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
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$21.99 $9.50 (1 in stock)
500 Nations
by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.
1st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
$28.00 (1 in stock)
Alexander the Great
by Robert Green
from Grolier Publishing
Biography for 4th-6th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Alexander the Great, Killer of Men
by David J. Lonsdale
from Carroll & Graf Publishers
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$5.00 (2 in stock)
Americans Before Columbus
by Elizabeth Baity, illustrated by C.B. Falls
from Viking Press
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1952 Newbery Honor Book
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Ancient Egypt
by Karen Sullivan
First Edition from Brockhampton Press
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Egypt Revealed
by Ben Morgan, Peter Chrisp, Sue Davidson
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Egypt: Life, Myth, and Art
by JoAnne Fletcher
First Edition from Duncan Baird
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$8.50 (1 in stock)
Ancient Greece
for 2nd-4th grade
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Ancient Greece
by Peter Connolly, text by Andrew Solway
from Oxford University
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Greek Temple
by John Malam, Mark Bergin
for 3rd-7th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Rome
Discoveries Series
by Dr. Paul C. Roberts
from Barnes & Noble
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Ancient World: The Chinese
The Ancient World
by Pamela Odijk
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Art and Civilization: Ancient Greece
Art and Civilization
by Matilde Bardi
from Peter Bedrick Books
Ancient Greek History Reference for 4th-6th grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Art and Civilization: Ancient Rome
Art and Civilization
by Giovanni Di Pasquale & Matilde Bardi
from Peter Bedrick Books
Roman History Reference for 4th-6th grade
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$12.00 (2 in stock)
Atlas of Mysterious Places
by Jennifer Westwood, editor
from Weidenfeld & Nicolson
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Authoress of the Odyssey
by Samuel Butler, introduction by David Grene
from University of Chicago
for 8th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Aztecs & Incas
Sightseers Essential Travel Guides to the Past
by Camilla Reid
Har/Map from Kingfisher
for 2nd-5th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Battles of the Ancient World: 1285 BC ~ AD 451
by Kelly Devries, et. al
from Metro Books
for 6th-8th grade
in Military & Weapon History (Location: HISV-MILIT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
from Atheneum
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$24.99 $18.00 (1 in stock)
Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Beggar's King
by Howard C. Emmons
from Van Kampen Press
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Book of the Ancient World
by Dorothy Mills
from Dawn Chorus
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$18.00 (1 in stock)
Brave Cloelia
by Jane Curry
1st edition from J. Paul Getty Museum
for 4th-6th grade
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$17.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Buildings of Ancient Greece
by Helen & Richard Leacroft
from William R. Scott Inc.
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Captive
by Scott O'Dell
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 5th-8th grade
Hans Christian Anderson Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Children of the Fox
by Jill Paton Walsh, illustrated by Robin Eaton
First American Edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 3rd-6th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Cities Then and Now
by Jim Antoniou
from Macmillan
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Classical Rome
by John D. Clare, ed.
from Harcourt Children's Books
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in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Colosseum
by Peter Quennell
from Newsweek Books
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Constantine the Great
by Michael Grant
from History Book Club
for 8th-Adult
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Crafts From the Past: The Romans
by Gillian Chapman
from Heinemann Educational Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$6.00 (3 in stock)
Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient America
by Marion Wood
1st edition from Facts On File
Ancient History Reference/Atlas for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient Egypt
by Geraldine Harris
3rd edition from Facts On File
Ancient History for 4th-8th grade
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$35.00 $24.00 (1 in stock)
Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient Maya & Aztec Civilizations
by Marion Wood
3rd edition from Facts On File
Ancient History Reference/Atlas for 4th-8th grade
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$35.00 $18.00 (1 in stock)
Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient Mesopotamia
by Erica C. D. Hunter
3rd edition from Facts On File
World History Reference/Atlas for 4th-8th grade
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Cultural Atlas for Young People: The Bible
by John Rogerson
from Facts On File
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt
by Geraldine Harris
Revised Edition from Facts On File
Ancient History for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Cultural Atlas of Ancient Greece
by Anton Powell
Revised Edition from Facts On File
Atlas/Greek History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Dateline: Troy
by Paul Fleischman
from Candlewick Press
for 6th-9th grade
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Discourses of Epictetus
Walter J. Black Classics Club
by Epictetus
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: Ancient Egypt
DK Eyewitness Series
by George Hart
from DK Publishing
Egyptian History Reference for 4th-8th grade
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: Aztec, Inca & Maya
by Elizabeth Baquedano
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
DK Revealed: Ancient Rome
by Peter Chrisp
1st edition from DK Children
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in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Don't Know Much About Mummies
by Kenneth C. Davis, illustrated by S. D. Schindler
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Egypt: Gods, Myths and Religion
by Lucia Gahlin
from Barnes & Noble
for 11th-Adult
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Egyptian Mummies - Pop-Up Book
by Milbry Polk, Roger Stewart
1st edition from Dutton Children's Books
for 4th-6th grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Egyptology: Search for the Tomb of Osiris
by Dugald Steer, Emily Sands
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-6th grade
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
Emperors and Gladiators
All in a Day's Work
by Anita Ganeri
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt
by Neil Morris
for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Everyday Life in Ancient Greece
by Cath Senker
from McRae Books
for 4th-7th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Eye Wonder: Pyramid
by Caroline Bingham
from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Fall of the Roman Empire
Opposing Viewpoints Digests
by Don Nardo
from Greenhaven Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Favorite Greek Myths
by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by Troy Howell
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
$10.00 (1 in stock)
First Civilizations
History of Everyday Things
by Giovanni Caselli
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 4th-7th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
First Houses: Native American Homes and Sacred Structures
by Jean Guard Monroe, Ray A. Williamson, illustrated by Susan Johnston Carlson
from Houghton Mifflin
for 6th-12th grade
in Houses & Homes (Location: HISMC-HH)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Five Great Dialogues of Plato
by Plato
2nd edition from Walter J. Black, Inc.
