Changes

Just as you use reference points like landmarks to find your way, identify historical reference points to make it easier for you to organize the many hundreds of facts you will learn in this course.  For example, the exodus of the Jews from Egypt is an excellent reference point for understanding the rise and fall of Egypt.  The birth of Christ is another reference point that even our calendar uses to organize dates.

Just as you use reference points like landmarks to find your way, identify historical reference points to make it easier for you to organize the many hundreds of facts you will learn in this course.  For example, the exodus of the Jews from Egypt is an excellent reference point for understanding the rise and fall of Egypt.  The birth of Christ is another reference point that even our calendar uses to organize dates.

Finally, let me add a few words about terminology.  “B.C” means “Before (the birth of) Christ” and “A.D.” means Anno Domini (Latin for “in the year of our Lord”) or simply “After (the birth of) Christ.”  The “1st century B.C.” means the 1st century before Christ, counting backwards, which are the years 1-100 B.C.  The “5th century B.C.” is thus 401-500 B.C.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the 5th century B.C. is the 500s B.C.!  Likewise, the 20th century (A.D.) was the years A.D. 1901-2000.  Because A.D. means “in the year of our Lord,” the proper terminology is to put the date after the A.D., as in A.D. 2006.  But school textbooks rarely use “B.C.” and “A.D.” correctly anymore, instead replacing them with an anti-Christian “BCE” for “Before the Common Era” and “CE” for “Common Era.”  In other words, BCE = B.C. and CE = A.D.

Finally, let me add a few words about terminology.  “B.C” means “Before (the birth of) Christ” and “A.D.” means Anno Domini (Latin for “in the year of our Lord”) or simply “After (the birth of) Christ.”  The “1st century B.C.” means the 1st century before Christ, counting backwards, which are the years 100-1 B.C.  The “5th century B.C.” is thus 500-401 B.C.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the 5th century B.C. is the 500s B.C.!  Likewise, the 20th century (A.D.) was the years A.D. 1901-2000.  Because A.D. means “in the year of our Lord,” the proper terminology is to put the date after the A.D., as in A.D. 2006.  But school textbooks rarely use “B.C.” and “A.D.” correctly anymore, instead replacing them with an anti-Christian “BCE” for “Before the Common Era” and “CE” for “Common Era.”  In other words, BCE = B.C. and CE = A.D.

===Introduction to Ancient History===

===Introduction to Ancient History===