Michaelm12's Blog

ID Terms 5,6

michaelm12 — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:17:13 +0000

5. As much of Southern Mesopotamia declined, trade shifted upriver to cities like babylon. As the Assyrian Empire grew, the Babylonians came under Assyrian rule, but the Babylonians wanted to keep their independence and frequently tried to reclaim it. In 689 B.C.E., Sennacherib attempted to stop the Babylonians’ revolting by destroying much of the city and killing its citizens. In 649 B.C.E. Ashurbanipal supposedly deported supposedly deported half a million people from their homes and sacrificed many others to his grandfather; however, the Assyrian empire extended its borders too far and crumbled due to attacks by multiple enemies. In the late 600s B.C.E., Nabopolassar (who claimed he had defeated Assyria) attempted to revive Babylon. The Babylonians went on to take over the spot the Assyrians had left as a major Empire. Babylon achieved its highest level of fame, under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar from 605-562 B.C.E. He attacked the kingdom of Judah, destroyed King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem, deported the Jews into exile, and fought of the Egyptians at Carchemish in Palestine. He was more famed for his building projects, however, which included the “hanging” gardens of Babylon and city walls wide enough to race four chariots on. He was thought of as a restorer of ancient glories due to his rebuilding of old structures all over Mesopotamia. after Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, the Babylonian Empire began to decline. After five centuries and many battles with Egypt to replace Assyria, Babylon had virtually been destroyed by invaders.

6. During the early parts of the first millennium B.C.E. Greece was in a state of poverty. Greece attempted to improve its economic situation through industry and trade. the Greeks exported pots and olive oil (olives were the only product they could grow enough of to sell). Olive oil was a good product for export. Its care was seasonal and left plenty of time for seafaring. Olives also survived well at high altitudes and poor soil, both of which were very common in Greece’s environment. Olive oil’s uses included: fuel for lamps, cleaning the body (soap did not exist), and the addition of fat and flavor to the diet. Because the Greeks needed to be close to the sea to export their products, Greek cities were appearing around the Mediterranean, Black, Aegean, and Ionian Seas shortly after the middle of the eight century. Trade was quickly becoming the Greeks’ major business. Merchants and explorers were used as heroes by Greek authors. Some states constructed larger ships, enabling them to bring more products with them to trade, and introduced their own coinage.

Research Question Source

michaelm12 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:14:32 +0000

My source was a short article over the Hittite Empire focusing mainly on how the Hittites came to power, what resources, ideologies, and actions made them so succesful as an empire, and what happened to the remnants of their empire after they fell. Because the article comes from a tertiary source, ABC-CLIO Social Studies Databases, the authors attempt to only state facts about the Hittites and avoid saying anything biased or opinionated. For instance, When the authors write, “The Hittite kingdom recognized a supreme ruler, but a strong aristocracy made absolute rule difficult,” they describe the Hittites’ system of government, but they do their best to avoid influencing the readers’ opinions by keeping their own opinions out. In a primary or secondary source written by an author who opposed monarchies, however, the sentence might have read, “unfortunately, the Hittite kingdom recognized a supreme ruler, but thankfully, a strong aristocracy made absolute rule difficult.” In this example, the writer would be attempting to impose his views against rule by one person on the reader by writing negatively about the supreme ruler and positively about the aristocrats working against absolute rule. Despite all of the attempts by the authors to keep the article over the Hittites unbiased, it is still not a truly unbiased source, because creating an unbiased source is literally impossible. Even an author’s noun and verb choices influence the readers’ opinions a little bit. The differences between words like ”monarch” and “tyrant” are small, but they are thought of slightly differently by people anyway. The inability to write a truly unbiased source is simply a limitation of the English language.

Timeline 2500-1500 B.C.

michaelm12 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:42:40 +0000

Year (B. C. E.)	Major Events
2500	Harkhuf brings back treasures to Egypt from three expeditions to Central Africa, Egypt expands southward
2000	First palace-storehouses arise in Crete, Egypt begins to try to influence or control the Nubian state
1800	Hatti begins developing into an Empire, Colonists from Ashur found Kanes in Anatolia, Iron in use, some Harrapan cities are abandoned
1500	Hatti is around its peak as an empire, Thera is blown apart by a volcanic eruption, Hykos conquer Egypt, fortified cities appear on Peloponnese, fortified cities and gold-rich royal tombs of Mycenean civilization begin to appear, invaders who destroyed Harrapan civilization begin to appear in Punjab, settlement where rights of victory were celebrated exists in Cerro Sechin, Tut-mose I conquers kingdom of Kush and makes Nubia a colonial territory

Diamond vs. Conrad-Demarest

michaelm12 — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:56:04 +0000

During Jared Diamond’s lesson, he focuses primarily on the external factors of societies’ collapses. In his five point plan he lists the reasons behind a civilization’s fall: human’s impact on the enviornment, climate change, interactions with friendly neighbors, interactions with hostile neighbors, and political, social, and economic factors. while the political, social, and economic factors category is more internal than the other factors, none of the other four have much to do with a society’s ideology, values, and culture at all. The Conrad-Demarest Theory, on the other hand, actually states that some of the key factors behind keeping an empire from falling are changes in millitary and empire building ideologies.

