More Tests!

Today in class we started off slow. We went over more answers. We had a shadow today in class and his name CJ. It was Jordan's shadow and he was a basketball player. We joked around with him. Mr.Schick surprised us with donuts!  They were so yummy! After finishing going over our past tests we went over our project. Some people switch, but most people kept theirs. I kept mine because I think it was be pretty fun to do. After that we did that Mr.Schick went around and asked each of us what our project is on. We had to share some of our ideas. I think I'm going to dress up and do a cool PowerPoint.

Project .... Yay, NOT

Today in class Mr. Schick told us about the project we are going to be doing. I got Greek army/ Battles. I hope it isn't to hard. I want to get a great grade on this project. I can do the following things:
- Bring Video
- PowerPoint
- Weapons
- Name what they did to prepare
- Things they used
- Act things out
- Write paper
I want to think of something creative! Anyways, after that we went over our quizzes we took. I got an A on the test so i am pretty happy! We talked about the answers and went over things. It was a fun class!

POP QUIZ

Today in class we had a "pop" quiz. I already knew about it and Mr.Schick warned us, but I'm sure some people didn't know about it. It was 29 multiple choice questions. I think it was worth about 58 points or so. A lot of people asked Mr.Schick if he would give them something so they could bring their grade up. I didn't really want to have a quiz because I am happy with my grade, but oh well. We could use our blogs for help so it wasn't to bad. I hope i did well and I hope everyone else did too!

Grades Are In!

Today in class we talked about our grades. He put in our grades on powerschool. Some are happy and some are very made. I'm pretty pleased actually.
Homer:            
Cleisthenes:            
Darius:
Pisistratus:         
Isagoras:                
Hippias:       
Pheidippides: 
tyrant:  is one who illegally seizes and controls a governmental power in a polis.            
hoplite:  small group of soldiers           
democracy:  is a legislative system in which all citizens exercise direct and equal participation in the development, proposal and passage of legislation into law.
agora:  was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states.            
acropolis: means "highest city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity. A wall.     
aristocracy:  is a form of government in which a few of the most famous citizens rule. 
frieze: Inner wall of the temple that had scalpure carve init. 

• When PERICLES Parthenon was built in 15 years people were shocked. 
• People were astonished! 
• Aspasia: the beautiful woman, but like a prostitute
• She would help Pericles a lot
• Tyra: Greek for companion 
• Tragedies were the favorite of shows that the Greeks watch
• Edopis was taken away from his parents at a young age; married his own mother without knowing it
• He cut out his eyes when he found out; killed his father without knowing it
•  found out he was having a sexual relationship and kids with his own mother; He cut out his eyes when he realized he was married to his mother
• He mother hung her stuff when she found out
• He was a great leader as well though
• hubris: the fatal flaw; people try to found out stuff that they don't want to know
• Theaters were built everyone
• Pericles wanted to make them the leader of the mediteranian 
• He wouldn't bring them glory, but death and the lost of their empire
• 431 B.C Pericles took the podium and told the Athenians with his plans
• He wanted to go to war with Sparta 
• Sparta was the only place that had the power like Athens
• Pericles was convinced it was time to take over Sparta
• The Athenians were down for it and wanted to
• Pericles knew this was going to be difficult
• He convinced the people to go to the harbor and leave all their things
• He was going to use the Athenian Nazy 
• They were going to make walls that will help block Sparta

Greece !

Today we started off class all fun! We were just joking around and talking. Then we got serious and started the video again.

