Interior Housing-Side Rooms

There are three distinct classes of houses in the tenement-houses; the cheapest is the attic home. Three rooms is next and is usually for very poor people. The vast majority of respectable working people live in four rooms. Each of these classes reflects the needs and resources of the renters in that the attic home, for example, is generally one small room and is usually rented out by a lonely elderly person with not much money. Three rooms generally consist of a kitchen and two dark bedrooms and are usually rented out to very poor people who have a

As a result of fulfilling desires, civilized Sumerians were required to use the resources around them at their disposal. A “tablet-box of cedar” and a “clasp of bronze,” would have required cedar trees to be cut down and bronze to be made from mined iron and copper. Unfortunately, due to overconsumption and necessity of these items, an irreversible amount of environmental degradation occurred, providing evidence that yet again, civilized Sumerian culture represented through the “tall, magnificent, and terrible,” King Gilgamesh is the worst version of humanity.

An important development that distinguishes civilization from even the most advanced societies that preceded was gender inequality. For example, in the new societies, males were considered superior towards females. The text states, “the patriarchal ideal regarded men superior to women and sons preferable to daughters”(page 73). The text displays that women were second priority. This development is different from previous Paleolithic and Neolithic societies

When analyzing the biological, cultural, and social, aspects of the ancient Sumerians and modern day humans we see a profuse amount of distinctions and contrasts. Modern humans live in advanced and culturally diverse societies which in comparison makes ancient Sumer’s way of life seem very plain. The two groups evidently share many differences , but the author, Samuel Kramer, argues that in the face of oblivious contrasts, the roots of these two societies are still very fundamentally analogous. Kramer then expands his point to say modern humans and ancient Sumerians are similar and comparable on the content of their character, their reactions to war and conflict, and with the similarity of their social class system.

Each family had its own lot and some having up to four houses in addition some having two-story structure. Every house had its own purpose to a family for example; one house would hold food storage for winter other houses would be used for entertainment.

In the book The Prehistory of Home Jerry Moore discusses the importance that home structures have had for humans over time in different places of the world. He says that “In addition to their basic and fundamental function of providing shelter from natural elements, dwellings are powerful and complex concentrates of human existence… our dwellings reflect and shape our lives” (Moore, 3). He believes that homes are representations of the existence of individual humans as well as their surroundings. Jerry Moore is successful in explaining the importance of home in archaeology throughout history with colorful examples as well as a comparison of the importance of the home in the past to the importance of the home in the future.

The governing legal, moral and religious codes of ancient civilizations were written and enforced by a minority that exercised power and authority over the majority. This minority consisted of priests, rulers and elites with established power and influence in society. In these codes of early civilizations, there was an overarching emphasis on maintenance of structure and order in society. Simply put, while these codes reflect the conditions, needs and values of the times in which they were formulated, they also unveil the authors’ agendas to preserve their power by maintaining the status quo. Therefore, these codes acknowledge and uphold the prevailing social, gender and racial inequalities as natural conditions of human existence and reveal the manifold biases present in early civilizations.

A: Studies of the cultural landscape and urban morphology of Mesopotamian cities have found signs of social inequality in the varying sizes and ornamentation of houses. Urban elite erected palaces, protected themselves with walls, and employed countless artisans to beautify their spaces. They also established a priest‐king class and developed a religious‐political ideology to support the priest‐kings. Rulers in the cities were both priests and kings, and they levied taxes and demanded tribute from the harvest brought by the agricultural laborers.

Flannery and Marcus discuss in our textbook about the social renown that comes from agriculture. “It is also the case that for most parts of the world, Rousseau was right: not until people had begun to raise crops or animals do we see signs of emerging inequality” (Flannery and Marcus 2012:91). This is especially true for Cahokia. In Cahokia, food storage changed in the Mississippian period. Woods, in his article, points out the fact that there is archeological evidence for food storage as being a communal event at Cahokia and that Cahokian households typically lacked a storage place of their own, which gave rise to the need for a large, community-based facility (2004:149). This was not always the case. There was evidence back in the Late Woodland period, prior to the Mississippian Period that shows there were domestic storage features in households and little evidence for communal storage. The rise of communal storage also gives rise to social power of the elites. “… the institutionalization of social ranking, DeBoer contends that ‘There is no mystery to the absences of subterranean storage in such circumstances. It is expected’” (Woods 2004:154). This being said, the change from subterranean food storage to aboveground food storage changed once Cahokia elites were gaining more and more power and becoming redistributors. This is an exemplary indication of social inequality. The chiefs and elites control the food storage and how much gets redistributed and how much goes back in to replace what was used. The producers and consumers of the food do not get much say in the matter because it is not their

(Haviland et al 2011: 241) Trade increased and many settlements became wealthy. These wealthy communities could support some people as artists and priests. Catal Hyuk is an example of astounding neolithic art, much of which adorns religion shrines. (Levack et al 2009:5)

In the first of three oral stories, “How Men and Women Got Together”, we experience the unique perspective of the Blood-Piegan tribe. In this oral story, an “Old Man” created both men and women separately, each with their own differences. He then attempts to combine the groups together in order to provide benefits for each group. Material possessions were one of the major driving forces in this story. Early on in the story it is explained, “After a while the men learned how to make bows and arrows. The women learned how to tan buffalo hides and make tipis and beautiful robes decorated with porcupine quills,”. The women in the story desired food and weapons, things that the men already had. Meanwhile, the men desired clothing and shelter, things that the women already had. Apparently, these material goods are valued enough in the Blood-Piegan culture that they were worth both men and women putting their differences aside to obtain. It is also apparent that men and women value

Fox, James J. 1993. “Inside Austronesian Houses: Perspectives on Domestic Designs for Living.” The Journal of Asian Studies 203-205.

Agriculture is a standard that scholars hold ancient civilizations against in an attempt to measure how “civilized” any given society is, understanding the importance of food production, but there is little consideration for the value of the laborers who should, by these standards, be considered the foundation for any civilization to build upon. Land ownership strategies greatly affected this difference between value of labor and the value of the laborers; farmers who did not own their own land never reached high social status. In both ancient Egypt and China, and ownership and tax systems, as opposed to the labor itself, were the basis for determining social status. Although agriculture is a very important and labor-intensive task, these workers

From the rooms on the first and second floor, the views of the city can be seen as there is a small balcony for each room that open onto this narrow airwell, water feature and the old party wall where the guests can have a cup of tea or coffee enjoying the beauty of the city. With the design which has lots of open and exposed spaces as well as the floor-to-ceiling glass windows and the modern comforts and fittings, plenty of natural light can penetrate into the room although they are compact and minimalist. Each light-filled guest room has a glass-enclosed compact bathroom with the privacy is protected as those glass walls are facing the mouldy walls of the adjoining shophouse. Moreover, guests can also relax themselves and mingle on the small roof terrace upstairs with the lovely views of the historical

This analysis provides a historical context to investigate domestic occurrences and customary behaviors in western culture during the 18th century. Through the study of the daily chores and hygiene practices of people during this time, I will gain an in-depth understanding of practices, which developed over time, serving as the foundation of our culture in present day. The purpose is to gain in-depth understanding related to gender expectations, responsibilities, social class, health care customs and personal upkeep within a domestic culture are the focus. Finding will determine complexities in the nature of the lives of those who managed these dwellings, by studying preserved artifacts, journals, and documented practices from the 1700's.