2. Divide the map into the five kingdoms of Syria, Israel, Judah, Moab and Edom, and show their capitals and political relations.
3. Drill the class upon the leading events of the five historical periods named in the above description, placing upon the map the localities named in the history.
4. Name the battles of the periods, and state the circumstances of each battle, placing them upon the map in their historical order.
5. Through all the work let the class draw their own maps, following that upon the board, and at the close carefully review all the work. This subject might require several lessons in a normal class.
MOSQUE EL AKSA.
THE GREAT ORIENTAL EMPIRES.
The history of the Bible is so interwoven with that of the East, that a view of its great empires is necessary. All the lands between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean were united at different periods under one government, and formed an empire which was constantly changing according to the power or weakness of its dominant state; for in the Oriental world there never has existed anything like a confederation of states on an equality. At different periods Ur, Babylon or Nineveh conquered all the surrounding lands; or at other periods a single race, as the Medes and Persians, obtained supremacy. The empire thus arose and fell, to be succeeded by a similar empire with another centre. During the Old Testament history, between the days of Abraham and of Ezra, more than 1,500 years, four successive empires appeared in the East. These were: