How did the Holocaust happen, and who is responsible Essay Example Essay Example

How did the Holocaust happen, and who is responsible Essay Example Paper How did the Holocaust happen, and who is responsible Essay Introduction The Holocaust is the name given to describe the murder of approximately six million Jews in Europe during World War II, which was a plan devised and carried out by the Nazi’s under the rule of Adolf Hitler. There are many different viewpoints of how the Holocaust actually came about, but my primary belief is that it was down to Hitler. During 1941 the Nazi’s began to display anti-Semitic propaganda as the beginning of their aim to remove Jewish presence in Europe, which they codenamed their ‘Final Solution’.By 1945 an estimated six million Jewish people had died through various different ways such as concentration camps, massacres and forced marches; the six million estimation is roughly two thirds of the current population of Jews in Europe at that time. Many people knew of the ‘Final Solution’ but they did not seem to rise to it, and thousands collaborated with the Nazi regime willingly, although there is much debate to what extent indoctrina tion and submission of the people to propaganda played a part in their compliance.The Nazi’s were not the first to persecute the Jews, it began around two thousand years ago. Anti-Semitic teachings were widespread among European Christians. Some people believe that the Holocaust was merely the shocking inevitability which doomed the Jewish people for centuries, and the Nazi’s just exploited that inevitability. The Nazi’s exploited this long lasting hatred with the addition of gas chambers, railway infrastructures, concentration camps and gigantic ovens which made the process much quicker and efficient.Other beliefs have led to the German people being accused for the Holocaust having taken place. There was a small minority to which the ‘Final Solution’ was their policy, and the Nazi’s also exploited this, making it appear to be the belief of all Germans. There were people who did not agree with the Nazi policy of extermination, but they were i ndefinitely silenced. The German nation was a new one, and the Germans had not found their sense of national identity due to the bombardment of propaganda and constant indoctrination which I believe left them very little space and time for free thought on such matters. Although, Germany was not the only country which showed anti-Semitic policies, most countries at the time did so, after World War I many Jewish people saw Germany as the centre of modern civilisation.National Socialism was a political ideology which was a one of a kind in the way in which it displayed racism and anti-Semitism. After Germany’s defeat in the Second World War, many blamed the fact that the Nazi’s put so much effort and energy into completing the Final Solution that they had lost sight of their military interests. This sense of nationalism and racism was not uncommon during this period; many countries had nationalist parties with similar anti-Semitic policies.The Nazi’s bombarded the Jews with countless attacks. It began in 1933 with Hitler ordering a one-day boycott of Jewish business’ and shops. This alone is seemingly harmless, and just simply a jest that would be supported by those who had began to believe that it was the fault of the Jewish people that the Germans had lost World War II. Hitler introduced new laws which prevented the Jews from having government jobs, this began to suppress the Jews as they were no longer deemed equal in a professional respect. Positions of influence such as lawyers, teachers and civil servants were no longer available to Jews, and they were sacked. During 1934 there was an increase in anti-Jewish propaganda as local councils banned Jews from parks, swimming pools and playing fields; removing the Jewish people’s rights to enjoy themselves in public. In 1935 the Jews were forbidden to represent their country in the Army.Nuremberg laws were passed on the 15th of September, 1935 which stated Jewish people couldnâ⠂¬â„¢t be citizens, only those whom had German blood. Germans and Jews were no longer allowed to have relationships, this level of interference in day to day life began to show an extreme form of prejudice towards the Jewish people. In 1937 Hitler attacked the Jews in a speech for the first time in two years. 1938 saw Kristallnacht which was a definite advancement in anti-Semitic policies; many Jewish people were murdered at this time. Jews were de-humanised, males had to use the name Israel and Sarah for the females, and the Jews had to have a red letter J stamped on their passports. In 1939 it reached the extent at which Jews were even prohibited from purchasing cakes and chocolate. This breakdown of major policies and changes in society definitely shows a serious yet slow introduction of anti-Semitic policies; the slow introduction of the policies made it much easier for the German people to accept.Daily bombardment of propaganda and indoctrination at the very beginning led to th e German people accepting the anti-Semitic views. The German people wanted someone to blame for their losses in World War I, and the Germans were a perfect scapegoat as there was pre-existing prejudice. The children were subject to an extreme bombardment of propaganda and Nazi ideologies which made the acceptance very easy. Teaching consisted of different anti-Semitic lessons such as distinguishing the difference between a Jew and a German, and the idea of the Aryan ‘perfect’ race was strongly re-enforced. Hitler had the Hitler Youth programme which consisted of what may be seen as a training regime for the young to become the next German army. The boys pressured each other into joining the Hitler Youth programme, and those who didn’t were subject to vast torment, humiliation and segregation due to them not participating in the Nazi regime.This shows on a very deep level that the German people wanted to be part of something good. The whole Nazi regime, as many pe ople have said seemed perfect at the time. Hitler had salvaged Germany from an economic low reducing unemployment vastly and providing many services from the state which would otherwise not have been available to the masses. The German people were kept constantly happy, so it seemed, and everything that Hitler and the Nazi regime brought their way was simply accepted. This may be seen as an excuse for the participation of the bystanders and the willingness of the German people to participate in the Nazi regime, but I truly believe that had there not been the benefits that they had received, and been lulled into a false sense of security believing that they were far better off with the regime, that the anti-Semitic views would most definitely have not been accepted and acted upon such as they were.The SS which was led by Heinrich Himmler, played a major role in the Nazi genocide. It was the SS who were Hitler’s soldiers, they were sworn allegiance to Hitler and were to do his bidding. The SS carried out most of the killing of the Jews, they operated the concentration camps and devised the processes to kill the Jews in the most efficient ways, often using Jewish prisoners to carry the dead Jews to be buried. The obedience of the SS was crucial for the Holocaust to have taken place. Without the cooperation of the SS there may have been much more uproar and oppression. The SS succeeded in oppressing people who objected against the regime, often making an example of them. The SS were looked up to by the youth, and some of the elderly alike as the strong German figures in society, mainly due to the effective propaganda displayed by the Nazis.Hitler had people constantly working towards him, also known as working towards the Furher, which involved people acting upon Hitler’s ideals and carrying them out. Many people believe that this is why Hitler cannot be directly linked with any orders for the extermination of the Jewish race. There is deemed to be a lack of documentary evidence which links Hitler with the Final Solution as Hitler never wrote orders, he issued them verbally, or by simply nodding his head or waving his hand to show his thoughts on a matter, this led to people acting upon what they thought Hitler would approve, which to them meant that they could gain power, Hitler was seen as all powerful. There was an outcry after a euthanasia policy was brought into operation, which led to Hitler insisting that the extermination plan should not be organised from the Chancellery. This on record shows Hitler as not to be the one delivering the orders. Writh and Victor Brack claimed that the transfer of the euthanasia programme to the Final Solution was a ‘special commission from the Fuhrer’ which was a ‘Furher-order’.Hitler adopted the Final Solution over time. It is believed that given the evolution of uncontrolled killing by the local authorities that no decision from Hitler was required. Eberhard Jac kel argues that Hitler had made the key decisions for the Final Solution as early as 1940 but A. Hillgruber argues that 1941 was a much more realistic time and that he had located a verbal order from Hitler to Himmler to preparre the Einsatzgruppen for extermination of Russian Jews. On the other hand, Ian Kershaw suggests that mid-September is a much more likely option due to Nazi policy not being clear. This array of views shows that it is not possible to track down Hitler’s actual intentions and how difficult it is to pinpoint a time or place for which Hitler supposedly ordered the Final Solution to take place.The historical interpretation is one that is presented by many historians that most Germans were unaware of the Final Solution. There is little to no evidence that states that the German people supported the Final Solution, but it must be fact that there was at least a minority who were directly involved in the extermination. Many people claimed that they were brainwa shed by the Nazi propaganda which I personally believe is a major factor to their compliance. There is much belief that in 1930 there was much opposition to radical and violent attacks on Jews. It is said that many condemned Kristallnacht even at the risk of their own liberty. None of this opposition was widely documented, and the majority of reading material leads you to believe that the majority of people were in actual fact in support of the anti-Semitic policies due to a censorship and the fact that some people lived in constant fear and with the inability to speak out due to fear of oppression.In conclusion it is my firm belief that it was due to many factors and the full combination of them all, but dominantly the role that Hitler played that the Holocaust existed. I do not believe that it would have been possible for the Holocaust to have taken place without Hitler and the Nazi party working together adequately in preventing the German people from rebelling against the Nazi r egime with a constant supply of intricate propaganda in different forms, some of which in your face, other methods much more subliminal.Ultimately Hitler played the biggest role in the persecution of the Jews as it was ultimately his aim to have a scapegoat, a reason as to why the ‘great German nation’ lost the First World War; the Jewish people were his window of opportunity, and he seized that with a solid foundation and position in German society by being much loved due to his characteristics and the belief held by many German people that he was actually doing a vast amount of good for the German economy and returning it to be the powerful state which it once was. How did the Holocaust happen, and who is responsible Essay Thank you for reading this Sample!

