Notes - Chapter 6 - Eurasian Social Inequalities

Download the Notes for Chapter 6: Sparta and Athenian Patriarchy Compared
Download the Notes for Chapter 6: Greco-Roman Slavery Comparison
Download the Notes for Chapter 6: Caste & Class Comparison
Review CH 6

Agenda: Mon. Oct. 1 to Friday, Oct. 5, 2012

UNIT 2 - Classical Era
CH 6 - Eurasian Social Hierarchies, 500 BCE - 500 CE
Week at a Glance:
Mon: Quiz; Intro to Social Inequalities; Intro In Class Project
Tue: Slavery, Caste/Class, Comparisons in Groups/Class Project
Wed/Thu: In Class Project & Review of Chapter
Fri: TEST
Saturday was International Coffee Day.

Monday, Oct. 1, 2012

QUOTE: "Don't Forget To Be Awesome."

LEARNING TARGETS:

* Analyze social structures in classical Eurasia 
* Compare Greco-Roman world to China's Han Dynasty - why was slavery so prevalent in the Greco-Roman World?
* Describe the Indian Caste System and explain the implications for social mobility.
* Compare the Indian Caste System with China's Class System - how could Chinese people become 'upwardly' mobile in society?

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

1. What is the difference between class and caste?
2. Why was slavery so much more prominent in Greco-Roman civilization than in India or China?
3. What philosophical, religious, or cultural ideas served to legitimate the class and gender inequalities of classical civilizations?
4. What set of ideas underlies India’s caste-based society?

AGENDA:

IN CLASS PROJECT: LINK TO Project Description Here.
ROMAN EMPIRE: 10 minutes a video about slavery in Rome
SPARTA: Ancient Worlds: The Spartans (2 hours, 23 min)

ATHENS: Engineering an Empire: Greece, part IV Golden Age of Pericles (Video 9 min)

Engineering an Empire: Greece, Part V Architecture of Athens & Attack of Sparta & Disease - Parthenon (Video 8 min)

CHINA: Engineering an Empire: China.
INDIA: Video Clips - India's Caste System & How We Know Caste


1. Reading Check Quiz - Chapter 6
After students turn in quiz, they will work on:
2. DO NOW Question: Why was slavery so much more prominent in Greco-Roman civilization than in India or China? 
Students will write out the DO NOW question for the first 3 minutes. 

10 minutes a video about slavery in Rome
After the video we will discuss the Do Now Question and the video pertaining to:

Greco-Roman society depended more on slaves than did other classical civilizations. There were far more slaves in the Greco-Roman world than in other classical civilizations. Slaves participated in a greater number and range of occupations than in other classical civilizations, from the highest and most prestigious positions to the lowest and most degraded. Slaves were excluded only from military service.
Greco-Roman society:
  • War, patriarchy, and the notion of private property contributed to the growth of slavery
  • Classical Athens: 1/3 slaves
  • Classical Sparta: Slaves out numbered the free citizens and were called helots (captured). Kept slaves controlled with military strength.
  • Roman Empire: 30 to 40% of the population at the dawn of the CE; not identified with a particular racial group; Growth of Christianity did little to curb slavery; No protections under the law; If slave kills master - then all slaves of master would be put to death; Rebellion of Spartacus notable for its size, ferocity, and early success. But, later subdued and 6,000 slaves were nailed to crosses as terrible vengeance.
Chinese Society: 
  • Elite Officials (Confucian principles in government, Exam System, Favored wealthy families, but modest measure of social mobility) Analyze the quote from Strayer p. 157, Po Chu-I (772-846 CE) "After Passing the Examination." 
  • Landlord Class (Accumulation of large estates, scholar-gentry - twin sources of privilege)
  • Peasants (hardships of peasant life reflected in Li Shen's poem in Strayer p. 159, periodic peasant rebellions, Yellow Turban Rebellion - Daoist philosophies ultimately crushed by Han Dynasty, but the dynasty was weakened so much it later collapsed, yet peasants were looked up to as the backbone of Chinese society)
  • Merchants (Regarded as unproductive, greedy, luxury-loving, and materialistic. Seen as a social threat, restrictions placed upon them by government)
  • Very little slavery (perhaps 1%)
Indian Society: - Use these 2 video clips to help explain India's society - 
India's Caste System & 
How We Know Caste
  • Caste as Varna (Birth determines social status, little social mobility, great inequalities explained through Hinduism religious culture - natural, ordained by gods, and eternal/ever lasting)
  • Caste (Varna) and Jatis (local distinctions of occupations & social groupings within the separate Varna)
- Brahmin -- priests, teachers
- Ksatriya -- warriors, rulers
- Vaisya -- farmers, merchants, artisans
- Sudra -- labor
- Untouchables* outside of varna system -- polluted labor

