Archaeology - Terminology Of Religion And Ritual

Front 1

Why are ancestors important?

Back 1

Look to them for advice - powerful, potentially dangerous as they are spirits -

Front 2

How were ancestors worshipped in Ancient Egypt?

Back 2

Offerings, food, wine. e.g. Beautiful Festival of the Valley (Heb Nefer En Init)

Shrines built in common homes by Egyptians (Deir El Medina)

Mortuary temples (Ramaseum)

Front 3

What were ancestors called by Romans?

Back 3

Lares and Panates

Front 4

How were ancestors worshipped by the Romans?

Back 4

Lararium - kept death masks of ancestors.

Front 5

What is animism?

Back 5

Belief that everything has a soul. Nowadays, typical of cultures in Indonesia.

Front 6

Examples of cultures believing in animism?

Back 6

Romans to an extent (had phrase: genius loci - spirit of space)

Native Americans

Front 7

What is iconography?

Back 7

Images, uses of colour, on fixed walls or portable objects to comment on human condition.

Front 8

In ancient times, what was a main use of art?

Back 8

To convey religious beliefs or political views e.g. Rome, Alter of Augustun Peace

Front 9

Example of religious art in paleolithic era?

Back 9

Venus figurines, cave art

Front 10

What is cremation?

Back 10

Disposing of dead bodies by burning (more often than not involving a pyre)

Front 11

What's the purpose of cremation?

Back 11

Originally for hygiene purposes, also associated with cleanliness of spirit.

Front 12

What evidence do we have of cremation?

Back 12

Cremation urns, graves, cemeteries.

Front 13

When was cremation most popular?

Back 13

Late Bronze Age, Early Anglo Saxon, half and half in Roman periods

Front 14

What does excarnation mean?

Back 14

Getting the flesh off the body

Front 15

When is excarnation typical of?

Back 15

Neolithic period

Front 16

Process of excarnation?

Back 16

Body left on a hill, birds and animals and nature dealt with it, came back a year later and put the bones in a long barrow

Front 17

Examples of excarnation?

Back 17

Windmill Hill, Avebury Henge, West Kennet Long Barrow (ritual landscape)

Front 18

What is a liminal place?

Back 18

One where you can go over a threshold to another world.

Front 19

In ancient world, where were liminal places?

Back 19

Wet places (Flagfen, Bog people) or inside caves with handprints on wall (Chauvet)

Front 20

what is focus of attention?

Back 20

A device used in connection to ritual which serves to draw theparticipants gaze to some aspect of the performance of the ritual.

Front 21

what is funerary ritual?

Back 21

Any activity that is carried out at a burial based on what peoplebelieve.

Front 22

what does apotropaic mean?

Back 22

warding off evil

Front 23

what is an example of funerary ritual?

Back 23

Whole mummification process – taking outinternal organs and putting them in canopic jars. Covered hole in side with agold plate with eye of Horus. Putting grave goods in

Front 24

what is magic?

Back 24

A belief in metaphysical force which can influence human affairs andlives and which is often used to explain things that cannot otherwise beexplained.

Front 25

example of magic?

Back 25

voodoo magic in haiti, roman baths where offerings or curses would be made

Front 26

what is monotheism?

Back 26

worship of one god

Front 27

example of monotheism?

Back 27

Akhenaten – discovered birth placeof the sun which he called the Aten. Epiphany that everything in the worlddepended on the sun. Made people of Egypt not worship Amun anymore, closedtemples. Moved capital city to Amarna (Akhetaten)

Front 28

what is a myth?

Back 28

Basedon some truth, teaches society about something. Explains the way the world isin some particular aspect. Have a didactic element to them.

Front 29

examples of myths?

Back 29

Book of the Dead – depicts two stories. Myth of theweighing of the heart and ritual of the opening of the mouth.

Front 30

what is a pilgrim?

Back 30

personthat goes on a religious journey to an important religious place which oftenresults in them gaining an honourable title.

Front 31

examples of pilgrimmage?

Back 31

Abydos – burial place of Osiris. People wouldgo to the annual Osiris festival. Stone slab at Luxor that depicts aNespaquashuti and his wife going on this pilgrimage. Evidence from Umm’ Qaab.

Bubastis – Goddess of Bastet. Women wouldtravel together on barges. is wife

Front 32

what is polytheism?

Back 32

Worship of many gods

Front 33

how are polytheistic gods like humans?

Back 33

Gods are married, have affairs, deceive one another. Often live in a particularplace

Front 34

examples of polytheism?

