Primary Sources: First States and Empires
Introduction to this collection
This collection explores ancient complex societies starting with the first states and empires that existed from c. 6000 BCE to c. 700 CE. These sources provide information about how governments maintained power and about how different societies interacted with each other through networks of exchange.
Guiding question to think about as you read the documents: How did rulers maintain control of their states and interact with other societies?
WHP Primary Source Punctuation Key
When you read through these primary source collections, you might notice some unusual punctuation like this: . . . and [ ] and ( ). Use the table below to help you understand what this punctuation means.
| Punctuation | What it means |
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ELLIPSES words … words |
Something has been removed from the quoted sentences by an editor. |
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BRACKETS [word] or word[s] |
Something has been added or changed by an editor. These edits are to clarify or help readers. |
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PARENTHESES (words) |
The original author of the primary source wanted to clarify, add more detail, or make an additional comment in parentheses. |
Contents
Source 1 – Palette of King Narmer, c. 3200–3000 BCE
Source 2 – Indus carnelian, c. 2900–2350 BCE
Source 3 – Code of Hammurabi, c. 1755–1750 BCE
Source 4 – Treaty between Egyptian and Hattian (Hittite) states, c. 1269 BCE
Source 5 – The Book of Lord Shang, third century BCE
Source 6 – The Arthashastra, c. 250 BCE
Source 7 – The Book of Han, c. 100 CE
Source 8 – Vase with Sixty Hieroglyphs, c. 600–800 CE
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Timestamps are in the source title. To locate a specific source in the audio file:
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Source 1 – Palette of King Narmer, c. 3200–3000 BCE
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Title Palette of King Narmer |
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Source type Primary source – image of archaeological artifact |
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Date and location 3200–3000 BCE, Aswan, Egypt |
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Author Unknown |
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Description To the right is an image of an ancient Egyptian palette, which was used during ceremonies to mix the King’s eye makeup. A palette, in this context, is a work of art carved on a board of wood or stone—in this case siltstone. This palette is thought to belong to Narmer or Menes, who was the ruler of the first Egyptian dynasty. This may seem like an ordinary object, but the artwork on the palette gives us a clue into ancient Egyptian history as the empire formed. On one side, Narmer is shown wearing the crown of lower Egypt and defeating someone. On the other side, we see a similar scene, where the king has defeated enemies. He is a large figure and controls two lionesses. He is also shown as a bull crushing a town of rebels. Shape- shifting imagery was common for rulers, who were seen as divine, a bit like today’s superheroes. |
Guiding question
How did rulers maintain control of their states and interact with other societies?
Citation
Narmer Palette. © Amir Makar / AFP via Getty Images.
Source 2 – Indus carnelian, c. 2900–2350 BCE
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Title Indus River Valley carnelian bead |
Date and location c. 2900–2350 BCE, Mesopotamia |
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Source type Primary source – image of archaeological artifact |
Author Unknown |
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Description From 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, the ancient Indus society flourished in modern-day Pakistan and India. Though scholars cannot read their script, we know they were connected to other societies through networks of exchange. Beads like the one pictured were first produced in the Indus Valley and became popular in places such as China and Mesopotamia. The orange stone used is called carnelian (a type of quartz) and the circles are etchings made by the artist. |
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Guiding question
How did rulers maintain control of their states and interact with other societies?
Citation
Bead, Indus, ca. 2900 – 2350 BCE. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain.
Source 3 – Code of Hammurabi, c. 1755–1750 BCE
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Title Code of Hammurabi |
Date and location c. 1755–1750 BCE, Babylon |
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Source type Primary source – legal code |
Author Hammurabi (reigned 1792–1750 BCE) |
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Description Hammurabi was a Mesopotamian king who ruled over the Old Babylonian Empire from 1792 to 1750 BCE. Below are some laws from the Code of Hammurabi, one of the oldest documents of laws in the world. Scholars think these laws were created or compiled by Hammurabi, as they were composed during his reign around 1755– 1750 BCE. |
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Key vocabulary oppressed render |
pious statute |
Guiding question
How did rulers maintain control of their states and interact with other societies?
Excerpt
When the god Marduk sent me to rule over men, to give the protection of right to the land, I did right . . . and brought about the well-being of the oppressed. . . .
5. If a judge try a case, reach a decision, and present his judgment in writing; if later error shall appear in his decision, and it be through his own fault, then he shall pay twelve times the fine set by him in the case, and he shall be publicly removed from the judge’s bench, and never again shall he sit there to render judgment.
6. If any one steal the property of a temple or of the court, he shall be put to death, and also the one who receives the stolen thing from him shall be put to death. . . .
22. If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death. . . .
42. If any one take over a field to till it, and obtains no harvest therefrom, it must be proved that he did no work on the field, and he must deliver grain, just as his neighbor raised, to the owner of the field. . . .
196. If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out. . . .
Laws of justice which Hammurabi, the wise king, established. A righteous law, and pious statute did he teach the land. Hammurabi, the protecting king am I.
