Interpreting Alternative Viewpoints in Primary Source ......to World Religions The 2008 World History Course Description of the College Board Advanced Placement Program* lists five

Debating the DocumentsInterpreting Alternative Viewpoints

in Primary Source Documents

From God-Kings to World ReligionsThe 2008 World History Course Description of the College Board Advanced Placement Program* lists five themes that it urges teachers to use in organizing their teaching. Each World History Debating the Documents booklet focuses on one or two of these five themes.

The Five Themes1. Interaction between humans and the environment. (demography

and disease; migration; patterns of settlement; technology)

2. Development and interaction of cultures. (religions; belief systems, philosophies, and ideologies; science and technology; the arts and architecture)

3. State-building, expansion, and conflict. (political structures and forms of governance; empires; nations and nationalism; revolts and revolutions; regional, transregional, and global structures and organizations)

4. Creation, expansion and interaction of economic systems. (agricultural and pastoral production; trade and commerce; labor systems; industrialization; capitalism and socialism)

5. Development and transformation of social structures. (gender roles and relations; family and kinship; racial and ethnic constructions; social and economic classes)

This Booklet’s Main Theme:Development and interaction of cultures.2

* AP and Advanced Placement Program are registered trademarks of the College Entrance Examination Board, which was not involved in the production of and does not endorse this booklet.

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From God-Kings to World Religions | Debating the Documents 3

Primary sources are called “primary” because they are first-hand records of a past era or historical event. They are the raw materials, or the evidence, on which historians base their “secondary” accounts of the past.

A rapidly growing number of history teachers today are using primary sources. Why? Perhaps it’s because primary sources give students a better sense of what history is and what historians do. Such sources also help students see the past from a variety of viewpoints. Moreover, primary sources make history vivid and bring it to life.

However, primary sources are not easy to use. They can be confusing. They can be biased. They rarely all agree. Primary sources must be interpreted and set in context. To do this, students need historical background knowledge. Debating the Documents helps students handle such challenges by giving them a useful framework for analyzing sources that conflict with one another.

“Multiple,

conflicting

perspectives are

among the truths

of history.

No single

objective or

universal account

could ever put an

end to this endless

creative dialogue

within and

between the past

and the present.”

Teacher Introduction

From the 2005 Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct of the Council of the

American Historical Association.

Teacher InTRoducTIon

Using Primary Sources

4 Debating the Documents | From God-Kings to World Religions

Each Debating the Documents booklet includes the same sequence of reproducible worksheets. If students use several booklets over time, they will get regular practice at interpreting and comparing conflicting sources. In this way, they can learn the skills and habits needed to get the most out of primary sources.

Each Debating the Documents Booklet Includes:

• “Suggestions for the Student” and an Introductory Essay. The student gets instructions and a one-page essay providing background on the booklet’s topic. A time line on the topic is also included.

• TWO Groups of Contrasting Primary Source Documents. In most of the booklets, students get one pair of visual sources and one pair of written sources. In some cases, more than two are provided for each. Background is provided on each source. Within each group, the sources clash in a very clear way. (The sources are not always exact opposites, but they do always differ in some obvious way.)

• Three Worksheets for Each Document Group. Students use the first two worksheets to take notes on the sources. The third worksheet asks which source the student thinks would be most useful to a historian.

• CD-ROM. The ImageXaminer lets students view the primary sources as a class, in small groups, or individually. A folder containing all of the student handouts in pdf format, including a graphic organizer for use with the ImageXaminer’s grid tool, allows for printing directly from the CD.

• DBQs. Have students write an effective essay using all of the booklet’s primary sources on one of the document-based questions (DBQs) on page 22.

All pages in this booklet may be photocopied for classroom use.

1. Have students read “Suggestions for the Student” and the Introductory Essay.

Give them copies of pages 7–9. Ask them to read the instructions and then read the introductory essay on the topic. The time line gives them additional information on that topic. This reading could be done in class or as a homework assignment.

2. Have students do the worksheets.Make copies of the worksheets and the pages with the sources. Ask students to study the background information on each source and the source itself. Then have them take notes on the sources using the worksheets. If students have access to a computer,


The Debating the Documents Series

How to Use This Booklet


have them review the primary sources with the ImageXaminer. You may also ask them to use its magnifying tools to more clearly focus their analysis.

