…In the beginning, the ancient Greek Poet Hesiod says, there was Khaos, vast and dark. Then appeared Gaea, the deep-breasted earth, and finally Eros, ‘ the love which softens hearts ‘, whose fructifying influence would thenceforth preside over the formation of beings and things. ….
All cultures on earth, just like individuals, have distinct modes of existence. Creation stories are something they all have in common in a logical attempt to rationalize the presence of humans on earth. Early progressive civilizations, around 5600 years before the Christ event, were sited on the plains of the Indus Valley of Pakistan, around the convergence of the Lower Tigris and Euphrates rivers near modern day Iraq and in the Nile Valley at Egypt. Their peoples practiced primitive forms of agriculture and animal husbandry.
At first they hunted prey. Then they learned to tether and pen animals and to look after grazing animals. Sheep and goats were among the first to be domesticated. They collected fruits and berries, raised crops, propagated grasses as cereals. They learned to plait fibres and used them to make gathering bags to collect their produce and for fastening the garments they made to protect themselves from the harshness of the elements. Finally from being nomadic they established permanent settlements. They developed houses from simple mud and beehive huts to the more sound foundations of post and lintel construction.
The Sumerians were the first linguistically identifiable urban literate society, and one of the first documented in human history. With the invention of writing during the third millennium before the Christ event at Sumer, information about higher crop yields could at last be recorded in a retrievable form. This in turn facilitated the efficient administration of other activities becoming an essential aspect of urban life. Their organisational system was a theocracy, a form of government in which the rulers and their policies identify with the leaders of the dominant religion. A theocracy can also be exercised directly by the clergy or, indirectly through a King, who is also the head priest. This system once established offered a measure of prosperity and for a long time there was peace.
Economic life flourished and improved agriculture permitted the support of an increasing population while urban life, in its turn, allowed for a greater specialisation in arts and crafts. However, as is the case in the histories of all early civilisations when one city or kingdom was seen to flourish and perceived to be successful, along would come one warlord, or another, to conquer or destroy it.
The shape of the Ziggurat at Uruk is believed to have inspired the design for the later smooth faced pyramids at Egypt. Uruk in Sumer was also the home of legendary hero Gilgamesh, who played an important role in the mythology of a variety of early Mesopotamian civilizations.
It is important to clarify the use of the word legend as some may be fearful a lack of truth is suggested. However, that is not the intention. Originally a legend was understood to be an illustrative story, one that conveyed a profound spiritual truth in an attempt to explain the inexplicable.
An icon of popular culture The Epic of Gilgamesh is a heroic tale rooted in the ancient wisdom-tradition of mankind by perhaps the oldest known human author who lived 2750-2500 BCE.
Originally written in cuneiform (which means ‘wedge-shaped’) script on clay tablets, modern generations know the story from the fragments recovered in 1853 from the remains of the extensive library of the Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal (668 to 627 BCE) at Nineveh, the last capital of the Assyrian Empire.
Take and read out from the lapis lazuli tablet
how Gilgamesh went through every hardship.
Supreme over other kings, lordly in appearance,
he is the hero, born of Uruk, the goring wild bull.
He walks out in front, the leader,
and walks at the rear, trusted by his companions.
Mighty net, protector of his people,
raging flood-wave who destroys even walls of stone!
Offspring of Lugalbanda, Gilgamesh is strong to perfection,
The Epic of Gilgamesh reflects a Sumerian worldview at the time, as well as that of the Babylonians and Assyrians, who later conquered the Sumerians and assimilated their culture. Like all such narratives it contains historical and mythical elements.
Modern archaeologists have found a great deal of relevance to both ancient sites and cultural practices in its prose. At its heart are the human themes of friendship and courage needed in abundance by each and every one of us so that we may gain the skills necessary to deal with the finality of death while learning about, and searching for, the meaning of life.
In the Nile valley the ancient Egyptians established a civilization envied and admired for 3000 years. They became very civilized, cultivating their fields, learned to store crops against times of famine and to gauge the rhythm of the river Nile, whose life giving waters were central to both the organization and political unification of their country.
