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