February 27, 2015: Test on Ancient Egypt

In class today we took a test on Ancient Egypt. It only took me about 7-10 minutes because it didn't seem too hard. Some of the questions were about:

- Which direction the Nile flowed

- What supplied the Nile with water to flood

- How long ago was the Great Sphinx built

- Around what city was the Great Sphinx built

- What was the other writing form other than Hieroglyphs

- What was higher on the pyramid than the others

Then there were some questions on the pyramid challenge

- Where would you build a pyramid 

- What was it made out of 

- What would you feed the workers

I got a 100 on the test so this is my first 100 (:

February 26, 2015: Cyber day Assignment

1. The Nile river flows from which direction?
A. South to north
B. West to east
C. East to west
D. North to south

2. What was the Nile used for?
A. Drinking water
B. Bathing
C. Transportation
D. All of the above

3. What did the artisans do?
A. Raise wheat, onions, lentils, and barley
B. Helped the wealthy with household and child raising duties
C. Carve statues and reliefs showing military battles and scenes in the afterlife
D. Keep records, told stories, wrote poetry, described anatomy and medical treatments

4. There are five cataracts in the Nile. What are cataracts?
A. Where the river gets really rough with currents, rocks, etc.
B. A port in the river
C. Popular cities right on the river side
D. Tourist stores

5. Around what month did the river leave behind rich soil?
A. July
B. October
C. January
D. May

February 25, 2015: Class notes

In class today we took more notes on Ancient Egypt while a few other people did the online pyramid because they weren't here yesterday. 

Government by a God-king 

- Pharaoh was all powerful, worshiped as a God and intimately connected to other major Egyptian gods and goddesses

- Egyptians relied on a harmony and balance of the universe, which they called "maat" (known as Nirvana to Buddhists)

- Pharaohs had multiple wives, and all routes to financial and social success through the palace

- Women could inherit money and land and divorce their husbands, though only a tiny few ever wielded real political power

Gods, Humans, and Everlasting Life

- Gods were often portrayed with animal heads and bodies

- Egyptians believed in an afterlife and mummified bodies to preserve them for this post-death journey

- All souls would need to justify themselves at the point of death and be either sent to an after-world paradise, or the jaws of a monster

The Writings of the Words of God

- Earliest Egyptian writing formed c. 3100 B.C.E. and were small pictures known as hieroglyphs 

- Hieroglyphs represented religious words, or part of words, and most commonly adorned temples

- Hieratic script was a shorthand developed by scribes and priests

- Hieratic script was usually written in ink on Papyrus, which was made from mashed Nile reeds

- Papyrus, the precursor of paper, was stored in scrolls and these scrolls were the books of Ancient Egypt 

Calendars and Sailboats

- Egyptian astronomers created a calendar with 12 months and 365 days to make better sense of the seasonal cycles 

- Due to their excellent knowledge of human anatomy, Egyptian doctors wrote extensively on health issues and created potions and cures for a number of common ailments. 

- wooden sailboats were constructed to increase transport ability on the Nile

Pyramids and Temples

- The pyramids were massive stone temples, originally covered in marble but the marble was later stripped off during the Muslim conquest

- The temple of Amon at Karnak is the largest religious building in the world, also made out of huge blocks of stone 

- Stone sculptures and interior painting depicted humans and Gods in a series of regulated poses, often in profile and without perspective, but were highly effective

February 24, 2015: Class

Today in western civilization we had to do an assignment online and we had to build a pyramid. It took a while and was very complex. The percentage of slaves, craftsmen, farmers, and officials had to be the exact percent or it was wrong. You had to choose where you wanted to build your pyramid and what you wanted it to be made of. You had to choose what you wanted to pay the workers in and how many days they had before they had off. What you wanted to feed to them and you had to make the pyramid in a certain amount of time or else you failed. It took me and Trish basically the whole class period to figure it out but we finally finished it and got it correct at the last minute before the class ended. The first to people to finish got A's, The next two people after that got B's and everyone else got C's if they finished in class. Everyone who didn't finish got zeroes unless they finished it out of class, screenshot it, and sent it to Mr. Schick.

February 19, 2015: Class

Today we went over the power point we had to take notes on yesterday for the cyber day.