The grape vine was one of the first plants domesticated, although its nature required certain conditions of geography and climate for it to flourish and produce fruit. ‘A little wine makes glad the heart’ and there is many that would agree with this observation, including Noah whom the first book of the Bible, Genesis tells us was a man of the soil, the first to plant a vineyard, drink the wine and become drunk. This was an experience that would have left him not only worse for wear but also ashamed, because in early cultures it was not considered hospitable by your peers to overindulge. The juice of the grape was to be enjoyed in an air of conviviality and communion and over the centuries it also became an instrument of religious experience, a practice that continues unabated to the present day.
Wine making developed, alongside a variety of food processing techniques, made possible when nomadic groups of peoples began permanent settlements. Staying in one place allowed time for experimentation and a variety of food processing techniques slowly evolved. These included producing bread, an array of meat and grain dishes, as well as beer. Crafts, important for food preparation, storage and service advanced hand in hand with Neolithic cuisine. Storage vessels made from local clays were crudely made at first however, as time went on production was gradually refined, their surface becoming a vehicle for individual self-expression.
The ancient Egyptians created a civilization that lasted for over 3,000 years. It has been calculated that during this period more than half a billion people existed on Egypt’s soil. Thebes was the ceremonial capital on the West Bank of the Nile. They developed a remarkable knowledge of astronomy, engineering, mathematics and medicine and had an organised taxation and legal system with a police force and courts.
Women had more legal rights than those in some countries today and wore fine clothing and used a wide range of cosmetics and beauty products. Four Queens ruled Egypt in their own right. Two are obscure and two are famous: Hatshepsut and Cleopatra..while the beautiful Nefertiti, wife of Akhenaten may have held sole power after her husband’s death. We owe our calendar of 365 days to the ancient Egyptians. They were the first to divide the day and night into 24 hours….they were truly amazing.
Making superb objects for Pharaoh became an ‘act of love’ for many craftsmen, particularly if Pharoah had gained their respect. The ancient Egyptian desired gold as a symbol of survival and eternity and their myths describe the gods as possessing ‘silver bones, golden flesh and lapis lazuli beards’. Jewellery permeated every facet of Egyptian civilisation and was revered at every level of society. It later became the perfect motive for tomb robbers to desecrate the sacred graves of their Pharaoh’s and one inscription found tells us
‘The noble mummy of the king was entirely laid over with gold….and…we found the queen likewise; we collected together all that we found on her also…and… divided it into eight shares.
A great deal of skill is needed to produce a great work of art. First of all there is vision and inspiration. Then the vision has to be combined with great technical ability to produce the work, as well as the spiritual uplift and inspiration, which is unseen but nevertheless, expressed in the figure that can be seen.
The tomb of Psusennes 1 Pharaoh of XXI Dynasty 989 – 943 B.C.E. could be perhaps one of the most underrated discoveries in the scheme of things at Egypt. His name means “The Star Appearing in the City” and his name has been linked with the legendary Jewish prophet and King David, who was renowned for his skills as a warrior and for writing the Psalms, poems put to music, which are published in The Bible.
The great strength of Egyptian culture was that religion and life were interchangeable as well as interdependent in their approach to, and understanding of, their existence. They did not seek to separate themselves from their faith, actions or beliefs in their daily occupation.
The stunning jewellery found in Psusennes’s tomb displayed skilled workmanship of the highest order. Psusennes identified himself with the sun god Ra, in order to attain divine immortality. In Egyptian symbolism Ra is represented with the head of a falcon, surmounted by a solar disc, surrounded with the Uraeus, or sacred flame-spitting cobra who offered protection to Pharaoh and is featured on the crown of Egypt rearing up over the forehead.
‘My heart is the heart of the sun the heart of the sun is my heart’.
Psusennes 1 highly refined gold death mask was to be his face in the after world. Many prefer its simple gold luminosity to the highly decorated mask of the boy king, the youthful Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
We could be entirely cynical and consider that perhaps Tutankhamun has assumed a far greater importance than he would have otherwise attained had his value and worth been measured by the words, deeds and actions of his brief life’s journey rather than by the fabulous and vast collection of worldly goods found in 1932 by Howard Carter (1874-1939) for Lord Carnarvon.
All these were provided to enrich his journey to, and in the after life and that concept of their culture is certainly in direct contrast to the modern conviction… you can’t take it with you.
Carolyn McDowall ©The Culture Concept 2010, 2011
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