Test Day

Today in class we took a test.  I thought the test was reasonable; it wasn't too hard but also not to easy.  There were maybe three questions that i didn't know off the top of my head but the others i knew.  I like multiple choice tests, I think they are easy then short answers.  I think the questions covered what we learned about Egypt.  They covered everything important.   

Egypt notes

Ancient Egypt:

-Upper Egypt was 500 mile long strip of fertile along the Nile
-Lower Egypt was the wide land of the Nile delta, emptying into the Meditteranean Sea
-around 3100 B.C. the two lands were united under a single king or "pharaoh"
-Pharaoh was all powerful, worshipped as a god and intimately connected to the other major Egyptian gods and goddesses
-Egyptians relied on a harmony and balance of the universe, which they called "maat"
-Pharaoh's 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 weilded real political power
-Earliest Egyptian writing formed c. B.C. and were small pictures known as hieroglyphs
-Hieroglyphs represented religious words or parts of words, and most commonly adorned temples
-Hieratic script was a short hand developed by scribes and priests
-Hieratic - sounds
-papyrus - mashed Nike reeds
-Hieroglyphs - pictures
-Egyptian astronomers - calender with 12 months and 365 days
-Egyptian doctors - created cures for common ailmebts
-Egyptian doctors - excellent knowledge of human anatomy
-Wooden sail boats were constructed to increase transport ability on the Nile
-Pyramid - massive tombs
-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

Pyramid Project

Today in class we did the pyramid project.  It was a project with a partner, and we had to build a pyramid online.  There were many steps in the building process.  If you did not get one small thing right, you had to start over.  If the pharaoh was unhappy with the performance you had start over and if the king died you had to start over.  It was challenging but it was fun.   

Monday Class Work

John Greene:

Egypt:
-one of the oldest civilizations
-lasted from 3000B.C.E. to 302 B.C.E.
-The Nile River shaped the life of the ancient Egyptians
-Nile - one of the safest agricultural areas
-Each summer - Nile flooded filds
-Flood left behind rich soil
-Egyptians tossed seed onto the ground and let cows walk on it to stomp the seed into the groud
-Egyptian communities existed only along the Nile River
-Used Basin Irrigation on the Nile River
-Egyptians were buried with things that were useful and pleasurable in their life
-Old Kingdom - 2649 - 2152
-Middle Kingdom - 2040 - 1640
-New Kingdom - 1550 - 1070
Old kingdom: 
-Pharaoh was supposed to act like a God
-Most famous pyramids were built between 2575 - 2465
-Largest pyramid was built for the Pharaoh Khufu
-Because pharaoh became "gods" at their death, it made sense to build a ptramid for them
-two forms of writing: hieroglyphics - for scared writing, demotic script - for recording contracts and agreements
-Old Kingdom was a very rich time period
Middle Kingdom:
-New leaders were from outdide Egypt in Nubia
-Ahmenrah - greatest god ever
-Hixons were able to conquer all of Egypt
-Egyptians waited till the Hixons were most vulnerable and then destroyed them
New Kingdom:
-looked more like an empire
-traveled south and took over land
-Akhanatun - tried to invent new god
-Akhanatun - Kim Jong un of ancient Egypt
-Tutankhamuen - turned back on weird god
-King Tut married sister
-King Tut - most famous ancient person
-King Tut - died in 1332 B.C.E.

Pyramid Quest:

-1802 A.D. - youngest son of harun ir Rashiid set base camp at pyramid
-set out to find the treasure of the yramid
-Pyramid was guarded by Sphinx
-on the pyramid - a stone could be moved
-stone would lead to winding paths into the ptramid
-he decided to make his own path into the pyramid

Mummification:

-Heraclytes - died in egypt in the first cetury A.D.
-Mummification - developed by ancient Egyptians to preserve body for after life
-all internal organs were removed before mummification - except for the heart
-Heraclytes - heart was removed - lungs were not
-Body was covered in salt and left for forty days until all moisture was eliminated
-perfume oils and plant resins were rubbed on the body
-alot of resin was applied to glue the strips of linen that were qrappedd around the body
-mummy was placed on wooden board
-more linen was applied to wrap them together
-pouch placed on chest - contained religious items
-mummified itus - bird - placed on addomin
-portrait of mummy was placed on faced
-it was then covered with a linen cloth
-shroud was painted red
-egyptian symbols were painted on outer cloth
-name was written at the feet

I thought the videos were very interesting.  The second video - Pyramid Quest - was not very interesting to me, I did not think it gave important information.  John Greene's video was interesting but hard to take notes on.  Sometimes I could not understand was he was saying and I found that I was pausing the video very frequently.  The third video was my favorite.  I learned a lot about the process of mummification that I did not know.  I thought a person was just wrapped in cloth and out in a tomb.  I now know that there is a lot more to the process then just that. 

