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Why Do So Many Egyptian Statues Have Broken Noses?

artsy.net

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Re: Why Do So Many Egyptian Statues Have Broken Noses?

#92
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The same language, rituals, stories, music, food, imagery used, are all pretty much alive outside and inside thousands of temple even today. Technically, it's not the same language, culture, etc. The living culture has changed considerably over the centuries both organically and via outside influences, including Islam. The surprising thing about India is that it has kept around so much of the really ancient stuff w…

How it was described by my Indian friends was that, at least in their households, the religious stories were treated more like 'campfire stories'; not practically real, but entertaining, and good for teaching morality (that's not to say that there aren't Hindus that take it very seriously). This is as opposed to how most westerners treat religion, in a very literal sense - Moses/Muhammed/Jesus DID exists and their te…

Yes, that description represents my experience also. Even religious rituals were treated that way - as a means to develop focus and self-discipline.

That said, in the same households, people can still be very superstitious, because practically, sometimes being that way helps you explain otherwise difficult things that happen in life.

Re: Why Do So Many Egyptian Statues Have Broken Noses?

#93
post #87

The computer geniuses here at Hacker News have decided the main argument of this article are wrong. But among archaeologists ritual defacement is understood to be a regular thing that happens to art all over the world. Roman coins defaced: https://www.coinsweekly.com/en/Defacing-the-past-damnation-a... Teotihuacan icons demolished and destroyed by fire: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/sep/24/teotihu...

I had to collapse about 8 threads to find the first comment of someone doubting the argument (in a polite way). Your comment is popular because you are fighting a "easy-to-hate" minority that is only relevant because you made it so. You make fun of a kind of HN commenter that you find typical. But if your comment is the most popular (#1 now), and assuming that people are upvoting you because they agree that it is ind…

It's quite common that the top comment asks "why is everybody saying X", as if X was a widespread opinion. But then you have to scroll three pages down to find the comments being referred too, and they are usually heavily downvoted.

Re: Why Do So Many Egyptian Statues Have Broken Noses?

#96
post #87

The computer geniuses here at Hacker News have decided the main argument of this article are wrong. But among archaeologists ritual defacement is understood to be a regular thing that happens to art all over the world. Roman coins defaced: https://www.coinsweekly.com/en/Defacing-the-past-damnation-a... Teotihuacan icons demolished and destroyed by fire: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/sep/24/teotihu...

I had to collapse about 8 threads to find the first comment of someone doubting the argument (in a polite way). Your comment is popular because you are fighting a "easy-to-hate" minority that is only relevant because you made it so. You make fun of a kind of HN commenter that you find typical. But if your comment is the most popular (#1 now), and assuming that people are upvoting you because they agree that it is ind…

So you're saying that if I disagree with the parent, I should upvote him, to break the paradox?

Maybe other voters have already noticed the paradox, and taken appropriate action!

Re: Why Do So Many Egyptian Statues Have Broken Noses?

#97
post #87

The computer geniuses here at Hacker News have decided the main argument of this article are wrong. But among archaeologists ritual defacement is understood to be a regular thing that happens to art all over the world. Roman coins defaced: https://www.coinsweekly.com/en/Defacing-the-past-damnation-a... Teotihuacan icons demolished and destroyed by fire: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/sep/24/teotihu...

I had to collapse about 8 threads to find the first comment of someone doubting the argument (in a polite way). Your comment is popular because you are fighting a "easy-to-hate" minority that is only relevant because you made it so. You make fun of a kind of HN commenter that you find typical. But if your comment is the most popular (#1 now), and assuming that people are upvoting you because they agree that it is ind…

The character of a comment thread can change quickly here. I don't doubt the possibility that it was an overwhelming opinion when the parent decided to comment on it, even if no longer the case.

So maybe the flaw is to over generalize the gist of the thread early in its history.

Re: Why Do So Many Egyptian Statues Have Broken Noses?

#98
post #52
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well the other side of the coin is, Indian civilization survives. The same language, rituals, stories, music, food, imagery used, are all pretty much alive outside and inside thousands of temple even today. Those aspects of culture have somehow weathered invasion, natural disasters, famine, and drought. You can't say the same about Egyptian civilization.

> The same language, rituals, stories, music, food, imagery used, are all pretty much alive outside and inside thousands of temple even today. Technically, it's not the same language, culture, etc. The living culture has changed considerably over the centuries both organically and via outside influences, including Islam. The surprising thing about India is that it has kept around so much of the really ancient stuff w…

This is a bit of a rosy view of acceptance. Buddhists thats painstakingly built the Ajanta and Ellora cave complexes weren't accepted. They were wiped out by the Hindu Priesthood that felt threatened. Human beings are capable of great stupidity irrespective of what culture they have preserved.

There are great lessons in both, what they got right and what they got wrong.

Re: Why Do So Many Egyptian Statues Have Broken Noses?

#99
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The same language, rituals, stories, music, food, imagery used, are all pretty much alive outside and inside thousands of temple even today. Technically, it's not the same language, culture, etc. The living culture has changed considerably over the centuries both organically and via outside influences, including Islam. The surprising thing about India is that it has kept around so much of the really ancient stuff w…

How it was described by my Indian friends was that, at least in their households, the religious stories were treated more like 'campfire stories'; not practically real, but entertaining, and good for teaching morality (that's not to say that there aren't Hindus that take it very seriously). This is as opposed to how most westerners treat religion, in a very literal sense - Moses/Muhammed/Jesus DID exists and their te…

Hindus care about the actions and their effects rather than details such as the equipment used, the date it happened , place etc. The details may be important to "prove" something, but it doesn't really help the "listener" in any meaningful way. Hindus mostly care about how it helps the listener, what is that it must be learned from that experience. This is one of the reason why newer ideas don't replace older ideas for Hindus. As long as the old knowledge is meaningful and adds value, it will be in use. If the newer knowledge or idea, adds value it will be added with the old useful one. That's all. Hindus follow a simple and pragmatic system.

Re: Why Do So Many Egyptian Statues Have Broken Noses?

#100
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's unnecessary. To them these people looked so much inferior, that they even put them into zoos. Now ask yourself, if you found ruins indicating that [insert animal, maybe elephants] used to have an ancient civilization would you find that incredibly interesting or would you want to destroy evidence of that because it might affect the way we think of elephants today?

I think you underestimate the sickness of the people and culture of said people who would put people in zoos. If you can do that, you can’t put anything past that person/culture.

White man bad!

I think the sickness is in our own very recent culture's push to deface historic European culture, and rationalize all sorts of interpretations of evilness by, ironically, dehumanizing Europeans, as you're doing here.

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