Greece Notes #3

Greece in relation to other common places:

• North Carolina is 53, 818 sq. mi.
• Greece is 50, 949 sq. mi.
• Although small in size, Greece made a HUGE impact in the world.
• Pennsylvania is 46, 056 sq. mi.
• Life in Greece
• Fertile valleys cover 1/4 of the Greek peninsula.
• Of it, only 20% is arable (farmable) land.
• The Greek diet consisted of grapes, grains, olives, and fish.
• The lack of resources in Greece is likely what led Greeks to start colonizing.
• The temperature ranged from the mid 40's during the Winter and low 80's during the Summer.
• Led to people being out all the time (creating the Olympics and later, the birth of democracy).
• Mycenaeans began influencing the world around them in 2,000 BC.
• Mycenae was located on a rocky ridge on Peloponnesus protected by a 20 foot thick wall.
• Kings dominated Greece from 1,600 BC to 1,100 BC.
• They controlled the trade in the region.
• Around 1,400 BC, Mycenaeans invaded Crete and absorbed Minoan culture.
• e.g. writing system, language, art, politics, literature, and religion.
• Trojan War.
• The Greeks have fought in many wars over time.
• The Trojan War was fought at around 1,200 BC.
• Until the nineteenth century, most historians had thought that, as many other parts of Greek history, the Trojan War was a myth.
• That is because gods and goddesses were involved in the war.
• Goddesses Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera were given the "apple of discord" and even though they were all good friends, they argued plenty.
• Paris judged Aphrodite as the fairest.
• Aphrodite then made Helen (who was married) fall in love with Paris, who took her back to Troy.
• Around 1,200 BC, mysterious "sea people" began to invade Mycenae and burnt palace after palace.
• Then, the Dorians moved into the war-torn region, dominating from 1,150 to 750 BC.
• They were far less advanced,
• The trade-based economy had collapsed, and
• Writing disappeared during the 400-year period.
• So, oral tradition started to emerge.
• Greek oral tradition is composed of stories passed on by word of mouth.
• Homer, a blind storyteller, lived at the end of the "Greek Dark Ages" (1,100 - 800 BC).
• He composed, but didn't write down, stories (epics) of the Trojan War (c. 750 - 700 BC).
• The Iliad - probably one of the last conquests of the Mycenaeans (inspired by the Trojan War).
• The Odyssey - Odysseus attempts to return to his home after the Trojan War, being thwarted by the god of the sea, Poseidon, while angry.
• The Odyssey was 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter.
• Emphasizes the first syllable of at least six words on each line.
• Homeric question:
• Was Homer ever real, or is he also a product of the Greeks' imagination?
• He might have been a mythical creature himself.
• He was a blind, wandering minstrel; a heroic figure.
• The Iliad and the Odyssey may either be a culmination of many generations of storytelling.
• Or... Homer could have actually existed.

Greece Notes #2

Book notes:
The Aegean, the Ionian, and the Black seas are important routes for Greeks'.
Greece lacked natural resources (timber, precious metals, usable farmland.
Mountain chains ran from the Northwest to the Southeast along Balkan Peninsula.

• 3/4 mountainous, 1/4 arable land.
• Sea, land, and climate were important environmental influences on Greek civilization.
• Normal temperatures were 48 Fahrenheit during the Winter and 80 Fahrenheit during the Summer.
• Supporting an outdoor life attending public events, discussing public issues, exchanging news, and taking an active part in civic life.
• Mycenaean (leading the city Mycenae) kings controlled Greece from 1,660 - 1,100 BC in addition to Tiryns and Athens.
• Mycenaeans discovered seaborne trade after invading Minoans.
• Mycenaeans adapted their writing system to the Greek language and decorated vases with Minoan designs.
• Trojan war.
• 10-year war between Troy (industrial trading city in Anatolia) and Mycenae.
• Why? Trojan prince kidnapped Helen (the beautiful wife of the Greek king).
• True? Excavations during the 1,870's at Northwestern Turkey by German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann suggest so.
• Around 1,200 BC, sea raiders attacked and burned Mycenaean cities.
• Dorians then moved into the war-torn countryside.
• Not very advanced.
• After their arrival, Mycenaean economy collapsed and their trade came to a standstill.
• There was a loss of writing during the 400 years that they controlled Mycenae (between 1,150 and 750 BC).
• Rise in spoken word and Homer (a blind man, and great storyteller).
• Composed epic stories between 750 and 700 BC.
• Trojan wars formed backup for the epic poem the Iliad.
• Heroes in the Iliad were warriors Achilles from Greece and Hector of Troy.
• Greeks created myths--traditional stories about their gods.
• They were made to explain mysteries about nature and power of human passions.
• e.g. the changing of the seasons.
• Gods quarreled and competed against each other constantly; they also live forever.
• Zeus is the ruler of all gods who lives on Mount Olympus with his wife Hera.
• Hera is often jealous of Zeus' relationships with other women.
• Athena--goddess of wisdom--is Zeus and Hera's daughter.
• The Greeks thought that she was the guardian of cities and dubbed Athens in her honor.

