What is an animal?

We will begin AHIX350 with a detailed description of the unit, followed by a brief exploration of the ways in which animals were differentiated from humans in ancient philosophy. Topics include: the biological definition of animals, ancient classifications of animals, “man-only” features, and the question of animal rationality.

 Lecture readings

 Essential (available on the unit website)

• Newmyer, S.T., ‘Chapter 6: Animals in ancient philosophy: Conceptions and misconceptions’, A Cultural History of Animals in Antiquity, 151-174.
• And please read the Unit Guide!

 Discussion forum

Introduce yourself! What is your favourite animal and why?

 Activity: Animal impressions

The following is an optional exercise for Week 1. You do not have to do it if you do not wish to and it will not be assessed in any way. It may, however, give you some insights in future weeks when considering the material that will be presented in this unit.

Go to a park, zoo, or wildlife park – or any other place where you can observe and get quite close to an animal or group of animals. Choose one animal species. Once you have made your choice, get as close to it as you can and sit or stand comfortably. Observe your animal(s) for at least 15 minutes continuously. Don’t talk. Try not to think about anything else or get distracted. Look closely at your chosen animal(s):

• What do you see?
• What do you hear?
• What can you smell?
• And, if possible, What does your chosen animal feel like?

At the end of the 15 minutes (or more), record your impressions as quickly as you can (single words, phrases, sentences – whatever comes to mind). Then in the Week 2 discussion forum (see below), please share your thoughts and observations with your fellow students.

Week 2

 Art: Prehistory, Ancient Near East, and Egypt

In drawings, paintings, engravings, reliefs, statues, and other media, the people of the ancient Mediterranean were able to illustrate many different aspects of their relationship with the animal world – from the mundane and practical to the spiritual, aesthetic, and emotional – illustrations that now potentially yield much information about the way in which animals were perceived and treated in the past. Topics include: the representation of animals in Palaeolithic art, at the sites of Gobekli Tepe and Çatalhöyük, and in both Mesopotamian and Egyptian art.

 Lecture readings (available on the unit website)

 Essential

• Klingender, F.D., ’Animal art in the ancient Near East’, Animals in Art and Thought to the End of the Middle Ages (London 1971), 28-59.

You must also read at least one of the following:

• Albenda, P., ‘Assyrian royal hunts: Antlered and horned animals from distant lands’, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 349 (2008), 61-78.
• Peters, J. and Schmidt, K., ‘Animals in the symbolic world of Pre-Pottery Neolithic Göbekli Tepe, south-eastern Turkey: A preliminary assessment’, Anthropozoologica 39 (2004), 179-218.
• Rice, P.C. and Paterson, A.L., ‘Cave art and bones: Exploring the interrelationships’, American Anthropologist 87 (1985), 94-100.
• Russell, N. and Meece, S. ‘Animal representations and animal remains at Catalhöyük’, in Hodder, I. (ed), Çatalhöyük Perspectives (Cambridge, 2002), 206-245.

 Discussion forum

• Evans, L., ‘Art and animal behavior’, in Bekoff, M. (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior vol. 1 (Westport, 2004), 81-83.

Please share your Week 1 animal impressions with the group. Has this experience changed your thinking about animals in any way? If so, how? Having observed animals yourself, what do you think about the ways ancient artists depicted them? Even if you were unable to observe animals, what challenges do you think ancient artists faced?

Week 3

 Art: Minoan, Greek and Roman

This week we will explore the ways in which animals were represented in the ancient cultures of the Aegean and Italy during the Bronze and Iron Age periods. The lecture consists of a brief chronological overview of the art produced by these peoples to determine which species were represented, where and how they were depicted, and in what media. Topics include: the representation of animals in Minoan, Mycenaean, Greek, Roman and early Christian art.

 Lecture readings (available on the unit website)

 Essential

• Morris, C., ‘Chapter 7: Animals into art in the ancient world’, A Cultural History of Animals in Antiquity, 175-198.

