Page 222 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol I - Abraham to Coal

archaeology 107

Imaginable? Despite its summit fiasco, the Arab world is groping for century CE, for example, Cyriacus of Ancona, an Italian
democracy. (2004, April 3). The Economist, 371(8369), 13. merchant, traveled the Mediterranean coast and Greece,
UN: Lack of freedom stunts Arab nations. (2002, July 2). USA Today,
p. 6A. drawing and gathering information about ancient mon-
uments, copying inscriptions, and collecting objects from
early civilizations. Because Cyriacus attempted to study
ancient writings and material culture, some consider
him to be one of the first archaeologists. Moreover,
Archaeology scholars began to challenge religious traditions through
archaeology. For instance, in 1655, Isaac de la Peyrere
rchaeology is a part of the anthropological four-field argued that stone tools found in Europe came from a
Aapproach to studying past and present cultures.The culture that existed before the biblical Adam.The devel-
biological, linguistic, sociocultural, and archaeological opment of Assyriology and Egyptology during the nine-
divisions of anthropology work together to research soci- teenth century CE also contributed to how scholars
eties through areas such as diet, language, social struc- studied the civilizations of Assyria, Egypt, and others.
tures, and kinships.Archaeology in particular attempts to Jean Francois Champollion’s deciphering of the Rosetta
understand, describe, and explain the construction and stone in 1822 was a huge breakthrough in understand-
development of past cultures through the study of their ing ancient Egyptian languages and dialects.
material remains. In order to do this, archaeologists Also during the nineteenth century, scholars and
often incorporate interdisciplinary methodologies from laypersons from Europe and other countries around the
other fields, as well as develop techniques to explore the world sought to explore past civilizations through the
numerous questions archaeological data may present. study of material culture. Although most had sincere
It appears that people have always had an interest in motives, some of the approaches to excavating were
groups that lived before them. Typically, most want to essentially treasure hunting. However, the growing study
understand how previous cultures interpreted the world of evolution during this period influenced archaeology
around them. For instance, during Egypt’s eighteenth profoundly. Many scholars now began to investigate the
dynasty (1532–1305 BCE), a number of scribes wanted
to know more about how those that lived before them
constructed tombs, how people were interred, and how
they interpreted the afterlife. To answer these questions
they examined burials dating from centuries earlier and
left graffiti to record their visits. During the sixth century
BCE Nabonidus, a prominent king of the famous Baby-
lonian empire, demonstrated his interest in the past by
excavating at the city of Ur. He desired to know more
about ancient Sumerian culture, a civilization then
already 2,500 years old. Interestingly, the Babylonian
king shared many of his finds with others by exhibiting
them. His daughter, Bel-Shalti Nannar, continued her
father’s archaeological work following his death.
Archaeology has continued to play a part in how peo- The Temple of Warriors at the major
ple investigate past cultures, but the discipline has under- archaeological site of Chichen Itza in
gone considerable developments. During the fifteenth Mexico.