Digital Scrapbook #4 - Egypt

Trevor Jones

10/21/14

Per. 7 

Halls of the Dead 

Heaven, the religious abode of the Christian god, and the afterlife of the deceased; The Egyptian afterlife, eternal resting place of the people of Egypt. Both places sound similar right? Well in theory, these "places" are just ideas in the heads of all those who want to believe it is true, rather than physical locations. It is true, there are records of such places in ancient documentations such as the Bible or Egyptian Hieroglyphics/tomb writings, but there is no physical evidence that any one of these places existed. Aside from that fact, even though these places have the same outcome, they both mean very different things to the people that desire to reach it, while at the same time, sharing similarities and greatly relating to each other. 

Heaven, is founded upon the teaching, crucifixion, and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whose birth marks the beginning of the common ear (CE). As it says in the bible, the two original humans were the only humans to be granted free of sin at birth. Because of Adams disobedience to the word of god, all humans were born as a sinner and must work to be again seen in God's image. Sin is freely chosen, so as an individual, the stairway to heaven requires a virtuous life of making the right decisions and worshiping the one and only god, in Christianity that is. Christians believe that in order to get to heaven, they must live a good life, and not fall under the temptation of the Devil. Christianity differs from the Egyptian afterlife firstly because the Christian afterlife consists of two levels: Heaven and Hell. Your actions in your lifetime reflect on which one you will go to. Also, Christian morals are different from that of the Egyptians regarding afterlife. In Egypt, death is just a phase. A phase that comes in between life and death, but does not disturb its continuation. On other words the afterlife is a continuation of your life. In Egypt, the afterlife is focused on material things rather than the Heaven, which is more focused on reuniting with deceased friends and family. This may also show that the Egyptians didn't value family and friendship as much as the Christians did, and were more superficial with their live and afterlife.

http://www.playbuzz.com/scotto/are-you-going-to-heaven-or-hell

On the other hand, the pathway and preparation to go to Heaven vs. the  Egyptian's afterlife greatly differs from each other. In Christianity, the entrance to Heaven is often described as "The Gateway to Heaven". Often before you reach a gateway, you must have had to travel on a journey. This journey is following the light of God and living a virtuous life. In Egypt, the gateway to the afterlife is similar to that of Heaven, for they must fullil a long and strenuous journey as well. After a person has dies, their soul is taken to Osiris, the god of the after life for the weighing of the heart, where essentially, the persons heart is placed on a balance and is weighed against the principals of truth and justice (maat) which is represented by a feather. Basically if the persons heart weighs the same as the feather, then they may move along to the afterlife, but if the heart exceeded the weight of the feather, the heart was then eaten by the god with the crocodile head, Ammit, and the person was not permitted into the afterlife and simple, ceased to exist. Obviously, the Egyptian system was much more in-depth than that of the Christians and in a way, so were their preparations for the afterlife.  In Egypt, the internal organs were taken out of the body (except for the heart) in order to preserve it, and the body was wrapped in several layers of cloth. In addition to this, Egyptians were placed in Sarcophagi, and in some cases, enclosed around a mighty pyramid (but this was mostly for Pharaohs). Compared to that of the Christians who either cremate their deceased, or bury them underground, usually in a coffin. Overall, the Egyptians pathway and preparation for the afterlife is far more complicated than that of the Christians and shows just how highly Egyptians held the afterlife. 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_religion

In conclusion, Heaven and the Egyptian afterlife are similar ideas that have major differences at the same time. Like the Egyptians, Christians must live a virtuous life in order to reach Heaven, so their spirits will be granted life for eternity. However, the methods and preparation to reach the afterlife is very different, and much more strenuous in Egypt. Even though these ways were separated by several millennia, they share similar ideas and themes that must be followed, as well as traditions used to contain deceased bodies. Multiple religions have adopted these traditions which shows that the idea of afterlife is an important aspect to humanity. 

