Humanities Final for Winter Term 2013

1. Presented by Cynthia Zera

2.  The ancient Egyptians credited one of their
gods, Hathor, with the invention of music.
 The earliest evidence of Egyptian musical instruments
dates back to the Predynastic period, about 6000
BC.
 Among the instruments played in Ancient Egypt were
the lyres, lutes, harps, flutes, double clarinets, and
percussion instruments.
 Originally, wind instruments were made with
reeds, but would eventually be imitated with bronze.
 Throughout the entire Pharaonic period, musicians
are often shown in ensembles, though in the Old
Kingdom singers were frequently accompanied by a
single instrument.
 Tomb drawings of Amenhotep III’s sed-festival depict
long rows of singers, percussionists and dancers and
we are told that their music "opened the doors of
heaven so that the god may go forth pure".

3.  Dating from the 5th to 7th
centuries C.E.
 Colors are presumed to
indicate pitch and size to
indicate duration.
 Writings on the
parchment are in
Coptic, which is a
Northern Afro-Asiatic
language spoken in
Egypt until at least the
17th century.

4.  Around 150 B.C., the Greeks invented a
device that could function as a
calculator, calendar, and a sort of
primitive global positioning
system, capable of helping someone find
their destination.
 They also invented a vending machine
contraption to dispense holy water. A
person could deposit a coin, receive a
fixed amount of holy water, and the owner
would later collect the money.
 Excavations at Olympus and Athens have
revealed extensive plumbing systems for
baths, showers, and fountains as well as for
personal use.
 Hero of Alexandria, an ancient Greek
inventor, designed a hydraulic system that
would automatically open temple doors in
100 B.C.

5.  Displayed at the National Archaeological
Museum in Athens, the Antikythera
mechanism, was designed to calculate
astronomical positions and it uses the oldest
known complex gear mechanism.
 Two thousand years ago, a Greek
mechanic set out to build a machine that
would model the workings of the known
Universe. The result was a complex
clockwork mechanism that displayed the
motions of the Sun, Moon and planets on
precisely marked dials.
 New interpretations of the Antikythera
Mechanism reveal that it could be used to
predict eclipses, and that it had a dial
recording the dates of the ancient
Olympiads. A box of intricate gear work, the
Antikythera mechanism provides a glimpse
at the engineering of the Hellenic world.

6.  During the Hellenistic Age, Greece
transformed from introverted city-states to
an open cosmopolitan.
 Greek was the official language of the
Hellenistic world.
 Following the death of Alexander the
Great, his generals ruled the empire.
 The most influential city was
Alexandria, founded by Alexander himself.
 The Hellenic Age was one of
extravagance in art, and a love of luxury
and riotous excess.
 The Battle of Actium marked the end of
Ancient Greece, and the entire Hellenic
world fell victim to a series of conquests by
Rome.

7.  A 2nd century BC marble sculpture of the
Greek goddess Nike, estimated to have
been created around 190 BC.
 Discovered by amateur archaeologist
Charles Champoiseau on the island of
Samothrace in 1863.
 Nike's right arm was raised, cupped round
her mouth to deliver the shout of Victory.
 The work is notable for its rendering of a
pose where violent motion and sudden
stillness meet, for its graceful balance and
for the rendering of the draped
garments, which are depicted as if rippling
in a strong sea breeze.
 The sculpture wasn’t just created to honor
Nike, but also to honor a sea battle.

8.  Roman men didn’t start studying Philosophy until around 200
BC.
 Women were not allowed to study Philosophy.
 Cicero stood up for voting and representative government.
 Seneca’s philosophical ideas played a big part in the revival of
Stoicism during the Renaissance period.
 Plotinus had a lot of influence on the Emperor Julian, who tried
unsuccessfully to return the Roman empire to a philosophical
version of Paganism, against the tide of Christianity.
 Most Roman philosophy mimicked that of the Greeks, but was
translated to Latin.
 The three basic types of philosophy were
Materialism, Pluralism, and Atomism.
 Materialists believed that the world was created of
matter, even if imperceptibly small, plus the void.
 Pluralists believed that there is more than one basic element
from which everything is composed.
 Atomists believed that we see objects because a film of atoms
drops off the surface of the objects we see, and that color is
produced by the position of these atoms. Early atomists thought
perceptions exist "by convention," while atoms and the void
exist by reality.