Citation
“The Code of Hammurabi.” Translated by L.W. King. Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library, 2008. https:// avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp.
Source 4 – Treaty between Egyptian and Hattian (Hittite) states, c. 1269 BCE
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Title Treaty of Kadesh |
Date and location c. 1269 BCE, Hittite capital of Hattusa (present-day Turkey) |
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Source type Primary source – peace treaty |
Author Ramesses II (c. 1303–1213 BCE) and Hattusili III (c. 1286–1265 BCE) |
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Description In 1269 BCE, the Battle of Kadesh—between the ancient Egyptian and Hattian (Hittite) states—ended with rulers from each side signing of the Treaty of Kadesh. It was inscribed in Egyptian and Akkadian and displayed in both states. |
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Key vocabulary hostility |
trespass |
Guiding question
How did rulers maintain control of their states and interact with other societies?
Excerpt
Under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt: . . . Son of Ramses Meri-Amon. . .given life forever … appearing on the Horus-Throne of the Living . . .
The regulations which the Great Prince of Hatti, Hattusilis, the powerful, the son of Mursilis. . .made upon a tablet of silver for . . . the great ruler of Egypt the good regulations of peace and of brotherhood, giving peace. . . forever. . . .
. . . from this day, behold Hattusilis, the Great Prince of Hatti, is under a regulation for making permanent the situation which the Re (Egyptian Sun-god) and Seth (the Hattian Sun-god and the Storm-god) made for the land of Egypt with the land of Hatti, in order not to permit hostility to occur between them forever.
Behold, Hattusilis, the Great Prince of Hatti, has set himself in a regulation with. . .the great ruler of Egypt, beginning from this day, to cause that good peace and brotherhood occur between us forever, while he is in brotherhood with me and he is at peace with me, and I am in brotherhood with him and I am at peace with him forever. . . .
The Great Prince of Hatti shall not trespass against the land of Egypt forever, to take anything from it. And . . . the great ruler of Egypt, shall not trespass against the land of Hatti, to take from it forever.
Citation
Pritchard, James B. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969.
Source 5 – The Book of Lord Shang, third century BCE
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Title The Book of Lord Shang |
Date and location Third century BCE, China |
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Source type Primary source – philosophical/legal treatise |
Author Shang Yang (390–338 BCE) |
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Description Shang Yang was a Qin Dynasty reformer who helped the Qin state. Below are selections from The Book of Lord Shang in which he describes certain legalist ideas. |
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Key vocabulary disposition emoluments |
transgressions |
Guiding question
How did rulers maintain control of their states and interact with other societies?
Excerpt
To benefit the state, one need not imitate antiquity. . . .
Wherever reputation and benefit meet, the people will go in this direction. . . .Farming is what the people consider bitter; war is what the people consider dangerous. Yet they brave what they consider bitter and perform what they consider dangerous because of the calculation [of reputation and benefit]. . . .
When the affairs of the world change, one should implement a different Way. . .Therefore, it is said: “When the people are ignorant, one can become monarch through knowledge; when the generation is knowledgeable, one can become monarch through force.” . . .
Human beings have likes and dislikes; hence, the people can be ruled. The ruler must investigate likes and dislikes. Likes and dislikes are the root of rewards and penalties. The disposition of the people is to like ranks and emoluments and to dislike punishments and penalties. The ruler sets up the two in order to guide the people’s will and to establish whatever he desires. . . .
To prevent wrongdoing and stop transgressions, nothing is better than making punishments heavy. When punishments are heavy and [criminals] are inevitably captured, then the people dare not try [to break the law].
Citation
Yang, Shang. The Book of Lord Shang: Apologetics of State Power in Early China. Translated by Yuri Pines. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017.
Source 6 – The Arthashastra, c. 250 BCE
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Title The Arthashastra |
Date and location c. 250 BCE, India |
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Source type Primary source – political treatise |
Author Chanakya (375–283 BCE) |
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Description The Arthashastra is an ancient Sanskrit treatise on correct government. It is believed to have been written by Chanakya, a royal advisor to Mauryan emperors. Scholars debate whether this work describes Mauryan court life or if it is a philosophical work. |
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Key vocabulary reckless petitioners engender heretics |
Brahmans Vedas edicts sasana |
Guiding question
How did rulers maintain control of their states and interact with other societies?
Excerpt
If a king is energetic, his subjects will be equally energetic. If he is reckless, they will not only be reckless likewise, but also eat into his works. Besides, a reckless king will easily fall into the hands of his enemies. Hence the king shall ever be wakeful. . . .
When in his court he shall never cause his petitioners to wait at the door, for when a king makes himself inaccessible to his people and entrusts his work to his immediate officers, he may be sure to engender confusion in business, and to cause thereby public disaffection, and himself a prey to his enemies. He shall, therefore, personally attend to the business of gods, of heretics, of Brahmans learned in the Vedas, of cattle, of sacred places, of minors, the aged, the afflicted, and the helpless, and of women; all this in order . . . or according to the urgency or pressure of those works. All urgent calls he shall hear at once, but never put off, for when postponed, they will prove too hard or impossible to accomplish. . . .
