Mythology & Anthropology Flashcards

1
Q

Greek Creation Myth

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In the beginning there was an empty darkness. The only thing in this void was Nyx, a bird with black wings. With the wind she laid a golden egg and for ages she sat upon this egg. Finally life began to stir in the egg and out of it rose Eros, the god of love. One half of the shell rose into the air and became the sky and the other became the Earth. Eros named the sky Uranus and the Earth he named Gaia. Then Eros made them fall in love.

Uranus and Gaia had many children together and eventually they had grandchildren. Some of their children become afraid of the power of their children. Kronus, in an effort to protect himself, swallowed his children when they were still infants. However, his wife Rhea hid their youngest child. She gave him a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he swallowed, thinking it was his son.

Once the child, Zeus, had reached manhood his mother instructed him on how to trick his father to give up his brothers and sisters. Once this was accomplished the children fought a mighty war against their father. After much fighting the younger generation won. With Zeus as their leader, they began to furnish Gaia with life and Uranus with stars.

Soon the Earth lacked only two things: man and animals. Zeus summoned his sons Prometheus (fore-thought) and Epimetheus (after-thought). He told them to go to Earth and create men and animals and give them each a gift.

Prometheus set to work forming men in the image of the gods and Epimetheus worked on the animals. As Epimetheus worked he gave each animal he created one of the gifts. After Epimetheus had completed his work Prometheus finally finished making men. However when he went to see what gift to give man Epimetheus shamefacedly informed him that he had foolishly used all the gifts.

Distressed, Prometheus decided he had to give man fire, even though gods were the only ones meant to have access to it. As the sun god rode out into the world the next morning Prometheus took some of the fire and brought it back to man. He taught his creation how to take care of it and then left them.

When Zeus discovered Prometheus’ deed he became furious. He ordered his son to be chained to a mountain and for a vulture to peck out his liver every day till eternity. Then he began to devise a punishment for mankind. Another of his sons created a woman of great beauty, Pandora. Each of the gods gave her a gift. Zeus’ present was curiosity and a box which he ordered her never to open. Then he presented her to Epimetheus as a wife.

Pandora’s life with Epimetheus was happy except for her intense longing to open the box. She was convinced that because the gods and goddesses had showered so many glorious gifts upon her that this one would also be wonderful. One day when Epimetheus was gone she opened the box.

Out of the box flew all of the horrors which plague the world today - pain, sickness, envy, greed. Upon hearing Pandora’s screams Epimetheus rushed home and fastened the lid shut, but all of the evils had already escaped.

Later that night they heard a voice coming from the box saying,

“Let me out. I am hope.”

Pandora and Epimetheus released her and she flew out into the world to give hope to humankind.

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2
Q

Judgement of Paris

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THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS was a contest between the three most beautiful goddesses of Olympos–Aphrodite, Hera and Athena–for the prize of a golden apple addressed “To the Fairest.”

The story began with the wedding of Peleus and Thetis which all the gods had been invited to attend except for Eris, goddess of discord. When Eris appeared at the festivities she was turned away and in her anger cast the golden apple amongst the assembled goddesses addressed “To the Fairest.”

Three goddesses laid claim to the apple–Aphrodite, Hera and Athena. Zeus was asked to mediate and he commanded Hermes to lead the three goddesses to Paris of Troy to decide the issue. The three goddesses appearing before the shepherd prince, each offering him gifts for favour. He chose Aphrodite, swayed by her promise to bestow upon him Helene, the most beautiful woman, for wife. The subsequent abduction of Helene led directly to the Trojan War and the fall of the city.

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3
Q

Athena Myth

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Athena, also spelled Athene, in Greek religion, the city protectress, goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason, identified by the Romans with Minerva. She was essentially urban and civilized, the antithesis in many respects of Artemis, goddess of the outdoors. Athena was probably a pre-Hellenic goddess and was later taken over by the Greeks. Yet the Greek economy, unlike that of the Minoans, was largely military, so that Athena, while retaining her earlier domestic functions, became a goddess of war.

She was the daughter of Zeus, produced without a mother, so that she emerged full-grown from his forehead. There was an alternative story that Zeus swallowed Metis, the goddess of counsel, while she was pregnant with Athena, so that Athena finally emerged from Zeus. Being the favourite child of Zeus, she had great power.

Athena’s association with the acropolises of various Greek cities probably stemmed from the location of the kings’ palaces there. She was thought to have had neither consort nor offspring. She may not have been described as a virgin originally, but virginity was attributed to her very early and was the basis for the interpretation of her epithets Pallas and Parthenos. As a war goddess Athena could not be dominated by other goddesses, such as Aphrodite, and as a palace goddess she could not be violated.

In Homer’s Iliad, Athena, as a war goddess, inspires and fights alongside the Greek heroes; her aid is synonymous with military prowess. Also in the Iliad, Zeus, the chief god, specifically assigns the sphere of war to Ares, the god of war, and Athena. Athena’s moral and military superiority to Ares derives in part from the fact that she represents the intellectual and civilized side of war and the virtues of justice and skill, whereas Ares represents mere blood lust. Her superiority also derives in part from the vastly greater variety and importance of her functions and from the patriotism of Homer’s predecessors, Ares being of foreign origin. In the Iliad, Athena is the divine form of the heroic, martial ideal: she personifies excellence in close combat, victory, and glory. The qualities that lead to victory are found on the aegis, or breastplate, that Athena wears when she goes to war: fear, strife, defense, and assault. Athena appears in Homer’s Odyssey as the tutelary deity of Odysseus, and myths from later sources portray her similarly as helper of Perseus and Heracles (Hercules). As the guardian of the welfare of kings, Athena became the goddess of good counsel, of prudent restraint and practical insight, as well as of war.

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4
Q

Prometheus Lesson

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Prometheus stands for human progress against the forces of nature. We learn close to the beginning that he has given humanity the gifts of fire and hope. Hope helps human beings to struggle for a better future while fire, as the source of technology, makes success in that struggle possible.

Prometheus lists his gifts to humanity in a progressive order, starting with the things necessary for survival and continuing on to the tools of commerce and economic expansion. Aeschylus here expresses a faith in human progress, and there is at least a veiled implication that Zeus feels threatened by this progress. The gods are at least partially personifications of nature. Human progress is the slow advance of humanity against the threatening elements of nature. In a sense, progress threatens to do away with the gods as nature is slowly understood and conquered through technology.

Prometheus’s contribution of technological gifts to humanity thus endangers the other gods and he is punished for bestowing on human beings the favors that rightly belong to the gods alone. Yet the faith in human progress as Aeschylus expresses it is clearly a new mode of thought in Greek civilization, and it is one that would be echoed more than a millennium later in the thought of the Enlightenment. It is clear that Aeschylus opposes the

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5
Q

Herkles and Changing yourself to change the world.