• Themistocles was blunt; He learned his leadership where they had the meetings
• He began to build a bold and 
• Trieme: Boat that had power and speed; It stacked many men on three levels.
• They were expensive, narrow, and fast like a bullet
• 480 B.C the Athenians struck silver
• They wanted to divide the knew riches to themselves, but Themistocles wanted to spend the money on the boats
• He wanted to use it to battle Egina 
• He convinced the Athenians to build a huge army with 200 triemes 
• 486 B.C Xerxes (Themistocles son) took over after he died
• Xerxes began to build his army of 2 million men
• 480 B.C the Persian army sent out for Greece
• Xerxes was confident though and thought they could win this
• Athenians were panicking when they got news
• Oracle Delphi: it was where people came to ask questions
• It was the source of answer; Just a place people went 
• They asked what would happen and she said they wouldn't make it
• Themistocles didn't listen though; he kept believing
• "The wooden wall only should not fail"- Oracle
• He had the people evacuate for the first time. 
• Salamis is where Themistocles said to gather before battling
• He wanted everyone to go into exile; leave everything they had
• The Persians burned the temples and their meeting place
• They could see the fire from Salamis and wondered if they could ever go home
• Themistocles meet the other Greek leaders on the Island of Salamis 
• The Persians had gathered an army 4 times the size of Athens
• But Themistocles wanted to fight at see and he stuck to his guns
• strait of Salamis was where he wanted to fight (between)
• The Persians had lost 200 ships
• It was a stunning victory for the Greeks
• The game is over and the Greeks had won
• He convinced Athens to build a navy, leave their homes, fight at sea, etc.
• Themistocles ideas sounded crazy, but it worked
• He put Athens in a position where they can make an empire of their own
• Athens was out numbered 4 to 1 but they made the Persians suck
• Persians had to hurry home 
• Just a common guy did this;l it was a knew dawn
• They were the had of the Navel confederace and on the way to a super power
• Delian League: was an association of Greek city-states, members numbering between 150 to 173, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Plataea at the end of the Greco–Persian Wars.
• 450 B.C they had become Athens empire and had many men
  
• The Greeks had everything and were moving along 
• The still had democracy and used their pebbles
• Once a year they would pick a person to be ostrosized 
• They didn't want anyone to be to powerful; they would put someones name on a stone and who ever had the most votes was kicked out
• Themistocles was ostrozsized and kicked out; he wounded from state to state and died in Persia in exile 
• They wanted to find a new leader, PERICLES 
• He was the leader of Athens and was going to change everything forever!
• He was born into a one of Athens most elite family
• He knew what the people wanted; a city to fit a great empire
• Pericles announced a new idea to the people; 
• He wanted to make the best empire; he wanted to make Athens awesome
• He wanted the best art, everything; they had the money to do everything
• 20 years earlier they had defeated the Persians
• Pericles made a new partenon: gathering place?
• It was going to be huge, expensive, over 1 billion dollars 
• It was astonishing with a huge statue of Athena (40 ft. tall, gold, ivory, jewels)
• Frieze: marble that ran around the inner wall of the temple; 2 inches thick
• The monument still stands today
• Pericles divoced his wife an took off with an aspasia 
• Aspasia: a beautiful foreign born women thats job was an escort
• She was kind of a prostitute but brilliant
• They had a place where they had entertainment and did it 2 times a year
• The Greeks invented Drama 
• Commedy & Tradjecties  

Today in class we continued the movie. We proceeded to take important notes.

•  Pisistratus seized power by coming into Athens with a beautiful woman pretending to be Athenia and said let me be ruler; they went with it
• Cleisthenes was brought up as a ruler and an aristocrat
• Athens was rocked by an extraordinarily event
• The people put their destiny in their own hand
• They rose up in a revolution
• Isagoris the leader who took over after Hippias 
• The people rose up against the leaders and no one had ever done this in the past
• 508 B.C Athens was first made an empire
• The people siezed power from their rulers for the first time
• They wanted more freedom
• Ordinary people raised up and now the people turned to Cleisthenes
• They asked him to build an empire; He came back after the exile
• He had to design a revolutionary form of government 
• He had a meeting place called the agora where they had meetings and talked
• He created the simple vote; Black pebble & White pebble 
• They would gather of 9 days to talk about everything: war, taxes, roads, etc
• Anyone could talk and share their opinion except ... women
• They all were the government; It was a system of government that would transform everything
• A new generation would take up his legacy
• They had to defend their state from Persia 
• 490 B.C Pheidippides made one the biggest athletic achievements in history
• He home was going against the Persian's
• Athens was gaining power and the Persian's felt threatened
• Marathon: 26 miles from Athens, where the Persians landed
• The Persians were outnumbered 2 to 1
• People would just keep fighting and going
• They had to just keep pushing forward and moving your feet
• Hoplites: small group of soldiers
• Pheidippides ran 140 miles in just 2 days
• His quest ran in failer
• His fellow Athenians had to fight in hope
• He ran from Athens to Sparta to get help 
• The Spartans said no; they said it wasn;t their power
• The Persians had scattered
• 6000 Persians were killed in just 1 day
• Athens had made it through and brought a victory 
• Themistocles 

