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Bull Seal, Steatite, Indus Valley Civilization,  2600 - 1900 BC

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Bull Seal, Steatite, Indus Valley Civilization,  2600 - 1900 BC

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The Bull Seal, which was found to be from the Indus Valley civilization, dating back to 2600 – 1900 BC, is somewhat ambiguous piece of art. The image depicts a bull standing in profile, with its entire body visible. Around the neck of the bull appears to be an extravagant neck scarf or stylized saggy skin hanging down. The bull has two large horns emerging from its head with a slight curve but mostly straight. The bull is standing on four skinny legs with large hooves that appear to be bigger than would be natural. Above the bull at the top of the tile, there are five distinct characters. One appears to be a wheel with six spokes, after that there is a rectangular washboard looking piece with a handle on the top. The next two characters are horseshoe looking figures, one with forked ends and the other with long skinny object inside of it. The last character is a rectangle with spikes protruding inwards from the top and bottom. This seal is made of steatite, or soapstone, and appears brown in color. It is thought that the characters at the top could be the name of the person who once owned this seal. The bull could represent something sacred to the owner, maybe a religious symbol, or it could just be a way to make the seal unique to the owner. It is thought that these seals may have been used as way to mark a person’s product that they would eventually sell. This may have been done by taking the seal and making an impression of it on a  piece of wax, then attaching the wax to their product.

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The Marquis Yi of Zeng was a Royal in he state of Zeng. The Marquis Yi of Zeng’s inner coffin was made of wood coated in many coats of lacquer. Lacquer was an extremely valuable substance in this time period and its use was reserved for only the most special of people and occasions. The tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng is an important discovery because up until its discovery in the 1970s, the state of Zeng was completely unknown. The tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng is comprised of 4 large chambers each with passageways for the souls to travel within the tomb. The inner coffin is highly decorated with many motifs and symbols. The coffin is decorated with window motifs that they believe allow the soul to look out and escape the coffin in the afterlife. The coffin was painted in yellow, red and black lacquer. The coffin of the Marquis Yi of Zeng is also decorated with many intricate line patterns which are most likely meant for just decoration. The decoration the Marquis Yi of Zeng’s coffin provides us insight into the beliefs of the people of Zeng and what they thought was important in the afterlife. The Marquis Yi of Zeng’s tomb in general  was constructed of 4 large, separate chambers each having a different use and function. Many things found in the tomb are very significant and greatly aid our understanding of the Zeng culture. Today the tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng is enclosed in a building and available to visit. 

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Marquis Yi of Zeng Coffin, Lacquered Wood, Eastern Zhou, China, 771 - 221 BC

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Marquis Yi of Zeng Coffin, Lacquered Wood, Eastern Zhou, China, 771 - 221 BC

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Ashokas Pillars, Sandstone, Early Buddhism, India 300 BC

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Ashokas Pillars, Sandstone, Early Buddhism, India 300 BC

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King Ashoka constructed many pillars around India to teach the people about Buddhism and express his remorse for the killing of the Kalingas. The pillars consisted of a tall base with inscriptions written at the base. The top of the pillars had statues of various things. Some had one or multiple lions. The top of the pillar was used to draw people in who may not be familiar with Buddhism but recognize the importance of lions from their own culture. When they met the pillar, they would see with a long inscription written on the base. The inscription would describe how the King Ashoka came to practice Buddhism. It explained how after conquering the Kalingas, Ashoka felt great remorse and turned to Buddhism to heal his sorrows and forgive his enemies. The pillars are made of polished sandstone, a common and abundant resource of that time. The pillars are meant to be a symbol of Buddhism, often engraved with wheels and other traditional Buddhist symbols meant to familiarize people who Buddhism was previously unknown to. Ashoka’s pillars remind me of classic Christian churches with large steeples, often with a cross atop them. The steeple seems to resemble a similar message of drawing people in to the church and the art outside and inside the church uses images to get people familiar with the message of Christianity.

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Story in relief at The Great Stupa at Sanchi

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Great Stupa at Sanchi, Sandstone, Early Buddhism, India, 300 BC 

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Great Stupa at Sanchi, Sandstone, Early Buddhism, India, 300 BC 

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The Great Stupa at Sanchi is a reliquary built in India as a place to worship in Buddhism. A piece of the Buddha is buried underground at the center of the stupa. The stupa is a solid dome structure with 2 levels for followers to circumambulate. The entrance to the lower walkway has gates with arches above them. The arches are inscribed with various stories of the buddha, his origin story and his death. One particular arch has art telling the story of the Buddhas life. On the left side of the arch the you can see Buddha leaving the castle where the Buddha was raised until he was a young man when he left the castle and began his journey of becoming the Buddha. Throughout this piece of didactic art. The Buddha is represented as a parasol atop of a horse. In early Buddhist art the Buddha was not represented in human form due to the idea that it was disrespectful as he had reached Parinirvana and had broken the cycle of samsara. Each time the horse with the parasol is depicted in the story, it is being carried by four figures. These four figures are assumed to be the devas. When people coming from a Vedic background arrived at the Stupa they would see the devas and it would make them feel welcomed and not seem as foreign. At the right side of the arch there is a large pair of feet shown from above, this represents the death of the Buddha.

