Egypt Valley in the desert

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The Formation of Kingdoms

• The Egyptian civilization emerged more than 3,000
  years before the birth of Christ.
• Pharaoh or ruler, governed with complete
  authority.
• Commerce grew, art flourished and majestic
  monuments were constructed.

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Three major Periods of Egyptian History

• Each kingdom is divided into dynasties.
• Dynasty -was a period during which a single
  family provided a succession of rulers.
• One reign ended with the death of a Pharaoh and
  another began with the crowning of a successor
  from the same royal family.
• Important to keep the family blood pure.

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The Old Kingdom

• Started around 3100 B.C.
• Ruled by a powerful pharaoh named Menes.
• Capitol established at Memphis and founded the
  first 31 Egyptian dynasties
• Lasted 500 years when a strong centralized
  government was established.
• Civil war caused the power of the pharaoh to
  collapse.

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The Middle Kingdom

• Lasted about 250 years
• Order and prosperity
• Followed by foreign invasion and turmoil
• Hyksos invasion and take over
• Restored independence
• Pharaoh still present but power was diminished.

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The New Kingdom

• Began in 1570 B.C.
• Aka Empire
• Amenhotep III reached the peak of power and
  influence.
• Thebes became on of the most magnificent royal
  cities in the world.
• Went from a multiple god society to that of one
  Aton
• Egypt began to be whittled away by enemies.

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The decline of Ancient Egypt

• The new religion died with its founding pharaoh
  Akheneton.
• The old religion was restored although Egypts
  power was dwindling.
• Finally in 30 B.C. Egypt was made a province of
  Rome

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The Pyramids
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Influence of Religion

• Resurrection of the soul of ka
• The ka (spirit or soul) was born with the body
  and remained there until death.
• Upon the death the ka would leave temporarily but
  late return to the body and travel to the next
  life.
• The body would be embalmed, wrapped and stored in
  the pyramids until the ka returned.
• Assurance against final death

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Influence of Religion

• Ra- the sun god, represented by the falcon,
• Osiris- the god of the Nile and ruler of the
  underworld
• Isis- The great mother god

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The Pyramids as Tombs

• Most impressive were built for Pharaohs
• The people saw them as gods and expected to be
  united with other gods
• His body was sealed in a sarcophagus or stone
  coffin.
• Placed with treasures
• in the center of the pyramid.
• To an Egyptian the
• destruction of the body was
• the most horrible for of
• vengeance

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Mummification

• In the Prehistoric Egypt, bodies were buried in
  deserts because they would naturally be preserved
  by dehydration.
• this old man from 5000 years ago was not
  mummified, and yet he is perfectly preserved
  because he was buried in dry sand
• The main process of mummification was preserving
  the body by dehydrating it using natron, a
  natural material found in Wadi Natrun which is
  like a combination of baking soda and salt
• This process took 40 days

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Mummification

• The body is drained of any liquids and left with
  the skin, hair and muscles preserved.12
• This process was available for anyone who could
  afford it. It was believed that even those who
  could not afford this process could still enjoy
  the afterlife with the right reciting of spells.
  The most classic and common method of
  mummification dates back to the 18th Dynasty. The
  first step was to remove the internal organs and
  liquid so that the body would not decay. The
  embalmers took out the brain by inserting a sharp
  object in the nostril, breaking through it into
  the brain and then liquefying it. They threw out
  the brain because they thought that the heart did
  all the thinking. The next step was to remove the
  internal organs, the lungs, liver, stomach, and
  intestines, and place them in canopic jars with
  lids shaped like the heads of the protective
  deities, the four sons of Horus. The heart stayed
  in the body, because in the hall of judgment it
  would be weighed against the feather of Maat.
  After the body was washed with wine, it was
  stuffed with bags of natron. The dehydration
  process took 40 days.
• The second part of the process took 30 days. This
  was the time where the deceased turned into a
  semi divine being, and all that was left in the
  body from the first part was removed, followed by
  applying first wine and then oils. The oils were
  for ritual purposes, as well as preventing the
  limbs and bones from breaking while being
  wrapped. The body was sometimes colored with a
  golden resin. This protected the body from
  bacteria and insects. This was also based on the
  belief that divine beings had flesh of gold. The
  body was wrapped in bandages with amulets while a
  priest recited prayers and burned incense. The
  dressing provided physical protection and the
  wealthier even had a burial mask of their head.
  The 70 days are connected to Osiris and the
  length the star Sothis was absent from the sky.
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_buri
  al_customs

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Evolution of the Pyramid Shape

• Mastaba a low flat tomb made of sun-dried
  bricks.
• Step pyramid- Several mastaba stacked on top of
• each other.
• Step Pyramid of
• King Zoser 2680 b.c.
• Pyramids, built without steps from limestone
  blocks weighing over a ton each.