Works Cited: 

Christian Heaven: 

http://www.sptimmortalityproject.com/background/christianity-and-the-afterlife/ 

http://www.christianity.org.uk/index.php/views-on-heaven-and-hell.php 

Egyptian Afterlife: 

  http://www.crystalinks.com/egyptafterlife.html

Chinese Philosophers

Buddhism (Buddha) 

1. Earrings and long earlobes to show renounce ment of all possessions 

2. Topknot to represent extension of brain 

3. Short curly hair represents getting rid of all vanity

4. Lotus roses represent purity and beauity beauty 

5. Hand position represent meditation 

6. Slim fingers represent ability to survive on little resources (food) 

7. Smile represents a gentile figure 

Confucianism (Confucius) 

1. Hands and posture represent him teaching (teaching posture) 

2. Sorrow expression represents his thoughts of his failure 

3. Humble form represents his gentlemanly conduct 

Daoism (Lao-Tzu) 

1. Coat fades away at the bottom which represents no end (no means of creation/distraction) 

2. White and black colors to represent ying and yang (heaven and earth) 

3. Shown as a gentile elderly man to represent purity 

Legalism (Han fei-tzu) 

1. Inquisitive/pondering looks to symbolize his level of education 

2. Has a harsh tone in his facial features showing his enforcement of his law code and keeping people discipline 

Questions: 

1. A religion is a belief in a supernatural being in power while a philosophy is a study of fundamental existence. These two are somewhat similar but religion requires a higher level of devotion of oneself while a philosophy is more of a personal devotion, or hobby in a way. 

2. I would say Daoism is the only true religion out of these four practices: Buddhism, Confucanism, Legalism, and Daoism. I make this conclusion based off of our most recent reading, The Indifference of Confucius, which said that Daoism was used to fill in the gaps that the philosophy Confucanism left, in the form of a religion. The other three philosophies do not revolve around a deity or any higher being and are more of social practices by which one or ones family chooses to live by.  

The Indifference of Confucius T&R

Trevor Jones                                      11/16

Thoughts and Reflections on The Indifference of Confucius 

Source: Unknown Author

T&R on The Indifference of Confucius 

"We do not yet know how to serve man, how can we know about serving spirits? (...) We do not yet know about life, how can we know about death?" -Confucius 孔夫子.

          Above, I show a quote by Confucius himself showing his indifference towards the mystery of creation. He describes the mysteries of creation as a way to save people's energy from the work of this world, meaning this life means little in the big picture and their spirit will be carried on to the next life. This is Confucius' infifference. Confucius believes in the here and the now, not the creation of humanity and where we go when we die. Confucius has been deemed the great spokesman of ethical ideas because of his ways and teachings. Above all else, Confucius believed that people have a role in society and they should obey people of a higher rank to them (eg. Father> son). This is based off of the 5 relationships and is now the traditional belief of the Chinese family. In my opinion, Confucianism is a social practice not a religion. This is so because Confucians does not have a god or any rules, it is more of a way of life in which you can escape from. Confucianism is like a hobby, you can chose to continue it but it is not a set of rules which you are forced to abide by. 

http://www.chicagonow.com/an-agnostic-in-wheaton/2013/06/the-analects-of-confucius-46-greatest-secular-quotes/ 

Map of China

Answer to Big Q: Several aspects of China's Geography have an effect on its early development. First of all, the major mountain ranges, such as the Himalayas can have an impact on trade intake and output which forces the Chinese to trade over sea or through other countries. Also the multiple bodies of water around China increases the likelihood of storms and other natural disasters, as well as provide another method of trading, by boat. 

