A History of Art and Civilization: The Ancient World
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2014
Pages: 246
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$79.38
Trudy McNair’s A History of Art and Civilization series provides comprehensive coverage of the art and cultural history of different regions and time periods throughout antiquity. The texts place art and societal movements in context, giving students a panoramic view of history and an understanding of how circumstance relates to cultural output.
PREFACE
The Pursuit of Beauty
Creating a Picture of the Past
Understanding the Nature of Art
Discovering Our Long Lost Selves
Making a Spiritual Pilgrimage to the Past
CHAPTER 1: THE DAWNING OF CIVILIZATION
The Paleolithic and Neolithic Periods
Historical Overview
Uncovering the Past - The Sciences of Archeology and Anthropology
Paleolithic People
Puzzles from the Past – The Fate of the Neanderthals
Portraits from the Past – The Neolithic Ice Man
Dating the Past
The Birth of the Visual Arts
The Venus Figures
The Cave of Lascaux
Neolithic Architecture – Stonehenge
Mesopotamia – Cradle of Civilization
Historical Overview
The Sumerians – Creators of Civilized Life
Sumerian Government and Religion
The Rise of Uruk
The Development of Writing
Deciphering the Past
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Portraits from the Past – Gilgamesh: First Tragic Hero
The Sumerian Visual Arts
Uncovering the Past–The Royal Tombs of Ur
Ziggurats
The Semitic Period: The Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians
Sargon I – First Conqueror
Women’s Voices – The Hymns of Enheduanna
Hammurabi’s Law Code
The Rise of Assyria
The Neo-Babylonian Period
Suggested Readings from The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Exaltation of Inanna
CHAPTER 2: EGYPT’S QUEST FOR IMMORTALITY
Historical Overview – The “Gift of the Nile”
The Old Kingdom
Egyptian Government and Religion
The Osiris/Isis/Horus Myth
The Importance of Mummification
The Role of Hieroglyphics in Egyptian Life
Deciphering the Past – The Rosetta Stone
Women’s Voices – Egyptian Women
Egyptian Funerary Art and Architecture
The Pyramids and the Sphinx
Puzzles from the Past – The Building of the Great Pyramid
The Middle Kingdom and The New Kingdoms – Historical Overview
Portraits from the Past – Akhenaton, The Heretic King
Uncovering the Past – The Treasures of Tutankhamun
Rameses II and the Temples of Karnak and Abu Simbel
The Lost Kingdoms of Nubia
CHAPTER 3: THE ENDURING TRADITIONS OF INDIA AND CHINA
Historical Overview
India’s Long Journey of Self-discovery
The Indus River Valley Civilization
The Origins of Hinduism
Reincarnation, Karma, and Yoga
The Hindu Trinity
The Flowering of Indian Culture at Benares
Portraits from the Past: The Buddha’s Path to Enlightenment
Jainism and Nonviolence
Portraits from the Past - Asoka, Buddhist Emperor
The Mughal Dynasty
Indian Art and Architecture
China’s Search for Universal Harmony
Historical Overview
The Shang and Chou Dynasties
The Worship of Ancestors
The Mandate of Heaven
The Age of Bronze
The Jade Culture
The Uniqueness of Chinese Writing
Portraits from the Past – The Wisdom of Confucius
Taoism (also known as Daoism)
The Ch’in Dynasty
Portraits from the Past – China’s Notorious First Emperor
The Great Wall of China
Uncovering the Past – The Terra-cotta Army of the First Emperor
The Great Han and Tang Dynasties
The “People of Han”
Women’s Voices – Ban Zhao, Foremost Female Scholar of China
The Silk Road
The Coming of Buddhism to China
The Sophisticated Tang Dynasty
Chinese Poetry
The Mongol Invasion
Chinese Landscape Painting
Chinese Architecture
Suggested Readings from The Upanishads, Three Sermons by Buddha, The Analects and Lessons for Women
CHAPTER 4: THE HEROIC AGE OF GREECE
Historical Overview – The Civilizations of the Aegean
Cycladic Art
The Magnificent Minoans
The Origins of Minoan Civilization
