China Map Activity

• What effect does the physical feature  of china have on its early development?

 China’s lands are bordered on the east by the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. Deserts edge the northern and western lands. To the north is the Gobi Desert and to the west lies the Taklimakan Desert. The Pamir, Tian Shan, and Himalaya mountain ranges form a tight curve on the western border.Unlike the regions of the Nile and Fertile Crescent, where civilizations interacted with each other, China was geographically isolated. The huge mountain chains, vast deserts, and large expanses of water made the spread of ideas and goods to China difficult. As a result, Chinese civilization developed along very distinct lines.

Thoughts and Reflections: Mother Cow

Mother Cow

              Since tractors are rare in India oxen are used to plow and pull carts and cows are needed to breed the oxen . Cows also provide milk and farmers consider cows as pets.  Cow dung has lots of different functions.  If you mix dung with water it turns into a paste which can be used as a floor in a house.  Dung are also used for cooking and as a fertilizer for plants. Cows turn waste products on farms and in cities into dung.  Cow hides from dead cows are used to make leather.  They people who make the leather sell the meat from the dead cows to Muslims and Christians. The author feels like the real economic reason why cows are sacred is because when there is a famine the cows need to be kept alive.  If the cows are eaten during a famine there won't be any cows left after the famine ends.  If they eat the cows now to keep from starving they but starve later because there won't be any cows left.  In America there are huge mechanized dairy farms where each cow provides a lot of milk.  India there are a lot of small farms with only one or two cows where each cow only provides a little milk.  American farms require a lot of energy while Indian farms use very little.  India is more environmentally friendly because they use natural resources to maintain their farms and use no chemicals.  America uses a lot of artificial hormones and chemicals for farming. Indians use their cows more efficiently than because they use almost no artificial fertilizer and energy. Eating meat is not an efficient way to make food.  In India they eat very little meat.  

Citations: http://adaggyblog.wordpress.com/

               http://andreas.com/india.html

Map of India and Indus Valley

Thoughts and Reflections: Caste System

               

Caste

       The caste system in India is a class structure where you caste is determined by birth.  You have the same occupation as your parents.  However if you can't earn a living in the profession of your caste you might have to earn a living in a profession of some other lower caste. You can only change your caste when you are born into your next life.  India is a huge country where the caste system gives everybody responsibilities and brings order to a chaotic environment. The caste system lets everybody feel like they're  part of a team. Supposedly people should accept their position in caste system which would make everybody work hard, be happy and live in peace. The caste system got to India because India was conquered many times by other civilizations over 3,000 years and each conqueror would impose his own class over the newly conquered people.  Today the lower castes are given privileges or preferences by the government for education and government jobs. This makes people in the lower castes  want to be part of the caste system  in order to have an education and get government jobs. Many of the Brahmans who don't get the jobs then go overseas to find better opportunities.

Digital Scrapbook Entry #3- Mesopotamia

Current event: http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/retaliation.htm
Past event: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/hamcode.asp

Retaliation in the Hamurabbi and Sharia Code

Retaliation, sometimes called "an eye for an eye", makes up a large part of Sharia Laws. In Sharia Law the injured party can usually forgo retaliation. In situations were retaliation is not possible or workable Sharia Law frequently proscribes very harsh punishments.  For example a thief might have his hand cut off for stealing something small if he can't make a payment satisfactory to the owner. One problem with retaliation is that the punishment is often irreversible. As an example if a suspected killer is executed and it turns out later he wasn't the killer then it's to late and an innocent man is dead. Sharia Law often makes compensation as alternative to retaliation. But if you are a poor person you are out of luck. Except for the death penalty almost all of western law has moved away from retaliation as a form of justice.