Some of the Worst Slang Terms From 2010

Some of the Worst Slang Terms From 2010 New slang words pervade language in popular culture every year, often times to much chagrin by literary figures and average joes alike. For as long as the written language has existed, colloquial errors and usages have appeared and been met by harsh criticism before eventually being adapted into the living, spoken English vernacular. People have various reasons for disliking (or downright loathing) certain words. It may be a  buzzword  that has worn out its welcome (such as paradigm  or   proactive). Or an overly familiar  redundancy  (like added bonus and future plans), mispronunciation (nuc-u-lar for nuclear), or  usage  error (between you and  I). Some of us have zero tolerance for elision (definally for definitely, malapropisms (mitigate for militate), minced oaths (like frak), blends (like bromance) or verbing (to effort or Incent). Sometimes the hostility gets personal - as with expressions favored by an ex-spouse like couch potato or a dimwitted boss who spouts buzzwords like bottom line.   These verbal peeves, known as logomisia, become the center of conversations about language in any given year. In 2010 alone, over 200 phrases came to be used in the common vernacular of United States culture. However, peeves such as these have existed as long as language has been shared between people. It was really only with the advent of the Internet that these slang words began to rapidly populate common discourse. Language Peeves of Famous People Throughout History English is a living, evolving language, so its only natural that it continues to expand every year. However, much of this expansion was and continues to be met by critical dissent. In fact, many of our modern common expressions were once the source of fierce debate by linguists and literary scholars. Sometimes, though, famous people simply disliked a word, usage or phrase.   F or instance,  Jonathan Swift hated the word bowels, and Gloria Swanson, star of the movie Sunset Boulevard, hated the word glamor  while the character she played, Norma Desmond, hated comeback. Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko hated the word relationship wherein he claimed it was the kind of sterile word used by lawyers and sociologists and other menaces. Even the very arts some people worked in had words the artists disliked. Even though she wrote both, Carson McCullers hated the words prose and poetry. British novelist V.S. Naipaul hates the word novel, documentary filmmaker Irving Saraf hates documentary, and news anchor Katie Couric describes the word panties as a cheesy word for underpants. Of course, many of us claim to hate the word hate itself, too. Confusing, right? Popular Slang Words and Phrases in 2010 Lets agree to disagree, popular slang is sometimes all the sudden absolutely† overwhelming in its misuse or misappropriation of commonly understood words. From using â€Å"access† as a verb to changing the name of illegal immigrants to â€Å"illegal aliens,† the slang of 2010 certainly did â€Å"aim high† at changing the face of modern discourse. Even â€Å"ASAP† and â€Å"Obamacare† entered the spoken vernacular of the â€Å"American consumer† in 2010. According to the logic of 2010, on your next â€Å"birfday† all you need to do is â€Å"chillax† and eat some â€Å"cold slaw† (instead of coleslaw - â€Å"brain fart!†). The next time someone asks â€Å"and you are?† when they’re trying to â€Å"conversate† with you, the blame will rest entirely on 2010 vernacular and not the person’s poor manners. They may even â€Å"axe† you a question, but they meant â€Å"no offense.† Just don’t take â€Å"are you serious?† seriously or you’ll get â€Å"gobsmacked† by some â€Å"iconic† irony. Just tell them, â€Å"I’m good† or their next big idea is â€Å"to die for† and you’ll be right on your way to the â€Å"basic fundamentals† of a good conversation. It â€Å"might could even† evolve into a â€Å"bromance!† Don’t forget to â€Å"friend† (as a verb) them on Facebook after if you really â€Å"heart† them. â€Å"Anyways,† â€Å"just so you know,† this entire section was written with slang from 2010 in quotes. â€Å"Awesome possum!† We’re done here.

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 64

Case Study Example Various advantages and negativities come from the company engaging in television and cable networks. One of the advantages that come from this is the fact that the company gets distribution advantages where the products market themselves, as opposed to relying on middle persons. Another advantage is that the success of other peoples’ films earns the company much money without having worked on them. The major disadvantage that comes from this is the inability to retain high profit margins in the ever-changing technology world. Moreover, the people may lose taste in a particular film produced by the company and consequently have its ratings decrease. The value creating decision for Disney in the acquisition of Marvel is through strategic planning that in this case involved the company management aiming to increase the profit gained by the management and consequently grow further. Some of the challenges that the managers face is the lack of coordination that may lead to some shows lacking flavor anymore to the audience and thus reducing ratings. Another challenge involved low quality products due to lack of specification. Sharp Corporation ought to consider many factors when determining the place to locate the production of LCDs. One of the factors that the managers ought to consider is regarding the target market for the commodity. The Targeted market ought to be where the company sets up its company basis. After changing the sell in Japan strategy, the company is bound to have an increase in the number of customers and this is owing to the difference in consumer preferences because they will feel as part of the company as currently they feel that the company is too localized. There are many alternatives to entry in different countries if the company does have a change in the location of some of its products. One of the entry methods that the company has is using branches where it can set up branches

Project Management as the Application of Knowledge Essay - 2

Project Management as the Application of Knowledge - Essay Example The construction industry in the Gulf has witnessed a colossal leap in the past decade. This is rather paradoxical in the context of the global economic slowdown, which negatively influenced the real estate sector in most parts of the world. In particular, the construction industry in the United Arab Emirates has bounced back on to the fast – track, rapidly taking on massive projects towards development of tourism, housing, industrial and commercial facilities, education and healthcare amenities, transportation as well as expansion of ports and airports. The construction sector has been a key source in driving growth for the nation’s economy and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 9.5 per cent during 2012 - 2016. What you write here is the good context for the study – place this in your part 1,m this area is for the lit review itself This trend has been possible largely due to the affluence of the local Arab community, wealthy expatriat es as well as favorable Government policies. The United Arab Emirates is witnessing huge investments from both, public and private enterprises in the construction sector, focussing on the development of infrastructure for hospitality, retail, real estate and the healthcare industry.   Interestingly, Dubai is recognized to hold the ‘highest per square kilometre’ of construction activity in the world (Faridi& El-Sayegh, 2006)! Yet, it is observed that there are recurring problems of time and cost overruns in the UAE’s construction industry. This is a major cause for concern, prompting a thorough understanding of the current scenario and the proposal of solutions to mitigate these issues in the construction industry. ‘Project Management’ is defined as the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to the project activities, in order to meet project requirements in an effective and timely manner. Project management typically includes identi fication of requirements, establishment of clear and achievable objectives, balancing the demands of quality, scope, time, cost and importantly, adapting specifications to meet the expectations of the various stakeholders. The application of ‘Project Management’ to the construction industry as a ‘scientific approach’ to mitigate time and cost overruns has been detailed by various researchers. There is a popular belief that â€Å"time is money† and any delay is sure to have a significant impact on the costs incurred. The interplay of contractors, consultants, supervisors and owners must be managed diligently by an effective manager, utilising project management techniques. The following will serve as a research proposal for a project that is concentric upon the role of ‘project management’ in mitigating the cost and time overruns and construction projects in the United Arab Emirates.  