"It is better to do one's own duty badly, than another's duty well."
  • Included some slavery, but slaves had lawful protections. Far more restrained than other ancient civs.
3. Introduce Class project Chapter 6 "Social Inequalities"
LINK TO Project Description Here.
Where would you want to live? Athens? Sparta? Roman Empire, China’s Han Empire, or India’s Mauryan Empire?” Students will create a presentation to convince their classmates to live in their group's assigned area.
Presentations will be 5-10 minutes in length. 
Everyone in the group will participate. 
Must present, have a product (Video, Power Point, Prezi, Poster, or Rap Song).
Must discuss 3 features of why life in their empire is best and focus on at least 1 reason why each of the other groups is not suitable.

Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012

QUOTE"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

LEARNING TARGETS:

* Analyze the changes in the patterns of social life of the classical era. What accounts for these changes?
* “Cultural and social patterns of civilizations seem to endure longer than the political framework of states and empires.” Based on Chapters 4, 5, and 6, would you agree with this statement?
* How did the patriarchies of Athens and Sparta differ from each other?

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

1. What is the difference between varna and jati as expressions of classical India’s caste system?
2. How did the inequalities of slavery differ from those of caste?
3. In what ways did the expression of Chinese patriarchy change over time, and why did it change?

AGENDA:
1. DO NOW QUESTION: How did the patriarchies of Athens and Sparta differ from each other? (first 10 min)
•  Athens placed increasing limitations on women between 700 and 400 b.c.e. completely excluded women from public life. Women be represented by a guardian in legal matters, and women were not even referred to by name in court proceedings. Restricted women to the home, where they lived separately from men. Marriage customarily saw a woman in her mid-teens marry a man ten to fifteen years her senior. Land passed through male heirs.   
•  Sparta women possessed more freedom.  Fear of helot rebellion meant that great value was placed on male warriors. The central task for women in Spartan society was reproduction—specifically, the bearing of strong healthy sons. Women were encouraged to strengthen their bodies, and they even participated in public sporting events. Women were not secluded or segregated like their Athenian counterparts.  Married men about their own age, putting the new couple on a more equal basis.  Men were often engaged in or preparing for war, so women in Sparta had more authority in the household.
Engineering an Empire: Greece, part IV Golden Age of Pericles (Video 9 min)
Engineering an Empire: Greece, Part V Architecture of Athens & Attack of Sparta & Disease - Parthenon (Video 8 min)
Ancient Worlds: The Spartans (2 hours, 23 min)
Bettany Hughes chronicles the rise and fall of one of the most extreme civilizations the world has ever seen, one founded on discipline, sacrifice and frugality where the onus was on the collective and the goal was to create the perfect state and the perfect warrior. Hughes reveals the secrets and complexities of everyday Spartan life.
2. The Roman Soldier - (10 min) Video, Notes, Discussion on the role of military on Roman life
We'll see portions of some of these videos, the rest you can watch, if interested.
Engineering an Empire: Rome (Video 1 hour 30 min)
The Roman Military Machine (Video 4:57)
The Romans (Documents life in the Legion) (Video 5:14)
Horrible Histories: Rotten Romans, Decimation (Video 3:00)
Rome - Women in Rome (HBO) (Video 11:04)
3. Students will have remainder of period (35 min) to discuss, plan, & organize block day presentations. 

Wed/Thu Block Day Oct. 3 & 4, 2012

QUOTE: "A day spent without the sight or sound of beauty, the contemplation of mystery, or the search of truth or perfection is a poverty-stricken day; and a succession of such days is fatal to human life." - Lewis Mumford


LEARNING TARGETS:

* Compare the causes of differences in social structures in different civilizations
* Describe the nature of classical patriarchy and its variations


ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
1. “Social inequality was both accepted and resisted in classical civilizations.” What evidence might support this statement?
2. In what ways did the expression of Chinese patriarchy change over time, and why did it change?
3. How did the patriarchies of Athens and Sparta differ from each other?

