HISTORICAL TIME CHART (Biblical and Historical)
Note: Biblical dating follows that of several scholars in Bibliography. Some dates are uncertain. There is also some overlap, especially in the case of the judges and the kings.
B.C.
2090 Abraham called by God
2067 Isaac born
2007 Jacob born
1992 Abraham dies
1944 Isaac dies
1877 Jacob arrives in Egypt
1860 Jacob dies in Egypt
1806 Joseph dies in Egypt
1730 Hyksos invasion of Egypt; Hebrews bondage begins.
1728 Hammurabi of Sumer born
1570 Hyksos expelled from Egypt; Amose I founds 18th dynasty
1548 Amenhotep I becomes pharaoh of Egypt
1548 Hebrew midwives ordered to destroy all Hebrew male children
1528 Thutmose I becomes pharaoh;
1528 All newborn Hebrew males are to be cast into the Nile
1525 Moses born
1510 Thutmose II becomes pharaoh
1504 Hatshepsut becomes pharaoh
1487 Moses flees Egypt
1483 Thutmose III becomes pharaoh
1483 The great oppression of the Hebrews begins
1450 Amenhotep II becomes pharaoh
1447 The Exodus begins
1446 The Tabernacle constructed
1423 Thutmose IV becomes pharaoh
1410 Amenhotep III becomes pharaoh
1407 Moses dies; Joshua conquers Canaan
1400 Conquest of Canaan completed
1377 Akhnaton becomes pharaoh; inaugurates monotheistic reforms
1375 Othniel becomes judge
1319 Ehud becomes judge
1318 Rameses I founds the 19th dynasty in Egypt
1240 Deborah and Barak judge Israel
1194 Gideon becomes judge
1167 Eli born
1155 Abimelech usurps power in Israel
1152 Tola becomes judge
1131 Jair becomes judge
1109 Eli becomes priest
1105 Samuel born
1089 Jephthah becomes judge
1083 Ibzan becomes judge
1071 Elon becomes judge; Samson becomes judge
1069 Samuel begins to minister
1066 Abdon becomes judge
1043 Saul becomes king
1011 Saul and Jonathan slain; David becomes king of Judah
1004 David becomes king over all Israel
971 Solomon ascends the throne
966 Solomon begins to build the Temple in Jerusalem
945 Sheshhonk ( Shishak) becomes pharaoh of Egypt
931 Rehoboam becomes king of Israel and Judah
931 Jeroboam rebels; sets Up a rival kingdom in the north
913 Abijam becomes king of Judah
911 Asa becomes king of Judah
910 Nadab becomes king of Israel
909 Bausha becomes king of Israel
890 Benhadad becomes king of Syria
886 Elah becomes king of Israel; Zimri becomes king of Israel
885 Tibni becomes king of Israel
883 Ashurbanipal II becomes king of Assyria
880 Omri becomes king of Israel
874 Ahab becomes king of Israel
873 Jehoshaphat becomes king of Judah
859 Shalmaneser III becomes king of Assyria
858 Elijah begins to prophesy
853 Ahaziah becomes king of Israel ;
853 Jehoram becomes king of Judah
852 Joram becomes king of Israel
852 Elisha begins to prophesy
841 Jehu becomes king of Israel
841 Ahaziah becomes king of Judah
841 Athaliah seizes the throne of Judah
841 Hazael becomes king of Syria
835 Joash becomes king of Judah
830 Joel prophecies
814 Jehoahaz becomes king of Israel
801 Benhadad II becomes king of Syria
798 Jehoash becomes king of Israel
796 Amaziah becomes king of Judah
790 Uzziah becomes co-regent of Judah
783 Shalmaneser IV becomes king of Assyria
783 Jonah begins his ministry
782 Jeroboam II becomes king of Israel
776 Olympic games begin in Greece
767 Uzziah becomes full king of Judah
764 Amos begins to prophesy
755 Hosea begins to prophesy
753 Rome founded; Zechariah becomes king of Israel
752 Shallum becomes king of Israel
752 Menahem becomes king of Israel
745 Tiglath-pileser III becomes king of Assyria
742 Pekahiah becomes king of Israel
740 Pekah becomes king of Israel
739 Uzziah dies; Isaiah begins to prophesy
739 Jotham becomes king of Judah
736 Micah begins to prophesy
735 Ahaz becomes king of Judah
732 Hoshea becomes king of Israel
727 Shalmaneser IV becomes king of Assyria
722 Sargon II becomes king of Assyria Samaria falls;
722 The ten tribes of Israel go into captivity
715 Hezekiah becomes king of Judah
705 Sennacherib becomes king of Assyria
701 Judah invaded by the Assyrians
686 Manasseh becomes king of Judah
681 Esarhaddon becomes king of Assyria
669 Ashurbanipal becomes king of Assyria
660 Zoroaster born
648 Nahum predicts the fall of Nineveh
642 Amon becomes king of Judah
640 Josiah becomes king of Judah
634 Zephaniah begins to prophesy
627 Jeremiah begins to prophesy
626 Nabopolasser becomes king of Babylon
622 Revival in Judah
619 Habakkuk begins to prophesy
612 Nineveh falls
609 Neco II becomes pharaoh of Egypt
609 Jehoahaz becomes king of Judah
609 Jehoiakim becomes king of Judah
605 Nebuchadnezzar becomes king of Babylon
605 The Babylonians invade Judah Daniel begins to prophesy
597 Jehoachin becomes king of Judah
597 Zedekiah becomes king of Judah
593 Ezekiel begins to prophesy
586 The Babylonians destroy Jerusalem and the Temple
586 The Jews deported to Babylon
586 Gedaliah becomes governor of Jerusalem
586 The rabbis preempt the priests as the holders of divine truth
563 Buddhism founded by Siddhartha
553 Belshazzar becomes regent in Babylon
550 Cyrus becomes king of Persia
550 The temple of Artemis erected at Ephesus
550 Confucius begins to teach
539 Babylon falls to the Medes and Persians
539 Darius the Mede rules in Babylon
538 Zerubbabel and Joshua lead a small party back to Palestine
536 The Temple started in Jerusalem
530 Cambyses becomes king of Persia
521 Smerdis becomes king of Persia
521 Darius I Hystapses becomes king of Persia
520 Zechariah begins to prophesy
520 Haggai begins to prophesy
520 Construction of the Jerusalem Temple resumed
516 The Temple completed
509 The Roman Republic founded
486 Xerxes becomes king of Persia
484 Herodotus the historian born
480 The Greeks defeat Xerxes at Salamis
479 The Greeks defeat Xerxes at Thermopalye
478 Esther becomes queen of Persia
478 Esther saves the Jews of the empire from extermination
473 The Feast of Purim started
469 Socrates born
464 Artaxerxes Longimanus becomes king of Persia
458 Ezra takes a small contingent of Jews back to Palestine
447 The building of the Parthenon commenced
445 Nehemiah takes a small contingent of Jews back to Palestine
443 Nehemiah and Ezra read the Scriptures to the Jews
443 The beginnings of the Midrash; the Sopherim (Scribes) flourish
436 Malachi begins to prophesy
423 Darius II becomes king of Persia
404 Artaxerxes II becomes king of Persia
400 The Midrash begins to develop
399 Socrates condemned to death
359 Artaxerxes III becomes king of Persia
359 Philip becomes king of Macedonia
342 Epicurius teaches his philosophy
336 Darius III Codomannus becomes king of Persia
336 Alexander the Great becomes king of Greece
335 Aristotle teaches at Athens
333 The Battle of Issus fought; Alexander defeats the Persians
333 Alexander takes Egypt
332 Alexander destroys Tyre
331 Alexander seizes Babylon
330 Darius III of Persia slain
329 Alexander marries Roxana in a symbolic gesture of uniting East and West
327 Alexander invades India
323 Alexander claims to be the son of Zeus
323 Alexander dies
323 Alexander's empire divided between his four chief generals
323 Ptolemy I Soter takes Egypt
320 Ptolemy I seizes Palestine
311 Seleucus I Nicator takes Babylon
300 Rome becomes a major world power in the western Mediterranean
300 Seleucus I adds Syria to his realm
285 Ptolemy II Philadelphius becomes king of Egypt
285 Between 285 and 130 the Septuagint translated
280 Antiochus I Soter becomes king of Syria
276 The first Syro-Egyptian war begins
275 Ptolemy of Egypt invades Syria
274 Hinduism codified in India
264 Rome's first Punic war against Carthage begins
261 Antiochus II Theos (the God) becomes king of Syria
260 The second Syro-Egyptian war begins
252 Antiochus II marries Bernice, daughter of Ptolemy II
250 The Parthian kingdom founded
246 Seleucus II Callinicus becomes king of Syria
246 Ptolemy III Euergetes becomes king of Egypt
246 The third Syro-Egyptian war begins
245 Ptolemy invades Syria
240 Seleucus invades Egypt
223 Antiochus III (the Great) becomes king of Syria
221 Ptolemy IV Philopater becomes king of Egypt
221 The fourth Syro-Egyptian war begins
219 Antiochus the Great invades Egypt
218 Rome's second Punic war against Carthage begins
217 Hannibal invades Italy Ptolemy IV invades Syria; Battle of Raphia
215 Rome's first Macedonian war begins
206 Rome drives Carthage out of Spain
