The Colossal Head Essays - Egyptology, Africa, Ancient Egypt

The Colossal Head The Colossal Head When we think of ancient Egyptian art, we think of deteriorating stone statues, bits and pieces of old architecture, and faded paintings of animals in dark caves and caverns. All of these ancient ruins are part of what shaped Egyptian culture back in the times of Dynasties. Their artwork not only revealed so much of their religion, rituals, and culture, but it also served as a basis for developing and advancing art. The Colossal Head, found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was one of the many early sculptures of Egypt. It came from the late Third or early Fourth Dynasty (2600-2530 B.C.E.). It's no more than two feet high and is made of Red Granite stone. The face of the sculpture has a fleshy, full look to it and most of the features are very blunt, giving it a very healthy, powerful appearance. The eyes are empty as are the eyes of most ancient sculptures so as not to give them any particular focus or expression, and they are styled with regular upper and lower curves, making them semicircular. The mouth is long and fine-lipped which is typical of Fourth Dynasty kings. It curves neither up nor down, showing no emotion whatsoever, creating a very vacant, placid stare. The Seated Statue of Gudea and The Female Head from Uruk are just a couple of other statues with the same empty, expressionless stare. However, the rest of the features of the sculpture and the thick neck are more like images from the Third Dynasty. The tops of the ears and the tip of the nose have been broken off either with carelessness or with time, both of which cause the damage of many ancient sculptures. The statue of Senmut with Princess Nefrua is another of the many sculptures that had been broken over time. Although it has not been proven, the sculpture has been identified as King Huni who best fits the style of this image of an early Old Kingdom Pharaoh. This particular sculpture matches the description of so many others, almost like a generic pattern. Nearly every sculpture from the Third and Fourth Dynasties has the bold facial features, the vacant eyes, and the emotionless face. They were never intended to impress, but to simply be a devotion to a higher power or ruler. While each statue is always slightly different than the next, they seem to all fall into the same category and have the same style, always very modest and usually religious. Egypt is a land of dazzling buried treasure and quiet tomb secrets. Only the dead can experience these treasures however, for they were gifts from the living for the afterlife. The Egyptians, like so many other cultures, were polytheistic and firmly believed in life after death. To make the transition from life to death, the Egyptians would bury their dead with some of their favorite items to take with them to the afterlife. Some of these treasures were very extravagant and valuable. It seemed almost as if the afterlife was more important than actually living. They spent their existence preparing for what came next. Whole temples and enormous statues were constructed as dedication to the deceased. The Stepped Pyramid of King Zozer, measuring three hundred ninety-four feet by three hundred sixty feet, was just one of the many pyramids built in honor of a pharaoh or ruler. The term "Pharaoh" comes from the bible. When we hear this word we think of government, religion, and a way of life. The scriptures used this name to designate rulers in Egypt. It was also used to describe the "Great House", the royal palace where all orders affecting the civil and religious life of the Egyptians were issued. Eventually, the king began being referred to as the "Great House" or Pharaoh and it soon became customary to combine this name with the king's personal name. From then on, Egypt always had a pharaoh ruling over them. By doing this, Egypt had developed one of the first great civilizations that was literate, bureaucratic, and technologically advanced. It centered all it's power and aspirations around a single divine pharaoh who was the master of ceremonies and who made all decisions for Egypt. Egyptian culture was very similar to Greek culture throughout the Third and Fourth Dynasties (the Third Dynasty was also known as the Memphite Dynasty because while some areas of Egypt began to lose their importance, Memphis secured its position as the capital). They influenced and contributed to each others civilizations by means of architectural advancements, religious beliefs, and technological

