Unit 1 Image Analysis and KEY
1. Look at the depiction of the Venus figurine in this painting. What features are exaggerated? What do these exaggerations suggest about the role of the figurine in early human societies?Your answer should include the following:
• The image shows a representation of a woman with exaggerated sexual features. These exaggerations suggest a close interest in fertility.
• Fertility and the birth of new life were of critical importance to early human societies.
• The small numbers of each group and constant dangers would also have emphasized the importance of birth and rebirth of life.
2. Looking at the two images above, what can be discerned about the division of labor within early agricultural systems?
Your answer should include the following:• The first image, showing women harvesting grain, indicates that planting, plant cultivation, and harvesting were skills deployed by women during the neolithic era.
• These skills complemented those of men, who engaged in animal domestication, asseen in the second image.
3. Looking at the image, describe some of the occupations depicted there, and what this suggests about Sumerian society.
Your answer should include the following:• The image shows people engaged in a number of activities. On the highest row, men are
sitting in chairs and being served food and wine by servants.
• The middle row shows men engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry with oxen and
sheep.
• The lowest row shows men carrying goods and leading animals, most likely for trade.
• These images suggest that Ur, like other Sumerian cities of its time, possessed a
socially stratified society whose economic system was dependent on both agriculture
and trade for wealth.
4. Looking at the figures depicted, suggest what they tell us about the economy and society of ancient Sumer.
• The figures portrayed on the Royal Standard of Ur indicate that Sumerian society was
both socially and economically diverse.
• A significant number of professional occupations existed, and the economy
included both agricultural and trade features that brought wealth and prosperity to Ur and
its inhabitants.
5.Looking at the image, what does it suggest about Assyrian military tactics?
• The image suggests the Assyrians employed large armies and engaged in siege warfare against the city-states of the regions they conquered.
• The execution of prisoners seen in the image also suggests the Assyrians were brutal in their conquests, not only as a means of gaining victory but also as a psychological means of forcing opponents to submit without the need for military action.
6. The Assyrians enshrined these images within their royal palaces. What does this suggest about the priorities of the Assyrian
empire?
Your answer should include the following:
• The images of battle scenes were included on royal palace walls as a visual confirmation of the nature of the Assyrian empire.
• The empire was built on and sustained by military expansion. It also reflected the highly militarized nature of Assyrian imperial
society.
7. Looking at the image, what can be understood about the technology of Phoenician ship design?
Your answer should include the following:
• As the image shows, Phoenician ships were long, masted ships with rudders.
• They employed rowers and rectangular sails.
• They used a variety of methods, including hauling and towing, to transport commodities.
8. What does the image of Phoenician ships transporting cedar logs tell us about the nature of the Phoenician contribution to the eastern Mediterranean economy?
• As this image found in an Assyrian palace suggests, the Phoenicians linked Mesopotamia with the Mediterranean basin in an economic overland and maritime network.
• Phoenician traders transported raw materials, exotic luxury items, textiles, andconstruction materials throughout the region.
9. Looking at the image, identify commodities and other goods exchanged between Nubia and Egypt.
Your answer should include the following:
• As the image shows, Nubians provided Egyptian elites with a variety of exotic African products.
• These included animals such as cattle, giraffes, large cats, and monkeys.
• Animal hides, horns, and skins were also exchanged, as were golden rings, exotic timbers, and other items.
10. Looking at the image, what does it suggest about Egyptian society's structure and access to wealth?
Your answer should include the following:• The image shows goldsmiths fashioning a variety of gold jewelry and decorative objectsfor elite patrons.
• It indicates ancient Egypt was a highly productive and wealthy society, whose surpluses translated into wealth accumulation and social stratification.
• Large numbers of professional artisans existed within a complex social framework dominated by wealthy elites.
• Access to considerable amounts of gold, presumably from Africa, also marked Egyptiansociety.
11. Using the image, explain the Egyptian view of the afterlife and the role of Osiris.
Your answer should include the following:
• Osiris was the Egyptian god of the underworld who had the power to convey immortality to the virtuous.
• Upon death, individual souls faced the judgment of Osiris, who weighed their hearts against a feather that symbolized justice.
• Those who had led sinful lives failed this test, and were denied immortality.
12. Looking at the image, explain why the city of Mohenjo-daro was constructed at this location.
Your answer should include the following:• As the image shows, the city was built on a risen plateau above the rest of the area.
• This elevated location served at least two purposes: It protected the city from flooding from the Indus River, and it also provided a favorable defensive position in case ofattack.
• The elevation also allowed for gravity-based sewer systems, which were among the most sophisticated in the ancient world.
13. What does this image tell us about animal domestication in early south Asia?
Your answer should include the following:
• The image of Indra riding an elephant indicated that animal domestication in south Asiawas a successful and highly diverse process that incorporated local animal species such as elephants.
• It also suggests that early Indians quickly learned how to train and employ elephants formilitary functions.
• These animals proved highly effective on the battlefield until the development ofadvanced industrial munitions.
14. What does the image of an early Zhou tomb indicate about early Chinese conceptions of the afterlife?
Your answer should include the following:• The tomb contains the remains of horses and chariot components, suggesting that, like the ancient Egyptians, early Chinese elites believed that life continued after death and earthly items would be needed.
• The image also suggests that early Chinese expected the afterlife to be a conflicted environment where access to military technology would be necessary.
15. Looking at this image of a bronze wine vessel, explain what it indicates about technology and craftsmanship in late Shang China.
Your answer should include the following:• The bronze wine vessel reveals a high degree of metallurgical and artisanal skill in ShangChina.
• It also suggests that elite demand for bronze ornaments, decorative and functional items, washigh.
• Possession of these items would have indicated elite social status and also the presence of a region
• Conspicuous consumption of bronze was a feature of elite life in the Shang and early Zhou eras.
16. Using the image and the text, discuss the use of oracle bones in early China.
• Oracle bones were used by fortune-tellers and diviners in ancient China.
• Practitioners inscribed a question on the bone, then subjected it to heat. The cracks were then studied to generate an answer.
• Shang rulers used oracle bones extensively. Oracle bones also constitute the earliest surviving form of Chinese written language.
17. Look at the image above. Why was bloodletting seen as a crucial religious duty by the Maya?
Your answer should include the following:• According to Maya religious belief, the gods created flesh and blood out of maize and water.
• Therefore, to ensure ongoing agricultural prosperity and productivity and ongoing provision of water and
maize, the gods expected blood sacrifices in return.
• Bloodletting rituals, in particular by Maya elites, demonstrated the honorific element in Maya faith and
the level of commitment within their religious practice.
18. Looking at the image, discuss the importance of royal participation in bloodletting rituals.
Your answer should include the following:
• As the carving shows, Maya elites participated extensively in bloodletting rituals.
• The frequent and voluntary shedding of royal blood, as the image shows, indicates that the Maya elites were deeply
committed to their religious worldview.
19. Using the image and the text, explain how Austronesian peoples were able to explore and colonize the islands
of the western and central Pacific.
• Austronesian peoples, unlike other human communities across Oceania, possessed both advanced
technologies necessary for traveling across thousands of miles of ocean and transporting animals and
agricultural food stuffs to support human communities in otherwise inadequate environments.
• The availability of these crops and animals was critical on habitable Pacific islands, most of which
lacked enough edible plants and animals to sustain foraging communities.