Jake Writes A Blog

By far some of the most intriguing pieces of art that I happened upon during the readings were the processionary crosses and gospel leafs found in Ethiopia. The Ethiopians started to adopt Christianity back in the fourth century, starting with the reign of  the Aksumite emperor Ezana. Christianity spread through the region surrounding Aksum, as it was located between major trade routes including India and the Roman empire.  Emperor Ezana’s likely adopted Christianity in order to strengthen the Ethiopian's, or at least the Aksumite's, trading relationship with the Roman Empire. Christianity lead Ezana toward his goal of increasing the possibility of unity between the diverse groups of peoples within his kingdom. Christianity was prominent until modern day but is now thought against by some in certain areas today. Double-sided gospel leaf, first half fourteenth-century, Ethiopia, Tempera on Parchment The Tigray region of Ethiopia also converted to Christianity in the f...

  Igbo Ukwu artist, Bowl 8", Leaded bronze In Africa, starting during the ninth century, intricate forms of metalworking thrived. These metalworkings were especially prominent at a site called Igbo-Ukwu, now called southern Nigeria. Hundreds of copper alloy castings that were discovered at Igbo-Ukwu, such as the one above, provided proof of the African's culture being more technically sophisticated and accomplished than previously thought. The casting seen above was discovered by a farmer who was digging to create a cistern (a type of tank to hold water during dry seasons) in the former Igbo region of Nigeria in 1939. The farmer happened upon more items similar to this bowl. Despite this discovery, the site in question wasn't formerly excavated until 1959 by Thurstan Shaw. Shaw discovered that the site must have been used at a storage site for ritualistic items. These items, like the bowl, were formed using a technique called the lost-wax method. This method, lost-wax, inv...

  The Nintoku mausoleum in Sakai, Osaka prefecture, Japan, part of the Mozu-Furuichi group of ancient burial sites known as kofun          The Kofun Period is from the third century to 538 c.e., and it was named after the burial mounds of the ruling class of the time. The practice of building tomb burial mounds for their dead came to Asia around the third century. The original tombs were very basic in their design, unadorned and with no ornate designs. Over the course of the next three centuries, these burial mounds increasingly got more and more ornate designs. By the sixth century, the tomb mounds even included painted decorations on the inside of the burial chambers, along with new traditions that sprung forth from this time such as the designing of the ornate mounds themselves. There was a level of protection on and around each burial mound. The burial mounds themselves were each encircled by stones of all sizes, and earthenware clay pots and other sort...

                                                            Qin Shihuang           Qin Shihuang (259-210 B.C.E.), founder of the Qin Dynasty and the first emperor of a newly unified China, conquered many cities and other areas during his life. In addition to his many conquering's, death was certainly among them. The only way that Qin Shihuang could think to defeat death and have one last "hurrah" in the face every other past Chinese rulers who came before him, was to build himself a tomb-like none other had ever built before. Qin Shihuang built himself a tomb in the style of a vast underground city guarded by a life-sized terracotta army. His terracotta arming included not only warriors but also infantrymen, horses, chariots, and all of their, very life-sized, armor and weaponry. ...

  Stamp seal with impression: Unicorn and possible incense burner, c. 2600 – 1900 B.C.E., Indus  This stamp seal, seen above, may have been used in Indus trade practices. Stamp seals were also used to mark ownership and status. In urban Harappan centers, hundreds of these stamp seals were discovered when archaeologists excavated these sites. Stamp seals from the Indus region and time period are typically distinguished by the engravings of animals, humans, and other fantastical beasts such as unicorns! It is less likely to find a stamp with humans or divinities depicted on them. Although, from the research that I have done on this piece, it seems as though the creature featured on this piece is not said to factually be a unicorn as another stamp seal found in the same region, around the same time, was said to feature a bull. This makes sense as the bull is the most popular motif depicted in Indus art. The creatures, one featured on the stamp seal above and the other upon the se...

  Aerial photograph of Sutton Hoo, Cliff Hoppitt, May 1983 .          The most famous of the Anglo-Saxon treasures are the burial mounds of Sutton hoo in Suffolk, England. For hundreds of years ,  these treasures lay dormant and unexplored. The burial mounds of Sutton hoo were made  to hold hidden treasures, and bodies, inside.  There are many of these mounds in the field near the Deben river, but one particular mound was found to be the burial site of an ancient Anglo-Saxon warrior or, as has been often debated, a king. These burial mounds were labeled mounds 1, 2, 3, and 4 going off of size and shape of them. To Mrs. Edith Pretty, who previously owned the land, these mounds were just grassy hills that laid dormant for hundreds of years. In 1939, Mrs. Pretty hired an amateur archaeologist by the name of Basil Brown to dig into the different mounds and discover what lay within the mysterious dirt tombs. Unfortunately, when the mounds were exc...