Maya: Those Who Did Not Create The Shwedagon Paya

Statue of The Maize God

The Maize God, Hun Hunahpu, is a personification of abundance and prosperity and creator of man. The head is unusually large for the body and some have suggested that the statue may have been  portions of two statues affixed together as a "restoration".

Source: British Museum

Maya Relief of Blood Letting

This relief depicts a blood letting ritual in Yaxchilan, Shield Jaguar the Great (King of Yaxchilan) is pulling a thorny rope through his wife's tongue. The Glyphs give the date (24 October, 709 AD), location, and names of those on the relief. 

Source: British Museum

Jade Plaque of Mayan King

This Mayan plaque is notable because it was found in Teotihuacan (the capital of the Aztec empire), which shows that there was some form of contact between the Aztec and Maya. The plaque depicts a highly decorated Mayan ruler seated on a throne and a groveling figure genuflecting in the lower left.  

Source: British Museum

Gold Pendant 

This gold pendant is a likeness of an unknown Mayan ruler. Metalworking technologies were introduced to the Maya from further south, approximately modern day Panama, the Mayans appeared to have a trade relationship with the peoples of the are as their metalwork is strewn throughout Mayan territory.

Source: British Museum

Fenton Vase

Polychromatic Ceramics such as this one were highly regarded in Mayan culture and considered to be a sign of high status. These vessels have been integral to studying Mayan society as they are essentially annotated snapshots of Mayan life. This scene, for example, is a depiction of a Mayan giving tribute to a lord. The Glyphs give the names of all the people depicted, strongly implying that this was an actual event.

Source: British Museum

Mayan Wall Painting

This is the first Mayan wall art ever to be discovered, found in the ruined city of Xultun. The level of decay is as high as much older Egyptian wall art because humidity is much higher in the Yucatan than he deserts of Egypt.

Source: Huffington Post

Stone Head

This head came from Copan, which is famous for its  of sculptures. This head was part of the mysterious Structure 20, which was destroyed by the raging river Copan. It is speculated that this head was once a part of of a statue of a cross legged figure.

Source: British Museum

Crystal Skull

This crystal skull is a forgery, but both the Aztec and the Maya made crystal skulls. We know this one to be a forgery because it was built with rotary cutting  wheels, which were introduced to the new world after the Maya died out by the spanish, and because the material was obtained in the 19th century.

Source:British Museum

Shell Ornament

This ornament is made from the shell of the Red Rimmed Thorny Oyster. These shell ornaments were common in Mayan society.  These shells were also used as funerary adornments.

Source: British Museum

Jade Portrait Head Inscribed with Glyphs

This mask was carved from a single block of jade, the glyphs have been partially eroded, but it still supplies interesting information. The text reveals little, but mentions a person in some way associated with the Mayan city Palenque. From this, historians have inferred that this belonged to the mother of Yax Pac (the ruler of Copan), who brought it with her to Copan from Palenque as an heirloom. This is but one of a whole host of possibilities, and the mask remains a mystery.

Source:British Museum

A Belated Introduction

Greetings,

I am Ashoka Maurya, but I have been known by many names: Chandaashoka, Dharmaashoka, Devanampriya, Priyarsin, and many others. I am a man who has fallen into the depths of darkness and ascended to the pinnacle virtue. In my timeI have been destroyer and savior. I am the grandson of the great Chandragupta Maurya, and one of the many sons of the emperor Bindusara. As a prince I fought many battles, bringing death with me like a shadow. I was so powerful a reaper that my father grew to fear me, and I was exiled to Kalinga. When my father eventually died I did a monstrous thing, I killed my 99 brothers to seize the throne.   I was at the time a cruel man like no other, I kept a Harem of 500 women and when they spurned me I had them all killed. I built a torture chamber called the Paradisal Hell, A palace so beautiful that many were lured inside. No one came out alive. Then came the event that wrenched me away from the darkness I had been immersed in. There was insurrection in Kalinga. Naturally, I came down upon the village that nurtured  me with the force of a wrathful typhoon. Hundreds of thousands died that night. Upon a whim, I decided to examine the desolation. I was horrified to see the faces of my loyal soldiers and those who cared for me in my exile, dead and rotting. Finally I saw what I was. I saw the world clearly for the first time. Then I saw truth, ahimsa. Since then I made it the purpose of my life to spread my realization, and to foster peace however I could. Although I will never be able to undo what I have done, I hope to outdo what I have done with a lasting legacy of peace and kindness.

Bless you all,

Ashoka Maurya

Lapita: of The Lapping Waves

Lapita Pottery Fragment:
 http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lapi/hd_lapi.htm

This pottery is a fine example of the way in which the Lapita seamlessly incorporated the geometric and the material.

An artists vision of the full work.

Rounded Lapita Pot:
http://exploreoceania.weebly.com/melansian-lapita-art-and-poetry.html
an example of a typical Lapita pot.

