Social Studies - World History
Lesson Plans

WH Strand 2: THE RISE OF CLASSICAL SOCIETIES

(Ca. 1000 B.C.E.-900 C.E.)

The classical civilizations of the Mediterranean (Egypt, ancient Israel, Greece, and Rome), Persia, China, India, and other regions have had a significant impact on global belief systems, legal systems, governments, culture, and social systems. Some developed vast empires, consolidating government power in revolutionary and influential structures. Emerging contacts between civilization centers began the diffusion of ideas and technologies. Classical civilizations rose and fell under remarkably similar circumstances, exhibiting global patterns.

Possible Guiding Questions to Consider:

• How can new ideas lead to political and social change?
• How are the ideas of a culture reflected in art, sculpture, and architecture?
• How do new ways of thinking affect the ways people respond to their surroundings?
• Why did many of the great world religions and philosophies develop at roughly the same time period?
• How did these great world religions and philosophies influence their regions through cultural diffusion?
• How did each civilization find diverse solutions to similar problems such as recordkeeping, government structure, and nomadic threats?
• What are the features of a civilization that lead historians to label it "classical"?
• What patterns existed in the treatment of women across classical civilizations?
• How did diverse civilizations justify and perpetuate social class and gender inequalities?
• Which classical civilizations had contact with other civilizations and how did contact or isolation shape each civilization?
• What patterns existed in the spread of world religions?
• What is the evidence today of the impact of classical civilizations?
• What can the study of archaeology, ancient texts, and art tell us about the economies, governments, religions, communities, and other aspects of the cultures of these early peoples?

WH Standard 2.1:

Students will identify and explain patterns in the development and diffusion and syncretism of world religions and philosophies, including Judaism, Hinduism, Greek philosophy, Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam.

• Islam in America
  In this lesson, students explore some of the religious and cultural variations and diversity within Islam, as well as the relation of Muslims to members of other religious groups.
• Jewish Traditions
  This 3-module course demonstrates how the Introduce-Investigate-Intersect-Introspect model can be utilized to explore religious identity formation within Jewish traditions.

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