{"id":127,"date":"2023-12-18T18:37:49","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T18:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/?post_type=front-matter&#038;p=127"},"modified":"2023-12-19T19:57:57","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T19:57:57","slug":"how-old-are-the-earliest-middle-eastern-primary-sources","status":"publish","type":"front-matter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/front-matter\/how-old-are-the-earliest-middle-eastern-primary-sources\/","title":{"rendered":"How old are the earliest Middle Eastern primary sources?"},"content":{"raw":"The Middle East has been called \"The Cradle of Civilization\" because historians have long believed that the earliest civilizations were born in that region.\u00a0 One of the most important elements of civilization is the ability to record ideas and information in written format.\u00a0 The Middle Eastern regions of Mesopotamia and Egypt are believed to be the earliest societies to produce written texts.\r\n\r\nTo learn about the origins of written texts in the Middle East, click on the link below to the article \"What is the Oldest Known Piece of Literature\" on History.com.\u00a0 In addition to reading the short articles on that page, which talk about early written texts in Mesopotamia, you should also watch the short video on the origins of writing.\u00a0 The oldest known literary epic, referred to today as \"The Epic of Gilgamesh,\" is also from Mesopotamia.\u00a0 You can read this important primary source text by clicking on the link to the Internet Archive copy of the Gilgamesh epic.\u00a0 For more information on Gilgamesh, see the Encyclopedia of World History article linked below.\u00a0 That link also includes a ten minute video that covers the history of the epic and the major plot points of the story of Gilgamesh.\r\n\r\nAfter reviewing these sources, respond to the question about primary sources on ancient Mesopotamia in the first reading response.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/news\/what-is-the-oldest-known-piece-of-literature\">https:\/\/www.history.com\/news\/what-is-the-oldest-known-piece-of-literature<\/a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/TheEpicofGilgamesh_201606\">Internet Archive: Epic of Gilgamesh<\/a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/gilgamesh\/\">https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/gilgamesh\/<\/a>\r\n<iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/INSlgL0WVFA?si=qoEvHdLuni7NzrAI\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_148\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"468\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/153\/2023\/12\/335px-Gilgamesh_subduing_a_lion.jpg\" alt=\"Tablet showing Gilgamesh subduing a lion\" width=\"468\" height=\"1006\" class=\" wp-image-148\" \/> Tablet showing Gilgamesh subduing a lion, Louvre museum, CC BY-SA 3, source https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Gilgamesh_subduing_a_lion.jpg#\/media\/File:Gilgamesh_subduing_a_lion.jpg[\/caption]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;","rendered":"<p>The Middle East has been called &#8220;The Cradle of Civilization&#8221; because historians have long believed that the earliest civilizations were born in that region.\u00a0 One of the most important elements of civilization is the ability to record ideas and information in written format.\u00a0 The Middle Eastern regions of Mesopotamia and Egypt are believed to be the earliest societies to produce written texts.<\/p>\n<p>To learn about the origins of written texts in the Middle East, click on the link below to the article &#8220;What is the Oldest Known Piece of Literature&#8221; on History.com.\u00a0 In addition to reading the short articles on that page, which talk about early written texts in Mesopotamia, you should also watch the short video on the origins of writing.\u00a0 The oldest known literary epic, referred to today as &#8220;The Epic of Gilgamesh,&#8221; is also from Mesopotamia.\u00a0 You can read this important primary source text by clicking on the link to the Internet Archive copy of the Gilgamesh epic.\u00a0 For more information on Gilgamesh, see the Encyclopedia of World History article linked below.\u00a0 That link also includes a ten minute video that covers the history of the epic and the major plot points of the story of Gilgamesh.<\/p>\n<p>After reviewing these sources, respond to the question about primary sources on ancient Mesopotamia in the first reading response.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/news\/what-is-the-oldest-known-piece-of-literature\">https:\/\/www.history.com\/news\/what-is-the-oldest-known-piece-of-literature<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/TheEpicofGilgamesh_201606\">Internet Archive: Epic of Gilgamesh<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/gilgamesh\/\">https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/gilgamesh\/<\/a><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/INSlgL0WVFA?si=qoEvHdLuni7NzrAI\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_148\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-148\" style=\"width: 468px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/153\/2023\/12\/335px-Gilgamesh_subduing_a_lion.jpg\" alt=\"Tablet showing Gilgamesh subduing a lion\" width=\"468\" height=\"1006\" class=\"wp-image-148\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/153\/2023\/12\/335px-Gilgamesh_subduing_a_lion.jpg 335w, https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/153\/2023\/12\/335px-Gilgamesh_subduing_a_lion-140x300.jpg 140w, https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/153\/2023\/12\/335px-Gilgamesh_subduing_a_lion-65x140.jpg 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/153\/2023\/12\/335px-Gilgamesh_subduing_a_lion-225x484.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-148\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tablet showing Gilgamesh subduing a lion, Louvre museum, CC BY-SA 3, source https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Gilgamesh_subduing_a_lion.jpg#\/media\/File:Gilgamesh_subduing_a_lion.jpg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"menu_order":2,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"front-matter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-127","front-matter","type-front-matter","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/front-matter\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/front-matter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/front-matter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/front-matter\/127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/front-matter\/127\/revisions\/174"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/front-matter\/127\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"front-matter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/front-matter-type?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/premodernmiddleeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}