3. “debate the documents” as a class.Have students use their worksheet notes to debate the primary source documents as a class. Use the overheads to focus this discussion on each source in turn. Urge students to follow these ground rules:

• Use your worksheets as a guide for the discussion or debate

• Try to reach agreement about the main ideas and the significance of each primary source document

• Look for points of agreement as well as disagreement between the primary sources

• Listen closely to all points of view about each primary source

• Focus on the usefulness of each source to the historian, not merely on whether you agree or disagree with that source’s point of view

4. Have students do the final dBQ.A DBQ is an essay question about a set of primary source documents. To answer the DBQ, students write essays using evidence from the sources and their own background knowledge of the historical era. (See the next page for a DBQ scoring guide to use in evaluating these essays.)

The DBQ assignment on page 22 includes guidelines for writing a DBQ essay, as well as a second AP-level question. Here are some additional points to make with students about preparing to write this kind of essay.

• Analyze the question carefully

• Use your background knowledge to set sources in their historical context

• Question and interpret sources actively. Do not accept them at face value.

• Use sources meaningfully to support your essay’s thesis

• Pay attention to the overall organization of your essay

The DBQ for this Booklet (see page 22): Look back at the introduction for this lesson and re-read Karl Jasper’s comment on the axial age. Was there such an “axial age”? Why or why not?



Use this guide in evaluating students’ DBQ essays for this booklet. Use the guide with students who are already familiar with using primary sources and writing DBQ essays. For the AP* World History core scoring rubric, see page 45 of the pdf file at http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap07_worldhist_coursedesc.pdf

Excellent Essay• Offers a clear answer or thesis explicitly addressing all aspects of the essay question.

• Does a careful job of interpreting many or most of the documents and relating them clearly to the thesis and the DBQ. Deals with conflicting documents effectively.

• Uses details and examples effectively to support the thesis and other main ideas. Explains the significance of those details and examples well.

• Uses background knowledge and the documents in a balanced way.

• Is well written; clear transitions make the essay easy to follow from point to point. Only a few minor writing errors or errors of fact.

Good Essay• Offers a reasonable thesis addressing the essential points of the essay question.

• Adequately interprets at least some of the documents and relates them to the thesis and the DBQ.

• Usually relates details and examples meaningfully to the thesis or other main ideas.

• Includes some relevant background knowledge.

• May have some writing errors or errors of fact, as long as these do not invalidate the essay’s overall argument or point of view.

Fair Essay• Offers at least a partly developed thesis addressing the essay question.

• Adequately interprets at least a few of the documents.

• Relates only a few of the details and examples to the thesis or other main ideas.

• Includes some background knowledge.

• Has several writing errors or errors of fact that make it harder to understand the essay’s overall argument or point of view.

Poor Essay• Offers no clear thesis or answer addressing the DBQ.

• Uses few documents effectively other than referring to them in “laundry list” style, with no meaningful relationship to a thesis or any main point.

• Uses details and examples unrelated to the thesis or other main ideas. Does not explain the significance of these details and examples.

• Is not clearly written, with some major writing errors or errors of fact.


Complete DBQ Scoring Guide

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap07_worldhist_coursedesc.pdfhttp://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap07_worldhist_coursedesc.pdf


A primary source is any record of evidence from the past. Many things are primary sources: letters, official documents, photos, cartoons, stone carvings, coins, wills, maps, charts, etc. They are called “primary” because they are first-hand records of a past event or time period. This Debating the Documents lesson is based on two groups of primary source documents. Within each group, the sources conflict with one another. That is, they express different or even opposed points of view. You need to decide which source is more reliable, more useful, or more typical of the time period. This is what historians do all the time. Usually, you will be able to learn something about the past from each source, even when the sources clash with one another in dramatic ways.

1. Read the one-page introductory essay.This gives you background information that will help you analyze the primary source documents and do the exercises for this Debating the Documents lesson. The time line gives you additional information you will find helpful.

