VCE Ancient History (Year 11)
VCE Ancient History (Year 11) on VCE Vault: 8 lessons written for Year 11 (VCE, Victorian Certificate of Education), each with worked examples, practice questions and Aari, an AI tutor. The first 4 lessons are free; the whole subject is a one-off A$12.99.
Lessons
Historical Skills
- Investigating the Ancient Past — Sources, Archaeology and Interpretation (free) — Use and evaluate written and archaeological sources and explain how historians build interpretations of ancient societies.
- Writing Ancient History — Arguments, Evidence and the Bridge to Units 3–4 — Construct historical arguments using evidence and historians’ views, and understand how Units 1–2 prepare you for Units 3–4.
Unit 1 — Ancient Mesopotamia
- The Rise of Sumer — Cities, Irrigation and the Invention of Writing (free) — Explain how the environment of southern Mesopotamia led to the first cities and the development of cuneiform writing.
- Power in Mesopotamia — Sargon of Akkad and Hammurabi of Babylon (free) — Analyse how Mesopotamian rulers gained, legitimised and maintained power, with reference to Sargon of Akkad and Hammurabi.
- Mesopotamian Society, Beliefs and Legacy (free) — Describe social structure, religion and culture in Mesopotamia and evaluate its legacy.
Unit 2 — Ancient Egypt or Early China
- Ancient Egypt — Unification and the Old Kingdom Pyramid Age — Explain the unification of Egypt and how Old Kingdom pharaohs used religion, ma’at and monumental building to maintain power.
- Ancient Egypt — Collapse and Recovery: the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom — Explain the causes of the Old Kingdom’s decline and how Middle Kingdom rulers restored and reshaped royal power.
- Early China — Shang, Zhou, the Mandate of Heaven and Qin Unification — Explain how power was gained and justified in early China, from Shang oracle bones to the Mandate of Heaven and Qin unification.