The Beginnings of Greek Mythology
The Myths of the Minotaur and the Fall of Icarus
Uncovering the Past – The Minoan Palace at Knossos
Minoan Art and Society
Minoan Religion and the Sport of “Bull Leaping”
Puzzles from the Past – The Lost Continent of Atlantis
The Eruption of Thera
The Warlike Myceneans and the Trojan War
The Mycenean Invasion
Mycenean Society
The Emergence of Homer
Uncovering the Past – The Discoveries at Troy and Mycenae
Homer’s Mythological World
The Genealogy of the Gods
The Judgment of Paris
The Role of the Gods
The Iliad and the Odyssey
The Homeric Hero
The Greeks
The Wrath of Achilles
Greek Funerary Rites
The Trojan Horse and the Fall of Troy
Odysseus’ Long Journey Home
Homer’s Legacy
Suggested Readings from The Iliad and The Odyssey
CHAPTER 5: THE ARCHAIC AGE OF GREECE
Historical Overview
The Formation of the Greek Character
The Age of Colonization
The Pan-Hellenic Shrine at Delphi
The Olympic Games
The Rise of the Polis and the Phalanx
The Origins of Athenian Democracy
The Rise of Individualism in the Arts
Archaic Pottery
Archaic Sculpture
Music and the Rise of Lyric Poetry
Women’s Voices – The Lyrical Poetry of Sappho
The Ionian Philosophers
The Persian Wars
Suggested Readings from The Persian Wars and The Persians
CHAPTER 6: THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GREECE
The Golden Age of Athens
Historical Overview
Portraits from the Past—The Pride of Pericles
Women’s Voices—The Courtesan Aspasia
Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War
The Battle of Syracuse
Pericles’ Funeral Oration
Classical Art and Architecture
Historical Overview
Classical Sculpture
The Greek Temple
The Parthenon
Greek Philosophy in the Classical Age
The Sophists
Portraits from the Past—The Wisdom of Socrates
Plato’s World of Ideal Forms
Aristotle’s Empirical World
Greek Drama
The Origins of Greek Drama
Aristotle’s Tragic Pattern
Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex
Euripides’ Medea and Trojan Women
Greek Comedy
Suggested Readings from The Peloponnesian War, Plato’s Dialogues, Oedipus Rex and Lysistrata
CHAPTER 7: THE HELLENISTIC AGE OF GREECE AND REPUBLICAN ROME
The Hellenistic Age of Greece
Historical Overview
The Rise of Macedonia
Portraits from the Past: Alexander the Great, Conqueror of the World
The City of Alexandria
Hellenistic Sculpture and Architecture
The Hellenistic Philosophy of Cynicism
The Enigmatic Etruscans – Forerunners to Rome
The Rise of Roman Civilization
Historical Overview
The Formation of the Roman Character
Roman Government
The Roman Legions
The Punic Wars
Portraits from the Past – Julius Caesar, Man of Destiny
Puzzles from the Past – The Motivation of Brutus
Women’s Voices – Cleopatra, Tragic Queen
Roman Literature and Philosophy
Roman Drama
The Philosophies of Epicureanism and Stoicism
The Prose of Cicero
The Poetry of Catullus
Suggested Readings from The Braggart Warrior
CHAPTER 8: THE ROMAN EMPIRE
The Golden Age of Augustus
Historical Overview
Augustan Art and Architecture
The Georgics of Virgil
Virgil’s Aeneid
The Philosophy of Plutarch
Portraits from the Past – The “Bad” Emperors Caligula and Nero
Uncovering the Past – Pompeii and Herculaneum
The Roman Empire at Its Height
Historical Overview
Roman Architecture
Trajan’s Column and Hadrian’s Wall
The Pantheon
Hadrian’s Villa
The “Circus” and the “Games”
The Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Historical Overview
The “Barbarization of the Army”
Constantine and the Rise of Christianity
Suggested Readings from The Aeneid
INDEX
Trudy McNair’s A History of Art and Civilization series provides comprehensive coverage of the art and cultural history of different regions and time periods throughout antiquity. The texts place art and societal movements in context, giving students a panoramic view of history and an understanding of how circumstance relates to cultural output.
