Sources of World Societies, Volume 1

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 Qur'an

Qur'an (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