203 Ptolemy V ( Epiphanes ) becomes king of Egypt
201 The fifth Syro-Egyptian war begins Carthage surrenders to Rome
200 Rome's second Macedonian war begins
200 The Mishna begins to appear among the Jews
193 Ptolemy V marries Cleopatra, daughter of Antiochus III
190 Antiochus III defeated by Romans at Magnesia
187 Seleucus IV Philopator becomes king of Syria
181 Ptolemy VI Philomater becomes king of Egypt
175 Antiochus IV Epiphanes becomes king of Syria
171 Ptolemy VII becomes co-regent of Egypt with Ptolemy VI
171 Rome's third Macedonian war begins
171 Mithridates I begins the conquest of Babylonia and Media,
171 He adds those countries to Elam, Persia, and Bactra to form the Parthian Empire
169 Antiochus Epiphanes captures Jerusalem
168 The Romans interfere in Antiochus's war with Egypt and prevent his capturing Alexandria
168 Antiochus pollutes the Temple in Jerusalem and suspends the sacrifices of the Jews
166 Matthias leads the Jews in revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes
165 The Jerusalem Temple repaired and cleansed
164 Antiochus Epiphanes dies
154 The Jews in Egypt build a temple at Leontopolis
149 Rome's third Punic war against Carthage begins Rome's fourth Macedonian war begins
146 The Romans destroy Carthage
135 John Hyrcanus becomes high priest in Jerusalem
133 Rome begins to expand her empire eastward
130 The Pharisees begin to emerge as a sect
124 Mithridates II (the Great) conquers Scythia, adds it to the Parthian Empire,
124 Mithridates II makes a treaty with Rome
120 Hyrcanus repudiates the Pharisees and declares himself a Sadducee
106 Cicero born
88 Rome's first Mithridatic war begins
83 Rome's second Mithridatic war begins
74 Rome's third Mithridatic war begins
64 Pompey captures Jerusalem;
64 Pompey leaves the Maccabean high priest Hyrcanus in power
64 Pompey puts Antipater as civil adviser
60 The first Triumvirate at Rome (Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey )
59 Julius Caesar becomes proconsul; Pompey marries Julia, daughter of Caesar
58 Caesar conquers Gaul
54 Caesar invades Britain
49 Caesar crosses the Rubicon
48 Pompey slain in Egypt
48 Caesar makes Cleopatra queen of Egypt
44 Caesar becomes dictator of Rome for life
44 Caesar assassinated (Ides of March)
43 The second Triumvirate at Rome (Anthony, Lepidus, and Octavian )
40 Herod appointed king
37 Herod captures Jerusalem
31 Battle of Actium, Anthony slain,
31 Octavian becomes master of Rome, the final triumph of Empire
30 Egypt becomes a Roman province
30 Shammai fourished
30 Hillel flourished
30 Philo of Alexandria fourished
21 Octavian assumed the title of Augustus
20 Herod begins to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple
4 Herod dies
4 THE BIRTH OF JESUS
A.D.
14 Augustus dies
14 Tiberius becomes Roman emperor
26 Jesus begins to teach; He characterizes rabbinic teaching (the Mishna) as "vain tradition'
30 Jesus crucified and raised from the dead
30 Full Pentecost; the Christian church is born
37 Caligula becomes Roman emperor
40 Gentiles are added to the church with the conversion of Cornelius
41 Claudius becomes Roman emperor
42 Antioch becomes the new center of church activity
43 Theudas claims to be Messiah and is executed
54 Nero becomes Roman emperor
59 The apostle Paul is imprisoned at Caesarea
60 Paul appears before Agrippa
61 Paul a prisoner at Rome
66 The Jews of Judea revolt against Rome
68 Paul martyred at Rome
69 Jerusalem beseiged by the Romans
69 Jochanan ben Zakkai seeks an audience with Vespasian
69 Vespasian becomes Roman emperor
70 Jerusalem falls; the Temple burned; the Jews deported
73 The last stand of the Jewish rebels at Masada
79 Titus becomes Roman emperor
81 Domitian becomes Roman emperor
96 Nerva becomes Roman emperor
98 Trajan becomes Roman emperor
113 Rome goes to war with Parthia
116 A further Jewish revolt against Rome is suppressed with great severity
117 Hadrian becomes Roman emperor
132 Bar Kochba claims to be Messiah and leads a revolt against Rome
132 Judea depopulated and the Jews denationalized by the Romans
138 Antoninus Pius becomes Roman emperor
150 Tertullian born
