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Welcome to OyPad Kids—a concept for a mobile app and
Zionist education/entertainment hub
for children from screen-age up
and their parents.

First, Schoolhouse Rock-inspired videos about
artifacts that reference ancient Israel

(singing samples still needed)

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app logo mockup:

A song about Hezekiah's Tunnel to the tune of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"

In the 8th Century BC, King Hezekiah of Judah ordered the construction of a tunnel
to provide water to Jerusalem ahead of the Assyrian King Sennacherib's siege:
 
" … and on the day when the tunnel was being cut out,
the stone-cutters struck each man in front of his neighbor,
axe against axe and the waters from the source flowed into the pool … "                                 
                                                                                                     – Siloam Inscription, 700 BCE

Chorus:

We cut from the sides
       'till we can say hi
The water flows to
       Jerusalem's pool
And we've still got the
tunnel - that's pretty cool

Verses:

Assyrians marched,
         we needed a well
    Cha-cha, cha-cha
If it took half the time,
         that sure would be swell
    Cha-cha, cha-cha

Their army came south
         and started a siege
    Cha-cha, cha-cha
We had enough water
         because of our liege
    Cha-cha, cha-cha

The tunnel slants down
        but not very steep
    Cha-cha, cha-cha
A novelty of
         a chiseling feat
    Cha-cha, cha-cha

Sennacherib's banners
         and trumpets were blown
    Cha-cha, cha-cha
Axe-against-axe and
         they cut through the stone
    Cha-cha, cha-cha

 

Next, a song about the Obelisk of Shalmanesser III
to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic"




 

Verses:

Chorus:

Shal-ma-nesser had an obelisk
Shal-ma-nesser had an obelisk
Shal-ma-nesser had an obelisk
            and it talks about our home

The obelisk, dated to the 820s BC, contains
a reference to the House of Omri and
the first recorded reference to the Persian people

Shall-mon-esser's an ancient king
         who made a giant stone
He wanted everyone to know
         just what he did and owned
He talked about some other kings
         and mentioned Omri's throne
               and the Omris ruled our home

It talks about Bet Omri
         (and the Persians are there too)
It said we had a king back when
         the carving was brand-new
We think he was Jehoram (but
         but some people think Jehu)
               but we know he ruled our crew

Six feet of black limestone carved
         with Akkad's script
Been twenty-seven hundred years
         but we still know the gist
They found the block in Nimrud
         back in eighteen-forty-six
               And our Kings' book timeline fits

A song about Iron Age (1200 - 560 BC) artifacts to the tune of "Yankee Doodle Dandy"

  • The Mesha stele, dated to the 800s BC, comes from Moab and describes a Moabite victory over the Kingdom of Israel

  • The Taylor Prism, dated to roughly 690 BC, was made to honor Sennacherib, a Neo-Assyrian King mentioned in the Book of Kings

  • The Tel Dan stele, dated to the 8th century BC, is the earliest extra-Biblical reference to the House of David

The Mesha Stele is a lengthy
          Iron Age inscription.
King Mesha of the Moabs
          said he'd like to rule his kingdom.
Mesha went to war with us,
          he won our eviction
And now we know our ancient story is a fair depiction

The Tel Dan Stele is a broken
          Iron Age inscription.
It says in Aramaic that Bet David
          ruled our kingdom
It mentions King Ahaziah's
          ancient jurisdiction
And now we know our ancient story is a fair depiction

The Taylor Prism is a lengthy
          Iron Age inscription.
Sennacherib came south from Nin'veh,
          fought against our kingdom
He won the siege at Tel Lachish,
          said Judah was non-fiction
And now we know our ancient story is a fair depiction

Next, a comic about ancient empires and their interactions:

SARGON    HADRIAN

the Great of Akkad,

Emperor of Rome

2500 BC  138 AD

Heavily inspired by Tintin and Asterix. Designed to familiarize kids with
which empires were contemporaries, who conquered whom, and the
cultural relationships roughly 2500 BC – 130s AD or: from Sargon to Hadrian.
These sections will be part of a 15-20 page comic book:

Akkad
and
Sumer

Egypt
and
Hyksos

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Canaanites,
Israelites,
Sea People

Divided Monarchy:

Israel
&
Judah

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Hadrian
and
Severus

to

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The comic book begins with Sargon of Akkad's rule over the Akkadian Empire and ends with Emperor Hadrian and General Julius Severus defeating
the Bar Kokhba Revolt, erasing the name Judea, and merging the province
with Syria to create Syria Palaestina, named after the Jews' ancient enemy,
the Philistines (Canaanites with Aegean origins)

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