Sacred Law, evidence, history, and edicts of kings are the four legs of Law. Of these four in order, the latter is superior to the one previously named. Sacred Law [Dharma] is eternal truth holding its sway over the world; evidence is in witnesses; history is to be found in the tradition of the people; and the order of kings is what is called sasana. As the duty of a king consists in protecting his subjects with justice, its observance leads him to heaven. He who does not protect his people or upsets the social order wields his royal scepter in vain. It is power and power alone which, only when exercised by the king with impartiality and in proportion to guilt, either over his son or his enemy, maintains both this world and the next. . . .
Citation
Kauṭalya, and R. Shama Sastri. Kauṭilya’s Arthaśástra. Bangalore: Printed at the Government Press, 1915.
Source 7 – The Book of Han, c. 100 CE
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Title Han-Shu (The Book of Han) |
Date and location c. 100 CE, China |
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Source type Primary source – historical work |
Author Ban Gu (32–92 CE) and Ban Zhao (c. 45/49–c. 117/120 CE) |
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Description This passage is from the Han Shu or The Book of Han, which was the official history of the Han Dynasty. A court official named Ban Gu and his sister Ban Zhao were the historians who composed this work in the first century CE. In this excerpt, the Han leaders are trying to figure out their tricky relationship with the Xiongnu, a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who lived in the Eurasian steppe north of Han territories. |
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Key vocabulary ferocities marauding incursions accession audacious chastise stockades |
beset rapacity animosity contention precipices meritorious |
Guiding question
How did rulers maintain control of their states and interact with other societies?
Excerpt
1. The ferocities and cruelty of the [Xiongnu] have been notorious from the time of the [Zhou] and the [Qin], which were harassed by their marauding border incursions; and at the accession of the Han their [attacks] became still more audacious. . . . In the reign of the Emperor Wu, troops were raised to chastise the barbarians, who expelled them and took possession of that country. The [Xiongnu] were then driven north into the desert. Stockades were erected to mark the boundary, the roads were skirted with look-out towers, cities were built [outside the borders], and military colonies were established for protection. After this there were intervals of peace on the border. The desert country on the north is level, covered with coarse sand, and very little wood or vegetation, so that when the [Xiongnu] came marauding, there was scarcely anything to conceal them. From the stockades southward the roads lie deep among the hills and valleys, and the passage is beset with uncommon difficulties. Men of age and experience on the borders remark that since the [Xiongnu] lost the Yin mountains, their trespasses have invariably been unsuccessful. If now we abandon the frontier and stockade guard, we shall give a great advantage to the barbarians. . . .
5. Recently the [Eastern Tibetans] who were protecting the stockades established an intercourse with the Chinese; and in their rapacity the border guard invaded the people, robbed them of their cattle, and carried off their wives and children. A fierce animosity has thus been generated, the people have risen against their oppressors, and a state of things has come about which generations will be unable to repair. Now, should the native guard of the stockades be suspended, any slight misunderstanding may be easily aggravated into a prolonged contention. . . .
Citation
Wylie, A. and Tseen-Han-Shoo. “History of the Heung-Noo in Their Relations with China.” The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 5 (1876): 41–80.
Source 8 – Vase with Sixty Hieroglyphs, c. 600–800 CE
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Title Dynastic Vase with Sixty Hieroglyphs |
Date and location c. 600–800 CE, Maya city-states (present-day Guatemala) |
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Source type Primary source – image of archaeological artifact |
Author Unknown |
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Description This Maya vase, decorated with hieroglyphs that are read from top to bottom, lists the coronation dates and rulers of the Snake Dynasty, a powerful family of Maya rulers. These vases or pots were created for noble Maya families. While only 12 vases have been found, numerous copies were made and distributed to noble families to keep as family heirlooms. |
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Guiding question
How did rulers maintain control of their states and interact with other societies?
Excerpt
Citation
Vase with Sixty Hieroglyphs, Maya, c. 600–800 CE. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, public domain.
Eman M. Elshaikh
Eman M. Elshaikh is a writer, researcher, and teacher who has taught K-12 and undergraduates in the United States and in the Middle East and written for many different audiences. She teaches writing at the University of Chicago, where she also completed her master’s in social sciences and is currently pursuing her PhD. She was previously a World History Fellow at Khan Academy, where she worked closely with the College Board to develop curriculum for AP World History.
Image credits
This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0 except for the following:
Cover: The Dendera Temple complex, which contains the Temple of Hathor, is one of the best-preserved temples, if not the best-preserved one, in all of Upper Egypt. © Nick Brundle Photography / Moment / Getty Images.
Narmer Palette. © Amir Makar / AFP via Getty Images.
Bead, Indus, ca. 2900 – 2350 BCE. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/324872
Vase with Sixty Hieroglyphs, Maya, c. 600–800 CE. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, public domain. https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/exploring-the-early-americas/interactives/reading-pre-columbian-artifacts/items/item-1.html