In this Ancient History CD-ROM, many big ideas are being examined:

• Several important developments were responsible for the growth of these early civilizations:
  
  
  • The ability to grow food and raise livestock made it possible for people to remain in one place and for settlements to grow into cities. With the growth of cities, governments were needed to establish rules and control the population.
    
    
  • The ability to extract metals from the earth made it possible to build better tools and better weapons of war.
    
    
  • The invention of written language made it possible for ideas and events to be recorded. Written language opened the door to the creation of stories, plays and poetry. People learned to read and write – a significant new way of receiving and transmitting information.
    
    
  • Growing understanding of science and mathematics led to advances in technology.
    
    
  • Better means of transportation made it possible for increased trade, and the spread of ideas and culture throughout a larger geographic area.
    
    
    
• The forces of creativity and destruction continued to play important roles in the development of human thinking and behavior.
  
  
  
• The study of the history of these civilizations is informed by the understanding that events of the past are shaped by the reporting of more and less reliable narrators. The same events are perceived differently by different narrators. The search for truth requires students to be discriminating about accepting assumptions, and the ability to make thoughtful and intelligent interpretations of data.