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Table of Contents

Preface

1-1 An Indian View of Creation

From the Rig Veda "The Creation Hymn" (ca. 600 B.C.E.)

1-2 The Yuchi People Explain Their Origins

YUCHI TRIBE OF NORTH AMERICA, In the Beginning (ca. 1929)

1-3 The Hebrew Account of Creation

1-4 A Greek Description of Creation

HESIOD, From Theogony (ca. 700 B.C.E.)

1-5 Australian Concepts of Spiritual Power

Aboriginal Cave Painting of a Wandjina (ca. 2000 B.C.E.)

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

2-1 A Mesopotamian Quest for Immortality

From The Epic of Gilgamesh

2-2 Law and Order in Ancient Babylonia

HAMMURABI, Hammurabi’s Code: Laws on Society and Family Life (ca. 1800 B.C.E.)

2-3 Moses Leads the Hebrews from Egypt

Book of Exodus (ca. 950-450 B.C.E.)

2-4 A Babylonian Merchant Complains about Mistreatment

Letter from a Babylonian Copper Merchant (ca. 1750 B.C.E.)

2-5 An Egyptian Priest Complains about Honey

Letter from an Egyptian temple official (ca. 1200 B.C.E.)

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

3-1 Student-Teacher Dialogue in the Upanishads

From the Chandogya Upanishads

3-2 Suffering and Enlightenment

THE BUDDAH, The Buddha Obtains Enlightenment (ca. 530-29 B.C.E.)

3-3 Ashoka Makes His Will Known

ASHOKA, From Thirteenth Rock Edict (256 B.C.E.)

3-4 Artistic Depictions of the Buddha

3-5 Social Mores in Ancient India

From The Laws of Manu (ca. 100 B.C.E.-200 C.E.)

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

4-1 Art and Culture in Shang China

Detail of Ritual Vase known as the Tigress (ca. 1200 B.C.E.)

4-2 Heaven’s Mandate

From Book of Documents (ca. 900-100 B.C.E.)

4-3 Confucian Maxims and Sayings

CONFUCIUS, From Analects (ca. 500 B.C.E. – 50 C.E.)

4-4 Laozi Offers Advice on Following the Way

LAOZI, From Dao De Jing: Administering the Empire (ca. 500-400 B.C.E.)

4-5 Han Fei Lays Out the Legalist View of Good Government

HAN FEI, The Five Vermin (ca. 250-25 B.C.E.)

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

5-1 A Father Sacrifices His Daughter

AESCHYLUS, Agamemnon

5-2 A Sister Buries Her Brother

SOPHICLES, Antigone

5-3 Socrates Defends Himself Against Criminal Charges

PLATO, From Apologia (ca. 399 B.C.E.)

5-4 A Hellenic Depiction of Physical Perfection

Artemision Bronze (ca. 460 B.C.E.)

5-5 A Hellenistic Depiction of Powerful Emotions

Laocoön and His Sons (ca. 20 B.C.E.-70 C.E.)

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

6-1 The Romans Set Their Basic Laws in Stone

The Twelve Tables (ca. 450 B.C.E.)

6-2 Plutarch Describes a Man Who Would Be King

PLUTARCH, On Julius Caesar, A Man of Unlimited Ambition (ca. 100 C.E.)

6-3 The Senate Gives Augustus an Altar

Ara Pacis Augustae (13 B.C.E.)

6-4 An Official Asks for Advice on Dealing with Christians

PLINY THE YOUNGER, Letters to and from the Emperor Trajan on Christians (111-113 C.E.)

6-5 A Christian Defends His Religion Against Roman Persecution

TERTULLIAN, From Apologia (ca. 197 C.E.)

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

7-1 A Chinese Historian Describes a Nomadic People

SIMA QIAN, From The Records of the Historian: On the Xiongnu (ca. 109-86 B.C.E.)

7-2 What Makes a Good Woman?

BAN ZHAO, From Lessons for Women (ca. 80 C.E.)

7-3 Reconciling Buddhism with Traditional Chinese Values

HAN YU, From Lives of the Eminent Monks: Zhu Seng Du (ca. 550 C.E.)

7-4 Emperor Wuzong Cracks Down on Buddhism

EMPEROR WUZONG, Edict on the Suppression of Buddhism (845 C.E.)

