Fantasy Projects: Exploring the True Depths of Ancient Egypt

Jan Assmann may be the most prominent living Egyptologist.  His work shakes the foundations not only of what we think we know about ancient Egypt, but about the history of philosophy and all too easily made distinctions between philosophy and religion. When I first discovered his work during my BA in religious studies, I found it so fascinating that it almost derailed my studies of Indian religion in the colonial and modern era.  During my student teaching, I taught units on ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, I found the textbook lifeless and inaccurate.  I found myself wishing that I could have written the textbook myself, using Assmann's work not only to bring Egypt to magical and startling life, but to explore the truly beautiful, profound philosophy of Egyptian polytheism.

Jan Assman

Assmann's oeuvre provides vast resources: his Mind of Egypt presents the entire span of Egyptian civilization, contextualizing the many shifts in culture, belief systems, arts and ideas that occurred across the long span of many kingdoms, concluding with the dramatic shifts that occurred under Persian and then Greek colonization.  Textbooks I have looked at don't exactly present marvelous depictions of these cultural transitions of the sort that would provide students with opportunities to understand them.  However, the rich contextual shifts of Egyptian life could easily be written for sixth graders. 

His book The Search for God in Ancient Egypt could be used to write curricula that not only would help students actually make sense of Egyptian religion, but overcome stereotypes of polytheism as strange, primitive, or unsophisticated.  While students might marvel at the technical genius of Egyptian architecture, there is little curricula out there that succeeds in helping them understand the genius of Egyptian culture and religion.

We should work hard to change this situation, because it is not simply the understanding of ancient Egypt, but the understanding of - and the judgment of - all ancient civilizations: for all were polytheistic, as were (and are) Native Americans and the tribes and cultures across the earth that did not participate in civilizations or state religions.  We should prioritize helping students make sense of religion, so that they do not grow up judging cultures to be bizarre of inferior.

Perhaps even more than writing curricula, I have a deep desire to write stories - vividly illustrated stories that achieve what I set out for my curricula to accomplish, which is bringing the richness of academic literature to magical life for children, adolescents, and adults.  The story I would like to write more than any other would be a retelling of the story of Osiris, as informed and inspired by Assmann's Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt, which offers a profound opportunity to contemplate the complicated relationships humans have to death and notions of soul and afterlife.  

Examining Prejudice in Ancient China

A few months ago I taught a week long lesson on contextualizing prejudice in ancient civilizations, with a focus on ancient China during the Han Dynasty. As part of the lesson, I wrote four character sketches portraying prejudices of rich against poor (rulers against farmers), poor against poor (farmers against mountain dwellers), and powerful against powerful (a Chinese general against his nomadic enemies, and the Xiongnu nomadic federation against the Chinese).  Knowing that students often consider farmers and peasants unintelligent - even while rooting for them - I sought to portray their keen intelligence and agency. 

For the information on the Xiongnu, I used UC Berkeley's world history textbook, "Traditions and Encounters".  Information on the farmers and mountain dwellers comes from James Scott's influential "The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia", which has contributed to recent reassessments of how civilization functioned and who participated and why.  For other parts of the lesson I utilized information from the book "Enemies of Civilization", which compares prejudices in ancient China, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. 

HAN DYNASTY RULER

Imagine you are one of the rulers of the Han Dynasty…

As a ruler of the Han Dynasty, you need to make sure that enough food is grown to support the cities.  Most people who live in the cities do not grow their own food.  The farms that surround the city must support the merchants, craftsmen, servants, and politicians who live there.  Because most fruits and vegetables will rot quickly, the Chinese, like other civilizations, encourage people to grow grain, which can be stored for a long time. 

Grain is also very important for the army: the army traveled long distances for long periods of time, and fruits and vegetables would rot.  Because of this, the army carried cartloads of grain wherever it went.  As the army went farther from the big cities where grain was stored, they would stop by farms to gather more grain.  When the grain was ready to be harvested, farmers always knew there was a chance of the army stopping by to take it.  This made the farmers angry and scared, but from your perspective, farmers who hid grain from the army were making the Han Dynasty weak.  They were traitors.    

