Iron Age Near East is the fifth unit in the Ancient History course. This unit is about the civilizations that flourished on the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea from about 1200 BC until about 200 BC, including the Kingdom of Israel, the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, the Assyrians, the Neo-Babylonians, and the Persians. In this unit you will learn how the discovery of iron smelting changed the balance of power and brought civilization back from the dark ages that followed the Bronze Age Collapse. This unit includes sections on:
- Phoenicians
- Israelites
- Neo-Babylonian Empire
- Persian Empire
Some of the activities in this unit include:
- A color by number map of the Iron Age civilizations
- A paper mache Phoenician ship craft
- A Dido problem and the story of the founding of Carthage
- A model of the Siege of Tyre by Alexander the Great
- A discussion of the Book of Job, an ancient Israelite story
- Building a sling and practicing hitting a target as in the story of David and Goliath, about a famous Israelite king
- A paper model of the Ishtar Gate of Babylon
- A long diagram of a Persian Royal Road to hang on your wall
- So much more!
Layers of Learning History units include Library Lists of books on the topic, a family read-aloud suggestion, hands-on activities, printables and paper crafts, sidebars for extra learning, and tools to help you assess your student’s progress and mastery. Learn more about how Layers of Learning works.
See Inside
This is a view of the inside of the Iron Age Near East unit.
The center section includes crafts, paper notebooking, games, recipes, and other hands-on activities to create mental hooks and make learning fun. You will choose from among the many options.
The sidebars all through the book add extra facts, famous people to learn about, extra tangents to take off on, books to read, discussions to have together, and writing ideas. Use these during morning meeting, for a lesson you create yourself, or as read-loud tidbits while kids are working.
Flexibility
This unit was written to be used for a month but contains plenty of content for many more weeks of learning if you choose. This is a pick-and-choose curriculum, meant to be cycled back to in the future when your child is older. As such, it intentionally includes far more material than you can possibly cover in a month.
Iron Age Near East is also part of the overall Ancient History course, the first Year of the four year Layers of Learning History cycle. If you use the program in order, it will take you through the history of the world from ancient times through the 21st century. However, each unit stands alone and can be used independently of any other unit.
Printable Pack
This unit comes with a downloadable Printable Pack that includes all the student worksheets. The printables can be copied as many times as needed for your family or class.
You can download the Printable Pack from your receipt or from your account at Layers of Learning.
Extra Resources
This unit comes with extra weblinks and a YouTube video playlist on the Ancient History Resources page.
katemichelle07 –
It was really cool to learn about how the Iron Age really moved forward metal working and what tools could do. We really loved learning about the world around the Israelites.