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

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

Hapi the God of the Nile

The Nile was a very important part in the lives of ancient Egyptians. The Nile was the reason an advanced civilization survived for 3,000 years. The Nile affected many of the ancient Egyptian’s activities such as their way of governing, their religious beliefs and how they farmed. The Nile not only directed the way of life, but it also brought people together.

 Egyptians worshiped the Nile, they thought it was so great that they created a religion that revolved around the precious river. However, the Nile wasn’t perfect, like most things in life. During the year the Nile would flood, sometimes too much and sometimes too little. When the water swelled too much, problems were created. Sometime the crops would be washed away, or people and livestock would be drowned. When the Nile didn’t flood enough the farm land would become parched and unusable, crops would not be able to grow. These problems both farmers in upper and lower Egypt had. They decided to take care of the problem together, instead of doing it alone. This brought people together, working in order to make their life easier. As a result it worked! They created a calendar, organized seasons and improved irrigation systems. This was the start to the world’s first nation-state.  

The calendar that the ancient Egyptians created!

On the other hand, rivers, lakes and other natural formations isolated the ancient Egyptians at first. In the beginning ancient Egyptians were grouped in nomes. They were isolated from each other because the natural formations and distance. By 3500 B.C all the little villages were joined together creating two large kingdoms. Before this unification, Egypt’s little villages were isolated from each other because of the distance between the villages. Then at the time of 3000 B.C upper Egypt and Lower Egypt were all in one nation-state. The Egyptians decided to join together to make one great nation. This happened because of one long river… The Nile.

Geography of the Nile River

Geography of the Nile River

1.       Describe the climate zone/biome of the Nile River area.

Along the vast lands of Egypt a lone river meanders its way to the sea. The Nile River is the longest river in the whole world; it travels through nine countries then making its way up to the Nile Delta where it releases itself into the Mediterranean Sea. The climate around the Nile consists of two very different climates. The southern part of the Nile (in countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya) has a very moist climate, during the year the area endures many weeks of heavy rain.  This compared to the northern part of the Nile (in such countries as Sudan and Egypt) has little or no rainfall during the year. However, October through May the northern and southern regions of the Nile have a very dry period. The northern region of the Nile is considered very hot and barren; this part of the Nile has the desert biome. The southern region of the Nile includes a tropical region; the humidity is very intense and often times the area receives about 50 inches of water annually.

2.       List the vegetation and natural resources available.

The Nile provides a bountiful amount of natural fertilizer every year. The Nile’s yearly flood has been one of the main reasons why the Egyptian civilization was able to stay self- sustainable for many years. Some of the vegetation that surrounds the Nile on the southern region is the native Palm Tree, this tree is very important to the desert environment, it provides sweet dates. Also a tree called the Samwa, archaeologists say the ancient Egyptians used this tree for medicine. Some other plants and vegetation that are found near the Nile are the:

·         Rubber Tree

·         Bamboo

·         Papyrus, a reed that was used to make paper.

·         Fig trees

·         Mango trees

·         The Lotus flower- which is a very important type of Egyptian Flower found in the Nile region.

3.       Explain how water, mud, plants, and animals were all “gifts of the Nile” to the Egyptians

 Egypt is a very hot and dry desert except one river that goes right up the middle. The Nile River is claimed to be a “gift from the gods” because of large amount of water it gives to Egypt and other surrounding countries. If it weren’t for the Nile the land would be dry and barren, lifeless. The Nile provides Egyptians with an abundant amount of water.  This is then irrigated to different farms surrounding the river, which creates nutritious food. On a yearly basis the Nile is flooded from the rains; it swells with water and dumps it on the land. Not only water is dumped but fertile silt is also deposited making the land a very rich with minerals which creates wonderful crops.  Over thousands of years the Nile has changed its shape and size, but it has never has changed its purpose, which is to fertilize the land. Without this the Nile many years of history would be lost. 

Here is a Prezi that I created about the Geography of the Nile River:

Geography of the Nile River Area on Prezi

http://prezi.com/nb8270sj8pgn/geography-of-the-nile-river-area/

Sites Used:

"The Nile River." Egypt Travel, Tours, Vacations, Ancient Egypt from Tour Egypt. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. .

"The Nile River: Facts, Resources, and Information | TheFreeResource.com." The Free Resource: Educational Resources, Verifiable Facts & Research. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. .

"Egypt - Nature." Dr. GÜNTHER EICHHORN - Home Page. Web. 28 Mar. 2011.

Traveling down the Nile in Ancient Egypt

Looking out off the deck into the setting sun, I feel the sun’s energy warm my face. I sedately walk to the bench; I slowly sit as my bones ach from time spent in the heat of the sun. I feel the rock of the gentle waves pass through the hull of the boat. The calm wind lifts my sun bleached hair and then calmly puts it back in place. I see out into the horizon, miles and miles of a dense blue road, everlasting.

