Last of Them All

After not having class for almost a week, we took a test! It's so exciting I know, especially because it was the last one before exams. Although I am glad we don't have to take anymore tests, I am dreading studying all week for final exams next week. Fun stuff!

The Importance of the Fall of Rome

The process of decline took place in three stages. First, there was a long time of turmoil known as the "crisis of the third century". During these years, the empire was beset by economic, military, and political problems.

Economic Decay:

Trade was disrupted by barbarian raids and by bands of pirates on Mediterranean sea lanes. Trade flowed over routes patrolled by Roman navies and armies. Treasuries were enriched by gold and silver collected as plunder; and the farms grew enough food to feed the population of the cities.

Inflation: increase in prices rapidly

Military Decay:

Tribes of northern barbarians called Goths repeatedly overran the legions guarding the Danube frontier. Asia minor was threatened by Persia. Roman soldiers now fought strictly for money, not for patriotism. They began to recruit barbarians who would accept lower pay. Loyalty in the barbarians was hard to find.

Political Decay:

 Political office had once been considered an honor. In the 200's, political leaders began to loose money because they usually lost money because they were required to pay for costly circuses and baths out of their own money.

*DIOCLETIAN*:

A.D. 284, Diocletian, an army leader and son of a slave, became emperor.        

• In A.D. 476, a barbarian king took over the rule of Rome

OUTDOORS

We went outside for class today! I don't think it was the best idea though. We had bugs and geese and apparently it was funny because the story was told to the others classes of the day. Using Roman government we looked at similarities and differences in theirs and our government. America is a lot like Rome.    

Empire or Republic?

After the world's easiest test on the Roman Empire's Emperors, we were told about a 'project' to do. We had to write about the Roman Republic and Empire. I'm almost finished! It'll be good to get it out of the way!

Religion in Ancient Rome

Christianity and Judaism- monotheistic

Romans had many gods, plus at times the emperor was viewed as one

AD 66: group of Jews called the Zealots tried to rebel, but roman troops put them down and burned their temple(except for the western wall).

Romans were harsh toward those who would not worship the emperor

Especially Christians, who were viewed as followers of a new, upstart religion (cult)

Often used for 'entertainment' purposes in the colosseum (thrown to the lions, etc..)

Despite the oppression, Christianity grew quickly- by AD 200, around 10% of the people in the Roman empire were Christians.

Roman VS Modern Time

Today we reviewed what we learned about the Roman Emperors. This slowly turned into a discussion that compared roman times and modern times.

Emperor's of Rome

Tiberius:

Was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD.  His mother divorced his father and was remarried to Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian. Tiberius would later marry Augustus' daughter Julia. He officially became a Julian, bearing the name Tiberius Julius Caesar. Tiberius was the stepson of Augustus and great-uncle of Caligula. Tiberius was one of Rome's greatest generals. He came to be remembered as a dark and somber ruler who never really desired to be emperor; Tiberius is considered to have lacked the political ability of his predecessor Augustus and was a jealous emperor; particularly distrustful of his popular general Germanicus. After the death of Tiberius’ son Drusus Julius Caesar in 23, the quality of his rule declined and ended in a terror. In 26, against better judgment, Tiberius exiled himself from Rome. Caligula, Tiberius' grand-nephew and adopted grandson, succeeded the emperor after his death.

Caligula:

Was Roman Emperor from 37 to 41. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most beloved public figures. The young Gaius earned the nickname Caligula (meaning "little soldier's boot") from his father's soldiers while accompanying him during his campaigns in Germania. Caligula accepted the invitation to join the emperor on the island of Capri in 31. At the death of Tiberius in 37, Caligula succeeded his great-uncle and adoptive grandfather. Although he is described as a noble and moderate ruler during the first two years of his rule. After this, his cruelty and extravagance presented him as an insane tyrant. Caligula worked to increase the authority of the emperor. In early 41, Caligula was assassinated as the result of a conspiracy involving officers of the Praetorian Guard, as well as members of the Roman Senate and of the imperial court. On the same day, the Praetorian Guard declared Caligula's uncle Claudius emperor in his place.