Heracles waged a victorious war against the kingdom of Orchomenus in Boeotia and married Megara, daughter of Creon, king of Thebes, but he killed her and their children in a fit of madness sent by Hera and, consequently, was obliged to become the servant of Eurystheus. It was Eurystheus who imposed upon Heracles the famous Labours, later arranged in a cycle of 12, usually as follows: (1) the slaying of the Nemean lion, whose skin he thereafter wore; (2) the slaying of the nine-headed Hydra of Lerna; (3) the capture of the elusive hind (or stag) of Arcadia; (4) the capture of the wild boar of Mount Erymanthus; (5) the cleansing, in a single day, of the cattle stables of King Augeas of Elis; (6) the shooting of the monstrous man-eating birds of the Stymphalian marshes; (7) the capture of the mad bull that terrorized the island of Crete; (8) the capture of the man-eating mares of King Diomedes of the Bistones; (9) the taking of the girdle of Hippolyte, queen of the Amazons; (10) the seizing of the cattle of the three-bodied giant Geryon, who ruled the island Erytheia (meaning red) in the far west; (11) the bringing back of the golden apples kept at the world’s end by the Hesperides; and (12) the fetching up from the underworld of the triple-headed dog Cerberus, guardian of its gates.

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With virtually every labor, Heracles made the world a better place. He took on monsters and ruthless rulers. He inspired others to do the same. The labors were assigned to Heracles in order to keep him away from Eurystheus and his rule on Tiryns. Regardless of the reason for the labors, Heracles progressed onward and upward in his redemption journey and changed everything on the roadmap for the better.

If Heracles never felt the remorse of killing his family, never took on the extreme responsibility for all his actions, never contained his rage or his ego, he would most likely be remembered as an ill-tempered, egotistic, cold-blooded murderer and not as a flawed demigod who struggled and suffered to become a true hero and then earn the right to become an Olympian god.

When we think about making a difference and delivering impact in the world, we must never forget that it all starts with us. Only the positive change in us triggers positive changes around us.

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6
Q

Odysseus

Odysseus, king of the Greek island of Ithaca, has been away from home for twenty years. He left his wife and baby son to cross the sea and fight in the Trojan War. After the war ended, Odysseus set out for home with a crew of men. However, disaster after disaster befell Odysseus, who had angered the powerful ocean god, Poseidon.

Monsters and giants killed members of his crew. Other crew members died in a shipwreck. Now, only Odysseus remains alive, stranded on the island of the nymph Calypso, who wishes to keep him as her husband. Odysseus is miserable and homesick. Encouraged by the gods, Calypso agrees to let him go and sends him on his way on a raft. Poseidon wrecks the raft, but Odysseus manages to swim to shore, and he finds himself in the land of the friendly Phaeacians, who offer to ferry him home to Ithaca. Meanwhile, in Ithaca, Odysseus’ faithful wife, Penelope, is still waiting for her husband to return.

She does not wish to marry any of the many suitors who are occupying her house. She feels unable to send the arrogant and unmannered suitors away, but she continues to stall in selecting one of them as her husband. Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, is now a young man. He, too, feels angry with the suitors and wonders what has become of Odysseus. Inspired by the goddess Athena, Telemachus undertakes a sea voyage to visit two kings who fought alongside Odysseus in the Trojan War in hopes that one of them might have news of his father. While Telemachus is gone, the suitors plot to ambush his returning ship and kill him. However, Telemachus returns safely to Ithaca after learning that his

A

Odysseus is smart and clever. He isn’t a demigod like Hercules or achilleas. He’s basically ancient Greek batman.

Odysseus, king of the Greek island of Ithaca, has been away from home for twenty years. He left his wife and baby son to cross the sea and fight in the Trojan War. After the war ended, Odysseus set out for home with a crew of men. However, disaster after disaster befell Odysseus, who had angered the powerful ocean god, Poseidon.

Monsters and giants killed members of his crew. Other crew members died in a shipwreck. Now, only Odysseus remains alive, stranded on the island of the nymph Calypso, who wishes to keep him as her husband. Odysseus is miserable and homesick. Encouraged by the gods, Calypso agrees to let him go and sends him on his way on a raft. Poseidon wrecks the raft, but Odysseus manages to swim to shore, and he finds himself in the land of the friendly Phaeacians, who offer to ferry him home to Ithaca. Meanwhile, in Ithaca, Odysseus’ faithful wife, Penelope, is still waiting for her husband to return. She does not wish to marry any of the many suitors who are occupying her house. She feels unable to send the arrogant and unmannered suitors away, but she continues to stall in selecting one of them as her husband.

Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, is now a young man. He, too, feels angry with the suitors and wonders what has become of Odysseus. Inspired by the goddess Athena, Telemachus undertakes a sea voyage to visit two kings who fought alongside Odysseus in the Trojan War in hopes that one of them might have news of his father. While Telemachus is gone, the suitors plot to ambush his returning ship and kill him. However, Telemachus returns safely to Ithaca after learning that his

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7
Q

Jason and betraying friends

The Greek myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece is one of the oldest myths of a hero’s quest. It is a classic story of betrayal and vengeance and like many Greek myths has a tragic ending. It begins when Jason’s Uncle Pelias kills Jason’s father, the Greek King of Iolkos, and takes his throne. Jason’s mother brings him to Cheiron, a centaur (half man, half horse) who hides him away and raises him on the Mountain of Pelion.

When Jason turns 20, he journeys to see Pelias to reclaim his throne. At a nearby river, Hera the Queen of the Gods approaches him disguised as an old woman. While carrying her across the river he loses a sandal and arrives at court wearing only one. Pelias is nervous when he sees Jason missing a sandal, for an oracle has prophesied that a man wearing only one sandal shall usurp his throne.

Watch the VideoJason demands the return of his rightful throne. Pelias replies that Jason should first accomplish a difficult task to prove his worth. The task is for Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece, kept beyond the edge of the known world in a land called Colchis (modern-day Georgia in Southwest Asia). The story of the fleece is an interesting tale in itself. Zeus, the King of the Gods, had given a golden ram to Jason’s ancestor Phrixus. Phrixus later flew on the golden ram from Greece to Colchis, whose king was Aietes, the son of Helios the Sun God. Aietes sacrificed the ram and hung the fleece in a sacred grove guarded by a dragon, as an oracle had foretold that Aietes would lose his kingdom if he lost the fleece.

Determined to reclaim his throne, Jason agrees to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Jason assembles a team of great heroes for his crew and they sail aboard the Argo. The first stop of the Argonauts is the Greek Isle of Lemnos, populated only by women. Unknown to Jason and his crew, the women have murdered their husbands. The Argonauts fare much better though; in fact the women use the occasion as an opportunity to repopulate the island.

After many more adventures, the Argo passes Constantinople, heading for the Straits of Bosphorus. The Straits of Bosphorus are a narrow passageway of water between the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. To the ancient Greeks, this was the edge of the known world. The Straits are extremely dangerous due to the currents created by the flow of water from the Black Sea. The ancient Greeks believed that clashing rocks guarded the straits and that the rocks would close together and smash any ship sailing through. Jason had been told by a blind prophet he assisted how to fool the rocks. He was to send a bird ahead of him. The rocks would crash in on it and then reopen, at which point he could successfully sail through.

