Mesopotamia. Umma and Lagash, Sumer ; "A hymn to Inana" ; The advice of an Akkadian father to his son ; Proverbs from Sumer ; Code of Hammurabi ; Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation ; Babylonian proverbs ; From the Epic of Gilgamesh
Egypt and environs. "A hymn of praise to Ra when he riseth" ; "Hymn to Osiris," from the Egyptian Book of the Dead ; Description of the Ethiopians ; The selection of Aspalta as king of Kush
Asia: China and India. Excerpt from The Art of War, Chapter 1 ; The Doctrine of the Mean, Section 2 ; Excerpts from the Dao De Jing ; "Lessons for women" ; The edicts of King Ashoka ; The duties of a king, from the Arthashastra ; The laws of Manu, Chapter 1 ; Excerpt from the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 1
Greece. Excerpts from the Law Code of Gortyn, Ancient Crete ; Pericles' funeral oration ; Excerpt from the History of the Peloponnesian War ; Excerpt from Anabasis, or "March up country" ; The Athenian Constitution, Section 1 ; Requirements for a physician ; Excerpt from "The training of children" ; Gladiator games in the reign of Emperor Caligula
Rome. Advice for keeping slaves in Ancient Rome ; Letter from Cicero to Atticus ; The Romans destroy the temple at Jerusalem ; Vespasian's triumph following the vanquishing of the Jews ; A tour of Ancient Rome ; Seeking advice from Emperor Trajan regarding the Christians ; Excerpt of Meditations, Book 1 ; Description of the devastation of Rome
Distant lands. Description of the Druids ; A fourth-century description of the Huns ; Dining with Attila the Hun ; Creation story of the Maya, from the Popol Vuh
Appendixes.