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The Priest King from the Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BCE)

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Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BCE)

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Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BCE)

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Here’s your text with just grammar and spelling corrected:

The “Priest King” is from the Indus Valley Civilization, which was discovered by Sir John Marshall. The artifact is made out of steatite, which is also referred to as soapstone. This material is easy to create with.

When taking a closer examination of the artifact, there is a headpiece on the figure that looks to be a piece of jewelry, possibly with a stone or gem in the center. There also appears to be an armband. Jewelry is often a sign of status and wealth. In addition to the jewelry, the clothing sculpted has an intricate design. The intricate design, which appears to be clovers, takes more time, energy, and resources to make, meaning it tends to be more expensive. This leads me to believe the figure is someone of higher social status.

The style in which this figure was carved looks like it’s more stylized rather than organic. Formal/stylized designs have reduced shapes, like with the ear, which is more rounded, and with the shoulder shape. Also, with formal style, they tend to be less realistic and non-proportional. For example, you can see it with the facial structure, where the forehead is on the smaller side and the lips and nose are exaggerated. To add to this, when looking at the hair texture on the beard and head, the lines are straight and precise, which is not very realistic.

When trying to analyze the uses and significance, we can use cross-cultural analysis. This way, we can look at the purpose of similar figures from ancient Mesopotamia to help. Learning about the figures from Mesopotamia makes me think that the Priest King was possibly used for something religious. With the ones from Mesopotamia, they were used as substitutes for themselves to worship their gods. This means that there could be the same usage.

Let me know if this works!

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Lion Capital  Sandstone  Maurya empire  250 BCE

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The Ashokan Pillar that I will be talking about is the Lion Capital. When learning about the Ashokan pillars, the one I found most fascinating was the Lion Capital. I thought it was an interesting strategy that was used—they made the crowning animal a foreign animal in order to draw people and intrigue them. The crowning animal goes on the top of the pillar. Instead of having Buddha on top of the pillar, they have an animal because it can be considered insulting since Buddha has reached enlightenment and is not going to be reincarnated again.

Also, the lion can represent Buddha’s previous life before his path to enlightenment as Siddhartha. Siddhartha’s father was the leader of the Shakya Clan, also known as the Lion Clan. This was a way of bringing the people closer to the Buddhist faith. Also, it’s a way to bring in other people, like merchants or travelers, to look at the artwork, which early Buddhist art called Aniconic.

When looking at the lions, my opinion is that they are stylized. The reason I believe it is stylized is because of the whiskers, the fur, mouth, and proportions. The carving detail of the hair looks more like a pattern than real hair. It is too perfect. There also is not much detail on the eyes or mouth. I could see someone saying the paws are realistic because they are very detailed.

The Abacus is the part with the wheel and animals. The wheel represents Dharma, setting the wheel in motion. The bottom part of the pillar is an inverted bell or an inverted lotus flower.

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Prince Siddhartha as Bodhisattva Gandhara

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 Kushan into Gupta (1st to the 5th century CE)

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 Kushan into Gupta (1st to the 5th century CE)

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The Kushan Gandharan sculpture that I have chosen is Prince Siddhartha as Bodhisattva. A Bodhisattva is a Buddhist who is on the path to enlightenment. The reason I chose this piece is because it was a piece that stood out from the other sculptures. It stood out because of the jewelry, the pose, the Lakshanas (signs of the superhuman perfection), and the clothing. In the photo, you can see the large earrings he has, which correspond to the Buddha sculptures when their ears are stretched. There is a lot of detail on the hair and hairpieces. His hair/head has the halo. He is more of a realistic or organic style. The folds on the sculpture flow realistically. The sculpture’s hands are webbed, which is one of the Lakshanas. Another Lakshana that is incorporated into this sculpture is the third eye, which symbolizes awakening.

When taking a closer look, he has bangles, necklaces, and jewelry on his chest and hair; this shows his royalty. Not many people would be able to have access to or money for the jewelry, showing his status was high just by the clues in the image (we do know he was a prince already). Other people who were wealthier around this time were merchants.

Along the Silk Road, many merchants would travel. They would see this fancy sculpture and want to look at it; it would draw them in. Merchants would want to donate money to the temple for karma; they would like to get good karma for their next life.

I know that this sculpture is Gandhara because it has a similar look to the Greco-Roman style, which includes the Contrapposto pose. The Gandhara workshop was known more for standing sculptures, details of the garment, and fit sculptures.

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Bamiyan Buddha before and after being destroyed

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Week 7 prompt: Bamiyan Buddhas (2001 when they were destroyed but built in 6 century CE)

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Week 7 prompt: Bamiyan Buddhas (2001 when they were destroyed but built in 6 century CE)

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My reaction to the video we watched was sad and disappointing. When watching one of the older ladies who was talking about how her husband was shot right outside her door, I felt awful for her. I can’t imagine how she must have felt and how hard it must have been to leave his body. Also, when she said her son was also killed, I was upset by that. I just pictured how my mom would have felt if one of my siblings passed away. I just don’t understand how people can kill others. Another time I felt emotional was when one of the men was telling his story about how he did not want to destroy the Buddha sculpture but was forced.

I do believe there is a lot of learning we can do from these violent acts. One lesson is to be more understanding of other religions and communication. I believe if there was more peaceful communication and listening, there would be less violence.

