Egyptian Mummification

The mummification process was very long and expensive .The people that took part during this were the scribe, the cutter, and the embalmer. The role of the scribe was to over see the cutting of the body. The cutter does the incision. The procedure was considered unclean, and limited their position in society. The embalmer was a type of priest that removed the internal organs and prepare the body. The process of mummification would take about two months, usually done at a workshop close to the person's tomb.

First the body is placed on a board. Then the brain was extracted through the nose. The brain cavity will then be filled with a mix of resin and linen. The chest will be cut open, and the main organs will be removed besides the heart. The organs will be stored in Canopic jars. The jars are usually in a set of four to respect for the sons of Horus. The body cavity will be washed and packed with natron, a natural dying substance in Egypt. The body will then dry for forty days, and then will be sewn back together. Then it is sealed with wax or metal. The body is then filled with linens, saw dust, salt or ash to keep the body hard.

The Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone is a very important artifact of historical value. It helped decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Before the nineteenth century no one could figure out how to translate the hieroglyphs. It was discovered in 1799 and made in year 196 BCE.The hieroglyphs were deciphered by 1822 by the British scientist Thomas Young and the French scholar Jean-François Champollion. It was originally discovered by the French. By a man name Captain Pierre-François Bouchard, who was a French army engineer. The French army surrendered to Napoleon's army. Then there was a dispute about who it belonged to, and Napoleon's army ended up taking possession of the Rosetta Stone.

Today the Rosetta Stone remains in the British Museum, where people can visit and see the display of the stone. It has been there since 1802. During the end of World War I in 1917 the Rosetta stone and other value objects were moved to a safe place because of the bombing in London. The stone spent two years during this time in Postal Tube Railway 50 feet below the ground of Holborn.It was again moved from the British museum in October 1972 for a display at the Louvre Museum. It was the 150th anniversary of the decipherment of hieroglyphic.

The Code of Hammurabi

The upper part of the stele of Hammurabi's code of laws was discovered in 1901 by the Egyptologist Gustav Jéquier. It was discovered in what is now Iran. Hammurabi ruled from 1796 BC – 1750 BC. They believed he was chosen by the gods to give the law to the people. He said "Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land." The Babylonians had to follow the Code of Hammurabi. It was one of the several sets of laws in Ancient Ancient Middle East. Older sets of laws from the past are,Ur-Nammu, king of Ur in 2050 BC, the Laws of Eshnunna in 1930 BC and the codex of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin in 1870 BC.

The Babylonians and the countries next door developed the earliest system of economics that was in a legal code. It uses a metric of various commodities. A commodity is some good for which there is demand, but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market. The law codes from Sumer could be the first written economic formula. It had things very similar today's society such as interest rates, fines for wrong doing, inheritance rules and how private property is to be taxed or divided.

King Tut

Tutankhamun's original name was Tutankhaten, which means living image of Aten. Aten was the disk of the sun in ancient Egyptian mythology. Tutankhamun means living image of Amun. Amun is as deity in Egyptian mythology. He became Pharaoh at nine years old, and ruled for about ten years. Tutankhamun's tomb is in the Valley of the Kings, discovered by Carter. His tomb was the most complete Ancient Egyptian royal tomb ever found. When he was younger Ay made the political decisions when he was very young. Tutankhamun was one of the very few pharaohs’ not worshiped as a god and instead had cult like followers, when he was still alive. A stela was discovered at Karnak and devoted to Amun and Tutankhamun, where people would come to ask for forgiveness for their wrong doings. Temples of his cult were also built in Kawa and Faras in Nubia.

Tutankhamun's cause of death was unknown. In 1968 x-ray results revealed a dense spot in his skull, which is an injury from some kind of accident. Some people believe he could have been murdered. A trauma specialist from Long Island University thinks that this injury could not have been from a natural cause. The injury was caused by blunt force to the head.

Book IX

Agamemnon, king of the Greek Army, cries and says that they have lost the war. He thinks the best thing to do is just sail home. Diomedes said he would not give up and even fight by himself if he had to. He helps raise the armies' spirit and they decide to stay in the war and not return home. Old Nestor suggests during a meeting that the absence of Achilles is causing suffering to the Greek Army. Agamemnon decides to offer him many gifts and let Briseis return if he will rejoin the army. Ajax and Odysseus go to send the message to Achilles.

Achilles refuses the offer to come back and fight in the army. He says he will not be bought back by the King. Also that Agamemnon can not ever change the fact that he publicly insulted him, no matter how many things he gives me. He says there is no way that he will participate in the war and that he and his man will sail home in the morning. They go back to tell King Agamemnon the bad news at Achaian camp. The king is filled with great sorrow from the news. Diomedes says it was a mistake to have even tried to persuade Achilles to come back. They are advised to do what ever they can to protect their ships with or without Achilles .