Claudius:

Was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54 and was the first emperor to be born outside Italy. Afflicted with a limp and slight deafness due to sickness at a young age, his family excluded him from the public until his nephew Caligula died in 37. Claudius probably saved himself from the fate of many other nobles during the purges of Tiberius' and Caligula's reigns. His survival led to his being declared emperor by the Praetorian Guard after Caligula's assassination, at which point he was the last adult male of his family.

Despite his lack of experience, Claudius proved to be an able and efficient emperor. He began the conquest of Britain. However, he was seen as vulnerable throughout his reign. Claudius was constantly forced to give up his position; this resulted in the deaths of many senators. These events damaged his reputation among the ancient writers, though more recent historians have revised this opinion. After his death in 54, his grand-nephew and adopted son Nero succeeded him as emperor.

Caligula

Caligula was just two when his father and his two older brothers died. His father was believed to have been poisoned by order of the Roman emperor. His brothers had more torturous deaths. The oldest boy starved and forced to eat his pillow. The other committed suicide and was then dragged through the streets of Rome. Twenty three years later, when Caligula was 25 he assumed the position as the Roman Emperor. Two years into his reign, he took an army and invaded England. The odd thing was that while on the beach he had the men collect seashells. Also during a important religious ceremony he was to kill an animal but instead turned and killed the priest. The man died instantly. Some people believe these are signs of Bi-Polar disorder.   

Roman ?Leaders?

Augustus who's real name is Octavius was emperor of Rome after Caesar was stabbed to death. He ended a century of civil war. Then came the feared Octavius who was stepson of Augustus. Although he acted like he didn't want to become emperor, inside he was wanting the power that was being bestowed before him. Augustus had another member of his family named Germanicus who was part of the military. He had a son and everyone in that legion called him "Caligula" which is Latin for boot and everyone loved him. But when the army started to retaliate against Tiberius, Germanicus's son and wife were told to leave. When the men saw this they stopped fighting and this allowed them to come back.          

Reviewwwwww

The class today was centered around us reviewing and checking our Greek and Roman test.

Friday

Today we took a test on Ancient Rome when Mr. Schick wasn't there.

POWER POINT!!!

The first latifundia were added from the spoils of war, Confiscated from farmers returning from the war beginning in the early 2nd century BC. The latifundia were the Roman estates. Only slaves worked the land, not the sturdy Roman farmers who had been in the Republic's army. They produced oil and wine for exportation. 

Tiberius and Gaius

Roman plebian nobles

Served as tribunes (elected officials in the Roman republic) in the 2nd century

Attempted to pass a land reform that would redistribute huge pieces of patrician land among the plebeians

Considered the founding fathers of socialism and populism

Both were assassinated for their attempts 

Roman Rap

CLEOPATRA - QUEEN OF EGYPT

MARC ANTHONY - MAJOR ROMAN GENERAL

JULIUS CAESER - ROMAN GENERAL AND STATESMEN

POMPEY - MILITARY AND POLITICAL LEADER

ROME - CAPITAL OF ROMAN REPUBLIC

LATIFUNDIA - LANDED ESTATES 

CALVARY - HORSE MOUNTED SOLDIERS 

CARTHAGE - THE PLACE THAT ROME FOUGHT IN THE PUNIC WARS

ETRUSCANS - ROMAN HEARTLAND ALSO KNOWN AS TUSCANY 

GRACCHUS - TWO ROMAN NOBLE BROTHERS INVOLVED IN POLITICS 

Roman Government

Today we spent class with Mr. Schick scaring us with tornado stories, had the lights flicker, and loud thunder. The main part of class though was talking about the Roman government and how it is similar and different to ours  in America.

Spread of Power

consul: either of the two chief magistrates of the ancient Roman republic.
veto: The power or right vested in one branch of a government to cancel or postpone the decisions, enactments, etc.
senate: an assembly or council of citizens having the highest deliberative functions in a government, especially a legislative assembly of a state or nation.
assembly: a group of persons gathered together, usually for a particular purpose, whether religious, political, educational, or social.
dictator: a person invested with supreme authority during a crisis, the regular magistracy being subordinated to him until the crisis was met.
mercenary: working or acting merely for money or other reward; venal. Hired to serve in a foreign army, guerrilla organization, etc.
..............