Back 34

Romans - nearRoman fort at Carrawburgh is a well-preserved temple of Mithras

Front 35

what is prayer/participation?

Back 35

Activitiesassociated with worship. Communicating with God/ gods through song, speech;done by one person or a congregation of people orchestrated by a ritualspecialist.

Front 36

how is participation different from prayer?

Back 36

Participationis more physical. Might have to move around in a way around a building or carryout an action. Communion, sign of the cross. Involves a set of actions you dowithin a time.

Front 37

why are examples of prayer/participation difficult to find?

Back 37

archaeologicallymust rely on artistic depictions or equipment used for such actions

Front 38

examples of prayer/participation?

Back 38

Karnak:pictures of acrobatic dancers dancing to please the gods.

Amarna– stone slabs at entrance to city with ‘Hymn to the Aten’ written on it.

Front 39

what is a priest/ ritual specialist?

Back 39

Ritualspecialist: leadsworship and has status in their society because of that. Usually have quite adetailed knowledge of the religion. Often have a didactic role (teaching).Often seen as an intermediary between ordinary people and God. Often defined bytheir clothing and have special equipment. Have special duties to do withmaintaining their religion.

Front 40

example of priest/ritual specialist?

Back 40

tombof Raia: hired mourners. Sons of deceased mummy are temporary ritualspecialists. Priests behind hired mourners.

bird man of lascaux

ice maiden pazyrik in altai mountains

Front 41

what is propitiation?

Back 41

Doingthings to make a god/goddess feel loved and wanted so they will do favours.Particularly relevant in times of difficulty. E.g. Neolithic period, bad harvest,religious explanation that gods were not happy and sacrifices were needed.

Front 42

what things were involved in propitiation?

Back 42

Sacrificeseither animals, people or valuable objects put in particular places.

Front 43

why is flagfen a place for propitiation

Back 43

watery environment, marginal area

Front 44

example of propitiation?

Back 44

flag fen

Hadrian’sWall, Coventina’s Well- hole in the ground where people deposited offerings andmade prayers. Found miniature depictions of animals. Syncretism.

Front 45

what is purity and cleansing?

Back 45

Makingsure that animal impurities do not impinge upon sacred beings. Removing fromyour body anything which might ruin your association with a god/goddess whengetting close to them.

Front 46

examples of purity and cleansing?

Back 46

Sacredlake, karnak temple priests would wash and shave four times a day.

Bookof Dead is illustrated with vignettes of actions. One of those is the openingof the mouth which also shows the burning of incense and pouring of perfume.

Front 47

what are rites of passage?

Back 47

a ceremony or event marking an important stage in someone's life, especially birth, the transition from childhood to adulthood, marriage, and death.

Front 48

four major times of rites of passage?

Back 48

birth - adolescence- marriage - death

Front 49

examples of rites of passage?

Back 49

AmesburyArcher buried with grave goods (gold hair tresses, two lots of arrows, fivebeaker pots) near Stonehenge.Icemaiden – four horses sacrificed and buried with her. Buried in a replica of herhouse built into the ground.

Front 50

what are rites of intensification

Back 50

Bringingpeople together in a crisis. Suggesting the power of the group praying orworshipping together may have an influence on the god/goddess bringing thecrisis. Associatedwith famine, bad weather, disease, invasion.

Front 51

what is ritual?

Back 51

Aphysical act based on something the person believes. Often has repetitiveelements and involves movements, can involve music. Often has a verypredictable structure so people can comfortably participate.

Front 52

what is the purpose of a ritual?

Back 52

somethingto do with getting a society through difficult times, making things easier fora deceased person.

Front 53

example of ritual?

Back 53

AncientEgypt ~ ritual cleansing at the Sacred Lake. Ritual of Opening of the Mouth(Tomb of Raia – blind harpist at Saqqara). Bogpeople sacrificed

Front 54

what is ritual feasting?

Back 54

Consumingfood and wine as a communal act, designed usually to celebrate the passage ofpeople into the next life

Front 55

examples of ritual feasting?

Back 55

North West Coast ofAmerica ~ Potlach, feasts would be celebration ofthe chief’s wealth. Chief would give gifts and throw into the sea large chunksof copper (parallel to Flagfen). Papa New Guinea ~ highlander women raise pigs andgrow crops. Eventually have a huge feast, person who organises the feast gainsstatus.

Front 56

what is sacrifice?

Back 56

Givingup something that is precious, can be valuable objects but very often animalsor people.

Front 57

example of sacrifice?

