Zach



For my Stick project, I made a replica of the Venus of Willendorf. The original statue is thought to have been carved between between 24,000 and 22,000 B.C.E. It was excavated near the Austrian village of Willendorf, leading to its name. the carving is thought to have been a fertility symbol. this is congruent with ancient beliefs about the supernatural and magic. ancient people commonly believed themselves to be constantly surrounded by magic and deities of all shapes and sizes. they had many different varieties of gods and goddesses that they worship. the so-called Venus of Willendorf was probably meant to be used as a charm, either by representing directly a goddess of fertility, or to simply inspire fertility by representing characteristics of that nature.

s Sawing the stick

Gluing the stick Sawing again

Whittling and more gluing

Finished carving

Varnish



DONE!

=**History Paper**=

**Abstract**
When Ramses ascended the throne of Egypt after the death of his father, the prince of the sometimes Egyptian vassel-state of Kadesh decided that it would be an opportune time to make a bid for independence from Egypt and its new pharaoh. Ramses, recognizing this for the challenge to his authority that it was, set out immediately with an enormous army to capture the city from Hittite hands. However, when Ramses arrived at Kadesh, his forces were very nearly routed and he returned home having not accomplished his goal. Unwilling or unable to acknowledge his near-defeat, once home Ramses ordered a distorted account of the battle engraved onto the temple walls and columns around Egypt. Ramses distorted his account of the battle of Kadesh to preserve and embellish his reputation as a leader both at home and abroad.Ramses knew that his expedition was a disaster. He had failed to recapture Kadesh and defeat the Hittites, and his powerful Army had been made to look inept and clumsy under Hittite attack. Ramses knew that he needed to do some serious damage control, so he did something that only a pharaoh could do. He started building. On temple walls and columns all over Egypt, Ramses posted his own version of the events of the battle of Kadesh, with himself as the conquering hero. In it, the record remains mostly accurate until just after the rout of the Re division. From there, his account, becomes not so much an account of the battle but a tale attesting to the greatness of the pharaoh. The main reason for concealing the truth about the battle of Kadesh is the same reason for moving to attack the city in the first place. Ramses knew that if news spread that he and his army had been lucky to escape from the Hittites with their hides intact, he would look weak in the eyes of foreign leaders. If word spread that Ramses could not control his outermost holdings, then Egypt would quickly become besieged by invaders from all sides. To be weak was to invite death. Ramses knew that he had to appear strong. With his elaborate fable, and a treaty with the Hittites, he was able to conjure up exactly the image he was searching for. Ultimately, Ramses doctored his tale of the battle of Kadesh to keep his reputation up, for reasons of both personal vanity and international diplomacy, two traits that, incongruous as they might appear, show up together surprisingly often.