A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

          Everyone has heard that expression, and I think most people agree.  The statement seems the most prevalent when talking about history.  Now, I am most certainly not a history buff, so my opinions expressed on this topic may be pretty skewed.  But, when focusing on a time period, especially one in the 20th century, I identify it by famous photographs of that time and derive my own mental picture and understanding of the culture from there.  But that gets a little more difficult the farther you go back in time.  Then you look for other visual representations of the time.  These could include theatrical works (Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Era come to mind), faces, such as Caesar's, on various forms of money, or works of art made in the time period.  I believe that the clearer the visual representation of the time period, the clearer the general public's understanding of that age is.  Not much art or anything came out of the Dark Ages, so perhaps that is why it is hard for me to picture it.  We have a very clear understanding of times in Egyptian history, and I think the sculpture and painting of the time period are one of it's central contributors.  I wonder what people generations from now will think of our representations.  I think we better start cleaning up our act before we send the wrong message to our grandchildren.