1. Public Buildings and Sacred Spaces
A number of buildings and monuments in the DC area evoke Ancient Near Eastern civilizations.
Visit and take several photographs of one public building (in the DC area usually government buildings); one sacred space (church, temple, synagogue, etc.); and one example of memorial architecture in our area that display symbols of Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Israelite and/or Persian cultures.
These symbols can be found in decorative elements, both interior and exterior, or in the shape of the structure. This will require that you do some basic research into Bronze and Iron Age architecture of the ANE, including artifacts and culture in Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Levant.
If you do your research online, be sure that the websites are reputable ones. Do not use direct representations like museum exhibits. Address the following in your report:
1. Describe what the photographs depict and what the surroundings of the structure are.
2. Describe the purpose of the structures.
3. Discuss how the structures depicted in your photographs represent Ancient Near Eastern cultures in subject or style.
4. Discuss your thoughts on why these symbols were chosen for this particular structure.
II. Death, Burial and the Afterlife
Visit one historic cemetery in the Washington or Baltimore Area--or in your home city. Look for Ancient Near Eastern references on the monuments shown and take photographs of those that call up Ancient Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Israel or Persia. Note the gender, age and dates of the "inhabitants" of these monuments. Find at least ten examples of monuments that use Ancient Near Eastern motifs. You should visit at least one cemetery but if you do not find enough examples from that one visit, you can look on the internet for others as long as you limit your search to cemeteries in the Washington or Baltimore area.
1. Do some brief internet research on popular motifs in cemetery monuments during the 19th and 20th centuries.
2. Construct a table, graph, or other visual to show how the date of the interments associates with the symbol(s) identified.
3. Discuss how these motifs relate to the themes of death, dying, afterlife, etc.
4. Discuss any relationship between these motifs and the individual memorialized-for example, are Ancient Egyptian motifs used primarily for women, children, older people, etc.
III. Material Culture
You have been asked to give a guided tour of ONE Museum featuring Ancient Near Eastern artifacts. Your museum can be one that you visit (Natural History, Freer/Sackler in Washington, DC, Walters Gallery in Baltimore, Metropolitan Museum, etc.) or one that features a "virtual exhibit" online. If you choose the latter, be sure that you can access photographs of the objects you want to feature from more than one side. Also be certain that you have an idea of the approximate size of the object.
Prepare an ILLUSTRATED "brochure" on the selected items and the topic for a special lecture to accompany the exhibit. Your museum tour and lecture can focus on material culture from sites in any of the places we havestudied-i.e., Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria, etc.
In preparing for your tour:
1. Describe the ideal group that your tour and lecture are designed to appeal to (ie.,students, retired people, professionals, etc.).
2. List and briefly describe the items you have selected and explain why your ideal group will be interested in them.
3. Include a short description of the lecture that you will give to accompany the exhibit.
4. Discuss your thoughts on what these artifacts signify about the ancient cultures that produced them for those who will be viewing them in the museum.