August 25/26: early civilizations & development of religious ideas

In today's class, we will begin to examine what we know about systems and how prehistoric humans began to settle down and develop systems to help them sustain themselves in one area. We will examine their ideas (based on artifacts), values, and the formation of religious ideas (beliefs) and practices (rituals). We will also look at how what they valued and understood (believed) about the world shaped their development of systems: economic, political and social systems.

Today's Presentation

You will be assigned to a group in today's class and begin to explore and examine an ancient civilization in understanding more about how they lived, how they began to develop tools and methods that allowed them to settle into an area and how they began to organize their society in a much more complex and structured social, political and economic system. Your group will focus on how their values and ideas and beliefs began to also develop and the role religion played in influencing their daily life and affected how they organized their society.

Groups:
Mesopotamia

• ​   (textbook pages 29-34)
• Mesopotamia World History Volume 1 (pdf)

Egypt

• (textbook pages 35-43)
• Pre-Islamic Africa: World History Volume 1 (pdf)

Indus Valley

• (textbook pages 44-49)
• India: World History Volume 1 (pdf)

China

• (textbook pages 50-55)
• China: World History Volume 1 (pdf)

You will INDIVIDUALLY take notes from these readings. You will discuss what you have learned with your group. Next week, your group will present what you have learned about this civilization and their way of organizing society to the rest of class. For notetaking, you will find the following document in your WH Drop folder (do not make a copy--you already have a copy in your Google WH folder).