From the very start of European involvement in East and Central Africa, Westerners were fascinated by the natural places and animals they encountered in this exotic continent. Tales from famous...Show moreFrom the very start of European involvement in East and Central Africa, Westerners were fascinated by the natural places and animals they encountered in this exotic continent. Tales from famous African explorers like Henry Morton Stanley and David Livingstone gave the impression of a dark and wild continent as opposed to the orderly and civilized Europe. In the early imperialistic period of Africa, European powers tried to implement their notion of nature to their colonial territories. That is to say, a strict division between what is considered nature and what is considered not. Through (neo)colonial ties a fabrication of nature has developed and affected the Sub-Saharan African landscape for more than 150 years. Colonial imposition of European ideas like the European hunting tradition, the Romantic notions about nature, imposition of economic development and wildlife conservation all had a lasting impact on the African continent. By means of colonization, but also long afterwards, Sub-Saharan Africa has thus been highly influenced by old Western notions about Africa's nature. This thesis sets out to discuss how the Western philosophy of the relation between human and nature has dominated and continues to dominate many places in Africa as Western conceptions of what nature is and what it is not are seemingly still present to this day and age.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
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The death of the Hittite king was an event of cosmogonic proportions for Hittite society. The political, religious and social vacuum created by this event signaled the beginning of a an elaborate...Show moreThe death of the Hittite king was an event of cosmogonic proportions for Hittite society. The political, religious and social vacuum created by this event signaled the beginning of a an elaborate fourteen-day-long funerary ritual known among scholars as the “Šalliš Wastaiš ritual”. Its main purpose was the orderly transition of the king’s soul to the underworld. At the same time, the usage of various ritual objects aimed, among others, at presenting the deceased as an otherworldly hunter. Of these objects, the bow, the arrow, the quiver, the spear and the hunting bag were closely connected with Hittite royal hunting, something which is also visible in the textual and iconographic sources of the wider ancient Near East. The construction of a post-mortem image of the deceased king as a hunter was based on the apparent close relation of hunting with religion, warfare and Hittite royal ideology. Considering that Hittite textual and iconographic evidence show that success in the hunt was directly proportional to the offerings toward the gods, the presentation of the ruler as an accomplished hunter propagated his privileged relationship with the divine, and indicated that hunting was treated as a ritual act of great importance. At the same time, given the importance of warfare for the Hittite state, and the equation of the hunt with war, the inclusion of hunting objects in the royal funeral demonstrated that according to Hittite royal ideology the successful hunter was also a mighty and undefeated warrior. Moreover, the hunt acquired a political dimension too, because it sustained the royal propaganda. The killing of big game by the king was indicative of strength and courage, and symbolized his superhuman abilities. Hunting had important cosmological implications as well, since its mastery by the king illustrated his physical and spiritual dominion over the wild beasts which represented one of the aggressive aspects of nature. By showing his command of the animal world, the king emerged, in life and in death, as the defender of civilization against the menace of nature.Show less
Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
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It is a well-known fact that hunting was an integral part of the ancient Egyptian society. From the Early-dynastic period onwards, hunting appears as an important subject in iconographical as well...Show moreIt is a well-known fact that hunting was an integral part of the ancient Egyptian society. From the Early-dynastic period onwards, hunting appears as an important subject in iconographical as well as in textual sources. In Egyptology hunting is often represented as a symbolic act of fighting the forces of evil, manifesting itself in animals. This idea is often applied to many sources in every historical period of Egyptian history, without taking into consideration the occurring changes on how hunting is represented to us in Egypt’s long history. The question is then: how did the concept of hunting and its significance develop from the Early-Dynastic Period to the New Kingdom 20th dynasty, and what are the main problems encountered when studying the development, and significance of hunting in ancient Egypt? In order to answer this question we must analyse the primary sources themselves. Iconographic depictions of hunting appear on royal monuments as well on monuments dedicated to the elite such as tombs, but also on objects used in daily life. Besides there are also textual sources which tell us about hunt. This great variety in contexts means it is paramount to study these sources in their proper context. This proves that most sources have their own significance in their own context, and that we cannot apply one single interpretation to all sources concerned with hunting. The primary sources indicate that the iconographical representation, and ideological meaning of hunting changed throughout Egyptian history. It is these changes that will be discussed during in this thesis. Different kinds of hunting will be discussed such as fishing, fowling, the hippopotamus hunt, and desert hunt.Show less
