Ancient Egypt Test

Today we took the test on Ancient Egypt. Mr. Schick said the class before us that took it averaged in the 70s so I was worried before I took it especially because I wish I would've studied more. Thankfully, we got time to study before we took the test and I think I did ok. Everyone finished pretty quickly so maybe it wasn't that difficult.

Not in School

I am not in school today because I am sick and feel pretty awful so I'm not sure what will be happening in class. I will probably be back tomorrow.

The extremely aggrivating pyramid game

Today in class Mr. Schick thought it would be funny to make us want to scratch our eyes out while competing with each other in this game. We had to play over and over and over and over again until we finally completed the game.The first two people got As and the next pair got Bs. Alayna and I finished 5 seconds after the second pair, so Mr. Schick let us get As too. I'm really glad I finished it in class because now I won't have to go home and finish it.

Ancient Egypt Videos

Pyramid Quest Video:
- On the side of the pyramid of Cheops, there is a stone that can be moved, leading you to the inside where the grave is. 
-The stubborn royal ordered to hack a tunnel into the pyramid. 
-The inside was empty.
-Today, the interior of the great pyramid has been explored in great detail.
-Many rooms have been discovered. 
-The grotto is the least explored area of the pyramid of Cheops.

This video was clearly about the exploration of the inside of the pyramid of Cheops. It talks about the history of the pyramid and the people that have explored it. 



Mummification Video:
-Developed by the ancient Egyptians to prepare for the afterlife 
-Typically all internal organs were removed before mummification with the exception of the heart
-In the case of this young man, the heart was taken but the lungs were left in tact. 
-After internal organs are removed the body is covered in salt for 40 days until all moisture is removed 
-Perfumed oils and plant resins were then rubbed on the body 
-Thick layers of resin were applied to glue the layers of linen wrapped around the body 
-Then the mummy was placed on a wooden board with more linen layers
-A pouch with possible religious meaning was placed on the chest 
-A mummified bird was placed on the abdomen of this young man 
-A portrait panel was placed over this mans face 
-The mummy was colored red which was very rare
-His name was written in Greek at the feet

This entire video was about the process of mummification. I thought it was really interesting because I never knew the entire process. It's amazing how a body that is that old, is still preserved to this day. I found this video the easiest to understand. 


John Green Video:
- The Nile shaped Ancient Egyptian Culture
- The Nile was the safest and richest agriculture of the world 
- Egyptian communities centered only around the Nile
- Basin Irrigation - farmer's used flood waters for irrigation
- Cats had devine power
- They had 2 types of writing: Hieroglyphics for sacred writing, and demotic script for contracts and agreements) 
-Ancient Egypt lasted 1,000 years longer than Christianity has been around. 


I think it was somewhat hard to follow along because he talked so fast. I thought he was hilarious though and had some pretty clever jokes. He had a lot of information in the video that he covered in a short period of time. He did a really good job relating things that happened back then, to stuff that happens today. He talked about a lot of the gods from Ancient Egypt. He also talked about the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms as well as the pyramids. 

Ancient Egyptian Breakthroughs - Cyber Day Assignment

1. Sun Clocks- Four sided monuments, called obelisks, moving shadows formed somewhat of a sundial. This provided a day split in two parts for the Egyptians. These also showed the shortest and longest days of the year. Sun clocks were very important because it allowed them to have a set schedule and be able to know the time of day. 

2. the Calendar- This was important because this could tell the Egyptians when the Nile River would flood. The Ancient Egyptians didn't use the lunar calendar system. They were able to establish the calendar with help of the solar system. This helped with the founding of the Leap Year.  

4.Ox Drawn Plow- This made it more efficient to plow land. It helped with crops and they could plant and produce food faster and easier. They attached the plows to the back of their animals and they animals would pull the plows around the fields. 

3. Papyrus Paper- They learned how to make this paper material from a plant called papyrus. They wrote important documents and religious text on them. Luckily, they were able to preserve the sheets due to the dry climate. 

5. Black Ink- One of the types of dye/ink the ancient Egyptians invented. They were able to write on the papyrus paper with their hieroglyphs and in hieratic. 

Back to Class

Today we went over the Guns, Germs, and Steel test. Mr. Schick lost his bell and improvised with a pen and his cup. I did well but got 3 points taken off for not writing the honor code on my test. Then we almost finished going over the Ancient Egypt Prezi. We got out of class somewhat early for the Ash Wednesday mass and then had advisory.

Snow Day? No, Cyber Day :(

Today we were off due to snow so we had a cyber day. Our assignment was to finish the Ancient Egypt Prezi and take notes on our blog. Below are my notes:

Daily Life

• Slaves/servants helped the wealthy with household & child raising duties 
• farmers raised wheat, barley, lentils, onions - benefitted from irrigation of the Nile
• Artisans would carve statues & reliefs showing military battles & scenes in the after life. 
• Money/ barter system was used - merchants might accept bags of grain for payment - later coinage came about. 
• Scribes kept records, told stories, wrote poetry described anatomy & medical treatments 
• They wrote in hieroglyphs & in hieratic 
• Soldiers used wooden weapons (bows, arrows, and spears) with bronze tips & might ride chariots
• Upper class known as the "white kilt class" - priests, physicians engineers. 

