Today we didn't really do anything. We study for our test for 15 minutes and then we took the test. Everyone took it in like 10 minutes. Then Mr. Schick Left to grade the test and we were listening to music.

Test Quetions

What were the pyramids covered with, but stripped of during the Muslim conquest?
Pharaohs were considered more like what?
What are some of the things Egyptian women could do than other women?
What were the characteristics of the Egyptian Gods?
What were the styles of writing the Egyptians used?

Egyptian

Today we learned about pharaohs, writing, temples, and women during this time period. Pharaohs were the all powerful, and they were worshipped as a god. Egyptians replied on a harmony and balance of the universe which they called "Maat". They had multiple wives, all routes to financial and social success were through the peace. Women could inherit money and land and divorce their husbands though only a tiny few ever wielded real political power. Egyptians also believed in an after life, and they mummified bodies to preserve them for a post-death journey. All of the 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 earliest Egyptian witting that was formed was hieroglyphs. represented religious words and most commonly adorned temples. Hieratic script was a shorthand developed by scribes and priests. The pyramids were made out of stone covered in marbles but stripped off during Muslim conquest. stone pictures and interior painted depicted humans and gods in a series of regulated poses, of ten in profile and without perspective, but were highly effective.

building pyramids

Today Mr. Schick thought it would be fun to do this little pyramid building thing. So you had to choose how many workers, officials, and farmers you wanted, what you would pay them, and what you would feed them.  The computer would see if everything you picked would cooperate with each other. My partner and I did this 15 different times each. We finally got it and finished it and got a C. We got a C because it took us too long to finish and other people took the slots to get As and Bs. As long as I didn't fail I am okay. So we basically learned what the Egyptians had to go through to build the pyramids.

Chariots were first introduced as a weapon in Egypt by the Hyksos in the 16th century B.C.. It was an early vehicle that was mounted on disks or cross-bar wheels and was pulled by a horse. In the desserts of Nubia, gold mines gave Egyptians wealth that formed the real power. The same gold saw the start of the golden age for Egyptian art and agriculture. Pharaohs built magnificent tombs and temples for their families and themselves. Also, Egyptians did not just use magicians and medicine men. They had Physicians. The medical knowledge comes from papyrus documents which were well preserved. if there was no cure for a disease, it was thought of as a spiritual being. Hieroglyphics were also invented during this time. they were called the word of god and used mainly by priests. They were written on the wall and helped conduct day to day business. Lastly, the stone circle. It shows that they were accomplished at making calendars, and time. It can be assumed predicting of the coming of the floods. 

We studied for a good 15 minutes when we came into class and we took a test. After the test we just chilled and did whatever the rest of the class.

Presetations

Some of the groups did their presentations. We learned the different animals that helped on the farms thousands of years ago, what jobs they did, and where they are domesticated from. We also learned about the diseases, one major one was smallpox, an that came about during fur trading. Lastly we learned about the style of writing, and how writing helped soldiers win wars because they had plans.

Mini Project

We did a little mini project today and we had to research different things that tied in with the movie. My group had to research different foods that were listed. I chose to research sorghum. another name for sorghum is millet and it is a tall grass that grows wild throughout tropical Africa. It was also the staple cereal for the African agricultural communities. It grows up to 15 ft and is valued in hot arid regions. The grains are usually mashed into a pulp, boiled, and then eaten. The tough stalks can be used to make brushes and brooms. sorghum is also high in carbohydrates and low in proteins, less than rice, maize, or wheat. the communities that usually eat this suffer nutritionally. nearly 7000 years ago in modern day Ethiopia, sorghum was adopted by the migrating farmers of the tropical Niger-Congo and Sahel regions. Tolerant of both drought and flood, it became adapted to poor soils and can produce grain where many other crops will fail. This one crop is probably responsible for a large amount of success of the African Agricultural revolution.

End of video

We finished the video after waiting 15 minutes for the computer to work. In the video, we learned that to make plaster to seal the inside of the homes, they used limestone. They would put the limestone in this pit and would burn them. It would take days for it to actually become paste. And they would burn them up to 1000 degrees. We then learned that the fertile crescent was no long the center of the universe any more because at one point the water was exploited, natural resources were all used up, and the people who lived there were abandoned. with this , the animals spread to different places along the same line of latitude. The towns of New Guiney are developing more and more, but they still have a ways to go.   

Guns, Germs, and Steel pt 2

Today we continued to watch the documentary of Guns, Germs, and Steel. In the video they talked about how barley and wheat are more plentiful that sagi and it can be stored longer too. In Also, am man went to this village named Draa, and it was considered to be the very first, oldest settlement. Also there was a mention of plant cultivation, and that is when you get a certain trait out of a certain plant. Not long after the middle east, grew china, and china grew rice, and the Americas grew corn, squash and beans. We also learned about this thing called geographical luck.. farmers who had the best crops advanced more. New Guineans got the short end of the stick. Animal domestication was mentioned in the film too. animals and plants are a good combination for advancing. The animals would eat the food and their poop is good fertilizer for the crop. out of all the animals in the world, 14 animals over 100 lbs are domesticated