2. Study the primary source documents for this lesson. For this lesson, you get two groups of sources. The sources within each group conflict with one another. Some of these sources are visuals; others are written sources. With visual sources, pay attention not only to the image’s “content” (its subject matter), but also to its artistic style, shading, composition, camera angle, symbols, and other features that add to the image’s meaning. With written sources, notice the writing style, bias, even what the source leaves out or does not talk about. Think about each source’s author, that author’s reasons for writing, and the likely audience for the source. These things give you clues as to the source’s historical value.

3. use the worksheets to analyze each group of primary source documents.For each group of sources, you get three worksheets. Use the Study the Document worksheets to take notes on each source. Use the Comparing the Documents worksheet to decide which of the sources would be most useful to a historian.

4. As a class, debate the documents.Use your worksheet notes to help you take part in this debate.

5. do the final dBQ.“DBQ” means “document-based question.” A DBQ is a question along with several primary source documents. To answer the DBQ, write an essay using evidence from the documents and your own background history knowledge. The DBQ is on page 22.

Suggestions to the Student

StudentSuGGESTIonS

Using Primary Sources

How to Use This Booklet


• God-Kings and World Religions •Even the earliest hunter-gatherer societies had spiritual rituals and beliefs. Archaeologists tell us that Neanderthals buried their dead, which seems to suggest some kind of a belief in a life after death. All humans have powerful tendency to try to understand the unknown or mysterious aspects of the world around them. They have expressed spiritual and religious insights in countless ways in just about every culture ever known.

The earliest small-scale hunter-gatherer and agricultural societies usually believed in a variety of spirits or gods. These were mostly connected with important natural forces or events—such as the sun, sky, rain, soil, seasons, rivers, mountains, trees, etc. Other gods were seen in some sense as in control of key human or social events or actions, such as birth, death, warfare, planting, harvesting, etc.

One supreme god was sometimes seen as first among others. In general, the gods, spirits, or ancestors had to be pleased or placated to keep the natural order working well. As more complex civilizations emerged, so did the tendency to see one god as all-important—or a small number of gods, who were often just different aspects of the same god.

Moreover, these ruling gods were usually closely connected to the human rulers of these more complex societies. Ancient Egypt’s ruler, the Pharaoh, was himself considered a god. In Sumer, Assyria, and other Mesopotamian societies, the king was not usually a god. Commonly, he was seen as chosen by the god to rule or as someone descended from that god. In China, the emperor also was not a god. He was seen as the crucial link maintaining the balance between the natural and human order and heaven.

These links between gods and rulers made sense in the more complex societies that were appearing. In those societies, after all, the ruler and the government were seen as key to

controlling the unruly forces of nature.

In the first millennium BCE, however, spiritual life in many parts of the world changed again in fundamental ways. Religions took on a much more universal quality. Monotheistic religions, for example, depicted one god ruling the entire world. These religions also tended to stress moral values and ethical behavior, more than simple obedience to god and king. Non-theistic faiths also emerged, offering spiritual guidance or salvation to all of humanity.

The philosopher Karl Jaspers called this time an “axial age”—that is, an age when the entire world’s spiritual awareness evolved, seeming to turn on one single axis. He said of this time:

Let us designate this period as the “axial age.” Extraordinary events are crowded into this period. In China lived Confucius and Lao Tse, all the trends in Chinese philosophy arose ... In India it was the age of the Upanishads and of Buddha…. In Iran Zarathustra put forward his challenging conception of the cosmic process as a struggle between good and evil; in Palestine prophets arose: Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Deutero-Isaiah; Greece produced Homer, the philosophers Parmenides, Heraclitus, Plato, the tragic poets, Thucydides and Archimedes. All the vast development, of which these names are a mere intimation, took place in those few centuries, independently and almost simultaneously in China, India and the West....

The sources for this lesson will help you decide what you think of this idea of an “axial age.” Was there such an age? What did these various new spiritual and religious traditions have in common? What were the key differences among them? Why did so many of them emerge in these centuries?

Introductory ESSAY

TIME LInE


The Sumerian city-states flourish. The Pharaohs rule Egypt during the Early Dynastic period and the Old Kingdom. The pyramids are built. The Indus River civilization in India reaches its height.

