Monday, December 24, 2018

My Mentors

   God has given me many teachers in my life. One is my pastor, Pastor White. He has given me a lot of knowledge on how to live my life, why people kill, and a whole lot more. He even leads communion! He is also the grandad of some of my friends. Once, he even baptized me!

   Another one is Mr. Anderson. He is one of my Sunday School teachers. I love him. He is the Dad of some more of my friends. He teaches me about the Bible which makes me want to read more of the Bible. He mostly reads out of Acts and then explains it to us. The lessons usually take one hour, but I like the lessons.

   Sometimes Mr. Burgener takes over for Mr. Anderson. He is also the dad of some more of my friends. I like his lessons as well as Mr. Anderson's lessons. He is friendly. I love him.

   My parents are also great teachers. I have a lot of knowledge from school thanks to my mom. I also know a lot about discipline and obedience thanks to my dad. They also taught me and are teaching me a lot of other stuff. They love me and I intend to love them by obeying them.

   I love all of these people and they are trying to teach me lessons that will help me in my life when I am older. I need to listen as well as I can to their teaching. If I do not listen, my parents are not to blame, I am because I did not listen to my teachers. I intend to listen and do well.

Thursday, December 6, 2018

The Similarities and Differences Between Ancient India and Ancient Europe

   The Celts were the most populous group in ancient Europe. The Etruscans also lived in ancient Europe in Italy. The Celts did not leave any written records, so how do we know so much about them? From the Roman writing, actually. Celtic burial grounds are often marked with large megaliths. Megaliths are very large stones. The Celts are even credited for inventing something that we could not live without. Can you guess what that is? It is soap! We could never live without soap. There was a lot of Celtic occupations including Chieftains, bards, druids, peasants, and merchants. The Celts also mined and traded salt They used salt to make food good and to keep food from spoiling.

   The two largest rivers that run through India are called the Indus and Ganges rivers. The Aryans came from Southern Russia and settled in the Indus Valley. Chandragupta Maurya ruled India during the rise to its golden age. The government regulated everything that went on, the nation was divided into districts, and they head a large standing army and spy network. Hinduism and Buddhism were promoted after eleven years of war. Priests, Warriors or Nobles, Merchants, Serfs, and Outcasts are the levels of the Indian Caste System.

   India and Europe do not really have many similarities or differences. They had similar caste systems. India was governed by dynasties while Europe was governed by a chief in each clan.

Ancient Africa

   Ancient Africa is a really cool country. It has the Sahara Desert (the largest desert in the world) and it has the Nile River. The Nile River is not just the longest river in the world, but it also runs north. No other river in the world can do that!

   The Egyptians lived in Egypt, which is in Africa. They are a really cool civilization. The pyramids were built during the Old Kingdom. The pyramids were burial tombs for Pharaohs (kings) and had a square shaped base, and each wall was shaped like a triangle, and all the walls leaned up against each other, which came to a point at the top. The Egyptians even invented a writing system called Hieroglyphics. Each hieroglyph is a word or a word phrase. During the new kingdom, Egypt had its golden age. After Alexander the Great ruled Egypt, a family called the Ptolemies ruled Egypt for almost 300 years! Cleopatra VII was the last ruler of the Ptolemies.

   There were other tribes in Africa like the Egyptians. Some of these civilizations are called Nubia and Axum. Nubia was built south of Egypt on the Nile Rover and had a society based on trade. Azum was built near the horn of Africa along the Eastern coast of Africa.

   It would be really cool to be an archeologist and study the pyramids and see what life was like. I even wish I could read and write hieroglyphs. I even wish one of my friends could read and write hieroglyphs so we could write secret messages to each other.

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

History

   History started when God created the world and everything in it. That is called creation. When people were deep in sin, after Adam and Eve, God said to Noah that He would send a flood, so He told Noah to build an Ark to save him and his family from the flood. After Noah left the Ark with his family, Noah's family multiplied and then came the Tower of Babel. When God changed the languages of the people, they went into different parts of the world.

   They settled in all of the seven continents of the world except Antarctica. Next came the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The patriarchs are important because out of them came the twelve tribes of Israel. The twelve tribes became the Jewish nation from where Jesus came. Joseph was the son of Jacob, a patriarch. His brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt, but God used it for good and eventually, he became second-in-command of all of Egypt. After Joseph died, a new ruler came to power who did not know Joseph, and he feared the growing number of the Israelites, so he made them his slaves.

   There were thirty-one dynasties in Egypt. A dynasty is a succession of rulers from the same family line. The Egyptians were also fascinated with their death and the afterlife. We see this because of their interest in spirits and mummification. Moses was sent to free all the Israelites from the Egyptians. God used the Ten Plagues to convince Pharaoh that He was God and to set His people free. Sadly, the children of Israel disobeyed God several times, so they were stuck in the wilderness for forty years!

   God set up judges to govern His people, but the people rebelled against the judges and God many times. They demanded a king, and God gave them what they wanted. Israel's first king was Saul, then David, then Solomon. When Solomon's son (Rehoboam) came to power, the kingdom split into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

   Greece is located in Southern Europe, near the Mediterranean Sea. Mt. Olympus is located in Greece and supposedly the home of the Greek gods. Homer was a Greek poet who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Greek Olympics were captivating. They held the Olympics just to please their gods.

   Socrates was the first philosopher in ancient Greece. A Philosopher is "someone who engages in thoughtful analysis of the world around them." Three of Socrates' students wrote about him. These students were Plato, Aristophanes, and Xenophon. Socrates was a great teacher, but he lacked grace in his teachings. We know a lot about math and science because of many philosophers in Greece.

   The two main city-states in ancient Greece were Athens and Sparta. Life in Sparta was very cruel. They thought family loyalty was the weakness of the city, so they tried many ways to prevent family loyalty. Here is one example. When boys turned age seven, they are sent to the military to be trained as a solder and they were treated very harshly, even from a young age. There were three Peloponnesian Wars between Athens and Sparta, which Sparta eventually won. Athens was weakened by the wars so that made it easier for Alexander the Great to conquer them. Alexander was given the nickname "Alexander the Great" because he never lost a battle. He was so great in battles he conquered a gigantic part of Asia. After he died, his empire fell apart.

      Rome was founded in 753 B.C. by Romulus, the first king of Rome. The Greeks influenced the shaping of Rome. Caesar Augustus was the emperor in Rome who demanded a census very close to Jesus' birth. Jesus was born in Bethlehem and was visited by shepherds and wise men. Jesus is the son of God. Jesus was rejected by the Jews as the Messiah. Jesus was crucified, buried, rose, and ascended into heaven, which led into the early church. The early church grew when the Holy Spirit started sending out apostles to preach the Gospel throughout the world. Many apostles were martyred because of their faith in Jesus. Constantine I was a Roman emperor and was the first emperor who became a believer. Ignatius, Irenaeus, and Ambrose were some of the early church fathers.

   Pompeii, an ancient Roman vacation site was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Pompeii lay untouched for hundreds of years until archaeologists found the site and it became an archaeological site. Roman fathers were in charge of an entire Roman family. Even though some things are unfair for the girls but fair for the boys, I really want to live there. Farms raised lots of animals and grew many plants. During the Republic, farms were small, but during the Empire, farms were very big. Rome fell because of five things: the division of the empire, lack of military cohesion, economic struggles, political rivalries and turmoil, and moral decline.

   I love what I learned this year!

Ancient Africa

   I learned a lot about Ancient Africa in my school year and this paper will include some of the stuff I learned about. Africa is home of the largest desert in the world called the Sahara Desert, and the largest river in the world called the Nile River. Not only is the Nile River the largest river in the world, but it is the only river in the world that runs south to north. Africa has many other deserts and a lot more rivers than just the Sahara Desert and the Nile River.

   I had a lot of favorite tribes I liked to learn about, but Egypt was my most favorite (besides Rome). Many of the pyramids were built during the Old Kingdom. Egypt also got its golden age during the New Kingdom. After Alexander the Great's reign over Egypt, a family named the Ptolemies actually did manage to control Egypt for about 300 years! The last to rule their dynasty was Cleopatra VII. The Egyptians invented hieroglyphs and papyrus scrolls. hieroglyphics are pictures that each mean a word or phrase.

The Fall of Rome

   There are five main reasons why Rome collapsed. The first reason why Rome fell is because the empire was divided. Rome became so big that one ruler could not control all of Rome at once, so Rome was divided into two empires, the Western Emire and the Eastern Empire. They were supposed to fight together against invaders, but instead, they fought against each other, which made each empire weaken. This made it easier for invaders to conquer them.

   The second reason is lack of military cohesion. After Rome goes to fight against barbarians, the army brings barbarians back with them to fight with the Roman army. However, since Rome sometimes fights against other barbarians, the barbarians that are in Rome's army feel like they're fighting against family. So, they refused to fight with Rome, which over time, made Rome weak.

   The third reason is economic struggles. Rome's military was greatly weakened because the barbarians refused to fight with them. This meant that Rome was not strong enough to build new colonies. Without new colonies to give Rome the goods it needs to survive, Rome became very weak.

   The fourth is political rivalries and turmoil. There were fighting and strife among the men who wanted to be the next emperor. Men were probably telling lies about other people to make themselves seem like the better choice for emperor. People just did not know whom they should trust, so they had a hard time voting on who should be the next emperor.

   The final reason is moral decline. The public welfare system began as a good thing because it was helping people in need but eventually turned into a bad thing. People were abusing the system and were basically stealing from the government, who was basically stealing from tax paying citizens. People also had a wrong mindset, they just wanted to be entertained. They would stay up all night at parties and sleep all day rather than going to work. They did not take life seriously. They just wanted to enjoy life. These are the five main reasons why Rome collapsed.

Ignatius, Irenaeus, and Ambrose

   Ignatius, Irenaeus, and Ambrose were some of teh early church fathers. First, I will be talking about Ignatius. Ignatius was converted to Christ when he was very young. Also, John the apostle was his teacher! Ignatius was a bishop in the church in Antioch. A bishop is someone who serves in a church and makes sure that the pastor, the elders, and the deacons are all doing their jobs correctly. Ignatius also helped in creating the church doctrine.

   Next is Irenaeus. Irenaeus was born in Smyrna. Smyrna is located in modern-day Turkey. Ancient Smyrna could be found north of Ephesus, on the Aegean Sea. He was the first early church father to be born into a Christian family. When he got older, he became a bishop and a pastor in Lyons. Irenaeus preached against two heresies. These heresies were Gnosticism and Montanism. Gnosticism taught that the world was made by an imperfect spirit. It even teaches that Jesus was fully man but not fully God and focused on getting lots of things. Montanism was created by Montanus, a priest. He prophesied contrary to the Bible, saying that the Holy Spirit controlled him.

   And last but not least, Ambrose. Ambrose was a faithful bishop in Milan for a long time. He assisted in creating the doctrine of the early church. He did this by his study and writing. When Ambrose was a child, bees swarmed around his head so later on, people used bees and honey symbolically to represent Ambrose. When he was older, he tried to avoid accepting being the new bishop of Milan. After he accepted being the new bishop, he gave up everything he had and started to study Scripture. I love the early church fathers. These three were my favorite, but Ambrose is my favorite out of all of them.

Constantine I

Constantine really had a different name which was actually his real name. This name was Flavius Valerius Constantius. He was born circa 280 on February 27. Constantine's father was a Roman military general before he became a junior emperor for the emperor or the West because an earlier Roman emperor divided the empire into the west and east empire and each emperor had to have a junior emperor. Constantine's father retired from the throne so Galerius took over the throne. One day, Constantine found out that living with Galerius was not a safe place to live, so he fled to Britain where his father was.

   After Constantine's father died, he remained in Britain for a time until Romans begged him to come back to Rome to take back his place as emperor. Constantine agreed, but first, he had to defeat the false emperor, so he took his army he had with him to defeat the false emperor's army. He succeeded in this battle.

   One night before a battle, he had a vision where he had a shield with a painted cross on it and he won the battle because of it. He realized that he should do what the vision is telling him, so he did that. After winning, Constantine even became a Believer! He even made a law called the Edict of Milan that says that no Believers are allowed to be persecuted. This law lasted for a long time.

   Constantine died in 337 A.D. He was a great Roman emperor. I can not believe that he even became a believer! Constantine is my favorite Roman emperor.

Farming and Hospitality

   Farms during the Republic were very small. There were bees and they were used for honey. Sheep and they were used for wool and milk. pigs were used for meat. Cattle were used for meat, milk, and farm animals. Olive trees were used for olive oil, a very important oil.

   The farms were cared for by the people who owned the land, but there was a problem. The landowners of the farms sometimes had to serve as soldiers for the army. Because of this, the landowners could not get enough money to pay the government, so the government chose to take away the land from the landowners.

   During the Empire, the farmers went through a big change. Because there was no money t keep good farms running, many farms fell apart. Crops did not get planted. There was no food for the animals, so they were not healthy enough to make babies. The wealthy Romans bought the farms and made it a healthy farm again. They also had slaves and poor citizens to help them.

   Most Roman homes did not have kitchens because the cooking fires would get too smoky because they had no chimneys. They usually got their warm, cooked food from people who cooked on the streets who are called "street vendors." Because of free food and free games that emperors give out at feasts, citizens loved the free food and free games so much that all they wanted was free food and free games. I bet my dad would love to farm there.

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Roman Life

   A normal Roman family consisted of a mom, a dad, sons and daughters, grown-up sons and their wives, and slaves. When the father was in charge, the family was called a paterfamilias. The father could be kind and loving or mean and evil. The father was fully in charge of the household.

   The boys were to be in the military or the government. The girls were born to marry and produce children. These children serve the state by doing those things. Everyone wanted strong and healthy baby boys. Sadly, many times, fathers chose to leave their baby girls or unhealthy boys outside the city to die. When an infant is eight or nine days old, it is given a bulla. A bulla is a charm to protect babies from evil spirits. Childbirth is extremely dangerous for mothers. All parents wanted their children to receive a good education. Unfortunately, if you were poor, the children had to work to help support the family. The places where children were allowed to work had very rough conditions, very hard work, and didn't get paid very much.

   If you were wealthy enough, you could attend school at age seven and go until you were at age 11. If you were a girl and you were at age 11, you were done with school, but if you were a boy at age 11, you could attend trading school if you could afford it.

   If you were a girl in Rome, you'd probably marry when you were 12-14 years old, but if you were a boy, you'd marry when you were 20 years old. Many of the Roman wedding traditions are still used in our culture today.

   I think it is very cruel to just leave baby girls and unhealthy boys outside the city to die. It is unfair that boys can continue schooling and girls cannot keep on schooling. It is also unfair that girls have to marry at a young age just because their father wants them to. Other than all of these, I really want to live there.

Pompeii

   Pompeii was an ancient city built by the Oscans. In 80 B.C. the Romans took over Pompeii so it became a Roman city. Rich Romans could travel to Pompeii for a relaxing vacation. The city offered activities. It had an amphitheater, gymnasium, and bathhouses. People lived very poorly there.

   The ancient city of Pompeii is located near modern-day Naples, Italy. Pompeii is about five miles away from Mount Vesuvius. Even though the mountain had erupted before, the Romans ignored it and continued to go to Pompeii. They loved the warm, sunny, weather!

   In 79 A.D., the mountain erupted again! Ashes and rocks shot out so high into the air that even people hundreds of miles away witnessed the event. The lava was so hot that it killed anything within six miles of it. The ashes even clogged the air to make it difficult to breathe. Once the ashes cleared, Pompeii was completely destroyed. At least 2,000 people were killed in this catastrophe.

   Pompeii was rediscovered by archeologists and became an archeological site. They found lots of artifacts and well-preserved bodies. They preserved the bodies by pouring plaster or resin in the cavities.

   Archeologists found many artifacts and made a lot of discoveries about the Roman culture.

Monday, December 3, 2018

The Early Church

   After Jesus ascended into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit into each of his disciples making them each apostle. Apostle means "one who is sent out". The job of each apostle is found in the Great Commision, which we find in Matthew 28:19-20. It says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

   Here were some of the early apostles, Simon Peter, James, John, Philip, and Paul. Each of these men went to different corners of the world to preach the gospel. Some were even martyred because of their faith in Jesus. James was beheaded by Herod (not the Herod that tried to kill Jesus), but John was not martyred. He lived many years and died of old age. He also wrote many books of the Bible.

   Here is an interesting story about an apostle. One of the interesting things about him is that he did not start out as an apostle. Instead, he persecuted apostles. His name was Saul, but one day he met the Lord, repented of his sin, and became known as Paul, one of the greatest apostles in history.

   Because of men like Paul and the apostles, the gospel spread to all the corners of the world. Each man went to a different city and preached the gospel there. Some people believed the gospel and others rejected it, but Christianity still spread. Even though some died preaching the gospel, Christianity never stopped. I am a Christian because of these men.

Jesus' Birth

   An angel, named Gabriel, came to visit a young Jewish girl named Mary. Gabriel told Mary that she will have a Baby and she will call his name Jesus, but she was not married. Instead, she was engaged to a man named Joseph. She rejoiced that the Messiah would come through her. Throughout the Bible, many prophecies were told of Jesus' coming to earth. One was that he would be born in Bethlehem.

   After a census was called, Joseph took Mary to Bethlehem because Joseph was a descendant of David, and David's hometown was Bethlehem. Once they got there, there was no place for them to stay so they had to sleep in a stable and on that very night, Jesus was born.

   Out in the fields, shepherds were watching over their flock when all of a sudden, an angel appeared and told them that Jesus was born. After the angel left they wanted to see Jesus, so they ran to see Jesus. After they saw Jesus, they went throughout the city proclaiming that Christ has been born.

   Wise men, who were astronomers from the East saw Jesus' star and went to see Him. They met Herod, king of Judea and asked him where Jesus was born. After Herod heard this, he was furious and one of his men told him that Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem and then Herod told the Wise men this. The Wise men finally got to Jesus a year after he was born and gave him kingly gifts. These were gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

   When the Wise men left, they did not go to Herod. Instead, they went home a different way. When Herod realized he had been deceived by the Wise men, he demanded that all male children under three were to be killed. Before this happened, an angel told Joseph in a dream to go to Egypt and Joseph obeyed. In Egypt, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus waited until Herod was dead to return and an angel told Joseph it was safe to return so Joseph and his family went to Nazareth where Jesus grew up as a humble carpenter. I think Jesus' birth is amazing!

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Octavian Augustus Caesar

   Octavian was the grand-nephew of Julius Caesar, the first emperor of Rome. After Julius Caesar's death, Octavian returned to Rome to take revenge after his studying in Greece. He made a truce with Antony and Lepidus to become the Second Triumvirate to rule the people, but Octavian's hidden goal was to become the sole ruler. Octavian forced Lepidus to retire and Antony was the only one left, he became ruler of Rome. As ruler he expanded Rome's territory, he brought peace to Rome, and he refused to become dictator until his death, but instead, he became known as Emperor Caesar Augustus.

   Augustus ruled Rome for twenty-seven years. He organized the Praetorian guard who would become the body guard for the emperor, and he also set up governors over each of the provinces of Rome to make sure peace was maintained in the empire. The period of peace Augustus brought up was known as the Pax Romana. During the Pax Romana, he worked together with the Senate to improve Rome, and he reduced the size of the army to prevent a coup. He built lots of building and cared for the very poor people. Augustus called for a census of the entire Roman Empire which was the cause of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, the place where Jesus was born.

   Augustus died in 14 A.D. and the Romans declared him a Roman god. Is it amazing that Augustus lived the same time Jesus was born?

The Founding of Carthage

   Carthage was founded by Dido in 814 B.C. Dido was a Phoenician princess. When Dido's brother became king, she was afraid he was going to kill her, so she fled to found a new city. She named this city Carthage.

   Carthage was in North Africa. She talked the people of Africa into giving her as much land as a bull's hide can take up. This seems really stupid, but she actually used her trickery in this request by slicing the bull's hide into thin strips long enough to take up a huge tract of land to hound Carthage.

   Carthage followed in the pattern of Phoenicia civilization and Carthage also became a prosperous trading city. It traded three kinds of metals. These metals were tin, bronze, and silver.

   Carthage was very cool in its wars and trading center. I wonder what they traded at their trading center.

Rome's Military

   Rome had the most intimidating and effective army in antiquity the world has ever seen at that time. Whenever a war occurred, the citizens were called to the Field of Mars. Mars is the Roman name for Ares, the god of war. Wars usually lasted a few days, but if it lasted longer, the soldiers would get paid. The Roman military was known for its massive legions. Every original legion consisted of four thousand two hundred men, divided into four very different types and organized into "maniples". The maniples each had one hundred twenty soldiers and they were organized by experience levels. Commander Marius reorganized some of the army in 100 B.C. which means all citizens could join the army no matter how rich or poor they were. The new legion had five thousand soldiers.

   Life as a soldier in Rome was hard because the soldiers had to keep up with hard training exercises, you had to carry your own provisions, and the punishments were also very harsh in the army. In fact, they were so harsh, you could die. The parts of the Roman armor were very impressive. They had a helmet, a javelin, shoulder plates, body armor, dagger, sword, shield, woolen, tunic, and sandals or boots depending on the weather.

   I would want to be in the army. Would you want to be in the army?

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

The Roman Games

   Lucius Tarquinius Priscus was the very first king to be a great promoter of the Roman games and he outlined the area that would later become the Circus Maximus. The Circus Maximus was used for chariot races and foot races. Later in time, the Coliseum and other amphitheaters were built as an arena for watching all the other games that were held in Rome.

   The Circuit Maximus was one thousand eight hundred feet long and six hundred feet wide. Also, the stadium held up to two hundred fifty thousand people. Now that's a lot of people! Races consisted of up to twelve chariots and the race usually consisted of seven laps in length. The races were dangerous, you could get very injured, or even die, but if you're a good driver and win every race you are in, you will become a champion and will become rich and famous.

   The gladiator games are sort of an entertainment for people. There were two different times the games were held: the morning games and the afternoon games. The morning games were animal games. At the beginning of the game, participants paraded into the amphitheater and then the games began. Sometimes animals ought against gladiators and other times animals devoured defenseless criminals that the government catches. The afternoon games were when gladiators fought each other, often to the death. If you were a criminal fighting and you were very good at it, you could beg for mercy from the emperor. Sometimes the emperor would put his thumbs down, which means kill him, and sometimes the emperor would put his thumbs up, which means you are free. Sometimes the amphitheaters were so flooded, the gladiator had to fight on ships. There were at least twenty-five varieties of gladiators, but four of the most popular types are Samnite, Thracian, Retiarius, and Murmillo.

   The Circus Maximus and the amphitheater still exist today; however, the Roman games are very cruel when you think about it. I would not want to be in the Roman games.

Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Martius, and Lucius Tarquinius Priscus

   After a king of Rome died, the Senate of the government began ruling the people for about a year until the people wanted a king so the people chose Tullus Hostilius and the Senate accepted him as king. Tullus was a very warlike and violent man. When Rome was going to fight Alba, the general of Alba ran to the king and said that he didn't want to fight, so to settle the fight they would each chose a set of triplets from each city to duel and whoevers triplets won, that city would conquer the other city and Rome won the duel. when Rome went to fight a city, he called for aid from Alba; however, Alba did not come to his aid, so after the battle, Tullus executed the general of Alba for not coming to his aid even though they won the battle. Tullus died because lightning struck his house and he died in 642 B.C.

   Ancus Martius was the grandson of Numa Pompilius, the king before Tullus Hostilius. Because Ancus reigned during a time of war, he developed religious practices for times of war. Ancus died in 616 B.C.

   Lucius Tarquinius Priscus came from an Etruscan city named Tarquinia. After he became king, he sponsored Chariot racing. He died because the sons of Ancus Martius were jealous of him being king instead of them so they killed him.

   These kings are great kings. I think the best is Ancus Martius. Who do you think is the best?

Alexander the Great

   Alexander was the son of Philip II and was born in 356 B.C. Alexander had lots of courage and ambition. He demonstrated this by taming a great war horse which Philip gave to Alexander as a gift for taming the horse which he named Bucephalus. Alexander schooled and the famous philosopher Aristotle was his teacher. Homer was Alexander's favorite author. In fact, he loved him so much he carried a copy of the Iliad with him on his conquests in his later years. Alexander was 20 years old when he became king. He was given the name "The Great", because he never lost a battle.

   He began his conquests in 336 B.C. Alexander eventually conquered Greece and after conquering Greece, he turned to conquer Asia next. The first successful siege completed by Alexander was in Halicarnassus. He even fulfilled the prophecy of the Gordian knot. The Gordian knot is a knot that is almost impossible to untie, but Alexander untied the knot by slicing the knot with a sword, and when he was done, there were only tiny pieces, but the knot was not there, so he became the ruler of Asia. Alexander did not destroy Jerusalem, because a Greek king would conquer Jerusalem so Jerusalem was spared. Alexander then turned to defeat King Darius III and died in 330 B.C. He was killed by his own men who rebelled against him. Alexander kept calling for more troops from his home regions made them weakened over time.

   Alexander died in 323 B.C. and was a great man who had a great Empire. I wish I could be like him.

The Peloponnesian Wars

   There were three Peloponnesian wars. The city-states who fought against each other were Athens and Sparta. The first one began when Sparta did not let Athens rebuild the city wall and when Sparta did not accept reinforcements from Athens when they were trying to help. The first war began in 459 B.C. and was 15 years long. Because the city-states lost so many soldiers and possessions the city-state kings made a peace treaty which was called, "The Thirty Year's peace." Athens was the one guilty of breaking the peace treaty which lead into the next war.

   The second Peloponnesian war was called The Archidamion war and began in 432 B.C. it was hard for either Athens or Sparta to win a battle because Athens preferred naval battles while Sparta preferred land battles. In 430 B.C. a plague struck Athens and killed 30,000 people. After this happened there was no formal peace treaty that ended the wars. Instead, Athens was forced to go home and protect their city while Sparta asked the city-states' government that were around Sparta to help them in destroying Athens.

   For whatever reason, the Spartans did not destroy Athens quickly. This caused the Athenians to make a small comeback in the war. In 406 B.C. Athens won a naval victory, but could not destroy the Spartans so Athens chased them to the Hellespont, because that is where Athens got its grain, and without grain, Athens could not eat. Athens lost the war because the wall of their city was torn down, their naval fleet was destroyed, and all Athenian colonies were freed from obligations to the city. Athens was weakened by the Peloponnesian wars so it was easier for Alexander the Great to conquer them.

Esther

   Before Xerxes, king of Persia, could fight a war, he had a feast, and when he was having the feast, he told Vashti, queen of Persia, to come to him to show off her beauty. Vashti refused to come, so Xerxes dismissed her from being queen of Persia.

   After he came back from the war, he decided to choose a new queen so he had all the beautiful girls come into the palace and get ready. Well, one girl whose name was Hadassah, a Jewish lady, was raised by her cousin, Mordecai, was brought into the palace to get ready. Because Hadassah was a Jewish name, Mordecai changed her name to Esther. It took her a year to get ready!

   When the day came for Xerxes to chose his bride, all the girls were brought before him. He chose Esther to be the queen and married her.

   Haman was a descendant of King Agag and extremely hated the Jews. When Haman found out that Mordecai wasn't giving him the respect he thought he should be given, he wanted to kill all the Jews. He made a decree with the king that all Jews were to be killed on a specific day; however, he didn't say what kind of people it was. When Mordecai heard of the decree he went to Esther and asked her if she would ask the king to take the decree back. With courage, she went into the place the king was and asked him to have dinner with her. The king accepted and after the dinner was over, she asked him to have another dinner with her next week. He again accepted and on that night, Esther revealed Haman's plan to kill all the Jews. After she told of the plot, Xerxes was furious and had Haman and his entire family executed.

   Xerxes also made a second decree that said that the Jews could fight back and defend themselves against the Persians. He also gave them weapons and on the day the Jews were supposed to be killed, the Jews won the battle. In honor of her courageous act, the king held a feast called Purim and Mordecai got promoted in Haman's place.

   Esther did a great thing in saving the Jews. It took a lot of courage to go talk to the king. Do you think she did a courageous act?

Nehemiah

     Nehemiah was a Jew who lived during the time of King Artaxerxes. He was the King's cupbearer. When he heard about the construction of the walls of Jerusalem, he was very sad. One day the King realized he was sad and asked him what was the matter. Nehemiah asked permission to go to Jerusalem for a time and the King granted his request.

     Nehemiah took a people group with him to help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. When he got there he checked the damage of the walls and in the morning he planned out his plan. It was for each tribe to go to their part of the city and rebuild the walls there. Some of their enemies tried to interfere with the building of the walls of Jerusalem, however, the construction of the walls did not stop. The walls were rebuilt in 52 days! The people of Jerusalem lived in the city from 400 B.C. to 70 A.D. That's 470 years! Nehemiah was in a unique position to influence the king and he used that position to lead the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.

     God used Nehemiah in a special way to help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Don't you think so?

Monday, October 8, 2018

Thales, Archimedes, and Ptolemy

Thales is a philosopher who came from a wealthy family. He believed the earth was flat and had originated from water. He believed that the earth was just water and the son soaked up some of the water and land appeared. He also believed that sea creatures adapted to land and that is how we got land animals Same thing with people.

Archimedes was a mathematician who solved every math problem he was given. He also invented many inventions such as the catapult, the pully, the lever, and the water screw. One day, he set out to find out how much sand was in the universe. He set out to try to do this because he liked large numbers.

Ptolemy was a scientist who believed the earth was a sphere, not flat. He was right with this theory, but he was wrong about the earth's position. He believed that the earth was at the center of the Solar System and that the sun revolved around it; however, as we know today, the earth is not at the center of the Solar System and it revolves around the sun.

Some of these people have wrong theories about the earth, though some of their theories are correct. Would you believe their theories if you were alive when they were alive?

Hercules

Hercules was probably the most famous Greek myth and was a son of Zeus, a god of Mount Olympia. He was gifted with extraordinary strength and was the strongest man who ever lived. Hera, his mortal mom, did not like him having this gift, but the other gods did, in fact, protect him. His temper often got the best of him, so he went to the Oracle of Delphi and the oracle told him to visit King Eurystheus and work for him for ten years. He went to the king and did twelve impossible labors. The twelve labors were to slay the Nemean Lion, slay the nine-headed Hydra, capture the Golden Hind of Artemis, capture the Perymanthian Boar, clean the augean stables in a single day, slay the Stymphalian Birds, capture the Cretan Bull, steal the Maures of Diomedes, obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, obtain the cattle of the monster Gergon, steal the apples of Hespenides, and capture and bring back Ceuberus. Isn't that a lot?

Because of successfully completing these twelve impossible tasks, his mortal side died off and transformed into a god of Olympus. Because of becoming a god of Olympus he received a gift. This gift was a special winged house. He named it Pegasus and also became well known because of Pegasus. This is an epic Greek myth. Do you think it is?

Life in Sparta

Sparta was a really cruel culture and very unique in history. The Sparta government was really important but getting weak. The government thought it was because of family loyalty, so many extreme measures were taken to promote this. First, married couples could not be seen together, so they had to meet in secret. Then, instead of eating with their families, the boys had to eat every meal, every day in the military mess hall; even the king! Next, at the age of seven, all boys were sent to the military barracks to be trained to be soldiers to help in the military. The boys that were sent to the military lived a very hard life, even from a young age. They were not fed well, so to get healthy they had to steal food. If they stole food and got away with it, they could eat it, but if they were caught, they were beaten. I would not want to be a Spartan because I would not want to follow all those rules. Would you?

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

The Ancient Greek Olympics

The Greek Olympics started in 776 B.C. It happened at the foot of Mount Olympia. The Greeks thought the Greek gods lived on Mount Olympia, so they wanted to honor the Greek gods by doing the Olympics at the foot of Mount Olympia. It included foot racing, chariot racing, horse racing, javelin throwing, discus throwing, wrestling, boxing, and pentathlon.

Javelin and Discus throwing test the competitors for war. A javelin is a huge spear and a discus is a big round rock. Chariot racing is when the owner of a horse and chariot race against others, and horse racing is when the owner of a horse hires someone to ride his horse and win the competition for him.

The winners of the Olympics get a laurel wreath and a hero's welcome when they return home.

The Olympics ended in 395 A. D. because Emperor Theodosius proclaimed that the Olympics must end. Mount Olympia was struck by an earthquake and the track got really messed up, so the Olympics had to stop.

The Olympics lasted 1,171 years and happened every four years. Now that's a long time! I would have loved to be in the Ancient Greek Olympics; wouldn't you?

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

The Odyssey

The Odyssey was written by Homer, a bard or a Greet poet of the 8th-9th centuries B.C. The Odyssey is about Odysseus' (a hero of the Trojan War) return home. He faced many dangers, and because of these dangers, it took him ten years to return home.

First, on the voyage home, the wind blew him on an island, where people eat locust. When they eat it, they forget everything, so he left quickly. Then, the wind blew him on an island again. The island was full of Cyclopes, so he left quickly again. They landed on an island but left. Then the next island they came to was full of cannibals and destroyed all the ships except the one Odysseus commanded. and they left. Then he came to another island and saw a marble palace. It was the home of a witch, but she turned good and he stayed on her island for a year before he left. After he left, he knew they were getting near sirens (sea monsters with the body of a bird and the head of a woman), so he gave each of his crewmen earplugs and he was tied to the main mast. The earplugs are so that the crewmen could not hear the beautiful songs the sirens sing, and they got past unhurt. Then they came to an island with a monster with six heads and drowned six of the crewmen, but the rest got back safely. Then, when they landed on an island, their provisions began to fail, so they stole and cooked some fat cattle. All of a sudden, the skin and meat came to life and began killing them, so the rest left quickly.

When they were at sea, the ship broke into pieces, and all the men drowned except Odysseus. He hung to a log of the broken ship and washed up on an island shore. Someone lived on the island. It was calypso. She led him to a forest where he chopped down trees, build a raft, and set off for home. At sea, he was caught in another storm which broke his raft and hung to a log for two days and nights. Eventually, he washed up on another island, was found by the princess, was taken to the king, and a boat was made ready for him so he could go home. When they got to his island, he was asleep, so they let him sleep and left. When he awoke, he went to his house clothed as a beggar where his wife was waiting for him. He lived happily until his death. Isn't that an awesome ten-year adventure?

The Fall of Judah

God sent prophets to Judah to warn them of the destruction that was going to happen if they didn't repent of their sin. Judah was sent the prophets Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Jerimiah, and Ezekiel. None of the kings heeded the warnings of the prophets except the most wicked king. When he was in captivity, he repented of his sins. Then God freed him from captivity and he went back to Judah, tore down all the idols, and restored the worship of God.

Destruction did come because the Judeans didn't repent of their sins. The Babylonians came, conquered Judah, deported some of the Judeans, and set up a puppet king, Jedekiah. Because Jedekiah refused to send tribute to Nebuchadnezzar (the king of Babylon), he raided Judah and took everyone in the city captive, but he was eventually conquered by the Persians. The Persians liked the Judeans, so they let them go to rebuild Judah and the temple of God after spending 70 years in captivity.

During their captivity, the Judeans finally repented. If only they had repented earlier, they would not have been captured and their city wouldn't have been destroyed. I learned from this lesson that I should always obey God, even when things are hard.

The Kings of Judah

The first king of Judah was Rehoboam, who was the son of Solomon. He was king over the twelve tribes of Israel until they separated and ten tribes remained faithful to Israel and the other two tribes of Israel became known as Judah. He was a bad king because he set idols on high places and worshiped them. He was succeeded by his son, Abijah. Abija tried to reunite the tribes of Judah and Israel but was unsuccessful. He was a bad king because he followed the ways of his father. He was succeeded by his son Asa. Asa was a good king because he brought back the worship of God. He was succeeded by his son Jehoram. Jehoram was a bad king because he married a daughter of a king of Israel. His wife led him back to the worship of idols. He was succeeded by his son Ahaziah. Ahaziah reigned a short time before he was killed and his mother became queen. Her grandson, Joash, succeeded her. Joash started out as a good king, but when someone died, he brought back idol worship to Juday. He was succeeded by his son Amaziah. Amaziah was a good king for a short time, but then he also set up idols in Judah. He was succeeded by his son Uzziah. Uzziah was a good king because he did many great things for the kingdom of Judah, but he died because of leprosy for doing a horrible sin and was succeeded by his son Jothan. He was a good king because he was a faithful godly king, but his people worshiped idols. He was succeeded by his son Ahaz. Ahaz was a bad king because he erected many idols and committed many sins. He was succeeded by his son Hezekiah. Hezekiah was a great king because he was quick to clean out the temple, tear down the idols, restore the worship of God, and many more great things. He was succeeded by his son Manasseh. Manasseh was a bad king because he brought back the worship of idols, but before he died he repented of his sin, returned to Judah from captivity, and removed all the idols from Judah. He was succeeded by his son Amon. Amon was a bad king because he continued to worship idols. He did not repent and was succeeded by his son Josiah. Josiah is the last king of Judah and made repairs to the temple. While people were doing this, the book of the Law was rediscovered. Josiah had someone read it to him. Josiah found out it was God's law and told his people to worship God and follow him. He died in battle and the people of Juday mourned for him many days, but they continued to worship God. Was that amazing?

David

God led Samuel to a new king after Saul's sins. God led Samuel to a house where he would find a new king. The person He led him to was David, son of Jesse. He was just a shepherd boy, and he played the harp. When King Saul was troubled, he asked David to play the harp for him. Saul asked David to do this many times. This gave David the opportunity to find out how Saul responded to his people.

One day, the three oldest sons of Jesse went to help Saul fight the Philistines. 40 days past and the three sons had not come back, so Jesse told David to check on them and while he is there to give them food. So, David went to the camp and do you know what he saw? He saw a giant! Its name was Goliath. He told the entire camp that they an Israelite to fight and the Israelites won they would be their servants, but if Goliath won, the Israelites would be their servants. So, David told the king he was going to fight Goliath. Then he traveled to a stream, picked up five smooth stones, and trampled to the place where he would fight Goliath. After he got there, Goliath said, "Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks?" David answered, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, whom you have defied... For the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hand." Then, he got one of the stones he had, put it in his sling, swung it, and threw it at Goliath. It hit and sunk into his forehead. Then, he ran up to Goliath, drew his sword from his sheath, and cut Goliath's head off! The Philistines were afraid so they ran away, but the soldiers ran after them and won. Isn't David's life extraordinary?

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Samuel

When Samuel wasn't born yet, his mother kept praying for a baby in the temple. She also said to God, "I will dedicate him to you if you give me a son." She probably kept doing this for months. Then one day, she had a son and named him Samuel. His mother took him to the temple when he was weaned to dedicate him to the Lord. She also gave him to Eli, the temple's priest to take care of him. He served in the temple for years. Then, one night, God called to him. Samuel thought it was Eli and goes to his room and says, "You called me so here I am!" Then Eli says, "I didn't call you. Go back to sleep." This happened three times, then Eli knew God was calling him. So he said to Eli, "When you hear someone call you, say, 'Speak Lord, for your servant hears.'" So Samuel goes to bed and God calls him again. Then Samuel said, "Speak Lord, for your servant hears." Then God told Samuel, "I am going to do something the land of Israel has never seen before."

God does fulfill this prophecy and makes Israel lose a battle. Ark of the Covenant also has been stolen. After this, Eli died. The Ark was bringing diseases among the people who stole it, so they gave it back to the Israelites. By this time, Samuel was now a judge.

The Israelites wanted a king, so God told Samuel to anoint a man named Saul. Saul does three sins which made him not a king anymore. These sins were offering a burnt sacrifice even though he wasn't a priest, made a foolish oath, and not destroying all the Amorites as he was commanded. Samuel found out that Saul had spared the Amorite king and the best of the animals. After Samuel got to Saul, Saul said, "The best animals I spared are to be used for burnt sacrifices." Then Samuel said, "To obey is better than sacrifice." You will not be king anymore and your son will not take your place as king."

After Samuel anoints someone else (who is David) to be king, but Saul is still king so after that he died. Isn't that sad?

What Can Happen When We Don't Obey God's Will

In the Bible, there were a lot of people sho proceded against God's will. God judged Egypt for not letting his people go. He judged the land by sending ten plagues. There were lice, frogs, flies, and so much more. Egypt was judged when they rebelled against God's will.

Israel also plummeted into wickedness. They complained about the food God had given them, so God sent poisonous snakes to the Israelites and a lot of Israelites died. God saved them by telling Moses to make a bronze snake and anyone who looked at it would live. Sadly, God had to judge the Israelites this way.

God judged Balaam in a scary way. God told him not to go somewhere, but he floundered. So God sent an angel to block the road. His donkey saw it, but Balaam didn't. He tried to get his donkey back on the road. Suddenly, the donkey started talking. Then God opened his eyes and he saw the angel. Balaam started worshiping it. Balaam said, "I will go back if you want me to." Then, the angel said, "I would have killed you but spared the donkey if he hadn't stopped, but go on." Isn't that a scary judgment?

God used judgments like ten plagues, snakes, and killing people to punish them for careening against His will. God also judged several different people in multiple ways. Some may happen in your life.

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Living Through the Plagues

This year has been the craziest year of my life. Two months ago, we were in slavery when a guy named Moses, who used to be an Egyptian prince, told us that he was going to free us from Egypt. We didn't think he could, because Pharoh would never let us go. The next day, Moses did wonderful signs to try to make Pharoh let us go.

First, we didn't have any water because Moses turned all the water in the land of Egypt to blood, but Pharoh would not let us go. Then, we had to deal with frogs, but Pharoh would still not let us go. Then, we had to deal with lice, but Pharoh would still not let us go. Thank the Lord the plagues 4-10 did not harm us. Only plagues 1-3 harmed us. The 4th plague was flies, the 5th plague was animal livestock dying, the 6th plague was boils on the Egyptians, the 7th was hailstones and storms, the 8th was locust (grasshoppers), and the 9th was darkness, but Pharoh would still not let us go. We were safe from plagues 4-9 at Goshen.

Now the last plague was tragic for all the Egyptians, even Pharoh. It was when the angel of death killed all the firstborn of all the Egyptian families. We were to prepare for this plague by putting lamb's blood on the doorposts and lintel on the Hebrew houses. That night, the Angel of Death passed over the houses with the lamb blood on it, but it killed all the firstborn of the Egyptians. After that plague, Pharoh finally let us go. Who knows what lies ahead?

Egyptian Death and the Afterlife

The Egyptians were fascinated with their death and the afterlife. We see this because of their interest in spirits. There are two spirits, the Ha and the Ba. After you die, the Ba goes to watch over your family and the Ha goes to enjoy a certain kind of land. At night, they go to the tomb in which the person of whom they belong to rest for the next day. The Egyptians painted food pictures on the walls of the tomb so the spirits could turn the food pictures into real food, so they could eat and live eternally.

The Egyptians make someone a mummy when they die. To make a mummy, the Egyptians first take the brain out through the nose. Then they take out the internal organs and store them in canopy jars. They put the body in oils then leave it in the oils for about 70 days. After those 70 days, they wrap the body in linen, then put the mummy in a sarcophagus, then they bury it.

The Egyptians don't just bury people in the ground. They were also buried in pyramids. They said that if you were really rich, you could be buried with your riches, but the holes in the ground weren't big enough for all the dead person's riches, so they built huge pyramids so a dead person can be buried in it and hold all of their riches. There are pyramids that are still around today, so archeologists can study them and find out how the Egyptians lived.

Saturday, August 25, 2018

The 39 Foot Giant

Today the 39-foot tall statue of Ramesses II was moved to the Mit Rahina Museum in the Ancient Capital, Memphis. Memphis is near modern-day Cairo.

I asked a mover about how he felt about the statue. He told me, "It was hard work moving it to the museum." Another mover told me, "It was amazing artwork." I also asked a geologist what was it made of. He said, "It was made of red granite."

I asked a mover about how they moved it to the museum. He said, "It was too big to move, so we had to cut it into 3 pieces to move it." I was amazed. I also asked him how heavy it was. He said, "About 38 tons." Now that's a big and heavy statue!

In order to reduce the risk of damaging the statue while it is being delivered, they wrapped the parts in rubber. They delivered the parts in three separate trucks. It took 30 men to complete the task. The entire process took 3 months to complete.

The museum's curator, Dr. Ahmed Basara, is extremely excited to be receiving this piece of Egyptian history. Dr. Ahmed is expecting at least 10,000 people to show up at the museum that day. In fact, an average of 13,000 people arrived at the museum to see it!

Friday, August 24, 2018

God's Sovereignty

Sovereignty is when God says something and makes it happens. god told Abraham to go to Cannan. Later on, in history, Cannan is where the Israelites lie. God also tells Abraham that he will have a son when he is 100 years old and his wife, Sarah, is 90 years old! Sarah thought she was too old, but guess what? She had a baby and they named him Isaac.

Isaac married Rebekah, which one of his father's servants found him, and had two children. their names were Esau and Jacob. Isaac had to have children to carry on the promise that God gave Abraham. the promise was that his relatives will be as many as all of the stars and as many as all of the grains of sand.

God promised that Israel would come from the line of Jacob, not Esau. One day when Esau came back from hunting, Jacob was preparing a pot of stew. Esau was like, "I want a bowl of stew." So Jacob said to Esau, "Give me the birthright and you can have a bowl of stew." Esau willingly offered the birthright to Jacob. When Isaac was about to die, he told Esau to hunt and make him a bowl of stew and he will give him the blessing. When he went to hunt, Rebekah and Jacob hurried to make a stew and get it to Isaac before Esau can come back. Rebekah also made a disguise for Jacob to look and feel like Esau, but Isaac was blind, so he can only feel. After he gave Isaac the stew, he gave Jacob the blessing. After Esau found out about Jacob, Jacob had to run away because Esau wanted to kill him. He ran away to his uncle Laman. He wanted to marry one of his daughters. That is the beginning of God's sovereignty with Israel. One way I see God's sovereignty in my life is that He put me into my family.

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

General Revelation

God has revealed Himself through creation. I see Him in the way flowers grow. I see God in how He created the Heavenly bodies. God has revealed Himself to us because we are made in His image.

The Bible says God is a God of order, not chaos. Flowers only produce the same kind of flower. This is because God told His creation to produce after its own kind. God also ordered the heavenly bodies into their exact locations. We know this because if the earth was any closer to the sun, the earth would burn up and explode. Also, if the earth was any farther away from the sun, the earth would be too cold to have any life on it and the earth would just be a frozen ice block. God put the earth in the perfect place. God is the only one that can give life. We are made in His image because we are the only created beings with a soul.

After the Tower of Babel, the three different tribes scattered across the earth. The parents stopped teaching their children about God. They began to worship the creation instead of the Creator. They chose to ignore God. Unlike the early civilizations, I choose to worship God because I see Him revealed in His creation.

World Tour: Ancient Africa

Africa has a lot of geographical features. It has the Sahara desert, the Nile river, rainforests, jungles, the Safari, Lake Victoria, and Mountain ranges. Africa has lots of animals too. My favorite African animal is the lion.

The Nubian civilization lived there too. The Nubian civilization developed in Sudan. They traded and interacted with Eygpy because it was the closest civilization to trade and interact with. The Nok civilization lived there as well. They developed in Nigeria. Two of their most impressive skills were iron working and terracotta pottery.

Some of the early people of Africa are the Bushmen, the Pigmies, the Carthage, and the Bantu speakers. A possible reason for our lack of knowledge of Ancient African civilizations is because they didn't leave any written records.

If I was at The Tower of Babel

If I was working at the Tower of Babel, I would want to be a builder. And I would want to have the Spanish language. I would feel lonely until I found people who spoke my language. I would want to live in the Middle East because it grows a lot of food and it's very mild. I chose to live here because it's cool enough for me to build houses for people to live in and to build fences to protect the livestock. I had some of my friends help me out too.

I also had a family. My wife and two boys and three girls. I was living in the plains. Perfect place for my livestock to grow. My boys learned how to farm and my girls learned how to cook and help their mother around the house.

I also built a plow so the oxen that I had could plow the fields. I also built a wagon so my boys could carry the food that we grow. When I'm not building things, I help my boys butcher animals. The animals we have are horses, cows, rabbits, pigs, a cat, and a dog. We butcher the cow, rabbits, and pigs. We ride the horses. We play with the cat and dog. Though I only help them with they are butchering an animal. We also have to take baths when we were done. we also live near a stream in the plains so that we can get water to drink and to pour in a big bucket so that we can take baths. The boys also have to get the food; to put in the wagon and pull it inside for the girls to can and cook the food.

Life on the plains in the Middle East is really cool. You should try it.

---The End.