Pingry School
World History 1-Focus Questions, Unit 1: The Ancient Middle East
Day 1-The Body Image of the Nacirema
First, observe: what seem to be the most prominent artifacts (physical objects), actions, and
concerns of the Nacirema?
Second, analyze: what do these objects suggest to us about how Nacirema culture works? What
are the most important goals and beliefs of the Nacirema?
Third, evaluate: what do you think of the Nacirema culture? Would you want to be part of it?
Your reasons?
Finally, why did we do this exercise to start the year?
Day 2-The Neolithic Revolution-Reading due: text, pp. 3-6
What do the terms Paleolithic and Neolithic mean? What happened during the Neolithic period
that made it so fundamentally different from the Paleolithic age? Why do these changes
constitute a revolution, and what do you think the term revolution means?
To what extent did geography and climate contribute to the development of agriculture and civilization? What other things were necessary? Why did early civilizations develop in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China before they did anywhere else? Finally, how do we define the term, civilization? How do we know a group of civilized people when we see one?
Day 3-Sumerian Culture and Society-Reading due: text, pp. 6-9
Where is Mesopotamia? In what present-day country (it derives its name from the ancient city of Uruk)? How were the Sumerians able to establish a civilization in such a harsh environment?
What is cuneiform and why is it important? How did the Sumerian system of education work?
How did the Sumerians organize their economy, government, and social class system? What were
their achievements in mathematics and medicine? What were their basic religious beliefs like,
and how do they compare to your own?
Day 4-The Sumerian World View-Reading due: text, pp. 34-35; THR, pp. 7-12
What is the Epic of Gilgamesh about? Why is it an important piece of ancient literature? What
does it reveal to us about Sumerian values and beliefs? To the Sumerians, what seem to be the purpose and meaning of life? Are their beliefs basically optimistic or pessimistic, and to what
extent do they resemble our own?
Day 5-TheUnification of Mesopotamia and Spread of Mesopotamian Culture-Reading due: text, pp. 13-15; THR, pp. 10-12
In chronological order, list the civilizations which followed Sumer in ancient Mesopotamia up to
1200BC, and explain their role in spreading Mesopotamian civilization to other peoples. Why
did other peoples find Mesopotamian civilization attractive enough to copy? At the same time,
why was Mesopotamia itself so difficult to unite? Explain the importance of Sargon, Hammurabi,
and Hammurabi's Code of Law? In what ways was Hammurabi's Code of Law similar to our own laws, and in what ways quite different? What does the Code reveal to us about ancient Mesopotamian civilization?
Day 6-Egypt, Gift of the Nile-Reading due: text, pp. 12-17; THR, pp. 22-24
In what ways was Egypt a gift of the Nile? Compare Egypt's development to that of
Mesopotamia What similarities and differences do you see? Why do you think they exist? Be able to list the various periods of Egyptian history through 1075 BC, and to identify and explain the importance of Menes, Akhenaten, and Ramses II. In what ways was Akhenaten a religious revolutionary, and why did his experiment with monotheism fail?Be able to describe Egypt's relations with surrounding areas.
Day 7-Competing Civlizations in the Ancient Middle East-Reading due: text, pp. 17-22
What forces account for the decline of ancient Egypt? Who were the Hittites and
Phoenicians, and what were their important accomplishments?
Day 8-The Children of Israel-Reading due: text, pp. 22-25; THR, pp. 54-61
How did the Hebrew state evolve? What forces helped shape Hebrew religious thought? What similarities exist between Hebrew and Mesopotamian religious ideas? Compare the story of Noah with the flood passage in The Epic of Gilgamesh. What do you see? Who were Saul, David and Solomon, and why were they important figures? What weaknesses of the Jewish kingdom led to
its political division, decline, and fall? Who were its conquerors? Despite its political weakness,
what made the Jewish kingdom an important cultural force in the world? How was Hebrew
society organized, and what was strikingly original and important about Hebrew religion and
the Hebrew concept of history?
Day 9-The Great Near Eastern Empires-Assyria, Babylon, and Persia
Reading due: text, pp. 25-31
Assyria, Babylon, and Persia described, compared and contrasted. Why they were a departure from previous civilizations in the Near East. The idea of a universal state. How would you rank
these empires in order of importance? Why?
Day 10-Review
Day 11-Test
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