There are even more reasons why, as a ruler, you insist that farmers grow grain: if people grow grain, that means they have large fields to take care of.  Because of this, farmers cannot move around freely.  People who have farms must stay in one place, and so they are easy for the government to keep track of.  If the army needs more recruits, they can always go to the farmers and force their sons into the army.  For this reason, you have people working for you who keep track of how many sons work on the farms.  They also keep track of how much grain is grown, so the government knows how much it can take to be stored in the cities, and how much can be given to the military.   

FARMER/MOUNTAIN DWELLER

Imagine that you were once a farmer in the Han Dynasty.  However, you and your community fled up into the mountains. 

You live in a village high up in the mountains in the Han Dynasty.  Generations ago, your ancestors lived down in the valleys, where the farms are.  Many of the rulers and city dwellers thought the farmers were ignorant – anyone who worked on a farm must not be very smart.   However, they also knew that the farmers were an important part of the Han Dynasty.  Everyone knew that without the farmers, the cities and military could not exist, because they depended on the farmers for food.  Even though the farmers were always afraid that the rulers or army would take away its grain, they were proud that their work made the Han Dynasty strong. 

However, you prefer to not have to worry about the government taking your grain or forcing your young men into the army.  You have chosen to give up growing large fields of crops and to live in the mountains because that way, you cannot be found, and you have freedom.  The Han dynasty cannot send the military to take your rice and your young men, because without fields of crops to care for, you can move and escape.  Also, the mountains are difficult for an army to travel in.  Where you live, there are no roads.  The military needs to follow roads, especially because they have to pull wagons full of food and supplies. 

Of course, you need food.  For tens of thousands of years before civilizations started, people had no problem getting food, and neither do you.  Instead of growing fields of rice, you spread your crops all throughout the forest.  You grow many vegetables that grow underground, such as potatoes and carrots.  These crops cannot be found.  You also hunt and gather just as people in the past did.

Many farmers hate mountain dwellers.  They call people like you uncivilized.  Farmers think that the mountain dwellers are like animals – they don’t eat grain like people should, or dress like people should, or live in the right kind of houses.  They are upset with farmers who escape into the mountains, because they cause the government to be suspicious of farmers.  However, you consider your community to be very smart: it is the farmers who are acting foolishly. 

HAN DYNASTY GENERAL

Imagine you are a general in the Han military… 

As a general, one of your tasks is to protect the Han dynasty’s frontier from invasions.  The largest threat is the nomadic Xiongnu.  Because of their superior horseback riding, they are difficult to catch.  Even worse, however, is that they are nomadic.  This means that they are always on the move.  Because they live by herding sheep over thousands of square miles, you never know where they will be.  Because of this, they are very hard to control: this makes you angry, and causes you to despise them even more. 

The Xiongnu frustrate you.  Like many Chinese of the Han period, you believe they are everything the Chinese are not.  In fact, you think they are like animals: they move about like the animals, going wherever they please.  They do not have permanent homes.  Unlike decent people, they do not farm.  Instead, they mostly eat meat.  They even look like animals because they wear the skins and furs of animals: civilized people like the Chinese wore silk, or if they are poor, clothes made of plant fibers.  Some people even say that they honor only the young strong warriors, and despise their elders who have grown weak.  From your perspective, they are truly uncivilized.

XIONGNU NOMAD 

Imagine you are a member of the Xiongnu…

By the time of the Han Dynasty, your people have been living a nomadic life in central and northern Asia for a thousand years.  This land is known as the steppes – a word that means a dry grassland or prairie.  Because the steppes are difficult to farm on, your culture relies on herding animals across the plains, and on long distance trade.  Many people rely on the Xiongnu and other nomads to bring their trade across the long stretches of dry land in between China and other civilizations.  

Your people have been in conflict with the Chinese since the period of the Warring States, when Chinese states began moving into your steppe land to graze their horses.  They built massive walls to show that it was now their territory.  In response, the many different nomadic tribes became united under the Xiongnu.  Soon, the armies of the Han dynasty could not beat the Xiongnu, and the Chinese were forced to send them gifts of gold, silk, and even Han princesses in order to keep the peace.  Not only this, but the Chinese emperor agreed to recognize the leader of the Xiongnu as his equal – they even called each other “brother.”  Despite the fact that your people are powerful, the Chinese consider you uncivilized.

