Announcements

Welcome to Week 5!

27 September 2026

This week comes the dawn of the Iron Age, which we see first in Canaan—now that it’s not being warred over by the surrounding Bronze Age empires, the lands along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean are free to develop their own strength and economic reach. And they’re very characteristic of how the Iron Age differs from the Bronze Age. We’re focusing on three very distinct peoples who are rivals for land and independence in early Iron Age Canaan: the Phoenicians, the Philistines, and the Hebrews.

Why is the Iron Age so different, do you think? Why does a shift to iron matter so much? What do you think most sets apart a trade empire like that of the Phoenicians from the empires of the Bronze Age we discussed? What do you think are the biggest factors in the Hebrews being able to create their own state in Canaan despite huge disadvantages? How does religion factor into the story?

After visiting the peoples of Canaan we’ll encounter the Iron Age empire that eventually conquered them, the Neo-Assyrians. Was the Neo-Assyrian empire really a failure? What went wrong, and why did it come apart so catastrophically? What lessons about empire can be drawn from this tale?

Remember to come to class with any questions you have about Gilgamesh and the essay. What is the author trying to emphasize? What is the story telling us about what it was like to live and think as a Sumerian?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and reactions. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

History Club and Phi Alpha Theta

21 September 2026

The Lehman College History Club is looking for students to fill its leadership positions! Interested in joining or becoming President, Vice President, Secretary, or Treasurer? Please contact Professor Holtzman at benjamin.holtzman@lehman.cuny.edu.

The Club is open to ALL, not just History majors. In the past, the Club has organized movie nights, study sessions, trivia nights, field trips, etc. The Club has also tabled at various student events, which has helped draw students to the Club and to our classes.

The purpose of the History Club is to discuss topics about history, make friends who are interested in history, and create an environment where people can discuss history and their interest in history, and give advice to those who are unsure of what they want to pursue in history and related fields.

Lehman College also hosts the Pi Upsilon chapter (established in 1970) of Phi Alpha Theta, the National History Honors Society. After several years of inactivity, the chapter has experienced a resurgence in recent years, inducting two dozen new members. Phi Alpha Theta members are among our most accomplished students. The national Phi Alpha Theta Society was formed in 1921 and boasts over 900 chapters with more than 350,000 members. It sponsors regional meetings, scholarships and prizes, and the student journal Historian.

To be eligible, students must maintain at least a 3.1 GPA in four or more History courses and a 3.0 overall GPA (non-History majors are eligible to join). If you meet these standards and are interested in joining Lehman’s chapter, please contact Prof. Rhiannon Dowling (rhiannon.dowling@lehman.cuny.edu) or Prof. Benjamin Holtzman (benjamin.holtzman@lehman.cuny.edu).

Link to History Club

Welcome to Week 4!

20 September 2026

This week we’re talking about the rise of Egypt as a power in the Mediterranean world, and how that affects the power dynamics of Egypt. We’ll then move on to the Bronze Age Aegean: the indigenous inhabitants, especially the mysterious Minoans, and the invading Greeks, who swarm in from the north and take over the Aegean world before bringing about their own spectacular collapse, bringing down the whole Bronze Age with them.

Things to ponder as you explore the materials. Why is New Kingdom Egypt so different from Old Kingdom Egypt? What does the reign of Akhenaten tell us about the New Kingdom? After all that change, what's constant about what it means to be an Egyptian?

What strikes you as most intriguing about the Minoans—given what little we know of them? Why do you think the Mycenaean Greeks were so successful in surpassing them? If you were to talk about what was important to the Minoans and to the Mycenaean Greeks, what would be similar, and what would be distinctive? Were the Mycenaean Greeks their own worst enemy in too-greedily building a trade empire, or should we emphasize other factors in the great cataclysmic collapse of the Bronze Age and its civilizations?

We'll also be looking at the death of Enkidu. How does that come about, and how do Enkidu and Gilgamesh react to it? What is the story telling us about the Sumerian attitude toward death? How does the encounter with the flood survivor Utanapishti affect Gilgamesh?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and reactions. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

Welcome to Week 3!

13 September 2026

This week we’re progressing through the story of the civilizations of Mesopotamia, the land between the rivers: the original inhabitants in Sumer to the south, and the alien newcomers, the Semitic tribes that settled in Akkad, Babylon, and Assyria. They’re the strangers with their own languages and cultures who start to emulate, and, later, absorb the great cities and culture of the Sumerians.

After we finish with Akkad and Babylon, we’re moving on to the other earliest civilization—Egypt! This is a society that emerges around the same time as Sumer, and yet they could not be more different. Ancient Egypt has fascinated and perplexed students of history for thousands of years. What stands out the most to you about Egyptian society and culture?

Things to ponder as you explore the materials. One is how different the Sumerians and the Semitic peoples were—why did they build Sumer-style city-states, even down to the ziggurats for their own gods, and end up adopting Sumerian technology? Why do you think the Sumerians didn’t survive? When Sargon of Akkad built an empire, what was it based on, and why didn’t it last very long after he died? Why do you think so much significance is attached to the Code of Hammurabi?

Egypt is one of those rare cultures where absolute monarchy remains stable and effective for century on century. Why is that? What do you think makes the role of the pharaoh work without abuse of power? What do you think are the most important values and beliefs to an Egyptian? How does this affect the way they think about the gods? How does it affect how they think about death?

It’s striking how different Sumer is from Egypt. What do you think goes into making them so opposite to each other? Egypt unified early. Why was it possible there, and not in Sumer, where the city-states remained fiercely independent? What’s most different about their views of the gods, of kings, of death?

For Gilgamesh, we’re reading tablet 5 this week: the combat with Humbaba. Why do Gilgamesh and Enkidu go on this quest? Is it just about glory, or is there more to it? What do you think is the symbolism in Gilgamesh and Enkidu attacking the guardian of the cedar forest? Note what happens to the cedar, too—what can we say about that?

In tablet 6 we encounter the fiery goddess Ishtar and her face-off with Gilgamesh. What motivates Ishtar to approach Gilgamesh, and why does Gilgamesh defy her?

Looking forward to discussing this with you. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

Weekly responses start this week

6 September 2026

Each week, in addition to our in-class lecture and discussions, we’ll be having an online discussion in which everyone responds to a reading or some other prompt that relates to the week’s topics. The responses start this week with the Week 1 response, which is sort of an open introduction to thinking about history.

The weekly responses are a part of your grade, so making a substantive post every week will be part of the routine for this course. (I used to ask these kinds of questions about the readings on the quizzes in class, but I opted for shorter quizzes and shifted this discussion to the online responses.)

Responses are due by the Sunday after the class meetings for that week. For example, this week’s responses are due Sunday, September 6. Of course you can make your responses anytime during the week, and I’ll always particularly appreciate responses posted before the class meeting in case there are ideas or questions I want to bring up in class.

To post your response, go to the course website (follow the links sent previously, or find markbwilson dot com and click on Courses), then click on Responses on the side menu or site map. There’s a link there to the Week 1 thread on Brightspace. You can also go directly to Brightspace and click on the Discussion section. Click on “Week 1 Responses”; read the prompt; and then click on “Reply to Thread.”

Make sure your response is substantial—a paragraph or two of your personal thoughts, ideas, and reasoning. Please try to write in complete sentences so your thoughts are clearer to others. Remember, the environment here is academic, not social media; think of this page as being like a group discussion in class about a subject we’re all trying to explore and give our ideas and perspectives on. Try to add to the discussion with new ideas or a new take on what’s been brought up so far by other students.

Any questions or issues, email me and let me know!

Link to Responses page

Welcome to Week 2!

6 September 2026

This week we’re talking about the story of the civilizations of Mesopotamia, the land between the rivers, starting with the earliest culture to arise there: the unique culture of Sumer and their city-state culture.

Things to ponder as you explore the materials. What do you think drives your identity—your sense of who you are—if you’re from one of these city-states? How do the Sumerians think about the gods? Why do you think they see the gods this way? Also, what kind of impact does that perspective have on how they look at life and the world around them?

We’re also reading Tablets 1 and 2 of The Epic of Gilgamesh, which introduce us to king Gilgamesh, the harlot Shamhat, and the wild man Enkidu. As you read the story, I want you to think about what is motivating these characters to do what they are doing, and what ideas you think the author might be trying to get across.

For example, pay special attention to why the citizens of Uruk are angry with Gilgamesh—what does that tell us about the role of the king in their community?

Enkidu undergoes a change in this part of the story. What is this change about, and what role does the harlot Shamhat play in it? Also, think about the way Enkidu and Gilgamesh interact in these tablets. Why was Enkidu the gods’ solution to Gilgamesh’s bad rule?

