Customer Reviews

The Archaeology Book (Wonders of Creation) (Wonders of Creation Series)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

David Down became interested in archaeology in 1958. Since then he has excavated in Israel every year. In "The Archaeology Book" Down shares his love for archeology, an up close look at his findings throughout the years, and a superb crash course in the field of archaeology.

"The word archaeology is derived from two Greek words: arche, meaning `beginning,' and logos, meaning `word,' and that sums it up - words about beginnings. Archaeologists are digging up the past, reconstructing history, finding out what happened, when it happened, and how it happened, and a piece of broken pottery may tell us more than a golden death mask." - Down

Despite being only ninety-six pages long, the book is large in size and contains a lot of information along with an abundance of excellent, high quality photos. The way the book is laid out makes it a fun read. Although the book was developed for junior high and high school students, anyone with an interest in archaeology will gain a lot of information from it, especially if they are a novice in the field. With three education levels in mind, Down breaks information into three color coded areas and adds interesting bonus areas such as "Words to Know", "Wonder Why", "Reflections", "Dig Deeper", and even excerpts from his "Field Journal", which contains insights from his archaeological discoveries throughout the years.

In eleven chapters Down shares:

* Why Carbon 14 dating is unreliable

* Evidence of the global flood

* Who the Spartans were and why they excelled in the art of war

* Some background information on Esther

* The Dead Sea Scrolls

* A lot of information about the "lost" city of Petra

* Why the discovery of a cemetery is so valuable to an archaeologist

* And much more!

Down gives his readers much more than Archeology: 101 in this work and will leave many readers with an appetite for more. It has been said that the Bible is, "historically accurate, prophetically amazing, and archeologically sound." The information in this book helps to show the truth of that statement.

As a kid, I had many backyard archaeological adventures, that in my childhood mind rivaled the excitement of the most recent Indiana Jones movie. Fortunately, my love of archaeology was more than just a passing boyhood fascination. It is an interest and passion that has stuck with me all the way into adulthood. Being somewhat of a self-proclaimed Bible nerd, archaeology of the Ancient Near East has always been a pet subject. As a homeschooling father, I have been searching for age appropriate resources to introduce my children to the exciting history and archaeology of the peoples of the Ancient Near East. Unfortunately my college archaeology textbooks just won't do as they are way too wordy for my 8 year old and don't have nearly enough pictures (let alone color pictures) for my 5 year old. For some time now, I have been on the lookout for a book with engaging color pictures, maps and drawings as well as biblically-relevant content that is accessible for a broad range of age groups. The Archaeology Book published by Master Books is exactly the type of resource I have been looking for.

The Archaeology Book is the latest addition to the Wonders of Creation series. One distinct enhancement in this book over previous books in the series is that the chapters have been organized with three educational levels in mind. Level 1 content is coded yellow and is appropriate for 5th-6th graders, level 2 content is coded blue/gray and is appropriate for 7-8th graders, and level 3 content is coded white and is appropriate for 9th-11th graders. I believe this change enhances the return on investment for this book, allowing it to be more effectively used across multiple grade levels. A more detailed explanation of this new layout is found on page 5 of the book. I expect this layout will be also be utilized for future books in the Wonders of Creation series.

This book is by no means small, coming in at just under one hundred pages. The topics are divided across eleven chapters. Topics covered include:

* Chapter 1: What Archaeology is all About

* Chapter 2: Land of Egypt

* Chapter 3: The Hittites

* Chapter 4: Assyria

* Chapter 6: Babylon: City of Gold

* Chapter 7: Persia

* Chapter 8: Petra

* Chapter 9: The Phoenicians

* Chapter 10: The Dead Sea Scrolls

* Chapter 11: Israel

Each chapter begins with five questions related to the who, what where, why and how of the chapter's topic. This is especially useful for letting readers know the key information they should be watching for as they work through the chapter. There are many words used in the book that may be new to younger readers. Each of the chapters with especially difficult or unique words includes a list of key terms (i.e. words to know). Definitions for these words can be found in the glossary / index on pages 94-95 at the back of the book.

From beginning to end, readers of all ages will be captivated by the numerous full-color photos, maps, and detailed drawings found throughout the entire book. Children and adults will come away from this book with a better appreciation for the archaeology and history of the peoples of the Ancient ear East. I especially appreciated that David Down makes a good case for how the biblical record fits well with the ongoing discoveries being made in Ancient Near Eastern archaeology. He does an excellent job of putting the people groups in a biblical context, relating biblical accounts of the many people groups mentioned throughout the book. Based on the new content organizational structure, the general age range for this book is fifth through eleventh grades. While this is the target age range, my children as young as five listened intently and enjoyed the many pictures. We will be using The Archaeology Book as supplemental material for year one of Tapestry of Grace homeschool curriculum. If you are planning on incorporating The Archaeology Book into your homeschooling curriculum, you will want to download a copy of the great printable study guide that is available as a free PDF on the Master Books web site.

Author Information:

David Down has experienced the wonders of archaeological discoveries in Egypt, the Middle East and Israel for over 48 years. David shares his latest discoveries in a monthly archaeology journal called "Diggings," and a bi-monthly magazine called "Archaeological Diggings" produced and distributed in the United States.

Disclaimer:

This book was provided by Master Books for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

Who said the subject of archaeology is old & dusty. Pick up this book & you're in a fascinating world. Great pictures & readability make this a winner. Put this together with a Bible, Josephus & some other reputable books & next thing you'll know, you'll want to join a "dig!" And my guess is that you'll find something worthwhile. There's still plenty of digging to be done!

We homeschool our five children and I find all of the books in this series (Wonders of Creation) wonderfully helpful in our studies. We tend to be very eclectic in our method of schooling, basically creating our own "unit studies" around certain topics. If we want to study something, we find books related to that topic and we study it so thoroughly that the children basically retain the information forever. Homeschooling is such a blessing and I am grateful that publishers such as Master Books have made it so much easier by providing helpful, Bible-based materials to supplement our educational endeavors.

Sonya Haskins, homeschool mom and author of Homeschooling for the Rest of Us: How Your One-of-a-Kind Family Can Make Homeschooling and Real Life Work

"The Archaeology Book" is a publication of the Wonders of Creation multi-age format series, which allow the book to be used to teach at three different levels differentiated by color. Level One, on yellow background, is for 5th-6th grades and focuses on the who, what, where, why, and how questions of important archaeological and historical information. Level Two, text on blue-gray background, aims at grades 7-8 and digs deeper into historical/archaeological issues and discoveries, with added sections titled Words to Know and Reflections. Level Three, on white background, is suitable for 9th-11th grades and presents all previous material plus a section called Dig Deeper that "takes the reader into controversial and critical issues pertaining to historical accounts, chronologies, dating methods, and more." "The Archaeology Book" is a great introduction to archaeology and ancient history of the Middle Eastern lands of biblical times, including Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Jordan. As an introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls, findings of modern archaeologists in Jerusalem and Palestine, and much more information, "The Archaeology Book " is a valuable resource for teachers and students ages 10 and up. "The Archaeology Book" contains a glossary, free downloadable study guide, and countless full color photographs of famous sites and digs and relics.

"The Archaeology Book" is educational nonfiction about archaeology, with a focus on Bible-related archaeology, for grades 5-8. The full-color photographs of ancient ruins, digs, etc., were lovely, and the maps were useful. I liked the "David Downs Journal" sections which told of his experiences while on digs. Other archaeologists were also quoted describing a find or commenting on archaeology. There was a glossary in the back, though most words were either explained in the text or could be figured out from the context.

The book started with information on archaeology, like how a dig is laid out, what archaeologists look for, what that tells them, how layers are given a date, and why there can be controversy among archaeologists about the interpretation of a find. Then the book covered various Middle Eastern civilizations: Israel, Egypt, the Hittites, Ur, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Petra, and the Phoenicians. It told how the civilization was "found" again by archaeologists, where the civilization was located, and information about those kings mentioned in the Bible or Biblical events related to that civilization. (For those who care, the author's alignment of ancient civilizations to the Bible was based on Courville's & Velikovsky's ideas.)

There was a section on the Dead Sea Scrolls. It described ancient writing, writing material, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, where they were found, what was found, and how the scrolls were pieced back together. He described how critics said the Bible was full of copying errors, so I was very surprised and disappointed that he never explained that the Dead Sea Scrolls showed how accurately the Bible had been copied over thousands of years. He did mention that the many copies of the book of Daniel in the find meant that they thought Daniel was a genuine book of prophesy, but that's about it.

Overall, the information was very good and was presented in an easy-to-understand and interesting fashion. The more difficult topics, like carbon-14 dating and the reasons for revising the Egyptian chronology, could have been explained in a little more depth, in my opinion, for the high schoolers. I think high schoolers would find the book pretty basic.

