👩‍💻👨‍💻Discussion # 2, Hist 1.1: Egyptian Empire

Topic: Egyptian Empire

Image: Clay figures of Egyptian soldiers 

Egyptian civilization was made possible by the Nile River. The towns and villages along the Nile coalesced into small territories that were eventually organized into the Egyptian Kingdom by 3,000 BCE. Egyptian society seems to have been more stable than that of Mesopotamia and its worldview more optimistic. Egyptian life focused on family, farming, and the cycles of the Nile. 

Although the political history of ancient Egypt can be described as more stable and secure than it's neighbors, there existed strong economic and diplomatic ties to the states that surrounded Egypt. To the East were the powerful states of Mesopotamia and to the South of Egypt, the Nubians created a number of important states, including the kingdoms of Kush and Meroë. Egypt had to adapt and decide whether to conduct peaceful relations with its neighbors or to expand its power and influence through conquest.

Directions: Write two posts, first answer the questions, and then respond to a classmate

Post # 1: Read your textbook and notes, do some careful research, and watch the videos. This involves some role-playing: Pretend you are a military adviser to the ruler of Egypt and he is asking for advice about expanding into other territories. Advise the ruler to conquer neighboring territories and explain why this is necessary. How would this expansion benefit your ruler, your people, and your economy? Would there be any benefit to the conquered people?

See the Discussion Guidelines for more information. This post should be concise and address all parts of the prompt. Your points will be based on completion of the assignment (based on the rubric) and whether you use support from the text, lecture, or internet. 6 points total, 3 for your initial post and 3 for replying to someone's post. Your post should be about a paragraph long and your reply to someone's post should be a paragraph as well.

I recommend that you create your initial post by Aug 31, at 11:59 pm so that others may have an opportunity to reply.

Post # 2: You must also contribute a Response to 1 classmate's post: Read another student's post and pretend you are an economic adviser to the same ruler and you disagree with the idea of becoming an aggressive empire. Respond to the points made by the other adviser and add your own ideas about how to become stronger through peaceful alliances and trade instead of conquest. How would violence destabilize society and trade in the conquered regions? Also, your religion prohibits keeping soldiers in conquered lands since they need to be in Egypt to be properly buried and prepared for the afterlife, how does this create problems of control in conquered lands?

Posts can have more than one reply. Follow the netiquette guidelines below and use evidence to support or disagree with the original post. This is not a place for insults or arguments so use proper language such as "Your are a very wise, but I think that ..."

Your Response is due by Sep 1, at 11:59 pm. 

• This assignment is worth 6 points, 3 for your initial post and 3 for your reply to someone else's post
• Turning this assignment in late will result in loss of 1 point per day, up to 3 points
• Click on the reply button, below to get started

Expected Learning Outcome:

Students will analyze the different points of view about Egyptian expansion

Rubric:

To view the rubric attached to this discussion, click on the gear box in the upper right and select Show Rubric

Netiquette:

• Be kind and respectful to others
• Use full sentences
• Avoid jargon and acronyms
• Use language that supports others