week 1 essay 1+2

Ancient Mesopotamia

Assignments for week 1: in Cultures of the West

Read Prologue and Chapter 1 in third & fourth editions

Or Prologue, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 to page 53 in second edition

Look at Code of Hammurabi and Merneptah Steele under Chapter 1 Blackboard Primary Source Readings

Answer any 2 of the following Week 1 essays :

Prompts for week 1 questions:

You may use any resources at your disposal. List your sources at the end of each essay. Not all the answers to these questions are directly addressed in your text. Appropriately cite any sources if you are quoting or closely borrowing from an authors text (physical or electronic). Suggested length is 2 or more pages per question (450 to 750 words).

1. Think about the various types of leadership and government in ancient Mesopotamian. How does this change over time? Write an essay about kingdoms controlled or ruled by the priesthood (Sumer), warrior kings (Akkad), and law-giver kings like Hammurabi (Babylon). Compare the three styles and how they were effective for each civilization. How does all of this effect the various social classes? Which type of leadership would you have preferred to live under if you were in ancient Mesopotamia?

2. How does burial of the dead change over time in ancient Egypt? Compare the different processes (physical preparation) and places the dead are buried (in the ground, in pyramids, in the rock tombs like the Valley of the Kings). How is burial different among the nobility and common folk? What are some of the religious implications and expectations for afterlife that surround these burials?

3. Compare the different types of writing used by Mesopotamians and Egyptians. Why do the Sumerians invent writing? How does cuneiform and its uses change over time? How about Egyptian writing? What happens to the hieroglyphs?

4. Write an essay comparing Old, New, and Middle Kingdoms in ancient Egypt. What is distinct about each of the 3 periods?

(You might not find all of the information for some of these question in your text, so you might have to do a bit of outside research for a few.)