Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar

 Augustus Caesar: "I found Rome of clay; I leave it to you of marble." These were the words that Augustus Caesar muttered on his deathbed. Historians have several idea to what he was referring to when he said this. Was it the richness and how powerful he had made the Roman Empire? Or was he referring to the way that he had added to Rome's great, famous, and powerful architecture?  For after all many of Rome's famous and great architecture (some of which is still standing today) was built under the reign of Augustus. Such as, the Ara Pacis (alter of peace), the triple arch of Augustus, temples (one dedicated to Julius Caesar after he was declared a god by the senate), and lastly Romes aqueducts. Of course almost all of Augustus's building projects had a deeper meaning take for example, The Ara Pacis shows peace and prosperity. The 3 arches represent that his military strengths are three times as great as those before. And lastly the temple honoring Caesar showed his families ruling among divine right! 

 

Augustus Caesar

Julius Caesar: Julius Caesar was always greatly admired by the people. He was well known for his great military leadership and strategy. He gave many jobs to aid the poor as well as ending the rule of corrupt leaders in the senate. For this reason he however lost the trust and liking from the senate! He also expanded the amount of citizens in Rome by lowering the rules for being declared citizenship. He also gave government positions from some people from lands that he had conquored Caesar was indeed a  great reformer. 

Julius Caeser Reformer or Dictator?

Throughout his life, Julius Caesar was liked and admired by many, as well as loathed and feared by others.  Many thought that he didn't act in Rome's best interest, he was to self absorbed and eager for fame.
I personally think that  Caesar was a reformer. He ended the corrupt nature among the leaders in the senate by replacing them with trused others. He restored the cities destroyed by the republic. As well as, strengthen and expanded Rome's empire. He also did not treat defeated enimies with as much cruelty as some.

I think that maybe Caesar did want power but, he went about it in a good way  and not just for him.

The Geography and Climate of the Italian penensula

Explain in detail how the geography and climate of the Italian peninsula affected the development of ancient Rome. 

Rome grew and was built into a great city by its victories over apposing tribes. It spread from South to East. Rome also pushed toward the Alps in the North. The geography of where Rome is set it great because of how close it is to the sea, but also towards the center of the Italian peninsula, both these actions provided great trading opportunities also it faces towards the alps giving it good protection against attacks.  After being taken over by Carthage Rome began to build strong sea forces and soon controlled most of the Mediterranean area by them. Also Rome was on an area that used to be volcanic meaning that rocks for building were easy to come by. 

The Founding Of Rome

Describe the two legends that have to do with the founding of Rome. Then describe how and when Rome was actually founded. 

Romulus and Remus:

Two brothers were abandoned by the King, they were  placed in a basket and sent down the river to be discovered by a shepherded and his wife. The shepherded soon told the twins of their orgins so the brothers set out during 753 B.C.E to build a city. The two did well together until they began fighting. In the end Romulus attacked Remus and killed him. 

Aeneas: 

The legend of Aeneas was is a much older tale, that was more popular around the time of Ancient Rome, as Romulus and Remus is more popular today. Aeneas was said to be a Hero who was the son of Venus. During this time Aeneas was fighting in the Trojan war, he escaped to Rome where he married the kings daughter, and expanded and built the empire Rome.  

True Story of the Founding of Rome: 

 At around 1000 B.C.E the Latins began settling in the area where Rome was yet to be. They didn't start building their great civilization right away though, it was merly a settlement where pigs and cows were hearded, just a simple area of settlement. Soon different tribes began invading after all the area was a perfect place it way a few miles from the sea as well as in the central area of the Italian peninsula meaning there was great trade routes, it was guarded by the Alps and sea giving little room for invasion you could say...the location was perfect. So they joined together and began defending themselves against invaders and soon a simple place for livestock, and herding was turned into the great city of Rome!!

"The Founding." The Roman Empire. 15 Dec. 2007. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://www.roman-empire.net/founding/found-index.html>.

Alexander the Great!