You must also read at least one of the following:

• Masseti, M., 'Representations of birds in Minoan art', International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 7 (1997), 354-363.
• Sparkes, B.A., ‘Painted birds at Pompeii’, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 7 (1997), 354-363.
• Thomas, N.R., ‘The early Mycenaean lion up to date’, Hesperia Supplements 33, ΧΑΡΙΣ: Essays in Honor of Sara A. Immerwahr (2004), 161-206.
• Vanschoonwinkel, J., ‘Animal representations in Theran and other Aegean arts’, in Hardy, D.A. et al., Thera and the Aegean World III (Bishopsgate, 1989), 327-347.
• Vermeule, C., ‘Greek funerary animals’, American Journal of Archaeology 76 (1972), 49-59.

 Discussion forum

• Davis, E.N., ‘The Vapheio cups: One Minoan and one Mycenaean?’, The Art Bulletin 56 (1974), 472-487.

What is your opinion of the Vapheio cups? Do you think that each was made by a separate artist – one Minoan and one Mycenaean? Consider all the features of the vessels, but especially the way in which the bulls are represented.

Week 4

 Hunting

Which species were hunted in the ancient world, what methods were used to catch and kill wild animals, and what did hunting mean to the cultures that engaged in it? Topics include: why humans began to hunt, and hunting practices in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Italy.

 Lecture readings

 Essential (textbook)

• Newmyer, S.T., ‘Animals as offerings: Hunting and sacrifice’, Animals in Greek and Roman Thought: A Sourcebook, 87-92.

You must also read at least one of the following:

• Anderson, J.K., ‘The technique of Greek hunting’, Hunting  in the Ancient World (Berkeley, 1985), 30-56.
• Houlihan, P., ‘The thrill of the hunt’, The Animal World of the Pharaohs (London, 1996), 40-73.
• Tuck, S.L., ‘The origins of Roman imperial hunting imagery: Domitian and the redefinition of virtus under the principate’, Greece & Rome 52 (2005), 221-245.

 Discussion forum

• Fox, R.L, ‘Ancient hunting: From Homer to Polybios’, in Salmon, J. B. and Shipley, G. (eds), Human Landscapes in Classical Antiquity: Environment and Culture (1996), 119-153.

Discuss the social and political aspects of hunting as outlined by Fox. 

Week 5

 Domestication

This week we will look at animal domestication and the types of evidence that point to the presence of domesticated species in the archaeological record. Topics include: the difference between taming and domestication, the process of domestication, criteria needed for domestication to occur, the effect of domestication on animals, and evidence for the earliest domestication of dogs, sheep and goats, cattle, donkeys, horses, and cats.

 Lecture readings (available on the unit website)

 Essential

• Crabtree, P.H., ‘Early animal domestication in the Middle East and Europe’, Archaeological Method and Theory 5 (1993), 201-245.

You must also read at least one of the following:

• Ajmone‐Marsan, P. et al., ‘On the origin of cattle: How aurochs became cattle and colonized the world’, Evolutionary Anthropology 19 (2010), 148–157.
• Clutton-Brock, J. ‘Origins of the dog: Domestication and early history’, in Serpell, J. (ed.), The Domestic Dog: its Evolution, Behaviour and Interactions with People (Cambridge, 1995), 7-20.
• Outram, A.K. et al., ‘The earliest horse harnessing and milking’, Science 323, no. 5919, (2009), 1332-1335.
• Rossel, S. et al., ‘Domestication of the donkey: Timing, processes, and indicators’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105, no. 10 (2008), 3715-3720.
• Zeder, M.A., ‘Domestication and early agriculture in the Mediterranean Basin: Origins, diffusion, and impact’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105, no. 33 (2008), 11597-11604.

 Discussion forum

• Serpell, J., ‘Pet-keeping and animal domestication: A reappraisal’, in: Clutton-Brock, J. (ed.), The Walking Larder: Patterns of Domestication, Pastoralism and Predation (London, 1989), 10-21.

Did the people of the ancient world keep pets? How would we know? What evidence would indicate this?

Week 6

 Animal husbandry

The lecture this week will examine the various animal husbandry methods used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans to treat their livestock, the agricultural roles that they assigned to them, and the goods and services that they relied on their animals to produce. Topics include: sources of information, breeding, choosing stock, veterinary care, feeding, ploughing, sowing, threshing, transportation, the production of wool, meat, milk, eggs, and honey.