Greece-Notes #1

Well, feel pretty good. We had the test on Egypt today for which I studied for hours between yesterday and today. We were told we could use our blog, but I didn't need it. I completed the entire test without the help of my blog. I had asked Mr. Schick if we could get an opportunity to earn extra points. I guess it was better for other students that didn't study, but it didn't really help me. The only question I had trouble with was the number fourteen, I believe. I wasn't able to answer that one with my blog and had to look back on the test for things that looked like they could be a good answer. Anyway, we have to write down notes on Greece (pp. 118 - 126) so I'll get to that.

New Directions in Government and Society (2,000 BC-700 AD)

Classical Greece (2,000-300 BC).
Important Occurrences in Greece and the World

• 2,000 BC
• Greece: Minoan civilization prospers in Crete.
• 1,780 BC
• World: Hammurabi's Code,
• 1,500 BC
• Greece: Mycenaean culture thrived on Greek mainland.
• 1,472 BC
• World: Hatshepsut is the first woman pharaoh.
• 1,200 BC
• Greece: Trojan war.
• 1,027 BC
• World: Zhou Dynasty begins at China.
• 850 BC
• World: Assyrians expand their empire.
• 750 BC
• Greece: Greek city-states flourish.
• 500 BC
• World: Zapotec of Mexico build Monte Alba'n.
• 479 BC
• Greece: Greece triumphs in Persian Wars.
• 334 BC
• Greece: Alexander starts building an empire.
• 321 BC
• World: Chandragupta founds Mauryan Empire in India.

Cultures of the mountains and the sea

• Greece is a mountainous peninsula out into the Mediterranean Sea.
• Also about 2,000 islands in Aegean and Ionian seas.

Egypt-Review

A. Reviewing Key Terms

1. cataract: point in a river where boulders turn it into churning rapids.
2. delta: broad, marshy, triangular area in Lower Egypt formed by deposits of silt.
3. nome: territorial divisions each ruled by a nomarch--an administration official.
4. dynasty: series of rulers that descended from the same family.
5. pharaoh: god-king in theocracy ruling; based on religious authority.
6. ka: eternal life force even after death.
7. pyramid: immense structures where kings' tombs were buried.
8. maat: concepts of truth, balance, order harmony, law, morality, and justice--sometimes presented as a goddess.
9. hieroglyphics: comes from the Greek words hieros ("sacred") and glyph ("writing") that mean "sacred carving".
10. papyrus: papyrus reeds are plants that, when processed, make paper-like sheets that are easier to write on than slabs.

B. Identifying Key Facts

1. I was the British archaeologist who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. My name is ______ ______.
2. The ____ _____ provided Egypt with a reliable system of transportation and with an annual deposit of fertile soil.
3. In about 3,100 BC, a strong-willed king of Upper Egypt named ______ united all of Egypt.
4. Asian nomads known as the ______ ("rulers of foreign lands") ruled much of Egypt from 1630 to 1523 BC.
5. I was the linguist who deciphered the hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone. My name is ____ ________ ___________.

C. Checking for Understanding

• Three ways in which the Nile river influenced Egyptian life:
1. Yearly flooding that brings rich soil (i.e. silt) and allowed settlements to grow.
2. Provided reliable system of transportation.
3. Trade between Lower and Upper Egypt established.
• Purpose of the pyramids.
• stone tombs to accommodate royalty.

B. Identifying Key Facts Answers

1. Howard Carter
2. Nile river
3. Narmer
4. Hyksos
5. Jean François Champollion

C-Notes #2

Nile and the "Two Lands"

• Upper Egypt 500 miles long; Lower Egypt wide land that encompasses the Nile delta region.
• Nile was the major provider of life revered in both lore and writings; personified as gods.
• Around 3,100 BC, the two lands were united under the rule of pharaoh Narmer.

