Timeline

Main Events in Biblical History

HISTORICAL TIME CHART (Biblical and Historical)

Note: Biblical dating follows that of several scholars in my Bibliography, esp. Whitcomb and Boyer. 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