Hum 102 microlesson mod 1b: Writing and Farming

1. Humanities 101: Micro-lessons
LESSONS
Geographic Luck
Writing and the World
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Geographic Luck
Would you like to know more?
Diamond, Jared M. Guns, germs, and steel: The fates of human societies. New York: Norton, 2017. Print.
Diamond, Jared M., and Rebecca Stefoff. The third chimpanzee for young people: On the evolution and future of the human
animal. New York, NY: Seven Stories Press,Random House Inc, 2014. Print.
Jared Diamond thinks it all comes down to luck – geographic luck. In the Old World, civilizations
developed at the Nile, the Tigris-Euphrates, the Indus Valley, and Huang He (the Yellow River). Why?
Because the people that happened to live there learned something – they learned to domesticate grass
(cereal grains) and herbivores (cows, horses, pigs, sheep, goats, etc.). To this day, the vast majority of
farm animals and grains come from those original four places.
Later in history, the people of the Middle East migrated north and brought with them their domesticated
crops and animals. But those animals did not belong in Europe, so in times of extreme cold, the people
had to bring their livestock inside. They then contracted diseases from their animals. And over time
(and many plagues!) Europeans developed hyper-strong immune systems (because only the survivors
had children). When Europeans landed on continents foreign to them, they would pass on their germs.
Because they did not know what germs were, they assumed it was by divine right that they conquered
Earth. But it turns out it had less to do with God or exceptionalism, and more to do with bad hygiene!

2. Humanities 101: Micro-lessons
LESSONS
Geographic Luck
Writing and the World
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Literacy is Power
Would you like to know more?
In ancient times, the literate classes could easily oppress the illiterate. The wealthy were educated, the poor were not. The
law was skewed towards the wealthy – crimes could be solved through punishment or payment. But the priest-kings held
special knowledge. They knew went to plant and harvest. And they kept that information to themselves. It was how they
maintained order and power – because the “gods” communicated with them. (When in reality, they basically consulted a
Farmer’s Almanac and knew how to chart the seasons through astronomy!).
Scholars have found tablets from ancient Sumeria which show a conversation between a
teacher and his pupil’s parents. It goes something like this: “Dear Mr. and Mrs. So-and-So,
your son is without a doubt going to amount to nothing. He cuts class and does not complete
his homework.” We don’t necessarily know how the parents responded. But we do know the
teacher thanked them and it went something like: “Your son is going to be magistrate one
day. He comes from great parentage. Thank you for the fine robes and the emerald ring.”
What does this story tell us? Well, thousands of years ago kids cut class and did not like
going to school. And that parents could buy off their teachers. But to me it says two things: 1)
we are not different than our ancestors, and 2) literacy is power.
Agriculture and writing form the basis of our society just like it did thousands of years ago.
The truth is we have not changed. We are growing the same things, and using the same
economic, political, and education systems. Why?

3. Humanities 101: Micro-lessons
LESSONS
Geographic Luck
Writing and the World
The Epic of Gilgamesh
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Would you like to know more?
After reading through the Epic of Gilgamesh, what similarities do you see? There are common themes, characters, and
plots in Gilgamesh as compared to a number of ancient and modern stories. Consider myths from Greek, Rome, the Norse,
India, and China. What overlaps do you see? Consider the three monotheistic religions of the world (Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam), again what similarities to do you see? Or even in today’s stories like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars,
and Disney films... There seems to be an awful lot of overlap!
Long ago, in ancient Mesopotamia there was a king who was half-man, half-god. This King
Gilgamesh was a tyrant and his people prayed for relief. The gods answered by creating a wild-
man named Enkidu. Gilgamesh sent the prostitute Shamhat to woo Enkidu, and she did. Because
he had “knowledge of a woman” he was kicked out of the forest and could no longer live with the
animals. Shamhat led Enkidu to Gilgamesh and the two battled night and day for weeks. Until
finally Enkidu spared Gilgamesh’s life and the two became lifelong friends.
They had many adventures where they slew monsters and battled the gods. But sadly both
Shamhat and Enkidu were killed by the vengeful goddess Ishtar. To avenge their deaths, Gilgamesh
went on a journey to defeat death. He meets the immortal Utnapishtim, who many ages ago built a
large ship, and rescued the animals of the world from the wrath of the gods. The gods had flooded
the world to destroy it. Utnapishtim also teaches Gilgamesh about a magic flower that grants
immortality, but before he can eat it, a serpent steals the flower.
Gilgamesh regrets his life, until the spirit of Enkidu returns. Enkidu explains to Gilgamesh that he
has earned true immortality because his story will be told for thousands of years. And it has.