TBTP I

The first major event in the book is when Liesel Meminger's six year old brother dies on the train and other things happen too, like:
liesel steals her first book, called the grave digger's handbook
liesel goes to live with her new foster parents, hans and rosa hubermann

The Book Thief Project

Okay, so I just got done reading The Book Thief a few weeks ago, and now I have to do a project on it. So I'm gonna talk about the five most important events in the book.

Picture

Well, we have to get on our blogs again, and we got pictures that we have to talk about. Mine was called Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion.It looks like a guy trying to find something in dangerous waters, but
I guess thats kind of what the title says. Its looks like there's a volcano in the background, and lightning at the top. I think its shows a struggle to find something and how far you have to go to find it.

We're talking abiut different kinds of heroes in comm skills, and I decided to talk about greg heffley from diary of a wimpy kid. Greg is kind of inconspicuous in school, and he's attentive to what happens, so if he makes a mistake he can learn from it. I think he's an anti-hero for himself and maybe Rowley, too. Gre is always telling Rowley what he thinks is "words of wisdom", like how Rowley's inner middle-schooler hasn't emerged yet. But greg has his own problems, like in The Last Straw when his dad threatened to send him to military school. In books 4 and 5, his friendship with Rowley was on the line. Greg is a hero because he deals with problems in a way pepole his age can relate to.

Ancient Babaylonia

Mesopotamia was known as the 'cradle of civilization' because the civilizations invented many of the things that we don't even think about. Some of the most important inventions came from Babylonia, my main focus. Some people think of Babylonia as the greatest empire in Mesopotamia. But, it didn't last forever. The empire lasted from the 18th century BC to the 6th century BC. 1200 years seems like a long time, and Babylonia was powerful, but it was destroyed. It was conquered by the Persians, but then it was remade into the Neo-Babylonian empire, which lasted 75 years. The first empire probably lasted so long, and it made a very important invention that some people couldn't live without. I know I couldn't.
The most important government official was the king. The king had many jobs and responsibilities. One job was chief priest. That job was a key part in Babylonian religion. The king also promoted law and justice. Other government officials enforced those laws and punished those who didn't obey and follow them. Kings and government officials came and went, though, but one king will always be remembered. His name was Nebuchadnezzar. He was probably the most famous and greatest military leader Babylonia had ever seen. His palace featured the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Nebuchadnezzar was mentioned in the Bible, but that gives him a bad reputation. He encouraged art and religion, two other characteristics of a civilization.


Babylonia had a stable food supply. Like Sumer and the rest of the empires in Mesopotamia, Babylonia had irrigation canals. They led to the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. In fact, the word Mesopotamia means 'land between the rivers'. The king maintained the canals, as another of their duties. Farming provided the food, because the citizens owned most of the land. The most common crop was bread, and other crops like barley were mixed with other ingredients to make a cuisine.
If you were coming into Babylon, you would see gates. The gates were meant for safety, because most cities needed to keep out enemies back then. But what's important is what was on the gates. Each one was dedicated to a different god or goddess of Babylonia. Drawings in hieroglyphs and cuneiform covered the gates. There were lots of sculptures featuring the gods. Even though it is believed to be that way, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built before Nebuchadnezzar became king.
The Babylonians adopted the major deities of ancient Sumer, and there are times when they gave them new names. Eventually, they worshiped thousands of gods, major and minor. Many gods were associated with major cities, natural forces, heavenly bodies, and a variety of professional arts. It was very important for kings to secure the support of individual city temples, whose resident gods were said to bless them and justify their rule. When the king was acting as chief priest, he built temples and preformed rituals. Rituals were common after hunting. Offerings were presented in the temples daily.
The Babylonians were advanced in technology for their time. They were skilled in math and  astronomy. Math especially, because of their base 60 number system,which was cuneiform. They made the first sundial. The Babylonians made other important discoveries, and some of them led to the 60-second minute, the 60-minute hour, and the 24 hour day. They even made the week seven days. Artisans were skilled in metallurgy. Surgery was well known and often practiced.
Babylonians lived in cities and villages, and in tribal groups. Scholars have the most knowledge on urban society, which was based on membership in great homes and private households. An elite group of wealthy city dwellers headed the various households. That includes the government officials, priests, large landowners, and some traders. Clerks, artisans, and other skilled workers made up a small class of commoners. The lowest class included slaves, farmers, and animal herders.They had the fewest privileges.
Everyone wrote the same in Mesopotamia. Hieroglyphs were popular in Egypt, but Babylonia had cuneiform.'Cuneiform' means 'wedge shape' in Latin. It is certain the Babylonians began with pictures, and used soft clay. With their base-60 number system, they had to come up with 59 different characters, and one for zero.Eventually they developed syllables, and made their own tongue. This is one way the Babylonians communicated and their empire lasted so long.
Babylonia was a great empire, but all good things must come to an end. After it was captured by the Persians in the 6th century BC, it was remade. Called the Neo-Babylonian empire, which means new, it lasted 75 years. It will be remembered, though. They gave us the idea of keeping time. Now, we have atomic clocks. Our number system might never be as good as theirs, but our writing has advanced. Babylonia paved the way for the most important things to us. They even had the first money.That's why I and others call Mesopotamia the 'cradle of civilization' .   

Black Ice and Candy for Books

Man, that ice this morning was slick. I slipped and fell twice this morning before I got to the bus stop. And it's only a block away from my house. I got 15 pieces of candy from Mrs. Benson for bringing in books.

22 D U C

There are 22 days until Christmas, and I'm getting the new iPod Touch with FaceTime and retina display. There are so many pixels in retina display that you can't count individual ones. I'm not sure exactly how FaceTime works, but I think you need to have the new iPod Touch or an iPhone 4, you have to know someone else who has one, and you have to know each other e-mail address. You can see people while you're talking to them.