History 101                                                                             Professor Wertheimer

Study guide for weeks 1-2

 

Reminder: The first writing assignment is due in class on Thursday, February 5.  Please see me if you are having trouble retrieving it from the Electronic Course Reserve.

 

The questions below will not be collected: they are intended to help you review your notes and pull together the materials we have been studying.  As you know, the textbook is primarily for background: the most important part of the class is lecture, followed by the primary source readings.  Think about the study questions in that order: Organize a response to the question based on your lecture notes, and then incorporate the primary readings as supplementary evidence.  As you study for exams, it is especially helpful to look for concepts that we have compared across different societies, because those are good candidates for essay questions on the exams.

 

1).         If you were to ask a Mesopotamian, an Egyptian, a Hebrew, and a Greek to explain the idea of justice to you, what would they respond?  How would their answers be similar and different?  Most importantly, why would they give you those answers (in other words, what characteristics of their societies shape their ideas about justice?)?  Note that there will not be a single answer for the Greek world.

            Primary readings that will help you answer this question are:  “The Code of Hammurabi;” “Guidelines for the Ruler;” the readings in chapter two from Exodus, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, Amos, and Isaiah; “Religion as a Human Invention,” “The Melian Dialogue,” and “The Apology.”

 

 

2).        How would representatives of Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Hebrew, and Greek societies view the natural world?  Why would their views differ? 

Sources that will help you answer this question are the Mesopotamian Hymns to Salt and Fire, the selections from Genesis, and the readings from Thales of Miletus, Anaximander, Pythagoras, and Hippocrates.

 

 

3).        Compare and contrast the views the different societies would have on the purpose and structure of government.  How would their answers be similar and different, and why?

            Sources that will help you answer this questions are the excerpts from the Code of Hammurabi, the Hymns to a Pharaoh, the readings from Deuteronomy, Leviticus, and Isaiah, and (less directly) Pericles’ “Funeral Oration.”

 

4).        Compare and contrast the thought of the ancient Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and Hebrews on their gods (or God).  What were the gods like, what role did they play in human affairs, and what was gained by worshipping them?

            Sources that will help you answer this question are the Code of Hammurabi, the Enuma Elish, the Hymns to a Pharaoh, and most of the readings on the ancient Hebrews.  You might compare the selection from Critias to these readings, but remember he did not necessarily represent all of Greek society.