When we arrived we were asked which of the kids trails we would like to do. We chose to explore Ancient Greece. We were given a handbook with lots of different activities to do and things to learn about as we went around.
We were pretty excited!!!
ANIMAL ART
First we had to find lots of animals in the pottery...
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| Horses |
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| Cuttlefish |
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| Bull |
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| Octopus |
MYCENEAN LIFE
We had to look at the objects in this case from Mycenean Greece and see what we could guess about the lives of the people.
Here's what we thought...
- We thought that they probably ate fish because archeologists had found fish hooks and weights for fishing nets.
- We thought that they probably ate meat because there was a spear that could have been used for hunting or fighting.
- We thought they might have eaten goats, bulls and deer because they were drawn on lots of the pots and we thought they would draw things they knew.
- Isaac thought they might have had things like stews or soups because their eating things were shaped like bowls.
- We thought they had probably been fighters because there were swords as well as the spear.
- We thought they were probably rich because there were lots of gold objects found in the tombs.
We also saw these seals. They were usually hung round a person's neck and used to make a mark to show something was someone's property. For example they might be pressed into the clay by a door to show someone owned a house. Or it might be used on a container to show who it belonged to. Or it might be used on a wax tablet when writing a message to show who it was from.
GREECE MEETS EGYPT
Later in the Archaic age Greece established trading with Egypt and so got to be influenced by Egyptian art as well. One of the activities we had to do was compare and contrast the two statues here. The one on the left is from Egypt and the one on the right is from Greece.
Similarities
- Both males
- Similar hair
- Both carved out of stone
- Both have one foot/leg in front of the other
Differences
- The Egyptian one is carved out of limestone and the Greek one is carved out of marble. I thought this might be because the Egyptians used to write lots of hieroglyphics on their art, so they would need something like limestone that was soft and easy to carve into.
- The Greek one is nude and the Egyptian one wears clothes. I think this might be because the Greeks liked to express the full bodies including muscles and things so that the body was really accurate. The Egyptians seemed to prefer to have statues wearing clothes.
- The Greek one has broken down over time but the Egyptian one is still complete. I was surprised because I thought the marble would be stronger except my Dad told me that the limestone was probably buried and protected in layers of sand which would have damaged it less whereas the Greek one would have been buried in less protective materials.
- The Egyptian one is holding something in each hand - we guessed they might be scrolls because the statue looked a bit like a scribe. Because scribes would usually wear tunics and bare chests.
MOVING LIKE A MUSE
Next we had to practise standing like the statues of the muses in the temple behind us.
ATHENA'S BIRTHDAY
This room had a huge frieze going all the way round the room which was carved to show a parade celebrating the birthday of Athena - Goddess of War and Wisdom. The next day I did some writing about this which you can read here...
http://theexcitingadventuresoffinn.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/writing-athenas-birthday.html
The stone-carvings were amazing, but had been damaged over time. It gave us a good sense of what a celebration would be like during that time.
We had a great day and Isaac and I had lots to talk about on the way home!
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