The earliest forms of the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh, a mythic king, date from around 2100 BCE. From 1792–1750 BCE, Hammurabi rules the Babylonian Empire and writes his law code. The Indus River civilization disappears by about 1700 BCE. Aryans move into the region.

In China, the idea that the emperor rules with the “mandate of heaven” evolves as the Shang gives way to the Chou Dynasty. India’s oldest Hindu texts, the Vedas, are probably written down in these centuries. In the tenth century BCE, during the monarchy of David and Solomon in Israel, it is probable that the first parts of the Hebrew Bible are written down.

The first of the Upanishads is probably composed in the eighth century BCE. The Upanishads are the part of the Hindu scriptures that deal with philosophy and the key spiritual ideas of Hinduism. In Greece, this is the time when the Homeric epics are written down. In 745 BCE, the Assyrian Empire begins to expand and become the dominant power in Mesopotamia. The Hebrew prophets (about 750 to 550 BCE) begin to criticize their people for failing to live up to God’s moral demands. In the eighth century, the prophet Isaiah gives expression to the pure form of Jewish monotheism. (However, some scholars believe Jewish monotheism only emerges fully in the seventh or sixth centuries BCE).

Scholars do not know when the prophet Zoroaster actually lived. Zoroastrianism is the religion he supposedly founded. In any case, by the sixth century BCE it has clearly become a monotheistic faith. (Or perhaps dualistic, with the supreme creator god Ahura Mazda opposing a chaotic or destructive spirit.) It is also in the sixth century that Zoroastrianism becomes a major religion in the Persian Empire. In Greece, early Greek philosophers such as Thales of Miletus begin to offer purely rational explanations of the natural world. In China, the traditional dates of 551–479 BCE are given for Kongfuzi—Confucius—whose philosophy of familial piety, hierarchy, and social order will guide China until modern times.

563 BCE is the date traditionally given for the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. However, more recent scholars think he lived in the fifth century BCE.

Many historians also say Laozi (Lao Tsu) actually lived in the fourth century BCE. According to Chinese tradition, he founds Daoism, a philosophy stressing the harmony of the entire natural order. Under Pericles, Greek democracy in Athens is at its high point, as is Greek drama, sculpture, and philosophy. The philosopher Socrates is put to death for his ideas in 399, but ancient Greece’s two greatest philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, do their work during much of the fourth century.

600–500 BcE

900–600 BcE

3500–2200 BcE

500–400 BcE

God-Kings and World Religions Time Line

God-Kings and World Religions

2200–1200 BcE

1200–900 BcE

400–300 BcE


The Granger Collection, New York

Document 1. Tutankhamen’s tomb is located in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. Tutankhamen was a young Egyptian Pharaoh who died at age 19 sometime around 1325 BCE. His burial chamber included four small canopic coffins containing parts of his remains. This image is from the front of one such coffin. It is not Tutankhamen’s famous gold funerary mask found on his mummy. In the tomb also were things it was thought he would use in the afterlife: boats, food, lamps, jars, furniture, gilded deities, jewelry, and much more.

Document 2. The relief sculpture on this altar shows Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta (1243–1207 BCE). The king appears in two positions worshipping a symbol of Nusku, the fire-god (also god of the arts and civilization). Nusku’s symbol is resting on a replica of the altar itself. Assyria arose in northern Mesopotamia. Through war and conquest, it grew in time into the region’s most powerful empire until its fall in 609 BCE. Its early capital, Assur, was named after its patron god. The Assyrians did not see their kings as gods, but as gaining authority from the gods.

Visual Primary Source documents 1 & 2

Information on Documents 1 & 2

First Group of DocumentsdocuMEnTS 1 & 2


Document 1

Document 2


Document 3. Buddhism began in India in the sixth–fifth centuries BCE and spread to much of Asia. Buddha was seen as a spiritual teacher, not a god—though that changed for some later schools of Buddhism. In any case, Buddhism was universal in its appeal. That is, its way to spiritual enlightenment was open to all. In this second century CE relief sculpture from Afghanistan, Buddha appears with two bodhisattvas, a priest and a layman. A bodhisattva is someone who reaches enlightenment but chooses to remain in this world to help others achieve it as well.

