To begin with, both the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods are highly distant in their characteristics and human accomplishments. To be more exact, not only are both eras connected to different periods of time, but their duration is also wholly dissimilar. Furthermore, each age is characterized by distinct advancements: the Neolithic Age is widely recognized for its more developed human crafts compared to the Paleolithic period.
As a matter of fact, the Paleolithic Age is known for its tools usage since people first invented stone, wood, and bone. Another critical point is that, according to Kennedy (2019, line 5), during the Paleolithic period, humans learned to exploit the essential tools from stone and crude “for hunting birds and wild animals.” Furthermore, they managed to understand the process of setting fire to further prepare their meals for intake, “cooked their prey, including woolly mammoths, deer and bison” (Kennedy, 2019, line 5). As for the New Stone Age, humans depended on domesticated animals and plants, advanced their stone tools, and permanently settled in villages and towns (Boundless Art History, 2021). In addition, humans of this era created various crafts, such as pottery and weaving (Boundless Art History, 2021). Overall, it seems evident that the Neolithic Age brought more improvements to the human lifestyle, skills, and abilities compared to the Paleolithic period.
The lifestyles of humans in both periods were somewhat distant in their society formation and survival methods. As for the Old Stone Age, humans used to survive by being hunters and additionally opted for settling in “caves or simple huts or tepees” (Kennedy, 2019, line 6). It is significant to note that humans did not only intake meat or fish; they also collected fruit, berries, and nuts from nearby areas (Kennedy, 2019, line 6). To be more particular, people also opted to live in tribes and formed groups to be able to survive. However, the New Stone Age brought humans new diseases due to the domestication of animals (Boundless Art History, 2021). Still, animals and plants used to be the primary source of people’s food; hence, they deeply depended on them (Boundless Art History, 2021). Exactly these drastic changes in human lifestyle were the reason for the Neolithic period to be named a revolutionary one, considering that much had advanced since the Paleolithic era. To sum up, people learned to cultivate plants and breed animals and opted for permanently settling in the villages.
As for art, the Neolithic culture is strongly related to pottery, including various types of sculptures and adornments. Furthermore, people were able to construct temples, tombs, and stone architecture using megaliths (Esaak, 2018). In contrast, the Paleolithic period stands for the creation of essential tools from bones, stones, and crude. However, people also produced various art pieces, using different materials: “minerals, ochres, burnt bone meal and charcoal mixed into water, blood, animal fats and tree saps to etch humans, animals and signs” (Kennedy, 2019, line 7). To be more exact, ancient humans learned to create elemental sculptures, but they also “carved small figurines from stones, clay, bones and antlers” (Kennedy, 2019, line 7). In addition, humans also learned to paint and engrave on cave walls to communicate with other humans at the time.
The emergence of the culture itself is strongly connected to the Nile River, which is located in the country’s area. However, the river is based on 5% of the overall land, and an “overwhelming majority of the population (approximately 95%) reside in the narrow strip of fertile land along the Nile River” (Scroope, 2017, line 1). This fact is crucial for explaining Egyptians’ preference for crowded conditions in their daily lives. Another critical point is that Egyptians used their advantageous location for advancing trade; they “developed wide-reaching trade networks along the Nile, in the Red Sea, and in the Near East” (Khan Academy, 2021, p. 1). Furthermore, the choice of location can be clarified in the following way: Egyptians’ primary necessities were developing their land and growing crops. Consequently, the Nile river is beneficial for agriculture, considering that “the river’s annual flooding ensured reliable, rich soil for growing crops” (Khan Academy, 2021, p. 1). Overall, the emergence of Egyptian culture is highly dependent on the location and its surroundings that served as a decent place for advancing Ancient Egyptians’ lifestyles.
Egyptian culture is generally known for its colossal admiration for the land and its idea of land bringing happiness to any community person. Ancient Egyptians highly valued nature and viewed its elements in a completely different light compared to other cultures. For instance, Egyptian territory is famous for its metals and minerals; however, the community considered it not a monetary aspect but in the following way: “due to its radiant glow, gold was thought to have the ability to light the underworld, explaining why so many objects from Tutankhamun’s burial treasure were coated in gold leaf” (San Diego Natural History Museum, 2021, line 8). Gold used to serve as a significant natural element for Ancient Egyptians since it was believed to connect the worlds of the living and the dead (San Diego Natural History Museum, 2021). Thus, the residents of this territory highly valued nature and treated the Nile river’s environment with respect so that the land would help them survive by bringing them food and water.
Furthermore, Egyptians implemented their love for land and nature in their art and architecture, using plants or animals’ motives and natural colors. For instance, the Tomb of Nakht includes a famous Egyptian painting strongly related to agricultural scenes and is located on “a wall in the tomb of the 18th Dynasty vizier Nakht, Thebes, Egypt” (Dorman & James, 2020, line 29). Still, Egyptian communication was highly dependent on hieroglyphics, “a form of writing that used images to express sounds and meanings” that could be found on their art and cave walls (Khan Academy, 2021, p. 4). To be more particular, Egyptians used hieroglyphics as captions for their art to elaborate on the meaning and the idea of the piece; hence, they “complete and elaborate on the scenes” (Calvert, 2021, line 20). In addition, the hieroglyphics had various meanings and were used for different purposes: “many are instead phonetic sounds,” and some “are logographic, meaning they stand for an object or concept” (Calvert, 2021, line 21). Overall, Ancient Egyptians opted to express their admiration for land in various forms of art: literature, painting, sculpture, and myths, by captioning it with hieroglyphics to display its general meaning.
The emergence of the Mesopotamian community is associated with the land between two rivers. Namely, Tigris and Euphrates rivers separated the territory that contributed to the development of the first human civilization. The location of communities led to the creation of districts that were then united “by force under King Lugalzagesi of Uruk” (Jacobsen, 2020, line 4). Furthermore, the religion and beliefs of the residents were strongly associated with nature, “worship of the forces in nature—often visualized in nonhuman forms—especially those that were of immediate import to basic economic pursuits” (Jacobsen, 2020). Furthermore, the art of Mesopotamian culture seemed inspired by nature since many pieces borrowed environmental motives. For instance, the wall decoration with both vegetal and floral designs is associated with “Ma’aridh VI in the Ctesiphon area” (The Met, 2021, line 1). It seems significant to note that the residents were also skilled in creating pottery and sculpture from different materials.
References
Boundless Art History. (2021). The Neolithic period | Boundless art history. Web.
Calvert, A. (2021). Ancient Egyptian art. Smarthistory.
Dorman, P. F., & James, T. G. H. (2020). Egyptian art and architecture. Encyclopedia Britannica.
Esaak, S. (2018). Neolithic art and the New Stone Age. ThoughtCo.
Jacobsen, T. (2020). Mesopotamian religion. Encyclopedia Britannica.
Kennedy, L. (2019). The prehistoric ages: How humans lived before written records. HISTORY.
Khan Academy. (2021). Ancient Egyptian civilization.
San Diego Natural History Museum. (2021). Ancient Egypt and nature: The irrefutable connection. The Nat.
Scroope, C. (2017). Egyptian culture – Core concepts. Cultural Atlas.
The Met. (2021). Wall decoration with floral and vegetal design.