Today's Class

In today's class, we went over the (Ancient) Greece is the Word Power Point.  We pretty much did what our Cyber Day Assignment was. The world's greatest civilizations are all located on rivers. These are some great civilizations that are located on rivers.  First, we have Mesopotamia, which is located on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Second, we have the great Egypt, which is located on the Nile River.  Third, we have the civilization of India, which is located on the Indus River.  Last, we have China, which is located on the Huang He River.  Greece is located in between the Ionian and Aegean Sea.  Greece then leads out into the Mediterranean Sea.  Greece's topography is very mountainous and not flat.  Greece is surrounded by Bulgaria to the North.  To the West Greece is surrounded by the Ionian Sea.  Then, Greece is surrounded by the Aegean Sea and Turkey to the East.  Last, Greece is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the South.  This would all affect their culture because it was very hard for people and for agriculture due to the mountains.  It was hard with agriculture because the land is to uneven to grow anything.  In Greece, there are some major bodies of water surrounding it.  The bodies of water surrounding Greece are: the Ionian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea, and the Adriatic Sea.

Cyber Day

(Ancient) Greece is the Word

The world's greatest civilizations are all located on rivers.  These are some great civilizations that are located on rivers.  First, we have Mesopotamia, which is located on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Second, we have the great Egypt, which is located on the Nile River.  Third, we have the civilization of India, which is located on the Indus River.  Last, we have China, which is located on the Huang He River.  Greece is located in between the Ionian and Aegean Sea.  Greece then leads out into the Mediterranean Sea.  Greece's topography is very mountainous and not flat.  Greece is surrounded by Bulgaria to the North.  To the West Greece is surrounded by the Ionian Sea.  Then, Greece is surrounded by the Aegean Sea and Turkey to the East.  Last, Greece is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the South.  This would all affect their culture because it was very hard for people and for agriculture due to the mountains.  It was hard with agriculture because the land is to uneven to grow anything.  In Greece, there are some major bodies of water surrounding it.  The bodies of water surrounding Greece are: the Ionian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea, and the Adriatic Sea.  The large island located to the south/southeast of Greece is Crete.  Athens and Sparta are located to the Southwest of the Aegean Sea.  Then, Sparta is located below (Southwest) to Athens.  

Today's Class

In today's class, we took our quiz on Ancient Egypt.  Before the quiz, we had around 15 minutes to review/study for it.  We had time to study our notes, Mr. Schick's  Prezi on Ancient Egypt, and Mr. Schick's Power Point Presentation on From Prehistory to Mesopotamia.  The quiz wasn't too hard and was all multiple choice.  The quiz was all that I had expected and was all on what he told us to know. Once you finished the quiz, you were allowed to start and finish your blog.  After the quiz, Mr. Schick went to grade our quizzes.  So, that is what we did during this class.

Today's Class

Today in class, we continued our studies on Ancient Egypt.  We looked over and took more notes on the Power Point of Egypt.  We learned a lot about the Egyptians and their way of life.  Upper Egypt is a 500 mile long strip of fertile land along the Nile River.  Lower Egypt was the wide land of the Nile Delta, emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.  Lower Egypt is actually above Upper Egypt and that is due to the elevation.  The Nile was the major provider of life for the Egyptians and was much revered in love and writing.  Around 3100 B.C. the two lands were united under a single king or "pharaoh." The pharaoh was all powerful.  Pharaohs had multiple wives.  Egyptians relied on a harmony and balance of the universe, called "maat."  Women could inherit land and money and divorce their husbands, though only a tiny few ever wielded real political power.  Earliest writings 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 scripts was a shorthand developed by scribes and priests.  Hieratic script was usually written in ink on papyrus, which was made form mashed Nile reeds.  Papyrus, the precursor to paper, was stored in scrolls and these scrolls were the books of ancient Egypt.  Egyptian astronomers created a calendar with 12 months and 365 days to make better sense of the seasonal cycles.  Due to their excellent knowledge of human anatomy, Egyptian doctors were 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 River. The pyramids were massive stone tombs, originally covered in marble but the marble was later stripped off during the muslim conquest.  Stone sculptures and interior painting depicted human and gods in a series of regulated poses, often in profile and without perspective, but were highly effective.      

