2/28/14

Today in Mr. Schick’s West Civ. class, we watched videos about two cities. The two cities were Baltimore and Los Angles. The Baltimore video was awful compared to the Los Angles one. It showed pictures of just buildings and not a lot was going on. It looked like it appealed to an older crowd. Los Angeles video flowed well. It had many pictures and it just looked like you could have a good time. The video was like a story. It had music through out which made it more entertaining. It also showed people having fun and appealed to people that were younger. Then you told us how we are going to do a project. I am working with Ava. I am not a fan of doing projects like this. We will have to choose between Sparta and Athens. I think we will probably end up doing Sparta for the project.

2/26/14

Today in class, Devin was our teacher. I thought he did a really nice job. We had a review of all the notes that we took during class yesterday. Some more notes that a took earlier in the week are about the culture in decline. Around 1200 B.C., sea people began to invade the Mycenaean’s and burnt palace after palace. The Dorian’s moved into the war-torn region. They were l=far less advanced and the economy collapsed. The writing disappeared for four hundred years. This was known as the Dark Age. There was an author named Homer and he wrote many stories and myths. Stories were passed on by word of mouth. The recorded stories of the Trojan War in were the Iliad and the Odyssey. They were written in 750- 700 B.C. Trojan War was probably one of the last conquests of the Mycenaean’s. Odyssey was 12,110 lines of the dactylic hexameter.

2/25/14

Today in West Civ. we took some more notes about the Greeks and you told us the stories about Odyssey and Iliad. The Greeks world revolved around courage. There are approximately 1,400 islands in the Aegean and Ionian Sea. They had skilled sailors and poor natural resources. The land of Greece is very mountainous. There is approximately 20 percent land that is suitable for farming. Fertile valleys cover ¼ of the peninsula. Their diet consists of grains, grapes, and olives. There lack of resources led the Greeks to colonization. The temperature ranged from 48 degrees in the winter to 80 degrees in the summer. The Mycenaean’s began around 2000 B.C. It is located on a rocky ridge and is protected by a 20 foot thick wall. There king dominated Greece from 1600- 1200 B.C. they controlled the trade in the reign. In 1400 B.C., Mycenaean’s invaded Crete and absorbed Minoan culture and language.   

2/24/14

LO 3: Contrast the ancient civilization of the Nile with that of the Tigris-Euphrates, and discuss the defining features of the Egyptian life.

 

·         Dark age began to develop City-states

·         Athens and Sparta were giants among the city-states

·          Acropolis: the high fortified citadel and religious center of an ancient Greek town.

·         Were competitive with each other

·         Made their own armies made up of the own male citizens.

·         Hoplite: a heavily armed and armored citizen-solder of ancient Greece.

·         Phalanx: a unit of several hundred hoplites, who closed ranks by joining shields when approaching the enemy.

·         City-states ruled by kings

·         Monarchy: a state in which supreme power is held by a single, usually hereditary ruler.

·         Oligarchy: a state in which supreme power is held by a small group.

·         Triremes: massive fighting vessels with three banks of oars, used to ram or board enemy ships.

·         Tyranny: rule by a self-proclaimed dictator

·         Democracy: in ancient Greece, a form of government in which all adult male citizens were entitled to take part in decision making.

·         Spartans were decadents of the Greeks who had conquered part of the southern main land, the territory of Laconia.

·         Helots: noncitizens forced to work for landholders in the ancient city-state of Greece.

·         By the fifth century, policy decisions had been taken over by a council of elders

·         There were two kings

·         Boys were taken by age of seven, they were taught manly behavior and reading and writing and were started a long life routine of physical toughening and military training

·         Permitted to marry after age 20

·         Girls were required to participate in drills and exercises that were designed to develop them into healthy, child-bearing women.

·         Athenians, believed that the Spartan life was not worth living

·         Athens carried on a prosperous commerce and had direct access to the sea.

·         Athens chief strength is the navy

·         Athens welcomed foreign ideas and visitors

·          Athenians were proud of their free life

·         Athens flowed daring inventiveness, glorious literature, and stunning creations of mind and hand.

·         Athens was a warlike community

·         Homeland was the peninsula of Attica.

·         800 B.C. many old established communities in Attica merged to form a single city-state that was known by the name of the most important community, Athens

·         Athens began to trade and manufactory center

·         Aristocrats: members of prominent and long established Athenian families.