AGENDA:
1. Students will have 5 minutes to work in groups to finalize presentations on Social Inequality.
2. Student presentations on Social Inequality - 5-10 min in length a piece.
3. Review of Chapter (if time remains)

Friday, Oct. 5, 2012

QUOTE: "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." - Shakespeare (Hamlet)

AGENDA:

1. TEST Chapter 6: Eurasian Social Inequalities.
2. Prepare for Chapter 7 quiz on Tuesday.
3. Next week we will study Chapter 7 - Classical Era Variations, while working on the Comparison Essay. No test next Friday - timed writing.

Enjoy Monday ~ freedom from the bonds of AHS Slavery! 

Review Game - "Death Match!"

We didn't finish this in all classes. So, here you go. How can you possibly fail? (There are FITTY questions though)

REVIEW GAME

WHAP Success Form - Intervention

All students will be given a copy of this form on Monday in class. It details many things that students can do on a weekly basis to see a greater chance of success in the class.

For those students who do not have a 70 or above, they will be expected to return the form in 3 weeks with signatures on the back as outlined. It is our hope that providing this will help students see a few methods for working efficiently and achieving a greater level of success in the class.

LINK TO THE SUCCESS FORM

Agenda: Week of Sept. 24 - Sept. 28, 2012

Unit 2: Classical Era - 500 BCE to 500 CE
Chapter 5: Eurasian Cultural Traditions
Quick Agenda:
MON - Reading Check Quiz Chapter 5, China: Legalism/Confucianism/Daoism/
TUE - Zoroastrianism, Judaism, & Christianity -compared to- Buddhism/Hinduism 
WED/THU - Greek Rationalism & Secularism, Christianity & Buddhism compared
FRI - Test Chapter 5

Monday, Sept. 24, 2012
Quote: "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." - Confucius

Learning Targets:

* Explain the enormous influence on world history of the religious and cultural traditions developed in the classical world

Essential Questions:
“Religions are fundamentally alike.” Does the material in this chapter support or undermine this idea?
What different answers to the problem of disorder arose in classical China?
Why has Confucianism been defined as a “humanistic philosophy” rather than a supernatural religion?
How did the Daoist outlook differ from that of Confucianism?
In what ways did the religious traditions of South Asia change over the centuries?

Agenda:
1. Reading Check Quiz - Chapter 5.
2. DO NOW QUESTION: "Big Picture" Question #1: Does Strayer support this statement, Religions are fundamentally alike. Explain.
3. Notes, Discussion, & Video: 
China & The Search for Order
What is the purpose of life? How should human society be ordered? How can humans deal with disorder?
What was the Legalist answer?
What was the Confucian answer?
What was the Daoist answer?
Apple Fanboy attends iChurch.
Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012
Quote: "Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing." - William James, American psychologist and philosopher (1842 - 1910)

Learning Targets:
* Explain the enormous influence on world history of the religious and cultural traditions developed in the classical world
* Analyze the reasons behind the development of these religious and cultural traditions

Essential Questions:
How would you define the appeal of the religious/cultural traditions discussed in this chapter? To what groups were they attractive, and why?
In what ways did Buddhism reflect Hindu traditions, and in what ways did it challenge them?
What is the difference between the Theravada and Mahayana expressions of Buddhism?
What new emphases characterized Hinduism as it responded to the challenge of Buddhism?
What aspects of Zoroastrianism and Judaism subsequently found a place in Christianity and Islam?
What was distinctive about the Jewish religious tradition?

Agenda:
1. DO NOW QUESTION: How would you define the appeal of the religious/cultural traditions discussed in this chapter? To what groups were they attractive, and why?
2. Notes, Discussion, & Video:
India: Buddhism to Hinduism
China: Legalism-Confucianism-Buddhism transition
Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity ~ Monotheism
Wednesday, Sept. 26 and Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012
Quote: "To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge." - Socrates

Learning Targets:
* Explain the enormous influence on world history of the religious and cultural traditions developed in the classical world
* Analyze the reasons behind the development of these religious and cultural traditions
* Compare the common ground and significant differences between these religious and cultural traditions and examine possible reasons behind them 

Essential Questions:
- “Religion is a double-edged sword, both supporting and undermining political authority and social elites.” 
- What are the distinctive features of the Greek intellectual tradition?
- How would you compare the lives and teachings of Jesus and the Buddha? In what different ways did the two religions evolve after the deaths of their founders?
- In what ways was Christianity transformed in the five centuries following the death of Jesus?

