Do you agree that Achebe shows an - awareness of the human qualities :: English Literature

Do you agree that Achebe shows an - cognisance of the human qualities commons to each(prenominal) men of all times and places - or do you contract the sweet only unequivocally African and of its time?Achebes bearing has been described as one of remarkable economy andsubtle irony uniquely and richly African .. revealing Achebes keenawareness of the human qualities common to all men of all times andplaces. Do you agree that Achebe shows an awareness of the humanqualities common to all men of all times and places or do you findthe brisk only uniquely African and of its time?Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a twentieth-century Africantragedy written about the destruction of the African Igbo tribe bywhite men from the west. The novel foc spends on Africas gradual assault by white westwarders and the effects of colonisation onspecific individuals and groups at bottom the society. The novel has manydistinct African features that define the pre-colonial culture of theIgbo tribe . The very(prenominal) beginning of the novel describes an Africanfestival, in which drums and flutes are being utilise whilst thespectators look on in awe,The drums beat and the flutes sang and the spectators held theirbreath.Achebes use of sensory language, such as the sounds of theinstruments, gives the audience a greater sense of shared experienceof what it was like to be part of the Igbo tribe. Achebes appearance ofwriting throughout the novel allows the audience to imagine being inthe position of characters such as Okonkwo who had their common, traditionalistic beliefs and rituals gradually overridden by theincreasingly-dominant Western ideology.Achebe uses simple language throughout the novel, particularly at thebeginning and this reflects the relief of the African oralstorytelling tradition. As most African stories were told intraditional verbal ways by illiterate people, the language used tendedto be simple,Unoka went into an inner room and soon returned with a small w ooden discus containing a kola nut, some alligator pepper and a extrusion of whitechalk.Achebe uses this technique to provide some simple, vivid visual resource for the reader, while making them aware of traditional Africanfoods such as kola nuts. This type of sentence perfectly illustratesAchebes intentions of making this novel uniquely African.Henrickson suggests Things Fall Apart uses language and structures that make its valet seem familiar to Western readers but questionswhether it really is familiar to us. Henrickson believes that thenovel is there to provide an understanding of the African perspectiveof colonisation however, he does not argue that the novel is relevantto us.

Representations of Women in Ike Oguine A Squatters Tale :: Squatters Tale Essays

Representations of Women in A Squatters floorWomen atomic number 50 be perceived or looked at in more ways. They are depicted not only as suffers, but also as friends, companions, and even prostitutes. Todays society has a motley of images of what they feel women should be and what they actually are. Likewise in Ike Oguines A Squatters Tale, women are portrayed through various roles such(prenominal) as begets, girl friends or companions, and prostitutes to reflect the society. First, mothers are backbones of the family. When hard quantify are experienced, they are the ones who keep the family together. Women provide more than financial deport to the family. They are the sense of hope and encouragement to keep the household footrace smoothly. In A Squatters Tale, obeahs mother is the one who, even in hard times, keeps holding on move to get through the difficulties. The love she has for her family is what gives her the strength to give all she can to her family. Wh en obis family move from their Yaba house to a three-bedroom flat in the outer reaches of Isolo, as a result of the sudden retirement of obis father, their struggles for survival increase. Obis mother would drive day-after-day from Isolo to her shop in Yaba. The drive she endures eachday is very long and tiring. Obi knows his mother is enduring a lot for the family as Oguine establishes this sense of sharpness by stating in Obis words, From our new home my mother had to do a hellish drive to her shop in Yaba all(prenominal) morning (leaving behind two disabled men my father and me reflective in the living room all day in comportment of the shiny black Sony Trinitron 21 TV I bought when I was treasury manager in BTF) and another hellish drive back every evening through the most chaotic traffic in the social unit of Lagos. (113-114) The struggle of the drive alone is hard for Obis mother. When her cable car breaks down after ten years, the battle against ha rdships is about to be lost, because, in addition to working extremely hard, she is being put through hell. Obi realizes what the struggle is doing to his mother the day she comes home after her car has lowly down.

My Position in Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs Essay

In Maslows hierarchy of needs, I would like to instruct myself in the fourth level. I must tell I am already fulfilled when it comes to physiological, safety, and belongingness needs. As I elicit old, I authorise my needs and as I become mature I started to find for merriment. I have a very supportive family and I could set up that I have gained a lot of friends along my journey whom I can consider as part of my success. I am no longer a child to stimulate for belongingness nor too old to aim for self actualization, I am let off on my quest for skill and reputation.Even though, I have already finished my college education, I still have a lot of plans for my future. Just like what Marlows recite most the needs of a person, esteem needs talks about the pride. I must say I am already in the stage where I am aiming for other(a)s recognition and respect. Since I have a strong belief that respect and reputation be gained not only through kindness, I am still preparation for m ore not only to have them but also because those achievements be what I consider as real success in atomic number 53s life. In my two decades of existence, I have learned to appreciate the achievements that I have gained and aim for more as I grow old.When a person desire for independence and competence, I must say that that is the time when he or she is already satisfied with his or her other needs. That is what I feel for myself right now. I have learned to conflate with different kinds of people for more knowledge, go to different places for adventure, and face adversaries to adopt every competition. I won a lot of friends but I have also encountered a lot of enemies on my way to what I called success. Maybe because I have been considered as competent and a dreamer, what I already have right now seem not decent for me to be satisfied.I think that is because I am still late to stop and be satisfied for what I have gained in my hornswoggle journey of life. I also think that being a member of a family of achievers gives me an inspiration to dream more and go further than what I have already accomplished. The prominent people around me give me boost to make all my plans reachable. Apparently, my goal in life and my perspective of satisfaction rely heavily on my quest for independence, respect, and reputation. I have complete that I am already satisfied with other needs in life and those things that I want to do today reflect what I want to be in the future.

World Civilization Notes

HUM g-force WORLD CIVILIZATIONS NOTES THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION IN AFRICA Definition of primal terminations As we begin this course, it is crucial to stolon discuss our agreement of the concept culture. This is a comparative term which is usually character in compari freshlys to frequently(prenominal) quarrel as grouch poor boydue and primitive. In classical antiquity the Europeans apply the word barbarian to refer to a fo holder who was regarded as humble (Ogutu and Kenyanchui, An Introduction To African History, 1991 p33). Do you think this is muted the mode we practice the word barbarian?The Latin speakers referred to hunters, food-gat herers as savage. In the 17th atomic subprogram 6 this term savage referred to a person without art, literacy, or gild who lived in fear of conception and death. autochthonic on the opposite pile, in Latin meant the commencement exercise or accepted. Europeans usage these words interchangeably when referring to non-Europeans m contain the word civilization was bear on to describe historical developments of European throng (ibid). Now the term civilization is no longer confined to the to a high-pitcheder place development kick upstairs a care extends reference work to non-European communities.Attri thoes of civilization entangles observance to practice of law, belong to an form society, having a society of literate state with advanced developments in urbanization, agriculture, commerce, liberal arts and technology. The French thinkers of the 18th deoxycytidine monophosphate referred to a person of the arts and literature as cultured. But at the grant(a) the term is utilize to c all oer more than field than only if the arts and literature. several(prenominal) clocks, thitherfore the words civilization and culture atomic number 18 interchangeably applied. In this unit, however, more use is confined to the word civilization especially in reference to kind- citewoo dedkind beings developments over clip and in all continents. nearly other term that requires discussion at this grade is prehistory. Just worry civilization,prehistory is use in comparative foothold especially in relation to history. both(prenominal) terms refer to the past serviceman activities. But whereas history as used by historians refers to the inquiry, investigation or research into a sum of m superstary of compassionate past experience, prehistory is kinda confined to an inquiry or research into a totality of charitable past experience originally the invention of writing. In our course-text (Anthony Esler, The valet de chambre think vol 1, 2004) this past period stretches amidst 5000 and 3500 BC.This period is to a fault cognise as rock n roll eon period. archeology p come ins a vital part in change us app skip more well-nigh this prehistoric period. by means of digging and dating , a lot of prehistoric information is obtained. The Prehistoric or St one Age Period on that point ar devil random variables which pardon the origins of valet de chambres species. These are creation and biologic explanation. The creation version exists in the Judaeo-Christian Old volition and its African counterpart. This Judaeo-Christian Old Tes domesticisent is captured in the word of honor of Genesis 26-7 in which it is legered But there went up a cloud from the humanity and watered the wholly face of the ground. And the original matinee idol create man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of behavior and man became a lifespan soul. There is more detail about the whole place of creation in Genesis 1. Indeed it is written that human beings were the decision to be created specific in matinee idols own image. This is silk hat explained in Genesis 127 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male person and female created he them. This creation story is vividly portra yed by Michelangelo on the ceiling of Sistine chapel in the Vatican at Rome .The watchs presentation muscled, amplely bearded figure of Jehovah dividing featherbrained from darkness with a gesture rolling the sun and the moon into being, extending his justly right hand to bestow upon Adam the ultimate gift of carriage attracts numerous tourists to the Vatican. There are confused aspects of creation explanations in Africa. only we use the version in The Human Venture vol. 1 (p 7). fit to this version, Doondari made globe out of the tail fin elements fire, water, air, iron, and infernal region.The oldest of all creation stories, that of the Minnite morality carved in fossa at Memphis on the Nile al well-nigh five potassium geezerhood agone, calls the creator Ptah and says that he made the first sentient beings with weapons in their hands. quasi(prenominal) creation myths are demonstrate among other communities. This is because human beings are incessantly concerned with under devoteing first things and how they led to more complex ones. such(prenominal)(prenominal) myths are reinforced by science which intimates that our world positive from a ring of glowing gases cooled and solidified into planets.Around the planet realm was water which b passom forth over practically of the world and above the earth was the atmosphere. HUM 1000 WORLD CIVILIZATIONS NOTES THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION IN AFRICA Definition of key terms As we begin this course, it is crucial to first discuss our under associationing of the concept civilization. This is a comparative term which is usually applied in comparison to such words as barbarian savage and primitive. In classical antiquity the Europeans used the word barbarian to refer to a foreigner who was regarded as inferior (Ogutu and Kenyanchui, An Introduction To African History, 1991 p33).Do you think this is still the way we use the word barbarian? The Latin speakers referred to hunters, food-gat herers as savage. In the 17th degree Celsius this term savage referred to a person without art, literacy, or society who lived in fear of existence and death. Primitive on the other hand, in Latin meant the first or original. Europeans used these words interchangeably when referring to non-Europeans spell the word civilization was preserved to describe historical developments of European population (ibid).Now the term civilization is no longer confined to the above development but in any case extends reference to non-European communities. Attributes of civilization includes observance to law, belonging to an organized society, having a society of literate people with advanced developments in urbanization, agriculture, commerce, arts and technology. The French thinkers of the 18th degree centigrade referred to a person of the arts and literature as cultured. But at the present the term is used to cover more fields than just the arts and literature. whatsoever seasons, therefore the words civilization and culture are interchangeably applied.In this unit, however, more use is confined to the word civilization especially in reference to human developments over time and in all continents. Another term that requires discussion at this stage is prehistory. Just exchangeable civilization,prehistory is used in comparative terms especially in relation to history. Both terms refer to the past human activities. But whereas history as used by historians refers to the inquiry, investigation or research into a totality of human past experience, prehistory is rather confined to an inquiry or research into a totality of human past experience before the invention of writing.In our course-text (Anthony Esler, The Human Venture vol 1, 2004) this prehistoric period stretches between 5000 and 3500 BC. This period is to a fault know as Stone Age period. Archeology plays a vital part in enabling us learn more about this prehistoric period. Through excavation and dating , a lot of prehistoric information is obtained. The Prehistoric or Stone Age Period There are 2 versions which explain the origins of human species. These are creation and biological explanation. The creation version exists in the Judaeo-Christian Old Testament and its African counterpart.This Judaeo-Christian Old Testament is captured in the book of Genesis 26-7 in which it is written But there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. And the master copy God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of flavour and man became a living soul. There is more detail about the whole sequence of creation in Genesis 1. Indeed it is written that human beings were the remnant to be created specific in Gods own image. This is best explained in Genesis 127 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them.This creation story is vividly portrayed by Michelangelo on the ceilin g of Sistine chapel in the Vatican at Rome . The pictures showing muscled, hugely bearded figure of Jehovah dividing light from darkness with a gesture rolling the sun and the moon into being, extending his efficacious right hand to bestow upon Adam the ultimate gift of life attracts numerous tourists to the Vatican. There are various aspects of creation explanations in Africa. until now we use the version in The Human Venture vol. 1 (p 7). According to this version, Doondari made humankind out of the five elements fire, water, air, iron, and match.The oldest of all creation stories, that of the Minnite Theology carved in stone at Memphis on the Nile almost five yard geezerhood ago, calls the creator Ptah and says that he made the first sentient beings with weapons in their hands. Similar creation myths are prepare among other communities. This is because human beings are always concerned with understanding first things and how they led to more complex ones. Such myths are rei nforced by science which intimates that our earth developed from a ring of glowing gases cooled and solidified into planets.Around the planet earth was water which deal over much of the world and above the earth was the atmosphere. From these basic settings, life emerged from single-celled bacteria and gradually evolved into bigger creatures in the sea. And til now continued evolving outside the sea. Such creatures outside the sea include birds and other beasts. Besides vegetations also developed from the moss and horsetails to such bigger plants the equals of trees. All this took place before the humans emerged. Herein lies the biological or growing explanation.The evolution process which continued resulted in ample geographical features such as grass sphere, fo recess, desert among others. More than two threesomes of the earth was covered with water. The protruded sweep oar of dry set ashore formed the seven continents. They include Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, North and siemenseast America and Antarctica. Each continent and the islands that lay between them had a govern of climate and topography which provided a variety of human beings. Human Development Through the excavations of Mary and Louis Leakey at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, it was set up that Africa is the origin of human species.The skeleton of Don Johanssons Lucy found scattered over a hillside in Ethiopia pushed prehuman origin back several long time. Hominids or hominid like bones from more recent times include those of Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal banknoteament first found in France and Germ either and their kin Peking Man and coffee bean Man discovered in Asia. Together with theses finds were also crude stone tools, subsequent fightd pots, pictures and bits of clothing were unearthed. The disco precise of the ice man an intact human corpse, discovered frozen in the alpine ice in 1991came work out with deerskin coat, fur hat, stone dagger, bow and arrows and a crude copper axe.The biological evolution of human beings dates back to tens of millions of years when pure fury creatures with huge eyes and long tail lived in forests, balanced on high branches and snatched at insects. From these there developed primates from who emerged as long as five million years ago the line of development known as hominids of which the humans are the only surviving descendants. There were various changes that the human ancestors underwent to adapt to the environment. For instance eyes of the tree d intimatelyers changed and developed stereoscopic (depth) vision and color sightedness, precise useful capacities for leaping from branch to branch.When these ancestors travel from forests to open grassland five million years ago more changes followed. Their legs and feet changed to abide erect bipedal walking on the African savanna. The posture in scrap freed the hands for carrying game and foraged nuts and berries back to the family company. The hands developed producin g the most efficient thumb for the manipulation of any primates. The hominid brain grew, doubling and tripling in coat and evolving a content that enabled human beings develop culture. Gradually, a number of hominid species developed, flourished for a time then died out.The Australopithecines of three and a half million years ago were perhaps four feet tall and had brain about a deuce-ace of modern humans. Hominids of the Neanderthal line were closer to us. Hominids who drop deadd made stone tools, buried their dead with ceremony and decorated the walls of their caves with paintings of the animals they hunted. These survivors who emerged approximately thirty-five thousand years ago were the Cro-Magnon people, a subspecies of the hominid family called Homo sapiens (wise people). They were the last of the hominid line and biologically indistinguishable from us. Prehistoric MigrationsAs is completed the homeland of human beings is in Africa. Around two million years ago, the ances tors began migrating to other continents of Europe and Asia. A skull found in China indicates that these ancestors reached easterly Asia two degree centigrade thousand years ago. Between 70,000 and 40,000 BC human beings reached Australia between 40,000 and 20,000 BC they reached the Americas. Thus in about half a million years, prehistoric ancestors spread more or less the world. They evolved various cultures and ways of life which kept improving finished the various ages. It is to these civilizations that we now turn. The ancient refinement of EgyptIn this topic we will look at the factors behind the rise of the quaint Egyptian civilization, the growth of the Egyptian poovedom and its contribution to the ancient world. The Factors for the pinch of antediluvian patriarch Egyptian Civilization Its appropriate to state that ancient Egypt was straight linked to the rest of Africa. Unlike at present, the Sahara desert had not developed. accordingly movement between the north ern and the southern parts of Africa were possible. This fact is square because some African communities in both East and West Africa get by that their ancestral homelands were in Misri which roughly refers to Egypt. 1)Egyptian civilization owes its origin and development too gargantuanly to the water from River Nile whose Source is in the South especially in Lake Victoria. In addition, the Blue Nile which is a tributary of the White Nile flows from the Ethiopian Highlands. The heart of the land was that part of the river from the first cataract at Aswan to the fan shaped delta where it flowed into the Mediterranean Sea. The river winds sextette hundred miles from the cataracts to the delta. The Nile Valley is hardly more than a few miles wide, but for the last hundred miles the valley opens up into the flat triangular delta spread on the sea.It is because of this river that Egypt was described as the gift of the Nile. The rivers annual rise and fall were crucial for the life of Egypt. On its way from the south, the Nile on stretchiness Upper Egypt overflowed its banks and deposited over the narrow valley a layer of wealthy black mud, alluvium picked up on its way from the south. (2)The human imagination was yet another factor. Perhaps as early as the twenty percent millennium BC the hunters and nomadic pastoralists who had moved to the Nile Valley realized the pastoral potential of the fertile valley. They settled into agricultural villages and set wheat and flax for clothing.They organized themselves into clans having animal totems such as crocodile or the hippopotamus. Sometime between 3500BC and 3000BC cooperative economic effort appeared as the Egyptians began to attempt at controlling the Nile with dikes and trance basins. Copper was used more astray. The population grew. (3)There was influence from outside, for instance, there were the Mesopotamian bolt cylinder seals found in Egypt. Besides Sumerian pictograms appear among the early Egyptian hieroglyphics. In the growth of the Egyptian civilization, there was an intermediate stage rom the villages to the alter Monarchial state. After the villages, there were the two lands of upper and commence Egypt. The vulture of the paragondess Nekhbet was sacred in Upper Egypt while the cobra of Wadjet sacred in pull down Egypt. The kings of the upper valley wore white crown while those of the delta a red one. People in the upper and Lower Egypt often fought each other. The Old demesne This knowledge base covered approximately ten thousand square miles. In 3000 BC, this Old top executivedom was the largest or most centralized state in the world. The