Interchange in the Ancient World, 5000 B.C.E.-500 B.C.E.
B.C.E. = Before Common Era


Mesopotamia (~=Present-Day Iraq) and Ancient Egypt

Week 3
(9.1)  The Origins of Egyptian and Mesopotamian Societies
Read: Ways of the World, 73-79.
(9.3)  Crime and Punishment: Law and Society in Ancient Babylonia and New Kingdom Egypt***
Read:  Ways of the World, 64-70; World History, 25-31.
and excerpt from the Precepts of Ptah-Hotep: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/ptahhotep.html
For additional information on Egypt see (optional):
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/egypt/index.shtml**.
Week 4
(9.7)  Labor Day: University is Closed

(9.8) Societies and Resources: the First Inter-State Conflict in the Middle East
Read: Ways of the World, 79-84; http://nefertiti.iwebland.com/megiddobattle.htm

Examine: http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/blneareast.htm**

Take: Quiz #1


(9.10) Religion and Death in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamian Societies***
Read: Ways of the World, 70-73; The following web-site selections:
Egyptian Flood Story (up to chapter II): http://www.meta-religion.com/World_Religions/Ancient_religions/Egypt/legend_of_the_destruction_of_man.htm,**
Primer on Ancient Egyptian Death Practices:
http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/DEPT/RA/ABZU/DEATH.HTMl,

The Changing Role of Osiris:

1) Old Kingdom Developments: Based a selection from the first pyramid texts composed for King Unas (c. 2375-2325 B.C.E.) of the 5th dynasty, which provided assistance to pharaoh in his journey in the afterlife  http://alexm.here.ru/mirrors/www.enteract.com/jwalz/Eliade/166.html,**
2) Middle Kingdom Developments: Based on selections from rom the Coffin Texts of the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom, which saw the rise of the Cult of Osiris and  the introduction of the notion that commoners and pharaohs could achieve eternal life through Osiris: http://alexm.here.ru/mirrors/www.enteract.com/jwalz/Eliade/168.html,**  http://alexm.here.ru/mirrors/www.enteract.com/jwalz/Eliade/088.html,**
3) New Kingdom Developments: Based on a text on the Ba (from an 18th-dynasty [early New Kingdom] mortuary text): http://alexm.here.ru/mirrors/www.enteract.com/jwalz/Eliade/169.html,**
 and The Negative Confession from the Egyptian Book of the Dead (New Kingdom): http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/EGYPT/BOD125.HTM,**

Herodotus on mummification: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/herodotus-mummies.html.

Take: Quiz #1

Week 5
China to c. 250 B.C.E.: Another Solution to the Problems of Order  
(9.15) Early History to 221 B.C.E.
Read: Ways of the World, 60, 86-95, 108-117.
Pronunciation Guide for Chinese Terms



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