    Alexander the Great was in my mind a powerful, and truly great military leader. He had been taught about cultural elements from his professor Aristotle, who his father had hired. Though Alexander got his pining for power and need for it from his mother Olympia. He got courage, strength and skill in battle from his father.
Even though Alexander only ruled for 13 years (until he was 33) he still managed to accomplish a ton in those few years. As a start Alexander  began by turning Macedonia into a great military power when it started out to be a large city-state with little power.
At age 20 Alexander started ruling after his fathers murder in 336 B.C. Like I said he had great ditermination for building up his power, he murdered anyone who apposed him at the beginning of his rule including his baby step brother! Nearly all of the lands that Alexander conquered her named Alexandria, talk about being full of yourself.
Like i said before he was taught the importance of culture from a young age, Alexander the Great kept some of the peoples religious routines and language so that the people didn't feel the need to rebel. At one point Alexander the Great dressed in Persian uniforms to create peace.Also the areas that he took over he left a governor to help rule rather than taking complete power of all of them.
Over all I think that Alexander the great a was though slightly greedy about power, he still was a great leader who ran what he had control over well.

The Golden Age: A day in the life of an Athenian

The Golden Age in Ancient Greece was a time after the Persian wars when they were rebuilding they're city and extending trading routes, roads, and many more. The Greeks and historians call this the Golden Age.
I work as a Great Military Navel Officer. The Golden days have servered me well, we have conqueror many nations and city-states but today we are sailing home to celebrate our victory! Its early morning and i can here the men already at work rowing toward our home, Athens. We are still several weeks away and we can't even see its on the horizon yet but that does not down our hopes. The day is dull we have not seen anything but the vast blue sea, once we get closer to shore im sure that we will see other ships and hopefully no attacks but we could easily beat them with our flourishing navy.
By the end of the day my arms are soar from working on the deck and rowing i collapse into my hammock and fall asleep quickly as the boat rocks back and forth its a calm night. 3 weeks until we return i thought as a drifted to sleep dreaming of home.

The Spartan Way

Sparta was one of the most most feared fighting forces ever! Sparta had a most deadly rival and that was the Athens. The rivalry was so strong that they have legacies that are still shaping the modern world.

The reason that Athens and Sparta were such brutal enemies was because of how different they're city-states cultures were. Athens was where democracy started, meaning that citizens of all classes could vote on city matters. They had a rich area with great artists and educated people who brought about and built some foundations of the western world. Whereas Sparta valued they're war value more than anything. They're government was run by a few rich families as an oligarchy, they kept very few records, and were incredibly secretive.

From 600 BC to 371BC Sparta dominated Ancient Greece. During this time as well as time before their domination if you were a Spartan man when you reached age 18 it was required that you would become a soldier (it was illegal for a man to have any other occupation.) If a baby was born it had to be inspected, and if it didn't look healthy enough then it would be put to death! If you had passed the inspection and you were a boy then at 7 years old you would be taken away and have to live in the barracks with other boys your age and be trained to be soldiers.

Being miserable and uncomfortable, not having luxuries was very important to the Spartans. People say that they purposely made their food bad tasting! Something that i found very interesting was that both boy and girls were trained to be physically strong and fit, but for two very different reasons. Here is what the section says "While the main job of Spartan men was to be soldiers, the main job of Spartan woman was to have children. Spartans believed that physically fit woman had strong babies.

Sparta remained a strong city-state until Thebes crushed they're army and they never recovered. So along with its army its power faded away. Once the Romans took over during 146 BC Spartan had become quite a popular tourist attractions they went to watch "the little boys who could be whipped without showing pain." frankly i think it cruel but impressive i can't believe that someone would travel to see that.

The Olympics!

Archaeologists don't know exactly when the Olympics began they do however estimate it to have started around 776 B.C.E. The Olympics first started as a festival to honor the god Zeus. At first only male Greeks were allowed to participate; if you were a woman, foreigner, or slave you could forget it! Something that i find interesting is that for several centuries woman were not only barred from competing but they weren't even allowed to watch! However, some woman still tried to by disguising themselves as men, this of course was very risky because if you were discovered you would be put to death.