The missing Buddha impacts the villagers because there are fewer tourists to buy from them. Their shops are not doing so well, as we saw in the video. I know that not all of the villagers are Buddhist, but there are some, which impacts their religious history as well as other Buddhists around the world. For me personally, as a Christian, I would be devastated if some of the Christian history was destroyed. It is an important part of history, not only religion but also art, like the oil paintings. Overall, this video was very informative and interesting to watch.

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First Emperor of China (3rd century BCE) and Emperor Nintoku of Japan (c. 4th century CE)

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First Emperor of China (3rd century BCE) and Emperor Nintoku of Japan (c. 4th century CE)

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The way that’s I compared and contrast the First Emperor of China’s tomb and Emperor Nintoku’s tomb was doing two things: going between the images of both and looking at my notes. The biggest help was looking at the differences between the figurines and seeing how the styles were different. Also, looking at the photos of the sites.

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Tomb of the Marqui Yi of Zeng, a tuned orchestra of the afterlife

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Eastern Zhou China and Yayoi Japan (433 BCE)

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Eastern Zhou China and Yayoi Japan (433 BCE)

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I chose the bells that were found in the Tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng out of the objects because I found them to be the most fascinating. If nobody had discovered the Tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng, then these bells would not have been discovered along with the small state of Zeng. Two of the main things that drew me to write about the bells are the mystery behind them and how perfect they seem to be. Not only do the bells have beautiful sounds, but they also have beautiful designs.

For a bit of context, these bells were found in the Tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng along with many other interesting objects such as the Pan & Zun, the lacquered coffin, and the Altered Crane. Before this tomb was discovered, nobody knew about the Zeng state. Also, one of the bells was gifted from the King of Chu.

In total, there are 65 bells. There were larger bells and smaller bells, which were played in two different ways; the smaller bells were played with mallets made out of lacquer wood, and the larger bells were struck with poles. The way the bells were played was: the players on the smaller bells were in the back (three of them) with their mallets, and the players on the larger bells were in the front (two of them) with poles. These bells were used to tune the orchestra for lavish parties that were a big deal during this time period, which was the Eastern Zhou period. The bronze bells are able to play 12 notes of the chromatic scale, which are the same notes the piano plays. This means anything you can play on the piano, you can play on these bells.

Here is where the mystery is: how are these bells perfectly tuned without being carved or shaved? It is very interesting how they were able to create perfectly tuned bells without carving away the inside. Not only were they perfectly tuned, but they were also able to play two notes that were in perfect tune. I find it incredible because in class we saw a few bells from other places that were very simple and looked like cowbells. People have tried to replicate these bells using the techniques that were used, but nobody has succeeded. These bells were created using four techniques: section mold, lost wax, joinery, and the patterned block technique. My own idea of how the bells were created perfectly is by making one bell first and hollowing it out until it is perfectly tuned, then creating a clay mold of that bell in order to have a perfect final product.

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 Neolithic vessels (5th millennium BCE) and (Middle Jōmon2500-1500 BCE)

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 Neolithic vessels (5th millennium BCE) and (Middle Jōmon2500-1500 BCE)

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The top two images are from the Bapo village and show a bowl with a lid that is painted pottery. During this time, when the bowl and lid were created, the infant mortality rate was high. The purpose of these is for the infant’s remains. The main focus of this piece is the lid with the painting on it. The painting on the lid is facing the inside. When looking at the lid, you can see an abstract face with fish motifs on each side of the face. The abstract face seems to resemble a Shaman mask. The Shaman mask is known for healing between the living and spirit realm. With the fish motifs, I can infer that it is for food in the afterlife. People often depicted art of food rather than placing actual food inside a tomb or burial place because food rots, but painting it ensures it will always be there. These bowls were found outside of people’s homes.

The bottom image is a vessel from the Middle Jomon period. During the Middle Jomon period, the death rate was higher. This sculptural vessel was made using the additive technique by using coils and slip to attach other pieces together. This technique makes the vessel look more like a decoration rather than being functional. The vessel does not appear to have any practical daily use because it would be difficult to store anything due to the holes. The function of this vessel is not completely known, but the idea is that it was used for rituals that may involve something related to the deceased because of the high death rate.

There are quite a few similarities between the two objects, like how during the time they were created, the death rate was higher. Both of these objects did not have daily uses. One of the biggest differences is the visual style of the objects—one used the additive technique, while the other did not.

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My story starts at the bottom of the panel. It shows people with numbers and letters, representing my dyslexia because I always get my p’s, d’s, q’s, b’s, 6’s, and 9’s mixed up. It also has creepy crawlies, which were one of my biggest fears as a child. As we go up, you see a scene with people around a table. This shows the importance of family to me, as well as my love of food. If I were more artistically inclined, I would have drawn them with happy facial expressions because I don’t want people to be sad when I pass but to celebrate that I am at peace.

Moving on to the second panel, you see a wishing well. This represents a childlike hope and being in touch with one’s inner child. The “W” is an important symbol of my childhood—it was from a game we would play, a time when everything seemed better. One person is throwing a coin in, and another is swinging on a swing. Nature is very important to me because it makes me feel at peace.

Finally, we get to the top panel, which is me at my final destination. There are many little symbols throughout this panel. It may look as if I am sleeping, but it is me being released from my body. This top panel shows symbols of me being at peace and highlights my favorite things.

To ensure I am not lost along the way, there are jellyfish as well as bubbles. Since bubbles go up, I will know which way to follow.