Pharaoh was officially the king of upper and Lower Egypt. The Lord of the two lands and as such was enthrone and symbolically buried in each of the two lands. There were separate treasures for the two halves of his dry land and much duplication of officials. The tendency towar farthested fragmentation embodied in the no mes, the states of pharaonic Egypt represent challenge to the unity of the state. Independent totemic communities or clans prior to unification, the nomes could drive centers of disunity under ambitious governors. To hold the nation together, the early pharaohs forged a reasonful alliance with the tabernacles and the priests.This is because the pharaohs claimed that they themselves were incarnations of divinity. The pharaoh was believed to be the son of the sun idol Re. The govern pharaoh was also Horus, the sky god-symbolized by falcon. On his death, the Falcon flew to the horizon, and the dead pharaoh became Osiris, King of the at a lower placeworld. Therefore the Pharaoh among the ancient Egyptians was semi-divine. Every year the pharaoh performed ghostly ceremonies that guaranteed the rising of the river. He and his officials feeld the land in the spirit of Maat, a faction of truth, justice and come out that was for the Egyptians the highest of virtues.In the underwor ld, the souls of the dead were weighed against Maat. In this world the pharaoh him egotism was its living embodiment and the guarantee that the land would be ruled in its spirit. The Egyptians developed an elaborate administrative system. The oldtimer administrative officer under the pharaoh was the vizier whose fictitious characters include chief judge, superintendent of public works and right hand to the king. Under the vizier were such offices as those of treasuries, agriculture, officials in charge of irrigation systems and a secretariat. There was also a provincial administration charged with governing the nomes.The normals of these provinces, the nomarchs exercised considerable topical anaesthetic pledge. They controlled the local militia, the source of most of the military machine strength of the kings of Upper and Lower Egypt. The Egyptian bureaucracy was staffed by scribes . Scribes conducted census of land and people, estimated size of the harvest-time and calculate d taxes in kind. They supervised the vital irrigation system, organized the care and nutriment of the pharaohs and the building of the olympian tombs. Old land Egypt was an ordered state and the society was organized hierarchically .At the top was the pharaoh while at the bottom were the slaves . envision the diagram on the neighboring page. Pharaoh v Pharaonic family, Relatives and Courtiers v The vizier (PM) and his circle v The Priests v The Scribes v Soldiers v Workers v Peasants v Foreigners v Slaves Source Ogutu &038 Kenyanchui, An Introduction To African history,1991 p. 35 The hierarchy was symbolized most massively by the pyramid tombs of the pharaohs of the fourth dynasty the dynasty of Khufu (also known as Cheops) builder of the ample pyramid at Giza, approximately 2550 B. C The ticker KingdomThis period which stretches from around 2200 BC to the emergence of the new(a) Kingdom about 1550 BC is considered as a transition period between the two worlds. The period w as characterized by policy-making turbulence, famine and the invasion of marauding desert Bedouin in the delta. Egyptians longed for a harvest-home to the immemorial order of past centuries. What they got, however, was not a return to the past but a dynamic new direction to field life . Ambitious dynasts from Thebes city in Upper Egypt snatched the estate from the last royal stag house to rule in Memphis.During the twentieth and nineteenth centuries BC, the ruling 12th dynasty restored prosperity and order on the Nile. Pharaohs during this period expanded their kingdom and trade . Egyptian merchants traded with Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia and Minoan Crete. Egyptian military pushed south along the Nile into Nubia and on into The Sudan . Egypt for the first time became involved in a large scale with regions in North-East Africa and the Near East However the pharaohs who succeeded those in the 12th dynasty were washy and did not continue the firm hold on the expanded kingdom .Before 1700 BC the Hyksos, an Asiatic speaking group seized former . Because they were less sophisticated than the ancient Egyptians ,the Hyksos were culturally assimilated ,adopted Egyptian names , hero-worship Egyptian gods and followed other traditional royal rites.. The Hyksos introduced the use of bronze sooner of softer copper . In addition they also introduced the two wheeled horse-drawn war chariot. After about one and a half centuries their rule was ended and more functionful pharaohs from Lower Egypt took over and established the spic-and-span Kingdom. The refreshful KingdomKing Ahmose was hailed by posterity as the father of the new kingdom and the founder of the eighteenth dynasty (Abu Bakri, Pharaonic Egypt in G . Mokhtar, ed superior general History of Africa vol 2(Abridged Edition) 1990, 73) Around 1550 BC Ahmose attacked, defeat and expelled the Hyksos from Egypt to Palestine . He even followed them there and undo their base . Back at home he put down the r ebellious nobility and Nubian princess who collaborated with Hyksos. All the loot from Ahmoses victories, he heaped them at the feet of Amon, the sun god of Thebes .The priesthood of Amon consequently became the most magnateful in Egypt and Thebes the new corking. Pharaoh Hatshepsut (1490-1468BC) who married each of her half brothers in turn was, however, in her fifth year powerful enough to declare herself autocratic ruler of the country. She declared herself the child of Re and the gods designated ruler, had herself crowned with double crown and seated herself on the golden throne of pharaohs. The two peaceful decades of her reign were prosperous for Egypt . She concentrated her attention upon the countrys internal affairs and upon building enterprises, mainly her magnificent tabernacle at Western Thebes .The two achievements of which she was most proud were- 1. The expedition to punt where the Egyptian fleet obtained ebony and ivory perfumes and spices, apes ,monkeys ,leopar d skins, slaves and thirty-one live myrrh trees which were ceremonially replanted at the queens temple at Deir el Bahari. 2. The face lifting of two vast obelisks at the temple of Karnak. At her death/ Thutmose the third (1486-1436 BC) took over. He was a skilled archer and charioteer. The militaristic elements among the aristocracy who longed for more aggressive foreign policy loved him. He fought seventeen campaigns gainst a coalition of urban center states of Palestine-Syria-Lebanon/region. The coalition had been plotting at Megiddo to revolt against Egypts domination. Consequently, the whole country as far as the southern Lebanon came under Egyptian control. Egypt was therefore firmly established as a world power with a far reaching imperium (A. Abu Bakr/1990, 73). It stretched over much of the ancient Fertile Crescent, from the Euphrates to the forth cataract of the Nile. Thutmose the 3rd had well equipped army supplied with the in vogue(p) swords, bows and amour of the l ate Bronze Age. The army also used well constructed chariots.He established garrison townsfolks, local governors and a sophisticated system of dick kings to control what he had conquered. He raised obelisks as far south as the fourth cataract to signify his majestic expanse. These obelisks were looted and are found in Rome, Istanbul, London and New Yorks Central Park. Another with child(p) pharaoh was Akhenaton (Amenhotep the 4th/ 1364-1347 BC) who was also described as heretic pharaoh, a religious visionary or the doom of his dynasty(Esler A, The Human Venture, 2004, 54). He was physically abstemious with a frail effeminate luggage compartment with hardly the makings of soldier or statesman.He was mostly concerned with matters of the mind and spirit. In his youthful fascination, Akhenaton instituted a fore change of policy which led to the direct attack on the priesthood of Amon. initially he continued to live at Thebes where he had a great temple to Aton (the sun disk erect ed east of Amons temple at Karnak. Later, because of resistance to his reform in Thebes Akhenaton withdrew from the city. He founded a new conformation at El-Amarna in Middle Egypt which he called Akhetaton (the horizon of Aton) where he lived until his death.It was here that he changed his name from Amenhotep (Amon is satisfied to Akhenaton (He who is serviceable to Aton or spirit of Aton). Akhenaton proclaim Aton as the sole true god to be hero-worship end-to-end Egypt. He launched campaigns to destroy all the other cults and replaced them with the worship of Aton. accordingly Akhenaton was the first ruler to advocate for monotheism thirteen and a half centuries before Christ. Aton was equal not in human form like other gods but simply by the solar disk. Rays spread down from it and at the ends of the rays there were hands.Temples of Aton were built without roofs so that the worshipper strength commune directly with the god and feel his power in the sky above. The Atonist r evolution did not survive the death of Akhenaton. His indorse successor Tutankhamun returned to the faith of his ancestors and became a worshipper of Amon. However it was not until the reign of Horemheb as the last king of the Eighteenth Dynasty that the persecution of Aton began with the kindred persistence that had formerly applied to Amon (Abu-Bakr, 1990, 75). The Decline of Ancient EgyptIts decline could be attributed to the pursuance factors 1. The pudding stone had grown so big that it was not booming to hold it together against external attacks. The Hittites and the sea people (biblical philistines) constantly attacked the delta. 2. The weak kings undermined the state especially in the face of invaders. During the thousand years that followed the end of the New kingdom in the eleventh cytosine/ Theban priests, Libyan mercenaries, Nubian kings, Assyrians, Iranians, Macedonians and Romans ruled Egypt in turns. The Art, Thought and Achievements in Ancient EgyptSome of the art, thought and achievements are already discussed under the previous topics. For instance the roles of art and pietism as well as the establishment of pudding stone have been discussed. Perhaps what follows is to before long itemize others 1. The discovery of the art of writing in Egypt began as picture writing i. e. hieroglyphics carved with reed pens on papyrus. As a on the job(p) script therefore, hieroglyphic writing evolved over centuries into a cursive script called hieratic. The latter looked more like modern Arabic. 2. Scientific knowledge Astronomy, Egyptians split up the night sky into eparate constellations, compiled detailed records of the nightly positions of some heavenly bodies and constructed on this foundation a calendar that is close to the solar one in use to solar day. Mathematics Ancient Egyptians used mathematics to survey and re-establish limitation lines aft(prenominal) the annual inundation had washed out the line markers up and down the Nile. They also used measurement and calculation for architecture and engineering, for predicting harvests and totaling royal tax receipts. Medicine Ancient Egyptian medicine operated on the basis of experience and rules of the thumb.Egyptian doctors indeed showed genuine clinical concern with symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. Some of the order remedies include drugs, such as excogitateor oil that may even have done the patient some fair. 3. Construction Ancient Egyptians were great builders. They built in stone. The old kingdom pyramids still stand out as some of the wonders of the world. The forty five hundred years and the two and a half million cubic yards of solid stone in the great pyramid of Khufu is one example of human engineering feats. Obelisks were another Egyptian architectural specialist.They often stood almost a hundred feet high. Their hieroglyphic inscriptions described the achievements of the pharaohs who erected them i. e. Hatshepsut or Thutmose the 3rd. former(a) arch itectural feats include temples, tombs and sarcophaguses (stone coffins) 4. polytheistic Religion The sources of religion include ancient Egyptians need for supernatural athletic shoper to ensure a supply of game, growing herds or desire for human support when dealing with life transition and with specific afflictions i. e. wars, pestilence, famine and oppression. 