2000-15000 B.C.E.

The time when Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are most likely to have lived.

1260 or 1250 B.C.E.

The exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, under the leadership of Moses.

1200-1000 B.C.E.

The settlement of Canaan by Israelite tribes led by Moses’ successor, Joshua.

1001-969 B.C.E.

The Israelite monarchy is founded under King David. At its peak, it encompasses roughly the area from Dan to Beersheba.

870/969-931 B.C.E.

David’s son Solomon takes over as king and expands the united monarchy.

931 B.C.E.

Solomon dies and his son Rehoboam takes over. Rehoboam is unable to keep his father’s kingdom together and it splits into two separate entities, the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.

931-913 B.C.E.

King Rehoboam rules over Judah.

931-910 B.C.E.

Jeroboam is proclaimed king and rules over Israel.

885-874 B.C.E.

After years of instability, Omri becomes king of Israel and founds a dynasty of four kings who will sit on the throne for forty-four years.

874-853 B.C.E.

Ahab, Omri’s son, is king of Israel. Under him, Israel becomes a military and economic power.

723/722 B.C.E.

The Assyrians, the regional power, conquer Samaria, Israel’s capital, and the kingdom of Israel comes to and end after some two hundred years. The ten tribes of Israel are deported and become known as “the lost tribes”. The Assyrian army is unable to conquer Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah is saved.

605-587/586 B.C.E

Assyria’s empire crumbles and Babylonia takes over as the regional power. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia, plunders Jerusalem in 597. After Judah’s king forms an alliance with Egypt the Babylonians besiege and destroy the city. The First Temple is burned (587/586) and the Judeans are exiled.

587/586-538 B.C.E.

The Babylonian Captivity. Babylonians rule Judah. Gedeliah is appointed governor and Judah’s capital is moved from Jerusalem to Mizpah.

538 B.C.E.

Cyrus the Great, the ruler of Persia, conquers Babylonia and issues a decree that the Judeans may return to their ancestral homeland.

538-332 B.C.E.

Persia controls Judah. Ezra, a scribe, and Nehemiah, an administrator, are among the Babylonian exiles who return to Judah. They become leaders of Jerusalem’s physical resurgance and religious revival. The walls of the city are rebuilt and the Second Temple is built and dedicated (538-515).

336 B.C.E.

Alexander the Great becomes king of the Greek city-states; in 332 B.C.E. he conquers Judea. After his death, the Ptolemies and then the Seleucids rule Judea.

141 B.C.E.

After a twenty-five year civil war against the Seleucids, the Hasmoneans (or Maccabees) establish a monarchy and Jewish sovereignty of Judea. During this period, the writing of the works that are now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls begins.

63 B.C.E.

Pompey, ruler of Rome, conquers Judea and the Jewish state ends. The Romans take over and install the Herodian dynasty, named after its most famous member, Herod the Great.

37-4 B.C.E.

Herod the Great rules Judea, building Masada and Herodium, and rebuilding the Second Temple area.

4 B.C.E.

Herod dies and a series of Roman-appointed prefects govern Judea, the most famous of whom is Pontius Pilate (governed 26-36 C.E.), who orders that Jesus be crucified.

66 C.E.

Under the Roman military leader Vespasian, soon to become emperor, the Romans fight to suppress the First Jewish Revolt, the Judean uprising. Vespasian’s son, Titus, commands the Roman army’s attack on Jerusalem.

70 C.E.

A besieged Jerusalem cannot hold out any longer and falls. The Second Temple is destroyed.

73/74 C.E.

The Romans succeed in breaching the walls of Masada, the desert fortress that serves as headquarters for the remaining Jewish resistance. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus records that the Jewish rebels decide to commit suicide rather than surrender to Rome.

132-135 C.E.

The Second Jewish Revolt, under Simon bar Kochba, is brutally put down. Jerusalem is destroyed, Judea is razed, and Judaism is banned.