Judaism

In the lesson module we will be covering Judaism and Jewish culture.

CONTENT

In this lesson module we will be convering the formation of the Jewish people and Judaism along with developments in Judaism during its early period. We will also cover current practices and beliefs in Judaism and prepare for comparisons of Judaism and other world religions that will be taken up later.

GOALS:

The object of the module is to acquaint you with the Jewish people through a study of its early history as well as the formation as Judaism as a culture/religion. 

As part of your study of Judaism, you will be acquire knowledge of the beliefs and practices of contemporary Judaism. Its evolution from its earliest beginnings will be another major focus of the lesson module.

As this is an interdiscplinary module, a key focus will be an integrated understanding of how geography, as well as religious and other cultural developments shape and are shaped by historical processes within regions and cultures.

RESOURCES

We will be working with the following digital resources (for which you will be provided account information if necessary):

www.khanacademy.org

www.timemaps.com 

www.wikipedia.org

Other materials will be assigned as necessary.

ASSESSMENT

In class assessment will occur continuously in relation to group and class activities, and discussion. In addition, there will be written assigments and a series of exams that cover the material for this unit.

Uppgifter

Exam - Prehistory and the Geography and Development of Early Mesopotamia

• This exam will cover prehistory, the prerequisites for the civilizational development and the geography and history of early Mesopotamia.

Group Discussion - Mesopotamian Beliefs and the Old Testament

You will be discussing the relationship of Mesopotamian belief systems and those represented in the old testament.

Study Questions - The Old Testament

You will provide written responses to a set of study questions on the Old Testament.

Study Questions - Judaism

You will be providing written answers to study questions on Judaism as a religion and culture.

Exam - Mesopotamia, Egypt and the birth and development of Judaism

This exam will conver the contents of this lesson module.

Weekly Lectures and Reading - Week 36

This week we will view the following video lectures:

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-world-history/ap-world-history-beginnings/ap-birth-agriculture-neolithic-revolution/v/origins-of-agriculture?modal=1

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-world-history/ap-world-history-beginnings/ap-birth-agriculture-neolithic-revolution/v/how-did-agriculture-grow?modal=1

And you will be responsbile for the following reading assignments:

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-world-history/ap-world-history-beginnings/ap-birth-agriculture-neolithic-revolution/a/where-did-agriculture-come-from?modal=1

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-world-history/ap-world-history-beginnings/ap-birth-agriculture-neolithic-revolution/a/introduction-what-is-civilization?modal=1

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-world-history/ap-world-history-beginnings/ap-birth-agriculture-neolithic-revolution/a/neolithic-revolution-lesson-summary?modal=1

World History Textbook: Chapter 1

https://elevstockholm.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/Section_e0bcd67e-e64b-4804-b642-96b334381db5/EXbd0SrKmUJNq0fKJyBJOmkBJDnM9u0Y81YTDCxyrrz4lA?e=M8UKlF

See me with any questions your might have.

Mr. Brinkley

Weekly Lectures and Reading - Week 38

This week we will view the following video lectures:

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-world-history/ap-world-history-beginnings/ap-ancient-mesopotamia/v/ancient-mesopotamia?modal=1

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-world-history/ap-world-history-beginnings/ap-ancient-mesopotamia/v/ancient-history-and-the-old-testament?modal=1

And you will be responsbile for the following reading assignments (These texts are available in your ClassNotebook. Look in Content Library/SO/MesopotamiaEgyptandtheDevelopmentofJudiasm):

1. The Ancient Middle East

2. Ancient Mesopotamia: Civilization and Society

3. Ancient Mesopotamia: History of a Civilization

See me with any

questions your might have.

Mr. Brinkley

Weekly Lectures and Reading - Week 40

Your reading assignment for this week are the following sections (Available in your OneNote ClassNotebook):

1. History of Assyria
2. Assyrian Civilization
3. The Babylonian Empire
4. The Late Babylonian Empire

Study Questions - Prehistory and Mesopotamian Civilization

Please answer the following questions in writing in your ClassNotebook on the appropriate page in your personal section. The questions are available on that page. Simply begin typing your answer underneath each question.

Study Questions – Prehistory

1. Describe both verbally and indicate on a map the migration of human beings out of Africa from about the year 100,000 BCE to the period when civilization began to be established with the birth of agriculture around 10,000 BCE. You should be able to give approximate dates for the arrival of humans to different large land masses (continents).
2. Explain what hunter-gatherers were. Describe what life was like for hunter-gatherer groups prior to the establishment of settled communities. Make sure that you address family/social life, religion, and technology in your answer.
3. Name three developments/discoveries that were important to the development of culture.
4. Explain what pastoral nomadism is. How were these types of social groups organized? What were relations like between men and women in these groups?
5. Explain how the climate and geography of central Eurasia led to development of a culture of pastoral nomadism. What effect did/does a culture of pastoral nomadism have on the environment?
6. Describe what relations were like between pastoral nomads and more settled agricultural communities as well as other tribes/groups of pastoral nomads. How might access to resources have affected relations between these different groups.
7. Who were the Indo-European people and how are they connected to advances in technology as well as animal husbandry? To what areas did Indo-Europeans eventually migrate to.
8. What does the Neolithic Revolution refer to? What is one of the most important transitions that occurred during this revolution? Were the changes wholly positive for human development?
9. How might the end of the last ice age have led to changes in human migration? What is one area that only became fully available to humans as the last ice age was coming to an end?
10. Name four areas on the Earth in which agriculture developed independently and a least one crop that was developed within each location. What does "Mesopotamia" mean? Explain why civilization was able to develop in this area.
11. Explain the importance of irrigation to the development of agriculture in early Mesopotamian society. Why might irrigation as a technology have led to centralized authority within the societies that developed it?
12. What are a few of the technologies that developed alongside the birth of agricultural society?
13. Describe the following in relation to early agricultural societies: political authority, social life, the status of women, religion, and trade with other communities.
14. Describe the process by which small farming communities became city states.
15. Name four areas/river valleys in which civilization was established in ancient times. Why do you think civilizations were established in these areas and not others?
16. In what ways does city life lead to and support the development of trade?
17. Describe each of the following three eras and provide approximate dates for them: the Neolithic period, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age.
18. Identify the type of writing that was developed in early Mesopotamian history and how it was produced. Explain why writing was developed and by whom it was practiced.
19. Why was the class of priests and the temple cult so important to early Mesopotamian civilization? What connections did the priest and temple have with the practice of agriculture and land ownership? What relationship did the priestly class have with royalty?
20. Who was Sargon of Akkad and why is he important to the history of Mesopotamia?
21. What is bureaucracy and why was it important to the development of civilization in Mesopotamia?
22. Identify an important code of laws that was developed around 1700 BCE and who it is attributed to. What were some of the ideas that were established in law by this code?
23. What was one of the important technologies that defined warfare at this time and made it possible to establish large empires?
24. Describe the social class structure of Mesopotamian civilization.
25. Our cultural heritage from Mesopotamia is quite impressive. Name some of the advances that Mesopotamian society achieved in the following areas: mathematics, astronomy, medicine, architecture, art, and literature.

Exam - Judaism

This exam will be based on our study the historical development of Judaism, Jewish theology and theological history, and Jewish tradition and customs up to the period of the Roman Empire.