 Looking out on the sides of ‘road’ the scenery changes every second. One moment there might be a bountiful amount of date trees, another moment there might be a barren waste land. Still I gaze upon the scenery for hours, never, ever board. We are traveling down from Memphis all the way to Aswan; we are about half way there. Traveling up stream is a lot harder, yet we have made pretty good time. I am going to meet my great uncle; he says he has someone that I am going to marry. I remember six summers ago when I was 7 my mother taught me about the ways of marriage. Now I am finally going, nervous but ready to be a full grown woman. Thankfully, Abir, my servant will occupancy me in my first meeting of my new husband. 

Captain Syed says we will be there in a matter of three whole nights. I disagree, since we are going up stream. None of my opinions will be heard though. I lean into the wind when smelling the fresh baladi bread coming out of the oven. I sigh as this will be one of the last times I will be able to be alone outside. I step into the fading sun one last time, just before I go down into the darkness, for I am a grown woman.

I want My Mummy! (Part 2)

1.What is the relationship between mummification and the natural environment? Provide specific examples from what you read during the previous lesson (Monday, March 14)
Mummification can come about either in the natural environment- the definition of mummification is: the preservation of a corpse which has been preserved either by the natural environment or humans. In ancient Egypt there were many different mummies found in different tombs. The Egyptians preserved the body by wrapping it in many linen clothes, this of course was done by man. Around the world there has findings of mummies in muddy bogs, in the cold ice and in the hot desert.These are examples of mummification in the natural environment. Otzi was a mummy that we learned about in the beginning of the year, he was found in the ice. His body was preserved by the cold and the ice. Scientists are now learning about the people back then. Mummies are a great primary resource, they are able to show us what they eat, what their lifestyle was like and much more!

2. What are some of the reasons,mummies have been made?
Mummies were not only man made, some of the mummies were naturally mummified. The people who actually mummified the mummies want to give the dead person an afterlife. Afterlife was very important in many years ago, especially to the Egyptians. They not only wanted a peaceful afterlife but they wanted an abundant afterlife. Many times they would write on the wall what they wanted, kind of like a restaurant order. The Egyptian did not have a long life span, sometime the average life was only about 20 years. For a king that is a lot of years because usually they would start ruling at a very young age. The Egyptians want to preserve the bodies so that the king would have a abundant and peaceful afterlife, and so he would grant the people on earth a good harvest.

This is the outside case of King Tut in the Egyptian Museum

I want my Mummy!

Words that are Unknown to Me

Cryonics- is the freezing of the body just after they died, this is done to prevent the decomposing of the body.

Cadavers- is a dead body used as a research for science.

Transgressions- The violation of a law or moral principal.

What is a Mummy?

A mummy is an ancient cadaver whose soft tissue has partially or wholly resisted decay. 

In what parts of the world have mummies have been found?

Mummies have been found all over the world, the oldest mummy dates back to 7,000 years ago. The mummy was found in Northern Chile, called a Chinchorro. Many have also been found in Egypt, Asia and Europe.
 2. In what types of places (physical geography and climate) have mummies been found?
Some have been preserved in the frozen climate. An example of this is Ozi, the mummy that we learned about in the beginning of the year. He was preserved in the ice. In England and nothern Europe, many thousands of mummies have been found in bogs, which are mossy muddy lakes. Also in Egypt, mummies have been found in the sand, all dried up from the dense heat. 

3. How did Ancient Egyptians preserve their dead?
The process of the mummification was a very long process, if I remember correctly it took the 40 days to mummify a person. The ancient Egyptians took out the vital organs first and put them into specific jars, then they soaked the body in various liquids, finally wrapping the body in several different linens.   

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. Many times they would draw/write what they wanted on the walls of their tomb to represent what they were going to get in their afterlife. The reason why many of the Egyptian tombs were robbed was because the ancient Egyptians placed not only food in the tombs but also different symbolic objects that they would like in their after life. 

This is an image of Egyptian afterlife

5. What features of the natural environment can cause bodies to be mummified unintentionally?
The cold mummified the bodies by freezing the organs and skin, the cold preserved the different parts of the body that would decayed in in a normal climate. In Egypt the heat and dryness of the sand preserve the bodies by drying all the things in the body that would have decayed otherwise. The Bog mummies are bodies that are naturally preserved by the wet and muddy bogs in places like England, Ireland and Florida. The bog is a great way to preserve bodies because it is so natural that it preserves the brain. Which is a great help to archaeologists and scientists. 

6. According to current scientific beliefs, what are some reasons people were intentionally mummified?
Many of the mummies were used as a sacrifice to the gods. Many mummies around the world were found to have characteristics that showed that mummies were sacrificed to the gods. Other times the ancient people wanted to preserve the bodies because they believed in after life. Or other times archaeologists think that the bodies were killed and then mummified because of they violated a law or a moral principal- an act of transgression.


List at least five questions that you would ask about a place to determine whether it might be a promising location to find human mummies. You r questions should related to climate, culture, religion and other factors that you think are important. 

1. What is the climate like in the area? Does the area have a cold, dry or wet climate? 
2. What are the different types of tribes that used to live in this area?
3. If there were different tribes, did they have a specific religion?
4. Have there been other findings of mummies in this area?
5. Does the ancient tribe or civilization have any very specific traditions?

Phoenicians- Group Project

Here is our project of Mesopotamia: The First Empires
My group was Roy, Marko and I. We research about Phoenician Empire.