Mediterranean-Middle East DBQ
D.B.Q. Question: How and why did civilizations from the Middle East, Egypt, and
the Mediterranean develop into powerful, thriving, and cosmopolitan empires in the
Bronze, Dark, and Iron Ages? Be sure to address why some civilizations were more
successful than others.
Use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1500 to 500 BCE to construct your essay.
Document 1
Source: Hatshepsut’s statue, c. 1485 BCE media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/55/91355-...
Mediterranean-Middle East DBQ
Document 2
Source: Hymn to Aten, c. 1335 BCE
“Earth brightens when you dawn in lightland. When you shine as Aten of daytime; As you dispel
the dark, As you cast your rays, The Two Lands [Upper and Lower Egypt] are in festivity. Awake
they stand on their feet….
O Sole God beside whom there is none! You made the earth as you wished, you alone, All peoples,
herds, and flocks; All upon earth that walk on legs, All on high that fly on wings, The lands of
Khor and Kush, The land of Egypt….
You alone, shining in your form of living Aten, Risen, radiant, distant, near. You made millions of
forms from yourself alone…..
Document 3
Source: Fresco from the Aegean Island of Thera, ca. 1650 BCE
www.ddg.com/LIS/InfoDesignF97/car/fresco~1.jpg
Mediterranean-Middle East DBQ
Document 4
Source: Protests against the ruling class in Babylonia, c 1000 BCE,
Friend
“Narru, king of the gods, who created mankind,
And majestic Zulummar, who pinched off the clay for them,
And goddess Mami, the queen who fashioned them,
Gave twisted speech to the human race.
With lies, and not truth, they endowed them forever.
Solemnly they speak favorably of a rich man,
‘He is a king,’ they say, ‘riches should be his,’
But they treat a poor man like a thief,
They have only bad to say of him and plot his murder,
Making him suffer every evil like a criminal, because he has no… [text uncertain].
Terrifyingly they bring him to his end, and extinguish him
like glowing coals.
Document 5
Source: Ashurbanipal hunting, reign: c. 669 – ca. 631 BC
yeoldartshoppe.com/catalog/images/ATM-4110606.jpg
Mediterranean-Middle East DBQ
Document 6
Source: Moses Descends Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments Anonymous (ca. 950-450
B.C.)
“And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not
make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the
earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands
of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God
in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath
day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath
of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy
manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days
the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore
the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not
bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any
thing that is thy neighbour's.
Outline an essay (thesis and 6 pieces of evidence) that
o Has a relevant thesis and supports that thesis with evidence from the
documents.
o Uses all but one of the documents.
o Analyzes the documents by grouping them in as many appropriate ways
as possible. Does not simply summarize the documents individually.
o Takes into account both the sources of the documents and the authors’
points of view.
You may refer to relevant historical information not mentioned in the documents.
DBQ Prep TO DO LIST:
Please do the following TASKS to get ready for the DBQ:
Do the following DBQ prep work:
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4.
Put the question in your own words. What is the question asking? Define cosmopolitan.
Assign a civilization to each document (Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, Minoans,
Mycenaeans, Phoenicians, Carthaginians or Hebrews)
Assign “cosmopolitan” (Bronze Age), “not cosmopolitan” (Dark Age) or “SUPER cosmopolitan”
(Iron Age) to each document.
Group the documents in one of the following ways:
Mediterranean-Middle East DBQ
a. by category
b. by theme
c. chronologically
d. a way of your own
5. A) and B) each document. Underline one key sentence from each document. For pictures, write a
one sentence answer to the question: “why was this artifact important to Egyptian, Assyrian,
Minoan/Mycenaean, Phoenician, or Hebrew culture?”
6. Brainstorm your thesis.
7. Write your thesis.
8. What common knowledge not from the documents proves your thesis?
9. How do the documents prove your thesis?
10. What perspective is missing from the documents (in other words, who is not accounted for in the
documents? Why do you think there is not a document for them?)?
Things to do and not to do during your DBQ essay test:
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Be prepared. Study! Study! Study! You know the question ahead of time!
Meet in the computer lab.
Set the stage clearly and define the question in your introduction (who, what,
where, when). Make me interested and get to the point (not too, too long).
Your thesis should be the last sentence of your introduction, underlined, should be
25 words or less, and should answer how and why in general. Make sure you
have a clear, concise, and causal thesis. I am expecting a lot since you knew the
question ahead of time.
Organize your “body”---each body paragraph should not just be about a
document. Each body paragraph should be a “category,” a “theme,” or a “period
in time.”
Don’t forget to use your common/general/background knowledge as
evidence/specific examples as well!
Don’t just A) and B) or summarize the documents in your essay. Use the
documents to back up what you are proving/saying! Group the documents!
Refer to all 6 documents explicitly (clearly!). I can’t read your mind! Refer to
them and use them to back up your thesis!
When you are referring to documents, don’t say, “In document 1…” Weave the
documents into your essay. Instead, say, “Akhenaten’s statue shows that he was
realistic” (document 1). Notice how to use parenthetical citation correctly.
Weave short quotes from the documents into your essay when needed. Cite using
parenthetical citation above.
Be sure to address point of view/what might be missing when appropriate. To get
into the A range, you need to do this!
Mediterranean-Middle East DBQ
Ch. 3 DBQ “saving” directions:
Please follow these rules to make sure that you save your test into the correct place.
Please practice ahead of time if you need to (I am going to be honest: the day of the test
will be hectic. Do this ahead of time so you do not stress out on test day.
To get to the K Drive (the public drive):
 Go to “My Computer”
 Type in the address bar: \\walnut\PUBLIC
 Go to the Trumbull folder
 Go to your block’s DBQ folder
Save as the following “ablock-DBQtest-your last name” with NO SPACES
(for example: “bblock-DBQtest-Trumbull”
***Make sure to save your final version this way (you have to save as every time)