Culture

Culture

When we speak of culture we are speaking of a product of human invention, a compromise of all living persons and their ancestors. The process of human evolution is long and confusing and many aspects of it remain uncertain, one thing for certain is those who went in search for food and shelter survived along with human inventions such as literature, art, architecture and religion. There are three roots to civilization Mesopotamia, Egypt and Aegean whom all paved the way to the beginning of civilization.

Around 5000.B.C. humans began to lay the bases for the growth of civilization. Our ancestors went in search of food and shelter, thus the development of hunting began. The process of organization, compromising and inventing began to come into existence. Advances made it possible for the growth of civilization and were first achieve by our ancestors. To discover the origins of civilization, we must look at cultures that seem remote in both time and place.

First we will look at the history of Mesopotamia by far the most important event of this stage of Sumerian culture was the invention of cuneiform the first known system of writing in the world. It consisted of a series of simplified picture signs (pictorographs) that represented objects they described. Thus a leg could mean either a leg it self or the concept of walking. The signs were drawn on soft clay tablets, which were baked hard. These pictorial signs evolved into a series of wedged-shaped marks that were pressed in clay with a split reed. Cuneiform was quick and economical. The ability to write made it possible to trade and keep records on a wider scale. Ð'„Ð'ІCuneiform

Sumerians also built great monumental structures called ziggurats (2100.B.C.-2100.B.C.). Ziggurats were not built for shelter, but for religious purposes it is where the gods descended and showed them selves. The one built at the city of Ur around 2100.B.C. had a huge staircase that led to the shrine at the top they clearly had a religious significance.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the legendary and great masterpieces of poetic expression from the Sumerians. The story begins with the adventures of Gilgamesh a king and his warrior friend Inkidu. It is a legendary story of a king who grapples with immortality and the meaning of existence. Unlike the ancient Egyptians the Mesopotamians saw life as a continual struggle whose alternative was the bleak darkness of death.

One major determination in the development of ancient Egyptian culture was geography. In total area, ancient Egypt was only a little larger than the state of Maryland. The most striking aspect of Egyptian religions thought, however is its obsession with immortality and the possibilities of life after death. All Egyptians were offered hope of survival in the next world as a reward for a good life. This began the tradition of building massive funerary monuments that would serve as a guarantee for immortality. At the same time this began to develop the mummification process. The body was embalmed and kept for ninety days to maintain physical form. Egyptian religious belief held that preservation of the body was necessary for the survival of the soul.

At this time the great age of the pyramids came in dynasty IV with three colossal pyramids at Giza for pharos Cheops, Chfren and Mycerinus. The structures show Egyptian skill in design and engineering on a massive scale. They probably were built by slaver labor. At the center of each chamber held the mummified body of the pharos surrounded by treasures that were to follow them into the next life.

Pictures on the walls

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