D.C. - Dakar Talk
Our News Is Your News
2000 Upshur Street, NE
Washington, D.C.  20018  USA

Telephone:  202-635-7479                       Fax:  202-635-4140
E-Mail: srs-usasc@rcn.com

Volume 10, Number 1

August 2001

had a great treasure - a fantastic flooding river called the NILE. The Nile is the longest river in the world.

Once a year the Nile overflows its bank. The river’s yearly flood turns one of the driest parts of the world into fertile ground. After the Nile floods, for about ten miles along either side of the river the soil turns a rich black color. It’s full of minerals and other good things that help crops grow.

When the Egyptians began to grow crops they could eat, then they didn’t have to hunt as much. They began to stay in one place in order to be near their fields and take care of their crops. They began to build villages and cities. They began to build a civilization.

RELIGIONS
 What Different People Believe

Have you notice that when people talk about early civilizations, they keep mentioning “the gods”? When they talk about the gods, or God, that people believe in, they are talking about their religion.

During ancient times the people of Egypt and other countries believed in many gods. They believed in gods of nature, such as a sun god and a earth god. Thousands of years ago Judaism, Christianity, and Islam were just getting started. These three religions do not believe in many gods. Instead, all of these religions believe in just one God. (When you refer to just one God, you spell the name with a capital “G”.)

Judaism

Thousand of years ago, this belief in just one God was a new idea. An this new idea came first from the religion called Judaism. The followers of Judaism today are called Jews.

 The Story of Moses

 Moses was a great leader of the Jewish people. Way back in the times of Moses, the Jewish people were known by another name: they were called Hebrews. The story of Moses begins in Egypt more than three thousand years ago. It was an awful time for the Hebrews because they were forced by the Egyptians to work as slaves.  The star of David, an important symbol of the Jewish religion.  Passover and Hanukkah are two important Jewish holidays.

Christianity

Christianity began two thousand years ago. It grew out of the religion of Judaism. Moses led the Hebrews to their promised homeland, called Israel. But there were still many hard times ahead. More than once, the Jewish people were conquered and ruled over, as they had been by the Egyptians.  

The Jewish people, as well as many other people, were conquered by the powerful Romans. It was hard for the Jewish people to be ruled by the Romans.

Page 2