When Jason finally arrives in Colchis he asks King Aietes to return the golden fleece to him as it belonged to his ancestor. Reluctant, the king suggests yet another series of challenges to Jason. He must yoke fire-breathing bulls, plough and sow a field with dragons’ teeth and then overcome the warriors who will rise from the furrows. Aietes is confident the tasks are impossible but unbeknownst to the king, his daughter Medea has taken a liking to Jason. She offers to assist Jason if he will marry her. He agrees. Medea is a powerful sorceress and Jason is successful.

Jason and Medea return to Greece where Jason claims his father’s throne, but their success is short-lived. Uncomfortable with Medea’s magic, the locals drive Medea and Jason out of Iolkos. They go into exile in Corinth where the king offers Jason his daughter in marriage. He agrees and so violates his vow to the gods to be true only to Medea. Furious, Medea kills the woman, kills Medea and Jason’s children and then ascends to Mount Olympus where she eventually marries Achilles. Jason goes back to Iolkos where his boat the Argo is on display. One day, while he sits next to the boat weeping, the decaying beam of his ship the Argo falls off and hits him on the head, killing him outright.

A

Once Jason Betryaed Madea, he is lost. He dies alone in his own ship wishing he could do it all again (probably)

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8
Q

Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. Traditionally, they were the sons of Rhea Silvia, daughter of Numitor, king of Alba Longa.

Romulus and Remus suckling their wolf foster mother

Romulus and Remus suckling their wolf foster mother, bronze sculpture, c. 500–480 BCE; in the Capitoline Museums, Rome. Height 85.1 cm.

© irisphoto1/Fotolia

Numitor had been deposed by his younger brother Amulius, who forced Rhea to become one of the Vestal Virgins (and thereby vow chastity) in order to prevent her from giving birth to potential claimants to the throne. Nevertheless, Rhea bore the twins Romulus and Remus, fathered by the war god Mars. Amulius ordered the infants drowned in the Tiber River, but the trough in which they were placed floated down the river and came to rest at the site of the future Rome, near the Ficus ruminalis, a sacred fig tree of historical times. There a she-wolf and a woodpecker—both sacred to Mars—suckled and fed them until they were found by the herdsman Faustulus Reared by Faustulus and his wife, Acca Larentia, the twins became leaders of a band of adventurous youths, eventually killing Amulius and restoring their grandfather to the throne. They subsequently founded a town on the site where they had been saved. When Romulus built a city wall, Remus jumped over it and was killed by his brother.

Romulus consolidated his power, and the city was named for him. He increased its population by offering asylum to fugitives and exiles. He invited the neighbouring Sabines to a festival and abducted their women. The women married their captors and intervened to prevent the Sabines from seizing the city. In accordance with a treaty drawn up between the two peoples, Romulus accepted the Sabine king Titus Tatius as his coruler. Titus Tatius’s early death left Romulus sole king again, and, after a long rule, he mysteriously disappeared in a storm. Believing that he had been changed into a god, the Romans worshipped him as the deity Quirinus.

A

Rome was founded on rape and murder and this story was mythologized by the citizens.

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9
Q

Odins Eye for knowledge

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WHY ODIN IS ONE-EYEDOdin in an Icelandic illuminated manuscript (18th century)

Odin’s quest for wisdom is never-ending, and he is willing to pay any price, it seems, for the understanding of life’s mysteries that he craves more than anything else. On one occasion, he hanged himself, wounded himself with his spear, and fasted from food and drink for nine days and nights in order to discover the runes.

On another occasion, he ventured to Mimir’s Well – which is surely none other than the Well of Urd[1] – amongst the roots of the world-tree Yggdrasil. There dwelt Mimir, a shadowy being whose knowledge of all things was practically unparalleled among the inhabitants of the cosmos. He achieved this status largely by taking his water from the well, whose waters impart this cosmic knowledge.

When Odin arrived, he asked Mimir for a drink from the water. The well’s guardian, knowing the value of such a draught, refused unless the seeker offered an eye in return. Odin – whether straightaway or after anguished deliberation, we can only wonder – gouged out one of his eyes and dropped it into the well. Having made the necessary sacrifice, Mimir dipped his horn into the well and offered the now-one-eyed god a drink.[2][3]

An Interpretation

The most general and obvious message of this tale is that, for those who share Odin’s values, no sacrifice is too great for wisdom. The (unfortunately fragmentary) sources for our current knowledge of the pre-Christian mythology and religion of the Norse and other Germanic peoples are, however, silent on exactly what kind of wisdom Odin obtained in exchange for his eye. But we can hazard a guess.

The fact that Odin specifically sacrificed an eye is surely significant. In all ages, the eye has been “seen” as a poetic symbol for perception in general – consider the astonishing number of expressions, both in everyday usage and in the works of the great canonical poets, that use vision as a metaphor for perceiving and understanding something. Given that Odin’s eye was sacrificed in order to obtain an enhanced perception, it seems highly likely that his pledge of an eye symbolizes trading one mode of perception for another.

What mode of perception was exchanged for what other mode, then? The answer to this question lies in the character of Mimir. Mimir, whose name means “The Rememberer,” seems to have been the being who told the gods how to live in accordance with ancestral tradition, and with wisdom more generally.

In the tale of Odin’s discovery of the runes, Odin sacrificed what we might call his “lower self” to his “higher self.” Here, his relinquishment of an eye should surely be understood along similar lines: he exchanged a profane, everyday mode of perception, beleaguered with countless petty troubles, for a sacred mode of perception informed by divine, ancestral wisdom.

Looking for more great information on Norse mythology and religion? While this site provides the ultimate online introduction to the topic, my book The Viking Spirit provides the ultimate introduction to Norse mythology and religion period. I’ve also written a popular list of The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books, which you’ll probably find helpful in your pursuit.

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10
Q

Themes of Gilgamesh

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Love As a Motivating Force

Love, both erotic and platonic, motivates change in Gilgamesh. Enkidu changes from a wild man into a noble one because of Gilgamesh, and their friendship changes Gilgamesh from a bully and a tyrant into an exemplary king and hero. Because they are evenly matched, Enkidu puts a check on Gilgamesh’s restless, powerful energies, and Gilgamesh pulls Enkidu out of his self-centeredness. Gilgamesh’s connection to Enkidu makes it possible for Gilgamesh to identify with his people’s interests. The love the friends have for each other makes Gilgamesh a better man in the first half of the epic, and when Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh’s grief and terror impel him onto a futile quest for immortality.

The epic may lack a female love interest, but erotic love still plays an important role. Enkidu’s education as a man begins with his sexual initiation by the temple harlot, and the two heroes’ troubles begin with their repudiation of Ishtar, the goddess of love. Humanity renews itself through the female life force, which includes sex, fertility, domesticity, and nurturance, not through an arbitrary gift of the gods. When Gilgamesh finally sees that his place is here on Earth and returns to Uruk to resume his kingship, Ishtar returns to her place of honor.