The Context of the Buddha, Written for Sixth Graders

Before exploring the Buddhas story and his teachings, I wanted to establish the basic historical context of his life.  I wrote this piece for that purpose, as always, loving the challenge of compressing a rich and complex history into a hopefully thought-provoking half a page.  Students had just finished studying the Aryans and Brahmanism, and this reading begins with and extends their newly acquired knowledge of that subject. It was accompanied by a PowerPoint with maps which I used to show the location and movements of the Aryans and "Siddhartha's people", a term I used just because Siddhartha was born into an extremely diverse society with no single name.  

For those interested in knowing more about the context described here, I highly recommend Geoffrey Samuel's "The Origins of Yoga and Tantra", and Greg Bailey's "The Sociology of Early Buddhism".  "Origins" has incredible up-to-date references for those interested in Indian religion and culture. 

What was happening during the Buddhas time?  

The Aryans settled in northwest India.  Siddhartha, who became the Buddha, was born in the northeast.  The two lands were very different, and the Aryan way of life was very different from the lives of Siddhartha's people.  The Aryans lived in a land of great plains, where they constantly moved around grazing cattle.  Because they moved so often, they did not build cities.  The Aryans were made up of many tribes, who often fought with one another.  Because of this, they worshiped many gods of war.  The people the Aryans conquered became part of the lowest caste.  

Siddhartha's people were very diverse. Because they lived close to large rivers, people from far away came to trade and to live.  Merchants from many cultures came to the land Siddhartha was born in, and they later took the Buddhas teachings back to their homelands, which is one reason why the religion was so successful.  Instead of moving around like the Aryans, the people living in Siddhartha's land had farmed for many generations.  Their population had grown, and by the time Siddhartha was born, they had built large cities.   Because they were farmers, they worshiped goddesses of fertility – the ability to create and nurture life.  This busy, diverse society did not have a caste system.

Shortly before the Buddha was born, the Aryans started trading more with the people of northeast India.  Believing that the priests of the Aryans, called the Brahmans, were experts in communicating with the gods, people began to hire them to conduct religious rituals, and even to pray for them.  Because of this, Aryan ideas started to spread throughout Sidhartha's society.  Many people were upset.  A spiritual movement started that was critical of Brahmanism and of the caste system.  The movement taught that people should not rely on Brahman priests to pray for them, but should develop their own spiritual practice.  The Buddha became a great leader of this movement.   

In the boxes below, list the differences between the Aryans in the northwest and Siddhartha's people in the northeast. 

Aryans	Siddhartha's People

Which of these differences do you think are the most important, and why?  

Which differences might lead to tensions between the Aryans and Siddhartha's people?  Please explain why tensions might arise.  

The Buddhas Life, Written for Sixth Graders

Note: This lesson was preceded by an activity designed to historically contextualize the Buddha's life.

A few months ago, I spent one week teaching a group of sixth graders about the origins of Buddhism in India.  I looked at a number of resources describing the Buddhas life, and judging them inadequate to my goals, decided to write my own version.  I broke Siddhartha's life into four stages and attempted to tell the story so that both the historical context and the spiritual meaning could be explored by twelve year olds.  

I accomplished this in part by describing spirituality as the sincere attempt to become as calm, as loving, and as wise as possible, and by framing the events in his life as either facilitating or not facilitating those goals.  I realize that in doing so, I have taken some historical liberties.  I felt the approach was justified because these goals do indeed reflect the goals of the bodhisattva path (the Buddhist devotion to helping all beings attain liberation), and because students can relate to the experience of and desire to be calm, loving, and wise.  I feel this frame brought the Buddha down to earth, out of the clouds of abstraction.  It created an opportunity for students to be deeply introspective, proving to me, once again, that students of all ages crave the chance to reflect deeply on life. 
 

The Buddhas Story

Part 1: As a prince, Siddhartha thinks he has all he could ever want.

The Buddha was born as a prince ruling over a tribe of warriors.  His name was Siddhartha.  Siddhartha’s mother had a dream while she was pregnant with him, and a priest interpreted it as meaning that her son would either come to rule the world, or would give up all worldly possessions and become the wisest of all men and a great spiritual teacher.   

When Siddhartha’s father heard this interpretation, he was worried.  He wanted his son to rule the world, not become a great spiritual teacher.  And so, he decided to teach Siddhartha to love material things.  Siddhartha’s father hoped that if he was raised to love things that his culture valued, such as fine horses and beautiful clothing, that Siddhartha would not choose to give these things up.  In fact, his father hoped that if Siddhartha came to love these things, he might try to rule the world in order to get more of them.

And so, Siddhartha grew up surrounded by riches, and was given anything he could possibly want.  When he became a teenager, Siddhartha was given the finest clothes, a fast chariot, and was surrounded by beautiful women.  As a man, he was given a beautiful wife.  Siddhartha was also a great athlete, and was given great respect.  He had everything a man could ever want.  Or did he?  

Part 2: Siddhartha confronts suffering, and realizes there is more to life than being rich, famous, and respected.  

One day Siddhartha was riding his Chariot through the city.  His father, in order to make sure that Siddhartha was always surrounded by pleasant things, ordered his soldiers to hide the old and sick people.  But one day, the soldiers missed an old man, and Siddhartha stopped to look at him.  On this day, Siddhartha realized that all people become old.  He realized that one day, he would become old, and could not enjoy many of the things he loved. 

On another ride, he saw a sick man, and realized that all people also become sick.  He wondered, what was the point of being rich if your body was in pain?  He wondered if he could enjoy all of his nice things if he was sick.  Could he be happy even if he was in pain?  Finally, on another ride, he saw a dead man lying on the road.  He began to think about what it means to die.  Can we be happy even if the people we love grow old and die?  Can we accept our own death? 

As Siddhartha started thinking about these things, he realized that life was about a lot more than just being rich... and even more than being famous and respected.  A rich, famous, and respected person could still suffer and be very unhappy.  How could a person find happiness in a life where we can't escape old age, sickness, and the deaths of those we love, and of our own selves?  Siddhartha was determined to find out.  Realizing that all of his wealth and power would not bring him happiness after all, he secretly left his kingdom one night, giving up his possessions and power, his family and identity. 

Part 3: Siddhartha searches for the deeper meaning of life. 

Siddhartha joined a large spiritual movement that rejected the growing influence of Brahmanism and the caste system.  Leaders in the movement taught that power and wealth often led to suffering, because they fooled people into thinking they had found happiness.  These leaders were ascetics, meaning that they had given up all the pleasures of the world, including taking pleasure in food, sex, respect, family, friendship, conversation, and other things that bring people joy.  

Why did ascetics make this painful choice?  They thought that, just as there is a huge outside universe to look at, there is also a huge universe inside of ourselves that is even more important to understand.  For them, caste did not matter, because all human beings were infinitely deep. They thought that, as long as we took pleasure in the outside world, we would not be able to see this infinite depth, this universe inside of ourselves.  They also thought that it would be hard to see the inside world if the outside world caused us pain.  According to them, both pleasure and pain were distractions that should be overcome.

Siddhartha joined a group of ascetics living in the middle of the forest.  They supported each other in trying to overcome this world and discover the universe inside of themselves.  They ate only enough to survive and wore only rags.  They learned to overcome emotional and physical pain, and to overcome all desires.  They even learned to stop their thoughts.  In this way they were totally undistracted by the outside world.

Part 4: Siddhartha rejects asceticism 

After six years of practicing, Siddhartha fainted from hunger.  A young woman found him while walking through the forest. Worried that he was going to die, she begged him to eat some rice.  At this time, Siddhartha realized that his path was too extreme.  It was so extreme he was killing himself.  He needed to walk what he would later call the middle path, of not taking too much and being greedy, but not taking too little and hurting oneself.  Understanding this, he accepted the rice. 

Siddhartha wondered if he was also being extreme and hurting himself in other ways.  Thinking about this, he realized that rather than forcing his mind to be silent and have no thoughts, he needed to pay attention to his thoughts, and to his feelings as well.  It was too extreme to totally ignore all of his thoughts and feelings: he decided he needed to be honest about them, to face them and see them clearly so that he could understand himself.

Siddhartha left his companions, and went to sit by himself under a tree, promising himself he would not move until he understood himself.  He vowed that he would sit still, and notice everything about his mind and his heart.  He vowed that he would find complete peace with everything about himself. 

Under this tree, now known as the Bodhi Tree, meaning “Tree of Wisdom”, Siddhartha came to a great realization that has influenced the lives of billions of people over 2,500 years.  Next, we will look at what he figured out.