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fandomhigh2006-01-10 02:32 pm
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History of Western Civilisation - Tuesday 7th Period: Lecture 1: Introduction and Sumeria
Methos stood in front of the class, dressed in jeans and a sweater, leaning back against his desk. "Right. First of all, the official title for this class is the History of Western Civilisation, Part 1. We are very consciously going to be ignoring the vast majority of the world in this survey. We're doing it because at this time and place, we are living in the result of everything that has gone before, and I'm a firm believer in understanding what's gone before to understand what's going on now.
On your desks you should have a syllabus and course information sheet. You will be responsible for knowing all the information on that sheet. I'd like you to meet your TA, Janet Fraiser, who you probably know if you got a library card. And if you don't have one? Get one. Any questions? Good.
This class is going to stretch from prehistory to approximately the year 1350. The beginning point is by necessity vague. I once read a textbook that claimed that anything prior to the invention of writing was out of the bounds of history. I then finished what I was doing and flushed the toilet. That's ridiculous. The history of most of Western Civilisation has involved people who were not literate by our lights -- unable to write or read, and perfectly happy to be so. Some of these people created the most amazing art, literature and science that we've ever known.
Contrary to many Western Civilisation classes, I am not going to spend gobs of time on the Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations, for the simple reason that they had little direct influence on the development of our world. Their influences are definitely felt to this day -- one of the most iconic images of Western Civilisation is a mother holding a divine child on her lap, which harkens back to Isis and Her-ur -- or Horus, in the Greek. But these did not come to us directly, but filtered through the opinions and prejudices of the Hellenistic world.
Nor are they the only ones we will approach at a remove. For instance, much of the Greek literature that we have today is the gift of one aspect of Western civilisation that is rarely acknowledged: the Islamic world. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, they and the Byzantine Empire in the East kept learning that Western Europe forgot about in their not-inconsiderable fight to survive. But when the writings of Plato and Aristole returned to Western Europe, they were themselves filtered through at least two translations - Greek to Arabic, and Arabic to Latin. The Arabic to Latin translations were often effected by the literate and educated Jewish people living in Moorish Spain, which adds another layer of opinion.
The impression you should be receiving from all of this is of a vast muddle of influences, all of them shouting to try to drown each other out. Cultural influences consciously and unconsciously beg, borrow, and steal from each other, as with the aforementioned Madonna and Child image. The early Greek statues are self-consciously in the style of the Egyptian art that had remained iconic for thousands of years, until the desires of the people involved began to modify their expression. Please don't ever think that the ancient Egyptians or the medieval peoples of Europe were incapable of portraying the world around them in a reasonably accurate manner. It was not necessary for them to do so. Art -- which can include early writing systems -- was meant to be highly symbolic. Abstraction is not a modern concept.
Now, then, for the cradle of civilisation.
The people we call the Sumerians were actually given that name by their neighbors, the Akkadians. Like most people, they described themselves and their place in it a little more simply and egocentrically as "the black-headed people" who lived in the "place of the civilized lords".
Since there wasn't much in the way of rock or trees in that part of Mesopotamia, they built houses with reeds and major structures with mud brick -- which works better than you might think in a largely dry region. However all mud-brick buildings eventually deteriorate, and so the people periodically leveled the old buildings and simply built new ones on top. Eventually, cities ended up essentially on hills of their own making called tells -- which have been something of a boon for archaeologists.
But, most relevant to our study is what the Sumerians have left for us in the way of inventions and innovations. Among other things they invented both the wheel and the 60-second/60-minute/12-hour/12-month timekeeping system we use to this day. Their cuneiform writing system was the first we have evidence of, pre-dating Egyptian hieroglyphics by at least seventy-five yearsnot that I had anything to do with one leading to the other. With the invention of writing, they were able to record their knowledge and pass it on to others, giving rise to bureaucracy, social class systems, and the very concepts of education and schools.
Tomorrow we will meet in Humanities Classroom #2 during 5th period and discuss what I said today. If you would like to gain some additional ammunition, I can suggest some reading topics after class.
"One last thing: You have a term paper due at the end of this semester. I would like you all to pick topics before the second exam. You must clear your topics with me. Please see me if you are having trouble thinking of a topic, and I'll help you."
[[OCD threads are up! Post away!]]
Much love and thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aka_vala for the Sumarian portion of the lecture. **SMOOCHES**
On your desks you should have a syllabus and course information sheet. You will be responsible for knowing all the information on that sheet. I'd like you to meet your TA, Janet Fraiser, who you probably know if you got a library card. And if you don't have one? Get one. Any questions? Good.