During the first decades after the games began the only sporting events were footraces soon however more sports were added such as chariot races, wrestling, boxing, and pancratium were some of the earliest forms of Olympic sports.
During the Games five days of continuous parades, feasts, and religious rituals were held. The Olympics was also a great place to negotiate treaties because many important people from many areas of Greece were there to watch.
During 100 B.C.E. the Roman Empire conquered Greece and took over the games. War and trade were more important the religious rituals so eventually the Olympics lost all its sacred value. As this text describes it "Contestants had once competed to honor the god and win their blessings; now they wanted to win for themselves. They began to demand prizes and money for competing. With money rather than spiritual rewards at stake, cheating and bribery increased among the athletes and officials. The games themselves became a brutal from of entertainment." I think that its horrible how in only a couple centuries a great and happy festival created to honor gods had turned into a brutal meaningless event. By A.D. 426 Theodosius II ordered the Olympic stadium to be torn down. For the next 15 hundred years there was no Olympics!
During 1863 - 1937 Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin began to try and reincorporate the Olympic games. Ever since the Olympic games have been going on in different countries every four years starting in Athens, Greece in 1896. The only time they have been cancelled is during World War I and World War II.

Bibliography:

Knight, Theodore. "The Ancient Olympics ." The Ancient World . 1st edition ed.
2010. Print.

Minoan and Mycenean Civilizations

A) Describe Both Civilizations

Minoan: The Minoan civilization developed in 3,000 B.C.E. They had a maritime culture fueled by many agricultural elements such as fishing, farming, local arts, and trade. As you may have guessing seeing as the lived on the island of Crete all they're trade was over water making them over time master seafarers, they set up trading routes with Spain, Egypt, and Asia Minor.
What was unusual about about this culture was it was egalitarian (men and woman had equal rights). Therefore both men and woman did all recreational activities such as singing, dancing, storytelling, and sports. The sports including boxing, bull leaping, etc... Opposite of the Mycenaean the Minoans were peace-loving people who were not involved in many battles.


Mycenaean: The Mycenaean Civilization settled in 2700 B.C.E. Unlike the Minoans they were involved in many battles, they told stories about great battles and unbeatable heroes. In fact many of today's Greek Myths come from the Mycenaean civilization. They had a good agricultural society farming grains, olives, and grapes mainly. Most men worked together to create a strong navy, archaeologists have found decorated uniforms, helmets, chariots, and advanced weapons in some tombs. They used horses as vehicles of war rather than transportation and farming.
The Mycenaean society was run as a hierarchical one with kings and military officers on top and enslaved war prisoners as the lowest of the low. Though there were some most artifacts depicted war scenes rather than religious or musical performances.


b) What aspects of both civilizations would you expect to survive in later periods of Greek history?

Well i know that even today some of the myths are still passed around in books and movies. Using horses and chariots for war, painting elements of daily life are still used today or up until the 20th century. The way they made clay pots and they're ceramics are still used as decorative art, having a polytheistic religion is still not uncommon, also using things like gold, bronze and beads to create jewelry and tools is definitely still in use.

Greek Values

a) What values were most important to early Greeks and why were they considered important?
Athletisism
Hospitality
Intuition
Inginuity
Justice
Loyalty
Respect
Teamwork
They were considered important because they were forged in the time of hero's and everybody looked up to the hero's how magnificent and heroic they were, so eventually they became the foundation of Greek society.

b) In what ways are early Greeks values found in modern society?

Today at ISB many of the Greek priniciples fit into the MYP principles such as communicative, knowledgeable, and many others . Also in our everyday lives we are communicative and knowledgble (sometimes) as we go about things in our work as well as social life.

End of Year Reflection -> Traveling Time Machine

My time machine:

Prehistoric Kenya:

I've now landed in Kenya. The sun is high in the sky sending heat waves across the vast savanna. Wait! i hear a river, and i approach the river i realize that I'm not the only one being drawn towards it, a group of strange looking people (at least i think they're people)

are looking at me. They are wearing cloths made from animal fur and skins with no shoes. They are all woman and children each holding baskets woven from weeds filled with small berries. Just behind them and the waters edge there a rocks that have been chipped away but not my erosion. There are also strange homes (or are they tents)? I tried speaking to them but they don't really seem to understand. Then i remembered where i had been sent in the time machine I'm in prehistoric Kenya! Of course they don;t look, talk, or live like i do today this is thousands and thousands of years ago! Just then i hear calls like shouting, though the shouting was happy. I looked and approaching us was a small group of about eight men carrying a zebra carcas. After about 30 minutes of explaining what I am i was finally sitting in a tree talking to some of the children appearing to bemy age, though they didn't seem like my friends. Just then they all got up and started to head towards a fire that was being started i looked at my watch 7:00 the time read it had been an hour now i had to go back to my time machine. I thought for a moment and then typed in 'ancient Sumeria.

