In which my navigating capabilities rival the Phoenicians'
You think you're so awesome, Odysseus, navigating between Scylla and Charybdis? I just taught a 4th grade class on David and Solomon and neither Bathsheba nor concubines came up!
Kids were totally impressed by Solomon's 700 wives, though. Thankfully they were already familiar with the idea of sealing alliances through marriage thanks to Ramses II (oh hi there, Treaty of Kadesh and 160 kids!)
Also, since I've been reading them the myth of the Minotaur --a hangover from our Minoan/Mycenaean unit-- I got to compare David's tributaries to Athens and Crete. Don't worry -- I told them that David didn't have a minotaur and so had to accept his tribute in cash instead of flesh.
Kids were totally impressed by Solomon's 700 wives, though. Thankfully they were already familiar with the idea of sealing alliances through marriage thanks to Ramses II (oh hi there, Treaty of Kadesh and 160 kids!)
Also, since I've been reading them the myth of the Minotaur --a hangover from our Minoan/Mycenaean unit-- I got to compare David's tributaries to Athens and Crete. Don't worry -- I told them that David didn't have a minotaur and so had to accept his tribute in cash instead of flesh.