Gupta Empire 320-550 C.E.

Introduction

The Golden Age of India,  marked by extensive inventions and discoveries in science, technology, engineering, art, dialectic, literature, logic,mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy that crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Hindu culture. Chandra Gupta I, Samudra Gupta, and Chandra Gupta II were the most notable rulers of the Gupta dynasty. The Guptas are credited of having conquered about twenty one kingdoms, both in and outside India, eventually almost covering the Indian subcontinent. The high points of cultural creativity are magnificent architecture, sculptures and paintings. Science and political administration reached new heights during the Gupta era. Strong trade ties also made the region an important cultural center and set the region up as a base that would influence nearby kingdoms and regions in Burma, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia. The earliest available Indian epics are also thought to have been written around this period.

Gupta Coin With Portrait of Samudra Gupta (late 5th century)

Samudra incorporated over twenty kingdoms into his realm and his rule extended from the Himalayas to the river Narmada and from the Brahmaputra to the Yamuna. He gave himself the titles King of Kings and World Monarch. Historian Vincent Smith described him as the "Indian Napoleon". Samudragupta was not only a talented military leader but also a great patron of art and literature. The important scholars present in his court were Harishena, Vasubandhu and Asanga. He was a poet and musician himself. He was a firm believer in Hinduism and is known to have worshipped Lord Vishnu. He was considerate of other religions and allowed Sri Lanka's Buddhist king Sirimeghvanna to build a monastery at Bodh Gaya

https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/guptas/guptas.html

Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh (500 C.E.)

The Vishnu Temple, often termed Dashavatara, meaning "ten incarnations", is located in Central India. The temple is one of the earliest Hindu stone temples still surviving today. The Vishnu Temple shows the ornate and beauty seen in Gupta style architecture. This temple is also a good resource for looking at the intricate Gupta style sculptures and art. Many of these early Hindu stone temples were dedicated to a single Hindu deity. The temple at Deogarh is dedicated to the Vishnu. These temples made in the early part of the 6th century of the Gupta Period housed images and symbols of Hindu gods. These temples allowed people to make contact with the gods they were worshiping. The Temple was built out of stone and brick consisting of a single cubical sanctum that sheltered the images within. Statuaries of the Vishnu were both sculpted in the interior and exterior walls of the temple.

http://www.indianetzone.com/62/architecture_dashavatara_temple.htm

Ellora Caves

The Ellora Caves housed three major religions of India, Buddhism, Brahminism, and Jainism. They also illustrate the characteristic of tolerance that was carried in those religions and throughout India. These 34 monasteries and temples, extending over more than 2 km, were dug side by side in the wall of a high basalt cliff. Its uninterrupted sequence of monuments dating from CE 600 to 1000, brings the civilization of ancient India to life.Progressing from south to north along the cliff, successively the twelve caves of the Buddhist group, which appear to be the oldest (600 and 800 CE) and comprise monasteries and a single large temple. Then the caves of the Brahmin group (600 to 900 CE) Finally, the Jain group whose sanctuaries were created towards 800-1000 CE, The Jain caves, the last to be excavated, drew their inspiration from the art already existing at Ellora.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/243/

Chavin Artifacts

Incised Strombus-Shell Trumpet

400-200 B.C.E, this shell trumpet was probably made for ceremonial use. The carved designs depict a Shaman with a divine connection, indicated by his facial tattoos and anklets, playing a shell trumpet. The figure is surrounded by snakes, including one that emanates from the instrument. The twisting and intertwined snakes may indicate the power of the trumpet to communicate with their deities.

In Chavín society, power was legitimized through the belief in the small elite having a divine connection; shamans derived power and authority from their claim to a divine connection. The community believed in and had a desire to connect with the divine. With asymmetrical power, there is often evidence of the manipulation of traditions. Strategic manipulation is a vehicle of change which shamans could use to produce authority. During the Chavín horizon, large changes were taking place.

http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/5083/Incised_Strombus-Shell_Trumpet

The Lanzon

4.53 meter long granite shaft displayed in the temple. The shaft extends through an entire floor of the structure and the ceiling. It is carved with an image of a fanged deity and it is the main cult image of the Chavin people. Chavin art was directly related to their religious beliefs; many items served religious purpose and held spiritual significance. It can be concluded that many sculpted and painted artifacts were used for religious ceremonies, while others pertained to their religious beliefs, especially in the portrayal of deities.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/330118/El-Lanzon

