World Civilization Before c. 1500 - Short Papers + Final project

Assignment: The Classical Age

This week’s written assignment focuses on the changes in human society that took place between 1000 BC and AD 500. Both sources should suggest a very different view of the world than you saw in older sources like the Hymn to the Nile. The trick to this assignment is realizing that how the authors make their arguments is, in many ways, more important than what they’re saying.

The first one is from the Histories by the Greek historian, Herodotus (c. 484 — 425 BC). Written about 440 BC, this was the first true history ever written. The good news is that Herodotus traveled a lot (everywhere between Italy and the Ukraine) and gathered a lot of information himself. In doing so, he preserved a lot of information that would have otherwise been lost. The bad news is a lot of his sources were, well, wrong. Either way, this is a good example of how the Greeks were really the first people to be curious about what was going on outside their homeland and how the natural world worked. The bulk of the Histories, have to do with wars between the Greek city states and Persia. The section you have, however, contains Herodotus’ s research on Egypt, particularly on the causes of the Nile’s flooding. Pay attention not just to how Herodotus is describing the Nile and its behavior, but on how he’s making his argument. That is, where is he getting his ideas from and how is he reaching his conclusions?

Finally, you have excerpts from the Lun Hung (Critical Essays) by the~ Chinese philosopher, Wang Chong (AD 27 — 97). Wang Chong, a minor bureaucrat and scholar, who is mostly remembered for championing reason over blind faith and superstition, one of the first people in history to do so. Although he did not understand the scientific method as we know it, he did argue that everything should be read critically and, if possible tested repeatedly to find the truth. His maj or work, Lun Hung, was an attempt to explain the world around him according to those principles and dealt with topics including astronomy, the weather, and ghosts. However, unlike Herodotus, Wang Chong’s work was never particularly popular in China where prophecy and belief in the supernatural were too ingrained in the culture. Moreover, his writings were contradicted by more popular scholars who came along later. In the excerpt you have here, Wang Chong is writing about his non-belief in ghosts. As you did with Herodotus, pay attention to how Wang Chong is making his argument.

Answer the following question in a short essay, 1 V2 to 2 ‘/2 pages long.

In what ways were the arguments of Herodotus and Wang Chong new? That is, how do they reflect a different way to understand the world than what we saw in the Epic of Gilgamesh and Hymn to the Nile?

Remember to proofread and to include citations to get credit!

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