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.