9.  Cicero lived during 106 BCE and 43 BCE.
 He was a lawyer, statesman, politician and
philosopher and came to be known as one of
Rome’s greatest orators. He was an avid thinker
and writer and his texts include political and
philosophical treatises, orations and rhetoric.
 He was successfully elected to each main Roman
government office; quaestor, aedile, praetor and
consul.
 Though he had been exiled, he was allowed to
return to Rome, due to a shift in political power.
 Mark Antony and Octavian partnered together in
taking over Roman power, and Cicero became
an enemy of the state.
 Under the order of Mark Antony, Cicero was
murdered and parts of him were put on display
on the podium in the Senate as a warning.

10.  Jewish history and Judaism began in the Middle East, during the
Bronze Age.
 The story of the birth of Jewish people and the beginning of
Judaism is told in the first five books of the Bible.
 The Jews, under God’s guidance, became influential with the
kings, Saul, David, and Solomon, who built the first temple.
 Around 920 BCE the kingdom fell apart, and the Jewish people split
into groups.
 Around 600 BCE the temple was destroyed and the Jewish leaders
were killed.
 During the following 300 years after the fall of the kingdom, the
Jewish people grew in strength, even though they were ruled by
foreign leadership.
 Scribes and teachers led them locally, and they explained and
interpreted the Bible.
 In 175 BCE, the king of Syria desecrated the temple, and attempted
to wipe out Judaism in favor of worshipping Zeus.
 The Jewish people fought back in 164 BCE, and restored their
temple.
 Today, that revolt is celebrated during the Jewish festival of
Hannukah.

11.  1 CE - 70 CE
 Rabbinic Judaism or Rabbinism, or "Yahadut
Rabanit," has been the mainstream form of
Judaism since the 6th century CE.
 What distinguishes Rabbinic Judaism is the
belief in the Oral Law or Oral Torah, which is
basically just a code of conduct.
 Rabbinic Judaism holds that the books of the
Tanakh were transmitted in parallel with an
oral tradition, as relayed by God to Moses
and from him handed on to the scholarly and
other religious leaders of each generation.
 Rabbinic Judaism claims that almost all
directives, both positive and negative, in the
Torah are non-specific in nature and would
therefore require the existence of either an
Oral Law tradition to explain them, or some
other method of defining their detail.

12.  The period known as the Middle Ages spanned from the fall of Rome
in 476 CE to the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th century.
 Feudalism was an important part of this time period, because it was a
system for structuring society around relationships derived from the
holding of land in exchange for service or labor.
 Efforts were made by soldiers to secure a system of hereditary rule
over land.
 Power over a certain territory came to encompass
social, political, judicial, and economic power. This significantly
diminished centralized power.
 After the fall of Rome, no government united the European
continent. Instead, the Catholic Church became powerful. Kings and
queens derived much of their power and protection from their
alliances with the Church.
 Islam also grew in power. After the prophet Muhammad’s death in
632 CE, Muslim armies conquered large areas of the Middle East. At
its height, Islamic world was more than three times bigger than all of
Christendom.
 The Crusades, military expeditions authorized by the Catholic Church
toward the end of the 11th century, were aimed at taking the Holy
Land from the Muslims.

