Robert W. Strayer
Ways of the World: A Brief Global History
Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources
Chapter 3, First Civilizations: Cities, States, and Unequal Societies, 3500 B.C.E.-500 B.C.E.,
Study Guide (Original: pp. 55-84; With Sources: pp. 85-114)
1. How were the new civilizations different from the earlier agricultural villages, pastoral
societies, and chiefdoms?
Something New: The Emergence of Civilizations
2. Where and when did the first civilizations emerge?
3. What was unique about each of the initial six civilizations?
 Sumer—

Egypt—

Norte Chico—

Indus Valley—

China—

Olmecs—
4. What explanations are given for the rise of civilizations?
5. How does Robert Carneiro approach the question of the rise of civilizations?
6. What was the role of cities in the early civilizations?
The Erosion of Equality
7. In what ways was social inequality expressed in early civilizations?
8. In the rival Mesopotamian cities, what was the role of female and male slaves?
9. Describe slavery in all of the First Civilizations.
10. Compare the practice of slavery in ancient times from region to region.
11. In what ways have historians tried to explain the origins of patriarchy?
12. How did Mesopotamia and Egyptian patriarchy differ from each other?
 Mesopotamia:

Egypt:
The Rise of the State
13. What were the sources of state authority in the First Civilizations?
14. Compare and Contrast Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations.
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Political:
Political
Environment:
Environment:
Culture:
Culture:
15. In what ways were Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations shaped by their interactions
with near and distant neighbors?
Reflections: “Civilization”: What’s in a Word?
16. What are the reservations some scholars have with the term “civilization”?
Primary and Visual Sources
Document
The Epic of
Gilgamesh
(116-118)
Guiding Questions
1. How would you define the Mesopotamian ideal of kingship? What is the basis of
the monarch’s legitimacy?
2. How does the Epic of Gilgamesh portray the gods and their relationship to
humankind?
The Law Code of
Hammurabi
(119-121)
1. What can you infer from the code about the kind of social problems that afflicted
ancient Mesopotamia?
2. How would you define the principles of justice that underlay Hammurabi’s code?
Egyptian
Documents
(121-125)
1. How is the afterlife of the pharaoh represented in text 3.3?
2. In document 3.4, what changes in Egyptian religious thinking does the Negative
Confession mark?
3. What might historians learn from text 3.5 about the occupational and social
structure of Middle Kingdom Egypt?
Compare the
documents
What features of civilization, described in Chapter 3, do these documents illustrate?
Visual Sources
Source
Indus Valley Civilization (read the text that goes
with the pictures)
Reflecting Questions
1. What can we learn about Indus Valley
civilization from these visual sources?
Ancient Harappa
(127)
A Seal from the Indus Valley
(128)
Man from Mohenjo Daro
(129)
Dancing Girl
(130)
2. How do these images and pieces of art compare
with those of the Paleolithic and Neolithic
Revolution visual images? Was there artistic
development? How so?