UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHEASTERN PHILIPPINES
Bo. Obrero, Davao City, Philippines
ARTS APPRECIATION
GE 218
ANSWERS ON DISCUSSION POINTS & PROCESSING QUESTIONS
Lesson 7 to Lesson 11
LESSON
7 Art in Early Civilization
Discussion Points
1. What was the importance and significance of art during the Prehistoric period?
Art during the Prehistoric period is said to be the means of communication for
people, which makes it significant. As an example, it served as a warning or information
to people who were to come later in a cave. It could show the way to kill a beast or warn
them of a beast. Art from this period was also a powerful form of communicating
information between tribes and generations, just as how the Lascaux Caves in Southern
France demonstrate hunting techniques through the use of basic narrative structure and
iconography. Prehistoric art is important as it serves as some of the best means of showing
the interaction between our primitive ancestors and the world as they perceived it, which
makes it evoke naturalism.
Art in the prehistoric period is significant because it was what people in prehistoric
times did in order to record history and culture. As the first building blocks of art history,
prehistoric artifacts provide crucial insights into the origin of craft-making. These images
and crafts now serve as evidences for historical events since it was the people of the pasts'
version of documentation.
2. During the early Egyptian civilization, in what ways were the art and religion
interconnected?
Much of the surviving art came from tombs and monuments and thus, there is an
emphasis on life after death. The Great Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Giza are among
the largest and most famous architectural structure made during the Early Egyptian
, civilization. Religion is one of the purposes in the construction of these. The sphinx has a
head of a pharaoh or god while the pyramid was built for religious purposes, which
symbolizes the power of Egyptians in their time period and their strong religious beliefs.
The Egyptians used art such as drawings to help the deceased to live forever by
giving them all of the instructions they would need as they met the gods on their way to
eternal life. The art that surrounded their mummified body was to help their spiritual self
in solving the problems related to life after death. Pictures of food, clothing, servants, and
slaves could be used by the deceased just as the real things were used by the person
when living.
Processing Questions
1. How can the artworks from the past help people in present times understand the
context of those in the past?
Art from the past holds clues to life in the past. By looking at a work of art's
symbolism, colors, and materials, we can learn about the culture that produced it. Art
from the past helps us understand the evolution — the transition of something and why
it changed when it did. They allow as to know and understand how life goes during our
ancestors’ time. These artworks play a great part in our history and now, they allow us to
know what’s with our history. This is simply because these serve as the remains of the
past which could be used to better know and understand everything back then.
Without art, there wouldn't be any visual representations of the past, since these
artworks serve as evidences that could further support the existence of past events and
representation of how our primitive ancestors live.
2. In what ways can there be a merging of art and religion?
According to the Encyclopedia of Religion, as a mode of creative expression,
communication, and self-definition, art is a primordial facet of human existence and
constitutive factor in the evolution of religion. Art and religion converge through ritual
practice and presentation of sacred narrative, thereby affecting an experience of the
numinous. Additionally, art communicates religious beliefs, customs, and values through
iconography and depictions of the human body. The foundational principle for the
interconnections between art and religion is the reciprocity between image making and
meaning making as creative correspondence of humanity with divinity.
Bo. Obrero, Davao City, Philippines
ARTS APPRECIATION
GE 218
ANSWERS ON DISCUSSION POINTS & PROCESSING QUESTIONS
Lesson 7 to Lesson 11
LESSON
7 Art in Early Civilization
Discussion Points
1. What was the importance and significance of art during the Prehistoric period?
Art during the Prehistoric period is said to be the means of communication for
people, which makes it significant. As an example, it served as a warning or information
to people who were to come later in a cave. It could show the way to kill a beast or warn
them of a beast. Art from this period was also a powerful form of communicating
information between tribes and generations, just as how the Lascaux Caves in Southern
France demonstrate hunting techniques through the use of basic narrative structure and
iconography. Prehistoric art is important as it serves as some of the best means of showing
the interaction between our primitive ancestors and the world as they perceived it, which
makes it evoke naturalism.
Art in the prehistoric period is significant because it was what people in prehistoric
times did in order to record history and culture. As the first building blocks of art history,
prehistoric artifacts provide crucial insights into the origin of craft-making. These images
and crafts now serve as evidences for historical events since it was the people of the pasts'
version of documentation.
2. During the early Egyptian civilization, in what ways were the art and religion
interconnected?
Much of the surviving art came from tombs and monuments and thus, there is an
emphasis on life after death. The Great Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Giza are among
the largest and most famous architectural structure made during the Early Egyptian
, civilization. Religion is one of the purposes in the construction of these. The sphinx has a
head of a pharaoh or god while the pyramid was built for religious purposes, which
symbolizes the power of Egyptians in their time period and their strong religious beliefs.
The Egyptians used art such as drawings to help the deceased to live forever by
giving them all of the instructions they would need as they met the gods on their way to
eternal life. The art that surrounded their mummified body was to help their spiritual self
in solving the problems related to life after death. Pictures of food, clothing, servants, and
slaves could be used by the deceased just as the real things were used by the person
when living.
Processing Questions
1. How can the artworks from the past help people in present times understand the
context of those in the past?
Art from the past holds clues to life in the past. By looking at a work of art's
symbolism, colors, and materials, we can learn about the culture that produced it. Art
from the past helps us understand the evolution — the transition of something and why
it changed when it did. They allow as to know and understand how life goes during our
ancestors’ time. These artworks play a great part in our history and now, they allow us to
know what’s with our history. This is simply because these serve as the remains of the
past which could be used to better know and understand everything back then.
Without art, there wouldn't be any visual representations of the past, since these
artworks serve as evidences that could further support the existence of past events and
representation of how our primitive ancestors live.
2. In what ways can there be a merging of art and religion?
According to the Encyclopedia of Religion, as a mode of creative expression,
communication, and self-definition, art is a primordial facet of human existence and
constitutive factor in the evolution of religion. Art and religion converge through ritual
practice and presentation of sacred narrative, thereby affecting an experience of the
numinous. Additionally, art communicates religious beliefs, customs, and values through
iconography and depictions of the human body. The foundational principle for the
interconnections between art and religion is the reciprocity between image making and
meaning making as creative correspondence of humanity with divinity.
