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    Ancient Man by Hendrik Van Loon Ancient Man by Hendrik Van Loon    

Chapter 4: The Earliest School of the Human Race

lesson image


We are the children of a practical age.

We travel from place to place in our own little vehicles which we call automobiles.

We punch a few buttons on small computing devices called mobile phones and are able to speak via signals traveling over wires to a friend whose home is a thousand miles away.

At night, when the room grows dark, we push a button and there is light.

If we happen to be cold, we push another button on our thermostat and our furnace spreads its pleasant warmth through our house.

In summer, when it is hot, the same electric current will start a small artificial storm (an electric fan) which keeps us cool and comfortable.

We seem to be the masters of all the forces of nature, and we make them work for us as if they were our very obedient servants.

But do not forget one thing when you pride yourself upon our splendid achievements.

We have constructed the edifice of our modern civilization upon the fundament of wisdom that had been built at great pains by the people of the ancient world.

Do not be afraid of their strange names which you will meet upon every page of the coming chapters.

Babylonians and Egyptians and Chaldeans and Sumerians are all dead and gone, but they continue to influence our own lives in everything we do, in the letters we write, in the language we use, in the complicated mathematical problems which we must solve before we can build a bridge or a skyscraper.

And they deserve our grateful respect as long as our planet continues to race through the wide space of the high heavens.

These ancient people of whom I shall now tell you lived in three definite spots.

Two of these were found along the banks of vast rivers.

The third was situated on the shores of the Mediterranean.

The oldest center of civilization developed in the valley of the Nile, in a country which was called Egypt.

The second was located in the fertile plains between two big rivers of western Asia, to which the ancients gave the name of Mesopotamia.

The third one which you will find along the shore of the Mediterranean, was inhabited by the Phoenicians, the earliest of all colonizers and by the Jews who bestowed upon the rest of the world the main principles of their moral laws.

This third center of civilization is known by its ancient Babylonian name of Suri, or as we pronounce it, Syria.

The history of the people who lived in these regions covers more than five thousand years.

It is a very, very complicated story.

I cannot give you many details.

I shall try and weave their adventures into a single fabric, which will look like one of those marvelous rugs of which you read in the tales of 'One Thousand and One Nights' which Scheherazade told to Harun the Just.

    Ancient Man by Hendrik Van Loon Ancient Man by Hendrik Van Loon    

Chapter 4: The Earliest School of the Human Race

Directions

Study the lesson for two weeks.

Over the two weeks:

  • Read the story multiple times.
  • Read the synopsis.
  • Review the vocabulary terms.
  • Complete the enrichment activities.
  • Study the review questions.

Synopsis

The fourth chapter reminds us that our current knowledge is based off millennia of advancements of ancient civilizations. Babylonians, Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Sumerians influenced many of our current verbal and written languages and our mathematics. The coming chapters cover groups of people living in three locations: 1) Egypt in the valley of the Nile River, 2) Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and 3) Suri on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

Vocabulary

Babylonians: An inhabitant of Babylon or Babylonia, an empire in southwest Asia.
Egyptians: A native of ancient or modern Egypt, or a person of Egyptian descent.
Chaldeans: A member of an ancient people who lived in Chaldea c. 800 BC and ruled Babylonia 625–539 BC. They were renowned as astronomers and astrologers.
Sumerians: A member of the indigenous non-Semitic people of ancient Babylonia.
Nile River: A river that flows north from central Africa to Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.
Mesopotamia: An ancient southwest Asian land between the Tigris River and the Euphrates River.
Tigris River: A river in southwest Asia that flows through Turkey and Iraq.
Euphrates River: A river in southwest Asia that flows through Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.
Mediterranean Sea: A large sea surrounded by Europe to the north, Asia to the east, and Africa to the south.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Narrate the Chapter

  • After you listen to the chapter, narrate the chapter aloud using your own words.

Activity 2: Map the Lesson

Study the locations mentioned in the chapter.

  • Egypt and the Nile River
  • Mesopotamia and the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
  • Mediterranean Sea

Activity 3: Review Artwork of the Ancient People

Study artwork depicting the groups of people mentioned in the chapter.

  • Babylonians - 'The Babylonian Marriage Market' by British painter Edwin Long.
  • Egyptians - 'Egyptian Chess Players' by Dutch-British painter Lawrence Alma Tadema.
  • Sumerians - 'Standard of Ur Mosaic'

Activity 4: Can You Find It?

Find the following in the picture:

  • The Great Sea
  • Desert
  • Pyramids
  • The Nile River
  • The Mountains of the Moon
  • The Red Sea

Activity 5: Complete Coloring Pages, Copywork, and Writing   

  • Click the crayon above. Complete pages 12-13 of 'Second Grade World History Coloring Pages, Copywork, and Writing.'

Review

Question 1

Why should we be grateful to the people of the ancient world?
1 / 4

Answer 1

Our current knowledge of language, writing, and mathematics is based off millennia of advancements of ancient civilizations.
1 / 4

Question 2

What is the Mediterranean?
2 / 4

Answer 2

The Mediterranean is a sea.
2 / 4

Question 3

What is the Nile?
3 / 4

Answer 3

The Nile is a river in Egypt.
3 / 4

Question 4

What were the names of the two rivers in Mesopotamia?
4 / 4

Answer 4

The two rivers in Mesopotamia were called the Tigris and the Euphrates.
4 / 4

  1. Why should we be grateful to the people of the ancient world? Our current knowledge of language, writing, and mathematics is based off millennia of advancements of ancient civilizations.
  2. What is the Mediterranean? The Mediterranean is a sea.
  3. What is the Nile? The Nile is a river in Egypt.
  4. What were the names of the two rivers in Mesopotamia? The two rivers in Mesopotamia were called the Tigris and the Euphrates.

References

  1. 'Nile River.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.
  2. 'Mesopotamia.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

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