MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

1

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

2

Grade 7

Subject: Humanities

Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations

AOI: Human Ingenuity

Student Name: ………………………………………………

Academic Year: 2012

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012Have you ever heard the ancient Near East called "The Cradle of Civilization?" What does that mean? Let's begin by defining a "civilization."

What practices or characteristics define a civilization?

The development of cities, writing, and written law code, and more, happened first in the part of the world we call the ancient Near East. So, we sometimes think of it as the birthplace of western civilization.

The ancient Near East was a region of great diversity. It stretched from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean to the eastern border of present day Iran, but it was never one big country. To see what we mean, check out the map.

The people living here were from different cultural groups, for example the Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and more.

We won't be able to explore every culture from this fascinating region in depth. Instead we will learn more about the contributions these cultures made by investigating some of the objects that they left behind.

The most popular and earliest cults in the ancient Near East related to fertility. Fertility goddesses, such as Astarte, influenced the growth of crops and the prosperity of the people. Figures like this one were made of clay and mass produced. Some were made by hand, others were created in molds. Perhaps these statues were used in magic rituals or given as offerings to the fertility goddess.

Most of the cultures living in the ancient Near East worshipped many gods and goddesses. Aspects of life were explained by the actions of these gods - war, weather, disease, and more were understood as the result of the gods' desires. People thought their gods looked and behaved like they did, but with supernatural powers. Gods usually had beards and wore a horned crown or helmet. They often had their own symbols, too - the crescent and circle represented Sin, the moon god.

How do we know about Near Eastern myths? Most of our information comes from clay tablets found in ancient palace and temple libraries. Scribes recorded myths in cuneiform writing. Also, we can see a lot of mythological stories, gods, and goddesses illustrated on cylinder seals.

3

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

For example, this impression of a seal shows the b ird-man Zu brought for judgment before the Watergod.

The Near East was also the birthplace of three of the world's modern religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These religions are all monotheistic - they worship one god.

For thousands of years, the needs of daily life in the Near East - shelter, tools, and domestic implements - have been resourcefully and creatively made from available natural materials. Houses were, and in some places still are, constructed of mud-brick, with flat roofs that served as sleeping porches in hot weather. Tools, weapons, and vessels were worked from stone.

Both local and imported wood were used to make storage boxes or household furnishings such as long narrow tables and stools. Plant and animal fibers were used to weave and sew clothing. But wood and textiles disintegrate, leaving archaeologists few remains of either ancient craft. And little evidence of early metalcraft - primarily tools, weapons, and vessels - exists because the objects were melted down repeatedly and the metal reused.

Pottery is one of the most useful and abundant ancient artifacts studied by Near Eastern archaeologists. It was cheap to manufacture and easily broken; and broken vessels were simply thrown away to be rediscovered thousands of years later.

Pottery vessels of all sizes and shapes were used as containers to transport and store the abundant food produced by a flourishing agricultural society.

How Were People Buried? In the ancient Near East burial, rather than cremation, was usually practiced. This tomb, called Tomb P1 by archaeologists, is from the ancient city of Jericho. It shows us one type of a Near Eastern tomb in its shape and in the contents buried inside.

4

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

A mound of rubble concealed a vertical rock cut shaft leading into an underground chamber, measuring approximately 10 x 11.5 feet, closed off by a large blocking stone. Inside the chamber, archaeologists discovered 24 skeletons! The custom of multiple burials, common during this time period, suited the needs of extended families living in crowded towns. When a member of the family died, their body was added to the tomb.

 What Was Buried with Them?

The large number of offerings found in the tomb included pottery, wooden vessels, fragments from wooden furniture, small alabaster jars for holding oils and scents, decorated bone inlay from wooden boxes, and scarab seals and amulets. This reconstruction of Tomb P1 (in the galleries of the Carlos Museum) shows some of the objects from the burial, but the skeletons have been replaced by cardboard cutouts to show where the bones were found.

Writing is so basic to our lives that it's hard to imagine a world without it. But humans didn't always write...

Why did people begin writing?

As people came together and began living in towns and cities, they needed ways of keeping records for business and government. It was probably difficult for priests and officials to remember who had made their donation to the temple or what land people owned.

5

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

How did they write?