Feline-and-Cactus Stirrup Vessel

This Tembladera-style Chavín work depicts a feline rendered in relatively high relief, alternating with a cactus form that may refer to the hallucinogenic San Pedro cactus. Chavín is considered the mother civilization of the South-American Andes, and is often compared to the Olmec of Mexico in that both cultures established many patterns of art, architecture, and culture by 1000 BC. Stirrup-spout vessels like this example were made by the Chavín (and many other South-American peoples) using a number of molds, with details modeled by hand. Although we do not know what was stored in these vessels, suggestions include corn beer or "chicha," a native Andean fermented beverage. Chavín stirrup-spout vessels vary in both their architecture (spout-width, shape, direction) and type of decoration. Many combine incised design with modeled form, as in this example. 

Felines of the type depicted on this vessel were important in Chavín art and culture because they were associated with the ruling houses. In nature such animals are often excellent hunters who occupy the top of the food chain, qualities also valued in human rulers. Felines, like jaguars and pumas, were also thought to enjoy great spiritual force; shamans were believed to transform into such creatures.

http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/155964

Jaguar Tenon Heads

The Chavín civilization developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru from 900 BC to 200 BC. They inhabited the famous archeological site Chavín de Huántar (which has been carbon dated to at least 3000 BCE) as a religious center for ceremonies and events, and perhaps as home for an oracle. Jaguar Tenon Heads, one of the most well-known images associated with the Chavin, are found throughout Chavín de Huántar. Tenon and Nail Heads are massive stone carvings of fanged jaguar heads projecting from the tops of interior walls. These very unusual stone heads extended their influence to other civilizations along the coast and bear zoomorphic features, some half-man-half-jaguar, some with features of birds, etc.
While performing rituals, Chavin sacrificers often snorted hallucinogens from the hieratic “San Pedro” cactus and seeds of different tropical plants containing hallucinogenic alkaloids (an image widespread in Chavin art, even with the hand of a sacrificer.) Many of the bizarre heads left behind show secretions from nose, clearly showing the effects of snorting the potent cactus powder (from nausea to bleeding to complete transformation into a totem animal.) These heads might have been the original keepers of temples and evidence of Chavinian cannibalism. In the “Gallery of Sacrifices,” along with remains of eaten deer, llamas, birds, archeologists found the remains of human bodies of different ages (cut, boiled or fried in the same manner as the animals parts.) Although no direct evidence of cannibalism exists, it was a widespread phenomenon at the time and many view the Jaguar Heads as proof enough. The Jaguar Haeds may (as in many parts of the world) represent heads of defeated enemies or, alternatively, very respected members of society, but with very opposite purposes.)
http://archive.cyark.org/ancient-stone-tenon-heads-discovered-in-ancash-peru-blog

Tello Oblisk

The correlation of the Tello Obelisk to the Old Temple is supported by stylistic comparison with the Lanzón, another important monolith at Chavín. The Lanzón remains embedded within the Old Temple, securing its temporal placement. The Lanzón and the Obelisk are unique exceptions to the three groups of Old Temple sculpture at Chavín; ashlars carved in flat relief, three-dimensional tenoned heads set into the exterior stone walls of the platform mound, and mortars. The Obelisk was discovered by Julio C. Tello during excavation of the site and thereafter moved to Lima, Peru, where it is currently housed in the Museo Nacional de Antropológia é Historía.

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread853950/pg1

Phoenician Artifacts: Part Two

White Marble Anthropoid Coffin

In the 800 BC there was an explosion of trade in the Phoenician harbors. They were soon handling international trade from all across the Mediterranean, such as Cyprus, Sicily, the Glades, and Egypt. They spanned the near East from Egypt to Mesopotamia and Iran. Their civilization was very water and trade based culture. A culture that was not all there own, rather a combination of the civilizations that they traded with. As seen here with the coffin, the male headdress is influenced by the Egyptian stylings, the quality of the stone work suggests the deceased to be quite wealthy. 

http://www.britishmuseum.org/search_results.aspx?searchText=phoenicians&q=phoenicians

Gold Libation Bowl With Six Bulls

Phoenicians had settled in across the Mediterranean Sea, including Sicily. There was heavy trade between the western Greeks and the Phoenicians. They did not just trade objects, they traded ideas and styles. This bowl is most likely a product of the Greeks however there is heavy Phoenician influence. This was not only a phenomenon of the eastern Mediterranean, the Phoenicians were sea bearing peoples, and travelled and founded colonies in the western side of the Mediterranean, trading materials and ideas all along the way. 