Ancient Sumeria:

I landed. I looked around, I had landed in some sort of neolithic town. There was farmers working the land, using irrigation systems that had been built along the Tigris and Euphrates river to water their crops, after all they were on the brink of civilization. It was amazing, i have never been able to imagine what the world would have looked like before civilizations, and now i know. But i still am glad that we eventually built great civilizations. Just then i got a marvelous idea; travel forward in time (several years) to when the civilizations began to develop. The change was miraculous! The cities now had; specialization of labor, social classes, trade near and far, leadership and planning, highly developed culture, writing system, and stable food supply. Yes, i do remember my teacher mentioning something about those being the factors of a civilization. I also remember that the fertile crescent was where civilizations and advanced agriculture began!

Ancient Egypt:

I've finally reached Egypt! As im looking around i spot a large cat missing its nose. I remembered my history teacher mensioning something about it, i pulled my guid book out of my back pocket scanning through it i found what i was looking for, i was staring at the famous Sphinx. It been 20 minutes and now im high up (and slightly uncomfortable) riding on camel gazing at the great and mystifying pyramids. I went in some of the pyramids and tried to picture how not all grave robbers got lost in these mazes of dark and dingy passages. Egypt was definitely my favorite place to go. And the ancient Egyptians, it was amazing! i was just about to start watching some of them moving the massive limestone onto what looked like a beginning pyramid when I checked my watch; i had five minutes to get back to my time capsule before i was stuck in Egypt forever! Though that didn't sound to bad i still had some other places i wanted to check out.

Ancient India: I gazed up at a beautiful but not completely finished symmetrical building. Yes, you guessed right, i landed right in front of the Taj Mahal. Of course seeing as they are still building it i wasn't allowed inside. But believe me i tried going in. Instead i went somewhere else, i rode along the Indus river, gazed up at the Himalayan mountains and met Buddha! Sure you may say, that its impossible in just an hour! But remember i had a time machine so i just kept on going back to India in other words reversing time, so that i could do everything i wanted! But i eventually did all i wanted to do, so i got back in the time machine and zipped off to the best place of all.

2008, archaeological dig at Stonehenge: Whoa! Now that's something you don't see everyday! I gazed up at the 25 ft long, 20-30 ton stones of the great mysterious Stonehenge. i didn't find out much from the archaeologists, they didn't like being interupted by i was given a sketch on what Stonehenges layout was;

I also discovered that the stones were carried several miles, they were not just found in the area. And the builders of Stonehenge had no electrical Means of transporting the bluestones. Though they aren't sure why Stonehenge was built or even when it was built they still have several theories. All of which (in my mind) fit pretty well. Ugh! place of sacrifice, though it works i don't think that i want to be sacrificed. Well there goes my plan of going back in time to when they were supposedly building Stonehenge.

The Indus and Ganges River Valleys

Describe the geography of the Indus and Ganges river valleys. The Indus river begin the Himalayas and flows down into the Arabian sea. Whereas the Ganges river follows along the Himalayas and then enters into the Bay of Bengal. The reason that the rivers grow larger as they go along is because as they flow through or along the Himalayas lots of melted ice seeps into the rivers making them larger.
How do the monsoons affect India and its climate? India has two different monsoon seasons; summer and winter. The summer monsoons begin mid-June, and bing in wet, moistened air from the Indian Ocean. The winter monsoons start in October and end around May, bringing in dry air form the north-east area and spread it throughout India and its surrounding countries. The summer monsoons season has many benefits such as farmers not being able to grow their crops without it, and agriculture is a vital part of India because 70% of it relies on agriculture. But though they benefit from the rain the monsoons sometimes lead to massive and destructive flooding. .