Looking forward to discussing all of this with you. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

Uptown 4 trains express from 176 St - Allow extra transit time

1 September 2026

If you take the 4 train to Lehman, be aware that the uptown 4 is express from 176 to Mosholu Pky this afternoon.

Please allow extra time to arrive on campus and in class on schedule. Looking forward to seeing you all soon 😊

ROOM CHANGE to CA-248—please note

1 September 2026

I have just been informed that our originally scheduled meeting room, CA-209, is out of commission due to recent storm damage. Unfortunately, this affects us!

Because of this, for our first meeting this week and for the foreseeable future, we will be using CA-248 instead. Meeting times, dates, and content are unchanged; only the assigned room is changing. I’ve updated the course website to reflect the switch.

Here is the lowdown I received from the registrar’s office:

Due to the aftereffects of recent heavy rainstorms resulting in flooding, leaks, and damage to buildings at Lehman, certain classrooms have had to be taken offline for safety reasons and time for repairs to be made. Unfortunately, one or more of your classes were scheduled in rooms that currently cannot be used. Please review the list below and make note of what we hope is a temporary change in your room assignment for the sections listed.

HIS 246 E301 TuTh 3:00 PM 4:15 PM CA-209 Wilson,Mark B. new room: CA-248

LEH 354 E301 TuTh 3:00 PM 4:15 PM CA-209 Wilson,Mark B. new room: CA-248

The changes are effective immediately and the class schedule in CUNYfirst has been updated so your students will see the current room assignment when accessing their schedule.

We apologize for this inconvenience and will inform you when we are able to move the classes back to their originally assigned rooms. We appreciate your patience as the College works to restore these portions of our infrastructure.

Link to Location of Carman Hall

Welcome to Week 1!

30 August 2026

This is just a quick note to welcome you all to the first week of Civilizations of the Ancient World. I’m looking forward to exploring the ancient world with all of you, starting with our first meeting on Tuesday. The meeting is in-person, 3:00–4:15 p.m., in Carman room 209 Temporary change: room CA-248.

At our first meeting we’ll be laying some important foundations we’ll be building on throughout the semester, including the themes of the course and some of the things we’ll be looking for as we explore the ancient world. One of the things I want to talk about is the word “civilization” itself. What does it mean to have become “civilized”? What kinds of changes do you think it involved? What’s likely to be different from one early community to the next, and what might they maybe have had more in common?

Syllabus and video: As a reminder, the syllabus, assignments, and requirements are all on my website, markbwilson dot com. Make sure you’ve looked through the site and that you’ve watched the welcome video, which talks about how the course works and answers some common questions.

Books: Also make sure you have the books. We won’t need the Four Texts about Socrates until later, but you’ll need both the textbook and Gilgamesh right away, as there are assignments this week. The reading assignments on the Schedule page of the website are what you need to have read (and thought about) before coming to class.

Email me: Some of you replied back to the welcome-to-the-course email I sent you after you enrolled, confirming that I have a good email address for you. If you didn’t, could you do me a favor and email me and let me know that I can use this address, or that a different email is better for you? Thanks.

That’s it for now. Let me know if you have any questions. I’ll see you all on Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

Welcome to Civilizations of the Ancient World! (Fall 2026)

14 June 2026

Welcome to Civilizations of the Ancient World! I’m looking forward to a great semester exploring the cultures and transformations of ancient societies, from “prehistory” to the rise of the Roman Empire.

Right now, I need you to do three things.

First, look over the course web page, which will be our base of operations. Watch the quick welcome and orientation video (linked here and on the overview page). Look through each of the pages on the website to see how the course will work, and make sure to click through to the schedule page to see how the readings, videos, and discussions are set up. Any questions about how it works, please send me an email.

Second, get the books now if you can. A lot of you will be ordering books online, and you need to make sure you have the books and are ready to go when the course starts on September 1. On the “Books” page, I’ve tried to give you some different options for getting what you need, but you should order now if there’s going to be any kind of shipping involved. (If you come across a legitimate online/e-text version of one of the assigned readings that’s not already listed, please let me know.)

Finally, send me an email so that I know I have a working email address for you. You can just send a blank email, email and say “hi”, or email with a question or concern, but I want to make sure I can contact everyone. If you receive an email from me but there is an email address you prefer I use instead of this one, please definitely reply and tell me that.

Email me anytime with questions at mark.wilson@lehman.cuny.edu. I’m looking forward to starting our journey together.

Link to Overview page