Featured on Sparknotes Powered By The Inevitability of Death

Death is an inevitable and inescapable fact of human life, which is the greatest lesson Gilgamesh learns. Gilgamesh is bitter that only the gods can live forever and says as much when Enkidu warns him away from their fight with Humbaba. Life is short, the two warriors tell each other on their way to the deadly confrontation in the Cedar Forest, and the only thing that lasts is fame. But when Enkidu is cursed with an inglorious, painful death, their bravado rings hollow. Shamash, the sun god, consoles Enkidu by reminding him how rich his life has been, but though Enkidu finally resigns himself to his fate, Gilgamesh is terrified by the thought of his own. Mesopotamian theology offers a vision of an afterlife, but it gives scant comfort—the dead spend their time being dead. If Gilgamesh’s quest to the Cedar Forest was in spite of death, his second quest, to Utnapishtim, is for a way to escape it. Utnapishtim’s account of the flood reveals how ludicrous such a goal is, since death is inextricably woven into the fabric of creation. But life is woven in as well, and even though humans die, humanity continues to live. The lesson that Gilgamesh brings back from his quest isn’t ultimately about death—it’s about life.

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11
Q

Different Egyptian creation myths

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The different creation accounts were each associated with the cult of a particular god in one of the major cities of Egypt: Hermopolis, Heliopolis, Memphis, and Thebes.[9] To some degree, these myths represent competing theologies, but they also represent different aspects of the process of creation.[10]

Hermopolis
The creation myth promulgated in the city of Hermopolis focused on the nature of the universe before the creation of the world. The inherent qualities of the primeval waters were represented by a set of eight gods, called the Ogdoad. The goddess Naunet and her male counterpart Nu represented the inert primeval water itself; Huh and his counterpart Hauhet represented the water’s infinite extent; Kek and Kauket personified the darkness present within it; and Amun and Amaunet represented its hidden and unknowable nature, in contrast to the tangible world of the living. The primeval waters were themselves part of the creation process, therefore, the deities representing them could be seen as creator gods.[10] According to the myth, the eight gods were originally divided into male and female groups.[11] They were symbolically depicted as aquatic creatures because they dwelt within the water: the males were represented as frogs, and the females were represented as snakes.[12] These two groups eventually converged, resulting in a great upheaval, which produced the pyramidal mound. From it emerged the sun, which rose into the sky to light the world.[13]

Heliopolis
In Heliopolis, the creation was attributed to Atum, a deity closely associated with Ra, who was said to have existed in the waters of Nu as an inert potential being. Atum was a self-engendered god, the source of all the elements and forces in the world, and the Heliopolitan myth described the process by which he “evolved” from a single being into this multiplicity of elements.[14][15] The process began when Atum appeared on the mound and gave rise to the air god Shu and his sister Tefnut,[16] whose existence represented the emergence of an empty space amid the waters.[17] To explain how Atum did this, the myth uses the metaphor of masturbation, with the hand he used in this act representing the female principle inherent within him.[18] He is also said to have “sneezed” and “spat” to produce Shu and Tefnut, a metaphor that arose from puns on their names.[19] Next, Shu and Tefnut coupled to produce the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut, who defined the limits of the world.[20] Geb and Nut in turn gave rise to four children, who represented the forces of life: Osiris, god of fertility and regeneration; Isis, goddess of motherhood; Set, the god of chaos; and Nephthys, the female complement of Set. The myth thus represented the process by which life was made possible. These nine gods were grouped together theologically as the Ennead, but the eight lesser gods, and all other things in the world, were ultimately seen as extensions of Atum.[21][22]

Memphis
The Memphite version of creation centred on Ptah, who was the patron god of craftsmen. As such, he represented the craftsman’s ability to envision a finished product, and shape raw materials to create that product. The Memphite theology said that Ptah created the world in a similar way.[23] This, unlike the other Egyptian creations, was not a physical but an intellectual creation by the Word and the Mind of God.[24] The ideas developed within Ptah’s heart (regarded by the Egyptians as the seat of human thought) were given form when he named them with his tongue. By speaking these names, Ptah produced the gods and all other things.[25]

The Memphite creation myth coexisted with that of Heliopolis, as Ptah’s creative thought and speech were believed to have caused the formation of Atum and the Ennead.[26] Ptah was also associated with Tatjenen, the god who personified the pyramidal mound.[25]

Thebes
Theban theology claimed that Amun was not merely a member of the Ogdoad, but the hidden force behind all things. There is a conflation of all notions of creation into the personality of Amun, a synthesis which emphasizes how Amun transcends all other deities in his being “beyond the sky and deeper than the underworld”.[27] One Theban myth likened Amun’s act of creation to the call of a goose, which broke the stillness of the primeval waters and caused the Ogdoad and Ennead to form.[28] Amun was separate from the world, his true nature was concealed even from the other gods. At the same time, however, because he was the ultimate source of creation, all the gods, including the other creators, were in fact merely aspects of Amun. Amun eventually became the supreme god of the Egyptian pantheon because of this belief.[29]

Amun is synonymous with the growth of Thebes as a major religious capital. But it is the columned halls, obelisks, colossal statues, wall-reliefs and hieroglyphic inscriptions of the Theban temples that we look to gain the true impression of Amun’s superiority. Thebes was thought of as the location of the emergence of the primeval mound at the beginning of time.[30]

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12
Q

Maat in Egypt

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Maat, also spelled Mayet, in ancient Egyptian religion, the personification of truth, justice, and the cosmic order. The daughter of the sun god Re, she was associated with Thoth, god of wisdom.

The ceremony of judgment of the dead (called the “Judgment of Osiris,” named for Osiris, the god of the dead) was believed to focus upon the weighing of the heart of the deceased in a scale balanced by Maat (or her hieroglyph, the ostrich feather), as a test of conformity to proper values.

In its abstract sense, maat was the divine order established at creation and reaffirmed at the accession of each new king of Egypt. In setting maat ‘order’ in place of isfet ‘disorder,’ the king played the role of the sun god, the god with the closest links to Maat. Maat stood at the head of the sun god’s bark as it traveled through the sky and the underworld. Although aspects of kingship and of maat were at times subjected to criticism and reformulation, the principles underlying these two institutions were fundamental to ancient Egyptian life and thought and endured to the end of ancient Egyptian history.

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13
Q

Horus, Osiris, and Ra

A

From Geb, the sky god, and Nut, the earth goddess came four children: Osiris, Isis, Set and Nepthys. Osiris was the oldest and so became king of Egypt, and he married his sister Isis. Osiris was a good king and commanded the respect of all who lived on the earth and the gods who dwelled in the netherworld.

