Ancient Mid-East History
History, or at least the study thereof, as shown by class, is divided into three specific categories: remembered, recovered and invented--each having their own benefits and downfalls. The main purpose of studying history is to gather information about the past; to see the cause and effects of different situations; to see how this information can be applied to our lives, to understand why and how and others think in certain ways; and thus eventually lead to a better appreciation different peoplesone way or another. It is also inprotant to realize that history is not just about what-really-happened-in-the-past', but is a complex intersection of truth, bias and hopes.
Realizing that the major importance of history is rooted upon ideas or principles and not facts, dates or names, this course was designed not to address the material as the history of X region from X date to X date, but rather in an order and a manner that the student (in this case, me) could retain the most valuable ideas possible and learn them in a fashion most aptly suited to the students understanding of certain ideas and principles.
I also realize the importance of the ideas and processes of history over the actual facts, names or dates within our study. Thus, in composing this capstone, I will attempt to use specific examples of course-material to exemplify what I thought was the main theme (themes) of the class, rather than attempting to go section by section and enumerate the material within. After all, I already have print copies of all of the course notes; if I wanted to go back and look at the any of the material covered, I can use those (note to my long-off-as-of-yet-self); therefore, it would be pointless for me to attempt restate all that was learned in all of the courses sections. With that stated, let us first look at one of the first cases of history as a science to see an exaple of the first type of history, remembered.
Because he is one of the first men...
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