Roma

How did geography help Rome?- The Alps in the north, separate Italy from the rest of Europe.

Why was each of the following groups important to Rome's development?

(a)Latin's- Rome began as a settlement of Latin shepherds

(b) Greeks- Established colonies in the southern part of Italy.

[c] Etruscans- Northern Italy, had a writing system, roman buildings

What were the values of early Roman society?- Family ties, formed a republic, borrowed religious ideas, society was divided into classes 

(a) How was the Roman household organized?- The eldest man was in charge, he could sell/ kill anyone in the family without penalty.  

(b) What freedoms did women have in the family and in the society?- Ran the household, was a citizen. 

How was the army linked to Roman society?- Constant threat of war made the men have two jobs; farming and warriors. 

................................

Gravitas: Virtue on disipline, strength, and loyalty 
Republic: a state in which the head of government is not a monarch or other hereditary head of state.
Pater familias: Father of the house 
toga: cloak, clothing
patrician: a member of the original senatorial aristocracy in ancient Rome.
plebeian: belonging or pertaining to the common people.
legion: a division of the Roman army, usually comprising 3000 to 6000 soldiers. 
century: A fighting unit with 80 people. 

Testing our Knowledge

On Wednesday, before break, we took our test on Ancient Greece. I thought the test was pretty easy.

Test Ideas

In class today we reviewed all of our Greek topics and made up questions to put on the test.

Alexander the Great

Today in class we watched a movie on possibly the greatest fighter known, Alexander of Macedonia. We saw Alexander's childhood when his father purchases Bucephalus, Alexander's horse. He was only aloud to have the horse if he could tame it. Which he did in no time at all. It is thought that Alexander's father, Philip II of Macedon, was jealous of his son because Aristotle taught Alexander. Aristotle is one of the greatest minds ever. He learned about Greek culture, language, history, and battle tactics. Alexander became captain of the Macedonian army at the age of 16 after his father died. He also became ruler of Macedonia after his father died. The most significant battle Gaugamela was the bloodiest ever fought. It was against Darius III of Persia. Darius was said to have been responsible for Alexander's father's assassination and Alexander wanted revenge for it.  

Socrates/Pericles/Sparta

SOCRATES:

Unbelievably ugly

Didn't care about anything but the mind

Babylon was where everything (i.e. gods) started

The Greeks took the gods and made them reason

The birth of science: Thales  

Wrote about how to sail a boat at night by using the stars

Socrates used reason and logic to study people

He cares about the individual

Spent his days in conversation and walking

"The unexamined life is not worth living"

PERICLES:

One year into the war plague struck

Spread like wildfire

Redness and heat

Bodily fluids  

Pericles died in 429 B.C. from the plague

Linchpin

High profile people now scrambled to find a new leader

SPARTA:

Athenians win a navel battle

Navel leaders were put into jail

Didn't pick up the warriors after falling off of the boat during the war

They were to be tried and executed

The generals were condemned to death by drinking poisonous hemlock 

416 B.C.

A small Greek colony in Sicily asked for Athens help

They sent word back to Athens that they needed reinforcements then no news at all

A soldier returned to Athens and told people what had happened

One of greatest defeats in ancient history

Over 15,000 men had either been killed or taken prisoner

Pointless campaign

Athens enemies began to close in

• Persia
• Spartans

Egypt and other convoys couldn't get through to Athens so people started to starve

They turned to Athena  

404 B.C. Athens surrenders to Lysander, the Spartan leader

The walls were to be torn down and their fleet to be destroyed

Only 12 ships remained

Socrates was arrested for disrupting the religion

People cried when he was taking the poison

He was dying because of his principals

Athens was never a great Imperial power

The city became a place of intellectual study

Homer

Who was Homer?- Early Greek poet

What was he known for writing?- Known most for the Iliad and Odyssey

What was something very different about Homer?- Thought to have been blind

Grade: 96

Alexander's Conquest

Name one of his battles. - Battle of Granicus

Did he get along with his father? - no, not to well

What happened to his kingdom after his death? - It was split almost immediately after his death 

Grade: 94

Trial of Socrates

What was he charged with?- Charged with blasphemy, betraying the gods

What did Socrates tell the people he should get instead of death?- That he should get free dinner for the rest of his life.

