Important Women in History - Cleopatra

Roy Elal
Ms. Moore
Humanities 8
17 March 2012

Cleopatra

Cleopatra VII Philopator, who became the last Pharaoh of ancient Egypt at the age of 18, was born in 69 B.C. and died in 30 B.C.
Cleopatra gained stability for her country Egypt by aligning with the most powerful nation at that time: the Roman Empire.  She seduced 2 of the most powerful leaders in the world - Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony otherwise they were ready to take over Egypt - she saved the day by being charming and pretty and these powerful men fell for her charms.  She ruled Egypt even though she was banished earlier by her brother.  She was the target of Octavian in the battle of Actium. And lastly, she was Macedonian, but could speak Egyptian fluently.

Cleopatra VII the queen had actually been poisoned and died from drinking a mixture of poisons. After studying historical texts and consulting with toxicologists, the historian concluded that the asp could not have caused a slow and pain-free death, since the asp (Egyptian Cobra) venom paralyses parts of the body, starting with the eyes, before causing death. 

Christian Saints

Roy Elal
Ms. Moore
Humanities, 8B
17 March 2012

Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas, born in 270 A.D., was at one point of his life the bishop of Myra, a town in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). He died in 310 A.D. on December 6, which is why his feast is celebrated on that date. Saint Nicholas, who is recognized for his great generosity, is the patron saint of little children and school children.

The feast of Saint Nicholas was abolished on some European countries after the Protestant reformation of the 16th century. The Dutch, however, have preserved this ancient Catholic custom, and small Dutch children still await the visit of Sinter Klaas (Saint Nicholas) on the night of December 6.

Saint Nicholas, is also know as modern-day Santa Claus, who is a fictional character in young childrens minds, like the tooth fairy. Santa Claus is supposed to come on Christmas eve and put presents under the tree of the families who celebrate Christmas.




                                         

Saint Nicholas                                                                                     Santa Claus

The Fall of Rome

In A.D. 476, the Western Roman Empire fell. By fell, I mean it was sacked, and completely destroyed by the Germanics, also known as the barbarians, who after taking over, divided the territory into Germanic kingdoms. Other than that, there are many reasons that caused the empire to fall to the barbarians.
The barbarians decided to start invading the Roman Empire, because they knew that they were becoming weaker, as they were becoming bigger. Barbarian tribes like the Franks, the Vandals, and the Goths, all came to invade Rome, causing Rome to come to the end.


Workforce -----> There were fewer workers, and less slaves.
Social -----> Famine, plague, and civil unrest (riots and uprisings). 
Geography ----> Donut-shaped around the Mediterranean sea, which made it more of a Roman Lake, and week borders.
Economy -----> Depression (decline, income/wages fall, value of money decreases, cost of goods and services increases), wealthy not paying taxes, growth of army and the government, dependency on luxury items.
Government ----> Dishonest and corrupt, too big, civil wars wasting money, resources and lives.
Military -----> Not strong enough, spread out too thin around the borders, too many borders, and internal conflicts.

Mosaic Reflection

Explain the meaning of your symbol, reflect on the process of making a mosaic, and imagine what it would have been like to create a large scale mosaic in a church over  1500 years ago.


For this mosaic project, I chose to make a six-pointed star. This symbol is both a more minor Christian symbol, and a major Jewish religious, and Israeli national symbol. 
The six-pointed star is the Creator's Star or Star of Creation. Its six points stand for the six days of creation, and are also represent the six attributes of God: power, wisdom, majesty, love, mercy and justice.
Once finishing the mosaic, I am somewhat proud to say, that it doesn't look bad. Essentially it could have been just much neater and more organized, in the sense that there were minor gaps and spaces in between some of the paper tiles, and that there were some tiles that were overlapping. All in all, I feel somewhat successful after turning it in.
Overall, sticking glue onto the paper, was not that hard, the hardest part for me was actually picking the colors. In the end, I decided to make the outline of the star in purple, and the inside of the star and the background surrounding it purple. After doing that, I decided i wanted the border to be more exciting and approachable, therefore I made a combination of green and orange.




 

Roy Elal
Ms. Moore
Humanities
1/2/12

Judas Iscariot Superstar: Jesus Christ Superstar movie review

Norman Jewison’s “Jesus Christ Superstar” is the story  of Jesus’ last couple of weeks before he was crucified tragically, by the people’s decision. This film, shot in Israel, 1972, essentially met the expectations it was given, even though it attracted some criticism from some religious groups because of the ending, which didn’t show Jesus’ resurrection. Carl Anderson, who played the character of Judas Iscariot, definitely proved his outstanding performances throughout the hippie rock-opera version of Jesus Christ’s way to crucifixion. Although the movie was based on Jesus Christ who was played by Ted Neeley, and in my opinion failed the expectations he was (or at least should have been) given before the movie, but Anderson showing a superior understanding of the plot, made the movie somewhat worthwhile.