However, Set was always jealous of Osiris, because he did not command the respect of those on earth or those in the netherworld. One day, Set transformed himself into a vicious monster and attacked Osiris, killing him. Set then cut Osiris into pieces and distributed them throughout the length and breadth of Egypt. With Osiris dead, Set became king of Egypt, with his sister Nepthys as his wife. Nepthys, however, felt sorry for her sister Isis, who wept endlessly over her lost husband. Isis, who had great magical powers, decided to find her husband and bring him back to life long enough so that they could have a child. Together with Nepthys, Isis roamed the country, collecting the pieces of her husband’s body and reassembling them. Once she completed this task, she breathed the breath of life into his body and resurrected him. They were together again, and Isis became pregnant soon after. Osiris was able to descend into the underworld, where he became the lord of that domain. The child born to Isis was named Horus, the hawk-god. When he became an adult,

Horus decided to make a case before the court of gods that he, not Set, was the rightful king of Egypt. A long period of argument followed, and Set challenged Horus to a contest. The winner would become king. Set, however, did not play fair. After several matches in which Set cheated and was the victor, Horus’ mother, Isis, decided to help her son and set a trap for Set. She snared him, but Set begged for his life, and Isis let him go. When he found out that she had let his enemy live, Horus became angry with his mother, and rages against her, earning him the contempt of the other gods. They decided that there would be one more match, and Set would get to choose what it would be.

Set decided that the final round of the contest would be a boat race. However, in order to make the contest a challenge, Set decided that he and Horus should race boats made of stone. Horus was tricky and built a boat made of wood, covered with limestone plaster, which looked like stone. As the gods assembled for the race, Set cut the top off of a mountain to serve as his boat and set it in the water. His boat sank right away, and all the other gods laughed at him. Angry, Set transformed himself into a hippopotamus and attacked Horus’ boat. Horus fought off Set, but the other gods stopped him before he could kill Set. The other gods decided that the match was a tie. Many of the gods were sympathetic to Horus, but remembered his anger toward his mother for being lenient to Set, and were unwilling to support him completely. The gods who formed the court decided to write a letter to Osiris and ask for his advice. Osiris responded with a definite answer: his son is the rightful king, and should be placed upon the throne.

No one, said Osiris, should take the throne of Egypt through an act of murder, as Set had done. Set had killed Osiris, but Horus did not killed anyone, and was the better candidate. The sun and the stars, who were Osiris’ allies, descended into the underworld, leaving the world in darkness. Finally, the gods agreed that Horus should claim his birthright as king of Egypt.

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14
Q

Job Themes

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Suffering and Divine Justice

The Bible’s Book of Job explores the question of why good people sometimes endure senseless suffering—particularly, why God seems to allow such suffering. The story centers on Job, a thriving patriarch whose prosperity seems to be the reward for his upstanding behavior. So when God permits Satan to inflict disease and devastating losses on Job, it seems, from a human perspective, that divine justice has somehow gone awry. As he laments his circumstances, Job…

read analysis of Suffering and Divine Justice

The Mystery of God

During his suffering, Job feels that God is both too distant to reach and much too close for comfort. His sufferings make him feel like God is relentlessly oppressing him—looming so close that Job begs God to look away from him long enough to let Job breathe. And yet, at the same time, God seems to “hide his face” from Job (to feel totally absent) and to elude Job’s searching, preventing Job from pleading his…

read analysis of The Mystery of God

Human Wisdom vs. Divine Wisdom

When three of Job’s friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) hear of Job’s suffering, they come to comfort him. But when Job complains that God has punished him for no reason, Job’s friends take turns arguing with this point. They argue that God causes people to suffer because of their sins and that he rewards the righteous; to assert otherwise, they contend, is to accuse God of being unjust and so…

read analysis of Human Wisdom vs. Divine Wisdom

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15
Q

Susan Savage-Rumbaugh - Anthropology

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Primatologists study various aspects of primates, including our human ancestry, specializing in genetics, anatomy, cognition, behavior, and social organization. This lecture highlights two notable primatologists. Susan Savage-Rumbaugh conducts cognitive and behavioral research with Kanzi, a bonobo ape sharing nearly 99% of our genome. Their work suggests that human-bonobo differences may be more cultural than biological. Kanzi communicates with Susan using symbols, demonstrating his understanding of spoken English.

Videos show Kanzi and Savage-Rumbaugh building a campfire together. Kanzi methodically completes tasks, aided by Savage-Rumbaugh’s guidance. He even makes a s’more and extinguishes the fire, showcasing his ability to remember and manage complex activities.

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16
Q

Laurie Santos - Anthropology

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Laurie Santos, a primatologist at Yale, investigated whether primates exhibit human-like economic behavior. She taught capuchin monkeys to use money to buy snacks and set up a monkey market with fluctuating prices. Her research showed that these monkeys, much like humans, were bargain hunters, and they didn’t save money, preferring to indulge in immediate consumption.

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17
Q

The first branch of our primate family tree, the prosimians, began to emerge just over 60 million years

A

Let’s meet the common ancestor of primates, known as MRCA (most recent common ancestor), who resembled a squirrel with a long tail. MRCA lived over 60 million years ago, a time when the current primates as we know them today didn’t exist. Instead, there were protoprimates living in trees.

The first branch of our primate family tree, the prosimians, began to emerge just over 60 million years ago. This branch includes lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers. Among these, tarsiers are closer cousins to humans because they continued to evolve on the same path for several million years. Prosimians are typically small, often nocturnal primates with large eyes. Some of them are adept tree leapers, while others excel at climbing.

Lemurs, a type of prosimian, used to inhabit various regions, but today, they are primarily found in Madagascar. They vary in size, with some as small as fitting in a human hand and others, like sifakas, weighing up to around 15 pounds.

Outside of Madagascar, lorises and tarsiers, which also belong to the prosimian category, can be found in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. They are mainly nocturnal tree-dwellers known for their climbing and jumping abilities.

18
Q

The primate family tree saw the emergence of New World monkeys around 40 million years ago and Old World monkeys approximately 15 million years later.

A

The primate family tree saw the emergence of New World monkeys around 40 million years ago and Old World monkeys approximately 15 million years later.

New World monkeys, known as Platyrrhini, inhabit Central and South America. They are tree-dwelling creatures that primarily consume leaves, fruits, and occasional insects. Within this group, you find both smaller species like marmosets and tamarins, and larger ones like howler monkeys.

Moving ahead in evolution, Old World monkeys share more similarities with humans. For instance, both have 8 teeth on each side of each jaw and share the same tooth types. Old World monkeys are found in Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia, including species like baboons and macaques. The rhesus macaque, an Old World monkey, is commonly used in medical research, underlining our shared genetic heritage.

19
Q

Sahelanthropus tchadensis

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In central Africa, researcher Michel Brunet and his team made a significant paleoanthropological discovery in 2001. They uncovered a primate skull dating back 6-7 million years, which was identified as Sahelanthropus tchadensis, one of the earliest hominins on the human family tree. This discovery is remarkable because:

  1. It dates back to the same period when humans diverged from chimpanzees and bonobos.
  2. Sahelanthropus was likely a facultative bipedal, meaning it walked on two feet.
  3. It’s the oldest known primate ancestor with fossil evidence of bipedalism, marking the beginning of our human story.

