Week 1 Discussion Questions
Each week’s discussion questions all pertain to the selected primary sources (ancient sources) that are provided for you within the weekly module. Please make sure that you read through those sources before participating in discussion. Please also make sure that you refer to the ‘Tips for Writing Discussion Posts’ document that has been provided in this week’s module. This will help you understand what makes for a good discussion post. Otherwise, feel free to make your two required posts in response to any of the following questions. You can post twice on your own in response to one question, or answer a couple different questions. You may also post by yourself or in response to another students’ post. The latter helps the discussion actually flow a bit better, but you’re welcome to post in any combination you feel like.
1. What kinds of things can we learn about the objectives of war in Mesopotamia from the source entitled “Sumerian Inter-City Warfare” in the Mesopotamian Documents?
2. Though the Epic of Gilgamesh (the opening lines of which you read in the Mesopotamian Documents) is a mythological account, it nevertheless can be used to glean at least a little bit of information about Mesopotamian kingship. What basic kinds of things to do we learn about kingship in the description of Gilgamesh? What expectations and values seem to crop up around the person of the king in this text? How do people seem to view the king?
3. How does the Treaty of Kadesh illustrate the power of both the Hittites and the New Kingdom pharaohs? What kinds of things help us understand the magnitude of this clash and the importance of this treaty? What kind of language is used that help us to understand the diplomatic nature of this text?
4. In the excerpts from Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, what elements of the warfare and battles depicted here do you think come from Bronze Age realities? Make sure to explain your reasoning. As well, where do we perhaps see some elements of massed combat, or mass-formation combat in development here? Please try to provide references to the text in highlighting examples.
In answering any of these questions, please also feel free to comment more broadly on anything that you personally find interesting, striking, or even confusing. Please feel free to pose or ask questions about the texts as well.
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