Rebecca+W.


 * UNIT 3**


 * Primary Source Document:** //The Description of Africa,// by Leo Africanus (1526)

< http://www.historywiz.com/descriptionofafrica.htm>

El Hasan ben Muhammed el-Wazzan-ez-Zayyati (Leo Africanus) was born a Muslim Spaniard but was expelled with the purging of Islam from Spain in 1492 and subsequently traveled widely throughout North Africa, but was eventually captured by Christian pirates and commissioned by Pope Leo X to write a survey of Africa. This excerpt is on the Ghanaian city of Timbuktu. He describes the houses as "endangered by fire" and the temple and palace at the center of the city as "built by an architect named Granata," which seems strange because a common misperception of African society is that the people lived in huts and tribes and did not embrace much culture or western learning. The city is clearly under the influence of Islam, as the women "maintain the custom of veiling their faces," and flourishing economically, perhaps due to extensive trade with European nations. Leo describes the inhabitants as "very rich," with abundant grain and animals and a "rich treasure of coins and gold ingots," which could only have resulted from trade with the Europeans. Salt in Africa is often considered more valuable than gold, evidenced by Leo's statement that "salt is in very short supply." As John Green says, humans would die without salt, while without shiny objects they would only face the cold indifference of the universe. Overall, Leo's description of Timbuktu is one of admiration, almost equalling it to the European cities to the Northeast, and showing none of the prejudice so common in most white man's accounts of this great continent. The King apparently "greatly honors learning," as "many hand-written books imported by Barbary are also sold." Leo also describes the people of Timbuktu as "of a peaceful nature." Clearly these are not the ignorant "savages" so often portrayed.

This is a really interesting find! As you mentioned, this is a very different description of Africa than given by the Europeans. I wonder what makes Europeans look down on the African culture so much. Do they have a strong us vs. them mentality? Do they believe that any belief, culture, or practice not their own is inferior? Or is the reason the description of Africanus is much higher is because as a Muslim, Africanous was able to better identify with the Islamic practices of Africa easier than the Christian Europeans could. Either way, very fascinating! -ER

Pyrrho is interesting besides his potential as a pyromaniac because he invented the school of skepticism in Greek society. He traveled with Alexander the Great to India, and maintained that all things were uncertain, since everyone perceives the world around them differently, preferring to preface each observation with "it seems" or "perhaps." He also strove be entirely inactive, since action involves preference, which would be attributing good or evil to something (holding an opinion), and this is undesirable. During the Renaissance, Pyrrhonian Skepticism evolved, which involves suspension of judgement on all questions involving knowledge.
 * Pyrrho of Elis, 360-270 BCE**


 * Sophocles, 496- ? BCE**

Sophocles wrote a number of plays, including Antigone and Oedipus the King. He should be included in the School of Athens because the painting seems to ignore poets and playwrights and Sophocles was one of the best of Greece. Agreed, good suggestion. -SW


 * UNIT 2**


 * Primary Source Document:** Procopius' //Secret History//

[|Procopius, Secret History]

Procopius' //Secret History// is a scathing document expounding on all of the shortcomings of the emperor Justinian and attributing nearly all of the misfortunes of Rome to him. He opens the narrative by describing Justinian as "at once villainous and amenable; as people say colloquially, a moron," a line which is also quoted in the textbook, and goes on to call him "easily hoodwinked." Not only that, but he was "deceitful, devious, false, hypocritical, two-faced, cruel…" Are there any more nasty adjectives available to describe him? I do wonder, if since this was a "Secret History," this document was published, perhaps anonymously, since surely Justinian would not have tolerated such dissent. Procopius was a member of the royal court, so his opinion should have some weight, but his opinion is clearly biased. Throughout the entire piece, not one good word is put in for the emperor. He writes, "without hesitation he wrote decrees for the plundering of countries, sacking of cities, and slavery of whole nations, for no cause whatever." This is clearly a flawed statement. Rulers or leaders must always have a cause, or something to tell their subjects, no matter how misguided it may be. Procopius also goes on to attribute the attacks of the Huns as being encouraged by the emperor, who paid them "to keep on doing it." Apparently, Justinian had "only one thought in his mind, that the earth should run red with human blood and he might acquire more and more booty." Despite this clearly narrow-minded and biased opinion it is representative of the feelings of Justinian's subjects towards his harsh and bloody policies. He was no doubt cruel and unyielding, but he was also heavily influenced by his wife, Theodora, of which no mention is made in this piece. No doubt Procopius addresses her in later chapters, but it seems a little harsh to blame everything that went wrong with the Roman empire on a man who was clearly not cut out to be emperor. Scandalous! -SW


 * UNIT 1**


 * Primary Source Document:** Hymn to the Nile, c. 2100 B.C.E.



