Photo of a mummy found in the pyramid of Unas, last pharaoh of the fifth dynasty (circa 2374-2345 bce).  It is impossible to determine the exact identity of these remains, discovered in 1880 and now in the Cairo Museum.  Not all mummies look "nice."  Photo courtesy C. Wayne and Dorothy Miller.

• Read chapters 1 and 2 in the textbook.
• Read Gilgamesh (in its entirety).
• Read my notes on the Ancient Near East.
• Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the Unit.
• Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum. Do not post your assignment there.
• Submit the Required Gilgamesh paper.

• Please read the Sample Historical Document Analysis, based on some excerpts from Hammurabi's code of law.  The sample illustrates some of the questions that a historian asks when reading a historical document.  This is what you will be doing in this course.
• Listen to some further information about this unit as a mp3 file.  You can also read the information as a txt file.
• Review my notes and remarks on the Ancient Hebrews and the development of the idea of ethical monotheism.
• Watch the short clip of the Gilgamesh story.  Log into Blackboard and check for it under course materials.  There is also a short explanation of the clip's setting there.
  
• Exploring Ancient World Cultures is a very large website that includes very interesting resources on these ancient societies:  India, Greece, Rome, Egypt, China, the Near East and Early Islam.

• BBC - Building the Great Pyramid - 1 of 6
• What The Ancients Did For Us - The Mesopotamians Part 1/6
• History Channel - Engineering an Empire - The Persians (Complete Documentary)
• History Channel Engineering an Empire Egypt
• The Surprising History of Egypt with Terry Jones
• Ancient Egyptians: The Battle of Megiddo (2003) 1 of 5
• Rosetta Stone
• Law Code Stele of King Hammurabi
• Mesopotamia: Crash Course World History #3
• Ancient Egypt: Crash Course World History #4
• For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a relevant video for this unit of the course. Send the title of the video, the url and a brief explanation of why you find the video interesting and applicable to the material that is being studied in this unit.

• Take the short 5-point quiz for chapter 2. Log into Blackboard and look under "Chapter Quizzes." You have five minutes to complete each quiz (multiple-choice questions).
• Write a one-page paper (maybe two pages if they are exceptional) that provides a detailed comparison of Gilgamesh and Genesis (You may wish to read more of Genesis for your comparison.) for a maximum of 50 points.
• For 25 points maximum extra credit, read Hammurabi's Code of Laws and write a paragraph explaining the social structure of Ancient Babylon.
  
• For 25 points maximum extra credit, read The Precepts of Ptah-Hotep, c. 2200 bce, and write a paragraph explaining Ptah-Hotep's understanding of how to live one's life.
• For 25 points maximum extra credit, read the Genesis excerpt and write a paragraph answering this question, Did Genesis describe an ethical religion, i.e. a religion that required an individual to follow a code of moral behavior?
• For extra credit of a maximum of 10 points, answer the Genesis study sheet questions
• For extra credit of a maximum of 10 points, you can submit the answers to the Gilgamesh study questions.  Please write in formal, complete sentences.
• For extra credit, please suggest a relevant website for this unit of the course.  Send the title of the site, the url and a brief explanation why you find the information interesting and applicable to the material being studied this unit.