Geography
- Egyptian life centered around the Nile River
- It flows from south to north
- Cataracts- Where river gets really rough with currents, rocks, etc. There are five.
- Use sail to go north to south
- Delta is the fourth letter in the Greek alphabet. It is a triangular shape.
- River used for drinking, bathing, irrigating
- Every July it floods
- Every October is leaves behind rich soil
- Managing the river required technological breakthroughs for irrigation

Pyramids
- Pyramids + The great sphinx of Giza (was not a pyramid)
- Recumbent - Lying down
- A recumbent lion with a human's head
- Their thought was that since people are smart and are the dominant species, and animals have good features, they put the human and an animal together to create most of their Gods.
- Built in 2555-2532 B.C.E.
- Oldest monumental statue in the world
- Nose was shot off by Turks (The great sphinx of Giza)

Daily Life
From top to Bottom there were:
1. Pharaoh
2. Government officials (Nobles/Priests)
3. Soldiers
4. Scribes
5. Merchants
6. Artisans
7. Farmers
8. Slaves and Servants

Slaves/Servants helped the wealthy with household and child raising duties
Farmers raised wheat, barley, lentils, onions- benefited from irrigation of the Nile River

February 17, 2015: Cyber day notes

Ancient Egypt- Geography, daily life, pharaohs, goddesses & gods, pyramids

Geography
- Egyptian life is centered around the Nile River
- Water for drinking, for irrigating, for bathing, and for transportation
- Every July it floods
- Every October it leaves behind rich soil
- The delta is a broad, marshy triangular area of fertile silt
- Managing the river required technological breakthroughs in irrigation

Pyramids

- The great sphinx of Giza
- Built 2555-2532 B.C.E.
- A recumbent lion with a human's head
- Oldest monumental statue in the world
- Inside pyramid is pharaohs chamber with several rooms above it
- Queens chamber
- subterranean chamber

Daily life
1. Pharaohs- Religious and political leader of the Egyptian people, holding the titles: 'Lord of the Two Lands' and 'high Priest of Every Temple'.
2. Government officials- Upper class known as the "white kilt class. Priests, physicians, engineers.
3. Soldiers- Soldiers used wooden weapons (bows & arrows, spears) with bronze tips and might ride chariots.
4. Scribes- Scribes kept records, told stories, wrote poetry, described anatomy and medical treatments. they wrote in hieroglyphs and in hieratic.
5. Merchants- Money/barter system was used. Merchants might accept bags of grain for payment. Later coinage came about.
6. Artisans- Artisans would carve statues and reliefs showing military battles and scenes in the afterlife
7. Farmers- Farmers raised wheat, barley, lentils, onions: benefited from irrigation of the Nile.
8. Slaves & Servants- Slaves/servants helped the wealthy with household and child raising duties.

Pharaohs
- As 'Lord of the Two Lands' the pharaoh was the ruler of upper and lower Egypt. He owned all land, made laws, collected taxes, & defended Egypt against foreigners.
- Hatshepsut was a woman who served as a pharaoh
- Cleopatra VII also served as a pharaoh, but much later (51-30 B.C.E.) (More on her when we study Greece)

Goddesses & Gods
- Over 2000 Gods and Goddesses
- They "Controlled" the lives of humans

John Green Video
Old Kingdom: 2649-2152 B.C.E.
- Pharaoh was God or very close to God
- Pyramids were built
- Built by peasants or servants
- Ridiculously rich era

Middle Kingdom: 2040-1640 B.C.E.
- New rulers were outsiders
- Took over Nubia: rulers land
- Used bronze weapons

New Kingdom: 1550-1070 B.C.E.
- Most expansive of kingdoms
- King Tut died at age 17
- Most likely died from Malaria/ infected leg injury

February 4, 2015: class

Today in class we finished watching the video on YouTube about how civilization started. 

- Americans consume 20 million tons of wheat every year.

- Wheat and cows were originally not native to america. 

February 2, 2015: Class

today in class i took a test that i was supposed to take last Thursday. It took me about 15 minutes and was on Mesopotamia and prehistory. After the test, we watched a video about how civilization evolved.

In the middle east, barley and wheat were mainly the crops that were native to the area. Also in the middle east, Draa was the very first place/ earliest settlement that has ever been found.

China - Rice
Africa- Millet, Yams, Sorghun
Americas- Corn, Squash, Beans

Geographic luck
Animal Domestication
Certain animals give certain advantages
Goats and sheep were the first to be domesticated
only muscle power in New guinea was man
2 million species of animals
carnivore- bad domestication
if you gain control of the leader, you can control the entire herd

14 successful domesticated animals - weighing over 100 lbs
- Goats
- Sheep
- Pigs
- Cows
- Horses
- Donkeys
- Bactrian camels
- Arabian camels
- Water buffalo
- Llama
- Yaks
- Mithans
- Bali cattle
All animals were native to Asia/ North Africa/ Europe except for the llama which was native to South America.
Cows, pigs, sheep, and goats were native to the middle east.