Movie Redo

Today in class we rewatched the movie we watch when Mr.Schick missed class. We are taking more notes this time. We are finding more information this time.

   508 B.C in Athens pandemonium ruled the streets. The people turned on their rulers. One man looked on, an Athenian noble, Cleisthenes. He was brought up as a leader. He was an aristocrat. He would see that these people should have freedom. He would set his fellow Greeks to an empire. 570 B.C he was born around. He was taught that he was an aristocrat. Athens was a little place. It was located in Greece (Helis). It wasn't a city you'd think would become an empire. It was built around an acropolis. Reading and writing was rare and life was tough. Life expectancy was less than 15 years. Athens had aristocrats holding power. The country was in the hands of a few people. The people had no share in anything. The people worked so hard for little money. Athens was mountainous and didn't have the unite. Greece was divided into city states each different. Athens was on of the little nations. Sparta had militay power. They were brought up to be a military man and lived away from their family. They had few of their own possessions. They conquered more than 4,000 sq miles around them. This was the world of Clesithenes childhood. He was fired be a dream. Their tales and story inspired him. Homer  Iliad.& Odyssey were two major stories. These were the stories of their people. They tell of battles and struggles. The poems were called epics. Images of heroes are all over Greek art. Wanted to seize power and victory for himself and become a real life hero. He was not the only one that took the tales to heart. Pisistratus was Clesithenes brother in law. He took power of Athens and brought Athenia with him. He was intelligent and knew he had to find allies. He reduced taxes and let people build up their farms. He began to transform Athens. He wants to get the support from the fellow Greeks. Greece had Persian Empire, Egypt and Italy around them. Athenians found their wealth on the rises. The vase was a big discover. Pottery makers didn't have much respect. They were at the lowest of the low. It wasn't a highly respected. The began to make a whole different style of painting on them. They are now with millions. Cleisthenes had seen how Athens changed. It was now a whole economic power. Pisistratus died 527 B.C & thats when Hippias took power. It was his son. His brother was murdered and killed the murders and tortued one of the wives. 514 B.C his brother died. Hippias started messing things up. He was paranoid and felt threatened. He father had a reason to come in power and he didn't. Cleisthenes tried to over throw Hippias. He was banished from Athens forever when he was over thrown. Cleisthenes was now one of the most powerful men.

• 508 B.C in Athens pandemonium ruled the streets
• Cleisthenes was brought up as a leader and an aristocrat.
•  570 B.C he was born around 
• Athens was located in Greece (Helis)
• It was built around an acropolis. 
• Reading and writing was rare and life was tough. 
• Life expectancy was less than 15 years. 
•  Sparta had militay power
• Sparta conquered more than 4,000 sq miles around them.
• Iliad is about the Trojan war. 
• Odyssey was about Odeyous 
• The poems were called epics
• Tyrant: one person who seized power and ruled. Isn't always bad. 
• Athenia patriant God of Athens. 
•  Pisistratus brother in law of Cleisthenes
• Gave people loans & cut taxes. He needed allies. 
• Vase invention. Used to ship things in it. 
• Hippas was brought into power after the death of Pisistratus 
• 527 B.C Pisistratus died.  Hippieas, his son took over.
• 514 B.C his brother was murdered and killed the murders and tortured one of the wives. 
• Cleisthenes wanted to throw him out of power
• He succeeded and banished Hippas
• They ostrosized and kicked out Hippias. 
• Cleisthenes was now a hero to all