Agenda:
1. DO NOW QUESTION: Is a secular outlook on the world an essentially modern phenomenon, or does it have precedents in the classical era? How would you support both sides of this statement?
2. Notes, Video, & Discussion: 
Greek Rational Thought
India (Hinduism and Buddhism compared)
Christianity & the Roman Soldier

Friday, Sept. 28, 2012
Quote: "Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything." - Mary Hemingway

Learning Targets:
* Explain the enormous influence on world history of the religious and cultural traditions developed in the classical world
* Analyze the reasons behind the development of these religious and cultural traditions
* Compare the common ground and significant differences between these religious and cultural traditions and examine possible reasons behind them

Agenda:
1. TEST Chapter 5
Begin Reading Chapter 6, take notes and check out the Strayer companion site for the outline and self-quizzes, prepare for Reading Check Quiz on Monday.

Chapter 5 Targets - Eurasian Cultural Traditions

CLICK HERE to open and print the Targets for Chapter 5 - Eurasian Cultural Traditions


Agenda: Week of Sept. 17 - Sept. 21, 2012


Part 2 - The Classical Era in World History, 500 B.C.E. - 500 C.E.
Chapter 4—Eurasian Empires, 500 B.C.E.–500 C.E.
Quick Agenda:
MON - Reading Check Quiz CH 4, Constitution Day, Intro Eurasian Empires
TUE - Persians & Greeks, 300, Alexander The Great
WED/THU - Rome: From Republic to Empire, Han China: From Warring States to Empire
FRI - TEST Chapter 4 Eurasian Empires
Naqsh-e Rustam. This site contains the tombs of four Persian-Achaemenid kings, including those of Darius I & Xerxes.
Monday, Sept. 17, 2012
Quote of the Day: "Their memory abides and grows. It is for you to try to be like them. Make up your minds that happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous." - Pericles, leader of Athens, "Funeral Oration: In Defense of Democracy"

Learning Targets:
*Define the characteristics of imperial systems in the classical era and analyze why empires developed in some regions but not in others.

Essential Questions:
* What common features can you identify in the empires described in this chapter?
* How did Persian and Greek civilizations differ in their political organization and values?
* Why did semi democratic governments emerge in some of the Greek city-states?

Agenda:
1. Reading Check Quiz Chapter 4 - Eurasian Empires
2. Constitution Day - "We the People!" - Link to the video Preamble Schoolhouse Rock
3. Intro to Eurasian Empires
Spartan women played a powerful role in their patriarchal system. 
Queen: Spartan!
Leonidas: Yes, my lady?
Queen: Come back with your shield, or on it.
Leonidas: Yes, my lady.
Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012
Quote of the Day: It is said that on the eve of battle, he was told by a native of that the Persian archers were so numerous that, when they fired their volleys, the mass of arrows blocked out the sun. Dienekes, however, quite undaunted by this prospect, remarked with a laugh,
'Good. Then we'll have our battle in the shade.'
—Herodotus, The Histories

Learning Targets:
* Compare the important similarities and differences between imperial systems and the reasons behind them
* Explain the significance that classical empires have for us today, such as, representative government, military power, etc.

Essential Questions:
* In what ways did these empires differ from one another? What accounts for those differences?
* What were the consequences for both sides of the encounter between the Persians and the Greeks?
* What changes did Alexander’s conquests bring in their wake?

Agenda:

1. DO NOW QUESTION: What were the consequences for both sides during the encounter between the Persians and the Greeks?
2. Notes & Discussion - Persians & Greeks - How did their geography, culture, values, and empire impact the world?
3. Video: The Last Stand of the 300 Spartans LINK to the video clip.
Extended lesson: At home, as you watch the video clip, answer this question on your sheet of paper:
What was the impact of Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia?
Link to the video Mr. Duez created from the Iron Maiden Song: Alexander The Great.
The statue of Hannibal shows him leaning on the staff of Rome - SPQR.
Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012 & Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012
Quote of the Day: "SPQR" - Senātus Populusque Rōmānus "The Senate and People of Rome"

Learning Targets:
* Explain the significance that classical empires have for us today, such as, representative government, military power, etc.
* Evaluate the “greatness” of the Roman Empire and China’s Han Dynasty and determine if their destructive and oppressive features outweighed their impressive advances.

Essential Questions:
* Are you more impressed with the “greatness” of empires or with their destructive and oppressive features? Why?
* Do you think that the classical empires hold “lessons” for the present, or are contemporary circumstances sufficiently unique as to render the distant past irrelevant?
* How did Rome grow from a single city to the center of a huge empire?
* How and why did the making of the Chinese empire differ from that of the Roman Empire?
* In comparing the Roman and Chinese empires, which do you find more striking—their similarities or their differences?
* How did the collapse of empire play out differently in the Roman world and in China?
* Why were centralized empires so much less prominent in India than in China?


