| B.C. | Biblical Events | Events in Contemporary History |
|---|---|---|
| c. 5000 | Creation of the world and of man. The fall of man. | |
| c. 3500 | First Egyptian Dynasty. | |
| c. 3000 | The Deluge. | |
| c. 2900–2750 | Fourth Egyptian Dynasty. Pyramids built. | |
| c. 2500 | The separation of the nations (Tower of Babel). | |
| c. 2000 | The call of Abraham, the Father of the Jewish People. | Hammurabi unifies Babylonia and writes his famous Laws. |
| c. 1800 | The Israelites settle in Egypt. | The Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings, rule in Egypt, c. 1800–1580. |
| c. 1500 | The Exodus. The Israelites leave Egypt under Moses, wander in the desert for forty years, and finally settle, under Josue, in the Promised Land. | The eighteenth Dynasty rules in Egypt from 1580 to 1328. Egypt at the height of its power. 1380–1360, Tell el Amarna Period. |
| c. 1460–1420 | The Five Books of Moses (Pentateuch) composed. The Book of Josue written after the death of Josue. Many scholars date Exodus c. 1240. | |
| c. 1400–1100 | Judges (military leaders) rule over Israel. | |
| c. 1100–1011 | Samuel and Saul. Composition of the Book of Judges. | |
| c. 1013–973 | Reign of King David. Composition of the Psalms of David and the Book of Ruth. Some of the Psalms belong to a much later date. Ruth may have been written as late as the 5th century B.C. | |
| c. 973–933 | Solomon. Composition of (parts of) Proverbs, and Canticle of Canticles. | Hiram rules over the flourishing maritime kingdom of Tyre in Phoenicia. |
| c. 933 | The Kingdom of David is divided. The Kingdom of Israel in the North with Samaria as capital, including ten tribes. The Kingdom of Juda in the South with Jerusalem as capital, comprising the tribes of Juda and Benjamin. | Sisac (Shishak) invades Juda and Israel in 931. Shishak's Inscription on a temple in Karnak, only allusion found to any of the kings of Israel or Juda upon the Egyptian monuments. In 847 Mesha, King of Moab, inscribes an account of victory over Omri of Israel on the Moabite Stone in a language not differing much from Biblical Hebrew. |
| c. 780–722 | Amos and Osee prophesy in the Kingdom of Israel. Jonas prophesies to the Ninivites. The First and Second Books of Kings are composed. | |
| c. 800–585 | Isaias (759–694), Micheas, Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonias, and Jeremias (628–585) prophesy in the Kingdom of Juda. Jeremias writes the Lamentations, his secretary Baruch, a short prophecy. Job may have been written at this period. | Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, besieges Jerusalem in the reign of Ezechias (701). |
| 722 | The Kingdom of Israel is destroyed by the Assyrians. Sargon II takes Samaria. The people are led away to Babylon and Ninive. The Book of Tobias narrates an episode of the captivity. | |
| 612 | Ninive destroyed by the Medes and Chaldeans. | |
| 587 | End of the Kingdom of Juda. Jerusalem captured by Nabuchodonosor (Nebuchadnezzar) of Babylon. All but the poorest of the people deported to Babylon. | Nabuchodonosor II, king of Babylon (606–562). |
| 597–583 | Ezechiel and Daniel prophesy during the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. Third and Fourth Books of Kings written after 561. | Nabonid and Baltasar (Belshazzar), kings of Babylon (555–538). Babylon taken by Cyrus the Persian (538). |
| 538 | First Edict of Cyrus permitting the Jews to return to Jerusalem. Aggeus and Zacharias prophesy to the returning Jews under Zorobabel (c. 520). Juda a province of the Persian Empire. | Cyrus the Great (538–530). |
| c. 500 | Abdias foretells the overthrow of Edom. | |
| 445 | Nehemias returns to Jerusalem. Rebuilding of the city walls. | |
| c. 470–460 | Malachias prophesies in Jerusalem. | |
| c. 450–300 | Joel prophesies. Composition of the Books of Esdras and Nehemias, of the two Books of Paralipomenon, of Judith and Esther. According to some, Job belongs to this period. | |
| 336–323 | Alexander the Great, son of Philip of Macedon, becomes king of Macedonia and begins the conquest of the East. | |
| 331 | The Persian Empire is overthrown by Alexander the Great. | |
| 332–198 | Palestine, a province of the empire of Alexander and (from 320) of Egypt. | Alexander dies at Babylon (323). His empire is divided among his generals. The Hebrew books of the Old Testament translated into Greek at Alexandria (Septuagint). |
| 198 | Antiochus the Great, king of Syria, defeats Ptolemy Ephiphanes of Egypt and obtains possession of Palestine. | |
| c. 180 | Ecclesiasticus written by Sirach. Ecclesiastes probably belongs to this period. | |
| 175–164 | Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria. | |
| 168 | Antiochus Epiphanes attempts to suppress the religion of the Jews. Public worship is suspended in the Temple for three years. | |
| 167 | Rise of the Machabees. | |
| 166–135 | The Machabees Mathathias, Judas, Jonathan and Simon rule over the Jews. | |
| 135–105 | John Hyrcanus, son of Simon, elected High Priest. | |
| c. 130 | Ecclesiasticus translated into Greek. | |
| c. 120 | Composition of the Second Book of Machabees (Greek). | |
| c. 100 | Composition of the Book of Wisdom (Greek). Composition of the First Book of Machabees. | |
| 63 | Jerusalem is captured by Pompey. Palestine becomes a part of the Roman province of Syria. The scepter has passed forever from Juda. The Messias is expected. |
From Introduction to the Bible by Rev. John Laux, M.A.