What did he die by?- poison hemlock

Grade:94

Greek battles and Armies

What is the formation they make called?- A Phalanx

Who are the Hoplites?- Citizen soldiers

What would the Helmets protect?- Nose, Cheek, Head, Neck

Grade: 99

The Hellenic Age

What is a Polyclitus?: Greek sculpture in bronze, One of the most important sculptures of classical antiquity  

What is the word for a relaxed type of pose?- Contrapposto

Who ruled the Macedonian age?- Kings 

Grade: 98

Greek Theatre

Who were tragedies acted out by?- men 

What would they mock?- Mock gods/goddesses

What is a Satyr play?- a comical form of play

GRADE: 86 

Greek Poets and Poetry

Were people told to remember the poems?- yes

How did people re-sight the poems?- Song form with instruments

Did the poets make the words up before they went up to re-sight heir poems?- no

Grade: 97

The Golden Age/ Age of Pericles

What century was Pericles born?- Born in 5th century B.C

What was Panathenaia? - A festival honoring Athena

Who was Aspasia?- Member of a class of unmarried females, Said to have written most of Pericles's speeches

GRADE: 98

Greek Architecture

What style was the Parthenon designed of?- Doric style
Name the three styles things were made of in ancient Greece.- Doric Order, Ionic Order, Corinthian Order
What was normally put on the buildings?- Battle/hunting scenes and gods/goddesses

GRADE: 96 

Greek Philosophers

Who was Aristotle?- Greek philosopher, taught at the academy, learned from Plato

Who was Plato?- A wealthy, wrestler and poet, Greek philosopher

Who was Socrates?- Arguably the most powerful of thinkers, Greek philosophers

GRADE: 98

Parthenon

What style were they made using?-Doric Style

Who designed it?- Phidias

What were they used for?- to worship

GRADE: 96

Alexander's Youth

What did his mother tell him he was?- she told him that he was the son of a god

Why was he called GREAT?- He conquered more land than anyone before him that’s why he was called great 

Who was he a student of?- Aristotle

GRADE: 93

Greek Science & Math

Who invented geometry?- Euclid

Who came up with physical displacement?- Archimedes 

Who calculated how far away the sun is from Earth?- Eratosthenes  

GRADE: 96

Olympics

Who could compete in the Olympics?- wealthy men who spoke Greek
Where did they originate?- Olympia
How long did they last?- used to last one day then went to five
GRADE: 98

Greek Art

What was the Corinthian Order?- not popular, outlined with leaves, expensive
What colors are the Greek pots made of?- red, yellow, black, white
Who normally made the pottery?- the lower class of people
GRADE: 94

Summary of my Project

Today in class I presented my project on the Peloponnesian War. I told people about why it happened and what I think is the most important happening during the war, the plague. The war was against Sparta and Athens. The idiot who thought it would e a good idea to fight Sparta was Pericles. He was the leading personality in Athens. Pericles acted boldly and successfully as commander of the Athenian forces. The letter of the treaty of peace with Sparta, was signed in 446 B.C., six years before the war started. This treaty was supposed last for 30 years though. In 431 B.C.. The war started right as Athens was at its peak politically and economically and people knew that a war with Sparta would take it all away. The Peloponnesian War lasted 27 years. Athens signs a treaty (Peace of Nicias), setting things back to how they were before the war. Under the advice of Alcibiades (an Athenian statesman), Sparta invades Attica. Athens, which had started the war with the advantage in naval battle, loses this advantage to the Corinthians and Syracusans. Sparta then used Persian gold from Cyrus to build her fleet and destroys the Athenian fleet at the Battle of Aegosotami. Athens surrendered in 404 B.C.. Athens loses its democratic government. The Plague of Athens was a devastating epidemic which hit the city-state of Athens in ancient Greece during the second year of the Peloponnesian War (430 B.C.), when an Athenian victory still seemed within reach. The epidemic broke out in the overcrowded city. The sight of the burning funeral fires of Athens caused the Spartan army to withdraw for fear of the disease. It killed many of Athens's infantry, some expert naval men and their leader Pericles, who died during one of the secondary outbreaks in 429 B.C.. Some people believe that the plague was a critical factor in the loss of the war for Athens.

