West Civ

today in class we filled out a worksheet on the topics and definitions we will need to know for a quiz or test. I came in late because i was sick. I hate being sick, but at least i got two extra hours of sleep, which i needed desperately. For the twenty-five minutes I was there, we discussed the worksheet answers. It seemed like a lot of people did not know half of the answers and neither did you so there were a bunch of arguments. I had to quickly copy down the definitions. It was funny to hear everyone yell at you and you yell back. I kept dropping my pencils though so that was extra annoying. But at least this time I had a pencil, i usually forget or Elpris and Athen break mine, then you through it in the trash.

Today in the beginning of class we took a test. I feel pretty confident on my grade, at least an A. p.41- 1, 3, 4, 5, 1. Delta- a region100 miles from the Nile river Narmer- a king said to have united upper and lower Egypt Pharaoh- Egyptain God- Kings theocracy- A type of government by which rule is based off of religion. pyramid-A structure for dead kings mummification- wrapping dead bodies by drying and preserving the bodies from decaying hieroglyphic- A more flexible writing system used by egyptians papyrus- better writing surface using dried plants for a sheetlike surface 2. The most important achievement by Egyptians was Hieroglyphics. By creating this writing tool, people were able to store records, create permanent laws, and expand into math, english, and even religious scribes. This one too allowed for many of the principles we use today to expand. 3. By being surrounded by deserts, instead of occasionally flooding, the nile only flooded every July giving them s...

Today we went over what we needed to know for our quiz tomorrow. I was nervous because i forgot everything we learned but turned out i was wrong. The quiz should be easy as long as I don't make stupid mistakes as always. Also i learned that the book "A Little Life" is really sad. We need to know about... cuneiform- first writing tool Hammurabi code- 282 laws, "eye for an eye" fertile crescent- modern day countries- Syria, Israel, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Jordan Irrigation- technological breakthrough of the time, bring water to people ziggurat- temple/ city states polytheism- believe in multiple Gods Gilimesh- summering king who wrote a story abut a boat and animals escaping a huge flood Dynasty- rulers from family Paleolithic- hunting/ gathering. old age neolithic- new age, technology breakthroughs/ agriculture/ other skills monarchy- one king/ one ruler city-state- government uncharge of surrounding area

Today in class we finished our teachings on Hammurabi's Code. On the precious blog i talked to you about the worksheet we filled out on what we would do if we were Hammurabi. i chose more simple jail times and fine. Today we went over what Hammurabi would do. Most of the were death sentences or the loss of a body part which is outrageous in my mind. Why lose a worker when you can force them to do free labor. I would have been a much better ruler. During the end of class we started our unit on Egypt. While Sumerian culture was developing and started to form city-states, Egypt had its own form of government using pharaoh who united all of Egypt. This made them more powerful as a whole and collective. Egypt is located on the nile river West of the Fertile Crescent in Africa three-thousand years ago. Science and technology really advanced. The mathematic knowledge and engineering skills enabled the Egyptians to build beautiful monuments and Pyramids as we all know today.

Today in class we talked all about Hammurabi's code. We reviewed a little on the topic the previous class and it's purpose. Hammurabi was the leader/ king of Babylon in the fertile crescent. He invented the first type of laws/rules for a civilization. there were more the 200 codes and each of them we very harsh. "An eye for an eye", is one of the most famous ones and shows you how the others played out. In class we worked on a work sheet on what we would do/ handle the punishments if we were the kings. Mine normally stuck to the principle of you serve time in jail and fines. Other people in my class did the same thing, some more cruel in time punishments but stuck to the same principle.  Hammurabi would either sentence to death or in many cases cut of body parts like a hand or foot. I am very happy that i did not live in that era and was under control by Hammurabi. Plus a lot of the punishments don't make sense. Why would you kill someone for a crime when you can ...

At the beginning of class we learned the story of St. Valentine. He was a told to go to jail for marring couples even after being warned. He was whacked to death and decapitated. Before he died he left a note for the jail guards daughter, they were close friends while he was an inmate, saying "love Valentine". He was excruciated February 14th and thats why we celebrate this day. It is crazy how we use the day he was whacked to death as a day of love. After we took notes on Mesopotamia ~world first surviving oldest book, Epic of Gigamesh which told of a great flood ~Sumerians were the first to develop time. They made the day off of moon cycles and divided each day into hours, then minutes, then seconds ~The ziggurat was the sumerian temple built on a mountain in the middle of a city state ~Sumerians were conquered by Akkids and forced to believe in new Gods ~Hammurabi was the king of Babylon ~Hammurabi invented the cod of Hammurabi used to keep order. it was a set of la...

