2/26/2014

Review

• Athens had a very strong Navy, and Sparta had a very strong Army.
• trireme- a massive ship, 3 sections for people to row. It has a very big wooden ram that is covered in metal that would hit other ships and make them sink, damage the ship, etc.
• Sparta was isolated, barely ever traded
• Athens welcomed foreigners, traded often.
•  Phalanx- 256 guys in a formation with people in the front holding their spears out and shields in front.
• Athens was more focused on literature (learning), Sparta was more focused on war.
• Aliens- people that came from other parts of the world.
• Acropolis- a combination of fortresses and temples at the highest point of the town, near water so they could see their enemies coming.
• Monarchy- run by one person (king or queen)
• oligarchy - rule by group of people
• tyranny- when you seize power and just take over and run things.
• Democracy- people have a say, people can vote. (only adult males that are from the country, Not aliens)
• Peloponnesus- the peninsula off of Greece.

2/25/2014

• Greece
• geography
• mountainous (mountains cover 3/4 of Greece)
• a lot of islands
• location shaped culture
• skilled sailors
• poor natural resources
• difficult to unite because of because of terrain
• approximately 20% of land suitable for farming
• 1/4 of peninsula are fertile valleys
• grew grains, grapes, and olives
• lack of resources most likely led to Greek colonization
• temperature range from 48 degrees in the winter to 80 in the summer.
• Mycenaeans
•  began around 2000 BC
• Mycenae is located on a rocky ridge and protected by a 20 foot thick wall.
• Mycenaean kings dominated Greece from 1600 - 1200 BC
• controlled trade
• 1400BC Mycenaeans invaded Crete and absorbed Minoan culture and language.
• culture in decline
• known as the Dark Ages
• Around 1200 BC sea people began to invade Mycenae and burnt palace after palace.
• The Dorians moved into the war-torn region.
• far less advanced
• economy collapsed
• writing disappeared for 400 years
• Homer and Myths
• Stories were passed on by word of mouth.
• Homer lived at the end of the "Greek Dark Ages"
• stories of the Trojan war in the Iliad and the Odyssey (written 750-700 BC)
• Trojan war was probably one of the last conquests of the mycenaens.
• Odyssey was 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter. 

2/24/2014

• Citizens and communities: The Greek City-States
• acropolis- the high fortified citadel and religious center of an ancient Greek town.
• City states and citizens
• Athenian Owl- the slang name for the coin that the Athenians used. On one side it had an owl and the other the goddess Athena.
• hoplites- A heavily armed and armored citizen soldier of ancient Greece.
• phalanx- a unit of several hundred hoplites, who closed ranks by joining shields when approaching an enemy.
• "Alongside Mesopotamia and Egypt there now appeared a third great civilization: that of classical Greece."
• Monarchy, oligarchy, tyranny, democracy
• monarchy-A state in which supreme power is held by a single usually hereditary ruler, or monarch
• 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, or tyrant.
• democracy- in ancient Greece, a form of government in which all adult male citizens were entitled to take part in decision making.
• Sparta: The military ideal
• helots- Noncitizens forced to work for landholders in the ancient city-states of Sparta.
• Ephors- (overseers) They were elected annually, a group of 5  officials usually elderly.
• took boys at the age of 7 to fight in wars.
• Athens: Freedom and Power
• Aristocrats and commoners
• Aristocrats- descendants of prominent and long-established Athenian families that had traditionally ruled the city-state.
• Athenians called them selves "the fine and noble ones". They prided them selves on being exceptionally excellent human beings.
• From Monarchy to Democracy
• two turning points in the life of Athens and the rest of Greece: the Persian wars, and the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta.
• The workings of democracy: officials and courts
• Ostracism- Banishment for ten years by majority vote of the Athenian Assembly
• Women in Athens
• the husband could find different women if he found his wife boring
• Athenian customs: The love between men and boys.
• Aliens
• Freeborn aliens were mostly greek and were still citizens of their city states even though their families might have lived in Athens for generations.
• Slaves
• not all of them lived lives of total subjection and powerless.
• some of them got an education.
• Spartan vs Athens
• Spartans were war based.
• Athenians more on knowledge.
• Spartans kept their self from the outside world
• Athenians welcomed the outside world.
• Athenians though the way the Spartans lived was a "joke"

2/21/2014

Today in class we had auditions for who was going to teach class on Monday because Mr. Schick is not going to be here. We also went over some thing about the European Barbarians and some review about the Greeks.

