Critics and Critiques of Athenian Democracy http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekcritics_01.shtml

Since we just finished Chapter 5: The Dawn of Empires I thought that it would be very interesting to broaden our understanding of one of the empires we studied. As part of the Participation in Democracy class we studied the foundation of democracy, which the chapter briefly explained on. That is why this topic that I choose for our discussion is based upon the creation of democracy and the Greek’s genius to create political theory. You will find this piece of information on the following link: www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekcritics_01.shtml The biggest reason for this topic and work to be discussed is the fact that the first appearance of the formal concept of democracy was when it was presented as a type of government to replace the forceful tyranny imposed by Cambyses II. This we know did not win because Darius succeeded him with his autocracy. I hope that you all find this article and topic as interesting as I did. Contribute greatly to this blog post and have fun.

P.S. Don't forget to "click" next after you have finished the opening page, it is a set of 5.

Olimpics : Then & Now

A bit past the date of the Olympics but since we had the competitions this year I thought it would be interesting to post an article I found on BBC that compares the purpose and the way people view the Olympics in Ancient Greece versus the phenomena that it is now. Before, the Olympics were a popular way to encourage fitness and the winners were thought to be championed by the gods. Nowadays, you see that the promotion if athleticism is still the key part of the Olympics but we see that it has turned from a religious focus to that of national identity and pride for your country. What is your take on the matter?

Link : http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greek_olympics_01.shtml

P.S.:
Sorry, I'm not that skilled at this so I do not know how to post a link.

Aksum Obelisk back home

After being take in 1937 by Mussolini's troops, Aksum's Obilisks have been reinstalled in Ethiopia. These 1700 year old 24m high 150 ton Obelisk were taken to Rome and were given back to Ethiopia in 2005. They now serve as a symbol of cultural identity to the Ethiopian community.

Article from http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/444

The first phase of the re-installation works of the Aksum Obelisk, also known as Stele 2, in its original location at the World Heritage site in Aksum, Ethiopia was completed on 12 June 2008. The first of three blocks of the stele, which stands 24.3 metres high and weighs 152 tons, was successfully and smoothly mounted.

The Aksum Obelisk re-installation project, funded by the Italian Government and conducted by UNESCO contractor Croci Associati, is using an innovative high-technology approach, and its implementation represents a technical feat of colossal scale. The project has been prepared to ensure a zero-risk approach for the monument and the surrounding site. The successful mounting of the first block is an extremely important step confirming the soundness of the project's complex design as well as the skills of the UNESCO contractors, the construction company Lattanzi and the supervision team (Croci Associati, SPC Engineering, and MH Engineering).
The remaining two blocks will be reinstalled from 16 to 31 July 2008, one year after the start of this exceptional project.

The inauguration ceremony will take place on September 4th.

AP WORLD HISTORY

WHICH HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE CIVILIZATION ?

A Perfect Way to Close Early Civilizations

From my highest branch I witness cities rise and fall.
For most of your years I told you all that I saw.
Yet, all that wisdom is all for not,
If you crossover and our wisdom is forgot.

This stanza of Roberto's poem is perfect to close our discussions pertaining early civilization. After all, the figure of the tree is imprinted with the traces of civilization. It may bare those marks the are long lasting- the arrowhead, the bullet, the forest blaze, the carved names of young lovers, the nails of countless signs... or maybe the hanging place of the criminal or the innocent. As each civilization reaches its apex and declines, it leaves its fragmented memories like riddles. Who knows? We shall be like Roberto's tree and preserve the testimony and wisdom of these early civilizations... if there was wisdom.

I have selected Cecilia Joy to be the coordinator of our next discussion. She has the duty to serve as the omniscient voice that will guide us through the discussion.