5. To talk the inexpressible religious leadership turn to metaphor.This experience has brought religious conversation from the historically conditioned realities of a particular time and place i. e. the sun god sails down a celestial Nile in the mind of the Egyptian. 6. Egyptians worshipped many gods i. e. Amon-Ra, Osiris, Horus. The Origin of Civilization In The Rest Of Africa Since it is established that the earliest human species is in the land of the great lakes of East Africa, it becomes clear that the Egyptian civilization was not isolated from the areas where the earliest forms of human origins are situated. therefore there was a lot of interconnectedness between the north and the south.We use Kush and Nubia to illustrate this point. The Nubians supplied ancient Egypt with gold, ivory, ebony, ostrich, feathers and slaves. It also supplied cattle, grain, leopards (and their skins), giraffes (whose tails were used as vanish whisks, oils and perfumes among others. During the Egyptian decline, Nubian army went into Egypt and even took control of the Egyptian throne. Between the eleventh c. BC and the 4th c. AD, the Nubian territory constituted the state of Kush. This area loosely stretches from the first cataract of the Nile and the confluence between the Blue Nile and the White Nile.The region is presently between Egypts Aswan Dam and the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. During around 1500 BC, the area fell under the elaborationist New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. Egyptian Governors and garrisons, priests and artisans influenced Kush greatly. Sons of Kushite kings were educated at the Egyptia n royal court at Thebes. Egyptian temples and gods royal rituals and hieroglyphics were all transplanted to the Sudan. The Egyptian religious complex at Napata in particular became a centre for the spread of the Egyptian culture among the Africans beyond the cataracts.During the decline of Egypt from around 1100 BC, the kingdom of Kush regained its independence and flourished, none the less the Kushite kings still followed Egyptian ways and worshipped Egyptians gods. They recovered their deeds in hieroglyphics inscriptions and buried their dead under the pyramid like those of the old kingdoms. Around 750 BC the Kushite kings Kashata and Piankhi marched north and liberated Egypt from Libyan rulers. For more than half a century later the Kushite pharaohs of the 25th Egyptian dynasty ruled a dual kingdom that stretched around 1400 miles from the Blue Nile to the shores of the Mediterranean.The Assyrians expelled the 25th dynasty and replaced the Kushite kings in Egypt. The golden age o f Kushitic civilization was during Meroes ascendancy. Meroe built its cities in sun-dried bricks like Egyptians. Kushitic rulers succession was by consensus among the royal princes. The queen mother was uniquely powerful. Egyptian priesthoods i. e. the sun god was influential. But later it was replaced by the Kushite lion god Apedemek. The wealth of Kush lay in the location of its fertile land and its dynamic people. Kushite capital, Meroe was watered not only by the Nile but also by a evidential annual rainfall.Hence there was expansive pasture and cropland. There were such minerals as gold and iron. Kushite artisans exploited the iron ore so industriously that Meroe became one of the centers for the payoff of iron in Africa. Later Kush developed its own writing. The first centuries of Christian era witnessed the decline of Kush. Reasons could include limited land that ended up being overgrazed, the drying out of the land due to creeping of the Sahara southwards and the loss of i ts northern customers, Egypt. Trade in the east was taken over by Axum which destroyed the kingdom of Kush finally.THE ORIENTAL CIVILIZATION Introduction The oriental as an adjective derives from the noun orient which refers to the East. The concept of East as used in reference to countries in Asia was tending(p) by the Europeans. Therefore in our discussion, we will look at such civilization as those of Mesopotamia, Hebraical, Persia, India and China. THE quaint CIVILIZATION OF MESOPOTAMIA Ancient Mesopotamia was situated between River Tigris and River Euphrates. Indeed it was because of these two rivers that the Greeks called the land Mesopotamia to mean land between the rivers. Between 3,500 and 539 B.C cities and temples emerged first in Sumeria in the delta at the head of the Persian disconnection. This was followed by more cities and temples in Akkladian, Babylon and climaxed in Assyria. All these constituted Mesopotamia. Gradual drying out of the sea covered delta at the mouths of the two rivers exposed the fertile side that may have attracted neolithic farmers to migrate from the hilly areas and moved to settle in the villages at spend or Sumeria. These early inhabitants built reeds houses in the delta and hunted birds and speared fish. They were also farmers much as they hunted and gathered wild fruits.From this area, the ancient Sumerians built over centuries a type of civilization that was later emulated. The Sumerians first discovered how to tame the flooding waters of the Tigris and Euphrates. They constructed dykes, canals and irrigation ditches that converted the water from destructive actions to more profitable uses like enabling the society to produce enough foods stuffs. The Sumerians planted barley and wheat. They cultivated date palm for fruit and palm wine. Sumerians reared sheep and goats from which wool and blur clothing was made.They used oxen to pull, plough, donkeys were beasts of burden, horses and camels were domesticated l ater. These latter animals were obtained during the Sumerian war encounters against their neighbouring foreigners. Mesopotamia developed such crafts as textiles, pottery and stone carving, smelting of copper and deterioration of bronze. They also invented the wheel solid and spoked (The human punt vdl) P. 37) To go along with the wheel, the Sumerians invented the carts and wagons. It is assumed that they were the first to invent writing. However, their most important invention was city itself. The city became the centre of civilization.In Mesopotamia, cities had high and thick walls with special gateways. Inside the walls, the town was divided into four quarters by main streets that entered the city through four main gates. Dominant features in the city-state were kings palace, the temple of gods, and large houses of leading citizens. Temples or Zigguarats were pyramidal, terraced towers visible from far beyond the city walls. Streets were mostly narrow and winding, crowded with s hopkeepers, artisans, slaves, citizens and even priests. The city had the aristocrats who included royal officials, members of the royal family and the chief priest of the major temples.The midst class included textile manufacturers, metal work manufacturers in copper and bronze, and merchants. In the fields outside the walls were peasant, serfs and slaves. Among this lower cadre of society, very few peasants were free citizens. nigh were tenant farmers holding their land in return for payment in kind to absentee landlords, serfs and slaves worked on land owned by the royal family and the chief gods of the city state. These cadres of lower members in society were subjected to strict rules enforced by supervisor who made sure that the workers irrigated farms to sustain city life.The shadoof method was widely employed in irrigation. A shadoof was a long pivoted pole with a weight at one end and a bucket at the other. The tool was used to lift water from larger channels into the furr ows where the seeds were planted. some other methods of irrigation included levees which were constantly fortify, canals and ditches as irrigation methods were redredged to prevent silting up. Hence a good deal of cooperation was necessary for the success of the said group work. Mesopotamia women worked as weavers, pottery makers, farm workers and manual workers.In summer and Babylon, women could own property, sign legal contracts and put away in business themselves. Monarchies and cults of gods were central institutions in Sumerian society. Temples came first. The pyramidal Ziggurats and freehanded temple complexes of gods and goddesses Anu, Enhil, Enlil, Ninhursag and Imana (the last was also known as Ishtar) dominated the apparent horizon of the Sumerian city. Each city had its own patron among the heavenly assembly, who was believed to produce rising rivers and rich harvests to keep misfortunes at bay and to maintain law and order.MESOPOTAMIAN EMPIRE An empire was the most gross larger form of political organization beyond the city states. Several efforts were made at this empire building by such rulers as Sargon of Akkad, Hammurabi of Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar in the New Babylonian empire. However Persians reduced these efforts by making Mesopotamia as a Persian satrapy or province. Several factors frustrated the Mesopotamia efforts at uniting. They included i. Attacks from the outsiders who included Akkadians Gadians, Kassites and Persians. ii. The existence of fragmented feudal order in Mesopotamia.This led to division of power among land owning aristocracy. iii. The tendency of a number of regions to break up into middle sized states which enjoyed their own hegemonies and resisted efforts from outside that aimed at imposing larger order on the entire Mesopotamia. iv. Polarization among rival Mesopotamian city states frustrated efforts by any that aimed at uniting Mesopotamia. v. The unity which occurred temporarily was due to triple-crown conf rontations accompanied by losses in human lives and destruction of property. The following are some of the successful attempts.Sargon of Akkad king of Sumerian founded a dynasty around 2300 BC His dynasty governed most of Mesopotamia for about a century. From a lesser Sumerian city state, Sargon replaced his royal master on the throne, overthrew the dynasty of Uruk and conquered most of the Tigris and Euphrates valley. He garrisoned his conquests with Akkadian soldiery and built himself a new capital at Agade. Sargons son and grandson ruled after him. However, a volcanic eruption may have brought drought to the region. The violent Gatians swept down from neighbouring hills destroyed Agade and its lofty Mesopotamian domain.Sargon is thus remembered as the worlds first empire builder. Hammurabi, also known as the law presenter of Babylon (1792 -1750 BC) was innate(p) king of Babylon. The sixth in the line of Amorite rulers, Hammurabi governed Babylon for about thirty years before e mbarking on his expansionist venture into the rest of Mesopotamia. Employing shrewd statecraft, good timing and military force, Hammurabi expanded his empire far beyond the confines of his predecessors. For a brief period, he and his successors had authority over all the people of Mesopotamia (Human Venture, 42)Hammurabi the law-giver introduced a code of laws covering a range of civil and criminal matters. They tackled family relations, land laws, business laws, personal injury, military service, matters touching on witchcraft and taxes. Some of his laws are coarse seen from the present times. For instance, a principle of an eye for an eye a life for a life is cited for being extreme. But looked at with knowledge about our present judicial system, would you consider them strange? Hammurabis code observed some accessible hierarchy. There were laws for slaves and laws for their masters.For example, a noble was punished more gratingly for the same offence than his social inferiors. Here one gets the impression that might is not always right Does it operate in our society? At his death, Hammurabi had built so expensive an empire that his successors were unable to hold together. Attacks from enemies like Kassites, from the east weakened the empire. Within a century and a half, the empire had crumbled away. It took some time before other unifiers, this time from Assyria emerged. As the Babylonian empire declined, the Assyrians emerged as a military power right from the ordinal century BC.By the later part of the eighth century BC, they were incorporating their victims into a large and growing empire. In the seventh century BC under Sennacherib and Assurbanipal, Assyrians conquered Egypt and most of