Foundations of Ancient Civilizations

This unit introduces the social, political, economic, and intellectual foundations of early civilizations through case studies, primary sources, and material culture (e.g., Homeric epics, Jericho, Rome, Rosetta Stone). It activates prior knowledge and establishes disciplinary skills—chronological reasoning, source analysis, and comparative thinking—that prepare students for deeper study of classical institutions and global connections in subsequent units.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze how technological, agricultural, and urban innovations (e.g., city walls, riverine settlements, roads) contributed to the rise, organization, and expansion of early states and empires
• Evaluate the roles of religion, myth, and philosophy by comparing belief systems and interpreting primary sources and artifacts such as epic texts and inscriptions
• Demonstrate the ability to use primary and secondary sources and archaeological evidence to reconstruct political, military, and social structures of ancient societies
• Apply historical thinking skills (chronology, causation, continuity and change) to trace connections between early developments and later classical institutions such as democracy and imperial governance