Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Week 4: Reading Diary A- Ancient Egypt Unit

Ah, this unit is so cool so far! I didn't know much about the gods of ancient Egypt prior to starting this unit, so I have learned a lot. The gods of Egypt, it seems, had nearly as much drama as the gods and goddesses of Greece and Rome.

One of my favorite stories so far is The Journey of Isis. After the death of Osiris, Isis is completely devastated. She travels all over looking for his body and the men who betrayed him. Her determination is so appreciable. I loved the detail in everything she did in order to put herself in a position to bargain with the Syrian king to take back the body of Osiris. She comes across in this story as being very loyal, very determined, and very clever. The part in the story where Set discovers that Isis has taken Osiris is pretty gruesome, but Isis's reaction was a testament to her character and the amount of love and loyalty she felt toward Osiris. She sought out all 14 pieces of his body, which had been strewn about by Set just to bury each piece in its own tomb.

Head of a Crocodile in blue glass, 4th century BCE, Egypt
I also thought the story The Wax Crocodile was really interesting. It too had a pretty violent story line, which from what I have gathered reading the stories in this unit, is pretty typical. I think the Wax Crocodile was so cool because it seemed that it might be revealing of ancient Egyptian culture. It deals with adultery and what the punishment for that sin is. That both the adulteress and her lover are killed for it suggests that the ancient Egyptians prized fidelity very highly.
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 6, 2015 at 10:23 PM

    Madeline, I think it sounds likes the Egyptian unit is very interesting! It feels like there is drama between gods and goddesses no matter the region. But both of the stories you highlighted sound really interesting. It would be cool to read this unit, even though you mentioned that violent story lines are pretty typical for this unit. I also like the picture you included for this post; it looks really interesting!

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  2. Bria Waters February 8, 2015 at 9:29 PM

    I really enjoyed this unit too! I'm a big fan of Egyptian mythology! The stories you chose to highlight were the ones I felt really stuck out. Isis is a really strong goddess figure who even has a cult following and yet these stories show her softer side where sh e is utterly loyal to Osiris and so stricken with grief that she is almost blind to the chaos around her. The Wax Crocodile story was also really intriguing, though admittedly, a little difficult for me to read at first. It seemed a little hard for me to follow exactly what was happening and then when it all came together it was pretty crazy!

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