Illuminating the Past: Contemporary Perspectives

Now that we understand the basic history and its key characters, I want us to think about how to understand the events.

The nature of the survival of evidence over three and a half thousand years is patchy at best, and while we can string together a basic outline of our events, perhaps we could look elsewhere to add credence to our interpretations.

Given that human beings have been around for the best part of 200,000 years, 3 or 4 thousand years is just a drop in the ocean. I wonder if we can therefore draw inspiration from more contemporary events to add weight to our interpretations?

Here is where I need your help.

In the video, I’ll sum up the story so far. Then, Dr Alex Mackenzie from our Politics Department give you an idea of the type of event that might be comparable in some way. This is all designed to spark discussion, so what do you think? Can you think of any comparable examples that might help us to understand the ancient events? I look forward to discussing possibilities with you in the next step…