Summary

      I think the area that best characterizes the civilization would be the Nile River. Each geographical area contributes to the civilization. However, since the Faiyam, the Nile Delta and the Nile River all have to do with agriculture, it was logical to pick only one out of the three. The deserts are important as far as the pharaoh wanting gold, but silver is far more rare than gold. The Mediterranean is a close second since trade is a huge aspect of the civilization; however the people could live without it. The Nile River, however, the people could not live without. The Nile is their source of food, water and transportation. Without the Nile, the people would have a lower economy. If you were to take out the Nile River, the Nile Delta and the Faiyam would be gone to since they are all connected. Like the domino effect, if the Nile did not exist there would be no water, fish or plentiful soil. Without those there would be no crops to grow and eat. Their economy would come crashing down and who knows the civilization could fall. One piece can cause the Jenga tower to come crashing down.

     As the day came to an end, and our the artifacts from five different destinations were all accounted for, the Doctor and I stopped to take in the view one last time before we went back into the TARDIS to return back to present time. Before I left on this incredible insane journey through time with the Doctor, I stopped by my high school to hand in my history project. Maybe someday I'll be back to see my mark, who knows?

Destination 5: The Eastern and Western Desert

The Western Desert

     The last destination we arrived at was nothing but sand that ran on for miles. It took no genius to realize that we were in the desert. The desert is by far the hardest place to look for artifacts for. If we were to walk and end up near a city, then we would know we walked too far. In the desert there was no telling where we would end up. After walking for miles we ended up at an abandoned mine. In Egypt, the deserts were sources of minerals such as gold (Newman 56). Through extensive excavation in the mines, the people would usually find valuables such as metal and precious stones (reshfim.org). The precious stones were used to make artifacts such as the one we found. 

The Precious Hawk

     The artifact we found is known as the precious hawk. The precious hawk was made out of gold, and many other valuables, that could only be found in the mines near Nubia. The precious hawk is a symbol of high status. You would not see someone of low class sporting the hawk. The hawk itself represents the god Horus. The hawk holds the ankh, the symbol of life, and the shen sign, the symbol of completeness (Tyldesley 36).  

     The people contributed to the civilization because  the work was done by the lower class. If there were no lower class there would be no one to providing precious valuables to the king. The place contributed to the civilization because the classes of a civilization were distinguished by what they wore. The high class wore elegant jewelry that the lower classes did not have.

Destination 4: The Faiyam

The Faiyam

Basket

     We then arrived to see more water, surprise! This time we knew where we were straight away. The only place left with a bod of water was the Faiyam. The Faiyam has the earliest known agricultural economy. The economy itself was mixed. The people cultivated barley, wheat and flax, and hunted animals and fished in the river. They also breaded animals such as cattle, sheep, goats and pigs (Faiyam.com). Typically, the Faiyam was of the responsibility of the middle class farmers. The farmers were to make and sell produce that was cultivated and bread in the Faiyam (Tyldesley 13). Other then the fact that the Faiyam was used for agricultural purposes, the people would also skilled 

basket weavers. 

     Since the people were basket weavers it only fit to have a basket as an artifact. Baskets dated back to the Neolithic age in 5000 BCE. Baskets were used to carry the produce from one destination to the next. They were also used as storage for items such as tools. They came in a variety of shaped and sizes as well as designs. There are three designs you could have: coiled, twine and plaited. They are usually colored black, red and white with pigments that were imported from other parts of the world (touregypt.net)

     The people contributed to the civilization because without the people, there would be no basket weavers to weave baskets. The place contributed to the civilization because it helped speed up the economy rate.

Destination 3: The Nile Delta

The Nile Delta

     We arrived at our next destination to see, big surprise, more water. This time however, we were at the Nile Delta. The Nile Delta was the largest area of the fertile lands (Newman 56). Like the Nile River, the Nile River was used for agricultural purposes. In Ancient Egypt, farmers were the people who kept the economy up. It was the farmer's job to cultivate and irrigate the land.

It only fit to have farmer's tools as the artifacts for this area. The common tools used were a wooden hoe, a rake to clear the ground, a winnowing scoop for tossing grain, a sickle for reaping the harvest and a wooden spoon for collecting grain. For the people it was extremely hard on their backs since they are bent over for hours on end unlike nowadays where machines do all the work for you (David 118).

Wooden Hoe, Spoon, Scoop, Sickle

 The people contributed to the civilization because it was the people who put their back into it every day. Imagine if there was no class structure and everyone was of high class, who would be doing the work then? The place contributed to the civilization because without the land there would be no place to cultivate and irrigate. Sure there are others places to cultivate but the Nile Delta was the richest farmland in Egypt (dur.ac.uk).