Document 4. The Pentateuch is the Greek name for the first five books of the Hebrew Bible—also called the Torah. This engraving is of the Samaritan Pentateuch. The Samaritans quarreled with and separated from the Jews in Israel perhaps sometime in the eighth–sixth centuries BCE. Yet the Samaritans also accept the Pentateuch’s teachings. Its text tells the story of the Jewish people and their dealings with their god, whom they see as the one true god. Most historians say this Jewish “monotheism” probably took several centuries to develop fully.

Visual Primary Source documents 3 & 4

First Group of DocumentsdocuMEnTS 3 & 4


Information on Documents 3 & 4


Document 3

Document 4


Instructions: Take notes on these questions. Use your notes to discuss the documents and answer the DBQ.

Main Idea — doc. 1Create a caption for this image. Use it to explain what the image shows about the nature of Egyptian kingship.

Main Idea — doc. 2Create a caption for this image. Use it to explain what the image shows about Assyrian kingship and its relationship to its gods.

Visual Features — doc. 1The figure on Tutankhamen’s coffin is grasping the official emblems of royal power—the scepter in the left and the flail in the right. How do these features add to the impact of the image? What else helps convey the idea of the Pharaoh as a god or god-man?

Visual Features — doc. 2What visual features of this relief sculpture help to make clear the Assyrian king’s relationship to the Assyrian gods? How would you compare or contrast this image with that of the coffin in Tutankhamen’s tomb (Visual Source Document 1)?

1

2

Study the documents: Visual Sources 1 & 2

Study the DocumentFIRST GRouP oF docuMEnTS

3

4



Main Idea — doc. 3Create a caption for this image. Use it to sum up what the image suggests about Buddha and the nature of Buddhism.

Main Idea — doc. 4Create a caption for this image. Use it to sum up what the image suggests about the nature of sacred scriptures in certain religious traditions.

What Else can You Infer?What is suggested or implied in these documents? For example, what do they suggest about the place of writing and literacy during the rise of these world faiths and philosophies? What do the images suggest about the relationship of gods and rulers as seen by those who adopted these faiths?

compare and contrastBased on these four visuals alone (Visual Source Documents 1–4), how do you think the role and nature of religion was changing from around 1400 to 400 BCE in key parts of East Asia, West Asia, and North Africa?

1

2

3

4

Study the documents: Visual Sources 3 & 4

Study the DocumentFIRST GRouP oF docuMEnTS

The Visual SourcesAnswer the question by checking one box below. Then complete the statements on the Comparison Essay worksheet. Use all your notes to help you take part in an all-class debate about these documents—and to answer the final DBQ for the lesson.

Documents 1 & 2 Documents 3 & 4

comparing the documents

Which of these primary source documents would be most useful to a historian trying to understand the rise of world religions in the first millennium BcE?


Comparing thedocuMEnTS


I chose Documents ______ because:_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

I did not choose Documents ______. However, a historian still might use the documents in the following way:

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

KEEP THIS IN MIND: Some sources are very biased. A biased source is one that shows you only one side of an issue. That is, it takes a clear stand or expresses a very strong opinion about something. A biased source may be one-sided, but it can still help you to understand its time period. For example, a biased editorial cartoon may show how people felt about an issue at the time. The usefulness of a source depends most of all on what questions you ask about that time in the past.

comparison Essay



Information on documents 1 & 2Document 1. Hammurabi ruled the Babylonian Empire from 1790 to 1752 BCE. His law code is the most famous of those of the ancient Mesopotamians. It consisted of a long prologue and a list of 282 laws, all carved on stone pillars placed throughout his kingdom. The words here are from the prologue, as translated by L.W. King (1910).

Document 2. Shamshi-Adad I (1813–1791 BCE) conquered the city-state of Assur in upper Mesopotamia and created a kingdom there. It was an early stage in the history of Assyria, which rose and fell as a great power three times between 1800 to 600 BCE. These words are from an inscription in which Shamshi-Adad explains his titles, some building activities, and his conquests. “Assur” is the patron god of the city of that name. “Anu” and “Enlil” are ancient Sumerian gods. The conquered lands mentioned are in Syria and Lebanon.