Whether or not this "hymn" was actually sung, it is aptly named, for that is what it is -a long document singing the praises of the Nile. It is clearly religious in nature, as the writer (or writers) makes many references to Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, and refers to the river throughout as "He" with a capital "H." He or she uses words such as "hail," "lord," "heaven," "rejoice," -all of which are vaguely echoed by praises to the lord in Christianity. One major theme throughout the piece is the river as the source of all life, and, conversely, despair. The Nile is described as the "creator of all good things, as master of energy." Sacrifices and offerings are attributed to him, as well as the valiance of mankind. He or she writes, "if He shines, the earth is joyous, every stomach is full of rejoicing, every spine is happy, every jaw-bone crushes (its food)." The violent attributes to this sentence are interesting. Instead of using euphemisms to describe the effects of the river on humans' wellbeing, the writer describes specific anatomical traits. The Egyptians were ahead of their time in research of anatomy -due mainly to their practice of mummifying the dead. If the river be displeased, however, "He torments the flocks of Egypt, the great and small are in agony." This is if "He" withholds his blessings, or the flow of water. Another thread throughout the piece is the continual references to the beauty of nature. The Egyptians, in contrast to the Mesopotamians, viewed themselves as living in harmony with nature. Sobek was the Egyptian god of the Nile. He is mentioned once, in passing: "the children of Sobek [ . . . ] are prosperous." Towards the end of the long string of praises the writer begins asserting the respects Egyptians have continually paid the river, almost as if he is entreating the Nile (or Sobek) to give back, assuring him that they are worthy. He writes "O inundation of the Nile, offerings are made unto you, men are immolated to you, great festivals are instituted for you." He even makes a subtle jibe at the other Egyptians: "its name [the Nile] is not known beyond the Tuau." Clearly these ignorants are not worthy of the god's attention. The tone throughout the piece is reverent, enthusiastic, entreating. Whoever wrote it was perhaps entreating the Nile to "answer their prayers" and receive the "inundation."

This "hymn" is interesting because of the way it resembles the hymns in Christianity. It brings up the question of whether the Christianity hymns were modeled after the Nile "hymns", or if this is another example of individual invention. - Erin RasmussenC Comments: This piece provides an interesting and valuable insight on the Egyptian culture. It describes the feelings of the Egyptians toward their river, but it scrapes deeper into the wording to depict Egyptian traits like the strength of anatomy in Egyptian society as well. Overall, I think Rebecca did a wonderful job.

Picasso, 1941: "We have invented nothing!"
 * Lascaux Caves**

The Lascaux Caves (in French, Grotte de Lascaux), located in southwestern France, contain some of the oldest and finest prehistoric paintings in the world (about 1,500 total engravings). They are dated at around 15,000 B.C.E., or 17,000 years ago, but are commonly considered to have been completed over a few centuries, at least. Because of the high quality and effort required to create the paintings, many consider it to have been a "sacred place," perhaps used for rituals. In some spots, scaffolding was clearly used to reach the very tops of the walls.

The grotto was discovered in 1940 by 4 boys who were looking for a dog, and at this time it was in perfect condition. When it opened in 1948, however, the condition of the caves deteriorated rapidly as lighting faded the colors and algae and bacteria formed on the walls. Finally, in 1963, the caves were closed to the public for restoration purposes. It has never reopened since, but in 1983, Monique Reytral, a local artist, aided in a replica of the cave, known as Lascaux II, which was accomplished by projecting pictures of the paintings on the cave walls and copying them exactly. Today, Lascaux II is open to the public.

The depictions are mainly of animals such as Asian-looking horses, deer, and aurochs, a type of bull that went extinct in the Middle Ages. There are also cats and bison. Some of the major attractions include 4, 16-foot-long aurochs, located in the famous "Hall of Bulls," a strange scene depicting a dead man, a bull, and a bird, and an unidentifiable two-horned creature known to many as "the unicorn." Throughout the cave are dots that have been compared to constellations and the lunar cycle. Artistically, the caves are significant because of the use of perspective seen in depictions of the bulls -their legs and horns are crossed in a way that show these artists were ahead of their time.

//The Hall of Bulls//

close up of The Hall of Bulls

//The Shaft of the Dead Man//

//The Mythical "Unicorn"//

//Deer and "dots" - lunar cycle?//

//Lascaux Culture//