If you were trying to communicate to someone and you didn't have a written language, how would you do it? You might use pictures to tell them...That's how writing began in the ancient Near East.

Around 3500 B.C. a system of writing developed using pictographs. A pictograph is a picture that represents a word. For example, a picture of a donkey represents a donkey. A large number of tablets with pictographic writing were discovered by archaeologists in the ancient city of Uruk in Sumeria.

But the pictographic system used too many symbols, and it developed into a simpler system that we call "cuneiform" writing. Cuneiform is made of wedge-shaped marks that represent sounds, and can be combined to form words. Eventually cuneiform writing used over 1800 signs!

Scribes wrote on tablets made from the clay that was available nearby. They pressed a "stylus" made from a reed into the clay to make the wedge-shaped impressions. Then these tablets were dried or baked so that they would last.

Who learned to write?

Children from wealthy families, usually boys, were able to go to scribal school. These schools were called "edubba", which means "tablet house." They learned to write by copying texts over and over again. Archaeologists have found hundreds of students' tablets filled with exercises. After they finished their training, scribes could work for the temple or palace, and were important members of ancient Near Eastern society.

6

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012What do archaeologists feel when uncovering an ancient tomb?

Fear? Awe? Relief? Exhilaration? Exhaustion from all of the mental and physical labor it took to locate the tomb? Maybe a bit of all of these. But most importantly, archaeologists know that they have before them a rich source of information about a people's origins, their art, beliefs, and social order, their standard of living, and their spiritual life.

Archaeology has changed a lot over the past century. Here are two archaeologists whose work shows us these changes.

You may already know about several people who lived in ancient Egypt . . .King Tutankhamen (Tut for short) is famous for the riches found in his tomb. Or Cleopatra , the ambitious queen who ruled Egypt, is known for her tragic death. These two people were pharaohs - the most important and powerful people in Egyptian society.

The Pharaoh . . . Ancient Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was a god. The pharaoh communicated with the gods for the Egyptian people by performing special rituals and ceremonies in the temples.

The Social Pyramid . . . The pharaoh was at the top of a social pyramid that looked something like this:

People usually married within their social group and continued in the same job as their parents. We find people from all social groups represented in Egyptian art. Nobles & Priests, Soldiers, Scribes, Merchants, Artisans, Farmers, and

7

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012even Slaves & Servants are depicte

When we think about Egypt, camels, pyramids, and mummies often come to mind! That's not surprising since much of what we know about ancient Egypt comes from the tombs of Egyptians and the objects found buried with them.

No one knows exactly what life was like in ancient Egypt, but these objects tell us a lot. Egyptian fashion, religious beliefs, recreational activities, and much more can be explored through the art they created and included in their burials.

 

.

Let's look at a map of Egypt

In ancient times each Egyptian city or region had its own god and worshipped many others. Read on to learn a few general things about ancient Egyptian religious beliefs.

Who did they worship? . . . The ancient Egyptians worshipped many gods. Sometimes it's hard for us to tell who was who! These gods and goddesses often represented the natural world, for example the sky, earth, wind, or sun. They took the form of animals or combined animal and human forms.

Official religion . . . From ancient Egyptian writings we know that religion was very important in their society. The pharaoh performed rituals to the gods so that the world would be in harmony and to assure bountiful crops. These official state ceremonies were performed in temples throughout Egypt, but most Egyptians did not participate.

Religion everyday . . . Popular religion took other forms. People used magical charms or amulets to ward off danger. They also worshipped popular gods and goddesses to help them with life events such as childbirth.

There are many versions of the stories about Egyptian gods and goddesses. Here's a myth which tells a story related to creation and will introduce you to many gods. You may either read, or listen to the story.

8

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

Most objects that we use everyday become worn and fall apart. Do you think that your sneakers, back packs, or dishes will last 3000 years? Because the ancient Egyptians included objects that they needed everyday and scenes of daily life in their tombs, we can get an idea of how they lived. Here are a few observations based on what they left behind . . .

Where did they live? . . . Most Egyptians built their homes out of mud bricks made from the mud along the Nile River mixed with straw and pebbles. Wealthy homes were decorated with wall paintings on the inside. Furnishings were simple -- stools for seating, chests to store things. They slept on wooden beds and used headrests instead of pillows

What did they wear? . . . Linen woven from the flax plant was the most common fabric for clothing. Men usually wore a simple kilt tied at the waist, and women wore sheath dresses.