T&R on Mother Cow

Trevor Jones 5/11/14

T&R on Mother Cow

Source: Marvin Harris

Cow Love in India

The cow has a very sensitive history in India. In most places, the cow is tabooed and regarded as a sacred animal. In some places, cow slaughtering is forbidden and has a worse punishment than murder. The cow is not just useful for being sacred though, the cow serves multiple purposes to Indians. The cow is used as a primary milk source, other than oxen and water buffalo, for the people of India and also serves as a farm tool. Even though these cows only produce around 500 pounds of milk a year, compared to American cow's 5,000-20,000, they are very useful for breeding male traction animals. Indians also use cow manure as a fertilizer or burn it in order to provide heat for cooking. The author of 'Mother Cow' believes that the real reason cows are sacred to india is because of their ability to breed oxen and water buffaloes. Water buffaloes are used primarily for milking but are also superior animals for plowing in flooded rice patties. On the other hand, oxen are much more useful for for dried field farming and road transport. The main reason why cows are bred and not slaughtered is to produce more water buffalo and oxen because Indians believed the more cows they had, the more water buffaloes and oxen they would have too. 

In America, cows are used as our primary milk source, so naturally, we would need another way to produce the services that cows give in India. This is why we have tractors and other farm equipment. There are advantages and disadvantages to using farm equipment in America rather than cows. First of all, farm equipment is far more expensive than cows. You have to buy a new piece of equipment for every job on the farm where as cows breed other animals to do those functions for them. Now it is true that you have to take care of cows, milk them, water them, feed them, etc., but it is seen in some parts of India,that cows are mistreated and have to scavenge for food. In fact, only 20% of the food eaten by cows is safe to eat by human standards which means most of the 'food' they eat are very harmful and can cause disease. After hearing about both of these ways, I believe that America's wag of using farm equipment rather than cows is far more environmentally friendly because it is perfectly humane to animals and there is not as much waste product as what you would have with a cow, ox, or water buffalo. The Americans might have the more environmentally friendly substitution but there is no arguing that the Indian's way is far more efficient. With so many people in the cities in India in poverty, India cannot afford these industrialized farm machines that we have in the U.S. so with cows, you get a lot more out of it for only a little bit of money put in. Indians might misuse these animals but they are far more efficient with farming and other things they use cows for. 

http://freespeechdebate.com/en/case/whats-your-beef-with-my-freedom-to-eat-it/ 

T&R on Caste

Trevor Jones                                                                                                                           11/3

Thoughts and Reflections on Caste

Source: Jonas Blank 

                                                                Caste System in India

             The caste system was a system of social status originally based off of a person's characteristics that unified and divided india. The caste system consists of five social classes from highest ranking to lowest: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras, and Harijans (Untouchables). These four groupe defined india and gave people something to work for in the struggle to folllow your dharma. These five castes united India as a country and ultimately brought people together. As a citizen, it was your goal to climb higher up in the caste system but each caste served a purpose to society, whether they be Brahmins or Shudras. As a Cho Ramaswamy said: "An unworthy Brahmin could find himself demoted to the rank of Shudra, and a Kshatria or even a Vaishya could become a Brahman by earnest devotion. The caste system divided India into these social classes in which people could not marry or sometimes even socalize out of. 

            The word caste is applied to the several thousand specialized subclans within the four classes (called Varnas) know as Jatis. There are several theories as to how we think the caste system came to be. The more religious theorie suggests that the Hindu's believed that the entire human race descended from a single man named Manu. People who came from his mouth are known as Brahmins, people from his arms are the Kshatriyas, those from his thighs are Vaishyas, and those from his feet are Shudras.Because of this, people believed that caste is eternal. Additionally, the caste system was forced on the Indians because of the Aryan invasion that occured about 3000 years ago. A giant barrier wall was formed in order to keep the Aryans out. This was a solid wall of ideas, unbreakable by any weapons because it existed in people's minds. The Aryan men-at-arms became the Kshatriyas, the priests brought with them became the Brahmins, the people who served them became Shudras, and once trade and farming joined war, the merchants and shopkeepers became the Vaishyas. The caste system still exists because life in India without a caste system would be a very dangerous thing. Each subclan looks after its own and takes care of its members, without it, life would lead to sheer chaos and possibly a civil war in India.  

            

http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2011/04/caste-systems-of-ancient-india-and.html