Digital Scrapbook Entry #3

Digital Scrapbook Entry- Mesopotamia 

Jack S.

11/3/14

Per. 4

Links- Author: Unknown 

           http://www.smartasset.com/blog/economics-of/the-economics-of-craft-beer/

           Author: Unkown 

           http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer-edu/draft-beer-profitability-aid-129.html

           Author: Munich watcher

           http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer-edu/draft-beer-profitability-aid-129.html

           Author: Unkown

           http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-beer-archaeologist-17016372/

           

           

                                                             The Power of Beer

In Mesopotamia beer was one of the biggest parts of their culture. The process of making beer, or fermentation, brought many new innovations to Mesopotamia including a new type of currency, shorthand writing, and just made people happy in general. Beer was a fascinating new beverage and people enjoyed drinking it. Beer was more flavorful than water, but the wheat and barley in it actually gave it nutritional value. With these advantages over other beverages beer soon became the most popular drink in Mesopotamia. Beer would be widely consumed in large groups and at social gatherings. Does this sound familiar? 

In today's world, beer is still one of the most popular drinks globally. At Oktoberfest last year over 6.7 million liters of beer were consumed by 6 million people. This is a prime example of the power of beer. People enjoy drinking beer together as a bonding activity which creates friendships. Events like Oktoberfest makes people happy and gives them a chance to have fun and the only reason Oktoberfest is around is because of beer. In 2012 there was over 55.1 billion gallons of beer sold in the United States alone. With how much beer is bought and consumed it makes quite a big economic splash as well. Beer has an annual 10 billion dollar segment which is pretty impressive for a beverage.  Overall, beer has had a positive effect on the modern day world.  

Beer is an image of fun, excitement, and happiness throughout history and will continue to be for a long time. Without the Mesopotamians invention of beer the United States couldn't bring in 10 billion dollars annually and we wouldn't be able to have the thousands of jobs created by breweries, but most of all we wouldn't be able to have as good of a time as possible. Beer is a surprisingly important part of American culture and many other cultures around the world and without it people would lose part of their culture and lose something that they love. A good beer has brought smiles to people faces since the days of ancient Mesopotamia and will continue to bring smiles to people faces for as long as we will live.   

Jack S.

10/23/14

Per. 1

                                                              Life After Death

The sarcophagus was important to the Egyptian after life because whatever items or goods was in or near their sarcophagus went with them to the afterlife. If this belief was the same in our world today people would go above and beyond for their loved ones to give them a great afterlife. Sarcophagi made people successful in the afterlife if they are buried with things they love and lots of luxuries. This practice shows that Egyptians felt very strongly in their religious beliefs and were very superstitious. With Pharos, who were living gods, in the Egyptian  community the people got a glimpse of the gods moods and what gods were like, so this probably made them much more firm in their belief of religion. With such firm religious beliefs, the Egyptians went above and beyond when it came to a sarcophagus and death.

My Egyptian Name

Thumbnails

Sarcophagus

Jack S.
10/16/14
National Geographic

Thoughts and Reflections on: A Light That Did Not Fail

Ancient Mesopotamia was a very ethnically diverse place. The people to thank for this is the Sumerians. The Sumerians traveled to Mesopotamia leaving their immediate families behind somewhere els in Asia. The Sumerians way of life mixed so well with the Mesopotamian lifestyle that they decided to stay. The result of this was the evolution of an entire civilization. Adding in this entirely different ethnicity to the mix made Mesopotamia a much more diverse place. The Mesopotamians were very superstitious people and always thought the gods were mad at them. They would do anything to try to appease the gods. They would even rebuild their temples in the exact same spot to earn the protection of the gods and spirits that previously lived in them. Some aspects of  the Mesopotamian lifestyle we still use today. For example, they were the first Civilization to have a written form of communication which is still used across the world today. The Mesopotamians also used canals to irrigate their crops. This is also used across the world today and one of the most popular forms of irrigation.    

Digital Scrapbook Entry #2- The Agrarian Era

Digital Scrapbook Entry #2- The Agrarian Era

Jack S.
10/7/14
Per. 4

            Links: Author- Unkown 

                      http://quizlet.com/21296193/ap-world-history-period-1-technological-and-environmental-transformations-prehistory-to-600-bc-flash-cards/

                      Author- Unknown

                      https://globalsociology.pbworks.com/w/page/14711259/Societies

                      Author- Dana Gunders 

                      http://www.nrdc.org/food/files/wasted-food-ip.pdf

                      Author- Unknown

                      http://www.epa.gov/foodrecovery/

                                                              Food Surplus

       In the Agrarian era with all the new ideas of growing crops and farming there was also the idea of food surplus. Food surplus is when people would stock and store food, or the act of putting food that you are using aside for the time being. When people would stock up on food in the agrarian era they would keep it close to them and in a good spot so it would not go bad. They were careful and mindful of how they surplussed their food. Even though in this era people began taking more than they needed and stocking up on it, they eventually ate it or used it for other purpose within their society.  

       Back in that day and age food was an essential part of human life as it is now, but people treated food much differently back then. People would not wast food or throw away leftovers, they ate everything that they got. Now a days we see some people throwing away entire meals because they don't like it or they aren't hungry. All this food is taken to land fills and buried in the earth or burned. When food is taken to land fills it can not be reused or recycled and it can not be composted to naturally decompose. People today throw out about 40% of their food each year. Having everyone do this creates an enormous amount of wasted food. Once we throw out the food we don't want we usually just go and buy more. This means that we take excessive amounts from our environment which has a very negative effect.

       People in the Agrarian Era surplussed their food in an area where it wouldn't go bad and made sure they did it right so they could eventually eat or use the food they had collected. Humans today surplus their food by putting it in landfills and continuously buying it and then throwing it away over and over. In today's world the cycle of getting food and then throwing it away is a weekly if not daily cycle which has a huge effect on our environment. Because this cycle is so quick we do not give the environment enough time to produce more of whatever we take from it which results in it eventually not being able to produce it any more. We could prevent this by buying only what we are going to use and making sure that if we buy more than we need making sure that we don't just throw it away, but use it eventually. This will lower the amount of food that we throw away, and take some pressure off the environment to produce so much food. With landfills getting more full there is more waste being burned and buried which creates pollution and kills the environment. We can prevent this by recycling and composting certain food so that we can reuse some of it and the rest can decompose naturally.