Ancient Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Flames of Rome
by Paul L. Maier
1st edition from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Focus on Ancient Egyptians
by Anita Ganeri
from Shooting Star Press
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in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Galen: My Life in Imperial Rome
by Marissa Moss
for 3rd-6th grade
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$8.00 (2 in stock)
Great Britain to 1688 / Great Britain Since 1688
by Maurice Ashley and K.B. Smellie
from University of Michigan Press
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Great Lion of God
by Taylor Caldwell
Book Club from Doubleday & Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Greek Treasure
by Irving Stone
Book Club from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Greek World
by Peter Levi
1st edition from Dutton Adult
for 8th-12th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Greeks
by Pamela Odijk
from Silver Burdett Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Hands-On History Romans
by Fiona Macdonald
from QEB Publishing
for 2nd-5th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
History of the Ancient World
by Susan Wise Bauer
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Ancient History Reference for Adult
in Story of the World (Location: HISCUR-SoW)
$35.00 $18.00 (1 in stock)
How to Be an Aztec Warrior
by Fiona MacDonald
from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Howard Carter: Searching for King Tut
by Barbara Ford
from W. H. Freeman and Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
I, Tut
by Miriam Schlein, illustrated by Erik Hilgerdt
from Four Winds Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt
by Geraldine Harris & Delia Pemberton
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 5th-7th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
In Search of the Trojan War
by Michael Wood
from Facts On File
for 10th-Adult
in Archaeology (Location: HISRF-ARCH)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
In Search of Troy
by Giovanni Caselli
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 3rd-5th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
In the Days of the Pharaohs
by Milton Meltzer
from Franklin Watts
for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great
by Michael Wood
First Printing from University of California Press
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Incredible Journey to the Mummy's Tomb
by Nicholas Harris, illustrated by Nicki Palin
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Indiana Jones Explores Ancient Egypt
by John Malam
from Arcade Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Intellectual Experiments of the Greek Enlightenment
by Friedrich Solmsen
from Princeton University Press
for Adult
in History of Philosophy (Location: XWV-PHI)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Kingfisher Atlas of the Ancient World
from Kingfisher
for 2nd-6th grade
in Historical & Cultural Atlases (Location: HISRF-ATLAS)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Last Days of Pompeii
by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton
from Books, Inc.
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Last Days of Pompeii
by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton
from Heritage Press
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Librarian Who Measured the Earth
by Kathryn Lasky
from Little, Brown & Company
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99 $12.00 (2 in stock)
Life in Ancient Rome
by William Crouch
from Crescent Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Life of a Roman Slave
by Don Nardo
from Lucent Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Living Tomb
by Jacqueline Morley, Nick Hewetson
for 3rd-7th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$9.50 (1 in stock)
Look Around a Roman Amphitheater
from Arcturus
for 3rd-5th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Lost Continent of Atlantis
by James Wyckoff, Illustrated by Robert Sargent
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$50.00 (1 in stock)
Maya
by Jerome Martin
from Usborne
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$2.70 (1 in stock)
Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Ancient Egypt
by Joanna Cole, Bruce Degen (Illustrator)
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Mummies, Masks, & Mourners
by Margaret Berrill
from Dutton Juvenile
for 4th-7th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Mummies, Pyramids, and Pharaohs
by Gail Gibbons
from Little, Brown & Company
for 2nd-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Mummies, Tombs, and Treasure
by Lila Perl
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Mummy
by James Putnam
First Edition
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Mysterious Places: The Magical East
by Philip Wilkinson & Michael Pollard, illustrated by Robert Ingpen
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pages of History Volume 1
by Bruce Etter, Alexia Detweiler
from Veritas Press
for 6th-10th grade
in Veritas Press History (Location: HISCUR-VP)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
People in Costume: The Romans
by Jennifer Ruby
from B.T. Batsford Ltd.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Plutarch's Lives Volume I
by Plutarch, translated by John Dryden
from Modern Library
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$20.00 $15.00 (1 in stock)
Pyramid
by David Macaulay
First Edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-10th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$9.50 (2 in stock)
Pyramids
by Anne Millard
from Kingfisher
for 3rd-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pyramids of Ancient Egypt
by John D. Clare, ed.
from Harcourt
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
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