Lost City of Mohenjo Daro

Located, in the nowadays Pakistan, lays the lost city of Mohenjo Daro. Mohenjo Daro stood from about 2500 to 1900 B.C., But then at 1900 B.C. it was abandoned completely and was left as a 'Ghost City'. Scientists claim it was abandoned because the people were in jeopardy of starvation because of Earthquakes that occurred, leaving them without an ability to grow their foods.

The city was found in the year 1911, and many excavations were done in the 1920's through the 1940's. Scientists have found that this was an extremely advanced city. It was a fairly large city, and very advanced. It was built on a hill to prevent floods from the nearby Indus river, and it was one of the only cities of its time to have a sewerage system. It was obvious by the artifacts found that it was a fairly wealthy city, thriving in wealth and trade. Many scientists, archaeologists, and historians have studied every inch of this city, and we still have no idea what happened to make the majority of the cities population leave. It reaches some kind of obvious archaeological fruition about 1900 B.C.," Said Jonathan Mark Kenoyer. "What drives that, nobody knows."

Unlike most religions and beliefs their one was based on something else. The closest found to a temple in the town of Mohenjo Daro was a building that somewhat represented a temple. It is believed that this ancient civilization believed in cleanness every house had a well and a bathroom.

Shiva - The Destroyer

I know, that Shiva, the Destroyer, was definitely a popular choice, I think it would be really interesting to to my blog post about her, and what she did. In the Hinduism religion, it is believed that for something to be born, or re-born, something has to die. Shiva is the god, who takes and recycles the soul. Shiva -- The Destroyer, is worshiped by the Hindus because what the Hindus believe is that when you die, you soul is reincarnated... or else enlightened. When one dies, Hindus believe he is reborn either to higher, or a lower social class ranking. People can be reborn, into as high a rank as royalty, or as low as a poor man/slave/animal. Shiva is the God who takes away life... but she is also the God that reincarnates the soul.

Egyptian Art

For this piece of artwork I decided to depict Israeli workers making the great pyramids for a pharoah. The pharoah is in the after life, watching his workers work away. You can tell because the head of the pharoah is in the sky and his skin is a shiny silver color. The workers basically created the Egyptian pyramid legacy and brought them to life. They worked long and hard to finish them for their mighty pharoahs and they were very determined and strong people. I put 100% of my effort into this piece of art because I used may different colors, angles and thoroughly enjoyed making this picture and showing how hard the Israeli people worked. Their hard work to keep the Pyramids alive and for us to witness is possible and without them being strong we would never witness such a site. This piece of art could be found in tombs or in temples because it depicts the Pyramids being made for a certian pharoah. It can also be showed as a picture during the passover when the Israeli people escaped the Egyptian torture.

How do natural features such as rivers, lakes and mountains unite people or keep them isolated from each other?

The Nile river is important to the Ancient Egyptians because it kept them alive and developed their knowledge. They depended on it for food, water, transportation and much more. They even thought of it as a kind of god. It flooded once every year, creating fertile soil for growing crops.

The Nile river is important to the ancient Egyptians because it kept them alive and it gave the Egyptian water to drink. It is also grew the material made to make papyrus. Another way that the Nile River is useful is that it floods usually, this helps them because then it can fertilize the Egyptians crops. The Nile River provided rich farmland. It provided water for crops, a way of transportation, water to drink, water to bathe in, and many other useful things. It also gave them protection form the other side of the Nile.

The Nile was one of the main factors in the ancient Egyptians' lives, although it was not very safe for the people living next to the Nile. Once per year, the Nile would flood. When the Nile wouldn't flood enough the farmlands would become useless the crops would not grow and people wouldn't have food; and if the Nile would flood too much the water would scoop away a lot; for example some of the crops would get washed away and the people that lived near it would drown. Once these problems occurred, the people would meet up and try to think of decisions. One of the major decisions they made, was to make the calender, with the same amount of days as there are now, and in that calender were 3 seasons, to see when it would flood, and when their crops would grow. That is when that led to the worlds' first Nation-State.