Written Primary Source documents 1 & 2

Second Group of DocumentsdocuMEnTS 1 & 2

• Document 2 •Shamshi-Adad, king of the whole world, who built the temple of the god Assur, he who at the behest of Assur, who loves him, fortified the land between Euphrates and Tigris, he whose name the gods Anu and Enlil uttered out of regard for the great deeds [he did] over and above the kings that went before him.

The temple of Enlil, which Erreshum, son of Ilushuma, had built—that temple was decayed, and I caused it to be removed. The temple of Enlil my lord, an awesome chapel, a mighty building, the seat of my lord Enlil, that stands securely built by the work of the builders, did I build in my city Assur.…

At that time I received in my city Assur tribute from the kings of Tukrish and from the king of the upper land. I set up a stele [on which was] my exalted name, in the land Lab’an on the coast of the great sea.

• Document 1 •When Anu the Sublime, King of the Anunaki, and Bel, the lord of Heaven and earth, who decreed the fate of the land, assigned to Marduk, the over-ruling son of Ea, God of righteousness, dominion over earthly man, and made him great among the Igigi, they called Babylon by his illustrious name, made it great on earth, and founded an everlasting kingdom in it, whose foundations are laid so solidly as those of heaven and earth; then Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak; so that I should rule over the black-headed people like Shamash, and enlighten the land, to further the well-being of mankind.


• Document 5 •Chi K’ang asked Confucius about government, saying, “What do you say to killing the unprincipled for the good of the principled?” Confucius replied, “Sir, in carrying on your government, why should you use killing at all? Let your evinced desires be for what is good, and the people will be good. The relation between superiors and inferiors is like that between the wind and the grass. The grass must bend, when the wind blows across it.”

The Master said, “When a prince’s personal conduct is correct, his government is effective without the issuing of orders. If his personal conduct is not correct, he may issue orders, but they will not be followed.”

• Document 4 •7: Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

8: He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Information on documents 3–5Documents 3 & 4. Many scholars now say the idea of monotheism (a belief that there is only one god) was not clearly expressed in the earliest books of the Hebrew Bible, but evolved slowly in it. In any case, by the time of the Hebrew prophets (approximately 750–550 BCE) the idea of one supreme god who demands lawful obedience and moral behavior was becoming a part of Jewish teaching. Document 3 is Nehemiah 9:32–35. Document 4 is Micah 6:7–8. Both are from the Hebrew Bible, Revised Standard Version.

Document 5. Confucius (Kongfuzi) lived in China, probably in the sixth century BCE. His teachings were not a theistic religion. They stressed personal and political morality, filial piety, order, and hierarchy in social life. Below are excerpts from the Analects of Confucius (XII.19 and XIII.6), translated by Arthur Waley, (New York: Macmillan, 1938).

• Document 3 •32: Now therefore, our God, the great and mighty and terrible God, who keepest covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to thee that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.

33: Yet thou hast been just in all that has come upon us, for thou hast dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.

34: Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept thy law or heeded thy commandments and thy warnings which thou didst give them.

35: They did not serve thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness which thou gavest them, and in the large and rich land which thou didst set before them; and they did not turn from their wicked works.

Written Primary Source documents 3–5

Second Group of DocumentsdocuMEnTS 3–5



Main Idea — doc. 1Choose one line from this prologue that you think best conveys Hammurabi’s view of his relationship to the gods he mentions (Anu, Bel, Marduk, Ea).

Main Idea — doc. 2Choose one line from this inscription that best conveys Shamshi-Adad’s view of his relationship to the gods he mentions (Anu, Enlil, Assur).

Background KnowledgeFrom what you know of ancient Mesopotamia, why do you think these two rulers, one in Babylon and one in Assyria, mention some of the same gods?

Author, Audience, PurposeIn each of these sources, these were supposed to be the words of a powerful ruler. To whom do you think the words were addressed? What effect do you think they were intended to have? How reliable does this make these sources as evidence of what these rulers were like and what they accomplished?