The book had three levels of information. Grades 5 & 6 are supposed to read the sections with the yellow background. Grades 7 & 8 can read the sections with the yellow background and the blue background. Grades 9-11 can read all the sections (including those with the white background). Sometimes, this worked out. Other times, the information would be disjointed and confusing if read this way. For example, several times a story was being told and the background would switch from white to yellow (or blue) under the text of the story. Yet the yellow (or blue) section would make no sense without reading the white section first.

The book as a whole seemed appropriate for grades 5-8. Personally, I'd recommend ignoring the colored backgrounds, letting the child read the whole thing, and helping anytime they have trouble. I've explained much more advanced chronological ideas to a 6th grader with no problem, so it may be just a matter of the child's reading level.

I'd recommend this book as an interesting introduction to Biblical archaeology for tweens on up...as long as the reader also takes time to learn about how the Dead Sea Scrolls confirm the Bible's accuracy.

I received this book as a review copy from the publisher.

The Archaeology Book is the latest book in the Wonders of Creation series put out by Master Books. David Down puts over 40 years of archaeological knowledge into this book to provide the reader with unique insights into the field of archaeology.

The book is set up in a multi-level format: level one - 5th to 6th grade, level two - 7th to 8th grade, and level three - 9th to 11th grade. As the levels get higher, the topics and information go more in depth. The first level covers the basics of who, what, where, why, and how. The second level allows the reader to reflect more on the information and includes words to know. The final level, level three, encourages readers to deep deeper into the subject matter. In addition to the different levels of study, readers will find tidbits from David Down in the form of DD's Journal.

Topics covered in this book include: What is Archaeology?, Land of Egypt, The Hittites, Ur of the Chaldees, Assyria, Babylon: City of Gold, Persia, Petra, The Phoenicians, The Dead Sea Scrolls, and Israel. The book includes a brief glossary in the back. The book contains numerous beautiful photographs and illustrations to capture the readers attention and encourage their imagination.

I found this to be a very nice resource to anyone who wants to start a study on archaeology or for reference material when studying different Biblical times.

I received a copy of this book from Master Books for the purpose of an honest review.

Master Books has done it again! I always enjoy reviewing their books as they make teaching and learning fun. The Archaeology Book by David Down is no exception.

The book is written to be used as independent or family reading. Each page is color-coded for independent reading: Yellow or Level One for 5th-6th grade; Blue or Level Two for 7th & 8th grades; and White or Level Three for 9th-11th grades. When used in a multi-age, family reading program, the material can be read and discussed aloud to help the younger ones understand some of the more difficult concepts.

The subject matter covers the definition of archaeology, as well as specific historical and cultural information related to the archaeology of Egypt, the Hittites, Ur of the Chaldees, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Petra, the Phoenicians, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Israel. The information is provided from a Christian perspective.

Beautifully illustrated with photos, diagrams and maps, this book is one you'll want to keep on your shelves. I like this book so much, I incorporated into a unit study called, Archaeology and the Bible.

First, let me say that I own all the books in the Wonders of Creation Series. I think they are great. That said, this book isn't that great. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but I found it disappointingly, well, shallow. I don't like the format change at all, and why did they stop putting the pull out poster in the back? Those are great. Perhaps it is because I have been an amatuer archaeologist since I've been about 10, but this book didn't really cover any new ground for me. I would recommend the book, Unwrapping the Pharohs, also by David Down, for a much better take on the subject. I suppose if you just want to introduce the subject to youngsters who have never heard of archaeology--and I am talking about young elementary school students--it would suffice as a primer.

The Archaeology Book is a fascinating, biblical study that can be used as an independent unit study or as a supplement to a more comprehensive Bible or history curriculum. The book begins with a basic introduction to archaeology, and then explores several Old Testament civilizations, concluding with Israel. Each chapter is divided into three learning levels: 5th to 6th grades, 7th to 8th grades, and 9th through 12th grades. Even though one of the learning levels targets 9th through 12th grades, many high school age students may not find the book's content very challenging. The way the information is presented in each chapter is ideal for 5th through 8th grades, with the "digging deeper" material being more appropriate for an advanced 7th grader or an 8th grader. There are no activities integrated with this study, but each chapter does begin with five questions related to the chapter that focus on who, what, where, why, and how.