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| Sphinx of Tahraqo Link to Photo |
For this project Mr. Rothemich had us examine two multimedia sources on the Ancient Nubian's. We had to answer several questions on these documentaries trying to work out what the central message of the documentaries was.
Title: The History of the World in 100 Objects
Type of Media: Podcast
Date Released: 2010
Principle maker(s): The British Museum and BBC Radio 4
Link to Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/about/transcripts/episode22/Some might think that the central message of this podcast on the Sphinx of Tahraqo was about water rights or control. I think the central message of this podcast is not about control of resources but conflict between cultures and ultimately how culture blend together. They spend a lot of time discussing the physical features of the Sphinx and how it blends traditional Egyptian Sphinx design such as the paws and the shape of the body with a face of a black African pharaoh, The Sphinx represents the blending of Egyptian and Nubian cultures. This blending of cultures and ideas is still continuing to this day. Sometimes peacefully and sometimes forcefully which the Nubian conquest of Egypt shows has been happening throughout history.
I think the trouble the Podcasts have is that we have become a very visual society. We expect to see moving images while being entertained and even while learning now. This Podcast does a great job though of creating an image in your mind, you can easily imagine faraway lands in Africa and even make connections to a distant past. In general it does an excellent job communicating its central message.
I think the creators wanted us to respond with a new sense of respect for less powerful people and cultures in society. As they mentioned in the podcast normally Egypt looked on Nubia as a place of rich resources but during a time of Egyptian weakness the Nubian's conquered their more powerful neighbor to the North and then began combining the two cultures together, the Sphinx of Tahraqo is a symbol of an often forgotten or ignored African culture.
Title: Story of Nubia
Type of Media: Documentary
Date Released: Uploaded on YouTube in 2011
Principle maker(s): Royal Ontario Museum
Link to Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AyimQ4Nx4oThis is where I would continue my review answering the three questions on the Documentary Review Worksheet.