• The Greeks
• Had new ideas
• Incredible art forms.
• started the democratic government
• innovation in warfare
• the European barbarians
• 3500BC built megalithic, massive rough-cut stones used to construct monuments, tombs, etc.
• 2500 BC indo European nomads migrated from the steppes in eastern Europe their language would evolve into Greek and Latin.
• Their lives centered around strength and courage, comradeship and loyalty, contests and battle.
• tribes are social and political unit consisting of communities held together by common interests, traditions, and real or mythical ties of kinship

2/19/2014

Today in class we reviewed are tests. No one in the class got an A on the test. Other than reviewing the tests we didn't do much.

2/18/2014

Today in class we played a game about building a pyramid. I couldn't beat the game in class so I beat it at home. Here is a screenshot of the finished pyramid.

The First European Civilization: The Greeks

"Within Classical Greek Civilization there appeared ideas, art forms, and types of government whose influence on Western Civilization has lasted down to the present day."

• The Greeks began as barbarian people.
• Barbarian means that they had a distinctive way of life, based on farming and warfare.
• Citadel and Shrine
• megalithic- massive rough cut stones used to construct monuments and tombs
• 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.
•  3500 BC megalithic structures constructed in Europe.
• 2500 BC Indo-European nomads from the steppes migrate into Europe; European barbarian way of life evolves
• 2200 BC Minoan Civilization takes root in Crete; Greeks arrive in southeastern Europe.
• 1600 BC Greek fortified settlements along the Aegean develop  Mycenaean civilization.
• 1400 BC Destruction of Minoan towns
• 1200 BC Mycenaean civilization falls, beginning of dark ages of Greek history
• 800 BC recovery  in the Aegean, Greek city-state forms
• 494-445 BC Persian Wars
• 460-430 BC Golden Age of Athens
• Stonehenge is the most famous of megalithic structures.
• the Greeks settled in the mainland Greece from about 2000 BC onward.
• the Greeks developed a distinctive civilization of their own, the first to emerge in Europe, and the first the counts as definitely "Western"

2/14/2014

A. Three technological innovations/inventions of the ancient Egyptians are Calendars, sailboats, and irrigation. Calendars allowed them to create a year into 365 days, they had better sense of seasonal cycles (they knew when it was going to flood and when they should plant their crops). Sailboats were used as transportation along the Nile. Lastly, irrigation allowed them to get water to their crops easier and faster.

B. Three important features of the Egyptian pyramids are burial places/tombs, hidden/false pathways, and how it was made. Pyramids were burial places for pharaohs, the pharaohs were mummified inside the pyramid. Their were many false pathways, so that people that were trying to steal things in the pyramid would get lost. Lastly, one great feature was how it was made, they has to use pulley systems to lift these heavy rocks.

Essay

Egypt is one of the oldest civilizations. It is made of  "two lands", upper and lower Egypt. The Nile river runs threw Egypt. The Nile was the major provider for the Egyptians. Their government was run by a Gog-King/Pharaoh. The Pharaoh was all powerful, and worshipped as a god. Egyptians believed in many different gods, over 2000. The Egyptian's social hierarchy was like a "pyramid".

The social Hierarchy of Egypt was looked at as a "pyramid". The Pharaohs were at the top of the pyramid, and the slaves at the bottom. The slaves and servants helped the wealthy. Farmers weren't the lowest on the pyramid but they were pretty low, they raised wheat, barley, lentils, and onions. Artisans carved statues and  reliefs showing military battles and scenes from the after life. Scribes were higher up on the pyramid, but still fairly low, they kept records,  told stories, and described anatomy, and medical treatments. Soldiers even higher up on the pyramid, fought with wooden weapons with bronze tips. The class below the pharaoh but very high on the pyramid was called the "white kilt class". These were the physicians, priests, and engineers. The pharaoh of coarse was at the top of the pyramid, because he was the religious and political leader. As you can see, people clearly had their spot in society.

The Nile river was the major provider for the Egyptians. People would make settlements as close as they could to the Nile. The only area that was prosperous in Egypt was a 500 mile strip of fertile land along the Nile. The Nile was used for transportation, people made sail boats so that could transport goods. The Nile was also used for drinking, irrigation, and bathing. Farmers used it for irrigation and used the silt it left behind because it was very fertile soil. If the Nile had little water, than the Egyptians didn't have enough drinking water, water for farming, etc. Without the Nile, Egypt would be no where close to as good of a civilization as they are now.

2/12/2013

Today in class we watched a video of some guy summarizing everything we have learned in this lesson. We also talked about how we were suppose to get a lot of snow, 6 to 14 inches. We are already off tomorrow because of it and it hasn't snowed yet. We have to do something called cyber school to make up for some of the snow days we have had. We have to do school work and home work that the teachers assign us from home so that it counts as a school day.

2/11/2014

Today in class we had a substitute teacher because Mr. Schick wasn't at school. We had to work quietly and study for our test tomorrow. I went over all of my notes in my composition book and went over all of my notes on my blog. Reviewing these notes will hopefully help me on the test.