http://www.britishmuseum.org/search_results.aspx?searchText=phoenicians&q=phoenicians

Phoenician Tablet

Phoenician became one of the most widely used writing systems, spread by sea faring Phoenician traders across the Mediterranean world, where it evolved and was assimilated by many other cultures. The Phoenician alphabet was modified by the many cultures they ran into during their crusades, they are the ancestor of modern Arabic script, while Hebrew script is a stylistic variant of the Arabic script. The Greek alphabet (and by extension its descendants such as the Latin, the Cyrillic, and the Coptic) was a direct successor of Phoenician, though certain letter values were changed to represent vowels. 

As the letters were originally incised with a stylus, most of the shapes are angular and straight, although more cursive versions are increasingly attested in later times. Phoenician was usually written from right to left, although there are some texts written to be mirrored.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/search_results.aspx?searchText=phoenicians&q=phoenicians

Gold Earrings 

Phoenician earrings, gold sheet in the shape of an ahnk soldered to a hoop, were among the many similar earrings from over seventy Phoenician tombs excavated at Tharros. The style of earring was originally a tradition of Canaanites in the second millennium BC, Egyptians soon caught on to the fad. Similar earrings occur in tombs at Carthage and Sicily. Burial customs at Tharros followed the fashions of Carthage. The body was provided with amulets and personal objects and laid on its back with the feet towards the door of the tomb, which faced east. Written spells and gifts invoked the gods' protection.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/search_results.aspx?searchText=phoenicians&q=phoenicians

Clay Mask

Most likely imported from Carthage, the most important Phoenician colony, this mask made of red clay was buried in a tomb to scare away any evil spirits and protect the dead as they transition into the afterlife. Phoenician society followed Canaanite culture in burial ceremonies, when the physical body dies, the npš (usually translated as "soul") departs from the body to the land of Mot. Bodies were buried with grave goods, and offerings of food and drink were made to the dead to ensure that they would not bother the living. Dead relatives were venerated and sometimes asked for help.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/c/clay_mask.aspx

Phoenician Artifacts: Part One

Stamp Scarab Seal

Around the beginning of 1000 B.C., Phoenician seal engravers adopted the use of the scarab, an Egyptian symbol of regeneration. In typical Phoenician fashion, the seals were decorated with Egyptian motifs, sometimes with non-Egyptian animal subjects. Popular subjects included the birth of Horus and scenes of his mother Isis nursing him as an infant. Winged protective deities and genies were also favorite themes.The seals were carved with not only Egyptian themes but also Etruscan and western Greek imagery (I've noticed that the Phoenicians really like to borrow Greek and Egyptian styles for a lot of things).

On this scarab, two protective winged goddesses wearing sun-disk headdresses flank the Egyptian god Osiris. Above is a winged sun disk. A line borders the scene and the figures stand on a ground line decorated below with crosshatching.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/phoe/hd_phoe.htm#slideshow1

Nubian with Oryx, Monkey, and Leopard Skins

Decorating your home with carved ivory plaques was a symbol of wealth throughout the Near East during early 1000 B.C. The ivories were carved in the major centers of Phoenicia—along the eastern Mediterranean coast. Assyrian conquests beginning in 900 B.C. brought richly decorated furniture as booty and tribute from the cities of Syria and Phoenicia, and craftsmen taken prisoner from these cities continued to carve ivories on the Assyrian coast.

Some Phoenician-style ivories are solid plaques, while others are carved on one or both sides in a delicate openwork technique. Many originally were covered by gold leaf and inlaid with semiprecious stones or colored glass. Such rich combinations of ivory, gold, and brightly colored stones made the thrones of the Assyrian kings famous for their exquisite beauty. Most ivories carved in the Phoenician style were probably produced during the late eighth and seventh centuries B.C.

Phoenician ivory carvers were (again) strongly influenced by the themes and style of Egyptian art owing to longstanding ties between the two cultures. Some Phoenician ivories illustrate purely Egyptian themes, but many use Egyptian motifs in entirely original compositions.

