Pompeii And Herculaneum Summary

Pompeii and Herculaneum

Students learn about:

Non-examinable background
• stages of occupation
• brief historical overview up to and including the eruption of AD 79
• early discoveries and brief history of the excavations
• representations of Pompeii and Herculaneum over time

Examinable content:

1 Geographical context
• the physical environment: the geographical setting, natural features and resources of Pompeii and Herculaneum
• plans and streetscapes of Pompeii and Herculaneum

2 The nature of sources and evidence
• the range of available sources, both written and archaeological, including ancient writers, official inscriptions, graffiti, wall paintings, statues, mosaics, human and animal remains
• the limitations,
reliability and evaluation of sources
• the evidence provided by the sources from Pompeii and Herculaneum for:
– the eruption
– the economy: trade, commerce, industries, occupations
– social structure; men, women, freedmen, slaves
– local political life
– everyday life: leisure activities, food and dining, clothing, health, baths, water supply and sanitation
– public buildings – basilicas, temples, fora, theatres, palaestra, amphitheatres
– private buildings – villas, houses, shops
– influence of Greek and Egyptian cultures: art, architecture, religion
– religion: temples, household gods, foreign cults, tombs.
3 Investigating, reconstructing and preserving the past
• changing methods and contributions of nineteenth and twentieth century archaeologists to our understanding of Pompeii and Herculaneum
• changing interpretations: impact of new research and technologies
• issues of conservation and reconstruction: Italian and international contributions and responsibilities; impact of tourism
• ethical issues: study and display of human remains

Option G Greece: The Bronze Age – Society in Minoan Crete

Principal Focus: The investigation of the key features of Minoan society in Crete through a range of archaeological and written sources and relevant historiographical issues.

Students learn
about:

1 The geographical environment
– geographical setting, natural features and resources of Minoan Crete
– significant sites: Knossos, Phaestos, Malia, Zakros, Agia Triada, Gournia

2 Social structure and political organisation
– issues relating to gender and identity of the ruler/s
– palace elite: bureaucracy, priests and priestesses
– roles and status of women
– craftsmen and agricultural workers

3 The economy
– palace economy
– importance of agriculture
– role of towns: Gournia and Zakros
– trade and economic exchange: Mediterranean and Aegean region
– the issue of thalassocracy (maritime empire)
– crafts and industry: pottery, stone, ivory, metal, jewellery, seal stones, purple dye
– technology: building materials, techniques and construction (ashlar masonry), drainage and water supply

4 Religion, death and burial
– nature and identity of deities
– religious symbols: double axe (labrys) horns of consecration, the bull, snakes, trees, birds
– religious places: peak sanctuaries, cave shrines, palace shrines, pillar crypts, lustral basins
– rituals: sacrifice, libations, processions, dance
– funerary customs and rituals: larnax, ossuary; tombs: rectangular, tholos and chamber
– myths and legends relating to the Minoans: Theseus and the Minotaur, Icarus and Daedalus

5 Cultural life
– art: frescoes, figurines, pottery, seals, metalwork
– architecture of palace complexes: Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, Zakros and other palace sites
– writing: Linear A and Linear B, the Phaistos disc

6 Everyday life
– daily life and leisure activities
– food and clothing
– housing and
furniture
– occupations
– health

Option A Egypt: Hatshepsut

Principal Focus: Students gain an understanding of Hatshepsut in the context of her time.

Students learn about:

1 Historical context
– geography, topography and resources of Egypt and its neighbours
– historical overview of the early Eighteenth Dynasty
– overview of the social, political, military and economic structures of the early New Kingdom period
– relationship of the king to Amun
– overview of religious beliefs and practices of the early New Kingdom period

2 Background and rise to prominence
– family background
– claim to the throne and succession: Divine Birth and Coronation reliefs
– political and religious roles of the king and queen in the Seventeenth Dynasty and early Eighteenth Dynasty
– marriage to Thutmose II

3 Career
– titles and changes to her royal image over time
– foreign policy: military campaigns and expedition to Punt
– building program: Deir-el Bahri, Karnak, Beni Hasan (Speos Artemidos) and her tombs
– religious policy: devotion to Amun and promotion of other cults
– relationship with the Amun priesthood, officials and nobles including Senenmut
– relationship with Thutmose III; co-regency and later defacement of her monuments

4 Evaluation
– impact and influence on her time
– assessment of her life and reign
– legacy
– ancient and modern images and interpretations of Hatshepsut.

Option B Egypt: New Kingdom Egypt to the death of Thutmose IV

Principal Focus: Through an investigation of the archaeological and written sources for New Kingdom Egypt to the death of Thutmose IV, students learn about significant developments, forces and relevant historiographical issues that shaped the historical period

Students learn about:

1 Internal developments
– impact of the Hyksos: political, economic, technological
– establishment of the Eighteenth Dynasty: wars against the Hyksos, reunification of Upper and Lower Egypt
– role of queens: Tetisheri, Ahhotep II, Ahmose-Nefertari
– development and importance of the cult of Amun
– political and religious significance of building programs
– role and contribution of: Ahmose, Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV
– role and contribution of prominent officials within Egypt and the ‘empire’

2 Expansion of Egypt’s boundaries
– development and role of the army
– relations with Nubia, Syria-Palestine, Mitanni
– establishment of ‘empire’: military campaigns in Nubia, Syria-Palestine
– image of the ‘warrior pharaoh’
– administration of the ‘ empire’: Nubia and Syria-Palestine
– nature of Egyptian imperialism
– maintenance of the ‘empire’: Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV