As discussed in the earlier blog, most of the
documents cover the beliefs of the literate powerful rulers that governed the
masses. Whether the majority of the people also believed in the divinity of
their cultures is hard to tell; however, the standards set forth by the leaders
in the civilizations appear to manifest their own interpretations of the
afterlife and the promise of another world beyond their living one. Most of the
cultures seem to have produced epic mythologies to embellish the ways in which
their customs and ethos had been created to mold out of their former primitive
(or animalistic) lifestyle into one that would benefit a “civilized” population
of obedience. With Mesopotamia for example, not only did they have the
mythologies like the Epic of Gilgamesh to encourage the importance of mortality
and what one does with their life, but they also had written laws and
conditions to enforce their justices in which they were to live their lives.
For the Egyptians, they also relied on their good deeds and magical
incantations for a smooth transition into their realm of eternal life.
The Egyptians grew to understand the key to immortality
relied on the specialists dedicated to perfecting the written language. Robert
Strayer recalls an Egyptian passage elaborated within Lichtheim’s Ancient
Egyptian Literature by explaining, “Man decays; his corpse is dust; all his kin
have perished. But a book makes him remembered through the mouth of its
reciter” (Lichtheim in Strayer’s Ways of the World, p100). Within the passage
to Be a Scribe, the timbres of the
teacher to the aspiring scribes were that of a motivational speaker to the
sedentary crowd. The writings depict the other possible fates the potential
scribes could have found themselves within the least desirable occupations.
Instead of becoming an outworker, merchant, or a lesser peasant, the passage
identifies the scribes’ role of being removed from any physically intensive
labor. It is also advertised within the text the climb up the social class; it
is evident regarding the people the scribes can work directly for, as well as
the many different classes of people that work directly under them. The selling
point towards immortality is implied by the relevance of the texts; the names
of peasants, soldiers, and other commoners would fail at ever achieving noble
recognition to endure the test of time (omitting the possibility of passing
down the surname between the generations).
In contrast, the written language has no lifespan, and the concepts and
knowledge within the text can inhabit a new life with every reader willing to
spend time with the written material. I
believe this was their greatest source of power considering that their written
language is what transcribed the words of the leaders to the ears of the
masses. Documentation served as the
focal point to clarify their code of justice within any domestic or public disputes,
and was ordained by the leaders of their communities—and these leaders needed to
articulate their messages to the scribes in order to spread the word. Essentially speaking, the scribes could
potentially have more power than the leaders that govern them if they ever had
the desire to corrupt their messages. Above
all else, the primary sources are what we use in today’s world to understand
the methods of the Ancient Era, which prove their theories that their voices
would indeed become immortal.
I believe even to this day, people are still looking
for meaning and significance to their lives.
I would even include myself into the statistic of people compelled to
leave something behind to benefit the future generations. Perhaps immortality truly is the ultimate
source of power; in relation to other organisms that cannot escape their inevitable
deaths, the undefined lifespan of the written languages are the only thing that
can out last any life expectancy rate.
Not mentioned in these documents were the writings found in extinct
civilizations; regardless of the native speakers that could translate the dead
languages, there is enough content found within the artifacts that could clue
scholars in on the true interpretations.
This method may not be accurate; however, the evidence to support the
documentations that have out lived entire civilizations prove the strength of
written language. Whether people understand the meanings of the text or not, people today continue to search for their meanings, and pass down the discoveries for the future scholars to decipher. We will maintain our current understandings with the advancements of technology, the traditions of religious writings, and the laws that secure our safety.
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