What do ancient stories tell us about the civilisation of Mesopotamia?
Ancient stories tell us a lot about the civilisation of Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia was situated between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers (now part of the Republic of Iraq) Mesopotamian civilisation was rich in wealth, city life, literature, mathematics and astronomy. One by one, three civilisation flourished there.
These included Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian civilisation. Its society was divided into three classes, i.e.
1. The upper class
2. The middle class and
3. The lower class
People belonging to upper classes led a life full of comforts and luxury and enjoyed special privileges. Agriculture was the main occupation of the people. Their life was normally prosperous. Religion was an important part of their life and people worshiped many gods and goddesses. Shamas was their main God. It was the Sun. Ziggurat was the name given to Sume ian temples. Another description from the Bible: According to the Bible, the flood was meant to destroy all forms of life on the earth. However, God chose a man, Noah, to ensure that life could continue after devastating flood on the earth. Noah, built a huge boat, an ark. He took a pair each of all known species of animals and birds on the board, the arks which survived the flood. When other things were destroyed by the flood, his boat remained safe along with all the species. Thus began a new life on the earth. There was a similar striking story in Mesopotamian tradition, where the principal character was called Ziusudra or Utnapisthim.
Why would the early temple have been much like a house?
Why do we say that it was not natural fertility and high levels of food production that were the causes of early urbanisation?
Which of the following were necessary conditions and which the causes, of early urbanisation, and which would you say were the outcome of the growth of cities:
(a) highly productive agriculture,
(b) water transport,
(c) the lack of metal and stone,
(d) the division of labour,
(e) the use of seals,
(f) the military power of kings that made labour compulsory?
Of the new institutions that came into being once city life had begun, which would have depended on the initiative of the king?
Why were mobile animal herders not necessarily a threat to town life?
Look at the diagram showing the positive feedback mechanism on page 13. Can you list the inputs that went into tool making? What were the processes that were strengthened by tool making?
What were the features of the lives of the Bedouins in the early seventh century?
Why was trade so significant to the Mongols?
Describe two features of early feudal society in France.
Which elements of Greek and Roman culture were revived in the 14th and 15th centuries ?
Compare the civilization of the Aztecs with that of the Mesopotamians.
How did Britain’s involvement in wars from 1793 to 1815 affect British industries?
Comment on any points of difference between the native peoples of South and North America.
What were the major developments before the Meiji restoration that made it possible for Japan to modernise rapidly?
Humans and mammals such as monkeys and apes have certain similarities in behaviour and anatomy. This indicates that humans possibly evolved from apes. List these resemblances in two columns under the headings of (a) behaviour and (b) anatomy. Are there any differences that you think are noteworthy?
How does the following account enlarge upon the character of the Pax Mongolica created by the Mongols by the middle of the thirteenth century? The Franciscan monk, William of Rubruck, was sent by Louis IX of France on an embassy to the great Khan Mongke’s court. He reached Karakorum, the capital of Mongke, in 1254 and came upon a woman from Lorraine (in France) called Paquette, who had been brought from Hungary and was in the service of one of the prince’s wives who was a Nestorian Christian. At the court he came across a Parisian goldsmith named Guillaume Boucher, ‘whose brother dwelt on the Grand Pont in Paris’. This man was first employed by the Queen Sorghaqtani and then by Mongke’s younger brother. Rubruck found that at the great court festivals the Nestorian priests were admitted first, with their regalia, to bless the Grand Khan’s cup, and were followed by the Muslim clergy and Buddhist and Taoist monks.
Compare the conditions of life for a French serf and a Roman slave.
Compare the Venetian idea of good government with those in contemporary France.
How did long-term changes in population levels affect economy and society in Europe
‘If history relies upon written records produced by city-based literati, nomadic societies will always receive a hostile representation.’ Would you agree with this statement? Does it explain the reason why Persian chronicles produced such inflated figures of casualties resulting from Mongol campaigns?
How did the Qing dynasty try and meet the challenge posed by the Western powers?
Humans and mammals such as monkeys and apes have certain similarities in behaviour and anatomy. This indicates that humans possibly evolved from apes. List these resemblances in two columns under the headings of (a) behaviour and (b) anatomy. Are there any differences that you think are noteworthy?
Compare the civilization of the Aztecs with that of the Mesopotamians.
Write a careful account of how the world appeared different to seventeenth century Europeans.
Compare the effects of the coming of the railways in different countries of the world.