First Missed Class :(

Today I had to miss class for my first lacrosse scrimmage of the season. I was happy I had a game, but upset that I had to miss class. I went to class for about 1 minute. I had to sign a get well card for Cole Bauer. We all hope he gets better soon! Anyways, I looked on some peoples blogs to see what I missed. I took some of the notes from people so that i would have them. We are still studying ancient Greece so thats what the following notes are on.

NOTES:
Location:

• Next to Italy and what is now Turkey
• Egypt is below it
• Sparta barely connected

Geography:

• Mountainous peninsula
• Mountains cover 3/4
• Approximately 1,400 islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas
• Location shaped its culture
• Skilled sailors
• Poor natural resources
• Difficult to unite the ancient Greeks because of the terrain; developed small, independent communities
• Approximately 20% suitable for farming
• Fertile valleys cover 1/4 of peninsula
• Because of geography the Greek diet consists of grains, grapes (wine), olives (olive oil, soap)
• All plants are healthy; in demand when trading
• Lack of resources most likely led to Greek colonization
• temperatures range from 48° on the winter to 80° in the summer 

Mycenaeans:

• Began around 2000 B.C.
• Mycenae is located on a rocky ridge and protected by a 20 ft. thick wall
• Mycenaean kings dominated Greece from 1600-1200 B.C.
• Controlled trade in the region
• 1400 B.C. Mycenaeans invaded Crete and absorbed*

 
Culture in Decline:

• Around 1200 B.C. sea people began to invade Mycenae and burnt palace after palace
• The Dorians moved into the war-torn region
• Far less advanced
• Economy collapsed
• Writing disappeared for 400 years

 
Homer and Myths:

• Only stories were kept and passed on by word of mouth
• Homer lived at the end of the "Greek Dark Ages"
• Recorded stories of the Trojan War in The Iliad and The Odyssey (written 750-700 B.C.)
• Trojan war was probably one of the last*

