Ancient civilizations from all over the globe seem to have a fascination with the relation between man and beast. We’ve all heard about the mighty Sphinx, the creepy Minotaur, or the elusive Sasquatch. Whether you believe in them or not, there is a definitely something otherworldly about a creature halfway between human, and monster. However, many times the animal side of a hybrid will represent our instincts or the id. Conversely, the fact that the bearded bull defies these conventions, is what initially intrigued me with the piece. Instead of having the human part be most dominant, it seems the animal side is more dominant. When you see the piece your initial thoughts are “Hey! What’s that bull doing wearing a beard?” The Bearded-Bull Harp Ornament, at University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, is an ancient artifact from Ur, Iraq. possibly dating back as early as 2550 BCE. It’s original use was to be put on top of a lyre, which was a popular instrument, similar to a harp, in ancient Mesopotamia. The piece in …show more content…
The reason the bull is wearing a fake beard, is because the bull represents the underlying, intense emotion behind the music. While the beard represents all of the theory behind the music like the arrangements of the notes, or the tempo. The Mesopotamians are comparing the idea of music and harmonies, to taming a bull. Think of all the endless fiddling, stringing, and tuning these ancient people would have to do just to get the strings in tune with one another, let alone in tune with another lyre. Music in those days wasn’t as simple as going out and buying a guitar, and machine to tune it. These people had to make their instruments from scratch, and if they didn’t, somebody else made it from scratch for them. It seemed as though music was something humans stumbled upon that connected their more instinctual behaviors to creating
The first representation of the beast that the author portrays is fear. In document A, “... Begin to people the darkness of night and forest with spirits and demons which had previously appeared only in their dreams or fairy tales”. To clarify, the children’s imagination runs rampant without their parents to banish their fears, so their imagination creates something of a beastie-thing. In document
The Ghent Altarpiece (began by Jan’s older brother Hubert Van Eyck; although the majority of artwork was done by Jan himself) functioned as a polyptych with 24 separate panels. The subject of the Ghent Altarpiece is the commemoration of the fall to the redemption; or rather, the rise of Christianity, the fall of Christianity (sin), and then redemption (Christ's sacrifice that saves mankind).
The Lamassu is a mythological winged human-headed bull that guards the Assyrian palace of Sargon II in Khorsabad, Iraq around 721 to 705 BCE. There are theories that they were sculpted at the palace gates to ward off evil and fend off invasions. Archaeologists theorized that the Lamassu had influenced other winged animal and human hybrids throughout the ages from Ancient Mesopotamia to Ancient Greece and to the Romanesque and Asia Minor. One, for example, is the Chimera of Arezzo, Italy from the Etruscans Late Classical period of the 4th century BCE. There were some debates about the origins of the Lamassu - where and what period the statuette was made and how much influence did it impacted other mythological winged hybrids.
The human-headed winged bull, or lamassu, of Khorsabad, a northern city of Iraq, is a colossal sculpture. The sculpture guarded the entrance to king Sargon II throne room.
The Ghent Altarpiece painted in completeness by Jan and Hubert van Eyck in 1432. This altarpiece is filled with symbolism. One of the most important pieces of the altar is the Deity Enthroned, which represents the Lord in Christianity. The painting covered with symbols and words. The artists portrays many signs with different meanings from the deity’s clothes to the background.
In chapter two, while innocently adventuring, Grendel traps his foot in a crack between two old trees and, suddenly, a bull defending a calf begins to attack Grendel. After one successful stab at his knee, Grendel finds an easy way to avoid nearly all of the bull’s lunges. Before long, the repetitive, mechanical bull hardly even phases Grendel. The bull, unlike Hrothgar and his men, incompetently flings itself at Grendel’s tree the same way it would fight anything Like the ram, the bull’s stupidity contrasts Grendel from the common beast that doesn’t “even know that the calves they defend are theirs.” (20) The bull’s “brute enmity” (22) is compared to mankind’s competence when Hrothgar and his men attack Grendel. Although the men are smaller and less physically capable than the bull, Grendel calls them “the most dangerous things [he]’d ever met” (26) simply because of the...
But since they were so caught in the moment, they begin to chant like savages. When the boys begin to chant, they act like they are in some sort of tribe, which is the opposite of what civilized group is. As the group of boys attack the beast, imagery is shown to describe the animalistic characteristics they have obtained. Animals such as lions tend to leap on top of their prey and maul them to death, the imagery demonstrated emphasizes the savage like behavior the boys acquired. This type of act
“How Musical is Man?” was published in 1974. This book was written by John Blacking, a musician turned social anthropologist. His goal in writing this ethnography, and several other papers during this same time period, was to compare the experience of music-making that takes place within different cultures and societies throughout the world. In this book, he discusses and describes the musicology of the Venda people in South Africa. Though he does go to Africa to research and learn about the Venda people and their music, he specifically states that his book is “not a scholarly study of human musicality” (ix), but rather it is a summary (written from his point of view), which is both expressive and entertaining, of several different issues and ideas that he has seemingly been contemplating for some time.
"Music is a common experience and a large part of societies. In fact, anthropologists note that all human communities at all times and in all places, have engaged in musical behaviours. Music as a mode of human activity is a cultural phenomenon constituting a fundamental social entity as humans create music and create their relationship to music. As cultural phenomeno...
The first music era know to man was the "Prehistoric Music." This was quite possibly influenced by birds singing and other animal sounds as they were communicating with each other. It was developed with the backdrop of natural sounds. Some evolutionary biologists have theorized that the ability to recognize sounds not created by humans as "musical" provides a selective advantage.
It all started with Bill Haley, who is formally known as William John Clifton. His family was extremely musical considering his father played the banjo and the mandolin, and his mother was a classically trained pianist. When he was seven, he made a simulated guitar out of cardboard, then his parents bought him a real one. When he was fifteen he set out with his guitar on the hard road to fame and fortune. (Bill Haley and His Comets)
The Inca people were very sophisticated and resourceful. They used whatever they had to make instruments and they didn't just make them, they perfected them. They also utilized them in many important activities that they did on a daily basis. From the clues they left behind, it is very apparent that music was important to them in many ways.
Music and musical instruments are an extremely important part of human history. The use of rhythm and song has long been used to express meaning, and feeling and accompany rituals. Music has been part of human life for as long as anyone can trace. Early civilizations of humans used music as a way to communicate and express feelings. Out of all of the musical instruments that we see in our society today and use on a regular basis, there is one instrument that stands out in musical history, the drum.
As studies have shown: “The ancient practice of placing or suspending votive objects in the interior of drums has been suggested as a possible origin for these curious instruments, whose history can be traced to the Shang
Origins of drums, harps, lutes, lyres, guitars and all string instruments originate from the simple aerophones, membranophones and chordophones developed in Africa. The continent of Africa is very large and contains such a large population. To every single tribe and individual in this land mass, music plays such an important role of the African life and history. Even though Africa is a place where life is so intertwined with music, the origins of music are not often said to be from there.