BCE



c. 1720 Hammurabi ruler of the first Babylonian Empire
c. 1700 Abraham
c. 1250 The Exodus
c. 1200–1020 The Judges
c. 1020 Saul unites the tribes as first king
c. 1000 David is anointed king, and later captures Jerusalem
c. 962 Accession of Solomon; building of the Temple is begun
c. 924 Rehoboam succeeds Solomon; the kingdom is divided when the northern tribes choose Jeroboam as king
c. 880 Omri establishes Samaria as capital of Israel
865 Activity of Elijah
853 Shalmanezer III of Assyria records battle with Ahab of Israel
842 Revolt of Jehu
754/3 Foundation of the city of Rome
734 Syro-Ephraimite conspiracy
727–698 Hezekiah king of Judah
722 Destruction of city of Samaria and end of the independent northern kingdom. Partial deportation
701 Assyrian record of the siege of Jerusalem
698 Manasseh king of Judah
639 Josiah king of Judah; killed in 609
597 Jehoiachin becomes king; Nebuchadrezzar besieges Jerusalem. Partial deportation of inhabitants
586 Jerusalem captured; many inhabitants exiled
586–538 The Babylonian Exile
538–520 The Return from Exile and building of the Second Temple
490 Persians defeated by Athenians at Marathon
445 Nehemiah in Jerusalem
332 Alexander the Great conquers Palestine
323 Empire divided amongst Alexander's generals. Seleucus gains Babylonia
175 Antiochus IV Epiphanes in control
167 Desecration of the Temple and the Maccabean War
164 Judas Maccabaeus defeats Lysias, enters Jerusalem, and rededicates the Temple (14 December)
142–63 Judaean independence
63 Capture of Jerusalem by Pompey
37–4 Herod the Great
20 Reconstruction of the Temple begins
c. 4 Birth of Jesus

CE



6 Judaea placed under control of Roman prefect by Emperor Augustus
14 Tiberius Caesar succeeds Augustus
c. 25 Philo of Alexandria expounds Judaism
26–37 Pontius Pilate prefect of Judaea
c. 30 Crucifixion of Jesus
33 ‘Conversion’ of Paul
41 Execution of James by Herod Agrippa I
49 Expulsion of Jews from Rome by Emperor Claudius
51 Paul before Gallio in Corinth
54 Nero becomes emperor
c. 60 Paul in prison
62 Execution of James the Lord's brother in Jerusalem
64 The great fire in Rome
66–73 The Jewish War
70 Jerusalem captured by Titus; the Temple destroyed
73 Jewish rebels commit suicide after last stand at Masada
81 Domitian becomes emperor
93 Josephus writes his Antiquities of the Jewish People
98 Trajan becomes emperor
c. 115 Letter of Polycarp shows knowledge of gospels
132–5 Second Jewish revolt under Simon Bar-Kochba put down by Romans
c. 135 Aelia Capitolina built on site of Jerusalem by Emperor Hadrian
144 Excommunication of Marcion
c. 170 Celsus: the first literary opponent of Christians