Ancient History

History is like a tree—the ancient parts are roots, and as the story progresses the trunk rises and branches expand to encompass every person and event since Adam and Eve. Because history is unified, every element of the story is interconnected, even if that connection is distant. Furthermore, the current parts are all directly the product of the parts that have come before, and to understand the current situation you'll need to understand the past.

Understanding the ancient history roots at the bottom of the tree is essential for a proper perspective of everything that comes after. Some people take this too far and assume that ancient history is all that matters, but those who disregard it or understand it on no more than a cursory level are just as mistaken. Just as a building must have a strong foundation, so a study of history must begin in the right place.

The ancient world was different from ours, and the same. It was different in primarily physical ways: technology was less advanced, there were fewer people, and the general standard of living was far below what we enjoy (at least in the industrialized world). However, human nature never changes, and the same universal conflict that exists today—between God's children and His enemies—raged then.

It's interesting to what extent the dominant theories and philosophies of the modern world reflect those of the ancients. There is truly nothing new under the sun, and the Enlightenment rationalism, faith in human progress, belief in man's innate goodness, evolutionary idealism, and even postmodernism against which Christians fight all have their roots in the ideas of the Babylonians, Greeks, Egyptians, and every other early civilization.

That doesn't mean there isn't a clear trajectory from the ancient world to the present. Ideas all run a distinct course, and some reach prominence at different times; while the seeds of every successive philosophy were sown in the ancient world, it took time to grow them into what we recognize how as humanism, modernism, postmodernism, and the ever-illusory post-postmodernism.

The same is true of events. The history of any period is simply the chronicle of man's attempts to thwart God's will and Yahweh's use of even the most outrageous rebellion to achieve His own ends. In some ways, this is more obvious in ancient history, as the nation of Israel fought the surrounding nations, and too often embraced their paganism.