How did geography influence the building of Mohenjo-Daro similar to modern cities?

Due to Mohenjo-Daro's geography the inhabitance of the area built their homes and city above ground level. Also they built a citadel on a hill and probably surrounded it by a wall. They didn't only build a citadel though, sewage and drainage systems ran throughout the area taken all the waste and excess water out of the city. This probably kept the most important places from flooding.

How was it possible for the Aryans to spread their influence over the Indus and Ganges river valleys so successfully?

The Aryans used horse-drawn chariots in-order to spread their influence over the Indus and Ganges valleys. The Aryan warriors chariots gave the opposing cities struggles so the Aryan warriors succeded in winning many of their battles.

Who were the Aryans?

Arriving in India between 2000-15000 BC the Aryans came has newcomers from the north and settled in Mohenjo-Daro. By the year 800 BC the Aryan language and culture had spread far and wide throughout all of India.

Summery of the Taj Mahal Story

A long time ago in India there was a prince called Khurram. One day at the Meena Bazaar during the Nauroze Festival he met the prime ministers daughter and was taken by her beauty. After meeting and talking they both fell in love with each other. Prince Khurram and Mumtaz we devoted to each other by their strong bond of love. Mumtaz had many children. After giving birth to a little girl Mumtaz became ill and week. One day during a battle Khurram was called back to where Mumtaz was resting. That night she died leaving Khurram overcome with grief. He refused to eat for many days and nights. When he remembered the promise that he had made to Mumtaz (to let the whole world know of their love.) So he then proceeded to build the finest moselium he could imagine. He brought in pearl white marble, jade, crystal and many other rare and fine jewels from around the world. After years and years the tomb of Mumtaz was considered complete. They called this great place the Taj Mahal.

One Practice from the Buddhist Eightfold Path

I chose the practice Right Effort. Right effort is defined as "Right effort can be seen as a prerequisite for the other principles of the path. Without effort, which is in itself an act of will, nothing can be achieved, whereas misguided effort distracts the mind from its task, and confusion will be the consequence. Mental energy is the force behind right effort; it can occur in either wholesome or unwholesome states." I think that everyday most people show different forms of effort so at many different times in my life I have shown different efforts and different elements in my life that are important to me. Such as trying hard in school or a sport. But I also think that the amount of effort that Buddha put into making the world a better place is way beyond anything that i have done. So I think that putting in more effort in some parts of my life couldn't hurt.

Mapping Project

1) Include picture of poster and 3D map 2) Compare all three of your maps a) How do physical features, climate and elevation relate to each other? All the physical features of our maps were of course in India so therefore they were all very similar. For example, even though they were different kinds of maps, physical features map (3D map), climate map, and elevation map. In ,each we had the same places marked such as the Thar Desert, Indus and Ganges rivers and the Himalayas. In our climate map we mainly focused on what sort of weather and the temperatures that it were in different Indian areas, whereas on our 3D map and elevation map we focused on the hight of the different areas of India. b) What conclusions can you draw? (Think about natural resources, climate/weather, and human settlement.) To conclude I think that India definitely does have a wide variety when it comes to the natural recourses, elevation, and climate/weather. Because when you look at our map and other maps we had many different areas bordered off by different features. Also when looking our different maps i started to realize why people settled where they did, because you wouldn't want to settle in the middle of the Thar Desert but in the areas that provided a wide variety of recourses such as by a river like in areas like New Deli.

Hindu God: Ganesh or Ganesa

Ganesh or Ganesa, is one of the most well known and worshipped god within the Hindu Pantheon. Ganesh is hte son of Shiva and Parati, he has an elephantine appearance with a curved trunk, large ears, and the massive pot-bellied body of a human.
Ganesh is known as the Lord of Success and destroyer of evil and obstacles, aswell as being worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom, and wealth. Along with all is purposes of worship Ganesha is one of the five prime Hindu Deities (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and Durgoa are the other four Hindu Deities.) Hindu Deities are beleived to be forms of the god Brahman and provide one of the ways to communicate with this one divinity.

