Please only use the resources I gave you. DON’T use anything from web or outside the pages I upload to you.
First…review the relevant sections from the textbook, the primary sources from AW:R assigned previously (1.2, 1.3, 1.9.1, 2.2, 2.5.1, 2.5.2, 2.5.3, 2.5.4, 2.5.4, 2.5.6, 2.5.7, 2.6, 2.8, 2.8.1, 2.8.2, 2.8.3 ). Your assessment of the Near Eastern images will be effective only if you incorporate some of the ideas contained in these readings, ideas about kingly responsibility and success that come through in texts about Mesopotamian kings and Egyptian pharaohs. Cite these sources specifically, as in ‘the Mesopotamian king’s interest in maintaining social stability is noted in AW:R source 2.8.1’ and so on — but be clear that these sources are useful only for the Mesopotamian/Egyptian images. In each case, the Aegean artifacts come from prehistoric Greek society — roughly contemporary with what we studied in the East, but not in any way conversant with Mesopotamian kings/priests or Egyptian pharaohs.
Then, navigate to the bronze age imagery collection on flickr, (( https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaron_wolpert/sets/72157600003814870/ )) review images of two different artifacts/monuments, one from the ancient Near East and one from the prehistoric Aegean (which we’ll study next). The images are labeled Mesopotamian/Egyptian or Aegean, just in case it isn’t clear. To get the largest available view, keep clicking on an image until the ‘all sizes’ button appears; click on that and choose ‘original’ to get the full size version.
To start, write a very detailed description for each of the works assigned to you. Write down everything you see, and note the medium in which each is painted or carved. Describe the artifact as you would do for someone who hasn’t or can’t view the image. Make objective observations first — only what’s visually and literally there. Don’t assume that the figure is a ‘king’ if there’s no unambiguous sign ‘telling’ you that. Don’t tell me one figure is depicted as ‘older’ than another unless you provide details that support that analysis.
After you’ve described them thoroughly, think about how your two artifacts/monuments depict leadership, ritual, or war in their respective societies. How does the depiction of a typical Mesopotamian leader differ from that of his Greek counterpart in the Aegean? What does this say about how leaders were viewed in their respective societies? How does the imagery match up with what was expected from a Mesopotamian/Egyptian ruler (refer to the AW:R readings here)? If you’re looking at images that have more to do with ritual or warfare, write about how the spatial arrangements of figures differs, or about poses and body language. On the Mesopotamian/Egyptian side, consider the conceptualization of the world that emerged from last week’s readings. For this assignment, at least, don’t get caught up in chronology and the historical framework, and don’t try to ‘fill in the gaps’ with independent research from other sources. Rely only on what you can see in the artifacts and what you read in the primary documents. For the Aegean material, I ask only that you speculate on what the differences in depiction say about leadership, ritual, and war there. I don’t expect you to have any background knowledge on the prehistoric Aegean matching what we’ve covered for the near east, so proceed exclusively from what you see. Do not use the primary sources we’ve read to explain the Aegean images — the Aegean was ‘prehistoric’ at this point, as in no written documents.
Some more specific notes the ‘headdress’ on the figure from Knossos is an incorrect reconstruction. Please ignore it and imagine the figure with an unadorned head.
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