As we all know North America and Asia were connected by a land bridge called Beringia caused by our most recent ice age. Historians have said that the first Americans arrived in 10,000 BCE from Asia when the ice age ended through the land bridge connecting Asia and North America. Since it is said that the first people in America came through Beringia when the ice age was ending (10,000 BCE) then to get walking all the way to Mexico should have taken them a pretty long time since from Alaska to Mexico is approximately 5,000 miles away. This history fact is already “smashed” because the finding of the oldest skeleton in the Americas, which is found in Mexico and is 13,600 years old, contradicts this fact. So the first people that arrived to the Americas were not from 10,000 BCE and didn’t came through Beringia. The most logical the first Americans arrived was by boats that came from Asia most likely doing island hoping they encountered the whole Pacific Ocean until getting to Mexico accidentally.

Map of Byzantine Constantinople

"The Seige of Constantinople", 1499

A New Archaeological Site in Mexico Further Contradicts the Bering Strait Theory

As a social studies student I was taught the Bering Strait theory of migration as the origins of America's first settlers. As a college student I couldn't care less about pre-history due to my obsession with XX century history. As a regular history and geography teacher, I tried to simplify the theory for easy digestion. As your APWH teacher (and learner), I have read and reflect upon evidence (like Monte Verde, although not universally accepted by all historians), that pushes back the dating of the migration from Asia to the Americas, or what is called "Pre-Clovis sites." Remember that Clovis is the "accepted" archaeological site accepted by most historians that shows evidence of the first migratory waves to the Americas. However, in the article by Eliza Barclay for Nat Geo News (September 3, 2008), Oldest Skeleton in Americas Found in Underwater Cave?, the date of the first migrations is pushed back further. Another revolutionary detail is that the physiology of this “Eve of Naharon” resembles that of the inhabitants of the South Asia (see map in posting). Thus, if the dating holds true, inhabitants of North Asia weren’t the first to inhabit the Americas.

What’s my point? Well, I want you to REACT to the possibility that the first inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere may have not been the classic stepped or mountainous hunter-gatherer party that we imagine hunting through Alaska, but instead they were from a whole different region with its own geography, which implies an issue of migratory routes or movement. How did these people reach the Americas? Which of theories of migration patterns to the America’s is best supported by this finding?

Also, remember that Spodek says “In many respects, the cities of the western hemisphere still had one foot in the Stone Age. Urban societies evolved much later in the Americas. […] These processes were much slower than in the river-valley civilizations of Eurasia perhaps because humans arrived in the New World relatively recently.”  If the “Eve of Naharon” finding establishes a new paradigm, will his assumption yet be substantiated or not? 

About the Ancient Amazon City Finding

Ancient Amazon Cities Found; Were Vast Urban Network

Can the culture whose urban remains have been recently uncovered in Brazil be considered a Neolithic village or a civilization? According to the information available in the Nat Geo piece, this city was made of village clusters organized like medieval towns in Europe. Well, what do you think? Can the organizing principle of civilization be applied to this finding? Or this is just a Ban Po or Jomon-like site? 

History is a work in progress. I am really interested in whether this archaeological site will establish a new paradigm or just add data to our current body of knowledge. The article also reports on the issue of environmental interaction. Would this place be an example of a form of civilization in balance with the environment? 

Read the article and react! Remember that this is free writing and that no APWH rubrics will be used to measure your inputs. Write poetry if you want to! But react! You can also post images, movies, and other media.

Welcome to Constaninople 1453

Constantinople was the last bastion of the Roman civilization. As the crossroads of three continents, the city's diverse population created a unique plural and tolerant setting that fostered the mix of classical knowledge with the ideas of scholars from other cultures. In 1453, Mehmet II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, heavily shelled the city with cannons, a technological innovation that no European power possessed at the time, and conquered the city. After the defeat of Constantinople, the Byzantine world crumbled- and the "place" of thousands of individuals vanished. Empires and their capital cities often vanish. However, the Ottoman Empire and the city of Istanbul emerged. Such is the overwhelming force of history that I have decided to name our APWH Blog after the year in which a city became a historical memory.