Egypt

Today in class we finished taking notes on the textbook and started the Power Point on Egypt. Upper Egypt is actually down and Lower Egypt is up. The Nile flows South to North and was the major provider of life for Egyptians. The two lands were united by Narmer or Menes. A pharaoh was an all-powerful being that was worshipped as a god. Egyptians relied on harmony and balance called "meat." Egyptians beloved in an afterlife called "ka." They mummified bodies to preserve them for their journey to the afterlife. That's all for today.

Quiz and Beginning Egypt

Today in class we took a 20 question quiz. I think I did well and got all of them right except one question. After I finished the quiz I started reading the chapter on civilization in Egypt. By using mathematical knowledge and engineering skills the Egyptians built magnificent monuments to honor dead rulers. Many of he monuments built by the Egyptians stand as a testament to their ancient civilization. Egyptian settlements arose along the Nile River. The yearly flooding of the Nile brought rich soil and fresh water to their crops. The Egyptians worshiped the Nile like it was a god. In Mesopotamia their kings were LIKE gods but in Egypt their kings ARE gods to them. That's all for today.

DAY BEFORE THE QUIZ

Today in class, we reviewed Mesopotamia before our quiz tomorrow. We watched a Mesopotamia rap video. The quiz tomorrow is going to be 75 point and 20 questions long. I feel like I'm going to do well on the quiz tomorrow. We watched some old videos that John Carroll made. We didn't do much more today. All we did was watch videos and study for the Mesopotamia quiz tomorrow. Anyways, that's all for today. Tomorrow I will accept that quiz.  

Reviewing the QUIZ

Today we reviewed questions on the quiz that is going to be on Wednesday. We need to know that cultural diffusion is where a new idea or product spreads from one culture to then next. That the Fertile Crescent includes the land facing the Mediterranean Sea and a plain called Mesopotamia. We also need to know that Mesopotamia means "land between rivers." Polytheism is the belief in many gods. Irrigation is where they use water from rivers for farming purposes. Cuneiform is the first type of writing that Sumerians created. A dynasty is rulers from the same family. A ziggurat is the pyramid shaped temple built on top of a mountain that the Sumerians made. Modern countries in the Fertile Crescent are Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria. The Neolithic Age (New Stone Age) was started when tools became advanced and agriculture began. Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age) is the earliest prehistoric age. A city-state works like an independent country. The epic of Gilgamesh tells of the great flood. Hammurabi's Code contains 282 laws and people knew about because it was engraved in stone and posted everywhere. Silt is the soil left behind when flood water recedes. We have a military base on the Tigris River that was bombed. That's for today.

Mesopotamia and Hammurabi's Code

Today in class we saw 2 more slides in the powerpoint. We talked about how the Sumerians created the concept of time and the Ziggurats they constructed. Then we talked about the Civilization in Mesopotamia. There were still wandering nomads that drove herds of domesticated animals in many areas. Then we talked about Hammurabi's Code. It's based on "an eye for an eye." Then we looked uptake laws on Hammurabi's Code. A lot of the punishments resulted in death. I found one that said if a builder of a house constructs it poorly and it falls in on the owner of the house and kills him, then the builder gets put to death. Some punishments include removing your tongue, ear, eye, teeth. I'm glad that I don't live in that time period because it seems like some of the punishments are kind of harsh. If my parents did something wrong that could lead to my own death. There would be a lot of deaths in our world today if we all lived by these laws. That's all for today.

Hammurabi’s Code

Today in class we continued reading the textbook to finish taking notes. Then we started a powerpoint on Mesopotamia and all of those civilizations back then. We had to answer the following question for homework :

What areas of life did Hammurabi's Code cover?

Hammurabi collected existing laws and created new ones and put them all together to make a uniform code of law made from 282 laws. It helped unify the different city-states in the empire. Everyone had to obey the laws but the punishments for the rich and the poor were different.

questions 1 and 3 from the textbook

1. The Fertile Crescent is one of the places where civilization began.
    Mesopotamia is the land that Sumerians settled in the Fertile Crescent.
    A city-state worked as an independent city.
    A dynasty made it so one family could rule a lot of land.
    Cultural diffusion made other city-states think similar things and beliefs.
    Sumerians believed in polytheism (belief in many gods).
    An empire only had one ruler.
    Hammurabi ruled the Babylonian Empire and created the code of Hammurabi.

