2/27/15

Today in West Civ we took our test on Egypt. I thought that for the most part the test was pretty easy. I thought that a couple of the questions were hard though. The test was on a scantron and it was 26 questions long. Our average for the test was 87%. This is better than both of the other classes. I got a 92 on the test which is what i expected because i didn't know two or three questions.

Cyber Day

1. What was the earliest form of Egyptian writing?
A. Hieratic Script
B. Ideograms
C. Hieroglyphs
D. Demotic

2. Who were not used to build the pyramids?
A. Craftsman
B. Farmers
C. Officials
D. Slaves

3. What is most unique about the Nile
A. Flowed north to south
B. Flowed south to north
C. Flowed east to west
D. Flowed west to east

4. What is one thing that Egyptians created to help increase transport ability on the Nile?
A. Sailboats

5. What is the harmony and balance of the universe the Egyptians relied on called?
A. "maat"

2/25/15

Today in West Civ we took notes on a power point. Here are the notes I took:

Government by a God-King

• 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"
• Pharaohs had multiple wives, and all routes to financial and social success were through the palace.
• Women could inherit money and land and divorce their husband, though only a tiny few ever wielded real political power.

Gods, Humans, and everlasting life

• Gods were often portrayed with animal heads and bodies
• Egyptians believed in an afterlife and mummified bodies to preserve them for this post-death journey
• All souls would need to justify themselves at the point of death and be either sent to an after-world paradise, or the jaws of a monster.

The Writing of the Words of God

• Earliest Egyptian writing formed c. 3100 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 shorthand development by scribes and priests
• Hieratic script was usually written in ink on papyrus, which was made from mashed Nile reeds
• Papyrus, the precursor to paper, was stored in scrolls and these scrolls were the books of ancient Egypt.

Calendars and Sailboats

• Egyptian astronomers created a calendar with 12 months and 365 days to make better sense of the seasonal cycles.
• Due to the excellent knowledge of human anatomy, Egyptian doctors wrote extensively on health issues and created potions and cures for a number of common ailments
• Wooden sailboats were constructed to increase transport ability on the Nile

Pyramids and Temples

• The pyramids were massive stone tombs, originally covered in marble but the marble was later stripped off during the Muslim conquest
• The Temple of Amon at Karnak is the largest religious building in the world, also made out of huge blocks of stone
• Stone sculptures and interior painting depicted humans as gods in a series of regulated poses, often in profile and without perspective, but were highly effective

2/24/15

Today in West Civ class we had to build a pyramid with a partner. The first two groups to finish got an A, the second two groups to finish got a B, and all the other groups to finish got a C. At first I thought that it was pretty hard but once i got into it, it was pretty easy. Me and my partner were the first group done so we got an A. It was funny watching other people struggling a lot with building the pyramid. In the end, everyone in the class finished.

2/20/15

Technological developments of the Ancient Egyptians that helped them advance as a civilization.

1. Medicine - Herbs, acupuncture and prayer were commonly used to heal people. Medicine is a very important invention because it helped them to cure tons of people and save many lives.

2.  Calendar - Without a calendar, ancient Egyptians had no way of knowing when the flooding of the Nile would begin. Without that knowledge, their entire agricultural system would be put at risk. There calendar was split up into 3 seasons: inundation, growing and harvest. Each season had four months, with each month divided into 30 days. Adding it all up, you get 360 days a year.

3.Written Language - The Egyptian writing system began with pictograms. Pictograms were simple depictions of the words they represented, but they had limitations. Over time, Egyptians created alphabet like characters that stood for certain sounds and other characters, allowing them to write out names and abstract ideas. Egyptians are know for the creation of hieroglyphs which contained a mixture of alphabetic, syllabic symbols, as well as ideograms

4. Papyrus - Papyrus is a stiff, reed like plant that grew/grows in the marshy areas lining the Nile. It was ideal for making sheets to write on and many other things. They were used for everything from religious texts to literature and even music.

5. Toothpaste - Egyptians had a lot of trouble with their teeth. Part of the reason was because their 
bread had grit and sand in it, which damaged the teeth. While they didn't have dentistry, they did make toothpaste and tooth brushes to help keep their teeth clean. 

2/19/15

Today in West Civ we went over the Ancient Egypt powerpoint. Here are more notes I took on it:

Geography

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• Egyptian life is centered around the Nile River
• Nile water is used for drinking, irrigating, bathing, and for transportation
• Flows North to South
• Longest River 4,000 miles
• Learned how to irrigate it

Pyramids

• The Great Sphinx of Giza
• built 2555-2532BC

Daily Life

2/17/15

Today we had a Cyber Day. Here are the notes I took on Ancient Egypt.

Geography

• Egyptian life is centered around the Nile River
• Nile water is used for drinking, irrigating, bathing, and for transportation
• Nile floods every July
• Leaves behind rich soil in October
• The delta is a broad, marshy triangular area of fertile silt

Pyramids

• The Great Sphinx of Giza (built 2555-2532 BC)
• A lion with a human's head
• Oldest monumental statue in the world

Daily Life

• Slaves/servants helped the wealthy with household and child raising duties
•  Raised wheat, barley, lentils, and onions - benefited from irrigation of the Nile
• Artisans would carve statues and reliefs showing military battles and scenes in the afterlife
• Money/barter system was used - merchants might accept bags of grain for payment - coinage came later
• Scribes kept records, told stories, wrote poetry, described anatomy, and medical treatments
• They wrote in hieroglyphs and in hieratic
• soldiers used wooden weapons with bronze tips
• Upper class, known as the "white kilt class" priests, physicians, engineers

Pharaohs

• The religious and political leader of the Egyptian people, holding the titles: Lord of Two Lands and High Priest of Every Temple
• He owned all land, made laws, collected taxes, and defended Egypt against foreigners
• Hatshepsut was a woman who served as a pharaoh
• Cleopatra VII also served as a pharaoh

Gods and Goddesses

• over 2000 gods and goddesses
• they "controlled" the lives of humans

2/12/15

Today in West Civ we went over the two test that we have taken this year. Mr.Schick told us that we should keep the answers because some or most of the questions will end up on Finals. Overall today was a really easy class. Next class we are going to be starting to talk about ancient Egypt. Now I am looking forward to our four day weekend. I'm hoping that it will snow Monday night or Tuesday morning so our weekend can be even longer.

2/11/15

Today in West Civ class we took our test on the Guns, Germs, and Steel video that we watched in class. I thought that the test was really easy and I hope that I get a 100% on it. If I get a 100 on the test it wont really help my grade since I already have a 99 in the class. Before we took the test, Mr.Schick gave us 15 minutes to review for the test since we haven't had class for awhile. I think that the extra 15 minutes helped me to get a better grade.

2/6/15

Today in West Civ class, people started to present there power points on the subject that they chose. Our group got to present today which I liked because now I don't have to worry about it. I think that our groups presentation went pretty well and I hope everyone liked it. We have a test on Tuesday on the video that we watched in class. I think that the test will be easy since I have good notes about the video. I hope that the test will be as easy as the last on we just took. I'm mad about the last test because I got a 99% on it.

2/5/15

Today in West Civ class we split up into groups and began to work on our project. We picked numbers out of a hat to see who got to pick there topic first. Our group got to pick third and we chose writing. We started a google presentation so that all of us could work on the powerpoint at once. I like using google presentation because then everyone can work on the same powerpoint at once instead of working on it one at a time or just having one person type everything. We pretty much finished and everyone is going to present next class.

2/4/15

Today in West Civ we finished watching the video that we started a couple days ago. Here are the rest of the notes that I took: 

In the area of Jordan, people start making plaster from limestone.The plaster helped to seal cracks and holes in the house and would help controlling the home temperature easier. This was a big advancement in understanding and control fire. The creation of plaster through adding heat to limestone would eventually lead to helping make steal. 

Fertile Crescent:

• Became dry from all the farming, and weren't many trees and vegetation, so people left
• People traveled east and west because there were similar climates and vegetation (this helped because the climate stayed pretty much the same and people didn't have to change their how the grew crops)
• This movement spread farming and trade of skills, goods, animals, and crops (if this didn't happen America would not be at all what it is like today)

A cool fact I learned from the video is that Americans eat 21 million tons of wheat a year.

The reason Americans have so much cargo and New Guineans don't is because of geographical luck. If New Guineans had what we started out with, then they would be the ones with all the cargo.

2/3/15

Today in class we continued to watch a video that we started last class. Here are the notes i took:

I the Middle East they had crops such as barley and wheat which can be stored for a long period of time. 

Draa is the first human settlement known to us right now.

Crops Grown:

Middle East: barley

China: rice

North America: corn, squash, and beans

Africa: Millets, sorghum, and yams

Geographical luck: luck of where you were born.

People born in China and the Middle East were lucky to get grains that you can store. 

Other people were were born to places without grains you can store and a lot of nutrition.

Animal Domestication: Humans controlling animals.

• Goats and sheep were the first animals to be domesticated.
• Ideal Animals: Animals that give birth at 1 or 2 years
• If humans can control the leader of a herd or group of animals the rest will follow the leader.
• There are 14 animals that weigh over 100 pounds that are able to be domesticated:
• Goat, sheep, pig, cow, horses, donkey, bactrian camels, arabian camels, water buffalo, llama, reindeer, yak, mithan, balli cattle.