ancient egypt robin burke gam 206. outline o bibliographies o game analysis continued o egypt
TRANSCRIPT
Ancient Egypt
Robin BurkeGAM 206
Outlineo Bibliographieso Game Analysis continuedo Egypt
Analysis Papero extension until Monday
Bibliographieso Three possible grades
o Plus, Check, Minuso Era
omeans you forget to specify a historical context (time/place)
Reference formato Many people had
inadequate referenceso references have a purpose!o doing them correctly is not
hardo http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.e
du/apa.html
Web referenceso Very few correct web referenceso Here is a correct example
o Piccione, Peter (1980) "In Search of the Meaning of Senet". Eliott Avedon Museum and Archive of Games. Retrieved September 26, 2006 from http://gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Piccione/
o Noteo title, author, name of site, date
created, date retrievedo the reader must be able to follow
your footsteps
Primary sourceso Very few correct references to
primary sourceso (partly my fault)o usually you will be referring to a
document quoted somewhere elseo you need both pieces of informationo you need to identify your source as
specifically as you can
o Correct exampleo Alfonso X, king of Castile and Leon, 1221-
1284, "Manufacture of chess board and pieces." From Libros del ajedrez, dados y tablas (Folio 3R). Reproduced in Alphonso X Book of Games. Retrieved September 26, 2006 from http://games.rengeekcentral.com/F03Rchessintro.html
Game analysiso We want to use games as
sourceso primary sources related to
particular periods
o What can we learn?o what questions do we ask to
understand a game?
Frameworko Rules
o formal structure of the gameo how the game workso how outcomes are determined
o Playo what it is like to play the game
o Cultureo how the game makes contact with
society
o If this topic interests you, consider taking GAM 224
Experientialo What is the game like to
play?o cannot be answered by
analysiso you must play the gameo not always enough?
o Exampleo awari
o What makes a game "fun"?
Core mechanico What is it that players do?
o move pieceso draw cards, discardo run around a field
o Are decisions easy to make?o game moves fastero Briscola
o Do they involve strategic calculation?o game moves slowero Chess
o Do they involve private information?o players may try to guess the others'
situationo players may try to deceive each othero Poker
Roles / Simulationo Does gameplay involve
roles that players take on?o Tapp Tarocko President
o Does it simulate or abstract some real activityo Diplomacy
o Fun may be in doing these roleso performanceo wish fulfillment
Narrativeo Game take place over time
o can be said to have narrative structure
o For exampleo every chess game starts the same
o but ends (generally) differently
o there is a story in there
o Simplest exampleo Rock-Paper-Scissors
o For some games this narrative is the whole pointo Game of Life
Questions to asko What makes the game fun?o What do players do to play?o Are there roles?
o What degree of performance is involved?
o What is the narrative structure of the game?o Is it delineated in advance or
emergent?
Culturalo What can we learn from a
game about its creators and players?
o Some obvious places to starto they enjoy its core mechanico they enjoy the roles that the
game provideso they enjoy its narrative
structure
More in-deptho Cultural / societal factors
o Predispose players to enjoy these things?
o Predispose players to accept a certain narrative?