Agenda:
1. DO NOW QUESTION: In comparing the Roman and Chinese empires, which do you find more striking—their similarities or their differences? Explain.
2. Notes, Video, Discussion - Rome: From Republic to Empire.
3. Notes, Video, Discussion - China: From Warring States to Empire.
4. Socratic Study - students will be in 5 table teams of 6 students. 
Students will work in teams to determine the meaning of passages of text and quotes from various works:

Homer, Greek Poet, Iliad and Odyssey
Virgil, Roman Poet, Aeneid
Thucydides, Greek historian, History of the Peloponnesian War
Pericles, Greek Leader, Funeral Oration
Livy, Roman Historian, The Early History of Rome
Sallust, Roman Historian
Aelius Aristides, Greek writer who lived during Roman Empire, The Roman Oration
The Writings of Master Han Fei, China
Ashoka, Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty, The Rock Edicts
Visual Source 4.1 An Eighteenth-Century Representation of Qin Shihuangdi
Visual Source 4.2 The Terra-Cotta Army of Shihuangdi (Dennis Cox/China Stock)
Visual Source 4.3 Terra-Cotta Infantry (Keren Su/China Span/Alamy)
Visual Source 4.4 Terra-Cotta Archer (Museum of the Terra Cotta Army, Xian/Visual Connection Archive)
Visual Source 4.5A Bronze Horse-Drawn Chariot  (Private Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library)
The Terracotta Army or the "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BC and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife, and to make sure that he had people to rule over.
Friday, Sept. 21, 2012
Quote of the Day: "The empires of the future are the empires of the mind." - Winston Churchill, speech at Harvard University, Sept. 6, 1943
TEST CHAPTER 4 - "Eurasian Empires"
Read Chapter 5 - Eurasian Cultural Traditions this weekend, reading check quiz Monday

Chapter 4 - Targets

Link to Chapter 4 Targets


Survivor Game Presentation

I wasn't planning on sharing this, but we didn't finish every single question in every class. So here you go. Good luck on the test tomorrow.

LINK to the Survivor Game that we played in class that covered Unit 1

Agenda: Sept. 10, 2012 to Sept. 14, 2012

Part 1 - First Things First Beginnings in History, to 500 BCE
Chapter 3 - First Civilizations: Cities, States & Unequal Societies
 3,500 BCE to 500 BCE
QUICK AGENDA:
Mon - Quiz Ch. 3, Review Quiz answers, Intro to CH 3
Tue - Notes, Video, Discussion Chapter 3 "First Civilizations."
Wed/Thu - Competitive Review of Unit 1, Video Review.
Fri - TEST Unit 1 Ch 1-3

Monday, Sept. 10, 2012
Quote: "Luck = Preparation + Opportunity."
* Establish the relationship between the First Civilizations and the Agricultural Revolution
* Contrast civilizations with other forms of human communities
* To explore when, where, and how the First Civilizations arose in human history
Questions to Master:
1 - When and where did the First Civilizations emerge?
2 - What accounts for the initial breakthroughs to civilization?
3 - What was the role of cities in the early civilizations?

Agenda:
1. Reading Check Quiz - Chapter 3. Students may use the hand written notes that they took while reading the chapter.
2. Review the answers to the quiz and also our study of Guns, Germs and Steel last week.
3. Introduction to Chapter 3. 

Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012
Quote: "Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." - John Dewey
LEARNING TARGETS
*Explore how the emergence of civilizations transformed how humans lived and how their societies were structured
* Compare the various ways in which civilizations differed from one another
Questions to Master:
1 - In what ways was social inequality expressed in early civilizations?
2 - In what ways have historians tried to explain the origins of patriarchy?
3 - How did Mesopotamian and Egyptian patriarchy differ from each other?