Situational Analysis of International or Global Marketing Environment Essay

Situational Analysis of International or Global Marketing Environment - Essay Example The company has hired more than 7000 employees for maintaining its efficient operational system. It also provides services for warehousing and engineer support which helps in maintaining stable supply chain systems and reverse logistics (Unipart Logistics, 2013d). Unipart Logistics has a wide client base in departments like retail, automotive, retail, technology, defence and aerospace (Unipart Logistics, 2013c). Unipart Logistics is a part of the Unipart Group of Companies and specializes in outsourcing logistics and delivery services. The marketing consultant of the company has decided to enter into the Brazilian markets and wants to conduct a situational analysis. The situational analysis would help in the assessment of the external force which might affect the profitability of the company. An internal analysis would be conducted to understand the company’s current strategic position and check whether it is suitable for the company to enter into foreign markets like Brazil a nd further inside. Finally, the study would conclude with recommendations which would highlight on improving the current business activities and methods before entering into Brazilian markets. Marketing Environment Analysis Political, Economic, Social and Technology Analysis Political, Economic, Social and Technology (PEST) Analysis would be conducted for identifying and understanding the external threats and opportunities faced by logistics industry in Brazil. Political Presently, the corporate tax rate of Brazil is 35 percent which is very high compared to the other developing countries (KPMG, 2013). The high corporate tax rate has limited the entry of several logistics and supply chain companies into Brazil (KPMG, 2013). The corporate tax rates of a particular country helps the logistic companies to decide upon the transportation, warehouse and delivery charges for their clients (Brazil Business, 2013b). Apart from the corporate tax rate, these companies need to also consider oth er tax reformations like Contribution Incident on Liquid Profit (CILP) (15 percent) , ICMS tax (12 percent) and ISS tax ( ranges from 2 to 5 percent ) (Brazil Business, 2013b). Economic Presently, the economic situation for logistic companies is not preferable due to the very high logistic costs allocated by the government. The logistic and supply chain companies spend 8 to 10 percent of their annual GDP which is almost double compared to the average of other developed countries (Brazil Business, 2013a). Moreover, the infrastructure is unfavourable for the development of the sector because the transport matrix developed by the government is favourable only for road transportation companies. Social The success of the logistic and supply chain companies depends upon the nature of their delivery organizations to a large extent. The success of these organizations in turn depends upon the social culture and lifestyle of the individuals. If the purchasing power of the common people increa ses, then the sales will also increase automatically and vice versa. Technological The logistic and supply chain industry is usually dependent on technology used for the movement and storage of goods within an accurate time frame (Global Logistics Media, 2013). Technology has totally

