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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5,000-Year-Old Puzzle
by Claudia Logan, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
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Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greece
by Peter Connolly, text by Andrew Solway
from Oxford University
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Ancient Greek Temple
by John Malam, Mark Bergin
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Ancient World
by John Haywood
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Aztec
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Kisa Sasaki
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Aztecs & Incas
Sightseers Essential Travel Guides to the Past
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Casting the Gods Adrift
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Children of the Fox
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Egyptian Myths
by Jacqueline Morley (reteller), illustrated by Giovanni Caselli
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Emperor's Silent Army
by Jane O'Connor
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Emperors and Gladiators
All in a Day's Work
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Exodus
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Eye Wonder: Pyramid
by Caroline Bingham
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Galen: My Life in Imperial Rome
by Marissa Moss
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Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Maya
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Greek Myths
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Hands-On History Romans
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Hercules
Heroes Series #4
by Geraldine McCaughrean
from Cricket Books
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How to Be an Aztec Warrior
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I, Tut
by Miriam Schlein, illustrated by Erik Hilgerdt
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If You Were There: Aztec Times
by Antony Mason
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In Search of Troy
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Inca
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Incredible Journey to the Mummy's Tomb
by Nicholas Harris, illustrated by Nicki Palin
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Indiana Jones Explores Ancient Egypt
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Irenaeus of Lyons
Heroes of the Faith
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Joseph
by Brian Wildsmith
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Bible Stories for 1st-3rd grade
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Kingfisher Atlas of the Ancient World
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Lady of Palenque
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Life in Ancient Rome
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Living Tomb
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Look Around a Roman Amphitheater
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Lost Queen of Egypt
by Lucile Morrison, illustrated by Franz Geritz
from Purple House Press
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Maya
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Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Ancient Egypt
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Mummies, Pyramids, and Pharaohs
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Picturesque Tale of Progress Volume 1
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1949 Edition from Book House for Children
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Picturesque Tale of Progress Volume 2
by Olive Beaupre Miller, Assisted by Harry Neal Baum
1949 Edition from Book House for Children
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by Olive Beaupre Miller
1949 Edition from Book House for Children
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A Picturesque Tale of Progress
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1948 Edition from Book House for Children
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1949 Edition from Book House for Children
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by Olive Beaupre Miller, Assisted by Harry Neal Baum
1949 Edition from Book House for Children
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Picturesque Tale of Progress Volume 7
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1949 Edition from Book House for Children
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Picturesque Tale of Progress Volume 8
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1949 Edition from Book House for Children
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by Olive Beaupre Miller
1935 Edition from Book House for Children
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Pyramids
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Roman Diary
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Roman Diary
by Richard Platt
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$7.99
Run with Me, Nike!
by Cassandra Case
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Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
by Lynn Curlee
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Step Into Ancient Egypt
by Philip Steele
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Story of Slavery
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Tanglewood Tales
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Theseus
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by Geraldine McCaughrean
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Usborne Greek Myths
by Heather Amery
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Usborne Time Traveler
by Tony Allen
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Ancient/Middle Ages History Reference for 3rd-8th grade
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What Do We Know About the Greeks?
by Anne Pearson
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$6.00 (2 in stock)
Wonder Book
by Nathaniel Hawthorne, illustrated by Dick Cuffari
from Grosset & Dunlap
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Wonder Book
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by Nathaniel Hawthorne
1954 Edition from Rand McNally
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by Joanne Jessop, illustrated by David Salariya
from Viking Press
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
Zen Shorts
by Jon J. Muth
from Scholastic Press
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