That story, of God's work among His people and in the world, and of man's continual rebellion, is also our story. The Church fights the same battles our Israelite forefathers did, though on a more ideological rather than physical scale. When we realize how much the story of the ancients is our own story, the significance of studying their world becomes much clearer, and the urgency of such study is made plain.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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160 Items found Print
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Adventures in Ancient Greece
by Linda Bailey
from Kids Can Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Alexander the Great
by Robert Green
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Biography for 4th-6th grade
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Alexander the Great
by Jacob Abbott
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$12.00
Alexander the Great Coloring Book
by John K. Anderson
from Bellerophon Books
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in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
Alexander the Great: His Armies and Campaigns 334-323 BC
by John Warry, Nick Sekunda
from Osprey Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
Ancient Civilizations: China
Ancient Civilizations
by Valerie Bodden
Reprint from Creative Paperbooks
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Ancient Egypt Activity Book
by Robyn Hamilton
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Egypt and Her Neighbors
by Lorene Lambert
from Simply Charlotte Mason
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in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
Ancient Egypt: An Interactive History Adventure
You Choose: Historical Eras
by Heather Adamson
from Capstone Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
Ancient Egyptian Art
by Susie Hodge
First Printing
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in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Ancient Egyptians
People of the Ancient World
by Lila Perl
from Scholastic Inc.
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$7.00 (2 in stock)
Ancient Greece Activity File
by DK Publishing
Book and Access from DK Publishing
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Greece!
by Avery Hart & Paul Mantell
from Williamson Publishing Company
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$8.00 (2 in stock)
Ancient Greek Art
Art in History
by Susie Hodge
from Heinemann Educational Books
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$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Ancient Greek Art
from Heinemann-Raintree
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in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Ancient Greek War and Weapons
by Haydn Middleton
from Heinemann Educational Books
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Maya
by Lila Perl
from Children's Press
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Roman Art
by Susie Hodge
2nd edition from Heinemann Educational Books
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Rome Activity Book
by Mary J. Keller
from Edupress
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Science
by Jim Wiese
from Jossey-Bass
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in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Archaeology for Kids
by Richard Panchyk
illustrated edition from Chicago Review Press
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$7.50 (3 in stock)
Aztecs
Journey Into Civilization
by Robert Nicholson and Claire Watts
from Chelsea House Publishing
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Boy of the Pyramids
by Ruth Fosdick Jones
from Purple House Press
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$9.99
Boys' and Girls' Herodotus
by John S. White
from American Home-School Publishing
Ancient History Reference for 4th-8th grade
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Bury the Dead
by Christopher Sloan
from Scholastic Press
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Children's Homer
by Padraic Colum & Willy Pogany
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
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Children's Homer
by Padraic Colum
from Simon and Schuster
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$4.50 (2 in stock)
Children's Homer
by Padraic Colum
from Simon and Brown
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Cigars of the Pharaoh
Adventures of Tintin
by Herge
from Little, Brown & Company
Comic Book for 2nd-6th grade
in Adventures of Tintin (Location: COM-TIN)
$13.99
City
by David Macaulay
from Houghton Mifflin
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Cleopatra
by Diane Stanley & Peter Vennema
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Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Cleopatra
by Robert Green
from Grolier Publishing
Biography for 4th-6th grade
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Coloring Book of Cleopatra
by Bellerophon Books, Nancy Conkle
from Bellerophon Books
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in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
Coloring Book of Rome
by Bellerophon Books, Nancy Conkle
from Bellerophon Books
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$3.00 (3 in stock)
Coloring Book of the Olympics
by E. Knill
Csm from Bellerophon Books
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$2.00 (2 in stock)
Coloring Book of the Trojan War: The Iliad Vol. 2
by John K. Anderson
Coloring from Bellerophon Books
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Cry From Egypt
by Hope Auer
from Great Waters Press
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.50 (2 in stock)
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Yearling
Greek Mythology for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$19.99
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths - Audio CD
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Yearling
Greek Mythology for 4th-8th grade
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Detectives in Togas
by Henry Winterfeld
from Harcourt
Humorous Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
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$9.99
DK Eyewitness: Ancient Egypt
DK Eyewitness Series
by George Hart
from DK Publishing
Egyptian History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$9.99
Excavating the Past: Ancient Greece
by Christine Hatt
from Heinemann Educational Books
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Famous Figures of Ancient Times
by Cathy Diez-Luckie
First Edition from Figures in Motion
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Favorite Greek Myths
by Bob Blaisdell
from Dover Publications
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$2.50 (2 in stock)
From Distant Days
by Benjamin R. Foster
from CDL Press
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
Game On in Ancient Greece
Time Travel Guides
by Linda Bailey
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Gilgamesh the King
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Gladiator
by Richard Watkins
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Golden Fleece
by Padraic Colum & Willy Pogany
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Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
1922 Newbery Honor Book
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Great Pyramid
Wonders of the World
by Elizabeth Mann
Reprint from Mikaya Press
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$14.95
Great Wall of China
by Leonard Everett Fisher
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Great Wonder
by Annabelle Howard
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Picture Books for 2nd-5th grade
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Greece
by Jane Pofahl
from Instructional Fair
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Greek Life
by John Guy
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-7th grade
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Greek Myths
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Edouard Sandoz
from Houghton Mifflin
Greek Mythology for 4th-6th grade
$10.99
Greek News
The History News
by Anton Powell, Philip Steele
from Candlewick Press
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in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
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Greeks
by Roy Burrell
from Oxford University
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Guide to Egypt
by Michael March
from Highlights for Children
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$1.50 (2 in stock)
Hands-On Culture of Ancient Greece and Rome
by Kate OHalloran
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Hannibal
by Robert Green
from Grolier Publishing
Biography for 4th-6th grade
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$6.95
Herod the Great
by Robert Green
from Grolier Publishing
Biography for 4th-6th grade
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Herodotus and the Road to History
by Jeanne Bendick
from Bethlehem Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
History Pockets: Ancient Rome
by Sandi Johnson, Joy Evans, Marilyn Evans
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
Holy Land
The Ancient World
by Peter Connolly
from Oxford University
Ancient Israel Reference for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient Israel (Location: HISW-ANIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
How Would You Survive As An Ancient Roman?
by Anita Ganeri, David Salariya
from Franklin Watts
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
In Search of Troy
by Gian Paolo Ceserani, Piero Ventura
from Silver Burdett Press
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Indus Valley
by Naida Kirkpatrick
from Heinemann Educational Books
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Into the Mummy's Tomb
by Nicholas Reeves
from Scholastic Inc.
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$4.00 (2 in stock)
Julius Caesar
by Jacob Abbott
from Canon Press
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$12.00
Last Quest of Gilgamesh
by Ludmila Zeman
from Tundra Books (NY)
for 1st-4th grade
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Life in a Greek Trading Port
Picture the Past
by Jane Shuter
from Heinemann Educational Books
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in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
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Life in Ancient Athens
by Jane Shuter
from Heinemann-Raintree
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in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
Life in Ancient China
by Paul Challen
from Crabtree Publishing
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in China (Location: HISMC-CHI)
$8.95
Life in Ancient Mesopotamia
by Shilpa Mehta-Jones
from Crabtree Publishing
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$8.95 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Lost City
by Ted Lewin
Reprint from Puffin Books
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in Latin & South America (Location: HISMC-LAT)
$8.99
Lost Wreck of the Isis
A Time Quest Book
by Robert D. Ballard
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Make it Work! Ancient Egypt
Make It Work!
by Andrew Haslam & Alexandra Parsons
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Make it Work! Ancient Egypt
Make It Work!
by Andrew Haslam & Alexandra Parsons
from Two-Can Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$7.95
Make it Work! Roman Empire
by Andrew Haslam
from Two-Can Publishing
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in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$8.95 $5.50 (2 in stock)
Make This Model Greek Temple
by Iain Ashman
for 3rd-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Make this Roman Fort
by Iain Ashman
from Usborne
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$5.40 (1 in stock)
Make This Roman Fort
by Ian Ashman
Revised from E.D.C. Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Masada
by Gloria D. Miklowitz
from Eerdmans
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Miranda the Great
by Eleanor Estes
1-Simul from Sandpiper Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.95
Modern Rhymes About Ancient Times: Ancient Egypt
by Susan Altman & Susan Lechner
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-4th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Modern Rhymes: Ancient Greece
by Susan Altman & Susan Lechner
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Motel of the Mysteries
by David Macaulay
from Houghton Mifflin
Humor for 4th-8th grade
in Humor & Comedy (Location: FIC-COM)
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Mummies
by Nathaniel Harris
First Edition from Franklin Watts
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in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Mummies & Their Mysteries
by Charlotte Wilcox
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-7th grade
in Ancient History (Location: HISW-ANC)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Mummies Made in Egypt
by Aliki
from HarperCollins
Non-fiction for 2nd-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Mummies Made in Egypt
by Aliki
from HarperCollins
Non-fiction for 2nd-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
Mummies, Tombs, and Treasure
by Lila Perl
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$8.95 $5.00 (2 in stock)
Mysteries of Ancient Egypt
by Nancy E. Krulik
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Mystery of History Volume I (old)
by Linda Lacour Hobar
2nd edition from Bright Ideas Press
History Curriculum for 4th-8th grade
in Old Edition History & Geography (Location: OHIS)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Mystery of the Roman Ransom
by Henry Winterfeld
from Harcourt
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99 $4.50 (2 in stock)
Nero
Makers of History
by Jacob Abbott
from Canon Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00
Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Egypt
by Bill Manley
from Penguin Putnam
Atlas for 2nd-7th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$16.95 $11.00 (2 in stock)
Place in the Sun
by Jill Rubalcaba
from Puffin Books
for 3rd-4th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Pompeii
by Peter Connolly
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Pompeii: City of Ashes
by Sarah Pitt Kaplan
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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