History 212: World History to 1500 Links to Sites for the Mid-term Project
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Given that the four major themes of Western Civilization include constitutionalism, scientific inquiry, separation between church and state, and individualism, how does the West compare to Eastern Civilization? Here are some web sites that will help you begin your search for similarities and differences between the two civilizations. |
Western Civilizations
| Greece Portland State University: Greek civilization topics. Covers such topics as science, politics, and philosophy. Very complete and covers all ground. Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know About Sparta/Lakonia And More. Includes links to primary and secondary sources on politics and religion. Ancient Law. Written by Henry Sumner Maine, 1861. Mostly deals with wills and law codes. |
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Ancient Medicine: From Homer to Vesalius. This site discusses medicine, surgery, and instruments, showing the progression of scientific inquiry regarding health.
Prisoners of Regime: Virtue and the Proper Political Individual in Antiquity. By Garrett Moritz. An interpretation of Greek law and civilization based on primary sources. This one is worth looking at.
Black Athena Debate. Was Western Civilization founded by Ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians? Did the ancient Greeks borrow religion, science, and philosophy from the Egyptians and Phoenicians?
Perseus Project: Primary Text Index. This site includes a collection of primary sources available on the Internet. I suggest you also take a look at the home page. This is a fantastic site.
Athenian Constitution. Provided by the Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Written by Aristotle, translated by Sir Frederic G. Kenyon.
Bureaucrats and Barbarians. Discussion on various aspects of Ancient Greek history, including the Minoans, Mycenaeans, and the Greek Dark Ages.
Greek Mathematics and Its Modern Heirs. Classical roots of the Scientific Revolution.
The Classic Page. Oh and it's a classic. From Tufts University. Includes Greek history, classical texts, math and astronomy.
The
History of Herodotus. Written around 440 BCE.
Read about his findings and analyses.
| Rome The "Best of" Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. A famous historian's analysis. Roman Law. Dedicated to the legal system invented by the Romans over 2000 years ago. Roman Law Resources. More on Roman law and links to other web sites. Rome: City of Empire. From Brooklyn College, this site covers political shifts in Rome's history as well as religion and daily life. Includes links to other sites. |
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Middle Ages
Medieval and Renaissance Europe--Primary Historical Documents. Links to primary sources concerning government, church, etc.
Mining
Co. Guide to Medieval History. Includes links to sites
on everything related to the Middle Ages, including health and
medicine, religion, science, and politics.
| Links--Medieval
Sites. Tons of stuff is available here.
References to other web sites with primary or secondary
sources. Internet Medieval Source Book. Everything you could ever want and more. Primary sources concerning politics, religion--it's all here. Byzantine and Medieval Studies Sites. Links to other sites with primary sources concerning law, science, and religion. English Literature and Religion Web Sites. A good starting point to find religious-oriented primary sources, such as the works of St. Augustine. In the Margins: Medievalism in Postmodern Contexts. How much of our culture extends to the medieval period? Some interesting ideas. Discusses the nature of Romanticism and even Monty Python. |
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Medieval England. This is a great site. Includes the Magna Carta, Laws of William the Conqueror, and other historical documents and scholarly analyses.
The Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies. Sponsored by Georgetown University, this site includes links to the regions, topics, and special interests pertaining to the Middle Ages.
Texts
and Documents: Europe. Documents relating to themes in
the Ancient Mediterranean and Medieval Europe.
From Near to Far Eastern
Civilizations
Near East
Medicine in Ancient Mesopotamia. The beginnings of scientific inquiry.
Sumerian Text Archive. Primary sources! These are mostly political documents.
Mesopotamian
Mathematics: Sumero-Babylonian Numbers. More on the
beginnings of scientific inquiry.
India
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History Source Book. Includes links to primary
sources and other web sites. From the people that
brought you the Medieval History Source Book.
Collect all 4. India. A collection of links to sites dealing with the history of India and its religion. Also includes mathematical advances before 1000 AD. India History Sites. Most of these sites pertain to recent Indian history, but there are a few sites about India before 1500. The Indian History site is pretty good. |
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Indian Heritage.
Includes discussion of gods, goddesses, and temples.
Sulabh International Museum of Toilets. I couldn't resist putting this on here. Scientific inquiry? The true definition of "civilization"?
Indiatime History. Covers science, religion, ancient and regional history.
Manas: India
and Its Neighbors. Discusses religion, history, and
politics of India. This site gives a good overview.
Asia
Bulletin of the Asia Institute. Using art as a primary source, a bibliography on many books about China and the West, the Near East, Asia Minor, etc.
Chinese Classics.
Don't be intimidated by this site--English translations are
linked. Includes writings of Confucius, Mencius, Lao Tsu,
and much, much more.
| East
Asian History Source Book. More links to
primary sources and other sites. Chinese
History. A timeline of Chinese history, with
hyper links to various dynasties. It's good for a
broad overview, describing politics and religion under
each dynasty. The Founding of the Qin Empire. The first unification of China 221-207 BCE. History of Xi'an. One of China's most ancient cities and the capitol of Zhou and Tang dynasties. Includes images of terra-cotta soldiers and horses. Qin
Dynasty On-Line Source Book. On-line guide
offering information on the Qin Dynasty, terra-cotta
warriors, Xian, etc. |
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For the Sites That Include Both East and West
Ancient World Web Subject Index. Covers everything from East to West, including history, science, law, etc.
Antiquity Online: The Ancient World. Everything about the ancient civilizations studied in Hist. 212, from the beginning of civilizations to the Middle Ages.
Empires Past: Reference Library. Features Ancient Egypt, Aztec, China, and Rome. Provides a general overview of government, religion, history, etc.
Exploring Ancient World Cultures. Features the Near East, Greece, Rome, China, and a whole lot more. Each section has an explanation of its history and links to primary sources.
NOVA Online: Secrets of Lost Empires. Stonehenge, Inca, Obelisk, and the Colosseum are featured. How were they done? Scientific inquiry in different civilizations.
Ancient History. Tons of links to the history of ancient Egypt, Greece, and other cultures. Features politics, religion, and science.
Ancient History Source Book. Primary sources relating to the Ancient Near East, Greece, and Rome.
P.S. Don't forget about the
links from the outlines on the syllabus!