·         Excellent human beings

·         Boys were trained for physical fitness, when turned eighteen they were assigned a company for two years of military and civic training.

·         Girls got an education, they were sent off to live for a few years before they got married with one group of young women who served in temples of various goddess

·         Most were kept home without education

·         Had strong citizenship and responsibility to the community

·         Began as a monarchy, lead to extension of political power to all adult male citizens, became leaders instead of rulers.

·         Democracy

·         Persian War, which Athens led the city-state to victory. The success followed the Golden Age.

·         Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta, Athens was defeated, never recovered its power, and continued a democracy to 338 B.C.

·         In the sixth century the Persians conquered a realm that stretched from the border of India to the Nile and the Aegean.

·         Persian King Darius I determined to extend his control of the mainland.

·         Lost first battle in 490 B.C.

·         Athens took over rule by 445 B.C.

·         Athens went back to democracy

·         The Athenians ultimate power rested in the Assembly of adult male citizens

·         Made major decisions

·         Council of Five Hundred and the roughly one thousand public officials that it supervised

·         Military officials were called the Ten Generals

·         Ostracism: Banishment for ten years by majority vote of the Athenian Assembly

·         Believed in Aliens

·         Men had many more rights then Women

·         Could own slaves

·         Had a diverse group of slaves

• Aliens took care of industry and truth

2/22/14

On Friday, in Mr. Schick’s West Civ. class, we talked about how you were not going to be at school on Monday because you will be at the Holocaust museum with the seniors. When I’m a senior I am going to go to it. It seems like a great trip and a good experience. During class, we also had auditions to see who could teach the class. I thought that Scoot did a nice job explaining the slideshow. Barwick did a nice job too. You asked me if I would want to do present my slide show, but I did not want to. I think I did a good job on taking my notes, but I just did not want to present it. I am really looking forward to learn about the Greeks. I have learned a little bit about the Greeks, but it is always exciting to learn more.

2/19/14

Today in Mr. Schick’s West Civ. class, we went over our test. I thought I did better on the quiz. I got an eighty one which is not to bad, but I was excepting to do better. I did not realize that each question was worth 3 points. If they were not worth as much I probably would have done better. I am happy with my essay and short answer grade. I got an A in both of those assignments. I was surprised when you were telling us some of the answers people got wrong. I thought some of them were pretty easy, but others were kind of challenging. Some of them I did not know because I was not in school for two days last week. So we must have talked about them out loud instead of taking notes on them. I really enjoy this class because it always makes me laugh. I look forward to it every day.  

Pyramid Game

After more then an hour of trying to build this pyramid I finally got it! You don't know how happy I am!

Chapter 3: Lesson 1 2/17/14

Chapter 3: Lesson 1

·         The first European civilization: the Greeks 2200-400 B.C.

·         Learning objective: Describe the way of life of the barbarian peoples of Europe after the Agricultural Revolution.

·         Barbarian people- distinctive way of life, based on farming and warfare and tribal organization that became widespread in Europe beginning around 2500 B.C.  

·         About 2000 B.C. they began to migrate into Europe’s southeastern region,, within easy reach of the peoples of Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and Egypt.

·         Became classical Greece in 800 B.C.

·         There appeared ideas, art forms, and types of government

·         Practice citizen participation in government

·         Invented warfare, developing methods of fighting by land and sea 500 B.C.

·         By 4000 B.C. farming and village life had spread throughout the continent

·         Came in increase in population and wealth, in 3500 B.C. there were peoples in western Europe who were numerous and well organized enough to construct ceremonial monuments consisting of circles and rows of huge upright boulders, and tombs and fortification

·         Megalithic- massive rough-cut stones used to construct monuments and tombs

·         One of the greatest open air monuments was the Stonehenge, rebuilt over years to final 2000 B.C.

·         From about 2500 B.C. onward, Indo-European peoples moved into Europe just as they did into Asia Minor and Persia, and under the influence of the newcomers, the settled people of the region began to form new ethnic groups whose way of life was a mixture of their traditional patterns and Indo-European influences.  

·         Spoke Greek and Latin

·         Tribes- a social and political unit consisting of a group of communities held together by common interests, traditions, and real or mythical ties of kinship

·         From 2000 B.C. to right down to A.D. 1000, the European barbarian people came into contact with civilization.