Egyptian clothes were often decorated with pleats as we see in this carving of a court official on the left. Notice that he is also wearing a wig, which would have been made from human hair. Egyptians usually kept their own hair short or their heads shaved. . . . Both men and women also wore make-up. Palettes, like the one on the right, were used to grind mineral pigments for make-up.

The ground powder was probably mixed with animal fat and then applied to the face. Black and green eye make-up were especially popular. . . . And finally, they decorated themselves with jewelry -- necklaces, earrings, armlets, bracelets, anklets, and rings.

Mummies, and the process of making them, have fascinated students and scholars for centuries. Here's how they made them . . .

Why did the Egyptians make mummies?

The ancient Egyptians observed that bodies buried under the desert were dried out and preserved. Based on this observation, they believed that a person's spirit, or soul, lived on after their death.

9

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

It was important that the spirit recognize its body in the afterlife so that it would have somewhere to live. Preserving the body through mummification was the best solution, but a statue of the deceased could provide a back-up resting place. The spirit could eat, play, and enjoy all the things it did during life. Therefore, the Egyptian burial had to provide everything for life in the tomb!

Journey to eternity . . . Once the body was mummified and encased in a coffin (like below), it was placed in a tomb. There were several types of tombs built over the centuries in ancient Egypt:

Mastabas | Pyramids | Rock-Cut Tombs

Inside, the tomb walls were decorated with scenes from life -- sports, banquets, and everyday activities. These scenes would provide for the deceased in the afterlife. Objects were also buried in the tomb to serve the dead person in the afterlife:

Right now you are sitting at a computer - you probably use it to write homework assignments and other projects. If you lived in ancient Egypt, you probably wouldn't know how to read or write! If you did, it would take you many years to learn! Ancient Picture Writing . . . Hieroglyphs , one of the oldest forms of writing, are found on monuments almost 5000 years old! There were around 700 different hieroglyphic signs -- no wonder only about 1% of the population knew how to read and write! Some signs, or pictures, stand for words; others simply stand for a sound and are joined with other signs to make a word. Hieroglyphs were carved on buildings and written on papyrus documents. For letters, business contracts, and other documents, scribes used another form of writing called Hieratic . Later, an even quicker form of writing developed called Demotic .

Breaking the Code . . . Although hieroglyphs were used by Egyptian writers for over 3000 years, the Egyptian language gradually died out. Most Egyptians eventually spoke Arabic. The ability to read hieroglyphs was lost until an amazing clue was discovered in 1799!

Why is King Tut So Famous? Archaeology!

The tomb of King Tutankhamen is one of the most famous because of its well-known discovery by Howard Carter, a British archaeologist. Carter excavated

10

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

in the Valley of the Kings for eleven years before he discovered Tut's tomb in 1922. Tutankhamen wasn't an especially important king, but his tomb was the only royal burial found intact in modern times. The tomb was important because it let archaeologists record what an Egyptian king's tomb looked like and learn more about ancient Egypt.

One of King Tutankhamen's Nobles is now in Rochester, New York!

This relief depicts Maya, an important official during the reign of three pharaohs: Tutankhamen, Ay, and Horemhab. He supervised the preparation of the tombs of these pharaohs, collected taxes for them, and performed other tasks to serve the king.

The Memorial Art Gallery bought this carving in 1942. It originally decorated the inside wall of Maya's tomb in Saqqara, the necropolis of the ancient city of Memphis, southwest of Cairo. How did it get to Rochester?

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow....The Discovery of Maya's Tomb.

Maya's tomb was excavated in 1843 by an archaeologist named Richard Lepsius. Like many 19th-century archaeologists, he was sent to Egypt by a European ruler -- the Prussian king, Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Lepsius was supposed to record and bring back Egyptian art, and he did remove some limestone reliefs from the tomb and send them back to the Berlin Museum. In those days it was not difficult to get permission from the Egyptian authorities to dismantle parts of tombs and temples and ship them out of the country. Today strict laws govern the export of ancient art from Egypt and other countries. We don't know exactly when the Gallery's Maya relief was taken from the tomb, but it was probably in the second half of the 19th century.

