Oddly enough, they say “history repeats itself,” all of this sounds eerily familiar. I am not sure how the standard American family is getting by— food, taxes, fuel, housing, and childcare are all insanely expensive. Unfortunately, there’s no reprieve from the cost of living crisis for most.

I didn’t realize that the population that died from smallpox, cholera, influenza, typhoid, measles, malaria, and the plague were so high in the US— it makes sense. Typically the only one you hear of is small pox. It is scary to think that the eradicated diseases are starting to make a comeback and will mutate as time goes on.

I wonder why it was named after Columbus, rather than any of other explorers. When he passed away, he was unpopular and his own men had turned their backs on him; so why the praise? The spread of people, plants, animals and disease was detrimental to indigenous people that the explorers came into contact with.

Throughout this class, it was interesting to learn that Catholics named the pope as all knowing and as their figure to follow rather than Jesus. I guess it goes to show how little I know about religion because I didn’t think that was allowed? I thought it was taught to worship god and no one else compared to him. It was interesting to think that Martian Luther brought this to light and taught against this, and other questionable teachings by the church.

I found this interesting and felt as though it tied back to the Code of Hammurabi of how there was an offense for each crime. Then, there was rules and curfews that citizens must follow or be punished.

I can see why Luther would have thought that the church was so corrupt and why he had a moral issue with what they were doing. There is no wonder the Catholic Churches had and still have to this day and it is evidenced by the enormous churches that still stand today.

I wonder why he felt as though he was such a sinful person in comparison to others? It appears that he would have been successful in any endeavor he attempted and came from humble origins. He didn’t agree with some of the church’s teachings and educated people against these practices.

I am really not sure how THIS is the real account, in comparison to what we are taught K-12 and even up through the associates level. I’ve been in school, in and out of college and taken several World and American history classes and this was never mentioned, anywhere.

This was probably one of the most shocking things I’ve learned this semester or at least in the top 5. The fact that the “history” taught in the US was based on fiction, absolutely blew my mind.

We visited the USS Constitution when it was docked in Boston and we thought it was pretty spectacular but it pales in comparison to modern ships. It would be interesting to see a side by side comparison, even from 1498 to 1797 ship design when compared to today’s standards.

I didn’t realize that the popes had any type of military power or I guess understand why they’d have anything to do with the military. It was interesting to see and learn how much of an influence and power the popes had and still do.

I am sure that once Plato’s philosophy was translated and widely distributed thanks to the printing press, it would have been more influential than even he originally thought. The late-medieval Christian of earthly suffering versus the transcendence of the soul from the earthly body would have spread rapidly.

I wonder if this was following the model set by the church or where this idea came from? It is kind of insane to think of where we are as parents now versus then or even 30-40 years ago and how the family dynamic has changed.

I wonder what context this refers to- how were women superior to the male counterparts if women were not allowed certain roles in society? This is something I will need to research further.

We discussed this in one of our Kaltura meetings. It is interesting to think that we have adopted a materialistic culture, however, it far predates our society. The goal of working toward having nice things and then staying put in that life was “the American dream” for a long time. Now, this generation is changing and challenging the traditional way of living. I wonder what our society will look like as more people stop having children, purchasing property, and buying materialistic items and focus more on wellbeing and travel.

As devastating of a time as it was, it did completely change the course of history for the time. The dense population made the plague spread rapidly, however, the plague brought about a renewal and time of rebirth and rejuvenation to society.

Again, another tradition that is carried out by royals overseas. Here, I feel as though there is a divide. Those who hunt for trophy that have disposable income to spend on exotic hunts versus those who hunt to provide meat for their families who tend to be in poorer economic statuses.

It is amazing to see the evolution of the education system. The subjects that are still considered the core subjects were the focus of education then as they are now and the degrees we all seek were created during the Middle Ages.

I am sure that this was huge for education within their society and led to an increase in educated people that could contribute to their society. This seems like a good opportunity to strongly influence the thinking of the young, impressionable minds.

