M. Morales 6-c
Mesopotamia

Dear, Journal

I have traveled in Mesopotamia and I have learned that in the creation of the world the people of Mesopotamia had many myths saying that various aspects of their world. Among the many myths about the creation of the heavens, the earth and animals was a myth about the creation of human beings. This myth teaches us something about how the people of Mesopotamia felt about their gods and the relationship of human beings and gods. At the beginning of time there were only gods and goddesses on earth. They had to work the land to grow crops to eat. This was difficult and they worked very hard. Each god and goddess had a job to do. Some dug the fields and planted the crops. Others brought water to the fields in ditches which had to be kept clear of weeds. The work was hard, and they were not happy. They got together to discuss what could be done to lighten their workload. They went to get advice from Enki, who was wise and clever. Each god and goddess had a job to do. Some dug the fields and planted the crops. Others brought water to the fields in ditches which had to be kept clear of weeds. The work was hard, and they were not happy. They got together to discuss what could be done to lighten their workload. They went to get advice from Enki, who was wise and clever.

The land of Mesopotamia was rich in many ways, however, it did not have many natural resources. Thus, the people of Mesopotamia needed to trade their goods with other peoples in order to acquire the goods they needed to survive. Traders traveled far and wide exchanging basic goods such as grain and metals as well as luxury goods such as pearls at trading centres throughout the ancient world. The goods were weighed and measured and held different values in different marketplaces depending on local supplies and the rarity of the goods.
Trading places
The land of Mesopotamia was rich in many ways, however, it did not have many natural resources. Thus, the people of Mesopotamia needed to trade their goods with other peoples in order to acquire the goods they needed to survive.
When Ancient cave painters drew animals on walls of their caves, people have believed in magic called animism.
The life if the gods
Gods and goddesses focused more on feasting, drinking, arguing, and fighting.
I have been in Mesopotamia. I can’t wait till you come and see what a great place this is.

Sincerely , M. Morales

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome


People of Rome


Here in Rome men and women have more equality than in other countries. But sometimes the people here fight over land and trade items. Lots of people are forced into slavery. Around almost every corner of the Roman Empire there were slaves. The boys were allowed to go to school, some girls were allowed too. But, most girls had to stay home with there mothers and do house work. Most people would leave their homes here and travel out to Athens for a better education. Usually after school, kids would play ball outside. Boys and girls make friends as any other boys and girls would.



Rome’s Environment

Rome has a tremendous amount of space where many trees and plants grow. One river here is the Tiber River. If you want to cross it you must use a boat, or a bridge. The Tiber River is very long and wide. As the empire expands we came across many mountains, swamps, deserts, and forests. Using the Mediterranean Sea, it makes trade much easier and faster for the ancient Romans.




Rome’s Architecture


Rome is most famous for their architecture. They mostly used baked brick, cement, and concrete. Almost all of the buildings in Rome have to have an arch. (Almost) Lots of the beautiful buildings are mostly temples, or basilicas. We also have coliseums which we can watch fierce battles. Around the busiest streets, the buildings are wonderfully constructed. I think that the street has the best architecture.


Rome’s Art

Rome's painters are very skilled and talented. We mostly make statues of great people. We like to paint beautiful murals on our walls of buildings. Lots of people would take time and admired the beauty of Rome. I too love the art of Rome.


Rome’s Food

Rome’s food is delicious. But, only the wealthiest can afford the good food. I’m fine with eating what I have. All food is good here in Rome. If you can come and try our food, I am sure you will want more!

M.L

Ancient China

Dear Journal,

It is about September 17, 750 B.C. A horrible famine has struck Shanghai. We are now in desperate need of food. Since autumn has the harshest weather in China, plants are dieing. We may soon have to move to a different place to farm. Many farmers were working with us while we were harvesting our crops. It hasn’t rained in months and we may die of hungry. We are now praying to the gods to help us. The terrible famine has killed many of our hard working farmers. We hope we will get enough food and water to feed us farmers.It is about 1 month away from the famine. We have decided that we should move to another place in China. We will leave tomorrow to a new city called Beijing. Our brothers and sisters have said that Beijing’s environment and crops is very good. They live in the center part of this city where it is always busy.
Today is October 3, 750 B.C. We have finally reached to Beijing to meet our brothers and sisters. It had taken us 10 days to reach to the new city. I have found my brother and sister in the market yesterday while I was getting the new supplies for farming. We will meet them tomorrow to see where they live. It is about October 17 and we have finally had enough food to last us for 5 months. Many farmers who live around us have very rich soil. Our family only has soil that has good soil. The new tools we got for farming are very useful. It very efficient for us and gives us more food.
Today is January 1, 749 B.C. We have made much food for us to last for 1 year. Our neighbors have donated food for us. Today, I will buy more seeds for us to plant. We hope that they will grow well like our other crops.

Today is January 1, 749 B.C. We have made much food for us to last for 1 year. Our neighbors have donated food for us. Today, I will buy more seeds for us to plant. We hope that they will grow well like our other crops.

C.T.

S.S and Homer

S.S

Dear, Journal
Today, nine hundred B.C I was inspired by Homer’s astonishing poetry. He recited his on works, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the story describes the Greek hero Odysseus' journey home from the Trojan War. Homer describes many extraordinary lands in the story. For so many days people have enjoyed trying to guess the 'real' locations of the strange and wonderful places Odysseus visited. Every day to hear these magnificent stories we meet in the middle of Homers home town Ionian region of Asia Minor, at Smyrna, near the island of Chios.

