This week in 534 BCE, Thespis of Icaria became the first person we know of to portray a character on stage in ancient Greece. He sang about myths to an audience in Athens. But rather than just narrating by song, he played the various characters in the story, using masks to differentiate them. Thespis also

On this day in 1822, Jean-Francois Champollion announced that he had deciphered the Rosetta Stone, twenty-three years after its discovery. The Rosetta Stone records a 196 BC decree from the reign of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes of Egypt, and it’s written in 3 different languages. That made it the key to translating ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs,

The Jericho River just got a wonderful review/endorsement from Ancient History Encyclopedia! To read it, just click the headline or the image below … Get Your Kids Interested in World History!  

The ancient Greeks believed an island empire ruled the sea in the distant past. The lords of Atlantis built a mighty civilization, but their pride eventually angered the gods, who destroyed their island with earthquakes and fire, sending it beneath the sea. Atlantis in Comic Books, Fantasy … and History? The Atlantis myth has fascinated

We’ve posted a new excerpt from The Jericho River! It’s an exciting scene where Jason and his companions stumble into Minoan Crete — that odd, ancient land hovering between the Middle East and Greece/Europe. And it’s one of many great examples of the book’s use as a supplemental text for social studies classes — at

How an Unusual Novel and an Ohio Teacher Are Repackaging History Education A high school teacher in Ohio has done some smart, creative instruction with my novel, The Jericho River. This post describes her lesson-building and offers ideas on teaching with the book — along with links to sample lesson plans — in high school and

During the early 400’s BC, an alliance of plucky little Greek city-states beat back an invading superpower. Athens, Sparta, and their allies defeated the Persian Empire twice, in fact. Westerners often see the Persians’ defeat as a victory for freedom. The Movie “300,” for instance, casts the Greeks as freedom-fighters who saved Europe from an Asiatic