HMMs Pattern Recognition

HMMs Pattern Recognition Assignment 3 of Pattern recognition is on HMMs. It should contain a detailed report on HMMs. The topics covered should include: 1. An introduction to HMM and its uses. 1. Problems of HMM, their explanation and relation to prior, posterior, and evidence. 2. Solution to the problems of HMM and their algorithms. Pattern Recognition Assignment # 3 Name: Muhammad Sohaib Jamal An Introduction to HMM and its Uses A Hidden Markov Model HMM is a stochastic model which has a series of observable variable X which is generated by hidden state Y. In an indirect way HMM consist of hidden states which has output that is comprised of a set of observations. Simple Markov Model models the states are directly observables means the states are directly output while in HMM the states are hidden and different form the observables or output. HMM is very reliable model for probabilistic estimation. HMM have applications in pattern recognitions such as speech recognition, gesture and hand writing recognition, computational Bioinformatics, etc. Suppose we are considering three trails of a coin toss experiment and the person who is observing only know the results of the experiment when another person announces the result who is hidden in a closed room from the person noting the results. The result of this coin experiment can be any set of heads and tails e.g. THT, HHH, THH, TTT, THT etc. The person observing the results can get any sequence of heads and tails, and it is not possible to predict any specific sequence that will occur. The Observation Set is completely unpredictable and random. Lets assume that the third trail of coin toss experiment will produce more Head than the Tails. The resulting sequence will obviously have more number of heads then tails for this particular case. This is called Emission probability denoted by Bj(O). Now we suppose that the chance of flipping the third trail after the first and second trail is approximately zero. Then, the transition from 1st and 2nd trail to 3rd trail will be actually very small and as an outcome yields very little number heads if the person starts flipping the coin from 2nd trail to 3rd trail. This is called Transition probability denoted by aij. Assume that each trail has some probability associated with the previous trail, then the person will start the process of flipping from that particular coin. This is known to be the Initial probability denoted by à Ã¢â€š ¬i. The sequence of number of heads or tails is known to be the observables and the number of trail is said to be the state of the HMM. HMM is composed of: N number of hidden states S1, S2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦., SN M number of observations O1, O2, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, OM The à Ã¢â€š ¬i (Initial state probability) Output Probability or Emission Probability B: P (OM | SN), where OM is observation and SN is the state. Transition probability matrix A = [ aij ]. Transition probabilities aij. Mathematically the model is represented as HMM ÃŽÂ » = {ÃŽÂ  , A, B} Problems of HMM and their explanations HMM has three basic types of problems: The Evaluation problem: Suppose we have an HMM, complete with transition probabilities aij and output probabilities bjk. We need to determine the probability that a particular sequence of observables states OT was generated by that model. The Decoding problem: The transition probabilities, output probabilities and set of observations OT is given and we want to determine the most likely sequence of hidden states ST that led to those observations. The Learning problem: In such problem the number of states and observation are given but we need to find the probabilities aij and bjk. With the given set of training observations, we will determine the probabilities aij and bjk. Relation of HMM to Prior, Posterior and evidence The à Ã¢â€š ¬i (Initial state probability) is analogous to the Prior probability. Because the initial probability is given before the set of experiments take place. This property of initial probability is identical to that of prior probability. Similarly, the output probability or emission probability B: P (OM | SN) is analogous to the posterior probability. The posterior probability is used in forward backward algorithm. In the same manner, evidence is the probability the next state is C given that the current state is state Sj. So the evidence is analogous to the transition probability A. Solution to the problems of HMM and their algorithms From the above mentioned discussion, we know that there are three different of problems in HMM. In this section we will briefly know how these problems are solved Evaluation problem, this type of problem is solved the using Forward-Backward algorithm. Decoding problem, for such type of HMM problem we use the Viterbi algorithm or posterior decoding Training problem, in case of this type of problem we have the Baun-Welch re-estimation algorithm to solve it. Forward-Backward algorithm The forward and backward steps are combined by the Forward-Backward algorithm to estimate the probability of each state for a specific time t, and repeating these steps for each t can result in the sequence having the most likely probability. This algorithm doesnt guarantee that the sequence is valid sequence because it considers every individual step. The forward algorithm has the following three steps: Initialization step Iterations Summation of overall states . Similarly, for backward algorithm we have the same steps like the forward algorithm: Initialization step Iterations Summation of overall states Viterbi algorithm Viterbi algorithm is used to find the most likely hidden states, resulting in a sequence of observed events. The relationship between observations and states can be inferred from the given image. In first step Viterbi algorithm initialize the variable In second step the process is iterated for every step In third step the iteration ends In Fourth step we track the best path Baun-Welch re-estimation algorithm Baun-Welch re-estimation algorithm is used to compute the unknown parameters in hidden Markov model HMM. Baun-Welch re-estimation algorithm can be best described using the following example. Assume we collect eggs from chicken every day. The chicken had lay eggs or not depends upon unknown factors. For simplicity assume that there are only 2 states (S1 and S2) that determine that the chicken had lay eggs. Initially we dont know about the state, transition and probability that the chicken will lay egg given specific state. To find initial probabilities, suppose all the sequences starting with S1 and find the maximum probability and then repeat the same procedure for S2. Repeat these steps until the resulting probabilities converge. Mathematically it can be References Andrew Ng (2013), an online course for Machine learning, Stanford University, Stanford, https://class.coursera.org/ml-004/class. Duda and Hart, Pattern Classification (2001-2002), Wiley, New York. http://en.wikipedia.org http://hcicv.blogspot.com/2012/07/hidden-markov-model-for-dummies.html http://www.mathworks.com/help/stats/hidden-markov-models-hmm.html http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/roger/HiddenMarkovModels/html_dev/viterbi_algorithm/s3_pg3.html