2

3

Study the documents: Written Sources 1 & 2

SEcond GRouP oF docuMEnTSStudy the Document

1

4



Main Idea — docs. 3–4Which one of the Bible verses here best sums up the nature of Hebrew monotheism? Explain your choice.

Main Idea — doc. 5Both of these passages are about the relationship of “superiors” and “inferiors.” In a sentence or two, sum up what you think Confucius is really saying about this relationship.

compare & contrast — 1Both the passages from the Bible (Written Source Documents 3 & 4) and the passages from Confucius (Written Source Document 5) deal in some way with rulers and ruled. In what way are they similar in their views about this? In what way are they different?

compare & contrast — 2Compare Written Source Documents 3–5 to Written Source Documents 1–2. Based on these sources, what changes do you see in these centuries in ideas about a divine or spiritual realm and its relationship to human society?

4

Study the documents: Written Sources 3–5

Study the DocumentSEcond GRouP oF docuMEnTS

1

3

2


Which of these primary source documents would be most useful to a historian trying to understand the rise of world religions in the first millennium BcE?

Answer the question by checking one box below. Then complete the statements on the Comparison Essay worksheet. Use all your notes to help you take part in an all-class debate about these documents—and to answer the final DBQ for the lesson.

comparing the documents

Comparing the docuMEnTS

Documents 1 & 2 Documents 3–5

The Written Sources

Part of the prologue

for Hammurabi’s

Code, and part of

an inscription in

which Shamshi-Adad

of Assyria explains

his rule.

Some versus from

the Hebrew Bible,

Nehemiah 9:32–35,

and Micah 6:7–8,

along with two excerpts

from the Analects of

Confucius (XII.19 and

XIII.6).


comparison Essay


I chose Documents ______ because:_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

I did not choose Documents ______. However, a historian still might use the documents in the following way:

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

KEEP THIS IN MIND: Some sources are very biased. A biased source is one that shows you only one side of an issue. That is, it takes a clear stand or expresses a very strong opinion about something. A biased source may be one-sided, but it can still help you to understand its time period. For example, a biased editorial cartoon may show how people felt about an issue at the time. The usefulness of a source depends most of all on what questions you ask about that time in the past.


Document-BasedQuESTIon

document-Based QuestionYour task is to answer a document-based question (DBQ) on the transformation of religious and spiritual ideas in the first millennium BCE. In a DBQ, you use your analysis of primary source documents and your knowledge of history to write a brief essay answering the question. Using all four sets of documents, answer this question. Below are two DBQs. The first is somewhat less demanding than the second. Use whichever DBQ your teacher assigns.

Below is a checklist of key suggestions for writing a DBQ essay. Next to each item, jot down a few notes to guide you in writing the DBQ. Use extra sheets to write a four- or five-paragraph essay.

Introductory ParagraphDoes the paragraph clarify the DBQ itself? Does it present a clear thesis, or overall answer, to that DBQ?

The Internal Paragraphs — 1Are these paragraphs organized around main points with details supporting those main ideas? Do all these main ideas support the thesis in the introductory paragraph?

The Internal Paragraphs — 2Are all of your main ideas and key points linked in a logical way? That is, does each idea follow clearly from those that went before? Does it add something new and helpful in clarifying your thesis?

Use of Primary Source DocumentsAre they simply mentioned in a “laundry list” fashion? Or are they used thoughtfully to support main ideas and the thesis?

Concluding ParagraphDoes it restate the DBQ and thesis in a way that sums up the main ideas without repeating old information or going into new details?

Look back at the introduction for this lesson and re-read Karl Jasper’s comment on the axial age. Was there such

an “axial age”? Why or why not?

Document-Based Questions

do Buddhism, Judaism, and confucianism share characteristics in common that set them off from earlier Egyptian, Mesopotamian

or other religious traditions? use these sources to answer this question by comparing and contrasting these specific systems of

religious-philosophical thought and tradition.

