Almohad dynasty

Alex Joy CORE 2101AP 2/10/2016 Dr. E. Redwine Reconciliation of Greek Philosophy and Monotheistic Religions “On July 19, 711, an army of Arabs and Berbers unified under the Islamic Umayyad caliphate landed on the Iberian Peninsula” (M 'Bow 2). Over the next several decades, through diplomacy and warfare, they brought the entire peninsula under Islamic control. The new territories, were referred to as al-Andalus. This region of southern Europe produced a wealth of great thinkers which would influence the development of the modern world. Two such thinkers were Maimonides and Ibn Rushd. Both Maimonides and Ibn Rushd sought to reconcile pagan Greek philosophy with the monotheistic religions of al-Andalus, Islam in Ibn Rushd’s case, Judaism in Maimonides’ case. Ibn Rushd, better known in the West as Averroes, was born in 1126 A.D. in Cordoba. He was the descendant of a distinguished Cordovan family of scholars, and the third generation of his family to hold the office of judge. “Ibn Rushd owes much of his success in life to the patronage by two enlightened caliphs, Abu Yaqub Yusuf and Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur. Caliph Abu Yaqub, brought him to Córdoba and made him chief judge and his personal physician” (M’Bow 14). Under his sponsorship, Ibn Rushd took on the task of commenting on Aristotle’s works. “Ibn Rushd was able to discuss Greek philosophy freely with Abu Yaqub who encouraged him to write his commentaries on the works of Aristotle” (M 'Bow 14). One of those commentaries…

and falls of power. Each fall and rise was typically due to an awful king, war, or chaos: and sometimes it was a product of all three. Egypt excelled in most things to build a powerful empire; government, trading, leadership and a strong sense of religion (or belief in gods). All of these qualities could either build or destroy an empire; in which Egypt experienced both. Egypt tremendously influenced the Chinese way of leadership in relation to the rise and fall type of dynasty. In early Egypt…

I selected the Power Figure (Nkisi Nkondi) from The Brooklyn Museum’s Collections: Art of Africa. It was difficult to narrow the choice to only one. Each piece had so many eye catching elements. Each piece had its own story to tell and teach us about its history. The Nkisi Nkondi demanded my attention by the aggressive stature and glaring eyes. To fully appreciate this piece we need to learn its history. The Power Figure also known as Nkisi (in-KEE-see) Nkondi (in-CON-dee) came from the Kongo…

Suzanna Blier’s Art and Risk in Ancient Yoruba: Ife History, Power and Identity examines the creation and expression of sculptures and other arts in the ancient city of Ife. The novel provides an interesting lens into the early civilization’s culture by examining the often perplexingly technical sculptures that have intrigued historians for centuries. The first chapter specifically address Blier’s theory that the looming potential of different risks bolstered the quality and technical complexity…

The development of sculpture are closely associated the emergence of human society. It is the history of human identity recording the thoughts, culture, and aesthetic concept of the people at that age, also reflects the pursuit of one generation to another generation. Commemorative Portrait of a Chief (Lefem), an African wood sculpture from 19th to early 20th century, is a portrayal of one of the ruler of Bangwa chiefdoms . In contrast, The Marble Statue of a Youthful Hercules, a Roman marble…

civilians. The Han rulers modified some of the harsher aspects of the Zhao dynasty; Confucian ideals of government, out of favor during the Qin period, were adopted as the creed of the Han Empire, and Confucian scholars gained prominent status as the core of the civil…

His writing reveals a sense of being robbed by history. “The persona of the Man Awakened from Dreams grows out of the contradictions between Liu’s vision of himself as an educated man and potential government official and his actual situation (19).” He even “traced his ancestry back to Liu Zhiyuan, a tenth century emperor of the short-lived later Han dynasty (21).” The holder of a provincial degree, Liu watched with dismay as the countryside began to wither under the slow but relentless assault…

Qin Shihuang, the ruler of the Qin Dynasty, is revered as the first emperor of China. His quest for immortality is well known and eventually led to his death from mercury poisoning. In 1977 his vast tomb was discovered near Xi’an and is today one of the most visited sites in China, for he left a vast terracotta army to protect him in the afterlife that is today known as the Terracotta Army. He was so convinced of his immortality that he left no successor and his empire only lasted 4 years…

Throughout time, style and fashion changed in China. Apart from being political figures, emperors and empresses were the ones who took the initiative to set out trends and the ones to decide who was permitted to wear what. During the ages of the emperors, fine robes were a sign of rank, lifestyle, esthetics and good taste. What one wore said where one stood in society and who one was to be. Styles change from dynasty to dynasty and the history is imprinted in the clothing. Depending on one’s…

temporarily confiscated and was therefore forced to exile in Japan briefly in the early 1910s. Thus, the Sheng family was in dire need of an attention-grabbing event as a public declaration to reconfirm Sheng’s worthiness as the icon of the day. Employees of various enterprises founded by Sheng and students from the Nanyang College were invited to partake in the procession as a showcase of Sheng’s status as a harbinger of China’s industrial, transportation, banking, and educational…