The Making of the World: A Survey of Three Civilizations

Number of credits: 3

Method: Taught course with classroom attendance as per university norms.

Evaluation: There shall be three internals of 20 marks each and the best of two will be taken for
evaluation of 40 marks and a final examination of 60 marks at the end of the semester.

Course description: This is a survey course aimed at students who have had some knowledge of history
at the secondary school level.

As the title suggests the emphasis is on three civilizations and is divided into three units beginning with a
description of the meanings of civilization and focusing on the three main civilizations: Mesopotamia,
Egypt and Indus Valley civilizations.

Beginning with a geographical introduction and origins, the course will cover the main achievements in
society, religion, economy and art of the three civilizations and explain the decline.

At the end of the course the students will be able to understand the rise of civilizations, beginnings of
agriculture and the rise of cities and the beginnings of writing and religion evolution of kingship and
social and economic patterns and finally understand how these civilizations declined.

Unit I: Mesopotamia

The meaning of civilization and origins of Human civilization

The Fertile Crescent – Cradle of civilizations
Geographical setting of Mesopotamia
People settle down and start farming- the origins of agriculture
Firsts- First cities, First Empires of the World’s first writing system-
Sumerian priest-kings and Ziggurats
City gods-religions-
Achievements – Hammurabi’s Code-Epic of Gilgamesh & the Hanging gardens of Babylon
Mesopotamian inventions Wheel, Plough & Sailboat
Rise of new powers and the end of Mesopotamian civilization

Unit II: Egypt

Geography- Egypt the Gift of the Nile

How Egypt began -The rise of Egypt-Annual flooding and agriculture
Age of Kings Early monarchy- King Narmer and the unification of Egypt- The secret of 3000 years of
continuity
Classical Age- Belief in afterlife and religion -Mummies and the Age of the Pyramids
Writing and art - hieroglyphs and papyrus, wall paintings, the sphinx and other statues
Architecture- The great Pyramid of Giza- the lighthouse of Alexandria, temple of Karnak, etc.
Everyday life in Egyptian society- Pharaohs, merchants, peasants, scribes and slaves
Science and technology in ancient Egypt
Foreign invasions and the collapse of Egypt
Unit III: Indus Valley civilization

The discovery of the Indus Valley civilization

Early Indus The rise and the extent of the Indus civilization
Town planning – the greatest achievement of the Indus
Beads, Seals and the undeciphered Indus script
Drainage, houses, granaries and citadels
Religion in the Indus
Trade, networks and commodities
Famous Indus sites, Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Kalibangan, Lothal
Decline of the Indus Valley civilization- multiple causes

Books

Allen, J. Michael, Robert E. Lerner, Philip Lee Ralph, and Standish Meacham, World Civilizations (W. W.
Norton, Incorporated, 1997)

Ikram, Salima, Ancient Egypt: An Introduction (Cambridge University Press, 2009)

McLaughlin, John L., The Ancient Near East (Abingdon Press, 2012)

Prentice Hall History of Our World: The Early Ages. Teacher’s Edition (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008)

Ratnagar, Shereen, Understanding Harappa: Civilization in the Greater Indus Valley (Tulika, 2001)

Sharma, Sehdev, and Damanjit Kaur Pahuja, Five Great Civilizations of Ancient World (Educreation
Publishing, 2017)

Snell, Daniel C., Ancient Near East: The Basics (Routledge, 2013)

Thapar, Romila, The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300 (Penguin UK, 2015)