Aspara and the Churning Sea as performance

Last week, I introduced the Khmer both as an ancient and a modern civilization. This week in class we have had rich discussions on myth and ritual. Our discussions reminded me of what I experienced visiting Cambodia in 2006. In preparation for the trip, we studied the myths that we would see repeatedly in the country, sort of like brushing up on the best hits of the Bible before touring cathedrals. We each were assigned several myths by my mother and subsequently relayed them for the enlightenment and education of our family. Once we arrived in Cambodia we found the myths everywhere and expressed much more eloquently than our home spun attempts.

Just one of those weird things we do.

Tomorrow morning, about half a million people will crowd into university testing halls and take the LSAT, the Law School Admissions Test. (I'm one of them.) But it got me thinking--the whole standardized test education system is kind of a unique institution. We do it a number of times in our educational careers You take the SAT and ACT when you are graduating from high school and starting college, the GMAT or GRE or LSAT or MCAT, depending on what you want to do after you finish your undergraduate degree. And those of us who grew up going to public schools took all kinds of standardized tests, from the time we were in the first grade.

It makes sense, that we use this type of system in order to compare what is happening in educational systems across a very large country, but still,  it seems like one kind of interesting aspect of the knowledge institution we are a part of. There's not really anything oral about the LSAT or other standardized tests, but the fact that our group was specifically assigned to examine education institutions this week made me think about it differently than I previously had. I wonder where it came from and whether or not any other civilizations have employed a similar one.

The Mycenaean Civilization.

The Mycenaean Civilization developed around 1900 BC, during the "Bronze Age," in the southern area of Ancient Greece. During this time, Mycenae was known as an area that contributed to the growth and development of surrounding city-states, such as the more famous Athens, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns.

This era was known as the Bronze Age because the development of many metal weapons rapidly flourished. A sense of protection for the homeland increased, and most likely lead to, the formation of strong city-states. This theme of the homeland can be seen in Homer's Odyssey, an epic poem that was traditionally read orally, until eventually recorded and passed on through written text. One example of the love that the people of Mycenae have for their home can be compared to Odysseus' desire to return home. In the poem, a character named Calypso states:

"So then,
royal son of Laertes, Odysseus, man of exploits,
still eager to leave at once and hurry back
to your own home, your beloved native land?"

Mycenae was divided into two parts of land. The palace land and the communal land. The palace land housed the many rulers and attendants who conducted administrative duties at the palace. In the communal land resided those who were obliged to perform duties and pay taxes. These people consisted of craftsman, farmers, merchants, etc.

Although one could distinguish between social classes at this time, there was hardly any differentiation between religious classes. No priest class has been identified to date, however, those who were worshiped (rulers, Greek Gods, etc.) were identified from those who were worshiping (farmers, peasants, slaves, etc.) by certain gestures made at religious events.

Myths of Greek Gods and other various creatures or characters who were worshiped and/or feared developed at this time and were passed on by word of mouth. Many of these myths can be found in homer's Iliad, and again in Odyssey. Both epic poems were originally spoken by mouth and passed on by people to people until they were recorded as written text.

Odysseus escaping a Cyclops.

Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Viking, 1996.

The Travelers

In last week's post I introduced the native-american Hopi culture.  The Hopi are a native-american people who currently live in the "four-corners" area of the United States (principally in Arizona).  After talking just a bit with my sister who has done some research and has an interest in the Hopi, I also decided that I would like to learn more.  I drove over to her house in American Fork and borrowed her copy of Book of the Hopi by Frank Walters which i mentioned last week.  This past week I have been reading it and have learned a lot about the oral tradition of the Hopi people.

This is the emergence symbol.
It symbolizes Mother Earth and her enveloping arms.

I will try to briefly summarize the basic oral history of the Hopi here.  Basically, under the direction of the supreme Creator, Taiowa, his nephew, Sótuknang, and the Spider Woman created various worlds.  Humans were then placed lived in the First World.  When the people that lived there became corrupt and stopped living up to the purpose of their creation, the First World was destroyed by fire and only those who had kept the "door on the top of their heads" open were saved by entering a kiva and living with the ant people while the Second World was created. (The "door" is the soft spot that babies have and is symbolic of being spiritually in tune with with Sótuknang because it is the path of spiritual communication with him.)

When is good, part 2

In this post, I asked everyone to use the When Is Good? link to fill in your schedule. As of now (Wednesday afternoon), only one person has yet to do so, but already, there is not a single time in the next two weeks that works for all of us.

It looks like we're going to need to go to plan B. In class, we talked about trying to get a screen recording program to work. However, let's talk about this. Even if we use a screen recording program, we still need a time when all of us are available, and it really just looks like that isn't going to happen.

What do you guys think?

Oral Education in the Etruscan World

The Etruscan Civilization flourished in what is now Central Italy from about 800 to 264 BC. While evidence would suggest that the Etruscans were highly educated and productive in their scholarship, almost no evidence remains of that scholarship in the form of texts or records. However, there is some evidence that the Etruscans employed such practices as haruspicy and taught and learned in special institutes, kind of like universities. 

Phoenicia = Purple

The Phoenicians are famous in history for a variety of things - the invention of the "first" alphabet, their amazing purple dye, the cedars of Lebanon, and their great trading ships.  However, oral histories and educational institutes were apparently not one of them.  Or at least not any that we are aware of today, because although they invented a 26- and 22-letter alphabet system that simplified the Egyptian language, they kept their records mostly on papyrus, which decays over time.  Though based on other aspects of their society, I will try and construct some understanding of what their education and oral tradition might have been like.

The Cedar is an important carry-over from ancient times, and is on the modern flag of Lebanon.

When is good?

Okay, guys. We need to figure out a time when we can meet to make our video conversation for this unit. I realized that I don't actually have all of your email addresses (how did that happen?), so I'm posting the link here. I'm assuming that no one who isn't one of us in Group 6 will be interested in when we're available to meet. All you have to do is click on the link below, and it will take you to a website where you will click on all of the boxes for times in which you are available. Everyone do this as soon as you get a chance, because then we can figure out a good time right away.

http://whenisgood.net/g3ycqyt

Thanks everyone! 

Popol Vuh and the Mayan language

The mysterious Mayan civilization was an advanced society that thrived between 1500BC and 900AD with its height around 250BC. Study of Mayan civilization remained untouched until the 1830s until we started discovering and deciphering glyphs from temples and other sites.