Popular Controversies in World History: Investigating History's Intriguing Questions, Volume 3: The High Middle Ages to the Modern World

384 Pages·2010·12.79 MB·English

by  Steven Danver

Popular Controversies
in World History
© 2011 ABC-Clio. All Rights Reserved.
VolumeOne PrehistoryandEarlyCivilizations
VolumeTwo TheAncientWorldtotheEarlyMiddleAges
VolumeThree TheHighMiddleAgestotheModernWorld
VolumeFour TheTwentiethCenturytothePresent
© 2011 ABC-Clio. All Rights Reserved.
Popular Controversies
in World History
INVESTIGATING HISTORY’S
INTRIGUING QUESTIONS
Volume Three
The High Middle Ages to the Modern World
Steven L. Danver, Editor
© 2011 ABC-Clio. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright2011 byABC-CLIO, LLC
Allrights reserved. No partof thispublication may bereproduced,
storedin a retrieval system, or transmitted, in anyform or byany
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
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Libraryof Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Popular controversies in world history : investigating history’s intriguing questions /
StevenL.Danver, editor.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59884-077-3 (hard copy : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-59884-078-0
(ebook) 1. History—Miscellanea. 2. Curiosities and wonders. I. Danver, Steven
Laurence.
D24.P67 2011
909—dc22 2010036572
ISBN: 978-1-59884-077-3
EISBN:978-1-59884-078-0
14 13 12 11 1 2 3 4 5
This bookis also available onthe World Wide Webas aneBook.
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Contents
VOLUME ONE
Prehistory and Early Civilizations
Introduction, xv
List of Contributors, xix
CHAPTER 1
Tool use is characteristic of hominids and apes, but not of other animal
species, 1
PRO Talaat Shehata
CON Patrick G. Zander
CHAPTER 2
Agriculture, or the domestication of plants, diffused from its start in the Middle
East to the rest of the world, 23
PRO Olena Smyntyna
CON Harald Haarmann
CHAPTER 3
The Great Flood referred to in the Book of Noah and in Gilgamesh resulted
from the flooding of the Black Sea by an influx of higher-level water from the
Mediterranean via the Dardenelles and Bosporus, 51
PRO Harald Haarmann
CON John Lee
CHAPTER 4
Much of what is now considered to be Classic culture actually
has Afroasiatic roots, 75
PRO Talaat Shehata
CON Harald Haarmann
v
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vi | Contents
CHAPTER 5
China’s head start in technological innovation was retarded by its efficient and
centralized imperial government, 103
PRO Talaat Shehata
CON John Lee
CHAPTER 6
The findings of Neolithic drawings at C¸atalh€oy€uk in Turkey are a fraud, 127
PRO Justin Corfield
CON Harald Haarmann
CHAPTER 7
The existence of Atlantis is not entirely mythical, 149
PRO L(cid:1)aszl(cid:1)o Kocsis
CON Cheryl Golden
CHAPTER 8
Lemuria is not the invention of religious enthusiasts, but rather, actually
existed, 179
PRO L(cid:1)aszl(cid:1)o Kocsis
CON Claire Brennan
CHAPTER 9
Native American peoples came to North and South America by boat
as well as by land bridge, 207
PRO Peter N. Jones
CON James Seelye
CHAPTER 10
The ancient Egyptians used volunteers, not slaves, to build the pyramids, 227
PRO Harald Haarmann
CON Talaat Shehata
CHAPTER 11
Ancient Egyptian obelisks were raised by a hitherto undiscovered
technology, 249
PRO Talaat Shehata
CON Patrick G. Zander
CHAPTER 12
The Beta Israel (or Falasha) People of Ethiopia are one of the Lost
Tribes of Israel, 271
PRO Barry Stiefel
CON Talaat Shehata
© 2011 ABC-Clio. All Rights Reserved.
Contents | vii
CHAPTER 13
Ancient findings of Ancient Babylonian cities confirm the
Old Testament, 295
PRO Benjamin D. Thomas
CON Thaddeus Nelson
Index, 317
VOLUME TWO
The Ancient World to the Early Middle Ages
Introduction, xv
List of Contributors, xix
CHAPTER 1
The Ark of the Covenant is in Axum, Ethiopia, 1
PRO Talaat Shehata
CON Thaddeus Nelson
CHAPTER 2
The Greek city-states were ‘‘democratic’’ by our modern American
definition, 21
PRO Cenap C¸akmak
CON John Lee
CHAPTER 3
The Ogham Celtic script is derived from the Norse Rune script, 43
PRO Justin Corfield
CON Harald Haarmann
CHAPTER 4
The ‘‘Trial of Socrates,’’ described by Plato, was an actual event that
occurred in 399 BCE, rather than merely a philosophical device used
by Sophists in teaching Apologia, 63
PRO Todd W. Ewing
CON John Lee
CHAPTER 5
Pushyamitra Sunga, a Hindu ruler in the second century BCE, was a great
persecutor of the Buddhists, 83
PRO Caleb Simmons
CON K. T. S. Sarao
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viii | Contents
CHAPTER 6
The Shroud of Turin is actually the wrapping shroud of Jesus, 103
PRO Justin Corfield
CON Thaddeus Nelson
CHAPTER 7
A Staffordshire inscription points to the location of the Holy Grail; it
may be in Wales, 125
PRO John Lee
CON Juliette Wood
CHAPTER 8
Nestorius did not intend to argue that Christ had a dual nature, but that view
became labeled Nestorianism, 145
PRO Mark Dickens
CON Annette Morrow
CHAPTER 9
The Celtic Church that arose after 400 CE as distinct from Roman Catholicism
is a modern construct, rather than a historical reality, 175
PRO Michael Greaney
CON Joseph P. Byrne
CHAPTER 10
The inhabitants of Easter Island who erected the monoliths were from South
America, not from Polynesia, 203
PRO Chris Howell
CON Harald Haarmann
CHAPTER 11
The Roman Empire’s collapse was primarily due to social and political
problems rather than the Barbarian invasions, 229
PRO Heather Buchanan
CON L(cid:1)aszl(cid:1)o Kocsis
CHAPTER 12
The Hawaiian and other Polynesian seafarers developed navigation methods
based on observation of constellations and currents, so that they could sail
intentionally from Tahiti to Hawaii and back, 257
PRO Harald Haarmann
CON Claire Brennan
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Contents | ix
CHAPTER 13
The Toltecs and Maya developed wheels for religious reasons, but not for
wheelbarrows or other practical uses. The reason is that they had sufficient
slave labor, 281
PRO Talaat Shehata
CON Harald Haarmann
CHAPTER 14
Native American languages can be traced to three grand linguistic roots, 301
PRO Harald Haarmann
CON Peter N. Jones
CHAPTER 15
The historical Buddha was born in 563 BCE and lived to 483 BCE, 325
PRO Anita Sharma
CON K. T. S. Sarao
Index, 347
VOLUME THREE
The High Middle Ages to the Modern World
Introduction, xv
List of Contributors, xix
CHAPTER 1
North American rune stones point to extensive exploration by the Norse of
North America, 1
PRO Justin Corfield
CON Harald Haarmann
CHAPTER 2
The Ancestral Puebloans lined up their communities so that, although miles
apart, they could signal each other with fires by line of sight to
communicate, 25
PRO Linda Karen Miller
CON Peter N. Jones
CHAPTER 3
The Mayan kingdoms died out from disease, 49
PRO Justin Corfield
CON Chris Howell
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