Destination 2: The Nile River

The Nile River

     We arrived yet again to see a large surplus of water. Thought it was not easy to distinguish, we realized we were at the Nile River. The Nile, also known as the Black Land, was the main highway and was a source of food and water. The Nile was mostly used for agricultural uses. When the Nile flooded, it left behind rich soils used to grow crop and make mud-houses. Egypt depended on the floods. If the Nile did not flood there would be no rich soil to grow crops on, which could affect the agriculture greatly and cause a chain reaction. Other than a source for rich soil, the Nile was used as a source of food. The river had a surplus of fish (Tyldesley 8). 

Model Boat

     Since the Nile is a body of water, a more the obvious artifact would be a boat. Boats were the only form of water transportation in that time and are still used today. Unlike today, boats in ancient Egypt only fit a single person. With only one person on the boat, the rate of efficiency was quite low compared to now. Nowadays all you have to do is put a net in the water, wait a bit and before you know it you have a hundred fish lying before you.  Part of the centralization of the government was stability. Stability in ancient Egypt depended on food.

     The people contributed to the civilization because the poor people were the ones who did all of the manual labor. The place contributed to the civilization because without the Nile, the Fertile Lands would not exist, it would just be a land of dry infertile soil.  

Destination 1: The Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea

     We arrived at our first destination to the sight of gorgeous crystal blue waves and the feel of coarse sand beneath out feet; we were at the Mediterranean Sea. Since we were short on time, we went straight to excavating the area for artifacts. Since the Mediterranean is Egypt’s major trading outlet, it would be most likely that we would find artifacts that Egypt exported to various parts of the world (Newman 56). Some items that Egypt imported were copper ingots from Cyprus, Mycenaean pottery from Greece, tin ingots from Asia Minor and ivory from Syria (Newman 59). The people traveled by land, but mostly traveled by water, so it was logical to try and find the trade export near the beach where the ships were docked. If we were stealthy enough we could sneak onto one of the ships and take an artifact for research. So, we snuck onto one of the ships and grabbed the first things we saw, and then we bolted out of there. 

The Artifact we grabbed was a gold plaque depicting two figures on either sides of an eye. After some research, we figured out that the plaque was called a wedjat eye plaque. The plaque dates back to circa 1069-945 BCE. It is called a wedjat eye plaque because the eye represents the god Horus. Horus lost an eye in a battle so the one eye represents healing. The eye would often be placed in the wrapping of a mummy (britishmuseum.org). The plaque itself was made out of solid gold, found in the mines in the deserts. The plaque represents the Mediterranean because as said before the Mediterranean was Egypt’s main trading route; it was where the ships went in and out. Art was one of Egypt’s main exports. Art itself was a re-enactment of life, or the past life of the one in it. Art in ancient Egypt was made to tell the story of someone who dies. The people contributed to the civilization because without the people, who would trade with the other countries, surely not the pharaoh. The Mediterranean contributed to the civilization because without trade, the people would be without good to make weapons, without wine and would have a lower economy. It is like a domino effect, without the place there would be nothing for the people do therefore there would nothing to bring in to the city for the pharaoh. 

Meeting the Time Lord

The TARDIS

      It was not that long ago, I was just a normal high school trying to get by with her studies. All it took was one second for my entire world to change. It was a normal school day, nothing different from the day before. I was walking home from school enjoying what little sun was left on that cold October day, when all of the sudden dark clouds started to reel in and thunder and lightning started to crackle. Since after all I do live in Canada, and we have had our fair share of thunderstorms, I thought that nothing was out of the ordinary until this one single bolt struck down into the middle of a clearing near my house. I thought that that single bolt of lightning was strange so I went to investigate it. When I got there the clearing was covered in smoke, but when the smoke started to clear I saw the distinct outline of something in the distance. The closer I got, the more I could tell what the object was. In the middle of the clearing stood a blue telephone booth, something you do not see at all in Canada. 

The Doctor

As if magic, out from the booth comes a man sporting a suit with brown hair and eyes. When he realized someone was in the clearing with him, he introduced himself as the Doctor. Confused and shocked at what was before me, I went along and introduced myself. He went on to tell me how he was a renegade time lord from the planet Gallifrey and he travel by the odd telephone booth, otherwise known as TARDIS. He proceeded to tell me that he came to earth in search for a companion to travel with, and that I saved him the trouble of having to search for someone by going straight to him. He said if I was willing to travel with him I could pick a place to go to. I told him that since I have a project due in history class about ancient Egypt, I thought it would be fitting to travel there to get information for my project. He agreed to my proposal and said that I could choose five destinations to go to since we were on limited time. After picking the five destinations to go to, we both entered the blue phone booth, off to travel back in time to Ancient Egypt. These were our findings.

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