The Impact of Social Media on the Middle East Uprisings essays

The Impact of Social Media on the Middle East Uprisings essays The lecture in class discussed the expanding availability of social media outlets in the Middle East and its effect on government censorship and the ability to gain and share information with the world. The ability to instantaneously spread information has allowed citizens from oppressed nations to gain power and speak out against severe political, social and economic issues. Despite attempted control from oppressive governments, social media is exposing the current crises and economic state of the Middle East. I believe social media has positive and powerful potential to revolutionize and transform the troubled governments operating in Middle Eastern countries that are part of the Arab Spring because, through the rapid growth and accessibility of technology; information has been made accessible to the world and that knowledge is the catalyst of revolutionary change. Facebook and Twitter have undoubtedly changed the way we give and receive information. With the click of a button, the world can see a picture or video in seconds. With such information now capable of spreading rapidly around the world, people are informed. This has compelled people to intervene, start protests, campaigns and even intervention from the United States government in international matters. A prime example of social media exposing corruption happened in Syria in 2008. The fuel subsidies were abolished, tripling the price of fuel overnight. As a result, the price foodstuffs quickly increased. Subsequently, Syrian food prices rose 30%. Syrian bloggers reported, after the regimes attempt at a price hold it caused hoarding. The rise in global food cost hit Syria with devastation and exposed the incompetence of the regime and corrupt, fractured economy (Goldman, 2011, p. 38). Also, in 2008 the world was instantaneously aware after the first shots were fired in the Mumbai te rrorists attacks, allowing the entire world an eyewitness account of the unfolding d...

Aluminum vs Aluminium Element Names

Aluminum vs Aluminium Element Names Aluminum and aluminium are two names for element 13 on the periodic table. In both cases, the element symbol is Al, although Americans and Canadians spell and pronounce the name aluminum, while the British (and most of the rest of the world) use the spelling and pronunciation of aluminium. Origin of Two Names The origin of the two names may be attributable to elements discoverer, Sir Humphry Davy, Websters Dictionary, or the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). In 1808, Sir Humphry Davy identified the existence of the metal in alum, which he at first named alumium and later aluminum. Davy proposed the name aluminum when referring to the element in his 1812 book Elements of Chemical Philosophy, despite his previous use of alumium. The official name  aluminium was adopted to conform with the -ium names of most other elements. The 1828 Websters Dictionary used the aluminum spelling, which it maintained in later editions. In 1925, the American Chemical Society (ACS) decided to go from aluminium back to the original aluminum, putting the United States in the aluminum group. In recent years, the IUPAC had identified aluminium as the proper spelling, but it didnt catch on in North America, since the ACS used aluminum. The  IUPAC  periodic table presently lists both spellings and says both words are perfectly acceptable.   History of the Element Guyton de Morveau (1761) called alum, a base which had been known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, by the name alumine. Davy identified the existence of aluminum, but he didnt isolate the element. Friedrich Wà ¶hler isolated aluminum in 1827 by mixing anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium. Actually, though, the metal was produced two years earlier, though in impure form, by the Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian Ørsted. Depending on your source, the discovery of aluminum is credited to either Ørsted or Wà ¶hler. The person who discovers an element gets the privilege of naming it; however, with this element, the identity of the discoverer is as disputed as the name. Correct Spelling The IUPAC has determined either spelling is correct and acceptable. However, the accepted spelling in North America is aluminum, while the accepted spelling just about everywhere else is aluminium.