Pharaohs 

• the political & religious  leader of the Egyptian people, holding the titles "Lord of the Two Lands" and "High priest of Every Temple" 
• As the "Lord of the Two Lands" the pharaoh was the ruler of Upper & Lower Egypt 
• He owned all land, made laws, collected taxes, defended Egypt against foreigners 
• Hatshepsut was a women who served as pharaoh
• Cleopatra VII also served as pharaoh, but much later (51 - 30 B.C) more on her when we study Greece 

Goddesses & Gods

• over 2,000 Gods & Goddesses
• they "controlled" the lives of humans 

Back to School After the Snow Day

Today we finally started talking about Ancient Egypt. We started off by talking about the geography of Ancient Egypt. Egyptian life is centered around the longest river in the world, the Nile River. There are three different branches of the Nile converging into one. They used the Nile for drinking water, irrigating, bathing, and transportation. Ancient Egyptians were the first people to invent the sail boat. At the end of the Nile, there is a delta (a broad, marshy, triangular are of fertile silt) which is very helpful to the Egyptians. Every July, the river floods and every October it leaves behind rich soil. Managing the river required technological breakthroughs in irrigation. We then talked about their pyramids and the Great Sphinx of Giza (a recumbent lion with the head of a human, built 2555-2532 BC). This is the oldest monumental statue in the world (4,547 years old). After that we talked about their daily life. Their lives basically went off of their rank. The pharaoh was #1. After that came government official/nobles/priests, soldiers, scribes, merchants, artisans, farmers, and then slaves and servants. Tomorrow we do not have class and we are off Friday and Monday. Tuesday we should learn more about Ancient Egypt.

Guns, Germs, and Steel Test

Today we took the test on Guns, Germs, and Steel. It was thankfully pretty easy, only 25 multiple choice questions that were straight to the point. I think I did really well and am glad we got time at the beginning of class to study. After the test, we reviewed the last test we took and went over answers. I did well on that test and I think I did even better on this one. After that, we had extra time to write our blogs for today. Tomorrow we will be starting to study ancient Egypt.

Finishing the Video

Today we finally finished the video. We learned that wheat is not native to the Americas. We also learned that they did not develop like we did because they did not have the same raw materials. Jared Diamond thinks that geography is the answer to the question. After the video was over we discussed questions that might be on the test and had somewhat of a review of the video. We will be having a test on this material on Monday and I feel really confident about it.

Drill and more of the video

Today we had a lockdown and shelter drill. All lights were turned out, the blind on the door was pulled down and the door was locked. We sat in silence on the floor until the drill was over and then we watched more of the video. In the video, we learned that after a while, the Fertile Crescent became overused and eventually dried up so civilizations had to move to a new place. They travelled east to west but not necessarily on purpose. They also learned how to control fires leading them to the discovery of plaster due to melted limestone. They used plaster on their homes to keep wind and bugs out. This was a great new discovery because a lot can be done if you know how to control your fires. Such as the making of bronze and plaster. Civilizations moving along the lines of latitude caused explosion of certain civilizations in their new discoveries.

More Germs, Guns, and Steele

Today we took a ton of notes on the video. We learned about Jared Diamond's theory on basically "the luck of the draw". We have a huge advantage because we have nutritional, plentiful, and well growing crops. In Papua New Guinea, they cannot grow things like we can. Everything they can grow lacks in protein, vitamins, and minerals. In China, they grew rice. In the America's, we grew corn, squash, and beans which is all healthy and can easily be stored, dried, etc. In Africa, they grew sorghum and millet, which are grains so they are easy to grow. They also had yams. In Papua New Guinea, they will eat large spiders for a supply of protein. We learned that domesticating animals was popular back then because it gave them meat, milk, and clothes made from the hair and skins of the animals. There are 14 species of animals,weighing over 100lbs, that have been domesticated. Goats and sheep were the first to be domesticated. There was one animal species in South America that was domesticated and that was the llama. The other 13 were from Asia, Europe, and North Africa. The theory of why these New Guinean's are living as if it were 10,000 years ago, is because they have been stuck wasting their time trying to survive, raise food, and not starve to death. If you had the most productive crops, you were the most productive farmer. Unfortunately, they did not have good luck with their crops due to their location.

Guns, Germs, and Steel

Today we watched the video Guns, Germs, and Steel. The video was based off of a book written by Jared Diamond. We also took notes on the video while watching it. The video talks about people living in Papua New Guinea and how they are basically living life like they're in the Stone Age. It is a remote, isolated part of an island. It has not advanced very far at all. The question is "Why do you white men have so much cargo, and we New Guineans have so litte?" Why is that? Years ago, white visitors said they were genetically superior and they came to show off their "cargo" (guns and record players). They tried to say white people were just better. Jared Diamond is working on proving that that is false. White people are no smarter or better than the New Guineans. He is just trying to figure out while they are still stuck in the "Stone Age".  In the video we learned that all great civilizations had 3 things in common: advanced technology, large population, and a well-organized work force.  The important food source in Papua New Guinea is "sago". We also learned about Draa. Draa is in the Middle East and it is known as the first permanent settlement that we know of. Eleven-thousand years ago Draa was established. We think this is where the world's first granary was located. A granary is a self-storage place for grain. It is also believed that the first farmers in the world were here at Draa.