"Faceless" Indus Valley National Geographic Article Summery

In 1921 a new civilization was discovered in what would become modern day Pakistan, the discovery revealed the Indus Valley civilization and the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro. This culture/civilization emerged around 4,500 tears ago and remained thriving with trade and their highly fertile land from the Indus River floodplane for nearly 1000 years.

The inhabitents of this great Indus civilization were (as archaeologists have discovered) skilled urban planners with an understanding of how to control water using irrigation systems. However to the modern-day people those who occupied the ancient city in the 3rd millinnium still remain a mysterious puzzle.

The entire city is shrouded in mystery. It lacks palaces, temples, and monuments, there is no obvious central seat of government or showings of kings and queens. The city does however show signs that cleanliness and modesty we ranked hightly in this mysterious civilization. The city also appeared to be high in wealth and stature due to artifact that have been discovered such ivory, lapis, carnelian, and gold beads, also don't forget the baked-brick structures around the city.

Some examples of the ancient cities great irrigation systems include a watertight pool callecd the Great Bath. The Great Bath was perched ontop of a mound of dirt held inplace by some of the baked brick walls, it is the clostest structure that Mohenjo Daro has to a temple. Archaeologists also found that there were wells located in many places around the city as well as bathing areas and drainage systems in almost all houses in the area.

From about 2,500 to 1,900 the city was among some of the most important to the Indus civilization. However seeing as it had no government it was probably governed as a city-state. Maybe elected officials were chosen from each of the mounds.

Ancient Egypt: Unit Reflection

Learner Profile Reflection:

During this unit we started with drawing maps of the Nile River and other famous geological sites surrounding it, then we moved on to study the art of ancient Egypt as well as the rulers, and then lastly we finished off with our teaching projects. During the entire unit we continuously were learning a wide range of information therefore we were being both thinkers and inquires. Thinkers because there was several activities that we needed to complete and in order to do the activities and projects we needed knowledge of ancient Egypt, making us knowledgeable when completing the activities.

Approaches to Learning:
During this unit i think that the main ATL's that i think we used were organizational, collaborative, and communication. I think that We needed to be organized because we had one large standup presention along with several other projects therefore we needed to be organizedw with our work in order to fufill due dates and expectations. Which brings us to communicationbecause for our teaching project we needed strong communication skill so that we could present well. And then lastly our colloborative work was needed during the mapping projects, while working will other people on a map.

Egyptian Art Project

Whats happening in my picture is that the Egyptian god Anubis is weighing the heart of a pharaoh. And scattered throughout the background of by picture is this story (written in hieroglyphics. I think that the reason that i find my Egyptian art to be signifigant is that im am portraying a very important element of the afterlife for the egyptians and also a very common and popular scene which describes the job of one of many Egyptian gods.

Uniting people (geographical contributions)

In many regions of the world there are difficulties in certain regions or living environments, this leads to some cultures/people that are all living in a certain neading to combine to help each other. Such as, along the Nile due to some of the hardships for the farmers they came together and developed innovations in order to bring water to the fields, and also take water away when it over flooded. Also lots of great inventions have been invented due to the geographical layout of the land. For example, the ancient Egyptians developed a calendar (just like ours is today) based on the sun. They divided their calendar based on their three seasons (Inundation, emergence, and harvest.) In Egypt some of the small farming villages also expanded and became the capitals of city-states (nomes.) And eventually the nomes came together and became two kingdoms, lower and upper Egypt.

Along the River Nile

I see the sun setting in the west, alighting the calm blue waters for one last moment before night. I feel the sun resting and warming on my face, and reminding me the ach in my bones from the long hours I’ve spent with the sun protruding in the sky. I look along the vast blue waters, miles and miles long. Looking at this long everlasting river. We’re traveling from Memphis down to Dendera, we are traveling up stream so it will take a long time, but we shouldn’t have trouble. So I just rest and gaze into the ever--changing river banks, I see unstinted amount of crops, but like I said the scene changes living me staring in awe for hours on end at the abundance of our great river, never ending.

Mummification: Homework

What are five questions that you would ask about a place to determine whether or not it is a promising location to find human mummies.
I would probably ask myself the following questions:

1. Is the climate a common one for finding a preserved mummy?
2. Is there a possible way of preserving mummies in this way naturally (bog, sand, etc...?)
3. Did the culture of this region have anything to do this mummification
4. Did the ancient people who lived here believe in preserving their dead?
5. Did their religion have something to do with mummification?

