Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Art- Navigators/Pathfinders
October 6, 2015

 Class Overview
Today in class we looked at stonework and engraving, focusing most of the study on the Ten Commandments. Most of us have a set image in our minds of what the Ten Commandment tablets looked like, but we learned that image is probably not too accurate:
-The traditional "tombstone" look of the tablets with a rounded top was actually attributed to medieval artists. In reality, the stones would have been rectangle, with sharp edges. Also, they weren't as massive as sometimes seen in pictures of Moses carrying them- they were stone and he had to carry them down the mountain!
-The writing was likely in Hebrew, and was on both front and back of the stones. It was likely small print - Though we call them the the Ten Commandments, the Bible refers to the them as the Tablets of the Covenant Law; this means there is the possibility they not only contained the commandments from Exodus 20, but also the entire law as laid out in the following chapters.
-Here was the big surprise: based on other Scripture references and history, some scholars believe the stone the tablets were made of were Sapphire! They could have been blue!
-The tablets are believe to be similar in design to the ancient peace treaties. These were stone tablets engraved with the terms and agreements between two nations/tribes; a copy was made for each of the two parties. Some believe the two tablets of the Covenant Law were exactly the same- one for God, and one for Israel.

Project
After looking briefly at the stone engraving process, we took the simpler route of "engraving" the bricks we had made in last week's class. Talking about the importance of the ancient art of storytelling, students engraved their bricks with designs to create "Story Stones". At the end of class, we went around the room, telling a group story by having each student contribute a part with one of their story stones.

Assignments
-Using the StoryStones they made in class, students need to tell a story to a family member or friend.
-Read Exodus 31:1-11; Be prepared to name some of the parts of the Tabernacle in next week's class.
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