• Pharaoh: all-powerful, worshipped as a god intimately connected to major Egyptian gods and goddesses.
• Pharaohs were able to have multiple wives.
• The route to financial and social success was through the palace; one had to be born into royalty or perhaps be a high priest.
• Women had many more rights back then than in many other societies at the time.
• They were able to receive land and money, as well as divorcing husbands.

• Gods were often portrayed with animal heads or bodies.
• Maat: represents harmony and balance of the universe (can be compared with Yin and Yang).
• Egyptians believed in an afterlife (otherwise known as ka) and mummified bodies them for post-death journey.
• At the time of death, souls need to justify themselves and be sent to either an after-world paradise or the jaws of a monster.

• Technology Advancements
• Hieroglyphics (circa 3,100 BC) - earliest Egyptian writing that look like small pictures.
• Papyrus (made from mashed Nile reeds) is an Egyptian script that is written in ink.
• Papyrus was stored in scrolls.
• Papyrus were the books of Ancient Egypt.
• Calendar with 12 months and 365 days to make better sense of seasonal cycles.
• Egyptians had exact knowledge of human anatomy.
• So, they wrote extensively on health issues and created potions and cures to treat common ailments.
• Sailboats created to increase transportation ability on the Nile river.
• Buildings at the time.
• Pyramids are massive stone tombs which were originally covered in marble and then stripped from their former beauty during the Muslim conquest.
• Temple of Amon at Karnak is the largest religious building (with 54,000 ft^2) in the world.
• Sculptures and interior paintings depicted humans and gods in regulated poses: profile, without perspective.

C-Notes #1.5

I'll write down the other part of the notes I had taken back from the book. There were too many words in the other blog so I decided to save the notes for when I did not have anything to write (such as today).

Sirius was a star that appeared above the eastern horizon before floods. Egyptians calculated the number of days between the first rising of the Sirius star and the next and came up with 365 days (very close to a solar year). The year was divided into twelve months with 30 days each with five days added for holidays and feasting. This year with 365 days was so accurate that it fell short of the solar year by only six hours.
Egyptians invented math numbers for counting, adding, and subtracting.

• To assess and collect taxes, for property boundaries, and for engineering and architecture.
• They also had advanced medicine.
• Were able to find heart rate, heal broken bones effectively with splints, treat wounds and fevers, and performed some kinds of surgery.

Middle Kingdom (2,040-1,640 BC)

Hyksos ("the rulers of foreign lands") ruled Egypt from 1,630-1,523 BC.

Games were popular in all hierarchy classes.

Egyptians (both men and women) used cosmetics to enhance beauty.

• Applied kohl to their eyes, which in turn softened the sun's glare. 
• Also soaked flowers and fragrant woods in oil to protect skin from dry air.

The names of about 150 physicians are remembered, of which 2 were women.

There was a species of royal dogs in Egypt called Pharaoh hound.

Classwork #2

Terms and Names
1.

• delta: Lower Egypt includes the Nile delta region--a broad, marshy triangular area formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of the Nile river.
• Narmer: The king thought to have united both Lower and Upper Egypt is king Narmer; especially since he was depicted in Narmer Palette wearing both Lower and Upper Egypt crowns, creating one crown that had attributes from both crowns.
• pharaoh: The Egyptian god-kings, otherwise known as pharaohs, care more about their tombs than they do about their palaces.
• theocracy: The type of government used in Egypt is called a theocracy--government in which rule is based on religious authority.
• pyramid: A pyramid is an immense structure for resting after death.
• mummification: The process of embalming and drying of a corpse to prevent it from decaying is called mummification.
• hieroglyphic: Hieroglyphics comes from the Greek words hieros and glyph meaning "sacred carving".
• papyrus: When papyrus dries, the plant's sap glues narrow strips of itself into a paper-like sheet.

Main Ideas
3. How did being surrounded by deserts benefit Egypt? The deserts shut out invaders, which led to Egyptians living a peaceful life with confidence and optimism.
4. How did the Egyptians view the pharaoh? They thought of pharaohs as god-kings; they were the connection between Egyptians and god.
5. Why did Egyptians mummify bodies? Egyptians mummified bodies to prevent them from decaying. This method is especially used to preserve royal and elite Egyptians' bodies.