Mummies

Words Unknown to Me:
Cryonics: Is the freezing of the body just after they die. This is done to prevent the decomposing of the body.
Cadavers: Is a dead body used as a research for science.

What is a mummy?

A mummy is a corpse whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness, or ancient Egyptian embalming.

1)In what part of the world have mummies been found in? Mummies have been found in Europe, Asia, and in lots of places in Africa.

2) In what types of places have mummies been found? Mummies are usually found in really dry or hot climates, ice regions, or what used to be bogs. All of these places are helpful because it will preserve the body so it doesn't decompose.

3) How did ancient Egyptian preserve their dead? The ancient Egyptians removed all of the bodies inner organs. They used many salts and oils to dry out the skin and other parts of the body. The carcass was then stuffed and wrapped and preserved in linen.

4. Why do you think ancient Egyptians took such care to embalm their dead if the desert could do the job for them?
The Egyptians believed in afterlife. People would draw what they wanted on their tombs to present what they were aiming in their afterlife. As you might know, the Egyptians tombs were robbed, not only because the ancient Egyptians placed food on their tombs but also different symbolic objects that they wanted in there after life.

5) what features of a natural environment can caused bodies to be mummified? If a climate is extremely dry or very cold, this can cause the body to freeze or dry out so that they are preserved and have a much less likely chance of decomposing.

6. According to current scientific beliefs, what are some reasons people were intentionally mummified?
Most of the mummies have been used as a sacrifice to god. Many of the mummies that have been found that were sacrificed to the gods by the symbols they had and in which coffins they were found in. But other times the ancient people wanted the bodies because they believed in afterlife, and sometimes the archaeologists think that the bodies were killed in a war, and were somehow important to the people.

Relationship between mummies and their environment

1. What is the relationship between mummification and the natural environment? Provide specific examples from what you read during the previous lesson.

The natural environment enables mummification. For example, it is impossible for a corpse to be mummified in a tropical rain forest. However, with hot climates like what the Ancient Egyptians had, mummifying would be easier and a common thing to do. You could also mummify someone in a very cold climate, such as the Andes mountains in Chile. These natural environments could preserve bodies naturally.

What are the reasons mummies are made? Mummies are made for a lot of reasons. They are thought to be a way to give people an eternal life. If you lost a loved a loved one, it would be a lot more comforting to know that they are not going anywhere and that by mummifying them you are preserving their sole. Also, people were really fascinated with the idea of an afterlife. They wanted to preserve the bodies so that they had a chance at another good life in the afterlife. Although, not all mummification were not an act of love. In places like England there have been sightings of mummies that had been exicuted and their bodys had been thrown in the bog. Some still had ropes tied around their necks. There have also been frozen bodies found on the ops of mountains that would have probably been sacrificed.

First Empire project

This is a poster Blaise, Marko, and I have made for our first empire project. We studied the Phoenicians and made a play and the poster (above).

End of Unit Reflection

a) The domestication of Plants and Animals

What was one of the biggest steps in the growth of civilization? Definitely the domestication of plants and animals. It gave us humans a way to educate ourselves how to master the environment whom was surrounding our ancestors. Once they determined how to achieve this, they acquired an established food supply, usually possessing extra. Because people didn't have to work as hard to find food, they had time for specialization and division of labor.

b) The transition from hunter-gatherer communities to the first civilizations
Hunter-gatherers didn't have very secure ways of living. They followed the food, instead of making the food follow them. The transition to civilizations was easier and more comfortable. This way they had time to pursue other interests, they always had stable food supplies, and life became more predictable.

c)

Many different civilizations had their own perspective about whom or what they worshiped. Some cultures were polytheism which meant they believed in more than God. This then led to the subject of social classes, this started off with the priests. Many times they sacrificed people and animals to please the Gods.

2. Imagine someone saying to you, "Learning about the Sumerians isn't very
important since they're long gone!" What would you tell them in order to change their mind? Learning about the first ever civilization is important so that we can learn about how we began to settle and survive the world around us. History is like a big puzzle, and only once we find all of the pieces can we truly see the whole picture. Sumerians seemed to be the first real smart people who actually thought for themselves.