Histories and Mysteries

Today's article is the Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt Tag. Anna over at Intertwining Melodies did this in a vlog already. I would have done it in a vlog, but I couldn't find the time to record this; additionally, everyone will be able to see the book covers way better in pictures. I will not go through a summary of the book, but I will include links to reviews if those exist on my blog. Without further ado, here are the categories and my selections. Find a book with a key on it // Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah The American cover for Closed Casket has a gold key on the front, back, and spine. On the key is a silhouette of Hercule Poirot, the detective of the book. The book actually doesn't have to do with a key; it's more of a figurative picture of the answer to the mystery. Find a classic // The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne This is one of my favorite classics of all time (as I might have said multiple times). I read the novel for 11th grade l...

  I decided to put the Introductions to Israel in one post and put Israel's brief history in this post just so each category can be kept together. Here is the brief history of Israel including what I wrote in the last geography article. I will go through a very brief history of Israel before this article is over. Israel began with its patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God called Abraham out from Ur in Babylon or Chaldea in about 2000 BC. All three of the patriarchs wandered in Canaan without a nation of actual borders. One day, Jacob's son Joseph gets sold by his brothers to a Midianite caravan who took him to Egypt. By interpreting Pharaoh's dreams, Joseph alerts Pharaoh that seven years of plenty were to be followed with seven years of famine. Pharaoh makes Joseph second in command over all Egypt. Joseph's brothers come for food and eventually, Joseph tells them to bring all of their families to live in Goshen which was probably in the eastern Nile Delta. ...

Before I get to the rest of the post, I wanted to say that tomorrow is my one-year blogoversary!!! It has been a pleasure to share history, geography, and literature with all of you readers the past year and I hope that there will be more exciting posts to come in the upcoming year. For our history articles, we should be talking about Sumer for two more weeks. This week is about Sumerian industry, religion, and society. I'm going to try to put together what is sort of a Sumerian "portfolio" and show pictures of craftsmanship and other things including ziggurats or their inventions. But that is for next time. Industry is basically a skill that the culture uses to make their money and keep their economy going. In Sumer, agriculture and craftsmanship are examples of their industry. Some cultures' religion could be considered an industry as well. We spoke about agriculture and the inventions in the first article about Sumer . I will speak about the craftsmanship wi...

This is the second installment of my 2018 Easter series. I didn't expect to do two posts over the resurrection, but it just ended up that way. In the last article ( False Theories about the Resurrection ), I refuted several theories stating that the resurrection never took place. What I didn't write about is why those stories came about. For example, no one tries to disprove Julius Caesar's death. Nobody alive today was there to see him get stabbed, yet most people have no trouble believing that he was killed. I bet that most people don't even know how we know Julius Caesar was killed (Plutarch wrote about it in his biography about Julius Caesar, if you were wondering) No one makes up "theories" to state that Julius Caesar was never killed. It is proven as a historical fact from the accounts of the day. That's how we know much of what happened in the past. And we usually don't question those accounts unless we find another that contradicts it. O...

Hello, everyone! It has been two weeks since I posted a new article, but I hope you were able to check out the updated ones in that time period. Yesterday was Easter Sunday as well as April Fool's Day, and my pastor preached about the false theories that surround the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, regardless of the evidence, many people buy into the lies that undermine the resurrection, one of the greatest events in all of history. And even worse, unlike simple pranks, false theories have dire consequences. In this case, the consequence is eternal separation from God as a punishment for sin. Below I will explain five false theories designed to undermine Christ's resurrection and the heart of Easter. I have learned most of the facts from my homeschool textbook, Bible Doctrines . 1. The Theft Theory This theory was created by the Pharisees in Matthew 28:11-15. The Roman guards who were guarding Jesus' tomb went unconscious afte...

As you may have seen, I changed the font on this blog which required reposting every single article: yes, all fifty of them. But it is now all said and done. I also removed the directory from my blog because it was becoming a hassle. There is still the archives and labels on the sidebar though. There was a comment on the "Histories and Mysteries 2018 Site Directory" that was deleted along with the article when I made my changes. I will relay it below: Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Histories and Mysteries 2018 Site Directory": I'm amazed, I have to admit. Seldom do I come across a blog that's both equally educative and interesting, and without a doubt, you have hit the nail on the head. The issue is something not enough men and women are speaking intelligently about. Now i'm very happy I came across this in my search for something regarding this. Thank you for the comment if it is yours! We have finally reached a country in ou...

Another history article brings another post about Sumer. In this article, I will cover Sumerian education including writing, mathematics and science. Hopefully, there will only be a two or three more articles about Sumer before moving onto some other Middle Eastern countries. By the way, today is the fiftieth article on Histories and Mysteries so that is really exciting. I can't believe this blog has been up for almost a year come April. There are four more important terms to know before we continue our study: culture, civilization, and education. The textbook definition I learned for culture is "a way of life." Culture includes manners, education, clothing, architecture, art, religion, etc. and etc. By the way, when I say textbook, I mean my 9th grade history textbook, World History and Cultures. I use that textbook as kind of a guide of which places to stop next in our study so it has been very useful. A civilization on the other hand must possess certain requi...