Ryan Waymire Lori Michelon History of Western Art I 28 March 2012 Two Great civilizations: Egyptian and Etruscan The incredibly intricate, sophisticated and complex art work created by the Etruscans and Egyptians remains culturally, linguistically, ethnically and historically significant to this very day. Even though these civilizations existed thousands of years ago they're art still remains incredibly valued in today’s society. Etruscan and ancient Egyptian art are so alike yet so different. Both the Etruscan and the Egyptian culture are very religious, and both believed in polytheism. The Etruscan believed that every physical phenomenon was a clear act of divine power and this power could be dissuaded or persuaded to favor human acts.
The two share a polytheistic belief system. Both the Sumerians and Egyptians were polytheistic, they believed in many gods rather than one. This is because during their time they had no other way of explaining unnatural events so they assumed that the gods controlled everything, a plausible explanation during the time. The Sumerian gods were super humans that they worshipped in Ziggurats. They had gods like An, the god of heaven, and Utu, the god of the sun.
They believed that nothing existed but darkness until their first god, they were polytheists, emerged from water. Con Tiqui Viracocha egressed from the Collasuyu (modern Titicaca). Con did not come alone. This god came out of the sea accompanied by some humans. When he arose he created the Sun (Inti), the moon, and the stars to light the world.
In most cultures animals have been linked with the supernatural forces which were believed to control the natural world and the destiny of humans. They were often revered as the agents. or associates, of gods, and goddesses, and were even the focus of worship as deities. Following the tracks of historical animal art, through the human imagination introduces a trail of creativity and unsurpassed beauty. Paleolithic art: Cave paintings are the earliest known example of human art dating 40,000 to 8,000 BCE.
The rivers would easily flood at unplanned times that would result in devastations and floods that made it harder for the civilization to develop. Mesopotamia also didn’t have any natural barriers to prevent from attack and invasion of foreigners, and was constantly being taken over and occupied by different people groups. Due to Mesopotamian civilization being the first, Egypt was influenced by the Mesopotamian culture and revised many of the ideas and developments created there. Due to the time that these civilizations surface, both of the civilizations were Polytheistic; meaning that they believed in several gods. In the earlier times all of the religions were focused around the strength and power of the gods, which they inferred to be a part of nature.
A sacred holy entity unknown to mankind as powerful and fearful; these are just a few of the many adjectives we would use to label the divine creatures described in many of the creation myths. Cultures varying from different sides of the spectrum have some similarities in many of the creation and succession myths, while yet, being distinct in their own way. One main example we see is the cross-cultural pattern of characters in multiple creation myths is the portrayal of the God Ea, who is without doubt a very influential god in all myths. We also note a similarity in succession myths; in all the myths we note a reoccurring portrayal of an epic battle fought between a storm god and a serpent or water god. An important way in which Ea establishes
The previous king, Akhenaten, worshiped the Atenist religion but when Tutankhamun took the throne he returned to the old religion of Amunism. Evidence of Tutankhamun’s belief in Amunism was found through a number of scarab beetles found in the tomb and near the body. The scarab beetle represented the sun god Re and his travel across the sky during the day, his ‘death’ in the evening and then his rebirth as the sun the next day. The scarab beetle is represented because of the way it dragged it’s ball of dung out of the hot sand, reminded the Egyptians of the sun’s ‘rebirth’ period. Throughout Tutankhamun’s tomb we find many artefacts that suggest that Tutankhamun greatly believed in Osiris, the King of the Underworld.
Since the discovery, studies of his tomb and remains have revealed much information about his life and times. Using the remains of Tutankhamun and his tomb, archaeologists identified the customs, beliefs and lifestyle of the ancient Egyptians. The tomb provides evidence that Egyptians believed in the afterlife - a life after death. The Egyptians also believed their pharaohs were divine therefore, they believed if they did not serve the Pharaohs well, the Nile would not rise and they would not have a good farming season. The tomb generally is significant and useful as it was one of the only tombs to ever be discovered fully intact.
Both religions are often thought to be henotheistic, meaning they recognize a single deity, and view other Gods and Goddesses as manifestations or aspects of that supreme God. In the Ancient Egyptian religion, this is untrue due to the fact that the pharaoh, who is believed to have been descended from the gods, can choose when to shift the focus of the supreme deity. Because the concerns of the population in both areas were different, gods held contradictory roles due to landscape, social, and climatic variation. Worship in both religions also has similarities, with a temple dedicated to a particular deity, and shrines within that temple dedicated to other gods correlated with the main deity. Both religions believed in the afterlife.
The Aztecs lived in the valley of Mexico. They too had a polytheistic religion. Some of their gods were nature deities and other were patron deities. They had a supreme god, but he wasn’t as important compared to others. They also needed human sacrifice.