last update: 4/23/20
The class readings are available for downloading and reading by linking to them from this "Reading Assignments"-web page. Over the course of the semester, the instructor might make others available through the Addlestone Library (reference, reserve, or periodicals sections). Those citations in the reading list below not found in the course textbooks are marked with the locator code: RS = Addlestone Library Reserve or Per = Library Periodicals Room or W = this Web Page.
- Readings in the textbook, Spodek, The World's History (4th edition), are listed as: "Spodek," + chapter or section name + page numbers.- Readings in the course reader, Riley et al., The Global Experience, are listed as: "Riley et al., Global Experience" + page numbers + (reading numbers in parentheses). Note that for your convenience, each reading in Riley, Global Experience is identified here by its name, its page numbers and its sequence number in the book, e.g. in Week 3, the "Epic of Gilgamesh" is reading (no. 7) on pp. 16-22.
- ANET: Readings from James Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Related to the Old Testament (Princeton University Press, 1969), are located in Addlestone Library, Reference Section.
- IAHS: Fordham University, Internet Ancient History Sourcebook, located on the World Wide Web (https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/asbook.asp).
Week 1: January 9 (1/9) Introduction: Course Description, Goals and Objectives _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 2: January 14 and 16 (1/14) Defining History and Reckoning Time W Spodek, "The World through Historians' Eyes," I-10 to I-16 (click to open); W Piccione, "What is Historical Writing?" (click to open); W Piccione, "The Scientific Method and the Historical Method" (click to open) (1/15) Last day to Add/Drop (1/16) Historical Questioning and the Historical Method W Piccione, "From Queries to Answers: A Taxonomy of Historical Questioning," pp. 1-4 (click to open); W R. Marius, "Thinking about History," 36-44 (click to open). _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 3: January 21 and 23 (1/21) Historical Questioning (II) W Piccione, "From Queries to Answers: A Taxonomy of Historical Questioning," pp. 4-10 (click to open); W R. Marius, "Thinking about History," 45-56 (click to open). (1/23) Mesopotamia I: the Fertile Crescent and the First City-States W Spodek, chap. 2, "From Village Community to City-State," 43-54 (click to open); W "The Sumerian King List" (click to open) [sample note card!] (click to open); _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 4: January 28 and 30 (1/28) Mesopotamia II: Western Asia and the First Empires W Spodek, chap. 2, "From Village Community to City-State," 54-56, 59-62 (click to open); W Spodek, chap. 5, "Turning Point: From City-States to Empires," 125-131, 134-139 (click to open); W "Code of Hammurabi," in Riley et al., 39-42 (click to open); W "The Legend of Sargon" (click to open). (1/30) Mesopotamia III: Legends and Myths W Spodek, chap. 2, "The Epic of Gilgamesh," 57-58 (click to open); W "Epic of Gilgamesh" (extract) in Riley et al., 16-22, (click to open) W "Story of the Flood: Comparative Texts, Gilgamesh and Genesis" (click to open) (1/31) Interim Assignment, Pt. 1, #1 distributed _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 5: February 4 and 6 (2/4) Egypt I: The Nile Valley Civilization W Spodek, chap. 3, "River Valley Civilizations: Egypt the Gift of the Nile," 65-70 (click to open); W "Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths (excerpts)" (click to open); W "The Book of Overthrowing Apophis (Heliopolitan creation story)" (click to open); (2/6) Egypt II: Life and Society W Spodek, chap. 3, "River Valley Civilizations: Cities of the Dead," 70-78 (click to open); W "Papyrus Lansing: A Schoolbook," in Riley et al., 39-42 (click to open); W "The Hymn to Hapy (Nile Inundation)" (click to open). (2/6) Interim Assignment, Pt. 2, #1 distributed _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 6: February 11 and 13 (2/11) Egypt III: Empire and Ideas W Spodek, chap. 3, "River Valley Civilizations: Cities of the Dead," 78-79 (click to open); W Spodek, chap. 5, "Egypt and International Conquest," 131-134 (click to open); W "Hatshepsut (Divine Conception)," 41-45 (click to open); W "Hymn to the Aten and Psalm 104," 45-50 (click to open). (2/13) Egypt: Legends and Myths W "Destruction of Mankind (Book of the Divine Cow)," 402-412 (click to open); W "The Contendings of Horus and Seth," 108-126 (= NK version) (click to open); (2/13) Interim Assignment #1 due in class _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 7: February 18 and 20 (2/18) The Minoans, Minos, and Legends of the Minotaur W Spodek, chap. 5, "The Greek City States," 139-140 (click to open); W B. Levack, et al., The West, chap. 2, "Civilizations of the Mediterranean: Minoan Crete," 57-60 (click to open); W Plutarch/Herodotus, "Reports of Minos and Knossos," in IAHS (click to open). (2/20) The Minoans: Thera and the Myth of Atlantis W Plato, The Dialogues, "Timmaeus" (extract) (click to open); W Plato, The Dialogues, "Critias" (extract) (click to open); W W. L. Friedrich, "The Minoan Eruption of Santorini around 1613 B.C. and Its Consequences," in TLVH 9 (2013): 37-46. _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 8: February 25 and 27 (2/25) The Mycenaeans W B. Levack, et al., The West, chap. 2, "Mycenaean Greece," 60-64; W Spodek, ch. 5, "Homer and the Value System of Early Greece," 142; W Thucydides, "On The Early History of the Hellenes," in IAHS. (2/27) Mycenaeans, Hitties, and the Trojan War W B. Levack, et al., The West, chap. 2, "Troy, A City of Legend," 64-65; W Lattimore, "The Story in the Iliad," 14-16; W Lattimore, "The Iliad of Homer," 59-68 (the beginning), 493-496 (the end). _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 9: March 3 and 5 (3/3-5) The Fall of Mycenae and Archaic Greece W B. Levack, et al., The West, chap. 2, "The End of the International Bronze Age and Its Aftermath," 65-67; W Spodek, ch. 5, "Dawn of the Empires," 141-146; W/Ref "The War Against the Peoples of the Sea," in ANET, 262-263; (click to open) W Edgerton, W. & J. Wilson (accounts of the Sea People war), from Historical Records of Ramses III, 35-39, 41-43, 45; (click to open) W/Ref "Summary of the Northern Wars," in ANET, 262; (click to open). (3/7) Mid-term and grades available on MyCharleston _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 10: March 10 and 12 (3/11-3/12) Assyrians, Babylonians and the Persian Empire, 558-325 BC W Spodek, chap. 5, "Waves of Invaders," 129-130, "The Persian Empire," 134-139 (click to open); W Assyria: "Assyrian War Tactics (Ashurnasirpal's Victory Text)," in Riley et al., 63-64; W/Ref Assyria: "Sennacherib: The Siege of Jerusalem," in Pritchard, ANE, 199-201; W/Ref Babylonia: "The Expedition to Syria," in Pritchard, ANET, 307-308; W Persia: "Kurash (Cyrus) the Great: The Decree of Return for the Jews, 539 BCE," in IAHS; W/Ref Persia: "Cyrus' Justification for War on Babylon," in Pritchard, ANET, 315-316; (3/12) Assignment #2 (video): Egypt's Golden Empire: The Last Great Pharaoh" (click to open, then "connect" to play) Video Questions Sheet. Download and complete the questions in pen, and return by 2:00 pm today (as an email attachment, or as paper copy in professor's mailbox, Mybk 202). DO NOT COPY THE ANSWERS INTO THE BODY OF AN EMAIL. _______________________________________________________________________________ + + + SPRING BREAK: March 15 through 21 + + + _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 11: March 24 and 26 (3/24-3/26) NO CLASS this week! _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 12: March 31 and April 2 (3/31-4/2) Classical Greece: Politics and War W Spodek, ch. 5, "War with Persia," 145-151, 154-160; W Herodotus, The Histories, Bk. VII, "The Persian War and the Battle of Thermopylae" (extracted from IAHS) W Thucydides, "Peloponnesian War: Pericles' Funeral Address" (AHS); W Thucydides, "Peloponnesian War: The Melian Conference"; W Xenophon, "The Government of Sparta" (excerpt), pp. 126-130; W Plutarch, "Sayings of Spartan Women," in Moralia, 455-469; W "Plutarch, Selections from the Life of Alexander" (Ancient History Sourcebook). (4/3) Takehome Assignment #3: Dowload on April 3 the following form, and complete the questions posed. Assignment due on April 12. EXERCISE QUESTIONINGING IMPERIAL DOCUMENTS (click to open) _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 13: April 7 and 9 (4/7-4/9) Roman Civilization I: A Watershed in World History W Spodek, ch. 6, "Rome and the Barbarians," 163-177; W "Plutarch, Numa the Lawgiver"; W "Livy, Heroes of the Early Republic"; W "Plutarch, The Assassination of Julius Caesar" (AHS); W "Seneca, The Gladiatorial Games" (AHS). (4/12) Sunday: Exercise #3 due by email 11:00 pm. _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 14: April 14 and 16 (4/14-4/16) Roman Civilization II: From Republic to Empire W Spodek, ch. 6, "The End of The Republic," 177-197; W "Polybius, Why Romans not Greeks Rule the World"; W "Cicero, The Laws"; W "Letter of Claudius to the Alexandrians" [decreeing Jewish rights] (IMS) _______________________________________________________________________________ Week 15: April 21 Last Day of Class (4/21) Roman Empire: Judaism and Christianity W Riley, "Rome and the Christians," in The Global Experience, 172-173; W "Jews and the Later Roman Law 315-531 CE" (IMS); W "Pliny the Younger, Letter to Emperor Trajan"; W "Diocletian: Edicts Against The Christians" (IMS); W "Galerius and Constantine: Edicts of Toleration 311/313" (AHS); W "Eusebius, The Life of Constantine,"pp. 186-191; (4/23) Assignment #4 WATERSHED EVENTS (click to open) _______________________________________________________________________________ (4/28) Assignment #4 due in emailbox (11:00 p.m.) _______________________________________________________________________________