This Egyptian tribute bearer exhibits traits of the Phoenician style, characterized by the slender, elongated form of the bearer and his animal gifts, the precision of carving and intricacy of detail, as well as the distinct Egyptian flavor of both pose and features.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/phoe/hd_phoe.htm#slideshow2

Phoenician Bridle-Harness Decoration

Elaborate horse trappings, including frontlets and blinkers such as this one, were sometimes crafted from ivory and are represented on Assyrian reliefs. This spade-shaped horse blinker is decorated in low relief with a seated sphinx wearing the Egyptian cobra, or uraeus, and sun disk on its head. Another winged uraeus and sun disk faces the sphinx to its left. Behind the sphinx is a cartouche attached to a lotus plant. The hieroglyphic inscription inside the cartouche is a Phoenician name, "Djunen."

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/phoe/hd_phoe.htm#slideshow3

Egyptian Figures with Winged Disc

900-700 B.C., vast quantities of luxury goods, often embellished with carved ivory in local Phoenician styles, accumulated in Assyrian palaces, much of it as booty or tribute. This plaque, once part of a piece of furniture, is carved in high relief in a typical Phoenician style of using more Egyptian figures. Two pharaoh-like figures, standing on either side of a branching tree, wear a version of the double crown of Egypt with the uraeus emblem in front. They also wear a beard, necklace, and pleated short skirt belted at the waist with a central panel decorated with a pattern and uraeus on either side. An ankle-length apron with patterned border falls from behind the figures. Each man holds a ram-headed scepter in his right hand. Framed above the scene is a winged sun disk surmounted by a horizontal panel with ten uraei supporting sun disks.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/phoe/hd_phoe.htm#slideshow4

Stone Bireme Carving

 Phoenicians were an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550 BC to 300 BC. The Phoenicians used the galley, a man-powered sailing vessel, and are credited with the invention of the bireme. They were famed in Classical Greece and Rome as 'traders in purple', referring to their monopoly on the precious purple dye of the Murex snail, used, among other things, for royal clothing, and for their spread of the alphabet (or abjad), from which almost all modern phonetic alphabets are derived. A bireme is an ancient oared warship with two decks of oars, invented by the Phoenicians. Long vessels built for military purposes had relatively high speed, meticulous construction, strength, and depending on the number of rows of oars, were called uniremes, biremes, triremes, quadriremes, etc. It was typically about 80 feet (24 m) long with a maximum beam width of around 10 feet (3 m).

http://books.google.com/books?id=sDpMh0gK2OUC&pg=PA3&dq=+bireme+Assyrian+Casson&hl=en#v=onepage&q=bireme%20Assyrian%20Casson&f=false

La Casa Azul

I was born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderon, July 6, 1907 in the house of my parents, known as La Casa Azul (The Blue House), in Coyoacan. At the time, a small town on the outskirts of Mexico City.
The Mexican Revolution began in 1910 when I was three years old. My mother would often usher my sisters and I inside the house as gunfire echoed in the streets. My neighborhood was extremely poor at the time. Occasionally, men would leap over the walls into their backyard and sometimes my mother would prepare a meal for the hungry revolutionaries.
Around age six I contracted polio, low levels of calcium left my right leg thinner than the left, it was terribly embarrassing so I disguised by wearing long skirts. As a girl I was extremely athletic, I enjoyed boxing and other sports. When I was 15 I was enrolled in the Preparatoria, one of Mexico's premier schools, I was one of only thirty-five girls. I joined a gang at the school and fell in love with the leader, Alejandro Gomez Arias. During this period, I also witnessed violent armed struggles in the streets of Mexico City as the Mexican Revolution continued. It taught me so much about the destructive nature of poverty, I eventually became an active communist sympathizer. 
^{When I was 18 I was an in a bus accident that truly shaped my life. I suffered countless serious injuries, and I spent 3 months physically recuperating in a full-body cast. Even after that I had relapses of pain the rest of my life and struggled with walking. I never healed from the emotional damage as the accident left me unable to have a child, although I conceived three times all of my pregnancies had to be terminated which only threw me into a deeper pool of pain.  
I had a long and questionable relationship with Diego Rivera. We never had a traditional union. We always stayed separate housing. Looking back I suppose that led to the multiple infidelities by my husband. And I just added to the fire.  
http://www.biography.com/people/frida-kahlo-9359496/videos/frida-kahlo-mini-biography-17730384
http://www.frida-kahlo-foundation.org/biography.html 
 http://www.biography.com/people/frida-kahlo-9359496}