 

 

Surprise Surprise!

Yesterday, we all got an e-mail saying that we are having a quiz on Greece today. Seemed easy enough. When the test was being handed out, it looked easy. Then I attempted at the quiz and realized I should have reviewed my Greek people a little better. In other words, I 'winged' the test. We also got SMARTIES because they make you smarter. (But not really). Should be interesting to hear how well we all did on it.  

Pericles and his Stupid Mistake

A man named Pericles brought democracy to its height in Greece. He was part of an elite family and knew what the people wanted. A city that was able to rule an empire. Ten years had passed since the war against Persia. The people decided that it was time to re-build their faithful city. The first project, a Parthenon in the center of the city. It was a temple for Athena, the city goddess.  It took 20,000 tons of marble and 15 years to complete the building. Not only were the Greeks skilled enough to build that. They also are proud owners of the world's first theatre. It sits atop the acropolis and was most likely one of the loudest because it could seat thousands of people. They Invented Drama and theatre. Pericles had to ruin all of this perfectness by coming up with the 'brilliant' idea of going to war with the most fearsome city-state, Sparta in 431 B.C.   

Isle of Salamis

Cleisthenes created the battleship of the time called a trireme. In 483 B.C. Athenians found silver and the price of silver helped build the boats. Meanwhile, Xerxes pledged to destroy Athens as 'revenge' for his father's defeat on account of Athens. In 480 B.C. the Persian army set out for Greece. There were over two million Persians. The people of Athens went to the Oracle. Which is someone that can see the future, Delphi is the most famous of these. Cleisthenes met with the other rulers of Greek city states to come up with a plan. They decided that with their new boats the safest and most effective way was to fight the Persians at sea. Evacuations were happening in Athens. (It was the first in history.) The people escaped to Salamis an island off the coast. This is also where the Greeks would fight the Persians; in the Isle of Salamis.

Thursday= Getting there

Thursday I was still sick, I caught up on homework and relaxed.

Wednesday= Boring

I wasn't in class on Wednesday because I was sick. In other words, I had a "minor case" of the stomach flu. Ew!

Wasn't in School

I attended a funeral.

The Change

The year was 508 B.C. when the common people turned on their leaders/ nobles. Before, freedom of speech was widespread in Hellis which is now called Greece. Athens was a small town then and not an ideal place to live because it was to hilly. Places like Egypt and Persia were 'blessed' by rivers and fertile lands. Greece was divided into city-states the three major city-states were Argos, Corinth, and Sparta. Spartans were brought up to be soldiers. with lives structured by war. The Spartans were a threat to the rest of Greece. The Spartans helped Isagaris take over power of Athens. But when the people rebelled in 508 B.C. they were powerless. 

What Greeks!

Today in class we went through a slideshow that we all made about Greece during the Peloponnesian war. We learned about the kings, great politicians, and wars. Back then, people put a lot of thought into their plans of attack. The Persians were masters of the land but Greeks had one of the best naval fleets in the world.    

Persia & Greece

Today in class we read a book about the war between Persia and Greece. This occurred before Christ. Persia was led by Xerxes a weird and cruel man. He had people build a bridge over a strait that was a mile wide. This was made by stringing boats together with rope. Greece on the other hand was assisted by Sparta the greatest power when it comes to warfare. The Spartans held them off until a traitor showed the Persians a way around the narrow pass.   

Important Times in Egypt

In 1922 was Egypt's end of protectorate with the United Kingdom. Followed by 1953 when Egypt declared a Republic. Then in 1954-1970 they were ruled by Gamal Nasser. Who nationalizes the Suez Canal, forms an allegiance with the Soviet Union (Russia) and is followed by Anwar Sadat. Sadat switches their allegiance to the United States and attacked Israel over Sinai Peninsula, but later made peace. Sadat was assassinated in 1981 when Mubarak came to office. He kept the alliance with the United States (helped in the Iraq war), was accused of corruption, political persecution, and human rights violations. He was driven from office after 30 years of serving and two weeks of violent protests against him.  

