Dig History and Archaeology Magazine for Kids and Children

It is with joy and sadness that I write this note to all DIG subscribers. I retired as the editor of DIG in February of this year. I have so enjoyed the 40 years since I founded the magazine with my husband. There were many twists and turns through the years — all devoted to making each issue the best possible. The original name CLASSICAL CALLIOPE was shortened to CALLIOPE and, just a few years ago, the two magazines I edited, CALLIOPE and DIG, merged into the present DIG Into History. Through all the changes, our mission never changed: offering readers an unbiased look at world history and archaeology through the eyes of authors who are experts in their various fields and could present unbiased, accurate, and up-to-date information that…

What would you do if you had invited friends to your house and they asked you for directions? Well, you could draw a map! And, if you did, you most likely would include your street and theirs, as well as the landmarks between the two, such as a school or a supermarket. Using these places on the map as markers, your friends can then plan the best route to take. Generally speaking, a map is an illustration of the earth’s surface, and a person who draws maps is called a cartographer. But how are maps made? In prehistoric times, hunters would sometimes draw their hunting territories on cave walls. In the millennia that followed, maps would have been painted by hand on various materials, including parchment, clay, ivory, and even the hide…

Many maps have been labeled the “first map,” but one is generally accepted as the earliest true map. It traces its origin to ancient Egypt and is, actually, a geological map (see pages 40–41). American geologist James Harrell describes it as 29 centuries older than the next oldest known geological map! Why ‘Turin’? Known as the Turin Mining Papyrus, it was named after the Italian city of Turin, where it is now housed in the Egyptian Museum. It probably belonged to the well-known antiques collector Bernardino Drovetti (1776–1852) and was sold to the museum along with other artifacts in his collection. The map dates to the time of the 20th Dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Ramses IV (1153–1147 B.C.E.). It was made either to help his quarrying expedition find the source of what the Egyptians…

“The Blue Marble” is what the crew of Apollo 17 called the image of planet Earth taken at a distance of about 18,000 miles from the Earth’s surface. Using laser technology from satellites that we put into space, we know the exact circumference of the Earth is 24,901.55 miles around the equator and slightly shorter, around 42 miles less, around the poles. Although technically an ellipsoid, we still think of Earth as being round. The shape and size of Earth were puzzling questions for our ancient ancestors. Some cultures believed the Earth was a disc or box-shaped. The Egyptians believed it was egg-shaped. Finally, around 2,500 years ago, the Greeks decided that the Earth was a round sphere. The fourth-century B.C.E. Greek philosopher Aristotle noted that the Earth had to be…

In China, there are maps that are more than 2,000 years old. They were painted on silk and buried in tombs that were only recently excavated. But why would the ancient Chinese store maps in tombs? The reason is simple. People in ancient China believed that a tomb was a new home for the person who died. They envisioned it as a mirror-image of the aboveground home, so it needed to be equipped with many of the objects the person buried in it had had when alive. These included not only items needed for daily life, such as cooking utensils, but also other objects the deceased had liked or worked with when alive: musical instruments, books, and maps. These objects could be actual objects, models made from ceramic or even…

What was the best way to gain access to the most powerful man in ancient China? Present him a map! In 227 B.C.E., the heir-apparent, Prince Dan of Yan, dispatched his trusted retainer Jing Ke to assassinate King Zheng of Qin. He did so in order to prevent the annihilation of his lands. The plan failed, and Zheng of Qin became the First Emperor of China. Yet Jing Ke is still today a famed tragic hero. Jing Ke knew he had to somehow get close to the king, and he knew just the way to do so. He would hand over the severed head of the former Qin general Fan Wuji, who had turned against Qin and committed suicide to support his failed attempt. Another “gift” would be a map of the…