·         As a result of their encounter with peoples to their south and east from 2000 B.C. onward, the Greeks developed a distinctive civilization of their own- the first to emerge in Europe, and the first that counts as definitely “Western.”

People could bring new ideas

 

Short Anwser

In ancient Egypt they invented many things that helped them grow. They invented the sail boat which helped them trade and it was a way of transportation. They invented the papyrus which was used to write stories and events on. They invented the calendar with 365 days.

 

The pyramid was used for resting places for many of the pharaohs. To make sure the pharaoh’s were safe for the afterlife, they would hide them in secret places. They would be very hard to get to and usually had secret entrances. The pyramids were built with bricks. These bricks could way up to 5000 pounds each.

Essay for Test 2/13/14

            Ancient Egypt was a time of hierarchies, technology, and new ways to help their society grow. In early time, there were social hierarches. Hierarchy is when people or a group of people are ranked higher than others. During ancient Egypt, this was very present. The highest ranked person in this society was the pharaoh. A pharaoh is an all-powerful person that was worshipped as a god and is connected to other Egyptian gods and goddesses. Next, in line were the people in the official government like nobles and priest. These people were often known as the “white kilt class.” Next, were the soldiers and they used wooden weapons such as bows and arrows and spears. Next, were the scribes and they kept records, told stories, and wrote poems. Merchants are people who make a living by selling things. Then, it was the artisans. These were people who carved statues. Next, are the farmers. Last were the servants and slaves. This group of people would help wealthy people with household and child raising duties.   

In ancient Egypt, people’s lives revolved around the Nile River. The Nile River is an unusual river that flows from south to north and at the end of the river they had a delta. It gave them fertile land, water, and transportation. The people learned how to control and get used to the water. They learned that every July it would flood and every October it would leave behind rich soil. This helps them know when it is a good time to plant crops. Because of the Nile, it gave them rich soil so they always had a plenty of food. They invented the wooden sail boat to increase transportation too. This also helped them to trade with other people in its area.

The Nile helped produce permanent settlements around the river. These settlements could be as big as 40,000 people. They also used to river for irrigation. Irrigation is when a water area like a river supplies dry land with water. From the Nile, they made papyrus by mashing Nile reeds. Papyrus is a paper like material people used to write on. The Nile River was one of the main suppliers for the people in ancient Egypt.

Ancient Egypt brought so many new technologies to its era. It was a time of creativity and wealth. This was one of the first times that people were placed into social classes. They also learned how to work with their environment. One of the biggest inventions they made was the sailboat that people still use to this day. Another big thing they invented was irrigation that many people still use today too. As we can see the Egyptians gave us the start of many things we use this present day.

2/12/14

Today in West Civ. we were supposed to take a test, but talked about being off and having cyber days. In some ways it stinks that we have to do classwork on our day off. The good thing I we will not have to make up any extra days. We also watched a video. The person in the video is John Green. He is the author of one of my favorite books called fault in our stars. In the video, it did give a lot of good information about ancient Egypt. He did try to funny and most of the things weren’t. It was mostly a review on all the things we have learned in the past. One of the most interesting things about Egypt to me is pyramids. They are pretty cool buildings. It is crazy to think that people are buried in them and they kept precious items.  

2/11/14

Once again I was sick today, but I hope I will be back in school tomorrow.

2/10/14

I did not come to school today because I was sick.

2/8/14

On Friday in Mr. Schick’s West Civ. class we took some more notes about Egypt. I learned that the Nile River flows south to north. They had writing types like Hieroglyphs which are small pictures. They created the calendar with 365 days. They had good doctors that learned how to cure diseases. They created wooden sailboats. They started to build pyramids and temples. They were massive stone tombs, originally covered in marbles, but the marble was later striped off during the Muslim conquest. The largest religious building built is called the Temple of Amon at Karnack. Egypt’s history is one long period of unbroken stability, punctuated with occasional periods of turmoil and disrupt. So far I have really enjoyed this class. I love the people and when ever I come in the class it is a fun environment. I personally like learning about different cultures from back in the day.