Stay out of it Greeks

The Greeks would tell people stories about the great pyramids and the treasures they held. People would go looking for these treasures; there was supposedly, glass that bent but didn’t break and things like that. (Even though this wasn't true.) The problem people ran into while looking for these none existent things was the door into the pyramid. It was set high up on the wall and matched everything so well it was almost impossible to find. Thus people created their own ways into the tomb. Egyptians also learned a lot about anatomy. Scribes kept records about everything that they learned about organs and the body. Their pharaoh was known to the people as a political and religious leader. His body was thought of as a god on earth.    

Geography/ Daily life/ Pharaohs/ Goddesses & gods/ Pyramids

Did you know that the Nile is the only river in the world to flow north? It was also used for farming, bathing, and drinking water.  During our month of July, it floods and in October it recedes leaving all this great soil and nutrient. The people that lived around the river were and are mainly Egyptians. They were the first people to have a calendar as far as we know. The sphinxes were one of their many creations. They have lion’s bodies and the heads of people. It is the oldest monumental statue in the world. They also had two types of pyramids. One was what they would use as tombs for pharaohs. And the other was the pyramid that showed the hierarchy of Egypt. It went like this: Pharaohs, Government officials, nobles/ priests, Soldiers, Scribes, Merchants, Artisans, Farmers, Slaves & servants. Slaves back then were not treated as badly as we treated slaves in America. Egyptians were also the first people to think that something happened to you after you die. (As in an afterlife.)  

Questions for Sara

How does she feel about the Muslim brotherhood possibly coming in to rule? 

Where did you first hear about the revolution?

How did your family feel about this?

Is there still excitement in Cairo?

Do you know anyone that was effected by the change? 

Did you know about the other revolutions occurring in other countries?

Did you partake in the January 25th movement?

Are there people angry about what happened?

Is there still violence between police and people after this?

How did you feel seeing fires, guns, and fists being thrown? 

Revolution in Cairo

Today, we watched a video in class about a girl named Gigi who lives in Egypt and is supporting the movement. The movement is about Egyptians trying to throw out their leader of 30 years, Mubarak. She is going against her family, an upper middle class family who believes that Mubarak should stay in office until his term is over and then see what happens. Gigi, a 24 year old who studied at the University of America of Cairo, believes that some people in Egypt don't agree with the protests because they haven't known anyone else, so they look up to him like a father almost. She takes a camera crew through the streets explaining what is going on. Fights break out, people are shot, and words are slurred between groups of pro-Mubarak and anti-Mubarak. After almost two weeks of continuous violence, early in the morning, they announced the resignation of President Mubarak. The one thing Gigi has waited for for a long time.      

RAP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIsaPQlw4Eg

A pharaoh's work is like a pyramid

it stands together till the very end

there'll never be another one for sure

farmers and artists here we go

-music-

Stones... heavy like the limestone shown

solid as the ground we've known

and we just wanna carry on

we built it from the bottom up

and even in a desert storm

sturdy as a rock we hold

wishing every moment froze

now i just wanna let you know

earthquakes can't shake us

cyclones can't break us

hurricanes can't take away our god's

pyramid, we've built this on a solid rock

it feels just like it's afterlife's touch

together at the top like a pyramid

and even when the wind is blowin

we'll never fall just keep on goin

forever we will stay like a pyramid

like a pyramid, like a pyramid hey

like a pyramid, like a pyramid hey

like a pyramid, like a pyramid hey

hot never ever when we're close

we will never let it fall

a story that was told

something like a mystery

and every step we've took we grown

look how fast the time has flown

a journey to the place unknown

we're going down in history

earthquakes can't shake us

cyclones can't break us

hurricanes can't take away our god's

pyramid, we've built this on a solid rock

it feels just like it's heaven's touch

together at the top like a pyramid

and even when the wind is blowin

we'll never fall just keep it goin

forever we will stay like a pyramid

like a pyramid god's i'ma show you

that im a slave for you and we're gonna get through

even when it storms i will never go

i'ma be the one to keep you safe

before was a pharaoh i care less than enough

holding on to one another be the stars when it's rough

mother nature, or disaster won't stop our stairway to forever

pyramid... keep it going...

like a pyramid, like a pyramid hey

pyramid, we've built this on a solid rock

it feels just like it's heaven's touch

together at the top like a pyramid

and even when the wind is blowin

we'll never fall just keep on goin

forever we will stay like a pyramid

pyramid..