Lepsius made drawings of the sculptures that decorated the tomb. These drawings record what the decoration of the tomb looked like when the Memorial Art Gallery relief was in place. Over time the tomb was covered over by sand and its location lost!

It's Baaack.....The Re-discovery of Maya's Tomb!

In 1975, more than a century after Lepsius' excavations at Saqqara, a joint expedition of archaeologists from the Egypt Exploration Society in London and the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Netherlands, began to look for Maya's tomb. In 1986, the tomb was rediscovered! Soon we'll have activites for you to explore the mysteries surrounding Maya...

11

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

History of Ancient Greece

 Where Western civilisation began

Ancient Greece is called 'the birthplace of Western civilisation'. About 2500 years ago, the Greeks created a way of life that other people admired and copied. The Romans copied Greek art and Greek gods, for example. The Ancient Greeks tried out democracy, started the Olympic Games and left new ideas in science, art and philosophy (thinking about life).

The Ancient Greeks lived in mainland Greece and the Greek islands, but also in what is now Turkey, and in colonies scattered around the Mediterranean sea coast. There were Greeks in Italy, Sicily, North Africa and as far west as France. Sailing the sea to trade and find new land, Greeks took their way of life to many places.

The timeline will show you some of the important events in the history of Ancient Greece.

Close

Map of Ancient Greece

12

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012The map shows the main city-states of Ancient Greece.

What was ancient Greece like?

Ancient Greece had a warm, dry climate, as Greece does today. People lived by farming, fishing, and trade. Some were soldiers. Others were scholars, scientists or artists. Most Greeks lived in villages or in small cities. There were beautiful temples with stone columns and statues, and open-air theatres where people sat to watch plays.

Many Greeks were poor. Life was hard because farmland, water and timber for building were all scarce. That's why many Greeks sailed off to find new lands to settle.

How Greece was ruled

There was not one country called "Ancient Greece." Instead, there were small 'city-states'. Each city-state had its own government. Sometimes the city-states fought one another, sometimes they joined together against a bigger enemy, the Persian Empire. Athens, Sparta, Corinth and Olympia were four of these city-states, and you can find out more about them on this site. Only a very powerful ruler could control all Greece. One man did in the 300s BC. He was Alexander the Great, from Macedonia. Alexander led his army to conquer not just Greece but an empire that reached as far as Afghanistan and India.

When did Greek civilisation begin?

About 3000 BC, there lived on the island of Crete a people now called Minoans. The name comes from their King Minos. Minos and other Minoan kings grew rich from trade, and built fine palaces. The Minoan civilization ended about 1450 BC.

After the Minoans came the Myceneans. They were soldiers from mainland Greece, and were the Greeks who fought Troy in the 1200s BC. After the Mycenean age ended, about 1100 BC, Greece entered a "Dark Age". This lasted until the 800s BC when the Greeks set off by sea to explore and set up colonies.

The Olympic Games begun in 776 BC. This was the start of "Archaic" Greek civilization.

Around 480 BC the "golden age" of Greece began. This is what historians call "Classical" Greece.

What was the Trojan War?

The Trojans lived in the city of Troy, in what is now Turkey. The story of their war with the Greeks is told in the Iliad, a long poem dating from the 700s BC, and said to be by a storyteller named Homer. The Odyssey, also by Homer, is the tale of the adventures of a Greek soldier named Odysseus, after the war.

The Trojan War began when Paris, Prince of Troy, ran away with Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. The Greeks sent a fleet of ships, with an army, to get her back. The war lasted for 10 years. In single combat, the greatest Greek warrior, Achilles, killed the Trojan leader Hector. In the end the Greeks won, by a clever trick using a wooden horse.

The Wooden Horse13

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012The Wooden Horse was the trick the Greeks used to capture Troy. First they pretended to sail away, but left behind a giant wooden horse. Inside the horse, Greek soldiers were hiding. Rejoicing that the Greeks had gone, the Trojans dragged the horse into their city. They thought it was a gift.

That night the Greek ships returned. While the Trojans were asleep, the hidden Greeks climbed out of the wooden horse. They opened the city gates, and let in the Greek army. Troy was destroyed. The Trojan War was over.