Throughout Europe, it has been a reoccurring theme for women to be oppressed and held to a completely different standard than the men of the society. The comparison of women to Eve and the assumption that they lived in sin would have been incredibly frustrating and to be held to such an impossible standard, it makes me wonder if this didn’t drive women toward lives without the church? Toward paganism and other lifestyles? Did this encourage women to leave the Catholic faith and pursue other options?

It was interesting to learn about the dedication of those who professed their faith and committed their lives to the church, such as the monks and the Knights of Templar. I can’t imagine the amount of dedication it would take to withstand that type of pressure.

Is this where Hitler and the Nazis got the idea for distinguishing Jewish people during the Holocaust? This chapter and the last one have been devastating. I can’t imagine what they went through.

This is so different compared to the other societies that we have studied throughout this course. It is interesting that during the code of Hammurabi times, it required contract and receipts for every purchase, and then this was based more on tradition than concrete contracts.

I think the most astounding thing I’ve learned this semester is how much the Jewish people have suffered over the last thousands of years but they still remain faithful to their religion and persist today.

It is interesting that the king, who I thought could impose what ever laws he thought appropriate with the proper council, actually can’t do that. They put it out for a vote, so even though it is a monarchy, it is also more democratic than I thought it was.

I think that it is interesting that, though we’ve taken so much from the Islamic culture, their advancements in medicine, architecture, and language, we still view them in such a harsh, negative light.

When we learned about the modern banking systems that were used, I was really surprised to see how “Letters of Credit” are still in use today and how heavy of an influence this time period had on modern banking.

Did they realize the need for protein for sustenance and health or do you think it was an incidental finding? It seems as though they had a really good understanding of farming, a much better understanding of medical care than I assumed they did, and understandings of the sciences. I wonder how much knowledge about basic nutrition they actually had and the links nutritional deficiency has to disease.

Again, I assumed that this was a much more modern invention. I remember harrowing fields as a kid. I can’t imagine doing it powered by oxen or horses. The innovations that they used would have been of immeasurable value, especially as cities became more populated.

Prior to taking this class, I thought of the plow as a much more modern invention, but as it turns out, plows were being used long before this.

This is interesting. I didn’t realize that July was in reference to Julian Caesar.

I am sure the newly instituted laws that allowed the elite women more freedoms felt like a long over due blessing. Unfortunately, it came at the price of the enslaved. I wonder how the different duties or tasks were decided for the slaves? Some had more rights and served in more elite roles - scribes, personal assistants, etc. while others were deemed less worthy and performed menial tasks. Was it a punishment system or was it based on skill?

The amount of patriarchal power and influence within the Roman culture is mind blowing. To have one person within a family and household in charge of all decisions— up to life and death, seems crazy to me but there are traces of these practices in modern religions, too, I suppose.

At first glance, I was surprised that they wanted man power rather than tax funding from their allies. However, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. The only way to continue their current M.O. of expanding their empire is to have a plethora of troops to keep fighting battles to conquer more land.

Learning about how much influence ancient history has on modern practices has been incredible. They addressed many of the same political topics that we still discuss today.

I thought that the Romans attempted to tell the future was odd but interesting, so I researched it a little further. Often, they would look at the organs of sacrificed animals, often sheep livers, and would study the size, shape, and texture of the organ to make their prediction. They also used a variety of other methods: using chickens, eggs, bird flight paths, and urine bubble patterns to make predictions. https://www.history.co.uk/articles/ancient-roman-methods-for-predicting-the-future Google AI Summary

I found this to be interesting, especially in the contrast to Epicureanism because despite them thinking certain aspects of civilization were wrong, such as slavery, they didn’t think they could change it. It seems similar to the modern mindset of “this was God’s plan” and in a stark contrast, the “you only live once” mentality that is embraced by younger generations today.

This almost answered my question regarding the ancient science of anatomy and physiology, however, I wonder how much the ancient Egyptians knew prior to the Greek researchers? It is interesting to see the development of the sciences in Alexandria after the researchers were away from Greek rules against autopsy.

I found this to be interesting because it ties in with modern wellness and psychological theories (hierarchy of needs, the elements of wellness, etc.) that are still very popular today. Life should be about balance, one extreme or another is not healthy for anyone.