The Hollywood Renaissance of the 1960s and Early 1970s Essay - 1

The Hollywood Renaissance of the 1960s and Early 1970s - Essay Example The decade of the 1960s and into the early 1970s marked a period of turbulence and change in the American socio-political landscape. Among the events giving way to this landscape were the civil rights movements, the hippy culture, radicalism among students, the new left, feminism, the gay rights’ movements, the anti-Vietnam war movements, the Kennedy assassination, the Watergate scandal, the US withdrawal from Vietnam and the oil crisis among other events (King 2002, p. 14). The period of the 1960s and early 1970s was also the Cold War era and many Americans feared a nuclear attack (Neve 1995, p. 221). Arguably these events were quite dramatic and imposed on American culture in a very short period of time. I.The Hollywood Renaissance One of the most striking features of the Hollywood Renaissance was Hollywood’s departure from an attempt to idealize American life and culture. Instead, a majority of the films produced during the era of the 1960s and 1970s appealed to America’s conscience and adapted a social expression. The arts in general gave voice to the socio-political underpinnings of the times and attempted to contribute to change. Man (1994) observed that Hollywood cinema depicted â€Å"common themes† that: ...included the breakdown of traditional values, socio-political oppression, the psychology of sex and violence, moral ambiguity, alienation, solipsism, paranoia, and disillusionment (p. 1). During the 1960s and the early 1970s, filmmakers had greater creative freedom in that the studio system faded out and filmmakers had the ability to be more critical of social issues and could be more innovative (Ryan and Kellner 1988, p. 6). The Production Code was also eliminated during this period and a rating system much like the current system was started. As a result, filmmakers were able to take on topics and issues that were not previously permitted (Ryan and Kellner 1988, p. 6). Kramer (2005) identified three common themes that characterize the films attributed to the Hollywood Renaissance of the 1960s and the early 1970s. First, the films of this period were described as a â€Å"large number of challenging films† (Kramer 2005, p. 2). Secondly, a majority of the most successful films were produced by a select number of young film directors many of which had graduated from film schools such as Francis Ford Coppola who had graduated from the University of California in L os Angeles. Finally, the â€Å"intense formal and thematic innovation† that marked the films of the 1960s and early 1970s ended with the production of block-bluster films such as Steven Spielberg’s 1975 Jaws and George Lucas’ Star Wars of 1977 (Kramer 2005, p. 2). Nystrom (2009) explained that this new class of directors and producers began to perceive its audience as youthful and intellectual (p. 26). This was the main factor that influenced the culture depicted in film production during the 1960s and the early 1970s. The prevailing view was that the audience was such that it was no longer enough to simply entertain. This new audience was open to the examination of ideas and issues. Michael Laughlin, Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) reportedly said that: Our generation has gone beyond mere entertainment. We are too well educated, too intelligent to be just entertained (Nystrom 2009, p. 26). Buck Henry screenwriter for The Graduate made a similar observation. Henry note d that during the era of the Hollywood Renaissance: Heroes can now be intellectual, which they never were in American films. Perhaps it’s because, until recently, the audience was so profoundly anti-intellectual itself. But the younger generation identifies with the melodrama of ideas (Nystrom 2009, p. 26). Paul Williams, director of Out of it (1969) and The Revolutionary (1970) linked the Hollywood

Possible Turnaround Strategies for the Business Essay

Possible Turnaround Strategies for the Business - Essay Example The paper tells with the understanding that the business operation is based on a quality product as the explanation, increasing the presence of the business in the local market would help to create a good name and a household brand which can be easily sold to outside world. With the brand now famous in the home country, it would be easy even to partner with the international companies and market the products since they would be acting as ambassadors based on the good name built in the local market. However, this would be a wise decision because of the local competition and the possible saturation of the local market. Increase competition or saturation of the local market would make the operation and expansion strategy difficult for the business. According to Audley, the other strategy can through going international at once. This is probably the most efficient way of expanding a local SME to attain international standard. However, this would be a tricky move also very involving. It w ould require proper preparation in terms of capital investment and also in terms of management. Going international for an SME is quite involving but very rewarding in case it is executed accurately. Having seen at the two possible turnaround strategies for the business, let us now look at the requirements that would help in the expansion process. First, it would require a huge amount of capital investment. This is needed in for licenses and business premises. Perhaps the most important thing to understand here is that the owner must first become conversant with the international laws governing international business. This is important in order to understand the terms of payment and transfer of money. The owner of the business needs to establish an account to receive all payments depending on the mode of operation. Having a sound financial backing is of crucial importance before venturing into international business as the business requires huge inputs.

The Youth Today - Are They More Impatient Than a Few Decades Ago Essay Example for Free

