Ancient Egypt Research Project

Intro to Hinduism and Buddhism

Intro to Hinduism and Buddhism

In our next Ancient History unit we went over two religions that started in India, Hinduism and Buddhism. For the Hindus there is no date of origin because it started so long ago there are no records of its beginning and the Hindus make up the 3^rd largest religion in the world. The Buddhist religion started in approximately 560 B.C. and it is still going today, the Buddhist religion makes up the 4^th largest religion in the world. The ultimate goal for the Hindus is moksha which is the perfect state of enlightenment which breaks the chain of reincarnations, also you have to achieve the union of atman with Brahman and follow dharma and have good karma. The ultimate goal for the Buddhist is Nirvana which is the perfect state of enlightenment which breaks the chain of reincarnations, blissful nothingness and a release from suffering and desire. Two major ways these religions are different is that Hinduism has no founder or date and the Buddhists have Siddhartha Gautama as their founder and a date of 560 B.C., also the Hindus follow many gods and the Buddhists have no gods.

Hindu gods, Fantastic India, http://myfantasticindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/hinduism1.jpg, 17 January 2018

The key beliefs for the Hindus is to worship Brahman, Brahma, Vishnu, Ganesha, Shiva, and etc. and they don’t have any other leaders except gods. The Hindus attitude toward the caste system is like Sumer where the wealthy rule and the untouchables can’t be touched. The Buddhist beliefs include listening to the Buddha and the Buddhists attitude toward the caste system is the Buddhists trying to escape it. The sacred texts of the Hindus are the Upanishads, Tripitaka and the eightfold path. The ultimate goal for the Hindus is to unite your soul with Brahman. The goal of the Buddhists is to become enlightened like the Buddha. I invite you to read my complete comparison essay on my Indus Valley page.

buddhism, Follow CN,http://buddha.followcn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/buddhafghf68.jpg, 17 January 2018

Intro to Mesopotamia

In the Mesopotamia unit we studied over 6 civilizations that ruled Mesopotamia and they are the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Hittites, Assyrians, and Chaldean's. An interesting thing about the Sumerians was that they were the first civilization to live in Mesopotamia, the Akkadians started the first empire and dynasty, the Babylonians were the first people to create a code of laws and some of those laws we still abide by today, the Hittites were the first people to smelt iron which helped them rule Mesopotamia for over 200 years, the Assyrians created a library with over 22,000 clay tablets that we can use to learn more about the past in Mesopotamia, lastly the Chaldean's were the people who made the hanging gardens of Babylon for the queen who was homesick. In my opinion the Sumerians were the most important civilization to live in Mesopotamia because they made so many inventions and came up with so many ideas that all the rest of the civilizations adopted and adapted to. I chose this group because without the Sumerians Mesopotamia history and even our century would be different. The Chaldean's came up with the solar year which is important because we use the solar year today. I chose this group because time would different and we might not be studying the stars if it was not for the Chaldean's. It is important to study these civilizations because without them we would not know where some of our history came from. I invite you if you want to learn more about this topic to read my summaries from the Mesopotamia section on the right.

Chaldean's, crystalinks, http://www.crystalinks.com/Chaldeansoldier.jpg, 6 December 2017

Standard of Ur from Sumerians, CND History, http://cdn.history.com/sites/2/2015/12/GettyImages-152204325.jpg, 6 December 2017

Introduction to Archaeology

Before I talk about this unit I want to invite you to my prehistory page on the right side of my blog. At the beginning of this unit I didn’t know what to expect because I had never learned anything about prehistory. I learned a lot about prehistory and we did it in a fun and interactive way. In this unit we learned about how you dig in a site, how a site is considered a site, the animals Wichita has discovered, the places and things Wichita has discovered, where Kansas was 80 million years ago, we went to the WSU anthropology building, listened to Mr. Elmore and the city archaeologists presentations, and etc. This unit was exciting and entertaining till the very end. the best part of the archaeology unit was when we went to the WSU anthropology building and learned about forensic anthropology because I like mysteries.

Archaeology, the graduate center, https://www.gc.cuny.edu/CUNY_GC/media/CUNY-Graduate-Center/Images/Programs/Anthropology/archaeology_460x305.jpg, 13 November 2017.

Ancient History Timeline Project

Introduction to Prehistory

prehistory, Archaeosoup, http://archaeosoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Prehistory.jpg, 1 November 2017

Prehistory means, before written records and the time period of prehistory is the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and the Neolithic ages. Three things we did as a class during the prehistory unit are that we went on a virtual field trip spelunking in Lascaux, Chauvet, and Altamira which are all caves. Also we watched an Ape Man Video and did a paper with questions about the video including what happened. Another thing we did was make a timeline with all the things we had talked about so far like the different ages, what happened during the time period, and what hominids lived during the different time periods. My favorite activity was the virtual spelunking because it was an activity with a group and it was easy to do.The most important thing I learned from this unit was the different ages because without knowing that I would't know much about prehistory. I invite you to look at my prehistory page to look at my summaries and essays if you want to know more about this topic.

Chinese Calendar

The Chinese started out following the Gregorian calendar, but that was changed in 104 B.C.E. during the Han Dynasty. The Calendar is used for more than one quarter of the world and it marks traditional festivals and memorial days. People who follow the calendar usually choose a special day to have a wedding, child birth, and funeral. The first written sources were found during the Shang dynasty in the 14 century and they were found on oracle bones. Through the centuries many astronomical and seasonal markers have been added. The official calendar today was brought into accord with the Gregorian calendar. The Chinese calendar is based on astronomical cycles, that means a day is a rotation of the earth, an orbit around the moon is a month, and an orbit around the sun is a year. 

from Dig magazine