Januaray 4, 2014

Today in West Civ. we took some more notes on Egypt. I learned that Upper and Lower Egypt were united by a single king or pharaoh in 3100 B.C. Pharaoh was all powerful, was worshiped as a god and intimately connected to the other major Egyptian gods and goddesses. Pharaohs had multiple wives, often married their own sisters, and all routes of financial and social success were through the palace. They did not have a physical relationship with their sisters. Women could inherit money, land, and divorce their husbands, through only a tiny few ever wielded real political powers. The gods they believed in often had animal heads and human bodies. They believed in after death and would mummify the bodies to preserve them for this post death journey. I have learned about Egypt when I was in eighth grade and I remember a lot of the information.

Lesson Obejective 3 2/3/14

Lesson Objective 3:

·         Contrast the ancient civilization of the Nile with that of the Tigris-Euphrates, and discuss the defining features of Egyptian life.

·         The nile and the Two Lands

·         The country of Egypt divvied into teo lands

·         Labor depended on the Nile and Euphrates rivers

·         Had two kingdoms of Upper and lower Egypt

·         Around 3100 b.c. the Two Lands were unified under a single king in a brutal warfare.

·         Ruled by pharaohs

·         Pharaohs: the rulers of ancient Egypt

·          Tending the Cattle of God

·         Pharaohs were identified by Birth and succession

·         Women and men under Pharaohs

·         Women who were close to Pharaohs had a touch of divinity, a god made them pregent and god whom gave them birth

·         Pharaohs had many wives

·         Women rarely ever had authority of a pharaoh

·         The most successful rulers, Hathshepsut, reigned as “king” shortly after 1500 B.C.

·         The book of wisdom was written in 1800 b.c. tells sons and husband to support mothers,

·         Gods, Human, and Everlasting Life

·         Believed in many gods

·         Some priest believed that of all the gods one god had created all the others

·         Believed in immortal

·         By the end of the Old Kingdom after 2200 b.c. inspired creative new idea: local administers who held power independently of the pharaoh came to except that they would live independently of him after death.

·         By 1800, Egyptians believed that the soul of ever deceased person had to stand Orisis, the ruler of the underworld, for judgment.

·         The Writings of the Words of Gods

·         Hieroglyphs: the earliest Egyptian writing, in which pictures stood for whole words or separate sounds of words.

·         Was devised about 3100 b.c. as a part of carvings and paintings intended to the pharaohs

·         After that the hieratic script was formed

·         Around 700 b.c. the demotic script came into use

·         Papyrus scrolls became the books of the ancient worlds.

·         Calendars and Sailboats

·         Created the calendar that had 12 monthes and 365 days of the year

·         Made medicine, developed systematic procedures for handling cases of illness

·         By 3100 b.c. they made them with masts and sails to catch the wind, which the Nile Valley usually blows against a current

·         By 2500 b.c. the Sumerians used sailboats, the Egyptians had adapted these sailboats to travel the open sea of the Mediterranean’s eastern shoreline.

·         Pyramids and Temples

·         Pyramid: a massive structure with sloping sides that met at an apex, used as a royal tomb in ancient Egypt

·         Largets pyramid built was ordered by King Khufu, who ruled about 2650 b.c.

·         Located in the Giza

·         The temple of Amon at Karnak was begun about 1530 b.c. and finished at 1300 b.c.

·         Gothic cathedral were built more than 2,500 years ago.

·         Rhythm of Egypt’s History

·         Egyptians state enjoyed lengthy periods of stability and unity, interrupted by briefer intervals of turmoil.

·         The power of the pharaohs first reached its height in the period known to modern scholars as the Old Kingdom, beginning about 2700 b.c.

·         2200 b.c. however series of weak pharaohs allowed local officials to gain independent hereditary power in the reigns they controlled.

·           Egypt remained turmoil until about 2050 b.c., when a dynasty from the up-river city of Thebes brought the whole country under its rule, to form the Middle Kingdom.

·         In 1800 b.c. semitic immigrant tribes known as the Hykos were able to move into Lower Egypt and the Middle Kingdom came to an end.

·         Native Egyptian pharaohs continued to rule Upper Egypt from Thebes, and in 1600 b.c. they were able to defeat the Hyskos rulers and bring the nation into its imperial era, the New Kingdom.

·         End of New Kingdom, 1100 b.c.

·         In 525 b.c. Egypt became a province of the empire of Persia

·         From 333 b.c. it was ruled by the greeks.

·         In 30 b.c. it was conquered by the Romans.

·         The last great temple of the Nile was built after 250 b.c.