Learning about Egypt!

Today in class, Mr. Schick gave each student a worksheet about key terms that were in the textbook for us to find. The sheet had a front and a back, on the front there were 10 words for the students to define. The first word was cataract which means "turning rapids of water". The second word was delta which means "the marshy region formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of the Nile River". Nome is "one of the 36 territorial divisions of Egypt", and a dynasty is "a series of rulers from a single family". A pharaoh is "a king of ancient Egypt, considered a god as well as a political and military leader", and the word ka means "an eternal life force". A pyramid is "a massive structure with a rectangular base and four triangular sides, like those that were built in Egypt as burial places for old kingdom pharaohs". The word maat means "an idea or concept that represented justice and truth and personified by a goddess". Hieroglyphics are "ancient Egyptian writing systems in which pictures were used to represent ideas and sounds", and a papyrus is "a tall reed that grows in the Nile Delta, used by the ancient Egyptians to make a paper like material for writing on". Those were all the terms on the front of the worksheet that we defined from the book. On the back of the paper, there were word blanks in which I had to fill out with the correct word. I was the British archaeologist who discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. My name is Howard Carter. The Nile River provided Egypt with a reliable system of transportation and with an annual deposit of fertile soil. In about 3100 B.C, a strong-willed king of Upper Egypt named Narmer united all of Egypt. Asian nomads known as the Hykos ruled much of Egypt from 1640 to 1570 B.C. I was the linguist who deciphered the hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone. My name is Jean François Champollion. Those were all of the sentences with the underlined blanks on the worksheet, and that is what we worked on in class today. 

I was not present in class today

Today, I wasn't present in class because I had a stomach virus. I think I missed the quiz, and hopefully I'll be able to take it on another day. I don't know if I will be able to study for it today, I don't think I'm well enough. I do hope that the quiz is easy when I take it, though Mr. Schick might not let me take it the second day I come back. Someone told me that teachers and faculty won't let you have an extra day to take a big assignment, but I've been sick before and was able to have an extra day to take the test or quiz, the second day I came back, hopefully that'll happen again this time too. I think I'll be better by tomorrow, if not then definitely Thursday. I've been trying to do all the homework that I can, by looking on Veracross, and messaging others about classwork that I missed.

Mesopotamia Quiz tomorrow!

Today in class, Mr. Schick informed and went over the quiz tommorow on Mesopotamia. The teacher had a booklet filled with topics, headings and questions that will be on the quiz. Some of these headings and question-based notes are: city-states-which is a form of government that provides a structure for the people in it, and the Ziggurat, which was a rectangular stepped tower, sometimes surrounded by a temple, in ancient Mesopotamia. Cuneiform was one of the earliest systems of writing, that was invented by the Sumerians. Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one god, and a dynasty, which is a line of hereditary rulers of a country. An empire is an extensive group of states or countries under one single supreme authority, formerly especially an emperor or empress. Cultural diffusion is the spreading out of culture, culture traits, or a cultural pattern from a central point. The Fertile Crescent is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East where agricultural and early human civilizations such as Sumer flourished. Irrigation is the supply of water to land or crops to help growth, typically by means of channels. Silt is what is known as fine sand, clay, or other material carried by running water and deposited as a sediment, especially in a channel or harbor. Wheat was one of the world's top food crops and one of the first to be cultivated. Wheat can also be easily grown, handled and stored and keeps so well that it can be shipped anywhere and stored for years. The last piece of notes for the quiz is that there are 282 codes in the law of Hammurabi. That is mostly everything we covered today in class, for preparing for the quiz.

Hammurabi's Code

Today in class, we did something a little different from what we usually do in class. The students in the class were given this worksheet named 'How Would You Handle Hammurabi's Code'? The directions on the sheet were basically pointing out that we are modern day judges, and that we have to assign punishments based on the crime that has been committed. Back when Hammurabi existed, the punishments were how I would say, cruel and harsh. For example, one code or law was that if a son strikes his father, his hands shall be cut off. For me, that is way too harsh for a child to get their hands cut off, but that's my own opinion, even though you shouldn't hit your father or mother. Anyways, the paper had various scenarios and blanks for our decisions, then another blank for what Hammurabi's Code stated. That is all we did in class today, and we also received another worksheet for homework on Hammurabi's Code. I am hoping for snow tomorrow, which hopefully it will. 

The Earliest Cities: Mesopotamia

Yesterday in class, Mr. Schick instructed that we take notes on the slide presentation. The whole class took notes in their notebooks (including me). Sumer (between Tigris and Euphrates River). Population increased dramatically due to new irrigation techniques. Cities and towns were founded some with as many as 40,000 inhabitants. Better food storage allowed for diversity in professions: priests, tradesmen, artisans, politicians, farmers, kings emerged as did family dynasties and the concept of "city-state". Sumerians invented the earliest form of writing, known as "cuneiform". I also took more notes on Mesopotamia. A pantheon of Sumerian gods and goddesses emerged, with many of the deities representing the natural elements of the world. The world's first (surviving) epic was the Sumerian "Epic of Gilgamesh+, which told of a great flood. That is mostly all we did yesterday in class, was taking notes. During the next couple classes, I am predicting that we will take more notes on the slide presentation, guessing how long it is. 

Getting back our tests!

Today in class, Mr. Schick called up each one of the students and gave them they're test back. The teacher enjoys passing back the test in a unique, funny way. He has a bell on his desk, and when a student does very well on a test, they get two dings, when they do well on the test, they get one ding. Unfortunately, I didn't receive a ding, which means I didn't do so well. I will be retaking the test though, for a better grade. Afterword’s, each person called out an answer from each row for the test. Then, we took notes on a brand new (to us) PowerPoint. The slide presentation was called 'From Prehistoric to Civilization'. Hunters/gatherers, Mesopotamia, and Ancient Egypt. Before civilization: The Prehistoric Era. The origins and "Ages" of Human begins. 20,000 years ago, a human species emerged in Southwestern Africa. 14,000 years ago, a worldwide human race existed. Earliest prehistoric age is the Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age). Neolithic Age (New Stone Age) was marked by advanced tool making and beginnings of agriculture. Initially, humans were parts of migratory groups which hunted, fished, and gathered plants for food. The Prehistoric Era, The Agricultural Revolution=Neolithic Age. 

Taking notes from textbook

Today in class, the students needed more time to record notes from their textbooks. I thought that I was already finished taking notes, but then, I asked Mr. Schick if I was fine. He basically informed me that I needed more notes in my notebook. So I took more notes in my book today, and hopefully it is enough for him to approve of. Hammurabi recognized that a single, uniform code of laws would help to unify the diverse groups within his empire. He collected existing rules, judgements, and laws into the code of Hammurabi. He also had the code engraved in stone, and copies were printed all over his empire. In about 2,000 B.C, nomadic warriors known as Amorites invaded Mesopotamia, gradually, the Amorites overwhelmed the Sumerians and established their capital at Babylon, on the Euphrates River. The code lists 282 specific laws dealing with everything that affected the community, including family relations, business conduct, and crime. Although the code applied to everyone, it set different punishments for rich and poor and for men and women. It frequently applied the principle of retaliation (an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth). Nearly two centuries after Hammurabi's reign, the Babylonian Empire, which had become much smaller, fell to the neighboring Kassites. Farmers planted grain in this rich, new soil and irrigated the fields with river water. To provide water, they dug irrigation ditches that carried river water to their fields and allowed them to produce a surplus of crops. That is mostly all the notes I recorded in my notebook today, and that is what all the students in the class did as well.

Ancient World History

Today in class, we did something different and unqiue besides watch more of the video. The students recorded notes in their journals of what the context was on pages 26-34. The law of the Babylonian Empire- Hammurabi's Code- holds people responsible for their actions. Someone who steals from the temple must repay 30 times the cost of the stolen item. The region's curved shape and the richness of its land led scholars to call it the Fertile Crescent. It includes the lands facing the Mediterranean Sea and a plain that became known as Mesoptamia. Mesoptamia in Greek is "land between the rivers". People first began to settle and farm the flat, swampy lands in Southern Mesoptamia before 4,500 B.C. Each city and the surrounding land it controlled formed a city-state. It functioned much as an independant country does today. Such a series of rules from a single family is called a dynasty. After 2,500 B.C many Sumerian city-states came under the rule of dynasties. The process in which a new idea or a product spreads from one culture to another is called cultural diffusion. The belief in one or more than one god is called polytheism. By taking control of both Northern and Southern Mesoptamia, Sargan created the world's first empire. The Babylonian Empire reached its peak during the reign of Hammurabi from 1792 B.C to 1750 B.C. Projects such as irrigation systems required leadership and LAWS (organized government). They were controlled by priests, military, leaders, and/or kings. Early civilization developed bronze tools, the wheel, the saul, the plow, writing, and mathematics. These spread through drade, wars, and the movement of people. The earliest civilizations formed on fertile river plains, facing challenges such as seasonal flooding and a limited growing area. In 3,000 B.C city-states form in Sumer, Mesoptamia. (Bronze head of an Akkadian ruler). In 2,660 B.C Egypt's old kingdom develops (Egyptian scribe statue). In 1792 B.C, Hammurabi develops code of laws for Babylonian Empire. In 1750 B.C Indus Valley civilzation declines (fragment of a Harappan Pot). Lastly, in 1027 B.C, Zhou Dynasty forms in China (Zhou bronze vessel). That is all the notes I recorded and thought were important in the context given to us.

Test Day

Today in class, the class took the test on 'Guns, Germs, and Steel'. At the beginning of class, Mr. Schick allowed us a couple minutes to study for the test in the alloted time. After that, the teacher passed out the tests to each of the students. He had a few instructions for us before we took it though. Like, fill in all mutiple choice answers with an uppercase letter. During the test, I felt okay with taking it, I didn't feel like I was going to get an A, but I didn't feel like I was going to fail either. Some questions were harder than others, and some were easier. I just hope that this test doesn't bring my grade down too much, I hope that it brings it up more than it brings it down. The test was made up of mutiple choice questions and short answers, with an extra credit as well. After the test, the class worked on their blogs and other homework. That is mostly all we did today for Western Civilization.