A 19th-century painting of the Wooden Horse

A 19th-century painting of the Wooden Horse. A famous story tells how the Greeks captured Troy by hiding soldiers inside the giant horse.

People

Roman society was divided into different levels of social status -- from the emperor to slaves. Romans weren't necessarily limited to the social status of their birth. For example, slaves could buy or be rewarded with their freedom. Let's look at a few of the people you might meet if you traveled back in time to ancient Rome...

Rulers

14

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012Well, you probably wouldn't meet the ruler, but you would see their portrait everywhere! Under the Republic, Rome was ruled by a pair of consuls who were elected by the Senate. Beginning in the early 1st century AD, the ruler was an emperor and was usually elected by the army.

Senators:

Wealthy citizens of Rome, members of the Senate could be chosen to serve as consuls, magistrates, or provencial governors.

Soldiers:

The army was the backbone of the Roman Empire. It conquered new territories, establishing Rome as the biggest power in the western world. Soldiers could be divided into two groups: Legions and Auxiliary Troops.

Craftsmen and Merchants

Food shop in Pompeii

Often slaves who had bought their freedom, shopkeepers and craftsmen worked hard to make a living. Many craftsmen worked in large workshops, while others worked from their own small shops.

Slaves

Slaves were often captured foreigners who were brought to Rome and sold at the slave market. The quality of their life depended on the people who owned them. Some slaves were given their freedom by their owners.

15

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

"Rome wasn't built in a day..." What does this saying tell us about Rome?

Over many centuries the ancient city of Rome grew from a small city state to a vast empire. The lands under Roman control were linked by:

Roman cultural influences (like religious practices.)

engineering feats (like aqueducts and an extensive road system.)

This Roman built aqueduct,the "Pont du Gard" is in Nîmes, France.

 

Monuments built by Romans are found throughout the Mediterranean and beyond. They were a physical connection between the lands controlled by Rome and Rome herself - "caput mundi" - the capital of the civilized world. Throughout the Empire these structures symbolized the power of Rome.

We will look at objects that were made in the city of Rome and in the provinces that formed the Roman Empire. All of these materials will help us discover more about this fascinating civilization.

Over the centuries, the ancient Romans worshipped many gods and goddesses. Some gods had Roman origins, while others were borrowed and adapted from foreign cultures. People worshipped in public ceremonies as well as in their own homes. Let's look more closely at some of their religious practices.

Official ReligionThe protectors of Rome were the state gods:

Jupiter (god of the sky, father of the divine family, and patron of Rome)

Juno (Jupiter's wife) Minerva (goddess of handicrafts, learning, and the arts) Mars (god of war)

At first these gods and goddesses weren't represented with human bodies. But under the influence of the Greeks, the state gods took on human form. The Romans also adopted some of the Greek stories about their gods and how they related to each other, but the Roman deities always kept their Latin names. Special ceremonies and sacrifices were performed to satisfy the gods.

16

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

Worship at Home

Every house had a shrine, called a lararium, where the family worshipped daily. The gods and spirits that protected the home were honored at the shrine, along with the family ancestors (a lar is an ancestor's spirit.) These ceremonies usually involved pouring libations (liquids such as milk, oil, or wine) on a sacrificial fire placed on the altar. Lararia for the House of

Menander in Pompeii

Daily

Throughout our exploration of ancient cultures on Odyssey Online, we've used museum objects to learn about the people who made and used them. But, for the most part, we don't know the exact "context," or place, where each object was found. Archaeologists and other specialists study ancient sites and the artifacts found there to try and shed light on the cultures that produced these objects.

Pompeii with Mt. Vesuvius in background

One of our best glimpses of daily life in ancient Rome comes as a result of a natural disaster! In 79 A.D., the city of Pompeii was buried by volcanic ash from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. The city was caught without warning - you could say it was buried alive! It lay untouched and preserved until its discovery in the 18th century and excavation beginning in the 19th century.

We will examine the remains of Pompeii and think about what they tell us about life in a 1st-century Roman town. Although most of the objects related to daily life in our collections probably didn't come from Pompeii, we'll use the city as an example of the kind of city where these objects might have been used.