Crucible of Change

    Today in class we watched a video on the ancient Greeks called Crucible of Change. This is the story of the rise and fall of a civilization that changed the world. 508 B.C in the town called Athens pandemonium ruled Greece. One man looked on Clistanize. He would set his fellows on the path to empire. 570 B.C is the estimated time he was born. He was taught that he was an aristocratic. Athens lay the center of Greece. It's certainly not what someone call a city that would ever have an empire. There are farmers and tradesman. Reading and writing was rare. Life was tough. The life expectancy at birth was less than 15 years. Athens were all turned against each other. Greece is not the kind of place to produce a great civilization. There to many mountains and when you look at Greece it doesn't have the look of a great civilization. Greece was divided into little city states with their own independence. (Some City States: Argos Corinth Sparta Athens). Spartans were raised in the field and separated from their family. They were raised to be strong. They were brought up to put up with everything. They coqunored more than 4,000 sq miles. They were always a threat to the others. There were heroes. They were valued and are in all Greek art. There was a man (Asthistian) that rode into Athens with a women named Athena. The people welcomed him as a new leader when he demanded it. He had far more ambitions then to just gain power. He had to find allies. He turned to the Athens for support. He reduced taxes and allowed people to build their farms. He began to rebuild his city. Athens produced the best olives. Greece is bounded by great civilizations. Athenians first invention the vase (pottery). Inside the pot was more speacial than the pot. The lowest of the lowest were the pottery makers. They had different symbols and art on them. Pisistratus was raised to death in the Athenian grave yard and his son took over. 
   There were Olympic games. There was running, wrestling, boxing, and chariot racing, but there was no real prize. Greeks would travel thousands of miles to come to the games. The Greeks invented athletic contests and held them in honour of their gods. Anyone could win. The most famous games held at Olympia, South- West of Greece, which took place every four years. The ancient Olympics seem to have begun in the early 700 BC, in honour of Zeus. No women were allowed to watch the games and only Greek nationals could participate. When you fight you have to go in and show you can win. Isagerist seized control of Athens. Over 700 household were cast under Athens including Clistanize. Athens took there own destiny in their own hands. They created a revolution. 508 B.C it was Athens first step to empire and glory. The people had turned on their leaders and seized power on their own. They turned to one man, Clistanize. He was asked to build a government. He made a place where they could all come to talk about their ideas for their city state. He created the idea of simple vote. Its known as democracy to us. Every 9 days they would gather and talk. They talked about everything. They each would vote on ideas. Democracy really help then prosper.  A new generation would take up his legacy. They faced troubles. It would be tested by war. 
   Athens was gaining power and the Persians had to take power. The Greeks like freedom. The Persians want obedience. Marthan was a city without a standing army. The Athenians had been mustered. As they faced the Persians they didn't see victory. They were out numbered 2 to 1. While they fought they just had to keep pushing and going. The Athenians slaughter over 6 thousand Persians in one day. The Athenians celebrated their victory as the Persians scattered. But the General Themistocles had fought on the battle field at Marathon. He was blunt and straight forward. He was the savior of his city. He knew that if the Persians came again the Persians would have a new strategy. He convinced the Athenians to build the greatest army. was an Athenian politician and a general. He was one of a new breed of politicians who rose to prominence in the early years of the Athenian democracy, along with his great rival Aristides. As a politician, Themistocles was a populist, having the support of lower class Athenians, and generally being at odds with the Athenian nobility. Elected archon in 493 BC, he took steps to increase the naval power of Athens, which would be a recurring theme in his political career. During the first Persian invasion of Greece, he fought at the Battle of Marathon, and was possibly one of the 10 Athenian strategoi (generals) in that battle. Athenians turned to their Gods as fear stuck. They heard about an evasion from the Persians. He continued to advocate a strong Athenian navy, and in 483 BC he persuaded the Athenians to build a fleet of 100 triremes. He wanted to fight the Persians at sea. He had his people evacuate and brought the men with him. He wantes every man., woman, and child to go into exile. 


More Notes

• Pisistratus was to be a great general and tyrant of Athens. 
• His distinction came through the war against the Megarians (570-565BC). 
• Five years later he seized power and became tyrant for 33 years. 
• Pesistratus was a popular ruler, reducing taxes, helping the poor and disabled, uniting Attica and beautifying Athens with new buildings. 
•  Hippias. Hippias and his brother, Hipparchus, ruled the city much akin to the way that their father did.
•  After a successful murder plot against Hipparchus conceived by Harmodius and Aristogeiton, Hippias became paranoid and oppressive. 
• This change in attitude caused the people of Athens to hold Hippias in much lower regard. The Alcmaeonid family helped to depose the tyranny by bribing the Delphic oracle to tell the Spartans to liberate Athens, which they did in 510 BC.
•  The Peisistratids were not executed, but rather were mostly forced into exile. Afterward, Cleisthenes, a descendent of Megacles, helped erect a democracy based on the overturned reforms of Solon.

Greece PowerPoint!

Today in class Mr.Schick read us a story about Greece. Using the PowerPoint we made each of us talked about what part we did. 

Notes: 

----> Persian Empire 

• The Persian Empire was the Greatest empire the ancient world has seen.
• Cyrus was one of the best Persian kings, and conquered a lot of other empires.
• The Greeks did not like the Persians because the Persians drafted them into their army.
• The Greeks got tired of this and started calling war councils.  The Persian Empire responded by taking down their cities.  They were very powerful.

-----> Ionia 

• The ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey.
•  The city of Ionia was founded by colonists from the other side of the Aegean.
• A large part of the area was covered in mountains.
• None of the mountains were larger that 4,000 feet.
• It had three extremely fertile valleys that rivers ran though.
• Its very strategic. 