Alongside Ted Neeley (Jesus Christ) and Carl Anderson (Judas Iscariot), some of the other major roles played by Yvonne Elliman (Mary Magedeline), Barry Dennen (Pontius Pilot), and Bob Bingham (Caiaphas), all had some impact throughout the storyline, as they acted some of the more major roles of the story. The Director, Producer, and the Screenplay was all mostly done by Norman Jewison, who was definitely one of the two men who made this rock-opera somewhat amusing, or entertaining. What one must realize about this is that Ted Neeley demolished the movie with his singing, acting, and enthusiasm shown all together, but thanks to the multi-tasking director Norman Jewison and one of the main characters; Carl Anderson (Judas Iscariot), this movie was in my opinion a successful G-rated film.

As stated above this movie was based on the last couple of weeks of Jesus’ life, but more specifically, this movie is based on the conflicts and connection between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot. Judas started off being one of Jesus’ first and closest followers, yet as the plot begins, Judas sees that Jesus is going to a new direction, where he is more concerned about his own popularity, than the message he was sending in the beginning, which eventually really bothers Judas; and in the end decides to assist the Jewish religious leaders in catching him, and sending him to Pontius Pilot.

One of the more humorous parts of this movie is the fact that some of the guards had guns, how this movie is supposed to be G-rated, yet there are prostitutes everywhere when they arrive to the market, or when Jesus doesn’t really show interest in Mary Magdalene. To be honest, this movie might have been a bit too modern with the guns, and the hipster King Herod was also bit over the top.

My opinion is very straight forward. Ted Neeley ruined this movie completely, whereas Carl Anderson drew my attention back into it, and made the movie somewhat worth watching. I have to say that in some way I actually did enjoy this film, which is absurd because of how fake it is and how it doesn’t even go with the real story (or at least how Christians believe.) All in all, the only reason I might recommend this movie is because of Carl Anderson and how he showed his efforts throughout the film, and because of the humorous parts in it including plains and tanks.

Was Caesar a Reformer or a Tyrant?

In my opinion, Julius Caesar was, in fact, a reformer. As he was a great leader, he ended the ruling of the dishonest, and corrupt nobles. Caesar upheld justice, which means he was fair. He restored the cities and aided the poor, and homeless. On top of that he also granted more citizenship and brought peace to Rome. Many people might say that he enjoyed the attention, the fame, and the power, but in my opinion, Julius Caesar was a motivation to people, and an admirable one. Everyone should always have a reason to do something. Even if Caesar's motive was definitely not selfless, his actions were for the good for many, and he was respected and appreciated him by most of the people of ancient Rome. By the end, when he was murdered by the senators of Rome themselves, a civil war started in Rome, which proves that he was the great leader, and reformer, of Rome.

Augustus and Julius Caesar

Gaius Octavius (Augustus), born September 23, 63 B.C., was the son of Octavius, a praetor from Velitrae, and Atia, the daughter of Julius Caesar's sister Julia. When Caesar went to Spain to fight the Pompeians in 45 B.C., Gaius Octavius went with him. Caesar arranging the schedule in advance, named Gaius Octavius Master of the Horse for 43 or 42 B.C. Caesar died in 44 B.C. and in his will adopted Gaius Octavius. Octavius took the name C. Julius Caesar Octavianus at this point.

I think Julius Caesar was a much more critical and major leader than his grand nephew Augustus. Julius Caesar did so much more for Rome; he was a disciplined and very strong leader, he was a great military commander, and he was a tactical genius. Julius Caesar also tried to prevent poverty in his homeland and was loyal to his followers and friends, and would punish criminals who broke the laws. He was the individual who started the Roman Empire. In the end he might have been crazy, had a disease, or he could have just been hungry for power and control, but in this debate, what he accomplished is what counts. Once he was murdered, in other words stabbed by all his friends and followers who were in the room, Rome went into another civil war. The other side of the debate, Augustus did bring 200 years of peace to Rome and expanded its Empire, but without the commence of Julius Caesar, Augustus would have been just another senator; bringing me to the point that without Julius Caesar, Rome would have never become the almighty Empire we know of.