7-5 Cultural Fusion in Medieval Japan

Hachiman, Shinto God of War, in the Guise of a Buddhist Monk (ca. 1100-1300 C.E.)

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

8-1 Plague Strikes the Eastern Roman Empire, 542

PROCOPIUS, History of the Wars

8-2 Rules for a Religious Community

SAINT BENEDICT OF NURSIA, From The Rule of Saint Benedict: Work and Pray (529)

8-3 A Germanic People Create a Code of Law

The Law of the Salian Franks (ca. 500-600)

8-4 Einhard Describes Charlemagne’s Private Life

EINHARD, From The Life of Charlemagne (ca. 817-836)

8-5 A Painter Portrays the Royal Couple

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

9-1 God and Believers in the Quran

Quran (ca. 650)

9-2 Geometry and Islamic Design

Great Mosque of Córdoba, Spain, and Gate of Al Hakam II, Detail (987)

9-3 A Muslim Philosopher on Reason, Knowledge, and Devotion to God

IBN RUSHID, or AVERROËS, On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy, ca. 1190

9-4 A Jewish Traveler Visits Baghdad

BENJAMIN OF TUDELA, From Book of Travels (ca. 1159-1172)

9-5 An Islamic Geographer Describes Baghdad

YAQUT AL- HAMAWI, Dictionary of Countries (1224-1228)

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

10-1 A Muslim Traveler Describes Ghana and Mali

ABU UBAYDALLAH AL-BAKRI, From The Book of Routes and Realms (ca. 1067-1068)

10-2 Fact and Fiction in an Account of Sub-Saharan Africa

ABU HAMID MUHAMMAD AL-ANDALUSI AL-GHARNATI, From Gift of the Spirit (ca. 1120-1170)

10-3 Leo Africanus Describes Timbuktu to a European Audience

LEO AFRICANUS (AL-HASAN IBN MUHAMMAD AL-WAZZAN AL-FASI), From The History and Description of Africa (1526)

10-4 A History of West Africa by West Africans

From Epic of Sundiata (ca. 1250)

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

11-1 Obligations Under Inca Rule

The First Chronicle of Good Government on the History of the World and the Incas up to 1615 (1616)

11-2 The Founding of Tenochtitlán and the Origins of the Aztec Empire

The Codex Mendoza (ca. 1541)

11-3 Diego Durán Describes Mexica Customs

DIEGO DURAN, From Book of the Gods and Rites (ca. 1576-1579)

11-4 The Rules and Objectives of a Maya Ball Game

ANTONIO DE HERRERA Y TORDESILLAS, On the Maya Ball Game Tlachtli (ca. 1598)

11-5 The Gods Challenge Two Maya Heroes to a Game of Tlachtli

FATHER FRANCISCO XIMENEZ, From Popol Vuh (ca. 1701-1703)

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

12-1 Marriage and Female Virtue

MURASAKI SHIKIBU, From The Tale of Genji (ca. 1021)

12-2 Depiction of an Aristocratic Woman

The Poet Koōgimi, from the Fujifusa version of the Thirty-six Poetic Immortals handscroll

12-3 The Experience of War in Feudal Japan

From The Tale of the Heike (ca. 1250)

12-4 The Islamic World as Seen from a Chinese Perspective

CHAU JU-KUA, On the Arab People of Quanzhou (ca. 1250)

12-5 Wang Eight and His Wife

HONG MAI, From Yijian zhi

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

13-1 Observations on Mongol Rule in China

Epitaph for the Honorable Menggu (ca. 1272)

13-3 The Role of a Mongol Leader in Battle

RASHID-AL-DIN, Chinggis Khan Fighting the Tartars (ca. 1300)

13-3 A European Merchant Travels the Silk Road

MARCO POLO, From Travels: Description of the World (ca. 1298)

13-4 Hindu Description of the Ideal Wife

VATSYAYANA, From the Kamasutra: About a Wife (ca. 150-1200)

13-5 A Muslim Scholar Offers Guidance to His Fellow Believers

MAULANA BURHAN UD-DIN MARGHINANI, From Guidance: Alms, Marriage, and Testimony (ca. 1197)