2. 3 environmental challenges:
        -unpredictable flooding
        -geographically defenseless
        -limited natural resources

LAST CLASS OF HUMAN GEO

Today was our last class of Human Geo. We saw our classes for next semester. I'm in the bigger class. Then we watched Jeopardy again. I have Western Civ first on next Tuesday. We were a little late to class because we had a meeting about self defense and school shootings. In class we talked about who could squeeze through a window. I think I could if I really tried to. Anyways, this is my last class with some of these people. Some of them are still in my class and some of the new people in my class are my friends so I'm glad that they're now in my class. This is the last post from Human Geo. My next post will be about Western Civ. That's all for today.

Jeopardy

Today we watched Jeopardy. We didn't go over the test. I kind of wanted to see what I got wrong but that's ok. I was surprised when that one girl on the left one because I thought for sure that the one on the right had it the whole time. I didn't really know any of the questions that they answered. The only ones I knew were the Disney Movies category. I did knew a few of the pop culture ones but not that many. I hope we watch the rest of the second episode we stared tomorrow because I kind of want to see who wins. I was so excited to see that I was still in you're class for next semester. Anyways, that's all for today.

TEST ON GERMS, GUNS, AND STEEL

Today we took a test on germs, guns, and steel. It was only 26 questions and all multiple choice. There was really only one question that I went back to, to check it again. It was the one on why people left the Fertile Crescent because I didn't remember going over it. I was between disease and over farming and I said over farming. So, hopefully, I got it right. I remembered most of the other questions. I studied pretty well before class so, during class when we had time to study I just reviewed. I'm pretty sure I've done every blog so far this week so hopefully these will bring my grade up little higher along with getting a good grade on the test. That's all for today.

finishing the movie on GERMS, GUNS, AND STEEL

Last weekend on Saturday, there was a Pow Wow for Native Americans and if you went you got 1o extra credit points. I couldn't go though because it was my brother's birthday and my parents didn't want to drive me anywhere. But that's ok because I have a pretty good grade right now and I think I can keep it by the end of the Semester. Today in class, we finished watching the movie on germs, guns, and steel. It talked more about the Fertile Crescent. In the 16th century the same crops and animals were taken from Europe to the New World (America). And at that time there was not a single cow or ear of corn in the Americas. Now we have millions of cows/cattle and consume a lot of wheat in different products every day. That's all for now.

Animal Domestication

Today we watched more of the germs, guns, and steel movie. Animals gave people access to meat, milk, and hair and skin to make coats. Goat and sheep were the first animals to be domesticated. People made plows that made farming easier and they had horses or animals like horses pull them. The only animal that New Guinea has are pigs but they aren't that useful. The best animals to domesticate are large plat-eating animals. The 14 domesticated animals are goats, sheep, pigs, cows, horses, donkeys, bactrian camels, Arabian camels, water buffalos, llamas, reindeer, yaks, mithuns, and baldy camels. Then we saw the Fertile Crescent where civilization began. The people there were geographically blessed. That's all for today.

Watching More of The Movie

Today we continued watching the germs, guns, and steel movie. Jared Diamond found out that countries with productive crops have more productive people. The Americas grow corn, beans, and squash. China domesticated rice. He thinks that the reason why some countries are poor and others are rich is based on Geographic Luck. Because some countries are located in places that are better for growing crops, those places are wealthier. The deeper you go into the jungle in Papua New Guinea the less technologically advanced the people are. That’s all for today.

GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL continued...

Today we watched some more of the movie. Pre-history is history that wasn’t written down yet. It was about 13000 years ago. Some of the only hunters and gathers still here live in Papua New Guinea. Draa is the oldest know permanent settlement found. It’s located near the Dead Sea. They made the first granary. They stored Barley and Wheat instead of Sago like the the people in New Guinea. We also talked about how scientists cross breed plants and animals to get the best ones. That’s all for today.

looking at our exams & GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL

Today we saw how we got our exam grade. My final grade was a 96. While we were waiting for everyone to see their grade we were looking up guns, germs, and steel. I found out that it's about why some societies are better than others. It talks about societies' immunity to germs, food production, the domestication of animals, and the use of steel. It was a book first then made into a movie. We watched the first maybe 10 minutes of the movie. The main guy in it is Jared Diamond. He was was a college professor at UCLA. He was originally a biologist but his passion is studying birds. The place that they are in is Papua New Guinea. His friend, Yani, asked him a question, “Why do you white men have so much cargo and us New Guineans have so little?” That is the question that made Diamond study sociology. That’s all for today.