МИНОБРНАУКИ РОССИИ
ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ БЮДЖЕТНОЕ
ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ ВЫСШЕГО
ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ
«ВОРОНЕЖСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ»
(ФГБОУ ВПО «ВГУ»)
Учебно-методическое пособие для вузов
ANCIENT HISTORY
Составители:
Крымова Г.В.
Фомина И.В.,
Воронеж-2015
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UNIT I
HISTORY
• What do you remember about West Asia? What is its significance? What
nationalities used to inhabit it in Ancient times?
Look through the text, divide it into four parts and match them to their titles given:
Greek History; Egyptian History; Roman History; West Asian History.
Read the whole text and think of its possible title.
West Asia is also sometimes called the Near East or the Middle East: it is the
part of Asia that is closest to the Mediterranean Sea. It covers all the land between
modern Turkestan in the north. Afghanistan in the east, the Persian Gulf in the
south, and the Mediterranean Sea in the west. West Asia was one of the first places
where people farmed and lived in towns; it was also one of the first places that had
kings and built cities. Historians and archaeologists disagree about whether the
Egyptians or the Sumerians (the first people to build a civilization in West Asia)
came first, but it was about the same time.
After the Sumerians, many other groups of people came to power in West
Asia. Some of them, like the Assyrians or the Persians, stayed in power for
hundreds of years, others, like the Acadians, only for a short time. Sometimes these
groups ruled all of West Asia, like the Assyrians, the Greeks, the Parthians, or the
Arabs. Other times West Asia was broken up into many small kingdoms: Israel,
Phoenicia, Jordan, Babylon, Troy. The history of West Asia is pretty complicated,
but mostly it is the story of some people trying to stay independent while other
people try to get power over them.
Egypt is one of the most fertile areas of Africa, and one of the most fertile of
the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Because it is so fertile, people came to
live in Egypt earlier than in most places, probably around 40,000 years ago. At first
there were not very many people, but gradually Egypt became more crowded, so
there was more need for a unified government. Around 3000 BC (5000 years ago),
Egypt was first unified under one ruler, who was called the Pharaoh.
From that time until around 525 BC, when Egypt was conquered by the
Persians, Egypt's history is divided into six different time periods. These are called
the Old Kingdom, the First Intermediate Period, the Middle Kingdom, the Second
Intermediate Period, the New Kingdom, and the Third Intermediate Period.
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Germany as well, so that by 800 .......... Charlemagne was able to establish a
German Holy Roman .......... that extended over France, Germany, and much of
central Italy. After Charlemagne died, his sons split his .......... into three parts so
they could each have some, but it was the branch of the family who got Germany
who continued to call themselves the Holy Roman .......... .
The Holy Roman .......... continued .......... Germany, and to some extent
Italy, all through the Middle Ages. At first they were very .........., but later they
lost power to the smaller German and Italian lords in each region.
SPEAKING
Imagine you and your group mates are travelling in time. You find yourself in
indent West Asia where you have to live for a month. Compare Greek. Roman
and Egyptian territories and choose the most pleasant place for living. Explain
your choice.
UNIT II
HISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT
Read the text and find the topic sentences.
Ancient Egyptian Civilization
The origins of ancient Egyptian civilization, which many regard as one of
the fountainheads of Western culture, cannot be established with certainty.
Archaeological evidence suggests that early dwellers in the Nile Valley were
influenced by cultures of the Near East, but the degree of this influence is yet to be
determined. Describing the development or Egyptian civilization, like attempts to
identify its intellectual foundations, is largely a process of conjecture based on
archaeological discoveries of enduring ruins, tombs, and monuments, many of
which contain invaluable specimens of the ancient culture. Inscriptions in
hieroglyphs, for instance, have provided priceless data.
The framework for the study of the Dynastic period of Egyptian history,
between the 1st dynasty and the Ptolemaic period, relies on the Aegyptiaca of
Manetho, a Ptolemaic priest of the 3rd century BC, who organized the country’s
rulers into 30 dynasties, roughly corresponding to families. General agreement
exists on the division of Egyptian history, up to the conquest of Alexander the
Great, into Old, Middle, and New kingdoms with intermediate periods, followed
by the late and Ptolemaic periods, but chronology and genealogy are continually
being refined in light of new evidence and by the use or increasingly sophisticated
dating techniques.
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Answer the following questions:
1. What civilization do many researchers regard as one of the fountainheads
of Western culture?
2. What does archaeological evidence suggest?
3. What is the process of describing the development of Egyptian civilization
based on?
4. What does the frame work for the study of the Dynastic period of the
Egyptian history rely on?
5. What do you know about Manetho?
6. Why are chronology and genealogy continually being refined?
VOCABULARY
1. Give Russian equivalents to the following paying attention to the context:
fountainheads, archaeological evidence, specimens of the ancient culture,
inscriptions in hieroglyphs, priceless data, chronology and genealogy, in light of
new evidence, sophisticated dating techniques.
2. Give English equivalents to the following:
Ближний Восток, Династический период, Манефон, Старое царство, Среднее
царство, Новое царство, Птолемей
• What is meant by “prehistoric period”?
Prehistoric Period
Some 60,000 years ago the Nile River began its yearly inundation of the land
along its banks, leaving behind rich alluvial soil. Areas close to the floodplain
became attractive as a source of food and water. In time, climatic changes
including periods of aridity, further served to confine human habitation to the Nile
Valley, although this was not always true. From the Chalcolithic period (the
Copper age, beginning about 4000 BC) into the early part of the Old Kingdom,
people apparently used an extended part of the land.
In the 7th millennium BC, Egypt was environmentally hospitable, and
evidence of settlements from that time has been found in the low desert areas of
southern, or Upper, Egypt; remains of similar occupation have been discovered at
Nubian sites in modern Sudan. Enough pottery has been found in Upper Egyptian
tombs from the 4th millennium BC (in the Predynastic period) to establish a
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relative dating sequence. The Predynastic period, which ends with the unification
of Egypt under one king, is generally subdivided into three parts, each of which
refers to the site at which its archaeological materials were found: Badarian,
Amratian (Naqada I), and Gerzean (Naqada II and III). Northern sites (from about
5500 BC) have yielded datable archaeological material of apparent cultural
continuity but no long-term sequences such as those found in the south.
Answer the following questions:
1. Why did areas close to the floodplain become attractive?
2. What confined human habitation to the Nile Valley?
3. Where has evidence of settlements from the 7th millennium BC been
found?
4. How many parts is the Predynastic period generally subdivided into?
VOCABULARY
1. Give Russian equivalents to the following paying attention to the context:
inundation of the land, rich alluvial soil, floodplain, periods of aridity,
environmentally hospitable, tomb, unification of Egypt under one king, datable
archaeological material.
2. Give English equivalents to the following:
Энеолит, Бронзовый век, Бадарийский период, Амритский период,
Герзенский период, Додинастический период
• What do you know about Early Dynastic (or Archaic) Period?
Read these texts and try to find the key sentences.
Early Dynastic (or Archaic) Period
Archaeological sources indicate the emergence, by the late Gerzean period
(about 3200 BC), of a dominant political force that was to become the
consolidating element in the first united kingdom of ancient Egypt. The earliest
known hieroglyphic writing dates from this period; soon the names of early rulers
began to appear on monuments. This period began with a 0 Dynasty, which had as
many as 13 rulers, ending with Narmer (about 3100 BC), followed by the 1st and
2nd dynasties (about 3100-2755 BC), with at least 17 kings. Some of the earliest
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