This class is going to stretch from prehistory to approximately the year 1350. The beginning point is by necessity vague. I once read a textbook that claimed that anything prior to the invention of writing was out of the bounds of history. I then finished what I was doing and flushed the toilet. That's ridiculous. The history of most of Western Civilisation has involved people who were not literate by our lights -- unable to write or read, and perfectly happy to be so. Some of these people created the most amazing art, literature and science that we've ever known.
Contrary to many Western Civilisation classes, I am not going to spend gobs of time on the Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations, for the simple reason that they had little direct influence on the development of our world. Their influences are definitely felt to this day -- one of the most iconic images of Western Civilisation is a mother holding a divine child on her lap, which harkens back to Isis and Her-ur -- or Horus, in the Greek. But these did not come to us directly, but filtered through the opinions and prejudices of the Hellenistic world.
Nor are they the only ones we will approach at a remove. For instance, much of the Greek literature that we have today is the gift of one aspect of Western civilisation that is rarely acknowledged: the Islamic world. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, they and the Byzantine Empire in the East kept learning that Western Europe forgot about in their not-inconsiderable fight to survive. But when the writings of Plato and Aristole returned to Western Europe, they were themselves filtered through at least two translations - Greek to Arabic, and Arabic to Latin. The Arabic to Latin translations were often effected by the literate and educated Jewish people living in Moorish Spain, which adds another layer of opinion.
The impression you should be receiving from all of this is of a vast muddle of influences, all of them shouting to try to drown each other out. Cultural influences consciously and unconsciously beg, borrow, and steal from each other, as with the aforementioned Madonna and Child image. The early Greek statues are self-consciously in the style of the Egyptian art that had remained iconic for thousands of years, until the desires of the people involved began to modify their expression. Please don't ever think that the ancient Egyptians or the medieval peoples of Europe were incapable of portraying the world around them in a reasonably accurate manner. It was not necessary for them to do so. Art -- which can include early writing systems -- was meant to be highly symbolic. Abstraction is not a modern concept.
Now, then, for the cradle of civilisation.
The people we call the Sumerians were actually given that name by their neighbors, the Akkadians. Like most people, they described themselves and their place in it a little more simply and egocentrically as "the black-headed people" who lived in the "place of the civilized lords".
Since there wasn't much in the way of rock or trees in that part of Mesopotamia, they built houses with reeds and major structures with mud brick -- which works better than you might think in a largely dry region. However all mud-brick buildings eventually deteriorate, and so the people periodically leveled the old buildings and simply built new ones on top. Eventually, cities ended up essentially on hills of their own making called tells -- which have been something of a boon for archaeologists.
But, most relevant to our study is what the Sumerians have left for us in the way of inventions and innovations. Among other things they invented both the wheel and the 60-second/60-minute/12-hour/12-month timekeeping system we use to this day. Their cuneiform writing system was the first we have evidence of, pre-dating Egyptian hieroglyphics by at least seventy-five years
Tomorrow we will meet in Humanities Classroom #2 during 5th period and discuss what I said today. If you would like to gain some additional ammunition, I can suggest some reading topics after class.
"One last thing: You have a term paper due at the end of this semester. I would like you all to pick topics before the second exam. You must clear your topics with me. Please see me if you are having trouble thinking of a topic, and I'll help you."
[[OCD threads are up! Post away!]]
Much love and thanks to
aka_vala for the Sumarian portion of the lecture. **SMOOCHES**
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QUESTIONS
Re: QUESTIONS
the snake she'd dissectedIsis andthe snake SG-1 had killedHeru'ur, but it was a near thing. "So the iconic madonna and child image originates from this set of Egyptian mythological figures specifically? There's nothing further back in any previous mythologies?"Re: QUESTIONS
Re: QUESTIONS
a couple of snakesIsis and Heru'ur was so compelling that not only is it remembered to this day, but that it influenced so many prior madonna and child images? Does it have anything to do with the mythology associated with the imagery?"Janet had a tendency to ask a lot of questions when she didn't understand a subject.
Re: QUESTIONS
TALKING IN CLASS
Re: TALKING IN CLASS
AFTER CLASS
Re: AFTER CLASS
Re: AFTER CLASS
Re: AFTER CLASS
OOC
Re: OOC
Re: OOC
Re: OOC
Re: OOC