Mesopotamia – Egypt

Ramses II

References:

Egypt, Greece, and Rome. 73, 74, 76.  

BBC Ramses II

Ramses II, King of Egypt around 1270BC. The British BroadCasting Corporation places immense importance on the Statue of Ramses II, made of granite and built in 1250BC. Ramses' statue was the largest Egyptian sculpture the british had ever seen, but more importantly it made the english realize how accomplished the Egyptians were. The statue emphasizes the extremely sophisticated culture of Egypt. The system of logistics and engineering needed to create a statue of this proportion at that time is an incredible achievement for the Egyptian civilization. The original piece of stone was carved out in one massive block and would have weighted around twenty tonnes. The stone would have needed a huge workforce to transport it to the Nile and then have it sailed to the city where the final details would be done. In 1798, the french tried to remove the statue during their control of Egypt, but failed and damaged it in their attempt. In 1816, half the statue was successfully removed by Giovanni Battista Belzoni. Mr. Belzoni used a method almost identical to the Egyptian method that transported the statue to its original location. The difficulty of moving only half the statue 3000 years after it had been placed demonstrates the immense achievement of the Egyptian people. The statue was transported to Cairo and then travelled to London. The statue was the first piece of ancient Egyptian work that challenged the idea that great art had began in Greece.

Ramses II is briefly covered in the text book: Egypt, Greece, and Rome because he did not expand the Egyptian borders. Ramses attempted to increase the territory of Egypt, but realized that he could not. His few battles were presented to his people as major victories, but in reality they were stalemates. As a result, Ramses II focused on building projects to glorify himself since he could not add splendour to his name through conquests.

Mesopotamia – Egypt

The Rosetta Stone

References:

Romancing the Stone, History Today. May, 2006

BBC The Rosetta Stone

In February 1802, Colonel Turner sailed into Portsmouth harbour on the captured french ship HMS 'L'Egyptienne'. Colonel Turner had in his possession the Rosetta stone, what he claimed was a prize of war captured from the french that had the potential to unlock the mysterious language of hieroglyphics. The facts of how Britain really acquired the stone remain a mystery. Colonel Turner claimed it was a prize of war, but Edward Clarke, a famous scholar who was in Alexandria after the french surrender, claims the stone was peacefully handed to the British. Oddly, a list that described artifacts recovered by the British after the french surrender states that the stone was "loaded onto HMS Madras" (History Today).

In 1799, the stone was discovered on the West bank of the Nile in the port of Rashid by french soldiers. The stone was dated to the reign of Ptolemy V, 196BC. After Napoleon left Egypt, the 167 remaining scholars, scientists and other professionals formed the 'Institut d'Egypte' in 1798. This institute focused on the studies of ancient Egypt and revealing her secrets, the Rosetta Stone came into the possession of this organization. In 1801, after the french surrender and transfer of artifacts to the british the english crown profited largely from all the previously done french research. The British Broadcasting Corporation does not mention any of the progress that the French made before they surrendered in 1801. The podcast highlights how Thomas Young made the first key step of cracking the code by discovering the name of Ptolemy V inside the inscriptions. Later, the podcast mentions how Jean Francois Champollion worked off the progress of Young and realized the language was both pictorial and phonetic. In 1822, Champollion had cracked the code of hieroglyphics.

Mesopotamia – Egypt

Royal Tombs of Ur

References:

Zettler, R.L., and Horne, L., eds.

1998  Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur. Philadelphia:

 University of Pennsylvania Museum.

BBC Standard of Ur

The podcast presented by the British Broadcasting Corporation covers the foundation of how Mesopotamian cities were created. Ur is one of the earliest and most famous of these ancient cities. Leonard Woolley in the 1920s uncovered royal tombs at Ur. Objects such as, golden headdresses and the earliest known board game were found in these tombs, amongst other treasures. A mysterious 'plaque' was the highlight of Woolley's discovering, which was a very detailed piece of art demonstrating power in these ancient Mesopotamian cities. Woolley named this object the "Standard of Ur" assuming that this plaque was an ancient battle standard. Nowadays, archaeologists have considered that the object is not a battle standard as a result of the object's inscriptions needing close examination to be read. The true use for this marvel is unknown. The podcast examines how only the bitumen used to hold the Standard together would have been found locally. All other material used to construct the piece of art would have been imported from around several regions. This fact points to the idea that only a wealthy/powerful society could have created such an object. The Standard depicts two different scenes. One side demonstrating how an ideal tax system would work. The other side highlighting an army being led by the mighty king. The BBC highlights how the Mesopotamian past is a key unifying piece for Iraq's future.

In 1994, the University of Pennsylvania Museum created an exhibition that would evolve around the discoveries that Woolley made at Ur. The american article describes the early civilization of Ur and the period where Ur would have been at its climax of power. Nanna, the moon God who was primarily worshipped at Ur is mentioned briefly. Also, the article mentions how the region at the time would have been divided into several small regions/towns. Ur's importance is evident in the high amounts of foreign goods located inside the city. The article explains how the University of Pennsylvania and the British Museum to Ur worked together and decided to have Woolley head the expedition. During the excavation Woolley had two "trial trenches". One trench revealed a cemetery area, which led to the discovering of the royal tombs. The other trench unearthed spectacular architectural pieces. Woolley during the first season of excavation focused on trial trench B that had revealed architectural remains. He felt that his workforce was inadequately prepared for the challenge of excavating burial sites. Woolley only began to give trial trench A (cemetery site) his attention in his fifth season of excavation. Hundreds of burials were discovered in less than three months, amongst these tombs were sixteen royal tombs. Woolley closed his excavations after twelve seasons on February 25th, 1934.