Ch.

1 Ways to know about ancient history

1-1 Vocabularies you should know
1-2 Sources to get to know about the future
1-3 What we can get from those evidence
1-4 How to interpret? (Skills to study history)
1-5 Assignments

Ch.2 Fall of Rome

2-1 Introduction of Rome
2-2 Fallen of the West Roman Empire (Reasons and Facts)
2-3 The Byzantine Empire
Ch.1 Ways to know about ancient history

1-1 Vocabularies you should know

Vocabularies Meaning
BC A term used to identify dates that occurred long
(Before Christ) ago, before the birth of Jesus Christ, the
founder of Christianity; it means "before Christ." BC
dates get smaller as time passes, so the larger the
number the earlier the date.

AD A term used to identify dates that occurred after

(Anno Domini) jesus's birth; it comes from a Latin phrase that
means "in the year of our Lord." Unlike BC dates, AD
dates get larger as time passes, so the larger the
number the later the date.

BCE Another way to refer to BC dates; it stands for

"before the common era"
CE Another way to refer to AD dates; it stands for
"common era".

circa or c. A word used to show that historians are not sure of

an exact date; it means "about"
Cause and effect Cause is the reason, and effect is the thing
happened in the end.
Society A society is a community of people who share a
common culture.
Archaeology Archaeology is the study of the past based on
materials that people have left behind.
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1-2 Sources to get to know about the future

1-2-1 Type of Sources

1. Written records: People can guess what kind of life they

were living by interpreting the written records.
For example: Hieroglyphics

2. Fossils: By digging out the fossils, we can know what kind of

food they were eating, or maybe what kind creature was at that
time.
More reliable

3. Artifacts: The objects that people created and used, can tell
historians about their culture, technology, and beliefs.

4. Legends: In Chinese legends, we have 年獸 in our tradition, it

is also a kind of source to discover what happened in the past.
Less reliable
But usually not so reliable.
5. Luck: Sometimes luck can play a major part in uncovering
history. In 1974 Chinese farmers were digging a well. When
their shovels hit hard clay instead of dirt, they were amazed to
find the first of the clay soldiers
1-2-2 Category of the sources

1. A primary An account of an event Example: Court records,

source created by someone who
took part in or witnessed
the event.
2. A secondary Information gathered by
source someone who did not take
part in or witness an event
Let’s Practice: Handout 1
laws, diaries and letters
are too.
Example: Our Text book
or history novels and
encyclopedia are
secondary source.
1-3 What we can get from those evidence

1. Social Structure and Family Life

(1) Definition: The way a society is organized.

(2) Content: Art can tell us about social structure and
families. For example, Egyptian tomb paintings show the
pharaoh at the top of Egyptian society and the other
classes below him. Other paintings show the pharaoh at
home with his wife and children. In these scenes we see
the importance of family to the Egyptians.
2. Politics and Economic Systems

(1) Definition:
⚫ Politics: What is the government’s type.
⚫ Economic: How the people trade and what they use as
money.
(2) Content: Ancient sources also inform historians about
political and economic systems. Written sources can be
especially useful for learning about politics, or government.
(3) Example 1: Many speeches of politicians from ancient
Athens have survived in written form. Today, we can read
those speeches and see that the Athenians valued
democracy and that politicians worked hard to protect
people's freedoms.

(4) Example 2: Chinese shell money from 3,000 years ago

3. Beliefs and Values

(1) Definition: Beliefs is something like religion. Like we have

Catholic or Christian, and belief can also be something the
society believe.
(2) Content: Historians and archaeologists use many sources
to interpret the beliefs and values of a society.
⚫ Written sources
⚫ Artifacts
(3) Example 1: Written sources- The Code of Hammurabi

An eye for an eye, a

tooth for a tooth

(4) Example 2: Ancient India’s beliefs

4. Art and Architecture

(1) Definition: How the history’s culture is and how the

architecture was built.
(2) Content:
⚫ Architecture: Provides more evidence about societies.
Clues come from the number and types of buildings. For
example, if archaeologists find many temples in the
range of a small town, they can assume that religion
was very important there.
⚫ Art :
✓ Can give us clues about a society's level of
technology.
For example: In Shang dynasty of China, there are
a lot of bronze artwork. These art objects show us
that the Shang had incredible metalworking skill.

✓ Tell us more about a society.

For example: Archaeologists have found Egyptian
tombs full of beautifully crafted furniture,
jewelry, toys, and other everyday items. The fact
that the Egyptians placed these goods in tombs
shows they believed the person buried there
would need them. From this evidence, we can
conclude that the Egyptians believed in life after
death.