Hammurabi's Code

My goal after graduating from GVSU is to go to law school and become a lawyer, I am of course interested in anything that has to do with law and politics. I am always interested in learning new things about our laws, but I have never really thought the laws of the past. When I read the section, in the Reilly text, about Hammurabi’s code I was very interested. It is amazing to think that almost four thousand years ago the first laws were being written, but it is not surprising because the first cities where emerging then too. When there are large populations of people living close together there is a need for structure and leadership. Hammurabi lead his people by creating the first laws and keep a relative amount of peace.

Some of Hammurabi’s laws are fairly obvious for example, “If a man has taken a wife and has not executed a marriage contract, that woman is not a wife.” That same idea is still a law today and makes sense still. There is a law in the Code that says if you break into a house you will be put to death and buried in front of that house. Well, that law does not make one sense to me and is thankfully not a law today. If someone were to break into my house, I do not think they deserve to die for it and I certainly do not want them buried in front of my house either. Then there are a lot of Hammurabi’s law that are irrelevant today, for example the laws about slaves.

It is crazy to think that some of the laws that govern our everyday lives were written thousands of years ago. It shows how important laws are for our society to function civilly. It shows that the past, history, still impacts our lives greatly. Even history from thousands of years ago still can teach us a lot

Greek Religion

In our discussions about ancient Greece during class, I find that I am very interested in this culture. I am particularly drawn to the religious aspect of the culture more than anything else. I have always been interested in religions other than my own, so I always want to learn more.
As humans, we are always seeking something more, something bigger than what we have. This can be seen all the way back to the ancient Greeks. As one of the earlier civilizations, they had sense that there is more to life than what can be seen easily. They filled in what they did not know with their gods.
The Greeks built temples for their gods and goddesses; one of the most well known temples, Delphi, was built in honor of Apollo. Pericles built a temple for the goddess Athena, goddess of wisdom and war. These temples, along with others, were places for the ancient Greeks to go to perform sacrifices, ask for guide, and places of celebration.
So much of the life of the Greeks revolved around the gods and goddesses and their dichotomy. For the god Apollo, there was his brother Dionysus. Apollo represented rationality, amongst other things, where Dionysus was the god of irrationality. For everything in their world, there was an opposite. Everything had balance, and everything was important. The athletic ceremonies of the Greeks heavily involved a religious aspect. The competitions involved sacrifices with great praises to the gods. Winners of the competitions wore laurel on their heads. Laurel comes from Daphne, a human who was pursued by Apollo. She was intimidated by the god since she was only human, and wanted a way out. Daphne asked Zeus for a way to disappear, so he turned her into a laurel tree. It is myths like this that find their way into the daily lives of the Greeks.
Gods played such a huge role not only in private lives, but in politics as well. When citizens were thought to not believe in the gods, or to dishonor them, often they were put to death. Considering that the Greeks had the first democracy, it seems off that religion would play a role in the politics at all. In our world now there is a clear separation of religion and state, which works. I think that the only reason that the Greeks could depend heavily on their gods in politics is that the entire Greek population shared the same religion. If we tried to lean on religion now, there would be chaos due to the myriad of religions we have in this country.
Over time, the Greek gods and goddesses have been turned into myths and central roles for Disney movies. Something that was so important in the lives of the citizens of ancient Greece has now been turned into a means of entertainment in our modern lives.

Ancient Greek Influence on Modern-Day American Politics

To this day there is one civilization in world history that has been more influential to American politics than all of the rest. The Direct Democratic system developed by the Ancient Greeks had a huge influence on the government style that America uses today. I thought it was very interesting to learn about the type of politics that Ancient Greece practiced and how some aspects are still practiced today. Unlike the centralized rule that the Persian Empire used, the Ancient Greek Empire was made up of city states that relied heavily on citizen participation in politics.

