western civ day six

I was absent today!

western civ day five

I was absent today!

western civ day four

STUDY GUIDE FOR QUIZ 1/29

Definitions

• Fertile crescent- is the regions curved shape and the richness of its land. It includes the land facing the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia. 
• Mesopotamia- is greek, meaning "land between rivers" (between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers)
• City- state- is each city and the surrounding land and they are independent countries.
• A dynasty- is a series of rulers from a single family 
• Cultural diffusion- is a new idea or a product that spreads form one culture to another
• Polytheism- is the belief in more than one GOD (Sumerians believed in Polytheism)
• Empire- brings together several peoples, nations, or previously independent states under the control of one ruler
• Hammurabi- ruled from1792 BC to 1750 BC. Put together a code of 282 laws called Hammurabi's code. Hammurabi's code was something that everyone lived by and followed or else they would be severely punished

Notes

• Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey are the modern day countries that were apart of the fertile crescent
• World's first surviving epic was the Epic of Gilgamesh
• DISADVANTAGES: unpredictable flooding, periods of no rain, defenseless, and natural resources were limited/scarce
• Tigris and Euphrates river surround the Fertile Crescent
• Sumers invented cuneiform, arithmetic, geometry, and architectural innovations
• Hammurabi created a set of 282 laws 
• Hammurabi's code believed the punishment should fit the crime- eye for eye

5 key characteristics of Sumer

• Advanced cities
• Specialized workers
• Complex institutions 
• Record keeping
• Technology

Notes we took today:

• Wandering nomads drove herds of domesticated animals in many areas, especially to the south of Sumer in Arabia 
• Sumer was conquered by Akkadians- 2350 BC- their Gods took the place of previous Gods and were forced to worship them
• Hammurabi's code punished people that fit their crime
• "Eye for eye" 

western civ day three

From Prehistory to Civilization 

• Prehistoric means before writing 
• 200,000 years ago a human species emerged in Central Africa
• The earliest prehistoric age was referred to as the Paleolithic age
• The Neolithic age was recognized by the advanced tool-making and beginnings of agriculture
• In the fertile crescent, the people went from being hunter-gatherers to being permanent settlers and grew their own food
• Farming caused a surplus if food and a surplus of food grew the population
• The Sumerian women were caretakers so they moved down on the hierarchy because their only job was to watch the kids
• They invented the wheel and plow and then it also helped to make a surplus of food
• Villagers were polytheistic
• Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey are modern day countries that were apart of the Fertile Crescent 
• Sumer was the land between the Tigris and Euphrates river
• New towns were made in Sumer and some had up to 40,000 people in them
• Food storage was invented and it created more job opportunities such as merchants, tradesman, etc
• Kings emerged and city-states formed 
• Sumerians invented the earliest form of writing called cuneiform 
• Gods and goddesses were credited for the natural world 
• World's first surviving "epic" was the "Epic of Gilgamesh" which was a big flood
• Sumerians first developed the idea of time and divided time into 60 mins per hour and 60 secs per min
• They also developed a calendar based on the moon's cycle 
• Sumerians built ziggurats which were temples built on top of a "mountain" of Earth 

western civ day two

Write a sentence explaining its significance:

The fertile crescent is the regions curved shape and the richness of its land. It includes the land facing the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia is greek, meaning "land between rivers". Mesopotamia is between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. A city- state is each city and the surrounding land. They are independent countries. A dynasty is a series of rulers from a single family. Cultural diffusion is a new idea or a product that spreads form one culture to another. Polytheism is the belief in more than one GOD which the Sumerians believed. An empire brings together several peoples, nations, or previously independent states under the control of one ruler. Hammurabi ruled from1792 BC to 1750 BC. He put together a code of 282 laws called Hammurabi's code 


What were the three environmental challenges to Sumerians?

1. Unpredictable flooding combined with a period of little to no rain- desert
2. Defenseless- no natural barriers 
3. Natural resources for building were limited/ scarce

western civ day one

Today we got new seats, learned about our materials, got to know Mr. Schick and learned about the upcoming course. We got new seats as we walked in and then he described some of the materials in the classroom. He told us about how the homework and agenda board is laid out and described what the abbreviations on the board mean. He then told us how he reverses the classes so we will read in class instead of taking the textbooks home. Then he explained how the class will work and some of his teaching styles. Mr. Schick explained that we will need a composition book to copy down notes everyday then transfer the notes onto a blog. He also explained how the blogs will work and how we will have to complete them every night with our notes. Lastly, at the end of class we created our blog and emailed him our link so he can access all of our work.