--->  Barbadians 

• a fierce, brutal, insensitive, uncultured, and cruel person

---> Cyrus the Great

• The name "Cyrus" means "sun-like" in the Greek version of the Old Persian 
• He was "father of the Iranian nation", and was the first world leader to be referred to as "The Great".
• Cyrus found the first world empire after defeating the Median dynasty and uniting the Medes with the other major Iranian tribe, the Persians.
• After he died, his two sons ruled the throne; Cambyses I and Arsames.
• The Cyrus cylinder was discovered in 1878CE at the site of Babylon. It includes a detailed account by Cyrus of his conquest of Babylon in 539BCE and his subsequent humane treatment of his conquered subjects.

----> Darius the Great 

• Born: 521 BC
• Died: Oct - 486 BC
• Cause of Death: Unknown...
• Occupation: Royalty

• He was the King of Persia since 521-486 BC. 
• He was known to be one of the greatest rulers of the Achaemenid dynasty. 
•  He attempted several times to conquer Greece. His fleet was destroyed by a storm in 492 and the Athenians defeated his army at Marathon in 490.

----> Marathon

• The date may have been August or September 12 490 B.C.

•  Greeks left their mainland and ended up in Ionia 

• Ionia was later takenover by Persia
• The Greeks didn't like the way the Persians ruled and they broke out in battle

• The Battle of Marathon is part of the Persian Wars, which lasted till 449 B.C.

• Persians landed on the Greek  land of Marathon

• The Greeks won by encircling the Persian forces.
•  This was an important event because it was the first victory in the Persian Wars. 
• This was the first victory for the Greeks
• They were out numbered and on foreign group, but they won because they had a better strategy. 

---> Xerxes 

• Xerxes was the king of Persia in 486 B.C.
•  When he came into power he started to plan to invade Greece.
• In 480 B.C. he had finally assembled his army to invade Greece
• His army included: about 100,000 to 180,000 men, and a fleet of about 600 ships. (Biggest Army)
• He planned to invade Greece first by land, then by sea.

----> Bridge of Hellespont 

• Xerxes commanded boats to latch together to create this bridge
• It was used for Xerxes' men to cross from Asia to Europe
• His plan was to invade Greece
•  It was destroyed in a huge storm 
•  Xerxes ordered the Hellespont to be whipped three hundred times and had fetters thrown into the waters, whatever that means?

----> Leonidas

• Born around 540 BC
• Died 7 August 480 BC
• Leonidas was one of the few Spartan kings to have ever undergone the notoriously harsh training of Spartan youth.
• He was a hero-king of Sparta. 
• Leonidas was elected to lead the combined Greek forces determined to resist the Persian invasion in 481.
• He formed a small army of about 4,000-7,000 men, where Leonidas was in command, that began the beginning of the Battle of Thermopylae.
• The election of Leonidas to lead the defense of Greece against Xerxes' invasion led to Leonidas' death in the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.

----> Herodotus 

• Herodotus was a Greek Historian.
• He was known as the "Father of History"
• He was born in Halicarnassus, Caria. Which is modern day Bodrum, Turkey.
• He lived during 484 b.c. through 425 b.c.
•  He was the first historian to collect materials systematically, and test for the accuracy and arrange them in well made and detailed.
•  He was mostly known for his record of the "inquiry". It was an investigation of the Greco-Persian wars and it included the wealth of geographics and ethnographics (scientific meaning of human nature) information .
•  Some of the stories Herodotus wrote were not completely true he told the people "He only wrote what he heard". 

----> Thermopylae

- The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states (Sparta), and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece

 - It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the pass of Thermopylae

 - The Persian invasion was a delayed response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece, which had been ended by the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon

 - Xerxes had amassed a huge army and navy, and set out to conquer all of Greece

 - A Greek force of approximately 7,000 men marched north to block the pass in the summer of 480 BC
----> Sparta 

• It was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece.
• Because of its srtong military, its military, it was recognized as the leaader of all Greeks forces

Team Work!