PREFACE
The Pursuit of Beauty
Creating a Picture of the Past
Understanding the Nature of Art
Discovering Our Long Lost Selves
Making a Spiritual Pilgrimage to the Past
CHAPTER 1: THE DAWNING OF CIVILIZATION
The Paleolithic and Neolithic Periods
Historical Overview
Uncovering the Past - The Sciences of Archeology and Anthropology
Paleolithic People
Puzzles from the Past – The Fate of the Neanderthals
Portraits from the Past – The Neolithic Ice Man
Dating the Past
The Birth of the Visual Arts
The Venus Figures
The Cave of Lascaux
Neolithic Architecture – Stonehenge
Mesopotamia – Cradle of Civilization
Historical Overview
The Sumerians – Creators of Civilized Life
Sumerian Government and Religion
The Rise of Uruk
The Development of Writing
Deciphering the Past
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Portraits from the Past – Gilgamesh: First Tragic Hero
The Sumerian Visual Arts
Uncovering the Past–The Royal Tombs of Ur
Ziggurats
The Semitic Period: The Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians
Sargon I – First Conqueror
Women’s Voices – The Hymns of Enheduanna
Hammurabi’s Law Code
The Rise of Assyria
The Neo-Babylonian Period
Suggested Readings from The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Exaltation of Inanna
CHAPTER 2: EGYPT’S QUEST FOR IMMORTALITY
Historical Overview – The “Gift of the Nile”
The Old Kingdom
Egyptian Government and Religion
The Osiris/Isis/Horus Myth
The Importance of Mummification
The Role of Hieroglyphics in Egyptian Life
Deciphering the Past – The Rosetta Stone
Women’s Voices – Egyptian Women
Egyptian Funerary Art and Architecture
The Pyramids and the Sphinx
Puzzles from the Past – The Building of the Great Pyramid
The Middle Kingdom and The New Kingdoms – Historical Overview
Portraits from the Past – Akhenaton, The Heretic King
Uncovering the Past – The Treasures of Tutankhamun
Rameses II and the Temples of Karnak and Abu Simbel
The Lost Kingdoms of Nubia
CHAPTER 3: THE ENDURING TRADITIONS OF INDIA AND CHINA
Historical Overview
India’s Long Journey of Self-discovery
The Indus River Valley Civilization
The Origins of Hinduism
Reincarnation, Karma, and Yoga
The Hindu Trinity
The Flowering of Indian Culture at Benares
Portraits from the Past: The Buddha’s Path to Enlightenment
Jainism and Nonviolence
Portraits from the Past - Asoka, Buddhist Emperor
The Mughal Dynasty
Indian Art and Architecture
China’s Search for Universal Harmony
Historical Overview
The Shang and Chou Dynasties
The Worship of Ancestors
The Mandate of Heaven
The Age of Bronze
The Jade Culture
The Uniqueness of Chinese Writing
Portraits from the Past – The Wisdom of Confucius
Taoism (also known as Daoism)
The Ch’in Dynasty
Portraits from the Past – China’s Notorious First Emperor
The Great Wall of China
Uncovering the Past – The Terra-cotta Army of the First Emperor
The Great Han and Tang Dynasties
The “People of Han”
Women’s Voices – Ban Zhao, Foremost Female Scholar of China
The Silk Road
The Coming of Buddhism to China
The Sophisticated Tang Dynasty
Chinese Poetry
The Mongol Invasion
Chinese Landscape Painting
Chinese Architecture
Suggested Readings from The Upanishads, Three Sermons by Buddha, The Analects and Lessons for Women
CHAPTER 4: THE HEROIC AGE OF GREECE
Historical Overview – The Civilizations of the Aegean
Cycladic Art
The Magnificent Minoans
The Origins of Minoan Civilization
The Beginnings of Greek Mythology
The Myths of the Minotaur and the Fall of Icarus
Uncovering the Past – The Minoan Palace at Knossos
Minoan Art and Society
Minoan Religion and the Sport of “Bull Leaping”
Puzzles from the Past – The Lost Continent of Atlantis
The Eruption of Thera
The Warlike Myceneans and the Trojan War
The Mycenean Invasion
Mycenean Society
The Emergence of Homer
Uncovering the Past – The Discoveries at Troy and Mycenae
Homer’s Mythological World
The Genealogy of the Gods
The Judgment of Paris
The Role of the Gods
The Iliad and the Odyssey
The Homeric Hero
The Greeks
The Wrath of Achilles
Greek Funerary Rites
The Trojan Horse and the Fall of Troy
Odysseus’ Long Journey Home
Homer’s Legacy
Suggested Readings from The Iliad and The Odyssey
CHAPTER 5: THE ARCHAIC AGE OF GREECE
Historical Overview
The Formation of the Greek Character
The Age of Colonization
The Pan-Hellenic Shrine at Delphi
The Olympic Games
The Rise of the Polis and the Phalanx
The Origins of Athenian Democracy
The Rise of Individualism in the Arts
Archaic Pottery
Archaic Sculpture
Music and the Rise of Lyric Poetry
Women’s Voices – The Lyrical Poetry of Sappho
The Ionian Philosophers
The Persian Wars
Suggested Readings from The Persian Wars and The Persians
CHAPTER 6: THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GREECE
The Golden Age of Athens
Historical Overview
Portraits from the Past—The Pride of Pericles
Women’s Voices—The Courtesan Aspasia
Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War
The Battle of Syracuse
Pericles’ Funeral Oration
Classical Art and Architecture
Historical Overview
Classical Sculpture
The Greek Temple
The Parthenon
Greek Philosophy in the Classical Age
The Sophists
Portraits from the Past—The Wisdom of Socrates
Plato’s World of Ideal Forms
Aristotle’s Empirical World
Greek Drama
The Origins of Greek Drama
Aristotle’s Tragic Pattern
Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex
Euripides’ Medea and Trojan Women
Greek Comedy
Suggested Readings from The Peloponnesian War, Plato’s Dialogues, Oedipus Rex and Lysistrata
CHAPTER 7: THE HELLENISTIC AGE OF GREECE AND REPUBLICAN ROME
The Hellenistic Age of Greece
Historical Overview
The Rise of Macedonia
Portraits from the Past: Alexander the Great, Conqueror of the World
The City of Alexandria
Hellenistic Sculpture and Architecture
The Hellenistic Philosophy of Cynicism
The Enigmatic Etruscans – Forerunners to Rome
The Rise of Roman Civilization
Historical Overview
The Formation of the Roman Character
Roman Government
The Roman Legions
The Punic Wars
Portraits from the Past – Julius Caesar, Man of Destiny
Puzzles from the Past – The Motivation of Brutus
Women’s Voices – Cleopatra, Tragic Queen
Roman Literature and Philosophy
Roman Drama
The Philosophies of Epicureanism and Stoicism
The Prose of Cicero
The Poetry of Catullus
Suggested Readings from The Braggart Warrior
CHAPTER 8: THE ROMAN EMPIRE
The Golden Age of Augustus
Historical Overview
Augustan Art and Architecture
The Georgics of Virgil
Virgil’s Aeneid
The Philosophy of Plutarch
Portraits from the Past – The “Bad” Emperors Caligula and Nero
Uncovering the Past – Pompeii and Herculaneum
The Roman Empire at Its Height
Historical Overview
Roman Architecture
Trajan’s Column and Hadrian’s Wall
The Pantheon
Hadrian’s Villa
The “Circus” and the “Games”
The Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Historical Overview
The “Barbarization of the Army”
Constantine and the Rise of Christianity
Suggested Readings from The Aeneid
INDEX