Graduate Site Presentation
- Due No Due Date
- Points 100
- Submitting a file upload
Research one of the sites listed below, create a 20 minute slide presentation, record it, and turn it in! What can we learn about death and the afterlife in the ancient Middle East from this ancient site?
Egypt Options: Hierakonpolis, Avaris, Napata, Meroe, Memphis (Saqqara)
Mesopotamia Options: Titriş Höyük, Kish, Nippur, Mari, Babylon
Syria/Canaan/Anatolia Options: Gre Virike, Deir el Balaḥ, Tel Banat, Umm el-Marra, Megiddo, Khirbet el-Qom, Jerusalem (Siloam Necropolis)
Pro Tip: There is often a relevant article in the “Collection” sections to get you started on your research.
The presentation should include the following elements:
- Introduction of the site within its historical context (when was the site used and by whom? What was going on in this region during this time?),
- detailed description (probably a brief description of all the burial-related stuff at the site with a more detailed description of a particular tomb, grave, or burial),
- discussion and interpretation of the archaeological data in the light of the afterlife beliefs that were probably active in this region (how might these beliefs motivate the burial practices that we see here? What elements of the burial practices may not be connected to these beliefs? What elements of the physical site, circumstances of death(s), or social structure might motivate these burial practices instead?),
- conclusion slide (what can we learn about death and the afterlife in this specific ancient region from this site?)
- bibliography slide (where you got your information, preferably Chicago style)
You should use at least 3 scholarly sources. A scholarly source would be a scholarly book or peer-reviewed journal article. Online encyclopedia entries do not count toward the 3 scholarly sources. Sources without an identifiable author are not scholarly sources.
You should also use appropriate images, such as maps, diagrams, and photos. Make sure to cite them on the slide!
- MAKING AND TURNING IN RECORDINGS
This is one method for making and turning in a recording. There are, of course, other methods.
Prepare your slide show. When you are ready to present and record, open a Zoom meeting. Use the Share Screen option in the control bar to share your slide show to the meeting space.
Hit the record option (may appear as a red dot or the words “record meeting”) on the control bar to start recording.
Give your presentation.
Hit the record button again to stop recording. End the Zoom meeting.
A box should appear saying that a video file is converting. This may take a few minutes. When it is done converting, save it to your computer. Rename it as “Yourname_Burial Sales Presentation.”
If you have a YouTube account, open YouTube. Click on the camera icon at the top right of the screen, then click “Upload Video” from the drop-down menu. Upload your video.
Click through to the fourth and last page in the upload editor and set the video’s visibility to “unlisted.” (Please do NOT set it as private, or I may have trouble sharing it with the class.) Close the upload editor. You will be on your YouTube Studio page.
Your video is probably still processing up to HD, but you can already click on the “Details” option under the name of the video. (It appears if you hover over the name of the video.) On the right side of the page is the video link. Copy the link.
Go to Canvas and use this link to turn in your video under the appropriate assignment.