Choose one of these areas of Roman life to explore:

Public Life Private Life

(HOMEWORK) Research Task

Death & Burial

17

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

Like most people living in ancient times, the Romans had a short life expectancy. Diseases were common, and medical knowledge was limited. Funerary rituals and practices played a central role in Roman life because remembering and honoring the deceased members of their family was important to the Romans.

Burial Practices

The Romans practiced two forms of burial: cremation (burning the body) and inhumation (burying the body intact.) In cremation, the ashes of the deceased were placed in urns, like this example from the Carlos Museum.

This marble coffin, called a sarcophagus (a Greek word that means "flesh eater"), was used to bury a body intact. Let's look at what the sculptor carved on it.

Where were people buried?

Burials were placed outside the city walls along the roads leading into the city, probably to keep disease from spreading. Both cremation and inhumation were practiced, but in later times inhumation became more popular. Eventually cemeteries were set aside for these burials rather than placing them along the roads. As land became in short supply, the Romans created underground cemeteries carved from the soft tufa stone around Rome -- they were called catacombs.

Writing

Writing was a useful tool for the ancient Romans - the written word could communicate ideas to 18

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

the people of Rome and to Roman subjects throughout the Empire. Only a fraction of the huge number of texts written by the Romans have survived. These texts are found on scrolls as well as on objects as large as buildings or as small as coins. All are valuable, however, for they don't only serve as ways that the Romans communicated with each other; these texts also let the ancient Romans speak to us!

This is a detail of the Arch of Titus in Rome.

The Latin Alphabet

We don't have any examples of writing from the Italian peninsula before the Greeks set up colonies there in the 8th century BC. The Greek alphabet was adopted by the Etruscans and spread throughout peninsula. Also, people living near the Greek colonies in the south may have borrowed the alphabet directly from the Greeks. The Latin alphabet that developed gradually was adopted from the Greek and spread throughout the Roman Empire - to northern and western Europe. We still use it today! Learning to Read and Write

Most people in Rome didn't go to school and didn't learn to read and write. Children from wealthy families, however, began school at about age 6 or 7. Students learned to write on boards spread with wax They scratched letters in the wax with a pointed stick (called a stylus) and then rubbed them out with the flat end of the stick. What do we use in the classroom that lets us write and erase easily, especially your teacher? The Tools of Writing

The Romans used a variety of tools for writing. Everyday writing could be done on wax tablets or thin leaves of wood. Documents, like legal contracts, were usually written in pen and ink on papyrus. Books were also written in pen and ink on papyrus or sometimes on parchment. Inscriptions were sometimes carved in stone on buildings and other monuments, like triumphal arches.

This piece is a fragment of a Roman inscription done in marble.

19

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

Africa is a vast continent -- almost four times the size of the United States! Its geography ranges from mountains, deserts, and rainforests to grasslands and seashores. Over 1000 languages are spoken in Africa, and hundreds of different ethnic groups live there. Our museums contain objects made in Africa 4000 years ago and objects made very recently, most were created in the 19th and 20th centuries.

So, how will we navigate through thousands of years and across thousands of miles in Africa? We won't cover everything -- we'll let the artworks in our collections be our guide.

This African section of Odyssey Online will focus on the art sub-Saharan Africa from the 19th and 20th centuries. To explore ancient Egypt, check out the Egyptian section of Odyssey. In this journey to sub-Saharan Africa, we'll examine objects that reflect African lifestyles. They give us a glimpse of life-cycle celebrations, religious beliefs and practices, everyday life, death and burial practices, and ways of communicating.

As a person moves from childhood through adolescence to adulthood and finally to old age, their society often recognizes these various stages of their life. In the United States, we celebrate occasions like the birth of a baby, graduation from school, marriage, and retirement through special gatherings or ceremonies. We often send greeting cards or take photographs, like this birthday party photo, to capture these moments. These events are part of our life cycle - a time of growth and change.

The Life Cycle in Africa

20

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012In a similar way, people throughout the African continent celebrate important times by performing rituals, dramas, or festivals called rites of passage. Some of the most important life cycle celebrations in Africa happen at childbirth and adolescence, puberty, marriage, and elderhood. Each African community celebrates these stages of life in its own way, and most communities recognize rites of passage with a kind of dramatic event that includes art objects.

Explore the following artworks and notice the many different kinds of objects used during rites of passage. You will also notice a range of artistic styles. Despite the different look each piece has, they all symbolize the changes a person undergoes in his or her life cycle.

Click on the objects below to learn more about the stages in the life cycle celebrated by various peoples in Africa.

Birth and Adolescence

Puberty Marriage and Family

Elderhood

Homework: Research Task

Many different traditional religions were practiced across Africa and continue today. These traditional beliefs are often practiced along with Christianity or Islam.

Although each African culture has its own beliefs and religions customs, there are several common elements found in many of these traditional religions. Here are a few general ones:

They worship many gods and ancestors. There are many different places to worship: large shrines for the entire community to gather

(maybe a part of the natural landscape, like a hillside), personal shrines in the family compound, shrines maintained by priests or priestesses, and places that are important to the gods or spirits -- like crossroads or the forest.

Priests learn a wide range of knowledge, much of which is kept secret. They are responsible for maintaining a harmonious relationship between the community and the gods. These religious

21

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012specialists help people with moral, social, and medical problems.

Let's learn about a few aspects of African traditional religion. We won't be able to investigate these topics for all African cultures. So, we'll look at a few religious practices and the art objects that are created to serve them.

Click on the objects below to learn more!

Gods and Spirits Mask Divination and Healing

Homework: Research task

Many aspects of daily life in Africa are connected with rituals -- meals are blessed, homes are protected by gods and spirits, and friends and families meet to celebrate with food and drink.

The daily court life of a Cameroon Grasslands kingdom is a good illustration of how everyday activities and objects (like clothing, food containers, and furniture) may be connected to ritual and prestige. The physical and political center of every kingdom or chiefdom is the palace of the Fon (king). The palace is the center of life around the king's court.

Click on the objects below to explore court life in a Cameroon Grasslands kingdom!

Palace Architecture Royal Dress Pipesmoking

 

22

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

Furniture Food and Drink

Death is the last phase of the elaborate celebration of the African life cycle . Death is recognized in Africa through a rite of passage that prepares the spirit of the deceased to journey on to the next realm.

Burial Practices

In many African societies, after the body is buried, the family will have a second, more elaborate funeral. This second funeral takes place some forty days after the first burial. This allows the family to raise the necessary funds for the funeral preparations, and it gives friends and family time to travel to the deceased's home. Usually the oldest and most important people receive the most spectacular second burial. At this time, the family prepares the necessary foods and begins the period of formal mourning. They will often wear special clothing and cut, or change, their hairstyle. While black is the traditional color worn by mourners in the United States, red and white are more commonly seen at funerals in Africa.

The Afterlife

In many African cultures, the idea of death is not about the ending of life, but about the continuation of life in a new phase. In death a connection continues between the spirit of the dead person and their community on earth. African artists create objects that are used to help visualize this connection between the deceased and their community, especially their family.Let's explore some of these objects and the ways they are used!

Nurturing the Deceased Dwelling Place for the Spirit

 

23

MYP: Grade 7 Unit 4: Ancient Civilizations 2012

Protecting the Deceased Remembering the Deceased

NsibidiWhile writing systems developed early in places like Egypt and Ethiopia, most people in Africa did not write down their languages until the colonial period. Nsibidi is the only known, entirely original written script developed in Africa.

How is it possible to communicate information over long distances and through many generations without written records? One way this was successfully done, and is still done throughout the African continent today, is through the use of performance and art.

Performance

In West Africa, a praise singer called a griot was responsible for memorizing and remembering long and complicated histories about famous people and historical events. The griot travelled from town to town, and villagers would gather to hear him recite their history. In turn, he would teach these oral narratives to a young apprentice, who would later carry on the traditions. In Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, griots are still valuable historians.

Oral histories are also handed down from elders to the younger generations. It is important to know about past events and geneaologies not only to remember your family history, but to understand things like claims to land, social and political origins, and clan relationships.

Art

In some African cultures we also find communication through music, body adornment, or decorations on everyday objects. For example, women have a unique way of speaking without using words. A West African women can deliver messages to her husband, co-wives, family and friends by the cloth she wears, her hairstyle and jewelry, and small figurines of brass that she can display.

Explore this drum to learn more about how it is used to communicate ideas!

"Drum"

24