History 101.019/022
Fall 2003 (updated: 11/10)
Class Readings and Assignments
Exam and Paper Schedule

The course readings listed below consist of:

Other documents are located in the Reference Room or on Reserve in the College Library, or they are available digitally as downloads from on this Web Page. Most citations in the Reading Assignment-list below are marked with a locator code: RS = Reserve; Ref = Reference; W = Web Page.

The full bibliographical citation of each reading is located in the document itself. Click on each Web document below to open, download or print.

Many of the Web documents are in HTML-format; others are in PDF-files (). To download and open the PDF-files, students need the program Adobat Acrobat Reader® resident on their computers and installed as a plug-in to their Web browser. This program is freely available for downloading and installing from the College of Charleston's "Software Depot" Web page (click here to open; follow instructions to download and install).

This class will adhere to the course schedule below. Students are expected to read the specified assignments on their own for each scheduled week. All readings for the week should be completed by the second meeting of the week to facilitate discussion. If we happen not to complete a particular unit in class in the week specified, we will move on to the next unit. However, students will still be responsible for all the material through their readings.

The instructor reserves the right to alter the schedule of lectures, discussions, and reading assignments at any time during the course, and this schedule will be altered to reflect those changes.


Week 1: August 26 and 28
(8/26) Introduction: Course Description
Kishlansky et al., ch. 1, 1-2;
Lim and Smith, xix-xxi, 1-14.
(8/28) Defining History (Group Discussions)
WClass Handouts: "History Is...." (click to open)
Week 2: September 2 and 4
Kishlansky et al., ch. 1, 4-14;
WEgyptian creation myths (excerpts) (click to open)
W/Rs/Ref"Memphite Theology" (Pritchard, Ancient Near East 1, 1-2; or Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 4-6 [full!]) (click to open);
Rs/Ref"Enuma Elish" (Pritchard, Ancient Near East 1, 31-39; vol. 2, 1-4; or Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 60-72, 501-503 [full!]).
WOptional: Excerpt: "The Book of Overthrowing Apophis" (click to open)
(9/4) Early Mesopotamia: Akkad and Babylonia
Kishlansky et al., ch. 1, 16-18;
Lim and Smith, 34-37.
Week 3: September 9 and 11
(9/9) Later Near East: Mesopotamians and Hebrews
Kishlansky et al., ch. 1, 24-25; 30-33;
Lim and Smith, 27-29, 31-34; 38-41;
Rs/Ref"A Sumerian Myth: The Deluge" (Pritchard, Ancient Near East 1, pp. 28-30; or Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 42-44)
Rs/Ref"Epic of Gilgamesh: Flood Story (excerpt)" (Pritchard, Ancient Near East 1, pp. 66-71; or Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 93-95 [lines 8-196 only!])
(9/11) Ancient Egypt and the Nile Valley
Lim and Smith, 49-51;
WPiccione, "Basin Irrigation in Ancient Egypt" (click to open);
W "The Hymn to Hapy (Nile Inundation)" (click to open).
Week 4: September 16 and 18
(9/16) Egyptian History and Society
Kishlansky et al., ch. 1, 18-24, 26-27;
Lim and Smith, 41-48;
Map Quiz #1: The Near East and Western Asia
(9/18) The Minoans and Mycenaeans

Kishlansky et al., ch. 2, 38-46;
Lim and Smith, 55-58.
Week 5: September 23 and 25
(9/23) Early Greece
Kishlansky et al., ch. 2, 47-64
Lim and Smith, 49-51, 52-54, .
Reading Quiz #1
(9/25) Theme Paper preparation day: NO CLASS
Week 6: September 30 and October 2
(9/30) Classical Greece
Kishlansky et al., ch. 3, 69, 72-86;
Lim and Smith, 59-61, 62-67, 74-76.
(10/2) Alexander and the Hellenistic World
Kishlansky et al., ch. 3, 70-71, 86-101;
Lim and Smith, 77-79, 87-89, 93-95.
- - - Theme paper due October 2 (before end of class) - - -
Week 7: October 7 and 9 (Midterm)
(10/7) Early Rome and the Republic
Kishlansky et al., ch. 4, 105-131;
Lim and Smith, 106-111, 117-124.
Last day to withdraw with grade of "W"
(10/9) Midterm Examination (60 mins.)
Week 8: October 14 and 16
(10/14) Imperial Rome
Kishlansky et al., ch. 5, 135-166;
Lim and Smith, 111-117, 124-129, 134-136;
W"Roman Sources on the Jews and Judaism, 1 BCE-110 CE".
(10/16) Late Rome and the Triumph of Christianity
Kishlansky et al., ch. 6, 169-194;
Lim and Smith, 139-141, 145-147, 160-163;
WNew Testament, Matthew 5:1-12, "Sermon on the Mount" (click to open);
WNew Testament, Acts of the Apostles 10:1-48 (Peter's vision and the first gentiles convert) (click to open);
Map Quiz #2: The Ancient Mediterranean World: Greece, Rome, and the East
* * * O C T O B E R 17 - 21: F A L L B R E A K * * *
Week 9: October 21 and 23
(10/21) FALL BREAK - NO CLASS
(10/23) The Byzantine Empire and the Rise of Islam
Kishlansky et al., ch. 7, 197-226;
Lim and Smith, 176-179, 193-195, 197-207, 214-215, 224-231, 242-244.
Week 10: October 28 and 30
(10/28) The Early Middle Ages: Charlemagne and a New Empire
Kishlansky et al., ch. 8, 229-260;
Lim and Smith, 188-189, 244-252.
Madden, Concise History of the Crusades, 1-37
(10/30) The Central Middle Ages: "The Little Renaissance"
Kishlansky et al., ch. 9, 263-299;
Lim and Smith, 254-256;
WAlbert of Aix and Ekkehard of Aura, "Two Accounts of the Slaughter of Rhineland Jews at the Start of the First Crusade, A.D. 1096" (click to open).
Madden, Concise History of the Crusades, 39-63
WInternet Medieval Sourcebook: The Crusades (click to open)
Reading Quiz #2
Week 11: November 4 and 6
(11/4) The Late Middle Ages: Plagues, Famine and Schism
Kishlansky et al., ch. 10, 303-332.
Madden, Concise History of the Crusades, 65-97
WPope Urban II (1088-1099) calls for First Crusade, Speech at the Council of Clermont, 1095 (Fulchers of Chartres version) (click to open).
Soloman bar Samson: Jewish Account of Crusader Attacks in Mainz, May 27, 1096 (click to open).
(11/6) Renaissance in the West, Calamity in the East

Kishlansky et al., ch. 11, 335-364.
Madden, Concise History of the Crusades, 138-141, 143-165
WPeter the Hermit and the Popular Crusade: Collected Accounts (click to open).
The Crusaders at Constantinople: Collected Accounts (click to open).
Week 12: November 11 and 13
(11/11) The Age of Discovery
Kishlansky et al., ch. 12, 367-399.
Madden, Concise History of the Crusades, 167-186
WThe Siege and Capture of Antioch: Collected Accounts (click to open).
(11/13) European Dynastic and Colonial Wars
Kishlansky et al., ch. 14, 437-465.
Madden, Concise History of the Crusades, 187-212
WThe Siege and Capture of Jerusalem: Version of Raymond d'Aguiliers (click to open).
The Siege and Capture of Jerusalem: Version of Fulcher of Chartres (click to open).
Week 13: November 18 and 20
(11/18) Books Discussion: Crusaders Take the Cross
Madden, Concise History of the Crusades, 213-215.
WErnoul, "The Battle of Hattin, 1187" (click to open);
The Battle of Hattin, 1187 (click to open);
The Capture of Jerusalem by Saladin, 1187 (click to open).
Map Quiz #3: Early Modern Europe
(11/20) Books Discussion: Arab Response to Invasion
Madden, Concise History of the Crusades.
Gabrielli, Arab Historians of the Crusades.
WThe Siege and Capture of Acre, 1191 (click to open);
Muslim Hostages Slain at Acre, 1191 (click to open);
Richard the Lion-Heart Makes Peace with Saladin, 1192. (click to open).
- - - Term paper due November 20 (before end of class) - - -
Week 14: November 25 and 27
(11/25) Early Modern Europe
WThe Fourth Crusade (that Went Awry): Robert de Clari, "The Capture of Constantinople" (click to open);
Nicetas Choniates: The Sack of Constantinople (1204) (click to open);
Ludolph of Suchem: The Fall of Acre, 1291. (click to open).
Reading Quiz #3
(11/27) THANKSGIVING - NO CLASS
Week 15: Week of December 2 and 4
The Dawn of Modern Europe
(12/4) Last Day of Class
Final Examination:
Sect. 019: Saturday, December 13, 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m., MYBK 303
Sect. 022: Tuesday, December 16, 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m., MYBK 306


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