{REVIEW} The Good and the Beautiful History Year 3 – Ancient Mesopotamia & Ancient Israel

Last month we finished our first unit in Year 3 of The Good and the Beautiful History. This unit was fascinating. We learned about ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Israel. I think my favorite part was connecting where stories I have learned from the Old Testament fit within secular history. It was amazing and connected a whole lot of dots for me!

Topics

Subjects covered in this unit included:

Mesopotamia
The Babylonians & The Assyrians
The Exodus & 40 Years in the Desert
David & Solomon
The Phoenicians
Jonah the Prophet
The Neo-Babylonian Empire and Nebuchadnezzar II
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego
The Prophet Daniel
Cyrus the Great
The Persian Empire
Job
The Hebrew Calendar
Esther
Israel: After the Return
The Alexandrine Occupation
Israel: Roman Conquest
The Birth of Jesus Christ
The Story of the Jews
Christ’s Life to Masada
The Story of the Jews from the Destruction of Jerusalem to Modern Times {this lesson is only recommended for middle school/high school}
Judaism

Supplies

Clay and toothpicks (optional)
Four dried beans
A Bible
Two cups of blueberries
Something made of cotton to dye
Parchment paper
Air-dry clay
Foam stickers
Cylinder with thick walls (think oatmeal container)
A wrapped present with nothing inside

Student Explorers

If you are new to The Good and the Beautiful History, the student explorers are worksheets/coloring/pages/activities that are divided up by grade levels. There is a set for Grades 1-3, Grades 4-6, Grades 7-9, and Grades 10-12.

Jacob is working with the student explorer for Grades 1-3.

Occasionally, they will spotlight a “history hero” and these are not-so-secretly one of my favorite things about the history. I love giving my children real people to look up to. These people weren’t perfect but they tried and I find it truly inspiring.

This unit added Esther to our line up of “history heroes”. We talked about how she was a woman of faith, courage, humility, and loyalty to God.

There was a map of Mesopotamia and the Persian Empire to outline and color.

Jacob completed several timeline pages which covered:

Akkadian Empire (2300s – 2100s BC)
Hammurabi Is King of Babylon (1792 – 1750 BC)
Assyrians in Power (1360 – 600s BC)
The Phoenicians (around 1500 – 300 BC)
Neo-Babylonian Empire (626-539 BC)
Israel (1020 – 167 BC)

Coloring Pages

Ishtar Gate of ancient Mesopotamia
Ancient Assyrians
Phoenician Ship
King Nebuchadnezzar II

There was also a page highlighting Judaism and focused on the tradition of the Menorah and the symbol of the Star of David.

Big Book of History Stories

Year 3 brings back the Big Book of History Stories {there is not one for Year 2}. This book includes stories as well as maps and images.

We actually read several stories from this book during this unit.

If You Lived in Mesopotamia: This story is a great introduction to the unit and highlights the differences between life now and then.
The Story of Jonah
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego
Prince Cyrus & the Shepherd: This is a retelling of a story written by historian, Herodotus. Great discussion story!
The Story of Job
The Ministry of Christ Through the Art of Carl Bloch: I honestly think I would buy this book JUST for this. It tells of key points in Christ’s ministry through word and the art of Carl Bloch. It is beautiful and Jacob was so excited when he recognized one of the pieces of art.

Read Alouds

During this unit we read The Golden Bull: A Mesopotamian Adventure by Marjorie Cowley. We really enjoyed this book and Jacob always begged for more! The story follows two siblings, who because of a terrible drought, are forced to leave their family home and go to the city of Ur. It was really interesting to learn about the culture and what life was like for families in large cities and rural areas during ancient Mesopotamia. I would definitely recommend it. Also, the chapters are pretty short {making it easy to read in shorter chunks} and the story is engaging, so it really is an excellent read for a range of ages!

Jacob is a HUGE Imagination Station fan! He loves the books in the series and we have them ALL! There were three books within the series that fit really perfectly in this unit. So Jacob read those on his own and it was a great addition to our unit. The three we added were Danger on a Silent Night {this follows the story of Jesus’s birth and the events with the wise men and King Herod}, Light in the Lions’ Den {this is about Daniel and the lions’ den}, and Showdown with the Shepherd {which is about David and Goliath}. These stories are fantastic and great for young readers {I would say ages 7-9 or Grades 1-3 ish}.

Our Favorite Activities

There were a lot of fun activities in this unit. One thing I love about the history is that I don’t think it is overwhelming. There are some great activities to keep interest going, but not enough that I am feeling weighed down. Plus, you could always add more or less depending on how you feel!

Here were some of Jacob’s favorite activities!

Writing in cuneiform
Make purple dye and use it to dye something
Cylinder Seals
Drawing pictures of what they think of when they hear the word KING

Favorite Learning Moment {for Mom}

Each unit I feel like there is something that really resonates with ME and I hope resonates with my kids {especially as they get older}. This happened with me on the lesson about the story of the Jews.

You begin by showing a wrapped present. You explain to your kids that this is a present and you are SURE you know what it is. You are so excited for what, you think, is inside. But when you open it, it is not what you expected. It was different, not worse, in fact it was better, but it was not what you thought you were getting. Even though you know you should be grateful, you can’t stop thinking about what you thought it was going to be.

“Sometimes we can get so fixed on the thing we think we should be getting that we miss the even greater blessings God has in store for us. This is what happened to the Jews with the Messiah. For generations, they had believed that God would send a liberator, someone to destroy their enemies on the battlefield and lead them to glory. But God sent something even better – a King who would defeat greater enemies than the Romans or the Greeks. He would defeat what comes us us all – sin and death – and give us a way to return to Heaven. This is a much greater gift than any military success. But the Jews rejected the gift.”

Isn’t that beautiful {and so sad}? I love love love having these kinds of discussions with my children. This lesson was such an impactful one for both Jacob and me and I was so grateful to experience it together.

Final Thoughts

The Good and the Beautiful does it again! This unit was beautiful and we learned so much and gained a greater appreciation for those that have come before us. As I said at the beginning, I think my favorite part was connecting events and stories from the Old Testament with secular history.

It was wonderful.