13.  The “Black Death” was a plague came out of the
East, and reached the shores of Italy in the spring of
1348 unleashing an unprecedented rampage of
death across Europe and killed between 30 to 40%
of Europe’s population between 1348-1350.
 The name “Black Death” stems from the large black
boils that appeared on the skin.
 The crowded, dirty living conditions of the English
cities led to the rapid spread of the disease. The
sanitation in London was poor and living conditions
were filthy. This plague was thought to be spread by
fleas that were carried by rats or other small rodents.
 When the plague was at it’s peak, the trade route
between Europe and Asia was closed, increasing
poverty on both continents.
 Because so many people were ill and thousands
died each day, including people that would
normally uphold the laws, there was a long period of
civil unrest and lawlessness.
 People tended to ignore friends and family and stay
in their homes, but without treatment, the vast
majority of them died.

14.  Philosophers were predominantly male during
the Renaissance, but there were some female
philosophers as well.
 Topics were things like
reality, existence, knowledge, faith, truth, values
, reason, mind, and language.
 Renaissance humanists resurrected the ancient
Greek schools of philosophy.
 Movements included
Aristotelianism, Hermeticism, Humanism, and
Neoplatonism.

15.  SirFrancis Bacon, 1561-1626, was an
English
philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist,
and author.
 Bacon was one of the leading figures
in natural philosophy and scientific
methodology during the transition
from the Renaissance to the early
modern era. He was a
lawyer, member of Parliament, and
part of Queen Elizabeth I’s Counsel.
 He wrote on questions of law, affairs of
state and religion, and contemporary
politics, but he also published texts in
which he speculated conceptions of
society. Bacon questioned ethics even
in his works on natural philosophy.

16.  Johann Sebastian Bach was
born on March 21st, 1685. He
died on July 28th, 1750.
 Bach studied
Lutheranism, Latin and
Greek, Arithmetic, History, Geo
graphy, and German
poetry, and more.
 Bach received his first organ
lessons after his father
died, and he and his brother
were adopted by an organist.
 Born in Germany, most of
Bach’s music was composed
in Leipzig.
 His most famous music includes
Toccata And Fugue In D
Minor, Air On A G String, and
Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring.

18.  Romanticism is known as the
“Emotional Art Movement” of the
18th and 19th Century.
 Emphasizes emotion and
imagination, but really has nothing
to do with romance at all.
 Romanticism also had to do with a
renewed look at nature and
mankind’s relationship with it.
 Details are rich and expressive.
 Some of the paintings done in this
style depict things like a nightmare
or battle, and others depict
landscapes. It varies, but the
emotion, depth, and imagination
are always present.

20.  The Modernist Period in English
Literature spanned from the beginning
of the twentieth century through
around 1965.
 Modernism was an artistic trend that
inspired a new, fragmented style of
writing, and it changed expression and
interpretation in literature.
 Writers limited descriptions of the
characters and settings and avoided
direct statements of themes and
resolutions, allowing the reader to
uniquely interpret and choose meaning
on their own.

21.  Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was
born on September 29, 1896 in St.
Paul Minnesota.
 Fitzgerald was sort of the father of
the Jazz Age, and although he led
one of the most luxurious lifestyles of
anyone during the 1920’s, he was
uncomfortable with the lack of
morality that came along with the
decadent lifestyle.
 Author of The Great Gatsby, some
of his other works include This Side
of Paradise, The Beautiful and the
Damned, Tender is the Night, and
The Love of the Last Tycoon.

22.  Drawn by me, with a clicky pencil
from a dollar store, and a fine point
ink pen.
 The drawing is my interpretation
and a culmination of the things that
I have experienced during Intro to
Humanities.
 The original image is approximately
18” in height.

23.  Throughout this course, I have
tried to choose topics that I was
fairly unfamiliar with. I chose each
topic because it was interesting to
me, and/or visually appealing.
Artwork was often a deciding
factor, and often times it was
simply one interesting fact that
sparked my interest. I tried to
choose topics that would help me
get the most out of the
course, and hopefully change
some of my prior views and
interests.

