After reading and studying this chapter you
should be able to
- Describe the various kinds of sources
historians use and define the terms history, civilization, and western.
- Answer the question: What is
civilization?
- Understand the Neolithic contributions
to the rise of Western civilization.
- Describe how and why Western culture
originated in Mesopotamia.
- Understand what caused Mesopotamian
culture to become dominant throughout most of the ancient Near East.
- Compare and contrast the nature and
development of Egyptian civilization with Mesopotamian culture.
- Discuss the effects of invasions and
imperial ambitions on the civilizations of the ancient Near East.