The idea of citizenship was an entirely new way of governing an empire at the time. Many non-Greeks during this period could not understand why there was a need for the common people to have a say in how government issues were handled. Ancient Greece paved the way for the representative democratic style of government that is practiced by many countries today, including America. Much like how voting rights started out in America, originally only the wealthy land owners were allowed to vote and call themselves citizens, but soon all men were allowed to have a vote and a voice in their city-state's politics.

In the Greek city-state of Athens they employed the use of an Assembly where all citizens could freely participate in the political proceedings of the city-state. Eventually all members of the Greek Assembly were elected to their positions by the citizens that they represented and were paid for their work in the public office, the same way that we elect public officials today.

The Greek system of direct democracy was an entirely new concept when it was created, and a brilliant one as indicated by its continued presence in politics today. I cannot imagine what America's government would be like without the influence of the Ancient Greek's Direct Democracy.

Raptorex: Shaking our Foundations

Knowing who and what come before humans did, and knowing who and what our ancestors roamed the earth with really interested me and so when I heard about this new discovery on NPR I realized just how little we know about the past, and that our search for answers to the past may never be complete.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112925703

NPR had a segment a few weeks ago; it got my attention because they were talking about a new species that was discovered. The discovery was of fossils of a dinosaur, the segment was entitled “Even T rex Started Small.” First a little background about the well known T-rex, The body type of a Tyrannosaurs rex is very unique, with a very large head, large body, and very small arms in proportion to it’s body. The T-Rex has been made into the king and the most vicious killer in the Cretaceous period, 68-65 million year ago, Rex, translating into King.” The T-rex weighed an average of 6.8 metric tons and stood approximately 13 meters.

Fossils of the Raptorex kriegsteni, named after the individual who purchased the fossils after the discovery, were found in China that dates back to 125 million years ago, long before the T-rex. The fossils resemble an almost exact miniature version of the body shape of the T-rex, yet it measures at 1/90^th- 1/100^th the size of the T-rex, standing at 9 feet tall and weighing the size of an average human. Judging by the body shape of the Raptorex it is now said to be the blueprint of a predator. It was originally thought that the fossil remains were those of a baby T-rex, but further examination revealed that the growth of the bones and fusion of the growth plates show that it was at least 5 years old at the time of death. The dating of the fossils also revealed that the Raptorex was much older then the T-rex, approximately 60-35 million years older, suggesting that the Raptorex may have evolved over millions of years into the T-rex.

This discovery has given paleontologists a new insight into the creatures that roamed the land before humans, as well as an idea of what it meant to be a predator in that era. The most interesting part of this discovery is that a fossil like this, or suggesting that a dinosaur of this type existed, has never before been discovered. I feel that this discovery, which was so unexpected and changed what we thought we had known about the period, has made me realize just how little we know about the past, and what we could still discover. I also feel however that the chances of paleontologists finding more fossils that change what we thought we knew about the past are slim, in part because of the uniqueness of the fossils, and because of the urbanization and desertification taking place all over the world, covering the stomping ground of our ancient ancestors and predators.

Walking on Your Ancestor(s)

The thought of walking and living on the very ground that loved ones were buried sparked my interest.
One of the first few Neolithic settlements, known as Çatalhöyük, buried and lived on their ancestors. The Neolithic people were the first group of people who began to grow their own plants and domesticate animals. As they moved away from the nomadic life, housing and the development of cities/towns became important.
The people of Çatalhöyük lived in buildings constructed with mud bricks. Most buildings had multiple rooms which were separated by thinner walls. The roofs were flat and supported by wooden posts. Typically, people entered their houses through their roof. This could have mainly been due to the fact that neighboring houses were separated by a wall, and there was not much space within a “town.”
The most interesting aspect of the Çatalhöyük’s culture is the burying their ancestors. This is one of the first instances in history where a formal burial of the dead is seen. When a family member died, they dug pits into the floor of their homes and buried the individual, then filled the pits back up and covered it. When the houses became unstable and old, it would simply be used as a foundation for a new house. The new homes would be built exactly the same as the old ones.
What would happen if you were the last person in your family to live? Would you get a proper burial or would you be ignored? Archeologists discovered one individual who was buried outside the home, but they do not know if the individual lost his family or if he was passing through the city.
These questions along with others including, why were houses built so close to each other, why did people enter their homes through the roof, and why bury ancestors on the floor which you live, are reasons why Çatalhöyük is an interesting Neolithic community.
Follow this link http://okapi.dreamhosters.com/remixing/mainpage.html to see what archeologists have discovered so far about the Çatalhöyük community.