Great Floodplains Outline

michaelm12 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:06:43 +0000

The Great Floodplains

The Ecology of Egypt

Marshy environment affects wildlife/food source in the southern delta

Egypt lays mostly South (upriver) of the Delta

Rain is rare in Egypt

The Nile River greatly affects the wildlife of Egypt

Floods fertile soil to grow plants in
Because the floods are normally regular, growing seasons are planned around the Nile’s floods
Provides most of the water for Egypt

Many microclimates exist due to the Nile

economy based on everyday abundance (garuntees basic nutrition for a large population)

surplus of food generates economy through trade

Shifting Rivers of the Indus Valley

not much is known about the early phases (water eliminated its evidence) or the literate period (scholars have not translated their language)

culture may have died out, because the Indus and Saraswati Rives were more unpredictable than the Nile

both rivers flooded twice a year

Fierce Nature in Early Mesopotamia

fierce climate affects environment

The Good Earth of Early China

more isolated than other civilizations

similar environment leads to similar development to other civilations

land was like a savanna

Rice did not become a main food product until other areas were populated

Armesto’s View on Humans vs. Pop. Culture/History’s

michaelm12 — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:38:32 +0000

Armesto’s description of humans differs from popular culture’s and most historian’s views, because while popular culture and most historians tend to place humans in a category superior to animals, Armesto takes a more scientific approach and focuses on analyzing the characteristics that scientists would focus on with any other animal (ability to obtain food, avoid predators, adapt to environmental changes etc…). Popular Culture and most historians avoid thinking of Humans and animals as part of the same family. Instead, they tend to focus on our “human” qualities like intelligence, artistic ability, and personality. It is unpleasant to them to put humans on the same level with uncivilized, wild animals. Armesto, however, routinely compares humans to animals in The World, and even points out many of the disadvantages we had against animals in a more primitive society. He provides a view that may be unpleasant, but has more accuracy than most historians’ views. Armeto’s views on humans differ from most peoples’.

Chapter 1 Question Breakdow

michaelm12 — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:30:48 +0000

How does the tension and deep-seated conflict created over the issue of evolution reveal some of the methodological rifts between history and other disciplines?

Research background information about evolution.
Research tension and conflict over evolution.
Research history’s methods
Research other disciplines’ methods.
Analyze differences between history’s methods and other disciplines’ methods
Analyze how the conflict over evolution reveals some of the methodological rifts between history and other disciplines
Create a response to the question with the information you have found.

How does Fernández-Armesto’s description of humans throughout the chapter (e.g on p. 9 “In this environment…”particular kind of habitat”; p. 14 “Creatures like us…”) reflect a different treatment and tone toward humans than the one typically found in history texts (and popular culture)?

Read and analyze Fernández-Armesto’s description of humans in the chapter.
Research the view about humans displayed in history texts and popular culture
Analyze the differences between the two opinions about the treatment and tone towards humans.
Create a response to the question with the information you have found.

What drove the great human migrations and how did this great migration of Homo Sapiens change the way in which human societies expanded, interacted with one another, and defined gender roles?

Research background information about the great human migration.
Research what drove the great human migration
Research how human societies expanded, interacted with one another, and defined gender roles at the time of the migration.
Analyze how the great human migration influenced influenced these changes.
Create a response to the question with the information you have found.

People of the Book

michaelm12 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:44:19 +0000

Michael McGarry

Honors World History

Mr. Kogan

9/1/09

Seminar

Opening Question: Why do some people go to great extents to save something, while others try extremely hard to destroy the same item

Core Question 1: Why does Brook’s arrange the novel’s chapters so they alternate every other chapter between Hanna’s life and the story behind the objects she finds?

Core Question 2: How does Isak’s decision to drown himself and his sister affect our view of his character, emotions, and values?

Core Question 3: How does Hanna’s coarse relationship with her mother affect her relationships with other people and her own character?

Closing Question: In People of the Book, Hannah discovers items in the Haggadah and uses them as tools to discover the path the book followed to end up with her; however, she never discovers the interesting stories that lie behind the items that we as readers know. How does Hanna not discovering these stories relate to how even the most insignificant items in the world have a story behind them.

Sources Historians Use

michaelm12 — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:26:10 +0000

Historians have a very interesting and unique job unlike almost any other in the world. In their attempt to find out what happened hundreds, thousands, and even millions of years ago, they have to sort through primary, secondary, and tertiary sources, decide if the authors are biased in any way or not, determine if the information is true and well thought out, try to eliminate their own biases… the list goes on and on. As you can see their are many hurdles that historians have to pass in their efforts to find what is really true. Even the type of story or book they are writing can change the filter they have to put their information through. While a first person account would be completely applicable in a story about a horrifying bombing like Hiroshima, in a book about a more primitive time in history where writings would be extremely basic if existent at all, historians would have to rely more on what evidence they could find that did not exist in writing, like ancient artifacts that could help define an ancient society’s culture.

History Prompt

michaelm12 — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:12:34 +0000

History is the study of people, civilizations, relationships, events, objects, and discoveries in Earth’s past, and how these parts shape the story of our past. It is important to study history, because we can benefit from copying things that were succesful in the past and not repeating things that resulted in failures. By analyzing situations from our past, we can anticipate how situations in today’s world may turn out, and either prevent them if we believe the result will not turn out well, or push the situation along if we believe it will result in something beneficial. The most important thing that humanity can do with knowledge of the past is learn from the millions of attempts to improve humanity by people who came before us.