CHAPTER 1 ESSAY/DISCUSSION TOPICS
1.
What changes did the Agricultural Revolution bring for humans?
2.
What was the role of geography in the rise and progression of the agricultural revolution?
3.
How did gender impact the development of societies during the Neolithic period?
4.
What was the significance of the Bronze and Iron Ages for humans and their tools?
5.
Write an essay describing what the Paleolithic art in this chapter reveals about its core values.
6.
Write an essay delineating the eight features usually shared by agrarian societies.
7.
Compare/contrast the advantages and disadvantages of simple agrarian and irrigation civilizations?
CHAPTER 2 ESSAY/DISCUSSION TOPICS
1.
What was the Mesopotamian ideal of kingship? Discuss, with examples.
2.
Critique Hammurabi’s Code, citing negative as well as positive features.
3.
What basic similarities do you see between the story of the book of Genesis in the Bible and the Epic of
Gilgamesh? Why do you think all peoples have developed their own creation myths? Explore some
creation myths of other civilizations.
4.
What were the key features of Mesopotamian social structure? What features were emphasized?
How/why?
5.
What were the conditions of life for Mesopotamian women? What opportunities, and obstacles, existed for
them?
6.
What were the reasons Mesopotamian civilization evolved over the centuries from city-states to small
empires?
CHAPTER 3 ESSAY/DISCUSSION TOPICS
1.
How did the conditions confronting Nilo-Saharan, Afro-Asiatic and Niger-Congo speakers differ? What
was the impact on the social development of Neolithic Africa?
2.
What factors favored the accomplishments of the Bantu in their migration from West Africa to South
Africa? Explain, with examples.
3.
What language families and groups influenced the Egyptians over the centuries? Explain, with examples?
4.
What grains did Egyptian agriculture favor? What changes occurred over time? Explain, with examples.
5.
Compare/contrast the role and significance of kings in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Explain, with examples.
6.
Compare/contrast the religious beliefs of the Egyptians and Mesopotamians. Explain, with examples.
ESSAY QUESTIONS
2
CHAPTER 5 ESSAY/DISCUSSION TOPICS
1.
Who were the Assyrians and what role did they play in the history of the Near East? Explain, with
examples.
2.
Who were the Persians and what role did they play in the history of the Near East? Explain, with
examples.
3.
Who were the Hebrews and what role did they play in the history of the Near East? Explain, with
examples.
4.
What were the cornerstones of Jewish belief? How/why was the Hebrew faith unique? Explain, with
examples.
5.
What changes emerged in Jewish faith following the Babylonian captivity? How did these changes
contribute to the rise of Messianic beliefs?
CHAPTER 8 ESSAY/DISCUSSION TOPICS
1.
Describe the evolution of Athenian democracy over time. What factors contributed to its evolution over
time? Explain, with examples.
2.
How did the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars affect Greek government and society? Explain, with
examples.
3.
What limited the ability of the Greeks to develop beyond the polis? Explain, with examples.
4.
Compare and contrast Classical Greek religion with the belief systems of their contemporaries elsewhere
in the world. What accounts for the similarities or differences? Explain, with examples.
5.
What factors contributed to bring Alexander victories in his wars of conquest? Explain, with examples.
CHAPTER 9 ESSAY/DISCUSSION TOPICS
1.
How did the Greek concept of citizenship evolve over time? What effect(s) did these changes have on
other areas of life? Explain, with examples.
2.
How generalized were the accomplishments of the Greeks in philosophy and science? In other words, how
common was literacy, authorship or mathematical skill? Why was this so? Explain, with examples.
3.
How did Greek accomplishments in philosophy and science compare with other, contemporary societies?
Were the Greeks more or less accomplished? Explain, with examples.
4.
What changes occurred in Greek philosophy and science during the Hellenistic Era? With what
significance for Greek culture and society? Explain, with examples.
5.
What was the nature of gender (male-female) relations in Classical Greece? Given the accomplishments of
Greek philosophy, why were women treated so differently? Explain, with examples.
ESSAY QUESTIONS
3
CHAPTER 10 ESSAY/DISCUSSION TOPICS
1.
In what way(s) was Roman civilization an imitation of the Greeks’ accomplishments? Explain, with
examples.
2.
In what ways was Roman religion simply borrowed from the Greeks? In what ways was it unique?
Explain, with examples.
3.
What contributions did the Romans make to a “global civilization?” Explain, with examples.
4.
In what ways did republican values decay over time? How did this lead to the rise of empire? Explain,
with examples.
5.
What, if any, were the scientific accomplishments of the Romans? Explain, with examples.
6.
What was ius gentium? How did it develop and evolve over time? Explain, with examples.
CHAPTER 15 ESSAY/DISCUSSION TOPICS
1.
What factors unique to the Arabian desert experience likely led to the development of Islam? Why not
elsewhere? Explain, with examples.
2.
In what ways was Islam a unifying force for the Bedouin peoples of Arabia? With what effects for the
development of world history? Explain, with examples
3.
What led to the division of Islam into three separate, rival factions by the end of the seventh century CE?
What were the immediate effects of this division on the faith during the first century after Muhammed’s
death in 632 CE? Explain, with examples.
4.
What changes did the rise of the caliphates bring for Islamic faith and expansion during the first century
after Muhammed’s death in 632 CE? Explain, with examples.
5.
What was the nature of conversion to Islam? Was it a missionary faith? Why or why not? Explain, with
examples.
6.
What changes did Islam bring to the everyday life of the peoples subjected to the faith in the century after
Muhammed’s death? Explain, with examples.
CHAPTER 16 ESSAY/DISCUSSION TOPICS
1.
Islam is said to have become the first “global” religion. If so, did the spread Islam constitute the creation
of a “global civilization”? Explain, with examples.
2.
In what ways did Islamic civilization evolve over the centuries immediately after Muhammad? Explain,
with examples.
3.
Aside from trade and conquest, what factors contributed to make Islam the first “world” civilization?
Explain, with examples.
4.
How did the responsibilities of ruling over vast territories and countless people draw Islam away from
religious and spiritual concerns down the path of secularism? Explain, with examples.
5.
In what ways did Islam serve as a caretaker of Western civilization during the Dark Ages? Explain, with
examples.
ESSAY QUESTIONS
4
6.
7.
Aside from spiritual concerns, what artistic, scientific and cultural contributions did Islam accomplish
during the period before 1500? Explain, with examples.
In what ways did Chingis Khan and the Mongols change the Islamic world? In what ways were they
changed themselves? Explain, with examples.