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

14-1 Royal Power and the Rule of Law

KING JOHN OF ENGLAND, From Magna Carta: The Great Charter of Liberties (1215)

14-2 The Pope Declares His Own Power

POPE BONIFACE VIII, Unam Sanctam (1302)

14-3 A Scholastic Places Logic in the Service of Theology

THOMAS AQUINAS, From Summa Theologica: Can It Be Demonstrated That God Exists? (1268)

14-4 A Lawyer Apprentices His Son

Apprenticeship Contract for a Money-Changer (1248)

14-5 A Writer Provides Advice to Women

CHRISTINE DE PIZAN, Advice to the Wives of Artisans, from The Treasure of the City of Ladies (1405)

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

15-1 Petrarch Expresses His Admiration for Classical and Christian Works

PETRARCH, Letters (ca. 1354, 1360)

15-2 Pico della Mirandola Argues for the Importance of Philosophical Debate

PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA, From On the Dignity of Man (1486)

15-3 A Renaissance Painter Portrays Powerful Women

ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI, Judith and her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes (1625)

15-4 Luther Calls for a Break with the Catholic Church

MARTIN LUTHER, From Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520)

15-5 John Calvin Explains His Views on Faith and the Clergy

JOHN CALVIN, From Instruction in Faith (1537)

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

16-1 The World as Europeans Knew it in 1502

World Map (1502)

16-2 Columbus Defends His Accomplishments

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, Letter from the Third Voyage (1493)

16-3 Spanish Ambitions in the New World

THEODORE DE BRY, Columbus at Hispaniola (ca. 1590)

16-4 Spanish Conquest of the Aztecs

BERNARDINO DE SAHAGÚN, From General History of the Things of New Spain (ca. 1545-1578)

16-5 Blending Indigenous and European Style

ANDRÉS SÁNCHEZ GALLQUE, The Mulatto Gentlemen of Esmeraldas (1599)

COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS

Authors

Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks

Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks(Ph.D., University of Wisconsin–Madison) is Distinguished Professor of History, emerita, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. She is the long-time Senior Editor of the Sixteenth Century Journal and the author or editor of more than thirty books, including A Concise History of the World. From 2017 to 2019 she served as the president of the World History Association.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey

Patricia B. Ebrey​ (Ph.D., Columbia University) is professor of history at the University of Washington in Seattle. Editor of the Journal of Chinese History, she is the author or editor of some twenty books, including The Cambridge Illustrated History of China and Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook, as well as more specialized books on Song dynasty China. In 2014 she was awarded the American Historical Association’s Award for Scholarly Distinction and in 2020 the Association for Asian Studies Award for Outstanding Contributions to Asian Studies.

Roger B. Beck

Roger B. Beck (Ph.D., Indiana University) is Distinguished Professor of African and twentieth-century world history at Eastern Illinois University. His publications include The History of South Africa; a translation of P. J. van der Merwe’s The Migrant Farmer in the History of the Cape Colony, 1657–1842; and more than a hundred articles, book chapters, and reviews. In 2018 he received the Pioneer in World History award from the World History Association, its highest honor.

Jerry Davila

Jerry Dávila ​(Ph.D., Brown University) is Jorge Paulo Lemann Chair of Brazilian History and directs the Global Institute at the University of Illinois. He is the author of Dictatorship in South America; Hotel Trópico: Brazil and the Challenge of African Decolonization, winner of the Latin Studies Association Brazil Section Book Prize; and Diploma of  Whiteness: Race and Social Policy in Brazil, 1917–1945. He has served as president of the Conference on Latin American History.

Clare Haru Crowston

Clare Haru Crowston (Ph.D., Cornell University) is Professor of history at the University of Illinois. She is the author of Credit, Fashion, Sex: Economies of Regard in Old Regime France and Fabricating Women: The Seamstresses of Old Regime France, 1675–1791, which won the Berkshire and Hagley Prizes. She edited two special issues of the Journal of Women’s History, has published numerous journal articles and reviews, and is a past president of the Society for French Historical Studies.

John P. McKay

John P. McKay (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley) is professor emeritus at the University of Illinois. He has written or edited numerous works, including the Herbert Baxter Adams Prize-winning book Pioneers for Profit: Foreign Entrepreneurship and Russian Industrialization, 1885-1913.

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