By writing down what will happen in different situations Hammurabi's Code tries to prevent injuries from escalating out of control. Before Hammurabi's code family members of the injured party often retaliated with greater harm than the original injury.  For example retaliating to a slap with a knife. This would go back and fourth until great damage was done.  Hammurabi's Code would try to prevent such disputes for escalating . The code specifies a number of penalties for different crimes, making the punishment predictable in an effort to reduce crime and keep the punishment appropriate to the seriousness of the crime.  However for many crimes death was the penalty.  Much of the code had to with the contracts, trade and dealing with slaves. The fact that Hammurabi's code was written down made it possible for the government to settle disputes instead of the two parties and to predict how the government would handle different situations as they arose.  

Hammurabi's code is mostly remembered because it was the first formulation of laws which written down.   Before the laws were written down they were subject to change at the whim of the ruler. An "an eye for an eye" is the most famous of Hammurabi's laws.  Nowadays in most societies instead using the "an eye for an eye", the damaged party can do the following.  One is be given money  appropriate for the damage suffered.  Second is to ignore the damage and do nothing.  The third is to forgive the the other party. In some Muslims societies under Sharia Law "an eye for an eye" is still being practiced in some situations. In 2005, a Iranian court ordered a man's eye to be removed for throwing acid on another man and blinding him in both eyes. Hammurabi's "an eye for an eye" tried to limit escalating retribution but Sharia Law often seems to have forgotten this principle and calls for a hand to be cut off.  It also calls for women to be stoned to death for what it says are capital crimes, such as adultery, but which are not crimes at all in most Western countries.

Citations:

• http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs6/i/2005/051/a/1/An_Eye_for_an_Eye____by_POLangevin.jpg
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Code-de-Hammurabi-1.jpg
• http://img2.imagesbn.com/p/2940013123205_p0_v1_s260x420.JPG

Current Event Article:

 The law of retaliation in the Quran and early Islam
James M. Arlandson
Link:http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/retaliation.htm


Ancient Article:

Code of Hammurabi, c. 1780 BCE

 July 31, 2013-
By: Claude Hermann Walter Johns
Link:http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/hamcode.asp

My Egyptian Sarcophagus

                  

          My sarcophagus is important because it will help me through afterlife as it is scripted with hieroglyphics, amulets, and good luck charm. The infinity symbol is an abstract concept describing something without any limit. The eyes of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, royal power and good health. Ankh is the symbol of eternal life. The scarab beetle is a good luck symbol of rebirth. The door is important because it's the only way spirits could re-enter the sarcophagus. Nobody wants to die. Everybody would like to live forever. If you can believe in afterlife, then you can believe that you can live forever. 

My thumbnails.

My name in Hieroglyphics.

                                                                      My Sarcophagus.

Thoughts and Reflections: A light that did not fail.

• Why was Mesopotamia so ethnically diverse?

Mesopotamia is ethnically diverse because the first people that set up an empire in Mesopotamia were the Assyrians, and it was Alexander the great who brought Greek cultures into the region. As a result , the cultures of Mesopotamia are defined by the long line of diverse people who have ruled this land between rivers.  Mesopotamia had many conquerors, who contributed to its culture.

• What were the the basic feature and enduring cultural values of ancient Mesopotamia civilization?

Equality of individuals before the laws of gods and men implies , furthermore , a measure of personal dignity and security. This encouragement ages in turn a sense of personal property. In Egypt , where ten Pharaoh was god and an solute master of all he surveyed , the individual technically could call nothing his own. Mesopotamia it was the natural things for ruler to pay the current price for anything he wished to acquire.

• Why did the ancient mesopotamians build their cities over and over in the same place?

The reasons are simple. The first settler would choose a site which had a good water supply and whose location was convenient for agricultural and commercial needs. The initial advantages of an environment remained attractive after the 1st town had been destroyed by fire, flood and war. But the main reason is that it was a desire to follow, wherever possible, the outlines of the  old buildings, particularly temples, in order to earn the protection of the gods and spirits that the precious town had propitiated.

Citations: http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/m/images/mesapot_sargon_khorsab_lg.jpg