User:Atcovi/Worldview Essays

Worldview essays completed in class ART101 during the fall of 2022.

= Worldview Essay #1 = ART101

9/29/2022

Name: Aaqib A.

How are the objects/structures that you have chosen similar? Do they serve a similar function? How are they different? Do they approach this function differently? Think about themes of the afterlife, burial practices, the supernatural world, propaganda (religious and rulership), or materials.

These essays do not require additional research, but if you choose to use outside sources, you must cite them with proper citation. Each essay must be a minimum of 250 words or it will receive a zero.

Essay
For this essay, I have chosen two pieces of art. I have chosen the Inner Coffin of King Tutankhamun (Tut for short) & Lady Fu Hao's Tomb. Both artworks took place within a hundred years from each other (1322 BCE & 1250 BCE, respectively). The Inner Coffin of King Tutankhamun was discovered by English explorer Howard Carter in 1923. King Tut's coffin was heavily protected, with multiple shrines & figures representing "gods", placed there for the sole purpose of protecting King Tut's soul. Inside the fourth shrine & three coffins (the last one weighing over 200 lbs. and was made from pure gold), Carter found the king's mummy undisturbed. Several luxuries were found in King Tut's coffin, including golden chests, various well-crafted ships & jewelry. It is one of the most widely known pieces of art to have ever been discovered.

A not-so widely known piece of art, but equally as gorgeous, is found in China. Fu Hao was a female leader of the heavily war-invested Shang kingdom. What was interesting was that she shared her undisturbed tomb with several other dead folks. We found out Fu Hao's name because her name was inscribed on oracle bones. The theory is that some of these corpses were relatives of Fu Hao, while others were prisoners of war (and given as a ritual human sacrifice). Her husband, king Wu Ding, offered these sacrifices as a way to receive her spiritual help in his warfare. The biggest takeaway from Fu Hao's tomb is that it showed how important human sacrifice was to the mechanics of the Shang military & society.

The similarities that I can readily tell between both artworks is that both housed the corpse of an incredibly important figure in that society. We can see their status in their respective societies because of how articulately the tombs were crafted. Fu Hao was surrounded by sixteen sacrificed individuals & bronze vessels (only used by the elite in the Shang kingdom) while King Tut was surrounded by luxurious items. The concept of "preparing the body for the afterlife" was also seen in both tombs. King Tut was given clothes & board games to prepare himself for the afterlife, while Fu Hao was given bronze vessels to continue sacrificing humans in her afterlife. Although remarkably similar from naked eye, you can see the differences once you dig deep into both art pieces. The element of human sacrifice is seen in Fu Hao's tomb, as even the structure covering the tomb was used as a place for sacrifice. King Tut's tomb was not shared with other corpses, but the Egyptian mythological god, Anubis. Anubis was placed in King Tut's tomb to ward off intruders and thieves. This suggests that human sacrifice was essential to the Shang kingdom & polytheism was essential to the Ancient Egyptians.

Both tombs served as an honorable resting place for both figures for their contributions to their respective societies. Although the same purpose, they approach this in similar & different ways. As mentioned, the element of human sacrifice plays a massive role in the Shang's concept of a burial verses the element of polytheism in the Ancient Egyptians' concept of a burial. Both tombs prepared both corpses with the afterlife (King Tut was given clothes while Fu Hao was given bronze vessels). Fu Hao's tomb was a religious symbol. King Wu Ding sacrificed humans for her tomb to evoke her "spirit power" in warfare. King Tut's tomb was a "rulership" symbol, as it was decorated with massive luxuries and highly protected (four shrines & three coffins protecting his mummified body) to protect his "spirit" from any disturbances and to prepare his soul for his afterlife.

Overall, both tombs are fantastic insights into the lives of the ancient people. Thanks to both tombs, we can make inferences on the way these ancient civilizations lived and what regulations their civilizations habitually followed. I am grateful that I can comfortably learn and study both ancient pieces of our world. = Worldview Essay #2 = When writing your essay, here are some questions to help you frame your discussion:

How are the objects/structures that you have chosen similar? Do they serve a similar function? How are they different? Do they approach this function differently? Think about themes of the afterlife, burial practices, the supernatural world, propaganda (religious and rulership), or materials.

These essays do not require additional research, but if you choose to use outside sources, you must cite them with proper citation. Each essay must be a minimum of 250 words or it will receive a zero.

Students must submit these essays through Turnitin on Canvas. Essays that do not process through this system will not be accepted.

Information from the textbook and lectures should be used to support arguments, additional sources are not necessary. If students use outside sources, they must be properly cited using Chicago Manual of Style: https://www.citethisforme.com/citation-generator/chicago (Links to an external site.).

Internet sources can be tricky. Wikipedia is NOT a good source. Museum websites are generally reputable. Academic journals and books are also acceptable sources.

Please carefully note the word count requirements.


 * If there is another artwork that you would like to discuss that is not on the timeline, book, or lectures, it must be approved by your instructor. Send me an email no less than 3 days before the due date with the title, artist (if known), location, culture, and a link to an image. Unapproved images will receive a zero.

Essay
The two pieces of artworks that I'll be assessing is The Dying Warrior in Ancient Greece and the Nok male heads in Nigeria. They both are immediately similar in that they both represent a human.

Although initial similarities, they are vastly different once you look beyond the shape of the sculptures. The Nok male heads, as obvious, only depict a head of a human being while The Dying Warrior illustrates a whole human body. Since the Nok head is just a figure of a human's head, we don't get a sense of who this being was or the story behind the human depicted. In contrast to this, The Dying Warrior's depiction of a human figure showcases the story of an honorable warrior dying amidst battle. Even the smallest of details, including the eyes, are different. The Nok head has big eyes accompanied with triangular-shaped pupils, while The Dying Warrior has regular-shaped eyes with no pupils. The Nok head's lips are huge and open while The Dying Warrior 's closed lips are regular-size or small.

The symbolism behind both artworks differs greatly. The Nok head shows that the head was valuable in the Nok culture. The video states that the Nok head shows that the head was the "center of wisdom" and the perfectly droopy eyes give a sense of "calmness". The Dying Warrior is seen with an "archaic smile", an artistic technique used by the Greeks to add personality to the sculpture. The principle of being balanced is also seen here, as the warrior in the artwork is not Greek and is allowed to show "a bit of emotion" (with the archaic smile). The Greeks did not like overwhelming emotions, so they allowed emotion for the non-Greek warrior.

Both artworks may differ greatly in their meaning, but both served as great insights to their respective cultures.