Eduardo Ramos
HIS101 – Section LC
February 17th, 2014

Homework Assignment 1
Chapter 1 – Atlas Questions, Textbook Features, and Opinion:
1) In order for a community, or group of communities, to be considered an advanced or refined culture, it must consist of 5 factors that encompass what we know as a civilization. The “complete checklist of civilization” includes:
Cities
Warfare
Writing
Social Hierarchies
Advanced Arts and Crafts Rather than just hunt and gather for food, the development of cities brought job specialization, trade, and food surplus to farmers and merchants. Urban growth also allowed members of a society to generate laws and a code of behavior for the public, which brought civility to the people. As culture prospered, social hierarchies formed as wealthier members were delegated to control trade, warfare, and food surplus. The importance of social hierarchies was that it led to the formation of government. With social hierarchies and government, came warfare. Warfare was needed for the physical expansion of a civilization. Writing served importance as it made trade more communicable, especially for shipments that were long distance. Along with trade, writing provided inhabitants with a new form of communication, causing the growth of education and human intellect. Advanced Arts and Crafts served importance as such pieces symbolized the wealth and advancement of a civilization. In terms of agriculture, civilizations mainly prospered in the presence of rivers and fertile soil, an example being the Fertile Crescent. Rivers gave inhabitants a source of water, along with the ability to develop extensive irrigation systems for the cultivation of crops. Without any fertile soil, Europe had not achieved agriculture until 4,000 years after Mesopotamia. Europe had a colder, wetter, climate, which made their soils more difficult to cultivate crops. It was not until the use of the plow, that Europe had finally succeeded in agriculture as they were able to clear more lands for farming, growing certain crops, and domestication of animals.
2) According to page 14 on the Atlas, Sargon’s empire was by far the largest in comparison to Hammurabi’s Empire. Sargon, being first to build an empire, had completely taken power over a part of the Persian Gulf, all of Mesopotamia, and had even extended his empire further west into Anatolia. Hammurabi’s empire, on the other hand, had only extended to a strip of Mesopotamia. Sargon’s empire had included many territories due to the large army he had recruited over time. Warfare had allowed him to conquer land further west of Mesopotamia. Sargon and Hammurabi and minor similarities in how they ruled Mesopotamia, but both rulers’ maintained different focuses in their reign. Sargon’s main focus during his rule was to gain as much land and control, while Hammurabi focused primarily on the welfare of the public. Sargon was more fearsome as he may have created the leading army of the Near East, as well as regulated the trading and taxing in Mesopotamia.

3) The New Kingdom of Egypt had gained its size in result of multiple conquests that had occurred during its reign. The New Kingdom of Egypt had a large army of men in which every 10th man was forced into battle, along with recruits from abroad. The Old Kingdom had slowly declined due to constant droughts, causing less water to run through the Nile River. Many New Kingdom temples were shown in the map as it signifies that Ancient Egypt holds territory throughout the strip of the Nile, showing temples even located in Kush and Nubia.

4) Mesopotamians, with the influence of Hammurabi, believed in finding justice when one commits a crime. Depending on the act being committed, royal officials are selected to determine the fate of the suspect. However, in certain cases, royal officials may decide to have the suspect’s fate be determined by a god. For example, “In Connection with these oaths