The Youth Today Are They More Impatient Than a Few Decades Ago Essay It has been rightly said that we spend the first half of our lives trying to understand the older generation, and the rest half in understanding the younger generation. Every age has its own charm. Youth has always felt somewhat exasperated with age and age has always been suspicious of youth. With their natural ebullience and impatience, a majority of young people are keen to act and learn on their own rather being guided by the experience of elders. The older people being more at home with words rather than action often make noises about the youth being impatient and rude. In every generation, old men are found to shaking their hoary heads and waxing nostalgic about the good old days when youth of their time knew better and showed due reverence to age and tradition. Some of the charges brought against modern youth are that they represent a rudderless generation without any ideals to live by or cause to live for. They are afflicted with compulsive irreverence which manifests itself in increasing defiance of parental authority and revolt against established social norms. On the slightest pretext they take to streets, indulging in violence. They want to attract attention through unconventional behavior. They are becoming a generation of drug addicts and have developed an aversion to honest hard work, ever on the look out to have something for nothing. Its no longer anxious youth going forth, into a hostile world. Now its hostile youth going forth into an anxious world this is not sure what to expect from it. If we come to think about it, it is not only the youth which is restless, human society itself is in a state of flux. Growing affluence in developed societies has generated among the youth there a restlessness which pined for instant rewards. The children get all the money they need from parents and seldom face the need to work for a living. In the under developed countries also, young generation are feeling disgruntled because their visions of a happy future are being obliterated either by internal strife or political opportunism. This provokes the youth to protest against rampant corruption in society and the denial of social justice. In the circumstances, is it to be wondered at if all talk of dedication to ideals, renewed moral vigor and basic virtues leaves the youth cold and unconvinced? They are no longer prepared to blindly accept whatever their elders choose to ram down their throats. They are prone to subject to critical review all the social and political values they are called upon to accept. When they se high sounding principles invariably being ignored for expediency, political leaders deliberately hoodwinking the masses, vested interests being allowed to frustrate the state of every step, corruption common in high places and other gaping differences between promise and performance, they naturally become cynical and clamor for change. Students form a very important group among the youth of all nations. Their biggest and most legitimate grievance is that what they learn after putting so much time, effort and money has very little relevance to the realities of life with which they come face to face after leaving the university. It is but natural that they should want to have a say in determining what should be taught so that it has some relevance to their future. They would no longer tolerate politickers veiled as teachers. They consider themselves quite capable of looking after themselves. If we look at youth today in the light of foregoing, it will be apparent that it’s not the young alone who are to blame for the state of mind in which we find them. They may well be charged with being ignorance of what they want. Theirs is a movement of protest against hypocrisy and lack of integrity in their elders. Evidently, this concern for the future and this anxiety to rescue life from hypocrisy is very laudable indeed. But it cannot be said that the young are all the time guided by such high purpose. Dissent is required in fact obligatory when things go wrong. Violence comes natural to youth. The young, supremely sure that the authority against which they are up in arms is unjust and oppressive and feeling cretin of the correctness of their own stand, react emotionally. The intensity of their feelings is such that it fills them with hatred and they turn to violence. On the whole, the younger generation today is much misunderstood and more maligned than it deserves. The world which it is going to inherit will be immensely more exciting than the world of its predecessors ever was or could be. At the same time, life will present to it a much bigger and far more complex challenge. It would not do to condemn it and find fault with it that is easy enough. What is really important is that it is treated with understanding so that it can develop to faculties to reshape the world it is going to inherit in accordance with its noblest vision.

The Great Gatsby: The Decline of The American Dream Essay -- The Great

The pursuit of the American Dream has been alive for generations. People from nations all over the world come to America for the chance to achieve this legendary dream of freedom, opportunity, and the â€Å"all American family†. However, in the 1920’s this dream began to take a different form. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, unfolds what the American Dream really meant during the roaring 20’s. The Great Gatsby tells a story of the affluent Jay Gatsby and his dream of attaining the love of the married Daisy Buchanan. In this novel, Gatsby’s dream of love is unmasked and reviled as a dream of materialistic things. Fitzgerald shows that each character truly glorifies only money, power, and social stature. During the 1920’s, these things were the only thing people dreamt about. The symbolism in The Great Gatsby illustrates how the American Dream became corrupt in the 1920’s. Fitzgerald has an amazing talent to create symbols for things that could be overlooked by any reader such as colors. Every color mentioned has a meaning even if it may not seem it. White and green are the main colors mentioned in the novel. White can often be portrayed as wholesome and innocent. However, in this novel white actually represents the false purity or decency in some of these characters. Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker, a friend of Daisy’s, are always seen wearing something white. Daisy and Jordan both seem as if they are sweet and innocent at first, but deep down you see it is only and act and they are truly careless and selfish. Gatsby also wore white on his first meeting with Daisy after five years so that he would appear to be good and pure. The 1920’s also had this way of deception. The fads such as jazz, fashion and art all made the 1920’... ... Gatsby’s dream of winning Daisy embodied the American Dream in the 20’s. Gatsby, as well as everyone in the 20’s, only dreamt of the materialistic in life and it didn’t matter how it was achieved. When talking about Gatsby, Nick says, â€Å"If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream.† (Fitzgerald 161). This quote explains that it’s sad that one man only had one dream that he paid high prices for and never got it. Fitzgerald shows that in the 1920’s people only had one dream of power no matter what it took, and in the end it was never attained because of the selfishness of their dream. Through Fitzgerald’s symbolism, it is shown that the American Dream in the 1920’s was corrupt and fell apart. Work Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.