Today we took notes on a powerpoint while you explained the concepts. The power point was a sum-up of what was in the text book. We broke down the time periods and what civilizations discovered what. Pre- Historic Era agriculture revelolution Neolithic Revelation- shift from hunting and gathering to permanent settle meets/homes population increases because of the surplus of food. Hierachies- one in charge. Since usually men were bigger and sronger. men were the "leaders" The wheel and the plow were invented. This allowed for increased amounts of food storage. People were polytheistic, worship multiple nature , human, and animal Gods. The fertile crescent thousands of years ago was where mesopotamia was in between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Now in the 21 century it is located in the country of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Jordan and some parts of Turkey Mesopotamia Sumer is the land in between Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Population increased from irrigation techniques...

Today we went through how to take good notes and note taking skills. We went through what are important things to add and how to pick out good information. Make sure to always add the the bold words/vocabulary. i made a separate page just for vocabulary. I made sure to include every title or header. Also where there is a "main idea", or "key idea". I make sure to add very import detail that stands out and summarize each category. Pictures also have a lot of information on them the text sometimes doesn't give. The text from today included lots of information about the social classes of Sumer, Mesopotamia. The society had ranks. On top are kings, landholders, and priest. they are the main rulers/leaders of the city states. Next is wealthy merchants. they sold many different materials popular to there culture and needed. After are the regular commoners. They worked in fields or workshops. Lastly are the slaves. they are used for construction or on fields.

Sumerians These people were the first to form civilizations and advanced cities. They had specialized workers for task like farming, merchants, clothes, priest, land owners and military. They had improved technologies to be more efficient and less time consuming. Each city had their own rulers bandleaders called city states. The rulers usually consisted of a military leader thats rain would end when the war did. That was changes after 3000 BC and soon would have dynasties of leaders. Each city state would have a church/ Ziggurats. They acted like a city hall for the priests and leaders of that time. The priest and official leaders would share control. Priest were looked as the peoples way to God known as a "Go-between God".

Today we started a new chapter on early river valley civilizations. In this unit, we get into the civilizations of Mesopotamia, China, Ancient Egypt and the Indus valley. The main ideas in this unit are - Interaction with the Environment  they talk abut the fertile river plan with they invented for farming, and the limited growing area available for some civilizations and others not so much - Power and Authority  the civilizations started to use kings, military leaders, and Messiahs as leaders for communities. they were able to create/enforce laws for their civilization and create their own punishments. - Science and technology  there were many very important materials made at this time like bronze/ bronze tools, the wheel, plow, writing and mathematics that were spread through trade and war. Early civilizations farmed a lot but faced may floods. in southwest Asia, the lands where very dry, almost like a dessert. However, being surrounded by two seas, the Mediterr...

Today we took our test on Guns, Germs, and steel. I believe i did very well on it, maybe an 85 or higher. I knew all the answers so lets hope I get a good grade. I was very nervous before taking it for some reason. I like how we do a prayer before all tests and quizzes, thats very neat. The trickiest questions were the 14 domesticated animals. I knew them all but i feel like i spelled them wrong. But other then that, i should have done very well. We had a shadow today, i kind of feel bad for him. After all, watching someone take a test for 25 minutes can not be fun. I think he has an essay to do so he could probably do that. well any ways this was a good test and I hope it brings my grade up or keeps it.

Today we finished the video. Early sediments in Mesopotamia all moved east or west due to the climate and infertile land. Since the fertile crescent was being over populated and growing more and more crops uncontrollably, the land became dry and hard to grow crops. On top of that the weather became very dry and humid. All the animals started moving east and west as well as the people. This way the climate is around the same as well as food and customs. This is how advanced technology spread across Eurasia. Places like china started producing rice, Africa grew  millet, yams and sorghum. After, Europeans took cows and some crops over with them to the ne land, also know as North America. None of the farm animals were native to North America but now we have about 200 million cows and 100 minion tons of  meat. North America was known for corn, squash and beans.