The next day, was very dry with a big amount of sun, but we still headed to Homer. Every day he recites his poetry and we write it down to give it a new meaning. When Homer started to bring up the topic about Gods. He said, " I don’t believe in one such God, I believe in all gods" (POLYTHEISM). That day Homer told us to think of famous artworks done by unfamiliar artists. So, I chose Farewell to a warrior by, Lekythos. It was an unfamiliar paintings. So, tomorrow when we meet again. I will tell you alittle more about my experience with Homer.

Ancient China

Dear Blog,

It’s the year of 3500B.C and I am living in north-west China with my mom and dad and baby sister. It’s mostly covered with deserted land, it’s also really hot and I am trying to find food to survive. I have a small home which I love. In the winter the temperature drops to 50 degrees, so it’s not as hot as it is in the summer. They are also other people living with us to help us out. While my mom is cleaning and my dad is out working, I take care of my baby sister. Sometimes I help my mom make ceramics. Ceramics are like vases which you fetch water in. it is made with coil. When I am finish forming the vase I have to smooth the coil out so I can fetch the water or other things in.

When I am not helping my mother out or taking care of my baby sister I am studying even if I don’t go to school. I learn about important people from my culture like Nu Gua. I learn about Nu Gua through stories and legends that people tell me or from books I’ve read. I learn that Nu Gua created the first people on earth to live on the yellow river. I learn that she made statues of the people from yellow clay that lies by the river. I learn that the clays magically come to live as the first people on earth. I learn that there was water that came from a hole in the sky and flooded the people away that on some were alive by climbing mountains. I also learn that Nu Gua took a colorful ball and melted it till it turned to hot lava and she fixed the whole in the sky. I learned that she sacrifices a turtle, she took its feet to make the sky stand and she stopped the flooding by using soil to create huge dams and lakes. I learned that Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, was very happy that Nu Gua had saved the people on Earth, but Nu Gua didn’t want an award, but she asked Huang Di to take care of the people and then she disappeared. I wondered where she went. I asked a lot of people but they said they didn’t know either.

While mom is cooking dinner and I am playing with my baby sister my dad comes home, he brings home bronze a type of material. My dad works in a workshop. He works with bronze to make vessels, pots, bells, mirrors, and weapons. He also works with jade another type of material to make weapons too.Jade and bronze are the most prized materials to ancient china, so I would say that my dad has a pretty good job. He gets rewarded at the end of the week with a little of bronze and jade which are made into coins to buy things. We take those material we buy things we need like food in the market.

Where I live, in my religion when you die we believe that you have an afterlife or a second life. We believed that you do the same things you did on earth but somewhere else. Since we believed in afterlife we built tombs. In the tombs I would put my favorite things and prized possessions so I could take them with me to wherever I go in my other life. We believed that our ancestors that died would go to live in the spirit world. We also believed that they could tell the gods good or bad luck. We would hold ceremonies for our ancestors to bring us luck. When we hold ceremonies I would help my mom make some of the ceramics so we could offer it to them so they would give us good luck.

Where I live in china we have a different type of writing. We use logograms which were symbols that represent a meaning or word. Most logograms that I use for everyday are usually numbers. Like if you see a 2 it means two, but if someone else in a different culture saw that they would probably think of it as something else. In our writings every stroke or like represent something different. In my religion they were bones of Shang dynasty with our writings on them. On our coins, and wood slips also have writings on them that signifies different things. For example, on our coins it says Ban to the right and Liang to the left which is Banliang and that means half ounce. They are also lots of other things with writings on them. That is basically what life in north-western china for me and my family is like.

R.G

Mesopotamia

Dear Blog,


Hi I live here in Mesopotamia and I can tell you about it, Mesopotamia is a Greek word that means between the rivers. Northern Mesopotamia is made of hills and plains. Southern Mesopotamia is made of marshy areas and wide, flat, barren plains. In Mesopotamia it’s usually hot and has lots of droughts, temperature was over 110 degrees. We did not have many natural resources.

Today a lot of people thought their world were controlled by gods, goddesses, demons, and monsters and a lot of people in Mesopotamia do too. Each city is protected with a god. Large temples were built for gods to live in. Demons could be evil or good and monsters are just mixtures of animals and birds. Priests look after gods by performing rituals.

Today everyone’s making civilizations. A writing system was created, empires were made, and monumental buildings were made. There are a lot of things that I and other people can explore over here. Most of our history lies beneath Mesopotamian grounds. A lot of our history changes over time.

Today people made a form of writing to communicate with other people. Later they changed the signs which they call cuneiform. So now we communicate using these signs. People drew on soft clay using a reed. They also write stories, myths, and personal letters.

As I told before we did not have many natural resources. So people in Mesopotamia traded goods to survive. Trader travelers traveled to a lot of places to trade. People pay for precious minerals such as coal, copper, and gold. There were many trades around Mesopotamia.
I have so much fun here at Mesopotamia. There’s a lot of people and things to discover here. I hope you guys know about our lives here at Mesopotamia. It’s a great place to live in.

T.L

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog of Saint Ann School's 6th grade! Here, students placed themselves in the time periods of their Ancient Civilizations class. Each post is written from the perspective of a character living thousands of years ago. Enjoy!