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Guideway, Silk, Han Dynasty, China, 202 BC

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Guideway, Silk, Han Dynasty, China, 202 BC

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My Guideway is mean to guide my soul along the dangerous journey to the afterlife, by including things that are calming to me in my current life my thought is that being surrounded by images of these in the afterlife will make the journey easier and more enjoyable. The theme of my guideway is nature. Reading from the bottom up, the fish are meant to be the podium on which the rest of the guideway sits. Fish are a big part of my life, from my education to my diet to my recreation. Sitting a top of the fish, is a deer standing under a large tree. The deer and tree are meant to represent a situation where the tree is protecting the deer from different elements of the environment, maybe it’s a heavy rain or just a hot summer day and the deer is in need of some shade. The symbolism here is meant to be a metaphor for my journey to the after life. Just as the tree protects the deer, the guideway will protect and guide me. Above the tree is a body of water with multiple boats on it. This is meant to represent my ultimate destination, a place where I am able to be on the water everyday and have nothing wanting to hurt or bother me. finally the cross a top the guideway is supposed to represent Christian cross and is there as kind of a representation of reaching the part of the afterlife where I am safe from harm.

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Bamiyan Buddhas, Sandstone, Kushan, Afghanistan, 5th Century AD

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Bamiyan Buddhas, Sandstone, Kushan, Afghanistan, 5th Century AD

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The Bamiyan Buddhas were magnificent statues of the historical Buddha located in the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan and built in the 5th century AD. 2 statues of the Buddha were carved out of  the sandstone cliffs measuring 53 and 35 meters tall. The Buddhas stand towering over the city beneath them, and I can only imagine how incredible it was to stand at their feet and gaze up. The Taliban Blew up these statues in March of 2001 as an act of iconoclasm. To them, depicting religious beings is considered unholy. As an outsider looking in at the destruction of these Buddhas it was hard to watch such large pieces of art be destroyed. I am sure if you were able to see the buddhas before their destruction or are a practicing Buddhist, the destruction of these monuments was much more difficult to watch. Where the Bamiyan Buddhas once stood there are now empty outcroppings in the cliffs, there to remind us of the their destruction and how thoughtless and destructive some people can be. Buddhist or not, I think it is easy to see the beauty these statues once portrayed. There is much debate nowadays about what to do with the spaces where the Buddhas once stood. Some people suggest rebuilding the Buddhas with the rubble that is left while others prefer to leave the spots empty to remind people of their destruction. I think the crevices should be left empty to remind people of how cruel others can be. I think it is important to educate people about what they were and why they were destroyed.

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Neolithic Vessels, Clay, Neolithic China, 5000 - 1500 BC

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Neolithic Vessels, Clay, Neolithic China, 5000 - 1500 BC

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The two vessels picture above originat from the Neolithic era of China. The bowl was discovered at Banpo, a painted pottery village that existed around 5000 BC. The larger vase looking pot is from the middle Jamon period around 2500 – 1500 BC. The pots obviously look quite different and have different uses. The Banpo bowl is thought to have been used as a lid for an urn. The urns these bowls were found on  contained the remains of infants or young children. It is thought that Banpo experienced some event, maybe a plague that was especially detrimentally to children and they had to bury children rather quickly. This particular pot seems to have some sort of face painted on it. This face may represent a shaman meant to protect and heal the soul in the after like. The Jamon vase on the other hand is made using the the coil technique where pieces of clay are rolled into this cylinders and added onto the pot to create designs. Given the intricate nature and complex design of the vessel, it was probably a ritualistic vessel that was only used for special functions and owned by only the most elite members of society. Thes two pieces represent vary different uses and society. The Banpo bowl has a funerary purpose and is meant to guide and help souls in the afterlife, it also includes paintings. The Jamon vessel, likely has a ritualistic use and meant for the highest ranking members of society.

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Emperor Tombs, Clay and Terra Cotta, Japan, 200 - 700 AD

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Emperor Tombs, Clay and Terra Cotta, Japan, 200 - 700 AD