3-9-11

  Today in class Mr. Schick started out by reading a little piece of a book about the Persians and Spartans to us. Then we all got a number and then used it to receive our assignment topics. Everybody then started one their one to two slides about their topic, which was put on Google Docs so they are all together. If we didn't finish, we were to finish it for homework since it's due tomorrow. My topic was on Leonidas, a 5th century military Spartan king.

3-8-11

Today is a Tuesday, so no class again. We will we starting a brand new unit tomorrow.

3-7-11

  Today in class we took our test on ancient Egypt. The test was composed of 20 multiple choice questions, three short answers, and we had to pick one essay to do. Our test took up the entire class, so there are no notes to post. There is no Western Civ class tomorrow. On Wednesday, we will probably start a new unit.

3-4-11

The test for our class is on Monday, March 7, 2011. So today in class we finished up reviewing everything we need to know for our test. 


  We mainly talked about what drives Egypt's economy. This includes tourism, oil, natural gas and manufacturing. With agriculture, the Egyptians were making the most of their arable land (3%) by producing cotton, rice, wheat, and fava beans. The dam controlled the flooding of the Nile and increased the amount of reclaimed land. The old pattern of dealing with the Nile (inundation), peret (land emerges from the flood), and shomu (water is short) has changed since the 1970 building of the Aswan High Dam.  


 Egypt has 79 million people; biggest population of Middle Eastern nations. It's also the 3rd biggest African country behind Nigeria and Ethiopia. Their official language is Arabic and 90% of the people are Muslim but most of the rest are Christian. Egypt is ranked 12th in religious violence; 5th worst for religious freedom.   

3-3-11

  Today in class we did some more review for our test. Soldiers used wooden weapons (bow & arrows) with bronze tips and might have rode chariots. The upper class were known as the "white kilt class" and they were priests, doctors, and engineers. Pharaoh was the political and religious leader of the Egyptian people, holding many titles such as "Lord of the Two Lands". The pharaoh was the ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt. He owned all land, made up taxes, etc. Hatshepsut was a woman who served as pharaoh, and Cleopatra VII also served as pharaoh, but much later (51-30 BC). 

3-2-11

  Today in class we reviewed notes about Ancient Egypt. Mr. Schick told us that we are having a test on Monday, March 7, 2011.

 Egyptian life is centered around the Nile River. It is located near the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea. They used it for multiple things such as drinking water, transportation, irrigating, and for bathing. The Egyptians were probably the first people in the world to invent a boat and a sail. The Nile flows North (only in the river in the world that does) and every July it floods, then every October it leaves behind rich soil. Managing the river required technological breakthroughs in irrigation. The Egyptians probably the first people in the world to have a calendar (or a good track of time)in order to be able to know when the floods where coming. 

  Slaves/Servants helped the wealthy with household and child raising duties. Farmers raised wheat, barley, lentils, onions and benefited from irrigation from the Nile. Artisans/Craftsmen carved statues and reliefs showing military battles and scenes in the afterlife. The money/barter system was used; merchants might accept bags of grain for payment, but later coinage came about. Scribes kept records, told stories, wrote poetry describing anatomy and medical treatments; they wrote in hieroglyphic and in hieratic.  

  The Great Sphinx of Giza was built 2555/2532 B.C. The structure is a recumbent lion with a human's head. 

The oldest monumental statue in the world still in existence and good shape.  

3/1/11

Today is a Tuesday and there is no Western Civ class on Tuesdays.