Today's Class

In today's class, we were presented with the Pyramid Challenge.  The Pyramid Challenge is a game online which teaches about building a pyramid in Ancient Egypt.  You had to get all of the right steps in order to be successful.  I had to decide what supplies, pyramid building material (limestone), and location to construct the pyramid.  I had to select the pyramid angle, so that the pyramid could be built correctly.  I had to make up my work force (craftsmen, farmers, and officials) needed to build the pyramid.  I had to figure out what food was needed for the workers and how many times per day they needed to eat.  A lot of thinking went into went into this challenge to complete it.  At the end, I had to steer a ship up the Nile River without causing to much damage to the ship and I also had to sail fast before the 21 days were up.  It was a very difficult challenge because if you did one thing wrong, you wold not be able to complete the pyramid in time!

Monday's Class

John Greene's Crash Course

Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted from 3000 BCE to 332 BCE.  The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers shaped the world of the Mesopotamians, but the Nile River shaped the world of the Egyptians.  The Nile was regular, navigable, and benign making for one of the safest and richest agricultural areas in the world.  Every summer, the Nile would flood at the right time leaving behind very rich soil. Egyptian communities only existed along the Nile.  It was navigable for people to travel and get resources.  The Nile was also very easily tamed.  farmers would use a system called basin to take care of the river that was very easy.  The Old Kingdom lasted from 2649 to 2152 BCE.  The Middle Kingdom lasted from 2040 to 1640 BCE.  Last, the New Kingdom lasted from 1550 to 1070 BCE. The Egyptians had two forms of writing: hieroglyphic for sacred writing and demotic scripts for recording contracts and agreements.  The pyramids were built around 2500 BCE during the Old Kingdom.  King Tut died in 1300 BCE, 1200 years later.

Pyramid Quest

In 802 AD, the youngest son of Harun Rasheed set camp at the base of the pyramid of Kiops.  The great pyramid of Kiops was the pinnacle of which touched the sky as it was described in his time.  He came with hundreds of stone masons, engineers, and architects.  His quest was to find the pharaoh's treasure and to discover the secret of the weapon that does not rust from blood and water and glass that bends and dos not break.  Scribes said that all of this lied in the pyramid guarded by the Beast, which has the head of a sage and the body of a lion.  Back then, the pyramids were very different then they are today.  The pyramid was bigger and a different shape then.  The interior of the pyramid has been studied very deeply.  There was a pharaoh chamber in the pyramid, also with a queen chamber. The original entrance is still sealed to this very day.

Mummification

The video is about a young man named Herecletes.  He dies at about age 20.  In the video, they show a virtual way on making a mummy and they use Herecletes as the example.  Mummification was developed by the Egyptians to preserve the body for the afterlife.  Typically, all internal organs were removed before the mummification with the exception of the heart.  For this mummification, the heart was removed and the lungs were kept.  After that, the body is covered with salt and left for about 40 days until all moisture is eliminated.  Perfumed oils and plant resines were rubbed on the body.  Thick layers of resine were applied to glue the strips of linen that were wrapped around the body.  The mummy was then placed on a wooden board and more wrappings bound them together.  A mysterious pouch possibly of religious significance,  was placed on the chest.  A mummified ibis, a waiting bird with a slendered down bill was placed on the abdomen.  Long linen strips then secured the wrappings.  A portrait pannel of Herecletes was placed over the face.  A large linen cloth was wrapped around the mummy.  The shroud was painted rede with an imported led-based pigment.  This treatment is rare, there are very few red shrouded mummies that are known of. Egyptian symbols of rebirth and protection were painted on the mummy.

Cyber Day Assignment

In Ancient Egyptian times, the Egyptians had many technological breakthroughs.  One of the most important inventions by Ancient Egyptians was the plow.  The plow helped the Egyptians work and it could be attached to a mule or a large animal.  It helped Egyptians in the fields, and required much less work.  A very important breakthrough for the Egyptians was hieroglyphic writing.  A very important breakthrough for the Egyptians was medicine.  This was able to help cure the sick.  Now, if someone was wounded or sick, they could be treated.  Hieroglyphic writing gave the Egyptians a way to record things on paper.  They were able to communicate with each other with this.  Another important invention was the calendar.  This was very important because they could tell the time of the year with the calendar. Also, it told them the day of the week.  A very important breakthrough was the use of astronomy.  Before the invention of the calendar, they would use the stars to be able to tell the time.  So, that was a very important technique that helped them a lot.