Unit 1 World History Reading and Writing Workshop
Unit 1 – Foundations of Civilization (c. 8000 BCE – 600 BCE)
Unit Focus
Human history began with small nomadic bands but transformed radically with agriculture, permanent settlement, and state formation. This workshop explores how geography, technology, belief, and social organization shaped the world’s earliest civilizations.
Essential Questions

1. How did the Neolithic Revolution change the relationship between humans and the environment?
2. How did geography influence the rise of early civilizations?
3. How did writing, religion, and law define early societies?
4. What continuities link the earliest civilizations to later global developments?

Historical Thinking Skills

• Causation
• Continuity and Change
• Comparison
• Contextualization
• Use of Evidence in Writing

Session 1 – The Neolithic Revolution: A Turning Point
Reading Group Focus
How and why did humans shift from hunting and gathering to farming, and what were the social consequences?
Readings

1. Jared Diamond, “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race” (1987)
   https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-worst-mistake-in-the-history-of-the-human-race
   (Excerpt)

“The adoption of agriculture, supposedly our most decisive step toward a better life, was in many ways a catastrophe from which we have never recovered. With agriculture came the gross social and sexual inequality, the disease and despotism, that curse our existence.”

1. The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet XI (Flood narrative)
   https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11000
   (Excerpt)

“All mankind had turned to clay. The ground was level as a flat roof. I opened a vent, and sunlight fell on my face. I bowed down, I sat down, I wept; tears streamed down my face for the fate of mankind.”
Group Activity – Debate: “Progress or Problem?”
Groups read both excerpts and debate whether the Agricultural Revolution improved or worsened life for humans.

• Group A argues for “progress.”
• Group B argues for “problem.”
  Each side must cite at least two pieces of textual evidence.

Writing Task
Prompt: Was the Neolithic Revolution truly a turning point in human history? Defend your position using evidence from the readings.
Session 2 – Rivers, Rulers, and Resources
Reading Group Focus
Geography’s role in shaping economic, political, and cultural life in early river valley civilizations.
Readings

1. The Code of Hammurabi (Babylon, c. 1750 BCE)
   https://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp
   (Excerpt – selected laws)

53 – If any one be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition, and does not so keep it; if then the dam break and all the fields be flooded, he in whose dam the break occurred shall be sold for money, and the money shall replace the corn which he has caused to be ruined.
196 – If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.

1. The Instruction of Ptahhotep (Egypt, c. 2400 BCE)
   https://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/instruct.htm
   (Excerpt)

“If you are a man who leads, listen calmly to the speech of one who pleads; do not stop him until he has completely unburdened himself of what he had planned to say.”
Group Activity – River Valley Comparison Workshop

• Group 1 – Mesopotamia (Tigris – Euphrates)
• Group 2 – Egypt (Nile)
• Group 3 – Indus Valley (Indus)
• Group 4 – Yellow River (Huang He)
  Each group researches geography, environment, and governance, then compares results on a shared class chart.

Writing Task
Prompt: Explain how geography shaped political power and social structure in two early civilizations.
Session 3 – Law, Writing, and the State
Reading Group Focus
How did writing and legal codes reinforce political power and social order?
Readings

1. The Code of Hammurabi (continued)
   https://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp
   (Excerpt)

8 – If any one steal cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold; if they belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death.

1. Exodus 20 – The Ten Commandments
   https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20&version=NRSV
   (Excerpt)

“Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
Group Activity – Justice Across Cultures
Each group compares both codes using a Venn diagram:

• What moral or social concerns do they share?
• How do they reflect their societies’ needs or hierarchies?
  Groups summarize findings in a short “Justice Report.”

Writing Task
Prompt: Compare how ancient law codes reflected the values and priorities of their societies.
Session 4 – Belief and Art in Early Civilizations
Reading Group Focus
Religion and art as unifying forces that legitimize authority and express values.
Readings

1. Egyptian Book of the Dead: Hymn to Osiris
   https://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod03.htm
   (Excerpt)

“Homage to thee, Osiris, Lord of eternity, king of the gods, whose names are manifold, whose forms are holy, thou being of hidden form in the temples, whose Ka is holy.”

1. The Rig Veda (Hymn of Creation, Book 10 Hymn 129)
   https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv10129.htm
   (Excerpt)

“Then was neither non-existence nor existence: there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it.
What covered it, and where? And what gave shelter? Was water there, unfathomed depth of water?”
Group Activity – Sacred Symbols and Power
Groups analyze how rulers and priests used religion to strengthen authority.

• Identify divine kingship or afterlife themes.
• Create a visual chart linking art, architecture, and religion (ziggurats, pyramids, temples).

Writing Task
Prompt: How did religion shape political and social order in early civilizations? Use examples from both readings.
Session 5 – Trade and Cultural Exchange
Reading Group Focus
Early patterns of trade and cultural diffusion that connected civilizations.
Readings

1. The Epic of Gilgamesh (Trade and travel themes)
   https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11000
   (Excerpt)

“Gilgamesh opened his mouth and said to Enkidu:
‘Let us journey to the Cedar Forest where the fierce Humbaba dwells, and slay him, that we may make a name for ourselves.’”

1. Early Chinese Oracle Bone Inscriptions (Examples from Anyang, c. 1200 BCE)
   https://archive.org/details/earlychineseorac00dono
   (Excerpt)

“Crack-making on day gui-chou: Diviner Que consulted: If we send men to trade with the Fang people, will there be misfortune? The king read the cracks and said: ‘There will be good fortune.’”
Group Activity – Ancient Trade Simulation
Each group represents a region (Mesopotamia, Indus, Egypt, China).

• Exchange “trade cards” listing goods (grain, copper, textiles, jade).
• Discuss what each civilization gains and loses through exchange.
• End with reflection on diffusion of ideas and technology.

Writing Task
Prompt: Analyze how early trade networks promoted both cooperation and cultural change.
Culminating Workshop – “The Seeds of Civilization”
Group Project
Each group creates a multimedia presentation or poster titled “The Foundations of Civilization.”
Include:

• Geographic setting
• Government and law
• Religion and culture
• Technology and economy
  Use evidence from at least three readings.

Individual Reflection Essay
Prompt: Which factor—geography, technology, or belief—most shaped the world’s earliest civilizations?
Use evidence from at least three sessions to support your argument.
Optional Extension Readings

• The Sumerian King List – https://www.etana.org/sites/default/files/coretexts/20257.pdf
• The Legend of Isis and Osiris – https://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/plm/plm11.htm​