Mummies Reflect Primal Urge to Extend Human Life (National Geographic)

Definition of word Mummy: A mummy is an ancient cadaver whose soft tissue has partially or wholly resisted decay.
According to current scientific beliefs what are some reasons people were intentionally mummified? In order to preserve the lives of the dead so that maybe they can return for future life. Mummification can be used for preserving the lives of children. Today some modern people are attempting to deep-freeze them selves or having a process called Summun Mummification happening as well.
What features of the natural environment can cause bodies to be mummified unintentionally? They can be preserved by the frozen climate. From mossy bogs, or lack of air also in deserts, caves, salt, sand, cellars, and crypts.
In what parts of the world have mummies been found? Lots of people think that mummies have only been found in Egypt however, mummies have been found all over the wold. For example, the oldest mummies that have been found date back to 7,000 years ago, and were found in northern Chile. Thousands of mummies have been found in mossy bogs in in England and Northern Europe. Some have bee found in Asia, and Oceania and of course lets not forget the most popular mummies which are found in Egypt.
In what types of places (physical geography and climate) have mummies been found? Mummies have been found in cold, dry climates.

How did ancient Egyptians preserve their dead? The earliest ancient Egyptians buried the dead in small pits in the desert. This worked as purposeful, natural mummification, this worked because the hot desert sand wold dehydrate the bodies very quickly. Later on, the ancient Egyptians began developing their own form of unnatural mummification, the point of this was to preserve the bodies so they would continue looking life like. They did this by embalming the bodies and wrapping in linen strips.

Why do you think ancient Egyptians took such care to embalm their dead if the desert could do the job for them. Because the Egyptians wanted their dead to remain looking life like and the desert couldn't do this for them. Also the main reason was in order to protect the bodies form wild animals.


Words that I don't know from the article:
Cadavers: The dead body of a human being.
Chinchorro: A group of ancient people from Chile.

Mesopotamia, The Fertile Cresent (Unit Reflection)

a) The domestication of plants and animals
By domesticating plants and animals humans have asspired new skills, and expanded their capabilities. I think that by domesticating plants anceient humans had more free time, giving them the option of exploring/trying out different skills, or crafts. By doing so hunting and farming were no longer the only aspects of survival. Seeing as ancient humans now had time and had found a way to make crafts, they had given themselves a reason trade. Also by domesticating animals the physical labor involved in their lifestyles decreased because animals could carry heavy objects for ancient humans. b) The transition from hunter-gatherer communities to the first civilizations
By transitioning from hunter-gatherer communities to the first civilizations was a large change. To me, I think that this began when gatherers made the transition to farmers which lead to trade (see a) also by developing trade people began making relationships, building walls to defend themselves (also built enemies,) and all in all building a civilization.
c) Early religion and beliefs: Early Religious beliefs were very important to ancient people of early civilizations. They were believed to control everything, there was also many gods. Nearly every area was said to have had their own supreme god, that was the all powerful. Due to such devotion to their religion priests were rulers in a sense only after kings did they lose some of their power.
2. Imagine someone saying to you, "Learning about the Sumerians isn't very important since they're long gone!" What would you tell them in order to change their mind?
Though the Sumerians are "long gone" they were probably some of the most important inventors ever. The Sumerians were thought to have invented the wheel, a writing system for record keeping, they are responsible for many of today's modern sciences.

Enheduana of Sumer

What did books look like during the time that Enheduana was writing?
The books were written on clay tablets, so the books looked like small clay pillows.

How were these books written?
the books were written by using writing utensils to write out the words in lines on the tablet.

Where did Enheduana and her family live? What did her father do?
Edheduana father was king, and her family lived in the Akkad Palace the was surrounded by the city (Akkad.)

What was Enheduana's job? List three of her duties. How did she lose her job?
Edheduana's job was high priestess. Her duties contained.... She lost her job due to her nephew because he wanted his daughter to be high preistest.

The author says that enheduana's poems were so popular that they were like bestsellers today. What evidence does she use to support this claim? That archaeologists found about 20-50 copies of tablets on one of of Enheduana's poems/stories.