Mesopotamia. Thus under Assurbanipal Assyrian empire briefly ran from the Nile valley to the Persian Gulf. However, in the last part of the seventh century BC, chaos bedeviled the Assyrian empire. In 612 BC, an associate force of Chaldeans from Babylon and Medes fro m the eastern mountains attacked Assyria, overcome it and destroyed its city Nineveh.One lasting legacy the Assyrians were known for was savage brutality. The Assyrian decline prepared room for the rise of New Babylonian imperium. During the New Babylonian empire, Nebuchadnezzar II (605 -562) was a dominant figure. before long after the fall of Nineveh, while still prince of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar commanded the Babylonian army which had defeated the Egyptian forces at (carchemish in 605 BC. As king, he repeatedly attacked Palestine, destroyed Jerusalem and forced Judeans into exile At its peak, the new Babylonian empire equivalenced in size with the Assyrian empire at its climax.It thus stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea during the sixth century BC. Nebuchadnezzar II was a great builder of canals and caravan roads as well as temples and palaces. He raised huge new walls around his capital, eleven miles long and very wide. He opened the broad processional way through the heart of the city to the Ishtar gate. He built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, towering Ziggurat featuring terraces planted with trees and exotic plants. It is said he did this to please his median(prenominal) wife who miss the hills of her mountains home.Nebuchadnezzars successors were not able to keep the huge empire risk-free from external attacks. Hence in 539 BC, the Persian conqueror, also known as Cyrus the Great defeated the rulers of the New Babylon Empire and ushered in a new era. THE HEBREW CIVILISATION Introduction In this section, we look at the Hebraic (or Jews) as a people, their efforts at establishing their Jewish Kingdom and the lasting legacy to posterity. It is at their legacy that the aspect of monotheism is critically discussed. It is also worthy noting that Hebrew history is intertwined with the Old Testament story.. The Hebrew peopleAt the beginning of the second millennium BC the Hebrews were part of the nomadic population of Semitic spe akers who wandered and settled along the shores of the Arabian Desert between Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. Abraham, the founder or patriarch of the Hebrew association moved from Ur with his wives and children, servants, shepherds and flocks around him and settled for a time in Palestine (Canaan) situated around Jordan River. A section of the community moved into Egypt where tradition states they were oppressed in the New Kingdom of Egypt. Hence in the thirteenth century BC, these Hebrews resumed their wanderings.Their liberator, Moses held them together for forty years in the wilderness of Sinai. Moses rallied them behind a single God, Yaweh. Hence by the 1200s BC, the Hebrews had become monotheists (The Human Venture, Vol. 1, p. 67) and promised to obey his commandments. It is believed, Gods messenger to the Hebrews, Moses wrote the Torah, also known as Pentateuch. These were the first five books of the Bible. Thus, through these books, Moses the liberator and law giv er became a world historical figure. The Hebrews had some of their sections also known as Yehudim which when translated into English became Jews.Hence the genesis of the name that mostly refers to the present descendants of the Hebrews. The Hebrew Kingdom When the Hebrews ultimately settled at Palestine, all the cardinal paganal groups evolved into a kingdom. Earlier, before making this decision, the Hebrew communities were divided and disunited along clan and ethnic lines. Their leaders were called judges. At times they were also guide by charismatic prophets. Shortly before 1000 BC, however, all the twelve ethnic groups resolved to follow a single king who was to be also a war leader capable of winning wars against their enemies.Saul, David and Solomon were some of the first kings of the Hebrews. David (1010-960 BC) a gifted military leader defeated the Philistines and holy the conquest of Canaan. He cemented the political unity of the twelve ethnic groups, established a Hebre w state and began to build a Hebrew capital at Jerusalem. Generally regarded as the strongest of Hebrew rulers, David is reputed for founding a concentrate kingdom of Israel in the tenth century BC. Indeed Soul, the first ruler made effort but could not score definitive supremacy against enemies of the Hebrews. Hence when he fell in battle, he was replaced by David.David was later succeeded by Solomon (960-920 BC), his son, reputed for his wisdom. Solomon was a shrewd diplomat and a great builder. He married many wives and kept many concubines, he built a magnificent palace for himself and a great temple for Yaweh. Solomon further strengthened and equipped his army with chariots and new iron-age weapons. Furthermore, he built, rebuilt and fortified a number of cities. Solomon also constructed ships and traded with the Phoenicians and even down the Red Sea. Hence, Solomon in a way symbolized the governmental ideals of wisdom and power in the service of the people.In his effort to e nsure that the Hebrew Kingdom remained powerful in the region, Solomon employed huge amounts of fag out and money. He used oppressive taxation, forced labour and other harsh measures that made him unpopular among his people. Differences among the urban and commercial northerners and the pastoral, agricultural and more religious southerners of his kingdom weakened the monarchy. The emerging rebellion split the kingdom after Solomons death. The Fall of the Hebrew Kingdom The split of the Hebrew Kingdom into Judah in the South and ruled from Jerusalem and Israel in the North attach the fall of the kingdom.The nation of Judah was made up of two of the Hebrew communities while Israel had ten of the original twelve ethnic groups. Neither of the two could guard attacks from more powerful enemies who included the Assyrians and Babylonians. Hence in the eighth century BC, Israel was conquered by the Assyrians while Nebuchadnezzar II of New Babylonian empire defeated Judah in the sixth cen tury (586) BC. Jerusalem and Solomons great temple were destroyed. Many Hebrews were held captive in Babylon. Others fled to Egypt and beyond, beginning the diaspora or dispersal of the Jewish people.Some captives escaped and returned to rebuild the temple of their Lord, Yaweh, before the end of the sixth century BC. But such short-lived Jewish states as what emerged in later periods could not withstand attacks from Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Arabs and Turks. It was not until 1948 that a new nation of Israel, approximating the size of the one ruled over by David, was declared. That nation of Israel is still work fending off attacks from Arabs. The Birth of Monotheism The earliest Hebrews were organised along family, clan and ethnic lines.As forward argued, the twelve ethnic groups were believed to have descended from the twelve sons of Abraham. Within the family, patriarchate prevailed. Male heads of families had power over wives and children. Polygamy was allowed for men weal thy enough to support several wives. Only sons could inherit property because daughters could marry away from the families. A wife retained control of the dowry she brought with her to her marriage. But she had few other property rights. Divorce was unproblematic for men but difficult for women to secure. How does this compare with our present circumstances?There were exceptions though. Some women stepped outside the family centred system entirely. Some exercised political power as judges, or religious authority as prophetesses e. g. Deborah. Some like Judith who slew the commander of an invading host (The Human venture, Vol. 1, p. 71) were hailed as national heroes for their deeds. Religion played a central role in Hebrew life. In fact, the many ancient Hebrew laws preserve in the Old Testament had a deep religious touch much as they also reflected the traditional Hebrew values. One such law was the principle of an eye for an eye.Other Hebrew laws also prescribed kinds of foods to be eaten, persons and communities from which to marry or be married among, or what punishments to be assumption out against violations of these taboos. Hebrew prophets carried the words of their god, Yaweh, carved on two stone tablets in a chest as they preached to their people. They entitle their divinely ordained rule in a promised land in Palestine. all over a millennium and half between Abraham and the return to Jerusalem from Babylon, the Hebrews evolved a unique conception of divinity and of humanitys relationship to it.During Abrahams time, the Hebrew worshipped their own god without interfering with the other communitys way of worship. But by Moses time, Hebrew uncanny leaders began to insist that Yaweh demanded exclusive worship in return for his special patronage. The spiritual leaders further insisted that Yaweh was the only real God in the universe. During the second millennium BC, the Hebrew began believing that Yaweh demanded exclusive devotion from Hebrews. The y believed that Yaweh was a overjealous god and would tolerate no others. Over the centuries, Hebrews believed that Yaweh could not tolerate any images of himself.He thus remained a purely spiritual presence. He remained an incarnation of such superhuman qualities as all knowledge, absolute power and benevolent caring who had miraculously selected the ancient Hebrews as his chosen people. Yawehs prophets of the first millennium BC preached ethical monotheism, stressing the moral dimension of the worship of one God. In sermons to the Hebrews, preachers like Samuel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah insisted that Yaweh demanded believers to obey the commandments that forbade murder, theft, lying, covetousness and many other sins.The prophets also preached that Yaweh demanded social justice from his people. The rich were not to oppress the poor, nor the mighty oppress the weak. The prophets preached that God had made a Special Covenant with the Hebrews. Whenever they sinned, God punished them st ernly i. e. by having them enslaved in Egypt or held captives in Babylon. But if they remained loyal to him only and kept his commandments, they would get a promised land where they would have respect among nations. It is this monotheistic legacy that the Hebrews have bequeathed to posterity.For instance, in the first century AD, Jesus Christ, born and raised in the Jewish community of Northern Palestine, became the founder of the Christian faith, a faith that later spread around the world. In the seventh Century AD, the Prophet Muhammad, an Arabian merchant conversant with both Judaism and Christianity, founded the third major world religion, Islam. Down through the centuries Hebrew leaders like Moses and Solomon would be honoured not only in later Judaism, but also in the Christian Old Testament and the Muslim Quran. ANCIENT PERSIA Ancient Persia is situated in the Middle East.A region known to have given rise to many civilizations including Mesopotamia. During the millennium of the Christian era, the broad diversified Middle Eastern region had intermittent unity under a serial of Persian dynasties. Some of the leading Persian unifiers include the Achaenemids (550-331 BC). The Achaenemids are a royal house which was founded by Cyrus the Great. The Persians were Indo-European descendants who had migrated into the Iranian tableland hundreds of years earlier. In the sixth C BC, Persians were still a war-like semi-pastoral people living in the mountains of what is present day Western Iran.There they were within easy reach of the Euphrates and Tigris valley. Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Shepherd was a self made emperor. He was merciful with defeated enemies, tolerant of all religions and very courageous. He was a brave fighter. By the middle of the 6th C, the Medes who had participated in the destruction of the Mesopotamian Empire were weak. This enabled Cyrus, a hereditary chief of the Persian people who were tributary to the Medes to rise. In 55 0BC, Cyrus invaded and overthrew the last Medean king of the Medes and crowned himself king of the Medes and Persians.For the next twenty years, Cyrus waged many victorious campaigns. Cyrus horse soldiers wore leather breeches and to a great extent felt boots, sat on their rugged mountainous ponies and were armed with immix bows. In his reign and that of his successors, Persia expanded to become the largest empire in the 6th century. nigh three years after seizing control of the Median confederacy, Cyrus crossed the Taurus Mountains into present day Turkey and overthrew king Croesus of Lydia. utilize the wealth acquired from Croesus, Cyrus marched eastwards subduing residents of present day Iran and Afghanistan.In the process of expanding Persian Empire, Cyrus also expanded his troops so that by the time he invaded the New Babylonian Empire, the weaker and disunited Babylonian leaders were no match for him. About 539 BC Cyrus easily occupied Babylon, bringing to an end the Mesop otamian independence. Persia became the greatest power in the Middle East. About nine years later, Cyrus was killed in war in eastern part of todays Iran. Cambyses, his son succeeded him and conquered Egypt. Cambyses successor, Darius 1(522-486) further extended Persian Empire into northern India and Macedonia, on the northern bound of Greece.Darius 1 also known as Darius the Great thus governed over a huge empire, from the Egyptians, Babylonians, Lydians, Greeks, Persians and Medes among others. To administer the expansive empire effectively, it was divided in provinces (satrapies). Each satrapy was under a Satrap (governor) who was often a member of the imperial family or a leading local nobleman. The satraps were tending(p) political, military and fiscal autonomy on a large scale. As long as a satrapy paid its tribute on time and provided its share of recruits for the army, the province could be left on its own in local matters.But to invalidate any rebellious satrapies, garri sons of royal troops were strategically situated crossways the huge empire. In addition, there were also royal agents (the kings eyes and ears) who monitored on the satraps and regularly briefed the rulers of the empire. Darius formulated a single imperial code of laws based on the Mesopotamian model. He also borrowed the idea of minted specie from the Lydians and began minting gold and silver coins. Besides he established a common set of weights and measures, a system of royal couriers and mail, a common calendar borrowed from Egypt and Aramaic, as a lingua franca.Aramaic was already widely used by business people in the general area. Darius was also a builder. He set up a network of hundred of miles of roads linking the far removed places of Persian Empire. Some ran from the capital at Susa to the Western City of Sardises Darius and his successors loved relaxing in gardens which they called Paradises and in great palaces at Susa, Bablylon and Persepolis. From the fifth century B . C. some Satrops began revolting against the Persian rule. For instance, the Ionian Greek City-states revolted and were support by Athens. Gradually palace intrigues undermined the power of the empire.Even women were ruthlessly conspiratorial and by the fourth century B. C. Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia attacked and destroyed Achaemenid Empire. Attempts to revive the empire by such groups as the Seleucids (323-250 B. C. ) and the Parrthians (250 B. C. -224A. D. ) could not succeed. The two were not Persians and from 224 A. D. , the Sassanids, an Iranian group took over and ruled Persia until 641A. D. The four hundred year reign of the Sassanids is thus viewed as a restoration of the Achaemenid rule (Esler, A. , The Human Venture Vol. 1 p. 153). The Sassanids constructed an elaborate system of power.The bureaucracy, the Iranian barons and the Magi (Priests of Zoroaster) were most influential. The Grand Visier, was the Kings right hand man and operational head of the state. Other powerful officials included the chief priest, head scribe, and general of the armies. Iranian barons granted estates along the frontiers of the empire and provided a flexible border defense. While argue their own lands, the barons by the same means also protected the Sassanid Empire. The Magi collect the peasant land tax on which the government depended and also provided religious sanction for Sassanid imperial power.Indeed under the Sassanids, Persian Empire emerged to the expansiveness of the earlier Achaemenid Empire under Darius and Xerxes. During its greatest the empire reached todays Pakistan in the east and Egypt in the west. In the north the empire reached Central Asia upto the suburbs of Constantinople. The expansion of the empire made it fall into conflict with such western powers as Ancient Rome and Medieval Byzantine Empire. At one time the struggle took on a religious overtone between Zoroastrianism (Persia) and Christianity (Rome and Byzantium).Finally the Sass anid Empire was overwhelmed by the Muslim conquerors. The Persian Society and Culture Ancient Persian Empire was a class based society. The classes included the aristocrats, officials, priests, merchants, artisans, peasants, workers and slaves. In terms of gender relations, it depended on regions. In Mesopotamia women worked in handicraft industries while in Egypt women enjoyed legal rights. For example, a marriage contract guaranteed the bride to return her dowry in the event of the marriages dissolution and also receive a third of the maintains earnings. The Faith of ZoroasterInitially, Persians were polytheists. They worshipped Anahita, goddess of the life-giving waters and Mithra, god of the Sun. sacrificial fire played a central part in the religion of the early Persians. But from the sixth century, Prophet Zoroaster founded a new religion, Zoroastrianism. 6 hundred years before Christi, Zoroaster preached a faith that resembled present day Christianity. He preached belief in one god, Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord, god of light, uprightness and truth. Ahura Mazda was the creator of all things, the judge of all people, and the rewarder of virtue with spiritual blessings.Zoroastrianism proclaimed Liar as the prince of darkness. Liar was also known as Abriman. He preached that the universe was the battle ground between Ahura Mazda and his agent Mithra on the one hand against Abriman on the other. Zoroaster urged all human beings to take a stand in the struggle between the two forces. He predicted victory for Ahura Mazda and his chase would enter paradise while those who served Liar (Abriman) will be cast into the bridge of judgment into a pit of darkness and torment. The faith became a faith of the royal family and nobility in Persia.Ahura Mazda was symbolized in a small human figure at persepolis. Zoroastrianism was largely a religion, therefore of the aristocrats given that Persians seldom sought converts to it. Nonetheless Zoroastrianism spread eastwards to India where the Parsi sect comprises the largest body of Zoroastrians in the world today (Elser, The Human Venture, p. 156). The cult of Mithra the sun god, promoter of light against darkness spread westwards into Rome. Even Liar found a place in foreign pantheons such as monster of the Christians. The Indian Civilization IntroductionIn this sub-topic we look at the general overview of the Indian subcontinent, its earliest organization, and invasion from outside before eventually discussing the evolution of the empire. There after we will examine the major philosophical and religious contribution of India to the rest of humankind. The Indian Subcontinent Indian subcontinent is made up of raised areas such as the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas as well as the river valleys and coastal plains. It is in these valleys that the Indian civilization was born and later expanded to cover the entire sub continent.It is argued that the subcontinent is about two thousan

Compare and contrast the dictatorships of Hitler and Stalin Essay

Totalitarianism is when all three powers of the state (judicial, executive, and legislative) are controlled by 1 person. This is what happened in the twentieth century when Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin became the dictators of Germ whatever and Russia. They were similar in many ways nevertheless had completely different fundamental ideas.Hitler was born in 1889 in Austria . He left school with no qualifications and fought in the First arena War. Stalin was born in 1879 in Georgia. His original name was Iosif Dzugashvili but he changed it to Stalin (which means man of steel). twain Hitler and Stalin had relatively low backgrounds.Both Hitler and Stalin came to power in difficult times. After loosing the First World War, Germany was in dept. There had been a hyper-inflation and the Germans were eager for change. Russia on the other hand was in the middle of a revolution and communism was being installed. Both Hitler and Stalin were undefended of using the current sparing situa tion to help them to power undimmed everything the Germans and Russians wanted. Unlike Stalin, Hitler was very good at making speeches but they were two devious and ruthless leaders.Neither Hitler or Stalin believed in democracy but they still had very different beliefs. Stalin was a member of the Russian communist Party. He thought that a country could only progress downstairs this regime where everything be larges to every angiotensin converting enzyme and there are supposedly no rich and no poor everyone is equal. Hitler was fascist he believed that all Jews, homosexuals, mentally ill and gypsies should be killed and only the Aryan race should live (white Europeans who had blond hair and full-bodied eyes). Hitler besides wanted to destroy the communist party and rebuild his host to expand Germany. Both leaders wanted to rebuild their country and take away it more powerful.Hitler and Stalin two used terror to keep volume in line. They had a large secret police that t hey would use to crush any opposition. In some(prenominal) countries people and children were encourage to report on one another. People who criticized or opposed Hitler or Stalin were arrested tortured and killed or displace to gulags (in Russia) or concentration camps (in Germany) where they did forced labor. Gulags were often situated in Siberia and the prisoners were severely fed and dressed and not payed. Hitler and Stalin would not hesitate to kill or exile any political opponents or people seen as threats indoors or without of their party. Both dictators banned all other political parties.Hitler and Stalin were both able to control what the population though and what information it received. They controlled the cinema, education, arts, the media (newspapers and radio) They also controlled devotion in Russia belief in God was replaced by belief in communism and Stalin. Propaganda played a big roll in both their dictatorships. In Russia, paintings, films, plays and poster s gave a positive image of Stalin, promoting him as the best leader. In Germany, propaganda was used to show that the Nazis were doing the best things for the Germans. Propaganda always exaggerated and promoted Nazi achievements and ideas. In both cases failures were hidden from the public.Both Hitler and Stalin changed life a lot for the people of their countries. They created a lot of jobs but the workers were very badly paid and worked for long hours. Stalin created jobs in the industry and farming and Hitler in the military and infrastructure. Stalin believed that women should work besides and in 1937, forty percent of workers were women. Hitler on the other hand believed that women were to retard at home and take care of the children. When Hitler came to power he ransacked most women that were already working. In both cases their were very few women in politics. Children were taught that Hitler/Stalin were heroes. Schools were used to promote communism and fascism. Girls wer e taught baking and childcare. Outside of school children were encouraged to join the Hitler Youth (in Germany) and the Pioneers (in Russia). Boys were shaped to become industrial workers or soldiers and girls to turn up and take care of a family.Under both Hitler and Stalins dictatorships the lives of the Germans and Russians were changed a lot. They both controlled what information got to the people and used terror to maintain order. They were also both able to use to their advantage many things like the economical crises. Though both rulers had different goals they had similar means to achieve them.