OR

1

2


Additional Sources onlineNOTE TO THE TEACHER: If you are using these materials with an AP world history class, an honors class or some other group of advanced and/or more knowledgable students, you may want to make more written sources available to them on this topic. Below are notes on several other sources, all of which are available on the Internet. The most recent URL for each source is provided. Most of the sources are quite brief. Some are a few pages in length. Together they will provide several additional perspectives on the topic of this booklet. All of the following links may be found at www.socialstudies.com/debatingworld.html

Additional Written Sources on From God-Kings to World Religions1. Here are some early inscriptions hinting at the relationship of kings and gods in Sumerian cities at around 2500 BCE. The inscriptions on clay cylinders are mainly about the kings of Umma and Lagash, two Sumerian cities, and a boundary dispute between them. Read the background material (also, note the map) as well as the brief inscriptions themselves. Enlil, Ningirsu, Shara, and Nina are gods. Most of the other names are those of kings.http://www.piney.com/BabUmmLag.html

2. Here is a longer secondary source on the same topic referred to above. It is from Henri Frankfort’s Kingship and the Gods – a study of Ancient Near Eastern Religion as the integration of Society and Nature, 1978, University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.http://www.gatewaystobabylon.com/introduction/kingshipfrankfort.htm

3. This passage is from one of the Hebrew Prophets, Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7-8 in the New International Version). In it, Jeremiah records the Lord’s anger at Israel’s failure to fulfill its promises. Divine wrath falls on kings and people alike. These passages make clear how over time the Hebrew God came to be seen as addressing an entire people, not a king, and to demand of them not mere ritual sacrifices and ceremonies, but obedience to a universal moral code of right and wrong.http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=JER%207-8

4. A very different universal code was developing in China at this time. A code associated with the name Confucius. A good summary of Confucian thought can be found here.http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/china/philo/confuc.htm

http://www.socialstudies.com/debatingworld.htmlhttp://www.piney.com/BabUmmLag.htmlhttp://www.gatewaystobabylon.com/introduction/kingshipfrankfort.htmhttp://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=JER%207-8http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/china/philo/confuc.htm


Worksheet Answers and GuidelinesSome worksheet questions call for specific answers to factual quiestions. In these cases, correct answers are provided here. Most worksheet questions are open-ended and call on students to offer their own interpretations and personal reactions. In those cases, we offer suggestions based on the purpose of the question and the sort of interpretive activity it calls for.

Worksheet 1Visual Sources 1 & 21. Captions will vary but should focus on the image’s powerful god-like appearance.

2. Captions will vary but should focus on the king in relationship to the symbol of the god.

3. These call attention to the absolute power of the king, along with the lavish yet dignified face, clothing, etc.

4. He appears on more or less an equal level with the god, though worshipful of it. He is shown in the presence of a diety, whereas the Egyptian king is by himself alone.

Worksheet 2Visual Sources 3 & 41. Captions will vary, but should focus on Buddha as a human being, not an all-powerful god.

2. Captions will vary but should focus on a dignified presentation of words alone as sacred.

3. The Torah makes clear how important writing and literacy were. The Buddha suggests that what is sacred, divine or god-like is less related to kingship and more to all humans equally. Etc.

4. Answers will vary, but the focus should be on an increasingly universal tie between humankind and its gods, less focused on an all-powerful ruler.

Worksheet 3Written Sources 1 & 2 1. Choices may vary. Evaluate on the basis of how clearly the choices illustrate Hammurabi’s view of this

relationship.

2. Choices may vary. Evaluate on the basis of how clearly the choices illustrate Shamshi-Adad’s view of this relationship.

3. Assyria and Babylon both arose in a region heavily influenced throughout these centuries by Sumerian cultural and religious traditions.

4. These were kings ruling over territories that they had difficulty controlling or even communicating across. A powerful image and presence may have been a key to survival.

Worksheet 4Written Sources 3-5 1. Choices may vary. Judge by how students use the passage they cite to explore what is universal about the

Hebrew deity.

2. The answers should stress the harmony between superiors and inferiors as long as superiors act morally and for the greater good.

3. Answers may vary. Students should search both for similarities and differences.

4. Answers may vary, but should in general note the move from religion expressing a single ruler’s power to religion as a source of universal wisdom, morality, and authority,