Agenda:
1. Do Now Question: “Civilizations were held together largely by force.” Do you agree with this assessment, or were there other mechanisms of integration as well?
2. Notes, Discussion, & Video. Students will add to their notes that they took from the chapter and discuss the questions to master.
Wed. & Thu., Sept. 12/13, 2012
Quote: “The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.”  - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
* Explore and analyze the outcomes of the emergence of civilizations, both positive and negative, for humankind
Questions to Master:
1 - What were the sources of state authority in the First Civilizations?
2 - In what ways did Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations differ from each other?
3 - In what ways were Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations shaped by their interactions with near and distant neighbors?
Agenda:
1. Do Now QuestionCompare Mesopotamia and Egypt. 
2. Notes, Discussion, and Video: Comparing Mesopotamia and Egypt. We'll answer the Do Now question and further explore these two early civilizations.
3. "WHAP Survivor: Can you team survive early civilization?" 
Students will be in groups of 5 or 6 students a piece. They will answer questions cooperatively in their group and present their answers to the class. Mr. Duez will keep score. 
The objective is to learn how to attack Multiple Choice questions in WHAP. Focus on clearly reading the question. Eliminate answers and choose wisely. 
3. Video Review click the link here to see the videos. We will not see each of them in class, but some. Use the links to the remaining videos to help you review and bring to life concepts from Strayer.

Friday, Sept. 14, 2012
Quote: "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax." -Abraham Lincoln
Agenda:
1. TEST Chapters 1-3 Unit 1.
Students should read Chapter 4 this weekend and take notes. Reading check quiz is Monday.

Unit 1 Video Review

Here are a few video clips that might help you understand the rise of farming and the Neolithic Revolution:
Of course, we watched "Guns, Germs and Steel Episode I" - Youtube LINK.

Annenberg has a nice 20 minute video on the Agricultural Revolution here, click on the VOD: Video on Demand link on the left side of the page.

The Olmec Heads by BBC is an excellent look inside these ancient MesoAmerican ancestors.

Meroe's Royal Cemetery
The story of the Black Pharaoh's turns full circle at Meroe's magnificent Royal Cemetery in the shadow of some of Sudan's 300 pyramids - three times as many as were built in Egypt. Meroe's pyramids are a lasting testimony to the glory of Kush, the land of the Black Pharaohs that history forgot. Clip taken from the BBC Timewatch programme The Black Pharaohs.

Engineering an Empire: Egypt
Five thousand years ago--nearly two millennia before the Romans built their first mud huts--ancient Egypt's mighty pharaohs began commissioning and building monumental masterpieces whose scale, beauty, and sophistication still boggle the mind.

Hosted by actor and art historian Peter Weller, the feature-length EGYPT: ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE explores Egypt's awe-inspiring engineering accomplishments through the prism of its pharaohs' indomitable personalities. As Egypt's pharaohs alternately conquered and ceded vast expanses of land, they pushed their royal architects to stretch the boundaries of imagination and human potential, in effect inventing the science of structural engineering. Follow the empire's development from the First Dynasty of 3000 BC through the last days of the reign of Ramses the Great in 1212 BC, from dazzling obelisks to the 700-foot Great Pyramid of Giza.


Engineering an Empire: China
For over 4000 years, the world's greatest empires have come and gone. Only one has survived the test of time: China. Century after century, China's regal emperors mobilized immense peasant armies to accomplish engineering feats unparalleled in human history. Among the groundbreaking innovations of the ancient Chinese were the world's longest canal, its most complex and effective irrigation system, and a naval fleet mightier than all those of Europe combined-but, none can compare to the colossal 4,000-mile wall that stands as the most ambitious construction project ever built. From such heights came spectacular death spirals, as dynasty after dynasty-consumed by vanity and greed-was stripped of power by the people it had ruled.
The CeltsCeltic and Roman fortifications and battle of Alesia.

1. Crash Course: World History #1 - The Agricultural Revolution
In which John Green investigates the dawn of human civilization. John looks into how people gave up hunting and gathering to become agriculturalists, and how that change has influenced the world we live in today. Also, there are some jokes about cheeseburgers.
Bonus - Concerning Hobbits
Hank takes us to the island of Flores, where a race of wee people walked beside pygmy elephants, dragons and giant tortoises; they lived underground and had simple lives...
2. Crash Course: World History #2- Indus Valley Civilization
In which John Green teaches you about the Indus Valley Civilization, one of the largest of the ancient civilizations. John teaches you the who, how, when, where and why of the Indus Valley Civilization, and dispenses advice on how to be more successful in your romantic relationships. 
 3. Crash Course: World History #3 - Mesopotamia
In which John presents Mesopotamia, and the early civilizations that arose around the Fertile Crescent. Topics covered include the birth of territorial kingdoms, empires, Neo-Assyrian torture tactics, sacred marriages, ancient labor practices, the world's first law code, and the great failed romance of John's undergrad years. 
4. Crash Course: World History #4 - Ancient Egypt 
In which John covers the long, long history of ancient Egypt, including the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, and even a couple of intermediate periods. Learn about mummies, pharaohs, pyramids and the Nile with John Green.