We discussed in the meeting last week how, if the three Abrahamic religions would cast their differing opinions aside, there would be far less conflict. If they focused on the qualities we share, rather than the sole focus on how they are different, I think society would find a more unified way of life. That being said- if Plato (via Socrates) argued that we should combine and work toward a common goal— it is the overall wellbeing of civilization rather than individual liberty, why was this guidance never taken seriously?

When I first found out that Socrates was executed, I was shocked, although, maybe I shouldn’t have been. Similar to rituals such as “burning at the stake” or “drownings” in the rivers of those accused of witchcraft, crimes, etc., anyone that was ahead of the times and challenged the viewpoints of the time periods were seen as a threat. It is incredible to think, how much further advanced would society be if there was a more open mindset in these times, as well as other times throughout history, and the brightest people were not extinguished.

It is interesting to see the vast differences, within the same time periods, regarding how differently the different populations regarded women. They were given more freedoms, well fed, and respected in Sparta versus in Greece where they were hidden away to bear children as if they were ashamed of the women in their population.

I can imagine that these people were really shunned in the beginning when they first started to disregard the prominence of the gods and instill a more logical method of thinking. The culture of believing that the gods were all knowing and powerful was so prominent for so long, that I am sure this was not well received.

It is interesting that the tradition has been kept to hold the Olympics every four years, but it is now open to all, rather than specific populations. The success at the games is still met with the same glory and appreciation in the athletes perspective countries and fields.

I found it interesting that the villages got along out of necessity, especially with the scarcity and competition for resources. Typically, it is the competition for resources that creates higher instances of conflict. The next paragraph talks about how politics brought the different villages together, which again, was surprising to me since it is such a source of tension in today’s society.

I thought that it was interesting that a new language was developed and a new writing system to keep record of trade deals, merchant orders, and communicate between trade partners. It was also interesting that we still model our alphabet off of what they used so long ago. I am sure this shared language made things much easier and was helpful for those who kept formal records.

In week 1, we learned of the communal attitude that ancient Egypt and the code of Hammurabi participated in. The Egyptians understood that if the canal in one area was damaged, it impacted not only that farmer, but everyone down stream. The same holds true for the trade routes. Would they send aid to those distant communities that were more fragile? Or was it every man for himself?

I found this to be interesting because she was such a powerful leader in a world that was traditionally dominated by men. Furthermore, I wonder if trade, diplomacy, and art flourished because women, are traditionally more skilled at softer communication skills. Despite it saying that she launched successful war campaigns, I wonder if her being a woman was a contributing factor in her success.

This is more similar to what I envisioned when thinking about different populations conquering others. The Assyrians allowed people that they came in contact with to keep aspects of their religion and they built upon the existing culture, rather than force their own upon the new lands. This seems like a better system to me, but I had always heard the method that the Hittites employed where the conquering force demanded the conquered abandon their beliefs and customs to adopt the ones brought by the conquering force.

I remember vaguely learning about the mummification process in elementary and middle school. With the advanced procedures performed, I wonder, had we been able to recover more of the papyrus writings, if we would be more advanced in the sciences. Surely they studied anatomy and physiology as they mummified the deceased.

I thought that it was interesting that a hierarchy didn’t arise until much later than I thought. I guess I assumed that there was always some natural pecking order, even in smaller, nomadic villages. The storage of grains is still similar to what we use today and I found that fascinating that those designs carried through this far into the future.

I found this to be interesting. My husband and I have had several discussions about different cultures and the way that they honor their deceased loved ones— more often than not, it is a time of celebration rather than mourning. This came to light when my grandma passed away and she did not want the typical funeral or “mourning”. She was a well educated and well traveled woman and thought that the best way to honor her was to be happy and celebrate her life.

I thought this was an interesting point because we often view “myths” as being fables or being untrue. I’ve never associated myths with being early forms of history, although when you hear stories of mythical creatures, such as Loch Ness or dragons, those stories had to have come from somewhere. It would be interesting to do a deeper dive and see where these myths originated and why they continued to be told throughout history.