Enheduana's writjing are hymns of praise, but they also tell us about the times she lived in. Describe one "current event" that enheduana wrote about.
The one where she tells 'an exciting account about her father.' "At one point, the city-states that Sargon had taken united in revolt against him. They besieged the city of Akkad and exiled the goddess Inanna from her temples. Sargon finally broke the siege, beat the rebels, and made them recognize the goddess Inanna as all-powerful."

From earliest times, people have changed their environments. How have people today changed their environment? Discuss both the good and the ba

Over a period of thousands of years we as humans have changed our environment drastically. There are several different ways that early humans effected their environment. First of all you don't really think about it but humans lives revolved on the game they hunted and the things that they gathered in order to stay alive. By doing so they were hunting and killing animals. Which was working for them then, but today we have many endangered and extinct animals. Could this have been what lead up to the endangered, and extinct animals? Is this how poaching started? Thinking of this also lead me to wonder if one of the causes of poaching was trade.

Hunters and gathers eventually turned into farmers which lead to specialization of labor. Due to farming early humans diet was beginning to be a lot more stable, therefore we were healthier. Which lead to the ability to have more children. Farming was also giving us a surplus of food. However, today about every second 5 people are born! The fact that every 3 seconds our population goes up by 9 people (2 die every second 5 are born) this has lead to a surplus population rather than a surplus of food, this is the opposite of how our early ancestors lived.

Today we are dealing with many environmental issues such as; deforestation, air pollution, water pollution, surplus population, not enough food to feed all of us, all of this is adding up into global warming. What had Earth become, a planet that is having its recourse's natural and man made used up in a heart beat by today's humans. This is all due to the development of our civilization, over the years people have proposed changes that we could make in our life styles however not many have acted upon them. This is why some people are saying that it would have been better if we had stayed as hunters and gatherers. I however disagree, I think that if everyone made an effort to recycle, expose the air and water from less toxins then we could help slow down global warming.

Why is Catal Hoyuk an important archaeological find?

Catel Huyuk was an ancient Neolithic town around 8000 years ago. The town was built with no streets, lanes, or alleys, the doors of the houses opened up to the rooftops of the town leaving people to get around by climbing up series of ladders. There are several reasons for why i think that Catel Huyuk was an important discovery.

I think this firstly because; Catel Huyuk in its day was probably the religious center for several towns. Archaeologists are saying this because in the village several of the rooms are shrine's (sacred places of worship.) All the shrine's are elaborately done with; paintings (which were probably done of real events,) there were also statue's in the shrine's. The shrine's were showing that humans were starting to develop burial practices and having a beleif system.

Catel Hoyuk was also one of the most important trading towns in its area and during its time. Because of farming giving them more 'free' time they were able to experiment with different crafts. By learning new skills they began making luxury goods (some luxury goods were made from Obsidian.) By having crafts and new ideas other villages began becomeing interested in what they had to offer therefore Catel Hoyuk began developing relationships between different communities. Of course money hadn't even been thought of yet in this timer therefore all items were traded through barter/bartering, usually people think that stuff must not have gotten far from the word of mouth and just bartering off goods, however a piece of obsidian (from Catel Hoyuk) was found 600 miles away from where it originally came from!

Some crafts and materials used for making crafts are:

Bone:

- Needles

- Beads

- Hairpins

- Fish hooks

Weaving:

- Woolen cloth, baskets

- Fashioned leather pouches

Wood:

- Bowls

- Boxes with lids

Eventually Catel Hoyuk started farming and then they began domesticating animals. The domestication of plants and animals was making Catel Hoyuk a self-sufficient city (it didn't need the assistance of surrounding towns.) Due this our diet also was stabilizing and become more consistent an reliable. Because of our more steady diet our bodies were become healthier which was; causing a surplus of food, and increase in population and being able to have more children.

All of these reasons; domesticating plants and animals giving more free time in order to experiment with different industries, which gave us the opportunity to trade and how our religious culture's developed are all tied to more clue's in how our civilization has developed into what it is today. This is why I think that the discovery of Catal Hoyuk was an important archaeological find.