pyramid, we've built this on a solid rock

it feels just like it's heaven's touch

together at the top like a pyramid

and even when the wind is blowin

we'll never fall just keep it goin

forever we will stay like a pyramid

like a pyramid, like a pyramid hey

like a pyramid, like a pyramid hey

like a pyramid, like a pyramid hey

The Nile Flows North

This class was all about Egypt. Some of us presented our power points which were on a wide range of topics. We listened to some that were not the best and were hard to focus on. Things like shark attacks and mummies wearing hard hats. I don’t think that had anything to do with ancient Egypt, but that’s just me thinking aloud. With some of the other power points I learned about hieroglyphics, mummification, the Nile River, and pyramids. There are four chambers in a pyramid, the Nile River flows north, and during the mummification process they would remove the important organs and put them in jars so that people could use them in the afterlife.      

Hieroglyphics and Pyramids

Today in the class Mr. Schick wasn’t in, we worked on our research projects. Our projects are focused on Ancient Egypt. Me and the other three people in my group are doing our power point on pyramids and hieroglyphics. We’re almost finished and I’m pretty sure that ours is the best. (Just saying). 

My Class Today

Today in class I looked over my notes while others, who didn’t do their work on Friday, gathered their research. I know this isn’t 100 words or more but I have nothing else to write about. 

Pyramids

The most famous pyramids are the Egyptian pyramids. They are huge structures built of brick or stone, some of which are among the world's largest constructions. The age of the pyramids reached its peak at Giza in 2575-2150 B.C. As of 2008, some 138 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt. Most were built as tombs for the country's Pharaohs and their companions during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest in Egypt and one of the largest in the world. The Great Pyramid of Giza was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It is the only one to survive into modern times. The Ancient Egyptians covered the faces of pyramids with polished white limestone, containing great quantities of fossilized seashells. Many of the facing stones have fallen or have been removed and used to build the mosques of Cairo.

Hunter-Gatherers to Farmers

The transition of hunter-gatherers to farmers is one of the biggest things in history. If they had never settled down and became farmers we wouldn’t be living like this and we probably wouldn’t have the skills and technology that we have now. And New Guinea wouldn’t be that different from the world like most of the country is.

                 Thousands of years ago the Middle East was thriving with forests, trees, and plants. The people here were hunter gatherers. They would follow their food, always wondering if they would be able to eat another day. People picked berries, fruits, and anything else they might be able to find. These people came across fields of wheat and barley; these can be stored and last for a really long time. They finally realized that they didn’t have to walk looking for food. They would grow wheat and barley, and raise animals like goats for milk, meat, and wool. Jordan had the earliest village like this known in the world, consisting of about 40 people. They would stay close to any source of water and plant the seeds next to their village. They created a room to store these grains keeping them dry, setting a course to modern civilization with this creation of this room.

Now, in modern times, only in the rainforest of Papua New Guinea can you still find these types of people. The women here chop down the Sago tree and eat the inner pulp because that might be all they can find. The problem is, it takes days to make and it doesn’t last long. They have been farming there in highlands for 10,000 years but the foods grown never had enough protein. They eat tarrow root, bananas, and sago. People don’t get a lot of protein from these plants either. This makes the people not as ‘strong’.   

Upcoming Quiz

Today in class we reviewed what is going to be on our quiz. We gave ideas for questions that could be on the quiz and also answered them. We were told about social hierarchies in the animal world. Draa’ is the very first village ever discovered in the world! I also learned that people in my class can make animal noises. And that was pretty funny.   

Super Bowl Commercials

Today in class we were allowed to do whatever we wanted to. So I watch Super Bowl commercials. Sounds like a waste of time and it might be for some people. I discovered that companies like Dorito’s and Pepsi spend a lot of money on commercials. Dorito’s had at least five and they were all extremely funny. Most of them included taunting animals. (http://superbowlads.fanhouse.com/2011/doritos-house-sitting/?icid=maing|main5|dl4|sec3_lnk3|42247.) The Pepsi ones included women taunting men about their weight and the other way around too. Over all I have to say that the Dorito’s commercials were my favorite. And yes, this is how I spend my free time. 

