ÜCRETSİZ YDS HAZIRLIK E-DERGİ

sayı

reader

2

HISTORY-2

How did ancientEgyptians make mummies?

What was the Cold War?

The Cold War was a period of

tension and subdued hostility which

gripped most of the world between the

1940s and the early 1990s. The

primary actors in the Cold War were

the United States and its allies,

countered by Russia and countries

aligned with that nation. Rather than

engaging in a potentially devastating

out and out war, the countries involved

in the Cold War jockeyed for position in

more subtle ways. Many major events

in global history including the rise of

the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile

Crisis were related to the Cold War.

The Cold War has its roots in

the Second World War, when the Allied

powers made an uneasy pact with

Russia to defeat Germany and Italy.

The Allied countries were concerned

about joining forces with a Communist

nation, and Russia was likewise

hesitant about the agreement. After the

Second World War, Germany was

divided into territories occupied by the

Allies and Russia, and the relationship

started to go sour shortly after that.

From the point of view of the

West, Communist was a dangerous

idea. Russia had firm control of

Eastern Europe, but the Allies and the

United States in particular hoped to

prevent the spread of Communism

through containment. The West was

also concerned about the potential for

conversion in developing nations in

Africa, Asia, and South America. The

West heavily controlled regions which

bordered Communist countries, and

sent a variety of spies across the

borders to gather information about

Communist regimes. In addition, both

Communists and Westerners engaged

in wars on other ground, such as in

Korea and Vietnam, in an attempt to

gain the upper hand.

Russia and allied nations such

as China, on the other hand, wanted to

protect themselves and the Communist

nations that they were allied with. The

division between Communist Eastern

Europe and the West was called the

“Iron Curtain,” due to the difficulty in

crossing it, thanks to Communist

officials trying to keep citizens in and

Westerners out. Communist nations

competed with the West economically,

scientifically, and technologically in an

attempt to establish superiority. The

Cold War led the Space Race which

landed Americans on the moon in

1969, and it also led to nuclear

proliferation, as a growing number of

countries grew concerned for their

safety.

Numerous attempts were made

at reaching a diplomatic agreement

during the Cold War, but the Cold War

truly began to end when Eastern

European nations rose up against

Communism. The Solidarity anti-

communist movement gained ground

in Poland as the Berlin Wall fell and

leaders of the United States and

Russia started to engage in

cooperative talks. Diplomatic

relationships between the major

players in the Cold War were re-

established in the 1990s, to the relief of

many people around the world who

had been impacted by the Cold War.

What is war crime?

Photo by stephanie CHEN

A war crime is a crime which is committed during the course of a war, either by a civilian or a member of the military. War crimes have been a problem throughout human history, although prosecution of such crimes only really emerged in the 20th century, thanks to general public outrage about crimes committed by German and Japanese forces during the Second World War. Unfortunately, this term can be a bit challenging to define, as it is somewhat nebulous. War crimes are also notoriously hard to prosecute and prove.

Most governments agree that any action which violates international conventions and agreements about warfare is a war crime. For example, abuse of prisoners of war is outlawed by the Geneva Convention, and therefore considered a war crime. Perfidy, the act of wilfully deceiving the enemy, is also a war crime. Crimes against humanity such as torture, genocide, mass deportation, and other acts of persecution are also considered war crimes when they occur during a period of Ideally, individual nations should prosecute their own war criminals, and in several countries, tribunals have been established after periods of war to acquit or convict and sentence suspected war criminals.

In other instances, neutral courts such as those in the Hague have tried war criminals after a period of war. Trials typically include testimony from victims, if possible, along with witnesses and professionals such as forensic anthropologists who analyze evidence at suspected sites of criminal activity. Sentences for war crimes vary, depending on the magnitude of the crime and the will of the court.

The first serious attempts to prosecute war criminals occurred after the First World War, and they were largely

considered a failure. After the Second World War, however, a tribunal was arranged in Nuremburg, Germany, for the purpose of trying suspected war criminals. The tribunal was run by the Allied occupying forces, and a number of prominent Nazis were tried during the Nuremburg trials, including Hermann Goring and Rudolf Hess. This tribunal set the stage for future prosecutions of suspected war criminals, and caused a shift in international attitudes about the concept of war crime.

Internationally, organizations such as the UN may monitor conflict zones for signs of war crimes. In some cases, suspected war criminals may be remanded to a neutral court such as the International Criminal Court in the Hague, if the United Nations feels that they will not be tried appropriately in their home nations. This international court has very specifically spelled out authorities, to ensure that its power is not abused.

How did ancientEgyptians make mummies?

Ancient Egyptians created mummies because of their staunch belief in life after death and the need for a well-preserved body in the afterlife was of monumental importance. The study of ancient Egyptians reveals that the need to discover artificial means of preserving bodies came after they discovered natural means of doing so. In the end, the ancient Egyptians made mummies out of their deceased using processes that changed over time as newer discoveries were made.

Initially, ancient Egyptians attempted to make mummies by simply wrapping bodies in many layers of linen bandages. This method was used prior to the knowledge of any type of embalming and failed to prevent the decay of the body. Though they would extract most of the organs from corpses before making them into mummies to delay decaying, the process failed to prevent decay for long.

An advancement in mummification was made when ancient Egyptians decided to soak the linen bandages in resin and create a hardened, outer shell for their mummies. This process also allowed the living to paint the carefully molded faces of the mummies to look more realistic. However, because this process still did not equate to embalming, the corpses still decayed.

It wasn’t until natron, a naturally occurring salt, was discovered that true preservation became possible. Natron was used for embalming mummies and because it dried out the tissue, decay was prevented. The drying process took time and some parts of the body, such as fingernails, were tied on to avoid falling off and becoming lost. The ancient Egyptians believed that a body must arrive in the afterlife fully intact in order to be used. They continued to remove most of the internal organs, but not the heart as it would also be needed.

As time advanced, mummies were always embalmed with a drying agent and the body cavities stuffed with saw dust or linen. Often times the bodies were cleaned with oils and spices prior to stuffing. Masks made from hardened resin were often placed over the head and shoulders of the mummies making them distinguishable in the afterlife. Once perfected, the entire mummification process took about 60 days, thus meaning the funeral and final burial of ancient Egyptian mummies occurred at least two months after death.