Daily Life through World History in Primary Documents: Volume 1, The Ancient World

Daily Life through World History in Primary Documents: Volume 1, The Ancient World
by Lawrence Morris, David Matz (Editors)
Hardcover: 384 pages
Published: December 30, 2008
ISBN-10: 031333899X
ISBN-13: 978-0313338991

Who did the ancient Greeks describe as the world's best athlete? What does the Koran say about women's rights? How has the digital revolution changed life in the modern age? From the law courts of ancient Iraq to bloody Civil War battlefields, explore the daily lives of people from major world cultures throughout history, as presented in their own words. Bringing useful and engaging material into world history classrooms, this rich collection of historical documents and illustrations provides insight into major cultures from all continents. Hundreds of thematically organized, annotated primary documents, and over 100 images introduce aspects of daily life throughout the world, including domestic life, economics, intellectual life, material life, politics, religion, and recreation, from antiquity to the present. Document selections are guided by the National Standards for World History, providing a direct tie to the curriculum.

By studying daily life, we get a firmer understanding of what it was like to live in a certain era and a certain place.
Learning that Constantine I was emperor of Rome in a.d. 313 gives us important information, but learning about the foods prepared by a Roman peasant or how a Roman merchant traveled about on business gives us a better idea of what it was really like to live in Italy during the same time period.
Primary sources, moreover, offer a uniquely valuable way of learning about the past. Primary sources, of course, are documents or artifacts produced by the people under investigation. These sources enable us to listen directly to the voices of the past.

At the edges of the divides acording to the eras, there is some overlap between volumes, demonstrating how each era carries on from the preceding one.

Volume 1: The Ancient World contains almost 300 documents from various ancient cultures, including those of Sumeria, Egypt, Israel, China, India, Greece, and Rome, with its primary focus being upon the daily life of Greece and Rome up to roughly the sack of Rome in the fifth century a.d.