Egypt

• Geography
• Nile river
• water for drinking, irrigating, bathing, and for transportation
• every July it floods
• every October it leaves behind rich soil (silt)
• the delta is abroad, marshy triangular area of fertile silt.
• managing the river required technological break throws in irrigation.
• pyramids
• the great sphinx of Giza
• built 2555-2532 B.C.
• it is a lion with a humans head.
• oldest monumental statue in the world
• Daily life
• people had rankings with the pharaoh at the top of the pyramid, and slaves at the bottom.
• slaves and servants helped the wealthy
• farmers raised wheat, barely, lentils, and onions.
• benefited from irrigation of the Nile.
• Artisans carved statues and reliefs showing military battles and scenes from the after life.
• money/barter system was used. (trade for grain).
• scribes kept records, told stories, wrote poetry, described anatomy, and medical treatments. (used hieroglyphics and hieratic).
• soldiers used wooden weapons (bows and weapons) with bronze tips. (bronze age)
• upper class - "white kilt class" (priests, physicians, engineers)
• pharaoh- religious and political leader.
• pharaohs
• "lord of two lands" or "high priest of every temple"
• owned all land, made law, collected taxes, defended Egypt
• Hatshepsut was a woman who was a pharaoh
• Cleopatra VII also had served as a pharaoh. (51-30 B.C.)
• Goddess and Gods
• over 2000 Gods and Goddesses
• they controlled the lives of the humans. 

2/7/2014

• The writing of the words of God
• Earliest Egyptian writing formed in 3100 B.C. and were small pictures known as hieroglyphics.
• hieroglyphics were pictures and hieratic script was almost an alphabet.
• papyrus- paper made from wreathes that grew on the Nile. 
• Papyrus made scrolls which were books of ancient Egypt.
• calendars and sailboats
• they created a year into 365 days, which helped them know when to plant food and when it was going to flood because of seasonal cycles.
• sailboats were used as transportation on the Nile.
• pyramids and temples
• pyramids were massive stone tombs, originally covered in marble.
• the temple of Amon, the largest religious building still.
• the rhythm of Egypt history
• Egypt history is one of long period unbroken stability, punctuated with occasional periods of turmoil and distribution.  

Lands of Pharaohs: Egypt

• Egypt is made of "two lands".
• Egypt is a 500 mile strip of fertile land along the Nile.
•  Lower Egypt is wide land of the Nile delta, emptying in the Mediterranean sea.
• The Nile was the major provider for the Egyptians.
• In 3100 B.C. the two lands were united by a "pharaoh".
• government by a God-King (pharaoh)
• pharaohs were all powerful, worshiped as a god.
• Maat- harmony and balance of the universe
• pharaohs had multiple wives, sometimes even their sisters.
• women could inherit money, and land, and divorce their husband.
•  Very few women though ever had political power.
• Gods, humans and everlasting life
• gods were often portrayed with animal heads or bodies
• Egyptians believed in an after life and mummified bodies

Land of the Pharaos: Egypt

• Egyptian civilization was more stable than the Mesopotamian civilizations.
• The Narmer Palette was used for grinding make up for divine images in an upper Egyptian temple in about 3100B.C.
• Ancient Egypt grew up in a thin strip of fertile land where the Nile flows across the north African desert.
• Egypt was divided into "two lands", upper and lower Egypt. upper Egypt is a narrow strip of fertile land, it stretches alongside the river as it crosses the north African desert. Lower Egypt is many water ways that spread apart for the last 100 miles before it reaches the sea.
• Pharaohs, the rulers of ancient Egypt, were like the kings of Egypt.
• the Egyptians were polytheistic.
• "For the Egyptians, the pharaoh was to be obeyed as a man given power by the gods and venerated as a god who dwelt among men."
• Maat is universal stability and harmony.
• the sun god was the king of all of the other gods and goddesses.
• Hatshepsut was a women pharaoh that resigned at about 1500 B.C. Her name was erased off monuments, because she was a female pharaoh and that was thought to go against maat.
• The great Sphinx shows that they believe in a pharaoh as a god-king.
• the sphinx's body is a lion body, and the face is the face of king Khafre.
• the earliest Egyptian writing is called hieroglyphics. Pictures stood for words or separate sounds of words.
• Pyramids are a massive structure with sloping sides that meet at an apex, used as a royal tomb in ancient Egypt.
• Isis, Guide of souls is a tomb painting that shows hieroglyphics.
• Hyksos, Semitic immigrant tribes, were able to move into lower Egypt and the middle kingdom came to an end.
•  "I crushed a million countries by myself, on 'victory-in-thebes' mutis pleased my horse" is a scene from the battle of Qadesh.