Egypt Art History Essay

The materials used to create these sculptures symbolized the pharaoh’s timelessness and eternal life, the body of the pharaohs symbolized the power given to them by God, and the formal design qualities showed the religious and political qualities in the statues. The statue of Khafre and Akhenaton reflects the political and religious climates of their time through the use of medium which symbolized the pharaoh’s eternal life and timelessness, and through formal qualities which symbolized the hidden religious meanings inside the sculpture. The seated statue of Khafre reflects the political and religious climates of his time through the statue’s medium, function, formal qualities of design, and iconography. The statue is made of diorite, an extremely valuable, un-breakable stone, which symbolizes Khafre’s unwavering power as pharaoh. Khafre’s body shows that this was how a king was supposed to be portrayed, a perfect divine being that is flawless. The intertwined lotus and papyrus plants symbolize the unification of Egypt. Horus the sky god is shown extending his protective wings to shelter the pharaoh’s head. The statue plays an important role in the afterlife, it served as a resting place for the pharaoh’s ka, his life force that accompanied him even in the afterlife. The Statue of Akhenaton showed the political and religious climate that he ruled in through the use of formal qualities, and iconography. Akhenaton’s statue was made of sandstone, different than the un-breakable stone that Khafre’s statue was made of that symbolized his divine power as king. The use of sandstone here shows the abandonment of old kingdom practices. Akhenaton’s body is extremely different and shows him as an androgynous figure attempting to portray as Aton, the sexless sun disk. This statue symbolizes the change in religion, from a polytheistic based belief, to a monotheistic religion centered on the worship of Aten, or Aton, the sun god. The statues of Khafre enthroned, and Akhenaton from the temple of Aton, reflect the political and religious climates of their time. The formal qualities of both statues represent their political stand and their religious views. Although they are very different, they are also very similar at the same time. Enthroned Khafre shows him as an idealized being with a perfect body that portrays him as a deity and shows his power as pharaoh. The statue of Akhenaton on the other hand, shows himself as a realistic being with curved hips and female like figures. Although he does not look like an idealized being like in the old kingdom, he is still portrayed as a deity trying to imitate the sexless sun God Aton. Akhenaton was able to be portrayed as a deity despite his realistic form due to his political power and his ability to change the country’s religion. The statue of Khafre and Akhenaton both reflected their political and religious climates through the statue’s medium, formal qualities, and iconography. These statues although very different, are very similar in portraying how a king was portrayed in different times and yet still looked like a deity.