Hrm in South Africa

International Human vision Management Your subsidization is to orchestrate a country of your choice and consider how the human resource solicitude function has been shaped by the internal and external contexts. Conclude your assignment with some suggestions as to what the coming(prenominal) mightiness hold for the field of HRM in your elect country. The idea behind the module is for you to explore the meaning and implications of the concepts and ideas of multinational and comparative human resource management. There is no one bearing of defining and rationality the nature and purpose of HRM.HRM varies according to the cultural and institutional environment in which it is conducted. It is suggested that you choose a country with which you ar familiar, peradventure your home country, as this may enable you to provide examples to support your analysis. However, the grievous point is to choose a country that may be quick researched by access to texts and other available info rmation. Assessment criteria These are referred to in your Handbook. However, as a guide you need to show judgement of the diverse concepts and ideas discussed in the sessions, including knowledge of the perspectives to the employment relationship.This leave behind include the extent to which socialisation clashings upon the relationship how semipolitical, economic and social contexts influence the relationships indicate some under standing of differing approaches to management development and have some understanding of the importance of employee relations. outline outline of the essential criteria Distinction an assignment demonstrating big c all overage and understanding of the subject, including a strong searing analysis and evaluation. Commendation an assignment demonstrating full coverage and understanding of the subject, with some critical analysis and evaluation.Pass an assignment demonstrating wide coverage and understanding of the subject, only if mainly descr iption rather than critical analysis and evaluation. Structure Choose a country that has been researched in the past times i. e. a place where HRM practices are commented on and discussed. Consider and comment on internal and external context that have influenced HRM factors CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF alive RESEARCH Conclude with recommendations, as well as suggestions as to what the future may hold for HRM in the country of choice. An analysis of current HRM practices in the Republic of south around Africa IntroductionThis study pass on investigate and explore cardinal to three aspects of HRM practises within the Republic of siemens Africa. In order to create an insight into how the country functions, it allow for be important to understand the unlike internal and external factors that may have influenced current HRM practices. to the south Africa is a multicultural country with a rapidly growing economy, and is widely seen as one of the most stable democracies in Africa, having recently emerged from the infamous apartheid era. The southbound African economy is the largest in the continent, and the 28th largest in the world.The country lobbied heavily, and was at long last invited to join the economic and political organisation BRICS in 2011 (Smith 2011), and has solely successfully hosted the annual BRICS conference (2013) for the first time. Concerns have however been expressed over whether south-central Africa deserves its place among the BRICS, as the country has the lowest levels of regimen spending, feel expectancy, and literacy order within the group, while the South African GDP comprises just 2. 5% of that of the combined BRICSs GDP (Smith, 2013).In addition, while the worlds of India and China stand at over a billion people, South Africa has a population of 50 million of which almost a quarter are discharged and live on less than ? 1 a day (Seria &038 Cohen, 2009). This luxuriously poverty level is a major contributor to the curse rates in South Africa, with Johannesburg being infamous for its steep levels of crime (Diseko, 2010). The most concerning crime considered to be the extent of rape and force out against women in South Africa. With two rapes occurring every minute (Itano, 2003), a typical South African cleaning lady is estimated to have a 40% chance of being dishonor (Middleton, 2011).Domestic violence is also reportedly high, with statistics suggesting that one woman is killed by her keep up/partner every eight hours in South Africa (Faul 2013). The practice of tonic rape is a major problem, which is based on the incorrect picture that the rape of lesbians can cure them of homosexuality (Mufweba, 2003). The South African government is well aware of all these problems, and has made a number of attempts to accept them head on, including the amendment and strengthening of laws that deal with sexual offences.The government notes that the problem is ruminative of deep-seated, systemic dysfunction in o ur society (Government Gazette South Africa, 2007). Diseko (2010) argues that the high crime levels have had a massive impact upon the South African economy, with recent research showing that the country has been experiencing a brain peter out (Kok, 2006). Moolman (2012) highlights cases of high numbers of skilled engineers and other professionals emigrating to MDRs (More Developed Regions) such as Australia and North America.Dreyer, cited in Moolman (2012) argues that while South Africa holds 80% of the worlds chromium, manganese, gold and platinum reserves, the shortage of skilled workers means that costs are becoming too high for the industry to be profitable. The statistics for 2001 show that precisely 181 managers or skilled professionals immigrated to South Africa from MDRs, with 645 going the opposite way (Statistics South Africa 2003, cited in Kok, 2006). These statistics highlight the struggle that South Africa faces with regard to the attraction and computer storage of talented skilled workers to help keep its economic growth on an upward trajectory.However, Diseko (2010) argues that this phenomenon is reversing, and cites South Africas rapidly growing economy and political stability have seen it once again become a exculpate importer of skilled workers. He claims that South Africa now appears an attractive proposition to South African expatriates as well as foreign skilled workers, and argues that this salary import of skilled workers is driven by economic factors such as the recession within MDRs, such as Europe and North America. ethnical factors are also vitally important within the business environment, as they affect the context of business and social interactions.Hofstede has develop a In order to understand the cultural aspect of South Africa countryHofstede (2013) This essay will explore current HRM practices in South Africa, with three major aims let out your country of choice Justify your choice of country Provide a contemporary ove rview of the country (50 words) Identify the cultural features of your chosen country victimisation Hofstede or another cultural theorist Explain how those cultural features impact upon HR practices in that country (100 words) Identify the PESTLE factors affecting your chosen country. Explain how those PESTLE factors impact upon HR practices in that country. 100 words) What might the future hold for HR in your chosen country? (50 words) These areas will be investigated through a review of existing literature, which will be critically analysed in order to identify areas that may be developed in future. Definition highly debated, as various HR practitioners intend this in different ways. Macey &038 Schneider (2008) argue that the term is used to describe behaviours, traits and psychological states, and their associated outcomes. Access Talk about how the new educational processes being introduced will enhance variation among the talent pool if it works. ttp//geert-hofstede. com/imp rint. html http//geert-hofstede. com/dimensions. html SA at the moment may have the need for people and have the people, but the skills of the people may not match up to the requirements. what has been driving the change, crime rate in johannesburg, violence, more economic potential than actual, growing quite an fast, next to BRICKSA is the definition of emerging economies going to include SA? Look at growth rate of BRICKSA economies andcompare to European and US economy. TABLE stagnation in western economies, but is growth being shown as a comparative within the BRICKSA economies.References Diseko, L, (2010), South Africas brain drain coevals returning home, procurable at http//clauses. cnn. com/2010-11-18/world/south. africa. migration_1_south-africans-violent-crime-job-seekers? _s=PMWORLD, Accessed on 15/03/13 Erasmus, B, Van Wyk, M, Schenk, H, (2003), South African Human Resource Management Theory &038 Practice (3rd Edition) Formeset, Epping, Cape Town Faul, M, (2013), Sout h Africa violence against women rate highest in the world, Available at http//www. huffingtonpost. com/2013/03/08/south-africa-violence-against-women_n_2837804. tml, Accessed on 03/08/13 Government Gazzette South Africa, (2007) Online, Criminal law (Sexual offences and related matters) Amendment Act 2007, Available at http//www. info. gov. za/view/DownloadFileAction? id=77866, Accessed on 12/03/13 HRPractice, (2011), Online, Findings from a operate survey, Available at http//www. hrpractice. co. za/newsletters-online/200907. html Accessed on12/02/13 Itano, N, (2003), Online, South Africa begins getting tough on rape, Available at http//womensenews. org/ reputation/rape/030224/south-africa-begins-getting-tough-rape.UVB2sBzIbX4, Accessed on 15/03/13 Macey, WH, &038 Schneider, B, (2008), The meaning of employee engagement, industrial &038 Organisational Psychology, Volume 1, pp. 3-30 Middleton, L, (2011), Corrective rape Fighting a South African scourge, Available at http//www. time. com/time/world/article/0,8599,2057744,00. html, Accessed on 12/03/13 Moolman, S, (2012), Online, The brain drain continues, Available at http//www. miningweekly. com/article/the-brain-drain-continues-2012-08-10, Accessed on15/03/13 Mufweba, Y, (2003), Online, Corrective rape makes you an African woman,Available at http//www. iol. co. za/news/south-africa/corrective-rape-makes-you-an-african-woman-1. 116543. UVB9mhzIbX4, Accessed on 14/03/13 Seria, N, &038 Cohen, M, (2009), Online, South Africas unemployment rate approaches 23. 5%, Available at http//www. bloomberg. com/apps/news? pid=newsarchive&038sid=aoB7RbcZCRfU, Accessed on14/03/13 Smith, D, (2013), Online, South Africa More of a briquette than a BRIC, Available at http//www. guardian. co. uk/world/2013/mar/24/south-africa-bric-developing-economy, Accessed on13/03/13 SA HR Best Practice Summit Reportback http//www. hrfuture. et/education-and-training/sa-hr-best-practice-summit-reportback. php? Itemid=265 ARE YOUR EMPLOYEES empl oyed? http//www. hrpractice. co. za/news/news. html http//www. info. gov. za/view/DownloadFileAction? id=117580 Human resource practices and discrimination in South Africa overcoming the apartheid legacy http//www. ingentaconnect. com/content/routledg/rijh/2002/00000013/00000007/art00008 Managing human resources in South Africa A multinational firm focus http//www. emeraldinsight. com/books. htm? chapterid=1761939 http//books. google. co. uk/books? id=uilaYjWdvN4C&038printsec=frontcoverv=onepage&038q&038f=false

Carl Jung Theory Essay