 Lecture readings (available on the unit website)

 Essential

• Bodson, L., ‘The welfare of livestock and work animals in ancient Greece and Rome’, Medical Heritage July/August (1986), 244-249.

You must also read at least one of the following:

• Brewer, D.J., Redford, D.B. and Redford, S., ‘Chapter 7: Egyptian cattle’, Domestic Plants and Animals: The Egyptian Origins (Warminster, 1994), 77-97.
• Isager, S. and Skydsgaard, J.E., ‘Animal husbandry’, Ancient Greek Agriculture: An Introduction (London, 1992), 83-107.
• White, K.D., ‘Animal husbandry’, Roman Farming (London, 1970), 272-331.

 Discussion forum

• Swinton, J., ‘De-coding Old Kingdom wall scenes: Force-feeding the hyena’, Woods, A., McFarlane, A. and Binder, S. (eds), Egyptian Culture and Society: Studies in Honour of Naguib Kanawati (Cairo, 2010), 233-246.
• Legge, J., ‘The hyaena in dynastic Egypt: Fancy food or fantasy food?’ International Journal of Osteoarchaeology (2010), 1-9.

• Shafik, S., ‘Force-feeding animals in Old Kingdom scenes’, Göttinger Miszellen 227 (2010), 65-71.

A number of tomb scenes from ancient Egypt appear to show striped hyenas being force-fed, but Egyptologists cannot agree whether these images represent a real or imaginary procedure. Do you think that the scenes illustrate an actual husbandry practice in ancient Egypt?

Week 7

 Environmental exploitation

An examination of the ways in which the people of the ancient Mediterranean took advantage of the natural resources around them to such a degree that the environment was changed fundamentally, the landscape was modified, and animal species were exploited. Topics include: environmental history, environmental impact in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Italy, case studies: the Roman arena animal trade, monk seals, and murex snails.

 Lecture readings (available on the unit website)

 Essential

• Hughes, J.D., ‘Chapter 6: Wildlife depletion - Hunting, fishing, and the arena’, Pan’s Travail: Environmental Problems of the Ancient Greeks and Romans (Baltimore, 1994), 91-111.

You must also read or listen to at least one of the following:

• Hughes, J.D., ‘Sustainable agriculture in ancient Egypt’, Agricultural History 66, no. 2 (1992), 12-22.
• MacKinnon, M., ‘Supplying exotic animals for the Roman Amphitheatre games: New reconstructions combining archaeological, ancient textual, historical and ethnographic data’, Mouseion, Series III 6 (2006), 137-161
• Ruscillo, D., 'Reconstructing murex royal purple and biblical blue in the Aegean', in Bar-Yosef Mayer, D.E. (ed.), Archaeomalacology: Molluscs in Former Environments of Human behavior (Oxford, 2005), 99-106.

 Discussion forum

• Rackham, O., ‘Ecology and pseudo-ecology: The example of ancient Greece’ in Shipley, G. and Salmon, J. (eds), Human Landscapes in Classical Antiquity: Environment and Culture (London, 1996), 16-43.

Contrary to prevailing views in environmental history, Rackham suggests that the ancient Greeks did not damage their environment. What do you think of his argument? Do you agree or disagree?

* * * MID-SEMESTER BREAK (APRIL 17-28, 2017) * * *

Week 8

 Egyptian religion

This week we will look at the role of animals in the religious beliefs and spiritual practices of the ancient Egyptians. Topics include: animism, predynastic animal symbolism, animal deities, human-animal representations, the nature of divinity and the manifestation of deities in animal form, the animal associations of Khepri, Thoth, Renenutet, Anubis, and Seth, sacred animal cults, votive mummies, composite deities and fantastic creatures, amulets, and cattle symbolism.

 Lecture readings (available on the unit website)

 Essential

• Teeter, E., ‘Animals in Egyptian religion’, in Collins, B.J. (ed.), A History of the Animal World in the Ancient Near East (Leiden, 2002), 335-360.

You must also read at least one of the following:

• Dodson, A., ‘Bull cults’ in Ikram, S., Divine Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt (Cairo, 2005), 72-105.
• Kritsky, G. and Cherry, R., ‘Insects in Egyptian mythology’, in Insect Mythology (San Jose, 2000), 49-63.
• te Velde, H. (1980): 'A few remarks on the religious significance of animals in ancient Egypt', Numen 27 (1980), 76-82.

 Discussion forum

• McDonald, A., ‘Tall tails: The Seth animal reconsidered’, in Current Research in Egyptology (2000, Oxford), 75-81.
• te Velde, H., ‘The Seth animal’ in Seth, God of Confusion: A Study of His Role in Egyptian Mythology (Leiden, 1977), 13-26.

 Optional extra

• Newberry, P.E., 'The pig and the cult-animal of Set', Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 14 (1928), 211-225.

What do you think the Seth animal is meant to be? Is it a stylized image of a living animal or a composite creature? How does the animal (or animals) reflect Seth’s characteristics? 

Week 9

 Greek religion

The animal-focussed cult practices of the Minoans and the religious practices of the Classical Greeks will be the focus for this week. Topics include: Minoan sanctuaries and shrines; animal deities; animal associations of Zeus, Poseidon, Dionysios, Hermes, Apollo, Athena, Hera, Artemis, Pan, satyrs, and mythological creatures; animal sacrifice; and divination.

 Lecture readings (available on the unit website)

 Essential

• Hughes, D.J., ‘Artemis: Goddess of conservation’, Forest and Conservation History October (1990), 191-197.
• Lawler, L.B., ‘Dancing herds of animals’, The Classical Journal 47(8) (1952), 317-324.

You must also read at least one of the following:

• Bevan, E., ‘The goddess Artemis and the dedication of bears in sanctuaries’, The Annual of the British School at Athens 82 (1987), 17-21.
• Burkert, W., ‘Sacrifice as an act of killing’, Homo Necans: The Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth (Berkeley, 1983), 1-12.
• Larson, J., ‘A land full of gods: Nature deities in Greek religion’, in Ogden, D. (ed.), A Companion to Greek Religion (New York, 2010), 56-70.
• Pollard, J., ‘Omens and augury’, Birds in Greek Life and Myth (London, 1977), 116-129.
• Simandiraki-Grimshaw, A., ‘Minoan animal-human hybridity’ in Counts, D.B. and Arnold, B. (eds), The Master of Animals in Old World Iconography (Budapest, 2010), 93-106.

 Discussion forum

• Mayor, A., ‘The ‘Monster of Troy’ vase: The earliest artistic record of a vertebrate fossil discovery?’, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 19(1) (2000), 57-63.

• Solounias, N. and Mayor, A., ‘Ancient references to the fossils from the land of Pythagoras’, Earth Sciences History 23(2) (2004), 283-296.

 Optional extra

• Mayor, A., ‘Appendix 2: Ancient testimonia’, The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times (Princeton, 2000), 260-281.

Adrienne Mayor has suggested that prehistoric fossils influenced Greek myths about fabulous creatures. Do you find her argument convincing or just pseudo-scientific nonsense?

Week 10

 Roman religion

The lecture this week concerns the role of animals in the religious beliefs of the Etruscans, Roman cult practice, mystery cults, and in early Christianity. Topics include: animal symbolism associated with Etruscan deities; haruspicy (divination with entrails and birds), animals associated with Roman gods; festivals; public and private animal sacrifice; the suovetaurilia; divination; the taurobolium rite; Mithraism; and early Christian animal symbolism.

 Lecture readings (available on the unit website)

You must read at least two of the following:

• Elliott, J., ‘The Etruscan wolfman in myth and ritual’, Etruscan Studies 2(1) (1995), 17-33.
• Richardson, E., ‘The wolf in the west’, The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 36 (1977), 91-101.
• Scheid, J., ‘Sacrifices for gods and ancestors’, in Rüpke, J. (ed.), A Companion to Roman Religion (Malden, 2007), 263-271.
• Swerdlow, N.M., ‘On the cosmical mysteries of Mithras’, Classical Philology 86(1) (1991), 48-63.

 Discussion forum

• Gilhuis, I.S., ‘The religious value of animals’, Animals, Gods and Humans (London, 2006), 93-113.

Think about all of the religions we have considered for the past three weeks. In what ways did the role of animals in Roman religion differ from that of the Greeks and Egyptians? In what ways were they similar?

Week 11

 Entertainment

Animals featured in many different forms of entertainment in the ancient world. Topics include: stories, puns, fables, plays, toys, games, cartoons, sport, fights, competitions, spectacles, parades, and menageries.

 Lecture readings (available on the website, except Newmyer)

 Essential

• Shelton, J., ‘Chapter 4: Beastly spectacles in the ancient Mediterranean world’, A Cultural History of Animals in Antiquity, 97-126.
• Newmyer, S.T., ‘Animals as sport: The arena’, Animals in Greek and Roman Thought: A Sourcebook (London, 2011), 93-95.

You must also read at least one of the following:

• Allison, R.H., ‘Amphibian ambiguities: Aristophanes and his frogs’, Greece & Rome 30(1) (1983), 8-20.
• Clayton, E., ‘Aesop, Aristotle, and animals: The role of fables in human life’, Humanitas 31 (2008), 179-200.
• Kanawati, N., ‘Bullfighting in ancient Egypt’, Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 2 (1991), 51-58.
• Shelton, J., ‘Dancing and dying: The display of elephants in ancient Roman arenas’, in Egan, R.B. and Joyal, M. (eds), Daimonopylai: Essays in Classics and the Classical Tradition Presented to Edmund G. Berry (Winnipeg, 2004), 363-382.

 Discussion forum

• No reading this week

Please share a story, fable, excerpt from a play, picture or a description of any other form of ancient entertainment involving animals that you have found during your reading and research for this unit. What does your chosen example tell you about the culture that created it? 

Week 12

 Warfare

This week we will explore how different species were used for military purposes in the ancient world, for both offensive and defensive purposes. Topics include: military symbolism, horse-dawn chariots, cavalry units, war elephants, dogs, military deception, “flying vipers”, bees, and toxic honey.

 Lecture readings (available on the unit website)

You must read at least two of the following:

• Charles, M.B. and Rhodan, P., ‘Magister Elephantorvm’: A reappraisal of Hannibal's use of elephants’, The Classical World 100 (4) (2007), 363-389.
• Hansen, K., ‘Collection in ancient Egyptian chariot horses’, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 29 (1992), 173-179.
• Littauer, M., ‘The military use of the chariot in the Aegean in the late Bronze Age’, American Journal of Archaeology 76(2) (1972), 145-157.
• Neufeld, E., ‘Insects as warfare agents in the ancient Near East (Ex. 23:28; Deut. 7:20; Josh. 24:12; Isa. 7:18-20)’, Orientalia 49 (1980), 130-136.

 Discussion forum

• Shelton, J., ‘Elephants as enemies in ancient Rome’, Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies 32(1) (2006), 3-25.

Jo-Ann Shelton suggests that elephants were abused in the Roman arena due to their untrustworthiness on the battlefield. Do your agree with her argument, or do you think that other factors better account for the Romans’ attitude towards them? 

Week 13

 Ethics

What did the people of the ancient world feel about the rights of animals? In this final week, we will consider ancient views about mankind’s moral and ethical obligations to animals. Topics include: natural agreements, the question of animal justice, arguments for and against vegetarianism, arguments for and against animal sacrifice, and the reinterpretation of animal sacrifice in mystery cults and early Christianity.

 Lecture readings

 Essential (textbook)

• Newmyer, S.T., ‘Animals as moral beings’, Animals in Greek and Roman Thought: A Sourcebook, 73-86.
• Newmyer, S.T., ‘Animals as food: Vegetarianism and its opponents’, Animals in Greek and Roman Thought: A Sourcebook, 97-111.
• Newmyer, S.T., ‘Animals as friends: Kindness to animals’, Animals in Greek and Roman Thought: A Sourcebook, 113-115.

 Discussion forum

• No reading this week

During the past 12 weeks, you have heard how animals influenced many different aspects of life in the ancient world.

To finish the unit, I’d like you to do a thought experiment:

Try to imagine the past without animals (no mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians or insects of any kind). Thinking about all the topics we’ve covered (art, religion, philosophy, etc), how do you imagine human culture would have developed without animals? 

Macquarie Session 1, 2017

Week beginning:

OUA SP1, 2017

Week beginning: