Alternative to Omnibus for Ancient History

[Saddlemomma]

Although DD is only in 8th right now, I'm already planning for 9th because...well...it's going to be HIGH SCHOOL, and I'm nervous about it.  A while ago, I thought we would do Western Civ using Wes Callahan's Greeks & Romans.  However, DD has told me she really wants to do an in-depth study of the ancient civilizations during biblical times.  This all stems from Bible class last year using the book, Unseen Realm.

 

I thought that Omnibus would be a likely starting point, and fill that in with an ANE academic book similar to Unseen Realm.  However, with all the hoopla with Veritas and plagiarism, I'm not sure I want to go there.  Added to the dilemma is the fact that DD only wants to learn from instructors that have a firm grasp of ANE languages and ANE history so that everything will be in context  AND wouldn't it be great if we could add the myths and stories from these other civilizations into the mix as they occurred in conjunction with the Bible. Uh....yeah....sure....let me just go whip something up!

 

So, during copious research, God was VERY good to me, and I stumbled upon Dr. Bruce W. Gore.  Now, I haven't found out if he can read the ancient languages, but he has taught high school and is currently a professor at Whitworth University in Spokane, WA.  His students give him very good reviews.  Since I can't find anything in the realm of what he teaches, I'm going to run with it,

 

He has a series of 37 lectures on YT entitled, "

" in which he also discusses literature such as Enuma Elish and Gilgamesh, as well as the history of the ancient civilizations encountered in the Bible through 70 AD.  YES! Score!  Not only that, but he has a book he's authored entitled: Historical and Chronological Context of the Bible as a companion text to viewing the lectures, AND on his website he provides Teacher aides in the form of quizzes, handouts and PowerPoint slides for this course!

 

I plan to pair those two resources with:

• The Epic of Gilgamesh (From Penguin Classics for ease of reading)
• Ancient Egyptian Literature: An Anthology
• Hidden Riches: A Sourcebook for the Comparative Study of the Hebrew Bible & ANE (this book contains the most important ancient documents & lit that correspond with the Bible. For instance under Creation, this book contains Genesis from the Bible paired with Enuma Elish. The story of Moses is paired with the story of the birth of Sargon, etc. I can see lots of compare/contrast essays in DD's future.)
• A History of the ANE (As a secular resource)
• Various lectures about Ancient History from the Great Courses Plus and YT documentaries as we touch upon each civilization
• Myths From Mesopotamia (this contains Gilgamesh in the original Babylonian form as well as the standard)
• Various standard lit selections from our library: Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Plato, Euripides, Herodotus, Homer, Virgil, etc. as I can fit them in)

I plan to use this course for 3 credits: ANE World History, Theology/Bible, Lit/Composition.  Do you all think this will be enough to support 3 credits?  If not, what do I need to add?

[mom31257]

I know this is an old thread, but those look like awesome resources! I would think that will be more than 3 credits worth but certainly at least 3. 

 

Are you still planning to use all of this, or has your plan changed?

Edited April 27, 2017 by mom31257

[Saddlemomma]

I know this is an old thread, but those look like awesome resources! I would think that will be more than 3 credits worth but certainly at least 3. 

 

Are you still planning to use all of this, or has your plan changed?

 

I'm still planning for all this, however, I'm separating the classes into 3 (Ancient History; Bible; Literature) @ 80/class on a block schedule.  It's easier to fit it all in that way. DD is excited about the books and because she likes to go DEEP, this will give her more time.  If you can believe it, we've actually added books (including portions of Wes Callahan's The Greeks & Romans)!!  :svengo:

 

If you're interested, you can see the whole scope of our 9th-grade year in the 9th-grade planning thread. It's daunting....but it's what DD wants, and she stuck through everything except Spanish this year. So, we'll give it a whirl...

 

Sorry!  Edited to add it's Post #61.

Edited April 27, 2017 by Saddlemomma2

[mom31257]

I'm still planning for all this, however, I'm separating the classes into 3 (Ancient History; Bible; Literature) @ 80/class on a block schedule.  It's easier to fit it all in that way. DD is excited about the books and because she likes to go DEEP, this will give her more time.  If you can believe it, we've actually added books (including portions of Wes Callahan's The Greeks & Romans)!!  :svengo:

 

If you're interested, you can see the whole scope of our 9th-grade year in the 9th-grade planning thread. It's daunting....but it's what DD wants, and she stuck through everything except Spanish this year. So, we'll give it a whirl...

 

Sorry!  Edited to add it's Post #61.

 

Ahh, that's where I had seen the Bruce Gore information before!