Timeline of the History of the Holy Land
(compiled by Jonathan Lipnick)
The Stone Age (1,500,000 – 5,800 BCE)
· Tel Ubeidiya earliest remains of Homo Erectus migrating outside Africa
· Neolithic Age (11,000-4800 BCE)
The Copper Age "Chalcolithic" (5800- 3300 BCE)
· Ghassulian culture – nomadic pastoral, network of chiefdoms
· Beginnings of trade routes: Via Maris, Hill Route, King’s Highway
The Bronze Age (3200 - 1200 BCE)
· Beginning of writing, complex government, religious administration in:
· Age of Patriarchs (1800-1600 BCE)
· Exodus from Egypt (1275-1250 BCE); Israelite conquest Canaan (1250-1200)
The Iron Age/First Temple Period (1200 – 586 BCE)
· United Monarchy: Saul (1025-1005 BCE), David (1005-965 BCE), Solomon (965-928 BCE)
· Divided Monarchy (928-586 BCE): Israel (north) & Judah (south)
· Assyrian Sargon II conquers northern kingdom (721)
· Assyrian Sennacherib destroys most of southern kingdom, Jerusalem spared (701)
· Babylonian 2nd siege of Jerusalem, 2nd deportation Babylonia (587-6 BCE)
The Persian Period/Second Temple Period, Part I (538-332 BCE)
· Cyrus II permits Jews to return to Judah (538 BCE); only some return
· Second Temple built (520-515 BCE)
· Return of exiles under Nehemiah (450-440) and later Ezra the scribe
The Hellenistic Period/Second Temple Period, Part II (332-63 BCE)
· Alexander the Great conquers Palestine (333/332 BCE)
· Ptolemies rule (3rd century) as part of southern Levant (Egypt)
· Seleucids rule (201-198 BCE) as part of northern Levant (Syria)
· Maccabean Revolt (167-164 BCE)
· Hasmonean Dynasty reigns (161-63 BCE)
The Roman Period (63 BCE – 324 CE)
· Pompey captures Jerusalem for Hyrcanus (63 BCE)
· Herod the Great reigns as client king (37-4 BCE)
· Jesus of Nazareth: birth (4 BCE), ministry in Galilee (27-30 CE), crucifixion in Jerusalem (30 CE)
· Jewish War against Rome (66-70 CE)
· Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple (70 CE)
· Bar Kochba Revolt (132-5 CE)
· Judah I (the Prince) edits Mishnah (170-217)
· Constantine I (306-337) legalizes Christianity (313 CE)
The Byzantine Period (324 – 640 CE)
· Constantine becomes sole Roman emperor (324), visit of Helena to holy land (325)
· Redaction of Jerusalem Talmud in Tiberias (4th century); aggadah and piyyut (5th – 7th centuries)
· Julian tries to rebuild Temple and fails (360-3)
· Persian (Sassanid) capture of Jerusalem (614 CE)
The Early Arab Period (640 – 1099 CE)
· Muhammad (570-632); Hijra: Mecca to Medina (622)
· Patriarch Sophronius surrenders Jerusalem to Umar (637)
· Umayyad dynasty of caliphs (661-750)
· Dome of the Rock built by Caliph Abd al-Malik (691)
· Abbasid dynasty of caliphs (750-974) - but they last until 1258
· Masoretes develop text of Bible (700-900) in Tiberias
· Fatamid dynasty of caliphs (975-1171) – Shi’ite
· El Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroys Holy Sepulchre (1009)
· The Great Schism (1054)
· Warfare between Fatamids and Seljuks; Seljuks capture Jerusalem (1071)
· Pope Urban II calls 1st Crusade capture Palestine from Seljuk Turks (1095)
The Crusader Period (1099-1291 CE)
· First Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1187)
· Reconstructed Church of Holy Sepulchre consecrated (1149)
· Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan at Battle of Horns of Hattin (July 4, 1187)
· Second Kingdom of Jerusalem (1187-1291)
· Treaty btw Frederick II and Al-Kamil restores J’m to Crusaders, not Temple Mt (1229)
The Mamluk Period (1291-1517 CE)
· Baybars becomes sultan (1260) – destroys the coastal cities from Tyre - Gaza
· Land returns to total Muslim rule, period of decline, religious fanaticism
· Akko, Jaffa, Jerusalem in ruins; Gaza and Safed flourish, postal road Cairo – Damascus
· Building boom under waqf status in Jerusalem, religious institutions, schools.
