The following Internet activities will help reinforce issues and themes presented in Chapter 2 of McKay, A History of World Societies (Fifth Edition). One of these major themes is interaction. For a thousand years, roughly from 1500 to 500 B.C., the various civilizations and Neolithic communities of the Near East came into regular, sustained, and organized contact with one another. Your task is to understand the various reasons for this development and to analyze its impact on world history.

Helpful Hints:

• You may want to begin by printing this page. As you explore different sites, use the printout to refer back to the instructions and questions detailed in each activity.
  
  
• On many web sites you can increase the size of the images by clicking on them. Whenever possible, use the larger images to examine fine details in photographs.
  
  

Activity One:

• Studying maps, whether current depictions of the past or ancient cartography, can illuminate historical eras. Start off by looking at the map at Babylonian Clay Tablet World Map, 600 B.C. Be sure to click on the monograph section at the bottom of the page. Now look at Turin Papyrus, 1300 B.C. Be sure to look at the interpretive drawing and monograph. Use McKay, A History of World Societies (Fifth Edition), to put each map in its proper historical context. How do these maps help us understand Egyptian and Babylonian concepts of space? What, if anything, do they reveal about these peoples' views of their own positions in the world? Do either of these maps reveal any interaction with neighboring groups? Write a paragraph that answers these questions.
  
  

Activity Two:

• After completing the first activity, examine maps of West Asia and North Africa that use modern cartography. Go to Map 1. What is depicted there?  From what time period? After analyzing this map, can you suggest how the natural resources of the Near East promoted contact between various communities? Now look at Map 2. Do the rise of these political entities make any more sense when you compare and contrast Map 1 and Map 2?
  
  
• Locate where each of the kingdoms on Map 2 is explained in Chapters 1 and 2 of McKay, A History of World Societies (Fifth Edition). Do the same thing for Map 3. (This is an interactive map that requires you to download Shockwave if it is not already on your computer.) To manipulate this map, place the cursor on the image and hit the left mouse button. Move the cursor to the empire that you wish to view.
  
  

Activity Three:

Upon completion of Activities One and Two, you should see the connections between the dynamic political situation in the Near East from 1500 to 500 B.C. and long–distance trade. As a map of the The Empire of Cyrus II of Persia reveals, many of the political states that rose and fell during this time were attempts to control access to natural resources or to control trade routes.

• Review pages 49–54 in McKay, A History of World Societies (Fifth Edition), paying close attention to Map 2.3 on page 51. Or go to The Persian Empire During Its Height. Also review Map 1 from Activity Two. What resources and trade routes did the Persian Empire control? In light of your discoveries, why does McKay describe Persia as a "world empire" on page 53?
  
  
• Now that you have seen how trade routes and empires emerged in West Asia and North Africa during this period, examine some of the byproducts of these exchanges. Remember that this region became increasingly cosmopolitan between 1500 and 500 B.C. By cosmopolitan we mean that people became more exposed to new people, ideas, and technologies. What was the long–term impact of this development?
  
  

Activity Four:

• One way of answering the final question in Activity Three is to examine the relationship between Egypt and Nubia during the years 1500 to 500 B.C. Begin by reviewing pages 35–38 in McKay, A History of World Societies (Fifth Edition). Next go to Nubia and explore this site. List and explain three major ways that extended contact with each other influenced Egypt and Nubia. Which culture had greater influence on the other? Why do you think this was so? What does this relationship tell you about trade and the spread of civilization?
  
  

Activity Five:

• Another way of understanding the impact of the growth of empires and long–distance trade between West Asia and North Africa is by examining the Phoenicians. Review page 38 in McKay, A History of World Societies (Fifth Edition), then go to The Phoenicians . How were the Phoenicians different from other great empires examined in this chapter? What technological development did they make that changed the world? Remember, "technology" does not always refer to a machine or mechanical device. It can also be a process or intellectual development, such as the invention of a new form of math.
  
  
• If the answer to the second question in the previous paragraph is not clear, seeThe Phoenician Alphabet. Phonetics (a term derived from "Phoenicians") had an important impact on the Mediterranean region in later centuries, as future chapters in McKay, A History of World Societies (Fifth Edition), will show.
  
  

Activity Six:

Cultural interaction can produce religious and intellectual developments among various civilizations. The Persians, for example, developed and helped spread Zoroastrianism, one of the first world religions. A world religion is a theology that is not exclusive to one ethnic group. Any person, in theory, can convert to the religion without losing his or her ethnic identity.

Zoroastrianism was a religion in which all human beings faced the same demands. It influenced many peoples in West Asia. Indeed, Zoroastrianism remained a major religious force in Persia and Central Asia until the rise of Islam (see Chapter 9, "The Islamic World, ca 600–1400"). A small minority of people in this area still practice it today.

• To find out more about Zoroastrianism, read the first chapter at Exploring Ancient World Cultures: The Selections of Zadspram. Who was Ohrmazd? Who was Ahriman? Which one created humankind? Why? Locate and review verse fourteen. What role did human beings play in the conflict between Ohrmazd and Ahriman? What was their reward for following Ohrmazd? What was their punishment for following Ahriman?
  
  
• Go to Babylon, Persia and Judaism and read "Persia, Zoroastrianism and the Jews". How did Zoroastrianism influence Judaism and, indirectly, Christianity and Islam, two monotheistic religions that sprang from the Judaic tradition?
  
  

Activity Seven:

• Make a topical list of how the growth of long–distance trade and empires shaped the Near East between 1500 and 500 B.C. For example, one topic might be the spread of religion. Another might be the spread of technology. Keep this list where you can refer back to it in later chapters. The impact of long–distance trade and empires will be a theme throughout your study of world history.