o Yalom's argumento chivalryo mariolatryo existing role modelso predisposed players to accept
a powerful queen piece
Egypto "The gift of the Nile"
o Herodotus
o What was this gift?o watero silt
o The other gift of geographyo isolation
Geographyo East
o Arabian deserto West
o Sahara deserto North
o "blue desert"o South
o mountainso cataracts of the Nile
o Nile was a natural "highway"o excellent internal mobility
o Result: Egypt was difficult to invade
Stabilityo Maintained cultural and
political continuity (more or less) from 3100 BCE to 525 BCEo the same religiono the same arto the same language
o Think about this!o Let's go back 2600 years from
todayo Unique in this extremely long
period of relative stability
Civilization Rule #1o You must grow more food
than you can eato Surplus means
o artisanso commerceo taxeso full-time armies
Civilization Rule #2o Surplus requires
infrastructureo In Egypt
o irrigationo granarieso land reclamationo port facilities
Civilization Rule #3o Infrastructure requires
organizationo the state
o In Egypto theocracyo the ruler (pharoah) was a god
ocoronation was ascension to godhood
o succession took place through female progenyo"marry the right woman"oand also through assertion of
power
Periodso Early Dynastic
o 3100-2686o Upper and lower suddenly (or
gradually?) became unitedo Old Kingdom
o 2686-2181o Pyramids are built
o Middle Kingdomo 1991-1786o Advances in technology and crafts
o New Kingdomo 1567-1085o Colonial expansion and then
collapse
Isolation Endso Nubians
o 8th century BCE
o Assyrians o 7th century BCE
o Persians o 6th century BCE
o Greeks o 4th century BCE
o Romans o 30 BCE
o Persians o 616 CE
o Arabs o 639 CE
Sourceso Many written sources
o papyrus scrollsowell preserved
Forms of writingo Hieroglyphic
o "sacred pictures"
o Hieratico shorthand for hieroglyphico easier to write fast
Demotico Evolved to replace hieratic
o except in religious texts
Rosetta stoneo Contains the same inscription
inohieroglyphicodemoticoGreek
o deciphered byJean Francois Champollion in 1822
What do they sayo Political
o Lists of kingso establishing legitimate succession
o Lawso Accounts of battles
o Commercialo tax recordso land recordso contracts
o Religiouso prayerso instructions for rituals
Example: The Negative Confession
I have not blasphemed a god,I have not robbed the poor.I have not done what the god abhors,I have not maligned a slave to his master.I have not caused pain,I have not caused tears.I have not killed,I have not ordered to kill,I have not made anyone suffer.I have not damaged the offerings in the temples,I have not depleted the loaves of the gods,I have not stolen the cakes of the dead.I have not copulated nor defiled myself.I have not increased nor reduced the measure,...I have not added to the weight of the balance,I have not falsified the plummet of the scales.I have not taken milk from the mouths of children,...I am pure, I am pure, I am pure, I am pure!From The Book of the Dead
Other sourceso Many artifacts
o potteryo funereal artifactso jewelryo statues
o Bodieso mummified remains
Death and Mummieso Egyptians were obsessed
with deatho probably the desert was one
reasono earliest, clearest articulation
of an afterlife
o Afterlife = Continuation of Lifeo in the land of the godso very materialistic
oyou could take it with you
Case in Pointo Tutankhamen
o a totally minor kingo last of his dynastyo disgraced because of his
father Akhnaten
o And yet he is buried with a mound of looto http://www.kingtut.org/
chicago/gallery2.htm
Including thiso A board for the game of
Seneto actually 4 different Senet
boards in the tomb
Social Organizationo Court
o royal familyo multiple wives / concubines
o advisors / ministers
o Priesthoodo mostly hereditaryo secluded in temples and religious citieso embalmers
o Commonerso farmerso artisans
o Slaveso usually foreigners captured in battleo could hold important jobs
Egyptian Technologyo Egyptians were great builders
of stone and bricko pyramidso templeso wood was rare and very precious
o Egyptians had very advanced medicineo much admired and copied by the
Greekso Egyptians developed
mathematicso especially geometry and surveyingo Erotosthenes (276-194 BCE)
measured the circumferences of the earth
Egyptian Religiono Religion was very concrete
o Images of the gods were the godso They had to be fed, robed, sung to,
praised, and otherwise cared foro Gods expected perfection
o Religion was not particularly publico There were regular public ritualso Temples were built to exclude
common peopleo especially from the innermost holy places
o Many of the rituals were secret knowledge
o severe penalties for disclosure
Godso Amun-Ra
o national god of Egypto identified with the pharaoho sun godo bringer of life, creator
o Osiriso order and virtueo killed by Seth and
resurrectedo god of the dead
o Isiso wife and sister (!) of Osiris
o Horuso son of Osiris after his rebirtho represented as a falcon
o Setho god of evil and disorder
Afterlifeo Egyptian beliefs very
influentialo some argue Christian views
derive from themo After death
o join with the Amun-Ra when setting
o travel through the underworldo soul would be judgedo passing through 12 "houses"o reward
oeternal lifeo rising with the sun god