Today was a short class so we didn't get to get to much done. Mr. Schick made a Google PowerPoint document so we can each do a part on the PowerPoint. I have to find a map of Peloponnese, Greece. I am going to list some fun facts at the bottom as well. On the right is one of the maps i found. I used a different one on the PowerPoint, but I liked this picture too. A lot of historical battles to place on this large peninsula. I'm going to find some more information on my topic.

Egyptian Test

Today in class we took our test on Egypt. We have been studying Egypt for the past few weeks and this test finished our lesson. The test wasn't that bad. I thought it was a good test. I found myself stuck on only a few questions. I like the set up of the test because it just had some multiply choice, 3 short answer, and one essay. It gives me just enough time to finish the test. I hope I got a good grade. I'm pretty sure I didn't do to bad, but I'll have to wait and see!

Power Point On Egypt

Today in class we went over that we will be having a quiz on Monday. We are going over another powerpoint that Mr. Schick made. We also listen to their national Athem. My notes are listed below.
--> NOTES: 

• Egypt's Economy:

- tourism (who wouldn't want to see the pyramids) it's a big part of their economy.
- oil, natural gas, manufacturing
- agriculture- making the most of thheir limited arable land (Land you can farm on) (3%)
     -> Cotton, corn, rice, wheat, fava beans.
- the old pattern of dealinf with the Nile [akhet (inundation..(flooding), peret (land emerges from the flood), and shomu (water is short)] has been changes since the 1970 building of the Aswan High Dam
- The dam controls the flooding of the Nile, and increases the amount of reclaimed land 

• Egypt's Demographics: 

- 79 million people - biggest population of Middle Eastern nations, 

third biggest African country (#1: Nigeria, #2 Ethiopia)

- Cairo: 6.7 million (metro:19.4 mil)

- NYC:  8.3 million (metro:19.0 mil)  

- Official language: Arabic  (English, French, and German are also taught to some)
- Religion: around 90% Muslim, most of the rest are Christian (Coptic [like Greek Orthodox]), but there are major conflicts (Egypt is 12th in religious violence, 5th worst for religious freedom)

- 1 out of 10 are Coptic 

- 9 out of 10 are Muslim 

- Their cities are so crammed in. 

- People live mostly around the Nile

- They are the 12th ranked country for religious violence. The Muslims would mostly beat up on the Christians. 

• Egypt - politics, government, revolution

- 1922 - end of protectorate with the United Kingdom

- 1953 - Egypt declared a Republic

- 1954-1970 - ruled by Gamal Nasser

• nationalizes the Suez Canal
• forms allegiance with Soviet Union

- 1970-1981 - ruled by Anwar Sadat

• switches allegiance to the United States
• attacked Israel over Sinai Peninsula, but later made peace
• Sadat assassinated in 1981

- 1981-2011 - ruled by Hosni Mubarak

• kept alliance w/ US (helped in the Iraq war)
• accused of corruption, political persecution, human rights violations
• driven from office following mass demonstrations last month

• What's Next For Egypt?: 

- Egypt currently ruled by military junta, but 

democratic elections scheduled for September 2011 

- Some want Mubarak arrested and tried for embezzling from the government 

Our friend Sarah & other Egyptians say he may have stolen $50 - 70 BILLION (other sources say more like $5 billion - still a huge amount)

- Revolution is in the air (to varying degrees) throughout 

the Middle East and northern Africa:

•  Tunisia, Yemen, Algeria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria...
•   ... and Libya

- Libya has been ruled by Muammar Gaddafi since 1969

• he is violently opposing Libya's uprising
• Libya may descend into full civil war
• the east is controlled by rebels, but he still holds the capital (Tripoli) - so far
• He's been around for about 42 years 

https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=0AdUU_awE1hVjZGNidHAyamtfMTM5ZGpoN2tjY3Y&hl=en