Back 57

Bog bodies ~ obviously sacrificed as they werekilled three times (hit on the head, neck broken, throat slit) Tolund, Cashul, Klerny Caven, Lindow Man.

Front 58

what is sensory experience?

Back 58

Elementsof religion and ritual that are heightened and exaggerated by stimuli thataffect one or more of our senses. Mightbe associated with light, sound, smell, taste. n, Lindow Man.

Front 59

example of sensory experienc?

Back 59

templeat Edfu – deeper into the temple you go the darker it gets. At Karnak, thehypostyle hall has two rows of columns in the middle that are slightly tallerletting light filter in sideways into that space. Clerestory windows let lightin.

Front 60

what is shamanism?

Back 60

Shamansusually go into a trance and visits the gods, the next life, the ancestors andthen returns. When they come back they are deemed to be imbued with holinessthat allows them to do things they couldn’t do normally

Front 61

examples of shamanism?

Back 61

Pech Merle has paintings most likely done by ashaman coming out of a tranceit

Lascaux Cave. Birdman of Lascaux showsa buffalo with its intestines out. Shamans would get power from the bodies ofanimals.

Front 62

what is shrine/temple/ritual structure?

Back 62

Allplaces have religious structures. Tend to be natural places which can be thenformalised.Shrinetends to mean something small whereas temples are larger.

Front 63

examples of shrine/ temple/ ritual strucutre?

Back 63

Templeof Claudius at Colchester, Temple of Horus at Edfu, Temple of Dendera

Front 64

what is symbolism?

Back 64

Usingone thing to represent another. In scientific studies, tend to call it a‘referent’. Can have abstract referents and direct referents.

Front 65

example of symbolism?

Back 65

KingPacal belonged to the city of Palenquein 650AD. Name represented as a picture of a shield. When he died, he is shownfalling backwards into the underworld on the top of his sarcophagus. Fallingbackwards means he is dead. Sticking out of his forehead is a stone axe withsmoke coming out of it which symbolises him becoming a god. Wearing a clothkilt which is covered in cylindrical beads which represent the maize god and inturn symbolise rebirth.

Front 66

what is totemism?

Back 66

Beliefthat spirits (usually animal spirits) can influence the living. Usuallyassociated with extended family organisation called lineages

Front 67

example of totemism?

Back 67

Ozette- First NationVillage in Olympicpeninsula. Belonged to Macha tribe. Buried in a mud slide. In 200BC it consistedof a load of huge log cabins. At the front of the important houses would betotem poles. Totemism in Ozette was based around whales. Used to hunt them fromcanoes with stone, bone, antler and wood tools. Principal totem was the killerwhale

Front 68

what's worldview?

Back 68

Howyou see your place in the physical world and the metaphysical world. How youjustify your belonging in relationship to animals, natural features and thecosmos

Front 69

examples of worldview?

Back 69

A lot of Egyptian mythology is about explaining where you fit in and makingsure you don’t fall foul of any dangers. religion uses sun and nile

templecomplex at Karnak which exemplifies the way the Egyptians thought about theworld. E.g. it has a temenos wall around it that represents chaos outside anddivine control and power inside.

Front 70

what is worship?

Back 70

Communicatingwith a deity through active participation.

Front 71

example of worship?

Back 71

earlyChristianity – Villa of Lullingstone has earliest Christian chapel withpaintings in late Roman/Byzantine costume with their hands raisedhale.

Front 72

what is ritual structure

Back 72

natural or man made structure build on place related to a god or goddess to practice ritual in

place for offerings

often decorated and modified with ornaments and require specialists

Front 73

example of ritual structure

Back 73

temple of claudius, colchester

seahenge

Front 74

general examples of cremation

Back 74

romans put remains in glass jars

bronze age in pottery

Front 75

site of cremation

Back 75

spong hill 2386 cremations contained in ceramic pots boxes or deposited in a pit

Front 76

site of cremation

Back 76

spong hill 2386 cremations contained in ceramic pots boxes or deposited in a pit

Front 77

roman site of cremation

Back 77

bustun burials

west hampnett near chichester

Front 78

site of animism

Back 78

coventinas well offeribgsmade to goddess of water coventina

Front 79

general example of animism

Back 79

indonesian cultures give eggs to forest spirits

Front 80

artefact of roman animism

Back 80

statue of river tine as old man reclining

Front 81

general example of pilgrim

Back 81

detectorists find pilgrim badges

Front 82

ethnographic example of pilgrim

Back 82

muslims to mecca gaining title of hajji