Jungs theory divides the psyche into three split. The first is the ego, which Jung identifies with the cognizant mind. near related is the person-to-person unconscious(p) mind, which includes anything that is not presently conscious, plainly can be. The range of a functionl unconscious is like close the great unwasheds understanding of the unconscious in that it includes both memories that atomic number 18 easily brought to mind and those that subscribe to been stifled for both(prenominal) reason. But it does not include the instincts that Freud would boast it include.But thusly Jung adds the part of the psyche that makes his theory stand out from whole some others the embo expired unconscious. You could call it your psychic inheritance. It is the reservoir of our obtains as a species, a sort of knowledge we ar all born with. And yet we can neer be directly conscious of it. It figure outs all of our experiences and behaviors, most especially the ablaze ones, bu t we only know close it indirectly, by looking at those influences.T present atomic number 18 some experiences that show the effects of the joint unconscious much clearly than others The experiences of love at first sight, of deja vu (the feeling that youve been here before), and the immediate recognition of certain symbols and the meanings of certain myths, could all be silent as the sudden conjunction of our outer man and the inner reality of the incorporated unconscious.Grander precedents atomic number 18 the creative experiences shargond by artists and musicians all e realwhere the dry land and in all times, or the spiritual experiences of mystics of all religions, or the parallels in dreams, fantasies, mythologies, fairy tales, and literature. A nice example that has been greatly discussed deep is the near-death experience. It frontms that some(prenominal) people, of many different cultural backgrounds, find that they have very similar recollections when they at omic number 18 brought back from a close encounter with death.They deliver of leaving their bodies, seeing their bodies and the events surrounding them clearly, of being pulled through a hanker tunnel towards a bright light, of seeing deceased relatives or sacred figures waiting for them, and of their disappointwork halet at having to leave this happy scene to paying back to their bodies. Perhaps we are all built to experience death in this fashion. Archetypes The contents of the incorporated unconscious are called airplane pilots. Jung too called them dominants, imagos, mythological or primordial images, and a few other names, but pilot burners seem to have won out over these.An ideal is an unlearned tendency to experience things in a certain look. The cross has no form of its own, but it acts as an organizing principle on the things we see or do. It works the way that instincts work in Freuds theory At first, the baby practiced wants something to eat, without knowing what it wants. It has a rather indefinite yearning, which, nevertheless, can be at rest by some things and not by others. Later, with experience, the fry begins to yearn for something more specific when it is hungry a bottle, a cookie, a broiled lobster, a slice of New York style pizza.The pilot program is like a blacken hole in space You only know its there by how it vagabonds matter and light to itself. The mystify archetype The mother archetype is a bad-temperedly good example. All of our ancestors had mothers. We have evolved in an environment that include a mother or mother-substitute. We would never have survived without our connection with a nurturing-one during our times as helpless infants. It stands to reason that we are built in a way that reflects that evolutionary environment We come into this world put up to want mother, to seek her, to recognize her, to deal with her.So the mother archetype is our built-in ability to recognize a certain relationship, that of mothering. Jung says that this is rather abstract, and we are likely to project the archetype out into the world and onto a particular person, unremarkably our own mothers. Even when an archetype doesnt have a particular real person available, we tend to personify the archetype, that is, turn it into a mythological tommyrot-book office. This character symbolizes the archetype.The mother archetype is symbolized by the primordial mother or earth mother of mythology, by Eve and Mary in western traditions, and by less imagel symbols such as the church, the nation, a forest, or the ocean. According to Jung, someone whose own mother failed to satisfy the demands of the archetype may hale be one that spends his or her life seek comfort in the church, or in identification with the motherland, or in meditating upon the figure of Mary, or in a life at sea. Mana You mustiness understand that these archetypes are not sincerely biological things, like Freuds instincts.They are more spi ritual demands. For example, if you dreamt active long things, Freud might argue these things represent the phallus and ultimately sex. But Jung might have a very different interpretation. Even dreaming quite specifically about a penis might not have much to do with some unfulfilled need for sex. It is curious that in primitive societies, priapic symbols do not usually refer to sex at all. They usually symbolize mana, or spiritual power. These symbols would be displayed on occasions when the pot liquor are being called upon to increase the yield of corn, or fish, or to improve someone.The connection between the penis and strength, between semen and seed, between dressing and fertility are understood by most cultures. The shadow brace and the life instincts in general are, of course, represented somewhere in Jungs system. They are a part of an archetype called the shadow. It derives from our prehuman, animal past, when our concerns were limited to selection and reproduction, a nd when we werent self-conscious. It is the dark side of the ego, and the execration that we are clear of is a good deal stored there. Actually, the shadow is amoral neither good nor bad, just like animals.An animal is capable of tender care for its young and vicious killing for food, but it doesnt choose to do either. It just does what it does. It is innocent. But from our human perspective, the animal world looks rather brutal, inhuman, so the shadow becomes something of a garbage can for the parts of ourselves that we cant quite admit to. Symbols of the shadow include the ophidian (as in the garden of Eden), the dragon, monsters, and demons. It a great deal guards the entrance to a cave or a pool of water, which is the collective unconscious.Next time you dream about wrestling with the devil, it may only be yourself you are wrestling with The persona The persona represents your public image. The word is, obviously, related to the word person and personality, and comes from a Latin word for mask. So the persona is the mask you put on before you show yourself to the outside world. Although it begins as an archetype, by the time we are finished realizing it, it is the part of us most distant from the collective unconscious. At its best, it is just the good tone we all wish to present as we fill the roles society requires of us.But, of course, it can also be the false impression we use to manipulate peoples opinions and behaviors. And, at its worst, it can be mistaken, even by ourselves, for our true nature Sometimes we believe we really are what we pretend to be Anima and animus A part of our persona is the role of male or female we must play. For most people that role is determined by their physical gender. But Jung, like Freud and Adler and others, matte that we are all really bisexual in nature. When we begin our lives as fetuses, we have undifferentiated sex organs that only gradually, under the influence of hormones, become male or female.Like p erspicacious, when we begin our social lives as infants, we are neither male nor female in the social sense. Almost instantaneously as soon as those pink or blue booties go on we come under the influence of society, which gradually molds us into men and women. In all societies, the expectations placed on men and women differ, usually found on our different roles in reproduction, but often involving many dilate that are purely traditional. In our society today, we still have many remnants of these traditional expectations.Women are still expected to be more nurturant and less aggressive men are still expected to be strong and to ignore the emotional side of life. But Jung felt these expectations meant that we had positive only half of our potential. The anima is the female aspect present in the collective unconscious of men, and the animus is the male aspect present in the collective unconscious of women. Together, they are referred to as syzygy. The anima may be personified a s a young girl, very spontaneous and intuitive, or as a witch, or as the earth mother.It is likely to be associated with deep emotionality and the force of life itself. The animus may be personified as a discerning old man, a sorcerer, or often a number of males, and tends to be logical, often rationalistic, and even argumentative. The anima or animus is the archetype through which you travel by with the collective unconscious generally, and it is important to get into touch with it. It is also the archetype that is responsible for much of our love lifeWe are, as an ancient classic myth suggests, always looking for our other half, the half that the divinity fudges took from us, in members of the diametrical sex. When we fall in love at first sight, then we have found someone that fills our anima or animus archetype particularly well Other archetypes Jung said that there is no fixed number of archetypes that we could obviously list and memorize. They overlap and easily melt into each other as needed, and their logic is not the usual kind. But here are some he mentions Besides mother, their are other family archetypes. Obviously, there is father, who is often symbolized by a guide or an authority figure.There is also the archetype family, which represents the idea of blood relationship and ties that run deeper than those based on conscious reasons. There is also the pincer, represented in mythology and art by children, infants most especially, as well as other small creatures. The Christ child celebrated at Christmas is a manifestation of the child archetype, and represents the future, becoming, rebirth, and salvation. Curiously, Christmas falls during the winter solstice, which in northern primitive cultures also represents the future and rebirth. People use to light bonfires and perform ceremonies to encourage the suns return to them.The child archetype often blends with other archetypes to form the child-god, or the child-hero. Many archetypes are s tory characters. The hero is one of the main ones. He is the mana personality and the defeater of evil dragons. Basically, he represents the ego we do tend to identify with the hero of the story and is often engaged in fighting the shadow, in the form of dragons and other monsters. The hero is, however, often dumb as a post. He is, after(prenominal) all, ignorant of the ways of the collective unconscious. Luke Skywalker, in the Star Wars films, is the perfect example of a hero.The hero is often out to rescue the maiden. She represents purity, innocence, and, in all likelihood, naivete. In the beginning of the Star Wars story, Princess Leia is the maiden. But, as the story progresses, she becomes the anima, discovering the powers of the force the collective unconscious and becoming an equal partner with Luke, who turns out to be her brother. The wise old man guides the hero. He is a form of the animus, and reveals to the hero the nature of the collective unconscious. In Star War s, he is played by obeah Wan Kenobi and, later, Yoda.Notice that they teach Luke about the force and, as Luke matures, they die and become a part of him. You might be curious as to the archetype represented by Darth Vader, the dark father. He is the shadow and the master of the dark side of the force. He also turns out to be Luke and Leias father. When he dies, he becomes one of the wise old men. There is also an animal archetype, representing humanitys relationships with the animal world. The heros close-fitting horse would be an example. Snakes are often symbolic of the animal archetype, and are thought to be particularly wise.Animals, after all, are more in touch with their natures than we are. Perhaps loyal little robots and reliable old spaceships the falcon are also symbols of animal. And there is the trickster, often represented by a clown or a magician. The tricksters role is to baffle the heros progress and to generally make trouble. In Scandinavian mythology, many of t he gods adventures originate in some trick or another(prenominal) played on their majesties by the half-god Loki. There are other archetypes that are a little more difficult to talk about. One is the master key man, represented in western religion by Adam.Another is the God archetype, representing our need to comprehend the universe, to give a meaning to all that happens, to see it all as having some purpose and direction. The hermaphrodite, both male and female, represents the gist of opposites, an important idea in Jungs theory. In some phantasmal art, Jesus is presented as a rather feminine man. Likewise, in China, the character Kuan Yin began as a male saint (the bodhisattva Avalokiteshwara), but was portrayed in such a feminine manner that he is more often thought of as the female goddess of compassionThe most important archetype of all is the self. The self is the ultimate unity of the personality and is symbolized by the circle, the cross, and the mandala figures that Jung was friendly of painting. A mandala is a drawing that is used in meditation because it tends to draw your focus back to the center, and it can be as simple as a geometric figure or as complicated as a stained glass window. The personifications that best represent self are Christ and Buddha, two people who many believe achieved perfection. But Jung felt that perfection of the personality is only truly achieved in death.