Who even reads these titles anyway?

Upper Egypt was 500 mile long strip of fertile land. Lower Egypt was a wide area of the Nile Delta emptying into the Mediterranean Sea. Pharaohs sometimes had multiple wives. All finances and social success went through the palace. Egyptians relied on harmony and balance of the universe, which is also known as maat. All souls were said to justify themselves at death, to either be sent to an eternal paradise, or eaten by a monster. Egyptian writing formed around the time of Upper and Lower Egypt being united. Egyptian doctors wrote extensively on health problems, as well as coming up with cures and treatments for common illnesses. Sailboats were made to increase transportation on the nile.

Worksheet Day

Today we were given a worksheet to do. The sheet had us do definitions, and answer questions. We went over all of the answers in class. We didn't get out tests back yet, and I can't wait to see what I got wrong. Not much happened in class today, and I decided to do half of this blog during class. Mr. Schick gave us a lesson on how to say Jean-François Champollion's name. I love french, which means I love french. This also mean I greatly enjoy the french language. I do prefer the Spanish language over the language known as french. This is very fun, I am having fun. Did you know that you know that.

Page 41 Questions 1,3,4,5 Answered

A delta is a broad and marshy area that contains large amount of fertile soil used for planting crops.
King Narmer united Lower and Upper Egypt, which boosted trade and helped to protect the two united nations.
The pharaohs of ancient Egypt were seen as gods, and they had full control over Egypt and its army.
The government of ancient Egypt was based off of theocracy, which is a form of government where rule is based off of religious authority.
Pyramids were built to bury kings from the Old Kingdom.
Mummification was the process of preparing a body for the afterlife practiced in ancient Egypt.
The Egyptians wrote in hieroglyphics; they also stood for sounds and ideas.
Papyrus was written on by the Egyptians, because they were more efficient than clay tablets.

3. Egypt being surrounded by deserts helped greatly with defense, since an adversary at that time didn't have the means to move an entire army through a desert.
4. The Egyptians viewed the pharaoh as a god.
5. The Egyptians did this to preserve a body and to help the person through the afterlife.

Notes on Egypt

Egypt was unified very early on. The Nile flows northward for over 4,100 miles. Yearly flooding brought in water and fertile soil for the farmers to use when planting crops. The Egyptians worshipped the Nile as a god. The flooding of the Nile was unpredictable, unlike the flooding of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. If the flood water was lower than usual, a famine would occur, and if it were higher, it would destroy homes, granaries, and seeds. The desert surrounding Egypt protected it for years against invaders. The Nile also provided reliable transport between lower and upper Egypt. There were 31 dynasties in total spanning over 2,600 years in Egypt. Unlike Mesopotamia the Egyptian kings (pharaohs) were seen as gods. The Old Kingdom was when most of the pyramids were built, and that era lasted from 2660 to 2180 B.C.

2 Hour Delay Hammurabi Day

Today we had a two hour delay, and Mr. Schick gave us a worksheet to do today. The worksheet was about a couple of situations that we were supposed to be the judge of and come up with a punishment. I did the worksheet with Patrick and we had some trouble figuring out if we were supposed to think like Hammurabi or not. We skipped the first one and went on with the other problems, and had little difficulty. Mr. Schick actually gave us homework, which I forgot to do until late at night. I'm just glad we had a two hour delay.

Note Day

Today Mr. Schick got a laser pointer and was a little bit too excited about it. He was so excited that he could hardly stay on a single slid for more than a minute. Caitlin and Leigh were a little confused about how Hammurabi's code could be translated, and Mr. Schick tried his best to help them comprehend it. Sumer was conquered by the Akkains in 2350 BC. Indo-Europeans from the grasslands of Russian steppe introduced the horse to the Near East. The warlike Indo-Europeans tribe known as the Hittites in Asia Minor had lucrative metal trade. They conquered almost all of their neighbors, and they even threatened Egypt.

More Notes and Hammurabi

Today we started class with a small talk about the origins of Valentine's day. Eventually we started to take notes from the power point. We eventually got on the topic of incest in the bible. With the flood mentioned in the bible on Moses and his family were left so they had to have reproduced with each-other right? The district between the Tigris and the Euphrates river was known as Sumer. The population increased due to new irrigation techniques. Cities were founded and had populations of up to 40,000 people. Kings emerged as well as dynasties, and city-states. The Sumerians invented the first known form of writing known as cuneiform. The earliest surviving story from Sumer is "The Epic of Gilgamesh" and its about a large flood.

Day

Today we were given back our tests, and we went over the answers. The only thing that I forgot on the test was donkeys for the 14 domesticated animals, and I feel pretty dumb for not remembering it now. For the rest of class we took notes on a powerpoint. Most of the stuff on the powerpoint was things we had already discussed and learned about in the video with Jared Diamond in it. 200,000 years ago the human species emerged in southwestern Africa. The Earliest prehistoric age is the Paleolithic age. The Neolithic age is marked by advanced tool making and agriculture. Hierarchies appeared in village life, and women's status was lowered since they took on more domestic duties. Villagers were polytheists, and they worshipped nature, humans, and/or gods.

Textbook Day

Today was the first day that we used our textbook in Western Civ. Mr. Schick told us the way our classes would go for the rest of the year. We will take notes for the first half of class and for the rest of class we'll talk about the notes we took. We don't have enough textbooks for all of the classes so we can't have any homework in the book. The fertile crescent was an area of rich farmland in Southwest Asia between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea. Mesopotamia means land between the rivers. Mesopotamia is between the Tigris and the Euphrates River. The three disadvantages of living there were unpredictable flooding, no natural barriers for protection, and limited natural resources.

Test Day

Today we took a test on every we learned from the video and Jarod Diamond. The test was moderately difficult, and one of the hardest parts for me was trying to remember the fourteen domesticated animals. Another hard part was the essay, but I believe that I choose a good topic. I think I got somewhere near a 90% on the test, hopefully I got a higher score. Lately my grades in all of my classes have been pretty low, and I haven't been doing so hot on tests in other classes. Today was also a beautiful sunny day in the low sixties, with a light breeze. I can't wait to talk my dog for a walk tonight.

Finale to Jared Diamond's Saga

Today we finished watching Jarod Diamond's explanation of the roots of inequality. Gwar is 9,000 years old, which is 2,500 years after Draa. A few hundred people lived there instead of 40-50 people. Advanced houses were made with plaster made from limestone heated to 1000 degrees. When an area was over farmed a group could move on the same line of latitude and not have to change their way of living. Before the 16th century there was no wheat or cows in North America. Today there are over 100,000,000 cows and bulls in the United States today. 20,000,000 tons of wheat are consumed every year in the United States.