The Growth of Human Understanding with Religions Leading the Way

The Growth of Human Understanding with Religions Leading the Way

My theme was how as Humans encountered something that they couldnt understand they traditionally turned towards Religion to answer all of their questions and explain what they thought unexplainable.

Mummy of Hornedjitef

Mummy of Hornedjitef

The Mummy of Hornedjitef, was an Egyptian priest who was buried in a coffin inside another coffin. The ancient Egyptian peoples believed that death was only another step in a long journey and that to get to the other side you had to be buried with all of your possessions, and that spells needed to be cast. They believed that painting pictured on the inside of the coffin of the sky goddess would symbolically prepare Hornedjitef for rebirth in the next life. The Ancient peoples didn't understand death so they believed it was just the soul moving on from the body to find another world to traverse.

King Den's sandal label

The King Den's sandal label, is a label that was attached onto one of King Den's sandals the were found in his tomb. The label shows a picture of King Den about to beat a lesser enemy who is cowering at his feet. The inscription along the bottom reads, "The first occasion of smiting the east", which refers to Den conquering east Egypt. The fact that this label was attached to his sandal after his death shows that the people of that time believed that honor could follow you into the afterlife. their view on death was also along the lines of the earlier egyptians, who believed it was not the end so much as another step for the spirit.

Flood Tablet

Flood Tablet

The Flood Tablet, was an Assyrian record of a flood that wiped out a lot of life and crops. they attributed this disaster to the gods because they couldn't understand what had happened. The reason they thought life had continued after this horrible flood is that a man named Ut-napishti, just like the christian noah, took two of every animal onto a giant boat he made and sailed off in the flood. at this point in time humans had no understanding of what a natural disaster was or the reasoning behind one so they of course said that the gods did it because they were angry.

Chinese Zhou ritual vessel

The Chinese Zhou ritual vessel, was designed to give offerings to ones ancestors. it was believed at the time that the fertility of the land, the temperance of the weather, and the ability to control disease were all the powers of ancestors and gods. The chinese believed that if they were able to offer enough food then they would be able to prosper. Their science and technology as advanced as it was, could not explain strange phenomena like drought or plague so they chose to think that their ancestors were the dominant factors in these events.

Parthenon sculpture: Centaur and Lapith

This Parthenon sculpture of the Centaur and the Lapith displays a Centaur rearing triumphantly over a dying human Lapith. This image is supposed to represent the struggle of Greece to stay free from the control of Persia. The Greeks were in a time of great struggle and things were not looking so good for them so they turned towards their faith for hope. They used their faith to give them power and help them win, they used their gods for strength to help them overcome the Persians.

Hinton St Mary Mosaic

 Hinton St Mary Mosaic

This Mosaic, on of the first pictures of Jesus Christ show him as a fair-haired and clean-shaven man wearing a tunic and cloak. This was part of a larger mosaic that also featured Bellerophon riding Pegasus and slaying the monstrous Chimera along with other older greek gods. This was one of the first pictures of Christ and it did not show him as a larger than life man, he was not doing anything impressive, slaying a monster or anything along those lines, he was merely standing there. This picture represents a time when peoples views of gods were changing to a more believable and relatable person, who is more easily emulated by the common man.