24.  Visual Arts – The materials utilized by artists, content, subject matter, and form. We also have
photography and motion pictures now.
 Performance – Venues for Performing Arts are much more elaborate, women perform just as
much as men now, and today we are able to reach a wider audience due to easier
methods of travel, such as flight.
 Literature – I think that we have many more female writers now, of course. We also have
fiction novels, which…novels I don’t believe existed at all until after the “novelty” of
poetry, which was eventually expanded upon, to include longer, more detailed stories.
 Philosophy – Philosophy has changed perhaps more than anything. Today you have people
that believe in Creationism, and others that believe in Evolution. And both evoke sort of a
different code of conduct.
 History - History has changed immeasurably, in everything from women’s rights, to
politics, trade, and religion.
 Music – For the most part, a lot of our musical instruments have changed, as well as the
manor in which we compose music. Music is also able to reach a wider audience
now, thanks to the inventions of satellites, television, and radio.
 Architecture – These are the changes that I dislike the most! In building homes today, we
basically build boxes. There’s not nearly as much detail.
 Technology – Today we have machinery that can build cars, among other things. We have
hundreds of electronic devices, wrist watches, cable TV, internet, etc.

25.  Visual Arts – Still a form of self expression as well as conveying emotion. The
color, depth, and richness are all still present in most works of art.
 Performance – Performing Arts are still used for social change, but I think they’re more
for amusement and entertainment now than ever before.
 Literature – Still used to record history and disseminate facts or public opinion.
 Philosophy – While many philosophies have changed, I think that we still adhere to a
basic understanding of life, it’s creation, and our relationship with nature.
 History – We’re still fighting in the Holy Land. England still has a monarch.
 Music – Again, still a for of expression and entertainment involving many different
elements of style.
 Architecture – We do still use pillars, breezeways, arches, pediments, etc., as they did in
ancient times. I notice a lot more of the Roman and Greek styles of architecture
now, since taking this course.
 Technology – A lot of the inner workings of today’s devices are based off of the same
working knowledge of the earliest known technology, such as the Antikythera
Mechanism.

26.  http://continuo-docs.tumblr.com/post/35045558160/ancient-egyptian-music-notation-
from-a-set-of-6
 http://pubsub.com/Lego-Antikythera-Mechanism_historic-technology-
3XCpwoLDcqD,bVb8LJfO37QE
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winged_Victory_of_Samothrace
 http://www.egs.edu/library/cicero/biography/
 http://s1032.beta.photobucket.com/user/AraMaxima/media/June%2029-
30/IMG_3398.jpg.html
 http://www.egs.edu/library/cicero/biography/
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/history/history_1.shtml
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbinic_Judaism
 http://char.txa.cornell.edu/art/fineart/change/change.htm
 http://www.slc.edu/catalogue/creative-and-performing-arts/theatre/courses/2012-
2013/primary/using-the-performing-arts-for-social-change.html
 http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/romanempire.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicero
 http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/philosophy/

27.  http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/black-death.htm
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._Scott_Fitzgerald
 http://www.online-literature.com/periods/modernism.php
 http://www.123helpme.com/modernism-in-the-great-gatsby-view.asp?id=161927
 http://voices.yahoo.com/5-amazing-technologies-invented-ancient-greece-
7483038.html?cat=37
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_technology
 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=unique-marvel-of-ancient
 http://www.greek-thesaurus.gr/hellenistic-period.html
 http://www.ancient-greece.org/history/helleninstic.html
 http://highered.mcgraw-
hill.com/sites/dl/free/0073136190/513721/Matthews6e_ch03.pdf
 http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/phil16.htm
 http://www.iep.utm.edu/romanphi/
 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/seneca/

28.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/
 http://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism
 http://www.academia.edu/1636051/Renaissance_Philosophy
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_philosophy
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon
 http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/classicalcomposers/p/bach.htm
 http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080917183116AASQ52U
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach
 http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxjsbach.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Day_of_Pompeii
 http://emptyeasel.com/2007/11/20/romanticism-the-emotional-art-movement-of-the-
18th-and-19th-century/
 https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255/la/delacroix.html
 http://artofmanliness.com/2011/03/03/the-basics-of-art-the-romantic-period/