New Guinea

Area Comparative: Slightly larger than California

Location: Oceania, group of islands including the eastern half of the island of New Guinea between the coral sea and the south Pacific ocean, east of Indonesia.

Natural Resources: gold, copper, silver, natural gas, timber, oil, fisheries.  

Climate: tropical
Monsoon Season: northwest monsoon (December to March), southeast monsoon (May to October); slight seasonal temperature variation

Geography: mostly mountains with coastal lowlands and rolling foothills

Population: 6,064,515
Growth Rate: 2.033%
Labor Force: agriculture: 85%

Average Life Expectancy: 65.99 years

Languages: Tok Pisin, English, and Hiri Motu are official languages; some 860 indigenous languages spoken

Religion: Roman Catholic 27%, Evangelical Lutheran 19.5%, United Church 11.5%

Literacy: 57.3%

Capital: Port Moresby

Independence Day: 16 September 1975

Phone main lines: 60,000

Phone cell lines: 900,000

562 airports

Ports: Kimbe, Lae, Madang, Rabaul, Wewak

Military: 16 years of age for voluntary military service

More females are fit for the military- 1,107,479

*relies on assistance from Australia to keep out illegal cross-border activities from primarily Indonesia, including goods smuggling, illegal narcotics trafficking, and squatters and secessionists*

Fertile Crescent: Cows are the New Egypt

The people of New Guinea haven't changed their ways of doing things for centuries. Fertile Crescent isn't the power house of the world. Eventually they used up all of their resources in the area; this was due to over exploiting. People that lived in the Middle East were able to expand into modern day Europe, Africa, and Asia. When they reached what is now known Egypt there was a civilization boom. Through this they were able to make more food than you needed. In the 1600’s the Europeans brought animals like cows and grains like wheat to America or the new world. Before they brought them there was not one ear of wheat and no cows. Now there are millions of cows in America and I’m guessing billions of ears of wheat.  Now, were all waiting for New Guinea to catch up to the rest of the world. 

Earth's Animals

Over the years the people of the Middle East were becoming domesticated. They had animal domestication; they were able to breed them and control where they went or moved. People could use the animals for both clothes and food. But animals were first used for meat. In New Guinea, the only animals they had were pigs. The pigs were brought over from Asia only a few thousand years ago, even though those people have been there for tens of thousands of years. To domesticate, you need to find ‘social animals’. If you can control the leader of the group then you can gain control of the whole group.

They need to get along with humans. There are fourteen domesticated animals in the world. They are pigs, goats, sheep, cows, and horses, two types of camels, water buffalo, donkeys, llamas, reindeer, yaks, mithans, and Bali cattle. None were native to Australia or New Guinea. The Middle East is called the fertile crest do to all the animals.

Wheat and Barley

Thousands of years ago the Middle East was thriving with forests, trees, and plants. The people here were hunter gatherers. Now, in modern times, only in the rainforest of Papua New Guinea can you still find these types of people. The women here chop down the Sago tree and eat the inner pulp because that might be all they can find. They have been farming there in highlands for 10,000 years but the foods grown never had enough protein. These people aren’t as ‘strong’ as the rest of world.  

Jordan had the earliest village known in the world about consisting of about 40 people. They would stay close to any source of water and plant the seeds next to their village. Barley and wheat are two grains or foods that grew greatly in the Middle East thousands of years ago. They created a room to store these grains keeping them dry, setting a course to modern civilization with this creation of this room. But before this could happen the Earth got colder and dryer. Tree, plants, and animals died off and there were 1000 years of drought. From then on they had to go further to look for food. 

Jared Diamond: Guns,germs,steel

Jared Diamond is a professor who has studied the past for more than 30 years. He wants to peel back the layers and explore the modern world of guns, germs, and steel.  He starts this search in the Papua New Guinea rainforest. A country off the northern coast of Australia. He picked up a lot about birds from them; birds are a species that are full of history. The New Guinea people have been living there for 40,000 years, but they still like cavemen.  They are a culturally diverse country and are poorer than modern Americans. Why haven't they adapted the same technology as the rest of the world? I think that it’s because they aren’t as open to the world as the rest of us and they aren’t a culturally diverse country like we are.