"Greek- Dark Ages"

After watching the Ancient Greece movie in class I found some aspects of the film to be intriguing. The detailed art of Greece is very captivating and must take much time and patience for the artist. Today, it is rather rare to see architecture with such detail. The Greek's must have put an abundance of time and resources into their building and seemed to really care about the appearance of their city. After exploring this topic a little further I discovered something that was quite surprising.

The entire Greek culture diminished during The Dark ages for no apparent reason. This time was known as the Dark Ages, which lasted from 1200 BC to 700 BC. Many different works of art and architecture were lost during this time. Trading with surrounding countries came to a halt, entire cities were completely destroyed, and meaningful artifacts were ruined. It was as if the society no longer wanted to work to keep their beauty and strength present. During this time the Greeks transformed their "mighty city life" to a rather simple and small agricultural society. This time period seems to be one large mystery not only because much has been destroyed but also because of the lack of evidence. The people also stopped writing, which left later centuries no reasoning for the disappearing culture. Writing is an important way of life for all people, and for the writing to simply subside was rather appalling to those who discovered this time period.

I tried to put myself in this situation. I could not imagine having a strong and developing culture and then getting rid of it for any reason. What could have caused the Greeks to want to destroy everything they have worked so hard to obtain? Or did something happen that forced their actions or lack thereof? Even with the little evidence left behind from this era theories were later developed giving a plausible reasoning for the abandonment of the Greek culture. The Roman Empire had split into two parts: East and West. The East part was about to prosper for many years following unlike the Western part, which was largely invaded. Because of the division the entire culture seemed to disappear from the endless amount of battles and the unwillingness to compromise.

During the end of the Dark Ages the Greeks finally begun to urbanize and rebuild their once well-built society and artwork. This was a lot of work for the Greeks. But it was worth it in the long run. Today, Greece is filled with some of the world's most famous architecture and artwork.

"The Father of Numbers"

As a math and history student, I find Pythagoras to be a rather appealing person to examine. His estimated birth year is 570 BCE. As an ancient Greek philosopher, he was of a time of great innovation and discovery. Sadly, none of his writings survive today. This leads to much questioning of weather his many accomplishments are even his own or that of his successors. Nevertheless, it is Pythagoras who is regarded as one of the first great mathematicians and credited as founder of the well-known Pythagorean Theorem.
A significant rule in geometry, the Pythagorean Theorem pertains to right triangles. More specifically, it declares that the sum of the squares of the two right-angle sides is equal to the square of the hypotenuse. In general, A² + B² = C² for any right triangle as in the picture.

However, there are several pieces of evidence that suggest the knowledge of this theorem before Pythagoras' time. One is a Mesopotamian tablet known as Plimpton 322. It was written around 1790 BCE, during Hammurabi's reign and it includes entries related to Pythagorean triples. Furthermore, the Apastamba Sulba Sutra, which is dated to 600 BCE, contains a numerical proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. Significantly, there was no attribution of the theorem to Pythagoras for five hundred years after he lived. Then why does today's world know it as his discovery? As it is, authors such as Plutarch and Cicero gave credit to Pythagoras in their writings so that it has become the most well-known idea.

An interesting result of Pythagoras' life is the legacy he left behind. While he lived, he basically set up a school that was rather secretive by which members were bound by a vow to him and to other members. Pythagoreans considered themselves pure, wearing their hair long and dressing in simple clothing, often barefoot. Both men and women belonged. This intriguing group has had quite an influence on our world and its history.