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The Pyramid of Khufu, Giza c. 2545-2520

• The largest Pyramid in the World. Covers almost
  13 acres
• 5 of the worlds largest cathedrals could be
  placed inside its base with room to spare.
• 2.3 million blocks of stone
• 480 feet high
• Equal to a 48 story building
• Almost perfectly square
• http//www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids/khufu.h
  tml

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Temple of Amon

• Temple of the all powerful chief god of Thebes.
• Entranceway flanked by obelisks, four sided
  pointed stone shafts.
• Statues of the pharaohs and huge banners opened
  onto an uncovered courtyard.
• Great halls lie behind the courtyard
• Sanctuary was a small, dark, mysterious chamber
  where only the pharaoh and certain priests were
  allowed to enter
• Built in new kingdom as proof of the genius of
  the architects
• http//www.eyelid.co.uk/karnakb.htm

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Temple of Amon

• The Great Hypostyle Hall of Karnak was begun
  during the reign of King Seti I (c.1290-1279
  B.C.E.) and was completed by his son, Ramesses II
  (c.1279-1213 B.C.E.). The central row of 12
  columns on the east-west axis are 69 feet/21
  meters in height, about 33 feet/10 meters in
  circumference, and have open papyrus capitals.

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Sculpture and Painting

• Egypts most impressive achievements in the field
  of art were the publicly visible pyramids and
  temples.
• Within the pyramids were sculptures and
  paintings. Most have survived over the centuries.

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Sculpture and the ka

• Pyramids were robbed despite all the precautions
  taken.
• Pharaohs bodies were sometimes mutilated.
• Carved likenesses were placed within the tomb to
  insure that the ka would still have a body to
  reunite with.

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The Great Sphinx

• 4th Dynasty pharaoh
• Khafres head placed
• on the body of a
• reclining lion.
• Massive size was
• intended to demonstrate the power of the
  pharaoh.
• Carved from rock at the site.
• Why do you think the pharaohs head was placed on
  the body of a lion.
• http//www.ancient-egypt-online.com/the-great-sphi
  nx.html

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Portrait of Khafre

• Seated portrait carved in hard diorite stone
• Body rigid and attentive but the head is more
  lifelike.
• Throne is inscribed with symbols proclaiming him
  the king of Upper Lower Egypt
• Right hand forms a fist which must have held a
  symbol of his high office.
• A falcon (Horus
• god of the sky) is
• placed behind
• Khafres head to
• prove his divinity. Descendent of
• Re, the sun god.

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Middle Kingdom

• Most of the sculpture of this period was
  destroyed by invading Hyksos and by the New
  Kingdom rules who followed.
• But what remains shows the pharaohs as softer
  more gentler rulers.
• Features became softer and more realistic.
• This style carried into the New Kingdom.

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Akhenaton and Nefertiti 18th dynasty

• Sculptures depicted more
• realistic features
• Elongated head, pointed chin,
• Heavy lips, Long slender neck
• Shown in everyday scenes like
• playing with his daughters.

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Akhenaton and Nefertiti 18th dynasty
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Rules of Egyptian Art

• Every part of the body be shown from the most
  familiar side
• For this reason, the head, arms, legs and feet
  were shown in profile
• Eyes and shoulders were shown from the front
• Substitutes for actual bodies (ka)
• Strict set of rules developed to show all parts
  of the body

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Middle Kingdom Painting

• During the Middle Kingdom painting became it own
  separate art form.
• Too expensive to carve stone.
• Tombs were covered with plaster
• Lines were drawn and characters were placed
  within the lines to tell a story.
• Bright colors were used to keep the walls
  vibrant.
• This method resulted in a style similar to that
  of contemporary comic strips.

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• Nakht and his Wife
• The priest and his wife are much larger figures
  to show that Nakht and his wife are more important

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Hieroglyphics

• Hieroglyphics an early form of picture writing.
  
• Symbols that communicated information and were
  included in wall paintings and other art forms to
  help tell the story.
• Created attractive patterns.
• Write you name or message in hieroglyphics using
  the provided sheet.
• http//www.eyelid.co.uk/hiromenu.htm

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Rosetta Stone

• The Rosetta Stone is a Ptolemaic
• age granodiorite stele inscribed
• with a decree issued at Memphis
• in 196 BC on behalf of King
• Ptolemy V. The decree appears in
• three scripts the upper text is
• Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs,
• the middle portion Demotic script, and the
  lowest
• Ancient Greek. Because it presents essentially
  the same
• text in all three scripts (with some minor
  differences
• among them), it provided the key to the modern
  
• understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

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False Door Stela

• Painted on the walls of the tombs was a false
  door which the ka would pass through in search of
  offerings.
• Servants were painted
• along the side offering
• food and drink for
• the ka.
• Outside influences
• started to encroach
• on Egypts art and near
• the end it lost its
• uniqueness.

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Resources

• Getlin, M. (2010). Living with art. Opening up to
  the world, pages 524 thru 531. McGraw Hill.
  Chicago.
• Miller, G. (2000). Art in focus. The Art of
  Ancient Egypt, pages 146 thru 164. Glencoe.
  Chicago.