Wednesday's Discussion

Today in class we talked about Ancient Egypt again.  We watched the prezi that Mr. Schick made.  I did not have to take any notes because I reviewed the prezi while I was off and took notes on what we covered in class today.  We finished the prezi in class today.  We will most likely be having a test soon. 

Cyber Day Post

Daily Life:

• Slaves/ servants 

• helped the wealthy with household and child raising duties
• raised wheat, barely, lentils, onions - benefited from irrigation of the Nile

• Artisans 
• would carve statues and reliefs showing military battles and scenes in the afterlife

• Merchants
• money barter system was used 
• might accept bags of grain for payment
• later, coinage came about 

• Scribes
• kept records, told stories, wrote poetry, and described anatomy and medical treatments
• wrote in hieroglyphs and in hieratic 

• Soldiers 
• used wooden weapons (bow and arrows, spears) with bronze tips and might ride chariots 

• Priests, Physicians, and Engineers 
• upper class
• known as "white kilt class"

• Religious and Political Leaders - Pharaoh
• leader of the Egyptian People 
• holding titles: "Lord of the Two Lands" and "High Priest of Every Temple" 
• As "Lord of the Two Lands" the pharaoh was the ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt; he owned all land, made laws, collected taxes, and defended Egypt against foreigners
• Hatshepsut was a woman who served as Pharaoh
• Cleopatra VII also served as Pharaoh , but much later (51 - 30BC) 

• Gods and Goddesses 
• over 200 gods and goddesses
• they "controlled" the lives of humans 

Wednesday's Class Notes

Geography:
-Egyptian life is centered around the Nile River
-Nile River flows south to north
-Three Branches of the Nile River
-Nile River - biggest river in the world - 4,000 miles+ long
-Nile River - water ofr drinking, for irrigation, gor bathing, and for transportation
-first people to invent sail boat
-Nile River - flood every July
-Nile River - every October it leaves behind rich soil called silt
-managing the river required technological breakthroughs in irrigation
-the delta is a broad, marshy, triangular area of fertile silt
Pyramids:
-The Great Sphinx of Giza - built  2555-2532BC
-Sphinx - a recumbent lion with a human's head
-Oldest monument statue in the world - Great Sphinx of Giza
Daily Life:
-Power Pyramid - Slaves and Servants ---> Farmers ---> Artisans ---> Merchants ---> Scribes ---> Soldiers ---> Government Officials - Nobels, Priests ---> Pharaohs 

Monday's Class

Today in class we took the test on Guns, Germs, and Steel.  I liked this test much more thant the other one.  Multiple choice is easier because you have the right answer in front of you, you just have to rule out the wrong answers.  I thought it was in between hard and easy.  I did not know all of the answers, but I do feel pretty confident about my grade on the test. 

Wednesday's Class Notes

Guns, Germs, and Steel

• learning how to use frie was the first step in forming steel 
• use rocks to make plaster - huge technological break through 
• People in New Guinea still use stone tools 
• Fertile Crescent - climate to dry to farm 
• Fertile Crescent - nearly abandoned 
• Fertile Crescent - in the middle of the world - surrounded by land - have four seasons
• People of the Fertile Crescent moved east or west instead of north and south

Tuesdsay - Class Notes

Guns, Germs, and Steel

-In China, they grew rice
-In America, they grew corn, squash, and beansNew Guinea - oldest farming place in the world
-New Guinea crops - low in protein, cannot be stord
-New Guinea - sometimes eat spiders to get nutrition
-In Africa, they grew Sorghum, Millet, and Yam
-If you had the most productive crop, you were the most productive farmer
-Americans have advantage over New Guinea - better crops
-9,000 years ago - villages in the Middle East transforming
-9,000 years ago - charder to kill animals
-9,000 years ago - people started to raise their own animals - domesticating them
-Animals are used for meat, milk, clothes, and tools
-Goats and sheep - first to be domesticated
-Animals used to pull plows
-New Guinea had pigs
-New Guinea - almost all work done by humans
-Animal must weigh 100 pounds or more to be domesticated
-Must get along with humans to be domesticated
-14 animals that have been useful to people that have been domesticated
-14 animals:

• goats
• sheep
• pigs
• cows
• horses
• donkeys
• bactrian camels
• arabian camels
• water buffalo
• llamas
• reindeer
• Yak
• mithan
• bali cattle

-Took 10,000 years to domesticate animals
llamas
-13 other animals come from Asia, Europe, and North Africa
-Fer- home to the best crops and farm animalstile Crescent

Monday

I wasn't  in class today because I was sick.