From Document To History

From Document to History, edited by Carlos Noreña and Nikolaos Papazarkadas, presents a series of new studies in Greek and Roman epigraphy, highlighting the contribution of documentary evidence to our understanding of ancient Greek and Roman history.

Promotes the ability to study history with primary sources and the ability to compare aspects of major societies.

Covers significant eras in U.S. history. Encourages students to analyze evidence, documents, and other data to make informed decisions. Includes guidelines for students, answer prompts, and a scoring rubric. Develops essential writing skills.

Covers all significant eras of global history. Encourages students to analyze evidence, documents, and other data to make informed decisions. Develops essential writing skills.

Scholars tend to view the Damascus Document as a historical source, but a reading of the text in light of contemporary (audience-oriented) literary criticism finds its emphasis in the ideological construction of history and communal identity, rather than in the preservation of a historical record. An introduction to contemporary literary criticism is followed by a series of thematic readings, focusing on historical narrative, priestly imagery, and gender in the covenant community. Each theme is examined in terms of its potential for multiple (sometimes contradictory) interpretations and for its place in the larger sectarian discourse. This study offers an alternative approach to the historiography of ancient Jewish sectarianism, acknowledging the presence of competing claims to shared traditions and the potential for changes in textual interpretation over time or among diverse communities.

The documents chosen cover the modest period of nine hundred years of the world's history, and vary in length from one page to one hundred and twenty! Law, religion, politics, and general civilization are among the topics chosen for illustration. "Such documents as I have chosen are the very framework of history. How little are they known, even by those who have perused volumes of references to and comments upon them!" Translated and Edited by Ernest Flagg Henderson (1861-1928).