Determining bipedalism from a skull involves examining the foramen magnum, where the skull meets the spine. In gorillas and chimpanzees, this opening is toward the rear of the skull, while in humans and bipeds, it’s centrally located. Sahelanthropus’s foramen magnum placement aligns with bipedalism.

Though some consider Sahelanthropus an early bipedal ancestor close to our split from chimpanzees and bonobos, there’s debate among researchers, with some suggesting it might be a peripheral human ancestor due to limited evidence.

20
Q

Ardipithecus

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East of Chad, toward Ethiopia, paleoanthropologists Timothy White and Berhane Asfaw made a groundbreaking discovery in the early 1990s. Their team uncovered fragile fossil remains that took 15 years to preserve and analyze. They used CT scans to help piece together these fragmented remains. Their most significant find was the skeletal remains of a bipedal female who lived 4.4 million years ago. She could walk on two feet but was also adapted for tree-dwelling. This discovery was named Ardipithecus ramidus.

In later years, Yohannes Haile-Selassie discovered more fossil evidence of Ardipithecus in Ethiopia. These remains were older, dating back over 5.5 million years. They were classified as Ardipithecus kadabba, with “kadabba” meaning “oldest ancestor” in the local Afar language. These findings shed light on our early human ancestors and their evolutionary history.

21
Q

Australopithecus africanus

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Raymond Dart was an anatomist in South Africa who discovered the skull of the Taung child in 1924. He proposed that the skull represented a new species, Australopithecus africanus, which he believed was an ancestor of modern humans. Initially met with skepticism, the discovery was later supported by additional fossil evidence, including the famous Lucy specimen found in 1974. Over time, the scientific community came to accept that some species of australopithecines were indeed direct ancestors of Homo sapiens, significantly advancing our understanding of human evolution.

22
Q

Australopithecus

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Mary and Louis Leakey discovered Homo habilis in the early 1960s in East Africa. This hominin species was different from both modern humans and earlier ancestors like Australopithecus. Dated to about 2.5 million years ago, Homo habilis had a larger brain and body and was found alongside crude stone tools. The discovery filled a gap in the human evolutionary timeline, acting as an intermediary between earlier species and the Homo lineage.

23
Q

Homo erectus

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Eugène Dubois discovered the first Homo erectus fossil in 1891. Initially named Pithecanthropus erectus, the species was later reclassified as Homo erectus. These hominins lived about 2 million years ago and had a larger brain than Homo habilis.

They also used more advanced tools and were the first human ancestors found outside Africa. The species is sometimes divided into Homo ergaster in Africa, Homo erectus in Asia, and Homo heidelbergensis in Europe.

24
Q

Homo floresiensis

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The discovery of Homo floresiensis, popularly known as the “hobbit,” added complexity to our understanding of human evolution. Found in Indonesia and dating back to within the last 20,000 years, these 1-meter-tall hominins had surprisingly advanced tools despite their small brain size. This challenges the narrative that bigger brains and better tools are linearly connected, as well as the idea that Homo sapiens were the only hominins around for the past 40,000 years.

Two main theories try to explain their small size: one suggests a specific genetic condition, and the other proposes an evolutionary response to limited resources on a small island.

The discovery underscores that human evolution is not a straightforward, linear progression but a complex, branching tree. It also reaffirms the importance of bipedalism as a foundational trait in human evolution.

25
Q

Homo erectus migrated out of Africa nearly 2 million years ago but went extinct around 400,000 years ago.

A

Homo erectus migrated out of Africa nearly 2 million years ago but went extinct around 400,000 years ago. They reached as far as southern Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia but not northern regions or the Americas.

Three main theories about their extinction and the rise of Homo sapiens are:
1. Regional Continuity: Modern humans descended directly from local Homo erectus populations.
2. Complete Replacement: Homo sapiens came from Africa 60,000 years ago and replaced all other hominins.
3. Partial Replacement: Modern humans left Africa 60,000 years ago, interbred with other hominins, and eventually replaced them.

A 2015 discovery of 47 human teeth in China dating to 100,000 years ago supports the Partial Replacement theory.

26
Q

Human tool-making has seen major developments:

A

Oldowan Tools: The oldest hominin tools were found in Kenya and date back over 3 million years. These simple stone tools, known as choppers, were mainly used for butchering and were integral to early human survival strategies.

Acheulean Handaxe: Originating with Homo erectus, these tools found in sites across Africa, Europe, and Asia were more advanced, dual-sided, and teardrop-shaped, serving multiple purposes.

The Microlith: A major change came around 12,000 years ago with the development of microliths. These tiny stone tools were fitted onto arrows and spears, facilitating the hunting of smaller game as big game disappeared due to environmental changes.

This evolution in tool-making not only showcases human adaptability but also represents our ongoing efforts to understand and control our environment.

27
Q

Rise of Agriculture

A

The text discusses the transformation of human society from hunter-gatherer lifestyles to agricultural civilizations, emphasizing the complex factors that drove this shift. For the majority of human history, small, nomadic groups were the norm, and these groups had advantages such as a balanced diet, long lifespans, and egalitarian social structures. The shift to agriculture was gradual and varied regionally but was influenced by ecological, technological, biological, and cultural changes.

Archaeological evidence like parietal art, grinding stones, and fossilized bones offer insights into the transition. Genetic data also assists in dating the domestication of animals, which happened roughly around the same time as plant domestication. One driving force behind the move to agriculture was the human evolutionary development, particularly the growth of brain size, which made us more efficient at hunting and gathering. Another was climate change, which altered habitats and made agriculture more viable.

The transition had profound implications for human society. It made it easier to raise children, which in turn allowed populations to grow. Agriculture led to the rise of urban centers and various technological advancements, but also brought new health issues and economic inequalities. In the modern era, the Green Revolution aimed to address food scarcity through technological advances in farming, but it has had mixed success and has not benefited everyone equally. Current challenges like population growth and climate change are now prompting another reevaluation of how food is produced.

28
Q

Gordon Childe’s criteria for identifying early cities include a large, dense population involved in long-distance trade, a class-structured society, a governance and taxation system, and cultural resources like artwork and science.

A

Gordon Childe’s criteria for identifying early cities include a large, dense population involved in long-distance trade, a class-structured society, a governance and taxation system, and cultural resources like artwork and science.

Ancient cities like Ur, Babylon, Nineveh, Jericho, Byblos, Aleppo, and Uruk meet these criteria in various ways:

  1. Population and Trade: Cities like Uruk and Byblos had large populations and were centers for international trade.
  2. Social Structure: Most had class hierarchies with specialized roles, such as priests and rulers.
  3. Governance: Places like Uruk had codified laws, while others like Jericho had rudimentary governance systems.
  4. Culture: Cities contributed to arts and sciences, like Byblos with its Phoenician alphabet or Aleppo with its architectural ingenuity.

These early cities were enabled by post-Ice Age climates favorable for agriculture, allowing for permanent settlements. Each city had its unique attributes but commonly showcased human ingenuity and social complexity.

29
Q

Uruk

A

The Epic of Gilgamesh is not just an ancient literary masterpiece; it’s a lens into the society, values, and concerns of ancient Uruk. In the story, Gilgamesh starts as a tyrant but undergoes a transformative journey after befriending Enkidu, who is created to stop his tyranny. The death of Enkidu sends Gilgamesh on a quest for immortality, ultimately leading him to the realization of his own limitations.

This epic isn’t purely fantasy. It offers insights into the local ecology—like the newly discovered segment that shows Gilgamesh and Enkidu interacting with the flora and fauna of a cedar forest. It serves as an “environmental morality tale,” commenting on the human-nature relationship.

In the real Uruk, the development of writing and numbers coincided with social and religious changes. Temples became sites for redistributing agricultural surplus, linking religious and political powers. Over time, as warfare became more common, these religious centers started supporting warlords for mutual protection. This intricate social structure found its echo in the narrative of Gilgamesh, encapsulating the collective experience of a people undergoing radical change.

30
Q

Tiwanaku

A

Tiwanaku, located near Lake Titicaca in modern-day Bolivia, was a thriving ancient city from 400 to 1100 C.E. Known for its intricate monuments like the Gate of the Sun, the city was also an agricultural powerhouse. It utilized an advanced system of canals and raised fields that not only irrigated crops but protected them from frost. The site gained contemporary significance when Bolivia’s first indigenous president, Evo Morales, chose it for his 2015 inauguration, symbolically reclaiming the city’s historical importance.

31
Q

History of Money

A

The journey of numbers and money through human history can be broken down into distinct phases.

Numbers
1. Rudimentary Number Sense: Even wasps display this. Female wasps provide 10 grubs for female larvae and half as many for males. No counting, just a sense of relative amounts.

  1. Early Number Concept: In ancient Andean cultures, quipus—a system of strings and knots—were used to record numbers for things like harvests and debts, dating back almost 5000 years.
  2. Counting Systems: The establishment of civilizations from the Egyptians to the Chinese led to the creation of intricate number systems.

Money Anthropology
- Bartering Myth: Contrary to popular belief, barter-only societies probably never existed. Even the earliest societies seem to have had some form of money along with bartering.

Credit
- Earliest Records: Cuneiform tablets from ancient Mesopotamia reveal the earliest form of credit, dating back around 5000 years. Citizens would borrow silver and repay in grain.

Coins
- First Use: In Lydia (modern-day Turkey), coins were used as early as 600 BCE. These coins, called staters, were initially made of an alloy of gold and silver called electrum.

Paper Money
- China: The Song Dynasty issued the first paper money in the early 11th century. Europe didn’t adopt paper money until almost the 1700s.

Alternative Currencies
- BerkShares: A modern example in Massachusetts where residents buy local currency at a discount to encourage spending within the community.

Inca Empire
- No Money: The Incas had no money but operated a labor system where men contributed communal labor in exchange for goods and services provided by the state.

Throughout history, the evolution of numbers and money illustrates the complexities of human societies and their need for systems of quantification and exchange. As we move into an increasingly digital age, who knows what the next chapter will hold.

32
Q

Despite the complexities of human language and its evolution, it has given us significant adaptive advantages. However, language can also be a double-edged sword, with the power to both create and destroy.

A

Of course. Tamarin monkeys have distinct vocalizations that allow them to communicate simple sentences, which challenges the previous idea that sentence formation is unique to humans. Apes like Washoe, Lucy, and Koko have shown the ability to learn human languages to a certain extent, but there are limitations tied to their physiology and cognitive functions.

In anthropology, three subfields help to study the origins and nature of human language: historical linguistics, descriptive linguistics, and sociocultural linguistics. Historical linguistics studies the evolution and extinction of languages, using tools like glottochronology to trace their origins. Descriptive linguistics focuses on the mechanics of language, such as phonemes and morphemes. Sociocultural linguistics explores the relationship between language and culture, like how time is understood differently in different cultures.

Despite the complexities of human language and its evolution, it has given us significant adaptive advantages. However, language can also be a double-edged sword, with the power to both create and destroy.

33
Q

Anthropology and Cycles

A
  1. Buddhism and Hinduism view eschatology as cyclical, with repeating cycles of birth, life, death, and rebirth.
  2. Christianity and Islam see it as linear, with a definitive end point involving judgment.
  3. Zoroastrianism also has a linear view but includes a unique purification process through a molten river.
  4. The Hopi combine cyclic and linear elements, suggesting humanity’s actions could decide the end.
  5. Secular views like scientific theories talk about the heat death of the universe or technological singularity as potential ends.
  6. Historical case studies like Ur and Cahokia remind us that misuse of resources can lead to the collapse of civilizations.

Each approach compels us to consider the long-term consequences of our actions, whether we view the end as cyclical, linear, or something else entirely.

34
Q

Human diversity.

A

The text you’ve shared gives a comprehensive overview of the evolution of cultural anthropology as a field. It chronicles key anthropologists and their contributions to the study of human diversity.

  • Edward Burnett Tylor was among the first to define ‘culture’ and laid the groundwork for cultural evolutionism, advocating a narrative of human progress.
  • Lewis Henry Morgan focused on kinship and also pushed the cultural evolution narrative, categorizing societies into “primitive,” “barbarian,” and “civilized” stages.
  • Franz Boas shifted the paradigm by challenging the notion of cultural evolutionism. Instead, he emphasized cultural relativity, arguing that every culture is a complex adaptation to its own circumstances.
  • Bronisław Malinowski further refined this approach by introducing functionalism, a method to understand cultures by examining the roles of their social institutions and practices. He also stressed the importance of detailed, science-based fieldwork for a well-rounded understanding of a culture.

These pioneers moved the field away from hierarchical models of cultural evolution to a more nuanced understanding based on cultural relativity and functionalism. Their methodologies still form the bedrock of modern anthropology, encouraging a balanced, interdisciplinary approach to studying human diversity.

35
Q

Anthropology 101

A

Alfred Kroeber was a student of Franz Boas at Columbia University. Like his teacher, Kroeber was an empiricist. His field research among the Arapaho and his work in establishing the anthropology program at the University of California, Berkeley, were highly influential. Kroeber focused on cultural relativity and the scientific method, continuing Boas’s legacy.

Zora Neale Hurston, also a student of Boas, contributed to anthropology through her innovative interpretivist approach to folklore. She notably used folklore to give voice to marginalized groups like women and African Americans. Hurston’s work was groundbreaking in that it provided methodological lessons for capturing the complexities of culture.

Audrey Richards, a student of Bronisław Malinowski, combined cultural and biological anthropology through her studies on nutrition among the Bemba tribe in Zambia. Her work laid the foundation for medical anthropology and she reinforced the value of empiricism in fieldwork.

Edwin Evans-Pritchard, another student of Malinowski, diverged from the empirical focus of his contemporaries and emphasized the humanities. He developed the concept of structural functionalism through his ethnographic studies, first among the Azande people regarding witchcraft and later among the Nuer, examining their pastoralist society.

36
Q

Koko the gorilla

A

Koko the gorilla’s ability to express grief through sign language offers intriguing clues about the emotional complexity of non-human primates. This suggests that the roots of human emotional and even spiritual experience may extend far back in our evolutionary history. These hints are further substantiated by ancient human and Neanderthal burials, which indicate a long-standing preoccupation with death and possibly the afterlife.

Fast-forward to today, and we see a plethora of organized religions with complex doctrines. These could be viewed as the culmination of a journey that began with simple acts of empathy and mourning. Anthropologists continue to study these phenomena to understand not just what we believe, but why — a quest that links back to our shared biological heritage.

37
Q

Religion and history

A

Émile Durkheim and James Frazer were among the earliest scholars to delve into the anthropology of religion. Durkheim viewed religion as a social glue that promotes cooperation, and used the lens of sacred and profane to classify religious practices. Frazer, author of “The Golden Bough,” saw the trajectory of human religious experience as moving from magic, to religion, to science.

Both were part of a cultural evolutionist trend, where monotheistic religions were considered more “advanced” than polytheistic or animistic religions, which were often derogatorily termed “primitive.” This cultural evolutionism was later challenged by anthropologists like Franz Boas and Bronisław Malinowski, who approached religion with cultural relativity in mind.

Malinowski, known for his long-term fieldwork, argued that magic is utilitarian and specific, while religion serves more ambiguous and broader social functions. The shift from focusing on origins to understanding the cultural functions of religious practices was marked by this new wave of cultural relativists.

Later, anthropologists like Claude Levi-Strauss and Clifford Geertz moved towards interpretivist approaches. Levi-Strauss thought that religion mediates universal human binaries like raw vs. cooked or sacred vs. profane. Geertz suggested that religion is a system of symbols that helps individuals give meaning to their lives.

In recent years, feminist anthropology has also contributed by examining the gender dynamics within religious systems, as well as highlighting the role of female deities in various cultures.

Thus, the study of the anthropology of religion has evolved significantly, from a more ethnocentric and evolutionary perspective to one that is more inclusive, nuanced, and critically self-aware.

38
Q

Art and Evolution

A

Your text explores the complex relationship between anthropology and art, particularly how this relationship has evolved over time. It’s a multidimensional look that covers everything from early categorizations of “primitive art” to how visual anthropology has modernized the field. Here’s how different approaches in anthropology have engaged with the concept of art.

  1. Early Anthropological Views: The idea of “primitive” art was prevalent among early anthropologists, who often framed non-Western art through a Eurocentric lens. The ciwara sculptures from Mali serve as a case in point. This was partially influenced by social Darwinism and ethnocentrism, which often categorized anything outside of the Western canon as “other” or “less advanced.”
  2. Mid-20th Century Shift: With scholars like Claude Levi-Strauss and Victor Turner, anthropology started recognizing art as a valuable repository of cultural symbols and meanings. Artists were seen as ‘bricoleurs,’ creators who mix science and craft to capture a worldview.
  3. Cubism and Cultural Exchange: The impact of non-Western art on Western artists, like Picasso’s fascination with African masks, illustrates how cultural artifacts can transcend their origin, affecting global artistic trends. The multifaceted views embedded in African masks influenced Picasso’s cubism, showcasing how cultural exchange enriches art.
  4. Sociocultural Understanding of Art: Howard Becker’s “Art Worlds” introduces the idea that art is not just an object but a network of interactions and relationships. The ciwara sculpture isn’t “primitive” compared to the Mona Lisa; they are products of different art worlds, equally complex and valuable.
  5. Visual Anthropology: This new dimension, encompassing film and photography, brought a level of nuance and immediacy to anthropological studies. However, it also opened questions about authenticity, as evidenced by films like “Nanook of the North,” which staged ‘authentic’ lifestyles, and “The Ax Fight,” which questioned the observer’s role.
  6. Participatory Approaches: Modern anthropology often hands the camera to the subjects themselves, allowing for a more emic perspective.

Imagine each of these epochs as a layer in a painting. The early outlines may be crude, but as each new layer is added, the image becomes richer, more nuanced, and more reflective of the complex realities it represents. Each brushstroke, be it Levi-Strauss’s interpretivism or Becker’s sociocultural approach, adds to our understanding, challenging us to think about art and anthropology in ever-more complex ways.

39
Q

Warfare

A

Certainly, the anthropological perspective on human violence and warfare is a nuanced one that addresses many preconceived notions. Let’s delve into the myths and facts you’ve outlined:

Myth 1: Warfare Has Always Been a Part of Human Existence
- The emergence of agriculture and sedentary lifestyles changed the dynamics of human interaction, paving the way for organized conflict on a larger scale.

Myth 2: Humans are Biologically Predisposed to Violence
- While aggression can be observed in our closest primate relatives like chimpanzees, the behavior of bonobos suggests a different narrative. Human societies have numerous instances of conflict resolution and peacemaking.

Myth 3: Warfare is Universal
- There are examples of human societies, like the Amish and the Jains, that are predicated on non-violence and conflict resolution, dispelling the idea that war is an inevitable aspect of the human condition.

Anthropological Contributions to Conflict Resolution
- In places like Mali and Liberia, traditional conflict resolution mechanisms like “joking cousins” and the “Kpelle moot” provide culturally specific means of maintaining social harmony.

Anthropology and the Military
- The role of anthropologists in military contexts has been contentious. Programs like the Human Terrain System have faced ethical scrutiny for potentially violating the anthropological principle of doing no harm.

Your detailed overview highlights how anthropology can offer profound insights into these topics, challenging the simple narratives that often dominate public discourse.

40
Q

Development theory

A

The evolution of development anthropology has taken various forms, with key figures like Robert Redfield, Oscar Lewis, and Sidney Mintz contributing significantly to our understanding of global development. Redfield’s seminal work on “peasant societies” and “little communities” laid the groundwork for how anthropologists perceive and analyze pre-urban societies. Lewis and Mintz, however, expanded upon this by adding the influence of global and regional forces on these communities.

Development theory itself has seen shifts from modernization approaches, inspired by theorists like Walt Rostow, to more critical perspectives like dependency theory and the concept of “underdevelopment.” While modernization theory suggests a linear path from traditional to modern economies, dependency theory argues that this process is inherently unequal, perpetuating poverty and exploitation in so-called “third world” nations.

In practice, development anthropologists have engaged in multiple sectors from government to NGOs, operating within frameworks such as the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals to enact social change. These anthropologists use empirical research to tailor development initiatives to the specific cultural, economic, and social contexts of the communities they serve.

Overall, development anthropology serves as a critical lens through which we can understand the complexities and inequities of global development, while also acting as a catalyst for informed, culturally-sensitive change.