I need a reflection paper about 900 words for humanities. I have also attached instructuons and summary of chapters if you might need it. The book that is being taught in the class is the creative impulse 8th ed.

First read the Introduction in the textbook for general information about the content.

Then, read Chapter 1. After reading Chapter 1, The Ancient World, you should be able to achieve the following learning outcomes.

A. Know how early humans made transitions through prehistoric "stone ages" to civilizations.

B. Be able to discuss the factors that make civilization. C. Know aspects of human existence that led (and lead) to

artistic expression. D. Cite and describe early examples of art work, such as cave

art and representational Venus figures. E. Know the cultural innovations and contributions of the

Sumerian culture as a prototype of the Mesopotamian civilization.

F. Be familiar with the Law Code of Hammurabi. G. Know how and why Egypt developed a culture distinct from

Mesopotamian contemporaries. H. Be able to discuss why and how the pyramids were

constructed. I. Know the role the arts played in Egyptian life. J. Be able to discuss the Egyptians' experiment with

monotheism during the 14th century B.C. (B.C.E.)

In this chapter you will be reading about the ancient civilizations as far back as prehistoric times. Look at the beautiful artwork done deep inside those caves. Notice the naturalism of the animals and the shapes really seem to fit the contours of the walls. Copy and paste this web link into your Search box and look at one of the famous figures from prehistoric times, the Woman or Venus from Willendorf: http://witcombe.sbc.edu/willendorf/willendorfdiscovery.html

The development of the Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultures is discussed and you will see a wide variety of art and artifacts in the text. Pay particular attention to the architecture because we will be working more with that in the second half of this course.

What else should you know? Let’s talk a little about what scholars believe is the type of belief system that many of the prehistoric cultures had. Mainly, we think these cultures held the belief that natural objects and phenomena possess souls or spirits. So, rocks, trees, wind, eclipses, etc., all were supernatural spirits. Many worship systems developed out of the desire of human beings to explain and organize their world. It became reasonable to them to think of things like the following: we have not had rain in many days; therefore, the rain spirit or god must be mad at us. We must have offended him or her. Yes, they often thought of “her.” Many cultures have a mother type

goddess. Today, we often speak of Mother Earth. That image of the Woman or Venus from Willendorf is a type of fertility figure. I hate to use the term “idol” because today we think of that word as having a negative religious connotation or of someone who sings really well on that TV show!

There are many caves around the world that have art like those of Lascaux in your text. Those images were often blown on in what may have been the first air brush. The pigments were placed in a pipe or straw like reed and then blown onto the wall. Chemical analysis has found saliva in the pigments on the wall. That also has been helpful with DNA analysis. The deepest parts of those caves seem to have been special places where the shaman may have gone for specific rites. In many of the caves in France and Spain, there are large and small foot prints. It is possible that the small prints are of boys that are taking part in some sort of initiation rites. Maybe they have come of age for hunting. Remember that they did not live as long as we do. Making it to 30 year of age may have meant that you were a tribal elder.

A lot of the architecture that you will look at until we get to the Romans is base on the post-and-lintel system. Basically, throw up two posts and cap it with a lintel. Do that in succession, and you have shelter. The Romans will not invent the arch, but they will perfect the use of it in architecture, using it to span spaces that had never gone that far. The Egyptians and the Mesopotamians built large structures using the same basic post- and-lintel system. The Pyramid at Giza and the Ziggurat at Ur are amazing works. For the pyramid see this web site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/pyramid_gallery_06.shtml and for the ziggurat see: http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/ziggurats/explore/exp_set.html .

Pyramids were burial monuments that stretched up to be closer to the realm of the gods and goddesses and that had temples in the vicinity associated with the deceased pharaoh. There also were numerous other temples in Egypt dedicated to their various different gods and goddesses. The Egyptian gods and goddesses usually had both human and animal attributes; that is, they were anthropomorphic. Egyptian temples were usually rather large, some very enormous. They typically had a ceremonial entrance that opened into a courtyard area with a hypostyle hall at the other end. A hypostyle hall is one that has several large columns that are crowded in the area as if it were a forest of columns. This was often the signal to the common worshipper to go no further. Beyond that was the main sanctuary, a small room with the most sacred statue of the god. This statue was treated like a living being and was cleaned, dressed, and fed daily. Also in this area was the chamber of the bark. This room held a special bark or boat that symbolized the passage through water into the next life and the importance of the Nile River in Egyptian culture.

Mesopotamian ziggurats had temples placed at the top so they would be closer to the gods and goddesses. Ziggurats are like man-made mountains with a home for the gods at the top. Like the Egyptians, Mesopotamian gods and goddesses were usually anthropomorphic. The temples at the tops of ziggurats seemed somewhat small in comparison with the entire structure. After making his way up the ziggurat, the

worshipper would be allowed to leave a sacrifice at the front part of the temple but would be restricted as to where he was allowed in the temple. The main room of the temple, or cella, would have had one or more statues of gods and/or goddesses. Other rooms would have been off to the sides. Mesopotamia had many large, prosperous cities that had a special god to whom they were dedicated. Everything in the city belonged to that god, and the governor of the city had to account to the god for it all. This is why many of the cuneiform tablets found in cities appear to be accounting records of how many people, head of cattle, bushels of barley, etc. were in the city at a given time.

Make sure you look under "Assignment" for the exercise related to this unit. Also, be certain to study over the Outline, View, and Key Terms at the beginning of the chapter. The test will cover Chapters 1-4, but here are some items to study in Chapter 1.

1. The terms in italics or quotations and with the pronunciation given after, such as cuneiform.

2. All figures of art and artifacts in the chapter and web links such as Woman from Willendorf.

3. The different historical periods, such as Paleolithic and Neolithic and the cultural and artistic developments related to these periods.

4. The different civilizations and artistic styles, such as Mesopotamian (including Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian) and Egyptian.

5. The development of the arts and religion in each of the civilizations mentioned in Number 4.

6. The “Our Dynamic world” section. 7. Also study the information in this document.