Lapita Mask:
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/dec/14/lapita-oceanic-ancestors-paris-review
An ornately designed wooden mask. Note the similarities in patterning with the first piece.

Straight Lapita Pot

http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2010/11/lapita-oceanic-ancestors-exhibition-at.html#.Ui0ejRbK6aG
This is an example of Vanuatuan Lapita pottery created with superimposed layers of clay. After the Lapita landed on Vanuatu the quality of the pots regressed as techniques were lost.

Lapita Stonework:
http://www.tribalartmagazine.com/en/galeries/galerie_lapita.html
The Lapita created types of art that defy traditional delineation, such as the piece above.

Lapita Abstract Stonework.
http://www.tribalartmagazine.com/en/galeries/galerie_lapita.html
This beautiful work stands out because the human figures are so abstract that they are not immediately recognized as such, and become just as much your imagination as the artists.

Simple Lapita Pot

http://www.janeresture.com/voyaging/main.htm

This is an example of simpler, more practical Lapita pottery.

Lapita Pyramid

http://www.connaissancedesarts.com/archeologie/actus/lapita-le-petit-poucet-de-l-oceanie-86894.php

An interesting example of a pyramidal structure, note the recurring circular theme.

Fiji Pot Shards 

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/the-origins-of-polynesia/11678

Sadly, most Lapitan Pottery has not survived intact, the vast majority are mere shards.

Lapita Turtle

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/the-origins-of-polynesia/11678

This is a depiction of a turtle, as abstract as the rest of Lapitan art. 

Minoans: The Precursors

Minoan Artifacts

Minoan Bull and Acrobat
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/gr/b/minoan_bull_and_acrobat.aspx
This is a sculpture of a man catapulting himself onto a bull by the horns, it is very likely that the missing limbs are a result of failed casting. Minoan Bronze was very low in tin and thus had limited flow.

Pottery Jar with Exaggerated Spout
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/gr/p/pottery_jar,_exaggerated_spout.aspx
Vassiliki vases of this kind are referred to as "tea pots", because of their unusual shape. This vase appears to be emulating metallic vases, with its false rivets and burnished appearance.

Phaistos Disk
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/507232?uid=3739840&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102594859101
The infamous Phaistos disk was discovered in the main cell of a temple depository. It has proven to be infernally difficult to crack, stumping amateur and professional archaeologists alike.

Snake Goddess statue
http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/ARTH200/Body/snake_goddess.htm
A faience aspect of the Minoan Snake Goddess, little is known about her because Minoan Linear A has yet to be deciphered.

 Minoan Fresco
http://www.ancientgreece.com/MinoanArt/
A Fresco of Minoan Women in typical high class dress.

Rhyton in the form of a bulls head.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1973.35
This adorable Rhyton was used for libation (sacrificial liquid pouring). It would be immersed in the selected liquid (blood or wine, likely) and poured for a rite of some kind.

 

The Larnax
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1996.521a,b
This terra cotta chest was a standard burial place. The interred was contorted into the fetal position, placed inside, and then the Larnax was lowered into the resting place.

Pyxis
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1999.423
A pyxis of unknown purpose, but it can be inferred that it had some spiritual purpose because it has some patterns in common with the Larnax.

Harvest Rhyton
http://www.ancient-greece.org/art/minoan-art.html
A depiction of workers either entering or leaving an olive plantation, very expressive figures make this work a bit of an anomaly.

Cypriot

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/74.51.5684

A glorious tripod with signs of ancient repairs, indicating that it was a treasured item, not easily replaceable. 

Egypt: The land of rolling sands.

 Egyptian Artifacts

 This is a statue of Horus of Pe performing a ritual dance.

 A statue of the god Amun: notable because the metal was hammered instead of cast.

Faience Pectoral: laid on the chest of a mummy, The Wedjat eye represents resurrection, and                    Anubis is the protector of the deceased. 

Limestone Sculpture of husband and wife:  The people depicted are unknown, statue dates from either  the 18th or 19th dynasty. 

Painted Wooden Figure of Osiris: from the 19th to 21st dynasties wooden figures of Osiris were commonly placed in the tombs of the highest classes. Osiris is depicted in mummy form, with his ornamentation affirming his status as ruler of the underworld.

Wooden model of a granary with figures: this model was placed in a tomb to give the deceased this granary in the afterlife to use.

Colossal granite fist: This fist is likely part of a giant statue of Ramses II in the Temple of Ptah. Ramses II had numerous statues built of him all across Egypt.

Glass Bottle in the form of a fish: This fish was created by pouring molten glass over a clay frame, and then wrapping and bending colored glass around the core. The fish was then smoothened, eyes and fins were added, and the clay core was removed. 

Limestone false door of Ptahshepses: This false door symbolized the barrier between the lands of the living and the dead.

Papyrus Letter to Paiankh: This is a response to a letter from the General Paiank, apparently the general had ordered the recipient to  "uncover a tomb among the ancient tombs and preserve its seal until I return".