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Chapter 1
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CHAPTER 1: Origins to 1200 B.C.E.
I. Understanding Western History
A. Describing the West
1. History of “the West”
2. Changing Definition
B. What Is Civilization?
1. What is civilization?
2. What is Western civilization?
II. The Earliest Human Societies
A. From the First Hominids to the Paleolithic Era
1. Homo sapiens
2. Nomadic
3. Division of Labor
4. Art and Religion
B. Planting Crops
1. Beginnings of agriculture
2. Fertile Crescent
C. Implications of Agriculture (9,000 B.C.E.–4,000 B.C.E.)
1. Settlements
2. Pastoralism
3. Social hierarchy
4. Patriarchy
D. Trade and Cross-Cultural Connections
1. Çatal Hüyük
2. Bronze Age
3. Polytheism
III. Civilization in Mesopotamia
A. Environment and Mesopotamian Development
1. Agriculture and Civilization
2. Rivers and City-States
3. Temples
B. The Invention of Writing and the First Schools
1. Early Writing
2. Cuneiform
3. Scribal Schools
C. Religion in Mesopotamia
1. Religion
2. Creation Myth
3. Gilgamesh
D. Sumerian Politics and Society
1. Kingship
2. Social Structure
3. Gender Distinctions
IV. Empires in Mesopotamia
A. The Akkadians and the Babylonians
1. Sargon’s Empire
2. Collapse of Sargon’s Empire
3. The Amorites
B. Life Under Hammurabi (r. 1792-1750 B.C.E.)
1. Law Code (1755 B.C.E.)
2. Agriculture
3. Marriage and Family
4. Punishment and Consumer Rights
5. Impact
C. Cultural Exchange in the Fertile Crescent
1. Mesopotamian Culture Flourishes
V. The Egyptians
A. The Nile and the God-King
1. The Nile
2. Pharaoh
3. Ma’at
B. Egyptian Religion
1. Polytheism
2. Book of the Dead
C. Egyptian Society and Work
1. Hierarchical Society
D. Egyptian Family Life
1. Family
2. Marriage
E. The Hyksos and New Kingdom Revival
1. Hyksos
2. Bronze Age
3. The New Kingdom (1570-1070 B.C.E.)
4. Akhenaten (r. 1351-1334 B.C.E.)
5. Tutankhamon (r. 1333-1323 B.C.E.)
F. Conflict and Cooperation with the Hittites
1. Hittites
2. Hittites and Ramses II