Kyle+M.

**School of Athens - Hypatia**
The character in "The School of Athens//"// that really stood out to me was Hypatia, because she appears to the only female in the picture. Another thing about Hypatia that really caught my eye was that she is the only figure in the entire painting looking directly at the viewer rather than interacting with another philosopher. Being the head of the Platonist school in Alexandria, Hypatia was very knowledgeable about fields such as astronomy and math. People aren't positive about her contributions to the realm of science since there are no works on which her name is shown, but it is believed that she created an advanced astrolabe that could more precisely predict the stars' positions, and a device that could accurat ely measure the density of liquids known as a hydrometer.

Someone I believe should have been in the "School of Athens" painting but was not is another Renaissance thinker, Leonardo da Vinci. Besides his awesome artistic abilities, da Vinci made much progress in the fields of human anatomy, math, science, and engineering. The drawings he left behind show his extensive knowledge in these fields by showing accurate diagrams of human bone structure and his many blueprints for inventions such as his flying machines and weapons. Good point, but some believe that the picture of Plato is actually supposed to be Leonardo. -SW

Genghis Khan (born Temujin) was born in present-day Mongolia sometime around 1162. Upon his birth, it is reported that he had a blood clot clenched in his hand - a sign foretelling that he would one day become a great leader. He grew up surrounded with constant violence and by about 10, his father was poisoned by an enemy tribe. Shortly after, Temujin's own clan abandoned him and his family (his mother and 6 siblings) because the clan refused to be led by someone so young.Eventually, Temujin even killed his own older brother to ass
 * Class Starter: Genghis Khan **

ume leadership over his family.

In 1178, Temujin married a woman from another clan, Borte, in order to solidify an alliance between the two clans. Soon after the marriage, however, Borte was kidnapped and sold away as a wife, so Temujin set out on a quest to rescue her. On his mission, Temujin made many more allies, became more notorious as a warrior, and began to gain more and more followers.

Unlike many other clans of the time, Temujin grew his following by eliminating rival clan leaders and placing allies in their positions (rather than family members). After a raid of a certain clan, the remaining members were to be absorbed into his own clan to expand his influence. Temujin's conquest of Asia was so efficient that by 1205, he had already wiped out all rivals and established a nation which came to be known as Mongolia that included about 1 million people. He was given the title Chinggis Khan (or as we know it, Genghis Khan) which means 'universal ruler'.

Although when we think of the Mongols, the first thing that typically comes to mind is savagery and destruction, Temujin did many great things for his country such as abolishing the selling and trading of women, banned the enslavement of any Mongol, adopted a writing system, took a nation census, and even allowed much religious tolerance long before many other people.

Soon after establishing his nation, Genghis Khan began to campaign outside of Mongolia by invading neighboring countries - the first of which was the Xi Xia kingdom of China. Unlike other armies, Genghis Khan's consisted of mainly expert cavalrymen who were also master archers. Genghis Khan died on August 18, 1227 from internal injuries after being thrown off a horse. He conquered twice the land any other person ever did, and brought the Western and Eastern civilizations into contact during the process.

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Primary Source: Cleopatra's Needle
Cleopatra's Needle is the name of a series of three obelisks that were originally built in Ancient Egypt under the rule of Thutmosis III around 1450 BCE, and another about 300 years later under the rule of Ramesses II (not Cleopatra). The three a rtifacts stood in Alexandria, Egypt until they were moved to the US, the UK, and France as a gift from Egyptian rulers in the early 1800s. The obelisks are heavily marked with hieroglyphs telling of the reign of the pharaohs that had them built. Unfortunately, the sides of the structures have been extremely weathered and ‍are nearly illegible‍ at this point due to acid rain and pollution from the busy cities they're located in today. The three obelisks can be found in Central Park in New York City, London, England, and Paris, France. Over the years, the hieroglyphs that marked the four sides of the obelisks have been worn down to an illegible state due to the acid rain and pollution of the large cities.

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Hi! This is really cool and interesting! I just have a couple of questions: Do you know when this was built? Why was it built in London? Is there a story behind it?:) -HR