The Ottoman Period (1517-1918)
· Suleiman the Magnificent, the son of Selim I rules (1520-66); rebuilds walls of Jerusalem (1536-40)
· Kabbalah in Safed: Joseph Caro, Isaac Luria, Alkabetz (16th-17th century)
· Daher el Omar (1730-1775) governor of Galilee, builds up Haifa, Safed, Acre, Tiberias
· Palestine under Egyptian rule (1832-1840) by Muhammad Ali
· Status Quo – CHS + Nativity (1852)
· Crimean War (1853-6): Russia vs. France, England, Ottomans
· Balfour Declaration (November 2, 1917) sent to Baron Rothschild
· Allenby conquers Jerusalem as Christmas gift to British people (Dec. 11, 1917)
· Decisive victory of British in Battle of Megiddo (ends Sept 25, 1918) Turks loose Palestine
The British Mandate (1918-1948)
· League of Nations: British (Palestine) and French Mandate (Syria) confirmed (1922)
· Arab Riots of “Tarpat” (1929); Arab Riots (1936-9)
· UN General Assembly votes for partition of Palestine (Nov 29, 1947)
· British evacuate Palestine, Arabs invade, Jews declare independence (May 14, 1948)
The State of Israel (1948- present)
· Jan 7, 1949 – War of Independence ends
· Six Day War (June 1967): Gaza + Sinai (Egypt); East Jerusalem + West Bank (Jordan); Golan (Syria)
· Israeli peace treaty with Egypt (1979); with Jordan (1994)
· Oslo Accords (1993); withdrawl from Gaza (2005)
(compiled by Jonathan Lipnick)
The Stone Age (1,500,000 – 5,800 BCE)
· Tel Ubeidiya earliest remains of Homo Erectus migrating outside Africa
· Neolithic Age (11,000-4800 BCE)
- Major shift to agriculture, permanent settlement, larger groups, accumulation of property
The Copper Age "Chalcolithic" (5800- 3300 BCE)
· Ghassulian culture – nomadic pastoral, network of chiefdoms
· Beginnings of trade routes: Via Maris, Hill Route, King’s Highway
The Bronze Age (3200 - 1200 BCE)
· Beginning of writing, complex government, religious administration in:
- Egypt (Pharaonic dynasties)
- Mesopotamia (Ebla, Sumer, Akkad)
· Age of Patriarchs (1800-1600 BCE)
· Exodus from Egypt (1275-1250 BCE); Israelite conquest Canaan (1250-1200)
The Iron Age/First Temple Period (1200 – 586 BCE)
· United Monarchy: Saul (1025-1005 BCE), David (1005-965 BCE), Solomon (965-928 BCE)
· Divided Monarchy (928-586 BCE): Israel (north) & Judah (south)
· Assyrian Sargon II conquers northern kingdom (721)
· Assyrian Sennacherib destroys most of southern kingdom, Jerusalem spared (701)
· Babylonian 2nd siege of Jerusalem, 2nd deportation Babylonia (587-6 BCE)
The Persian Period/Second Temple Period, Part I (538-332 BCE)
· Cyrus II permits Jews to return to Judah (538 BCE); only some return
· Second Temple built (520-515 BCE)
· Return of exiles under Nehemiah (450-440) and later Ezra the scribe
The Hellenistic Period/Second Temple Period, Part II (332-63 BCE)
· Alexander the Great conquers Palestine (333/332 BCE)
· Ptolemies rule (3rd century) as part of southern Levant (Egypt)
· Seleucids rule (201-198 BCE) as part of northern Levant (Syria)
· Maccabean Revolt (167-164 BCE)
· Hasmonean Dynasty reigns (161-63 BCE)
The Roman Period (63 BCE – 324 CE)
· Pompey captures Jerusalem for Hyrcanus (63 BCE)
· Herod the Great reigns as client king (37-4 BCE)
· Jesus of Nazareth: birth (4 BCE), ministry in Galilee (27-30 CE), crucifixion in Jerusalem (30 CE)
· Jewish War against Rome (66-70 CE)
· Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple (70 CE)
· Bar Kochba Revolt (132-5 CE)
· Judah I (the Prince) edits Mishnah (170-217)
· Constantine I (306-337) legalizes Christianity (313 CE)
The Byzantine Period (324 – 640 CE)
· Constantine becomes sole Roman emperor (324), visit of Helena to holy land (325)
· Redaction of Jerusalem Talmud in Tiberias (4th century); aggadah and piyyut (5th – 7th centuries)
· Julian tries to rebuild Temple and fails (360-3)
· Persian (Sassanid) capture of Jerusalem (614 CE)
The Early Arab Period (640 – 1099 CE)
· Muhammad (570-632); Hijra: Mecca to Medina (622)
· Patriarch Sophronius surrenders Jerusalem to Umar (637)
· Umayyad dynasty of caliphs (661-750)
· Dome of the Rock built by Caliph Abd al-Malik (691)
· Abbasid dynasty of caliphs (750-974) - but they last until 1258
· Masoretes develop text of Bible (700-900) in Tiberias
· Fatamid dynasty of caliphs (975-1171) – Shi’ite
· El Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroys Holy Sepulchre (1009)
· The Great Schism (1054)
· Warfare between Fatamids and Seljuks; Seljuks capture Jerusalem (1071)
· Pope Urban II calls 1st Crusade capture Palestine from Seljuk Turks (1095)
The Crusader Period (1099-1291 CE)
· First Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1187)
· Reconstructed Church of Holy Sepulchre consecrated (1149)
· Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan at Battle of Horns of Hattin (July 4, 1187)
· Second Kingdom of Jerusalem (1187-1291)
· Treaty btw Frederick II and Al-Kamil restores J’m to Crusaders, not Temple Mt (1229)
The Mamluk Period (1291-1517 CE)
· Baybars becomes sultan (1260) – destroys the coastal cities from Tyre - Gaza
· Land returns to total Muslim rule, period of decline, religious fanaticism
· Akko, Jaffa, Jerusalem in ruins; Gaza and Safed flourish, postal road Cairo – Damascus
· Building boom under waqf status in Jerusalem, religious institutions, schools.
The Ottoman Period (1517-1918)
· Suleiman the Magnificent, the son of Selim I rules (1520-66); rebuilds walls of Jerusalem (1536-40)
· Kabbalah in Safed: Joseph Caro, Isaac Luria, Alkabetz (16th-17th century)
· Daher el Omar (1730-1775) governor of Galilee, builds up Haifa, Safed, Acre, Tiberias
· Palestine under Egyptian rule (1832-1840) by Muhammad Ali
· Status Quo – CHS + Nativity (1852)
· Crimean War (1853-6): Russia vs. France, England, Ottomans
· Balfour Declaration (November 2, 1917) sent to Baron Rothschild
· Allenby conquers Jerusalem as Christmas gift to British people (Dec. 11, 1917)
· Decisive victory of British in Battle of Megiddo (ends Sept 25, 1918) Turks loose Palestine
The British Mandate (1918-1948)
· League of Nations: British (Palestine) and French Mandate (Syria) confirmed (1922)
· Arab Riots of “Tarpat” (1929); Arab Riots (1936-9)
· UN General Assembly votes for partition of Palestine (Nov 29, 1947)
· British evacuate Palestine, Arabs invade, Jews declare independence (May 14, 1948)
The State of Israel (1948- present)
· Jan 7, 1949 – War of Independence ends
· Six Day War (June 1967): Gaza + Sinai (Egypt); East Jerusalem + West Bank (Jordan); Golan (Syria)
· Israeli peace treaty with Egypt (1979); with Jordan (1994)
· Oslo Accords (1993); withdrawl from Gaza (2005)