Time line B.C.
Time Line... B.C.
pre history to 0 0 to 1400 1400 to 1700
2,500,000BC-10,000 The Paleolithic (or Palaeolithic). "old age of the stone"; coined by archaeologist John Lubbock in 1865.) is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of the first stone tools. It covers the greatest portion of humanity's time (roughly 99% of human history) on Earth, with the introduction of stone tools by hominids such as Homo habilis, to the introduction of agriculture and the end of the Pleistocene around 10,000 BC. The Paleolithic era ended with the Mesolithic, in Western Europe, and in areas not effected by the Ice Age with the Epipaleolithic (such as Africa).
200,000BC Earliest Homo sapiens (human) found in Ethiopia. Africa, particularly central eastern Africa, is widely regarded within the scientific community to be the origin of humans and the Hominidae tree (great apes), as evidenced by the discovery of the earliest hominids and their possible ancestors, as well as later ones that have been dated to around seven million years ago – including Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Australopithecus africanus, A. afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster –
60,000 BC Archiologists find the area in the north of Sudan was inhabited at least 60,000 year
s ago. A settled culture appeared in the area around 8000 BC, living in fortified villages, where they subsisted on hunting and fishing, as well as grain gathering and cattle herding.Evidence of human habitation in the Nile Valley since the Paleolithic era appears in the form of artifacts and rock carvings along the Nile terraces and in the desert oases. In the 10th millennium BC, a culture of hunter-gatherers and fishers replaced a grain-grinding culture. Climate changes and/or overgrazing around 8000 BC began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt, forming the Sahara. Early tribal peoples migrated to the Nile River where they developed a settled agricultural economy and more centralized society
50,000 years ago there is sharp increase in the diversity of artifacts. For the first time bone artifacts, and the first art appear in the fossil record in Africa. The first evidence of human fishing is also noted from artifact in places like Blombos cave in South Africa. After 50,000 years ago, firstly in Africa, it was found that he could easily sort the human artifacts into many different categories, such as projectile points, engraving tools, knife blades, and drilling and piercing tools. These new stone tool types have been described as being distinctly differentiated from each other as if each tool had a specific name. 3000 to 4000 years later this technology spread to Europe resulting in a population explosion of modern humans and also the extinction of the Neanderthals. The invaders commonly referred to as the Cro-Magnons left many sophisticated stone tools, cave art and Venus figurines.
(12,500–10,800BC) Early Natufian culture a prehistoric people that inhabited CanaanThe Natufians settled in the woodland belt where oak and pistachio were prevailing species. The underbrush of this open woodland was grass with high frequencies of grain. The high mountains of Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon, the steppe areas of the Negev desert in Israel and Sinai, and the Syro-Arabian desert in the east put up only small Natufian living areas due to both their lower carrying capacity and the company of other groups of foragers who denuded this large region. The houses of the Natufian are semi-subterranean, often with a dry-stone foundation. The superstructure was probably made of brushwood. No traces of mudbricks have been found that became common in the following Pre-Pottery Neolithic A, abbreviated PPN A. The round houses have a diameter between 3 and 6 meters, they contain a central round or subrectangular fireplace.
9600 BC The Holocene epoch is a geological period with a marked temperature variation. According to traditional geological thinking, the Holocene continues to the present.
Graph of CO2 (Green graph), temperature (Blue graph), and dust concentration (Red graph) measured from the Vostok, Antarctica ice core as reported by Petit et al., 1999. Higher dust levels are believed to be caused by cold, dry periods.( from Wikipedia)
9500BC Tell Abu Hureyra site of an ancient settlement in Canaan or western Mesopotamia. It has been cited as showing the earliest known evidence of agriculture anywhere. It is located on a plateau near a south bank of the Euphrates River, presently beneath Lake Assad in northern Syria to the east of Aleppo. There were two separate periods of settlement, with a period of abandonment between.
7600-6000 Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Archeological work done at Jericho in the southern Canaan region.
Notes a change in culture. People living during this period began to depend more heavily upon domesticated animals to supplement their earlier mixed agrarian and hunter-gatherer diet. Architectural styles became primarily rectilinear; earlier typical dwellings were circular, elliptical and occasionally even octagonal. The technology of fire became well developed. Houses used white plaster floors, made of lime produced from limestone.
6000 BC Hassuna or Tell Hassuna is an ancient Mesopotamian site situated in Iraq, south of Mosul.
People in the foothills (piedmont) of northernmost Mesopotamia where there was enough rainfall to allow for "dry" agriculture in some places. These were the first farmers in northernmost Mesopotamia (the region known as Assyria).
5400 BC. founding of Eridu (or Eridug, modern Tell Abu Shahrain, Iraq) was the earliest city in southern Mesopotamia. Seven miles southwest of Ur, Eridu was the southernmost of a conglomeration of Sumerian cities.
4000 BC Sidon was inhabited then and perhaps as early as Neolithic times (6000-4000 B.C.). It later became one of the most important Phoenician cities, 1200 BC to 900 BC, and may have been the oldest. From here, and other ports, a great Mediterranean commercial empire was founded. Homer praised the skill of its craftsmen in producing glass and purple dyes. It was also from here that a colonizing party went to found the city of Tyre.
3150 BC The Egyptian civilization began, with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh Narmer. Thought to be the successor to the predynastic Scorpion and/or Ka, he is considered by some to be the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First dynasty, and therefore the first king of all Egypt
(2950-2900 BCE) Stonehenge Phase I. The earliest portion of the complex dates to approximately this time.
2800 BC - Ancient Amber Trade WE have found, by a mass of concrete attested facts and other cumulative confirmatory evidence, that Civilization properly so-called is synonymous with Aryanization and that it was first introduced into Britain in the Stone Age, about 2800 BC, or earlier, by Hitto-Phrenician Catti," or Early Gothic sea- merchants from the Levant engaged in the Tin, Bronze and Amber trade and industries, who were Aryans in Speech, Script and Racetall, fair, broad-browed and long-headed.
books.google.com/books?id=lvBySVkW4CkC&pg ...
2750 BC Tyre was founded on this date according to Herodotus. It appears on monuments as early as 1300 BC. Tyrian merchants were the first who ventured to navigate the Mediterranean waters; and they founded their colonies on the coasts and neighboring islands of the Aegean Sea, in Greece, on the northern coast of Africa, at Carthage and other places, in Sicily and Corsica, in Spain at Tartessus, and even beyond the pillars of Hercules at Gadeira. Tyre juts out from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and it is located about 80 km (50 mi) south of Beirut
2500BC Expeditions launched by the Egyptians to the land of Punt (land of the Gods) were chronicled in more detail in later expeditions during the reign of the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut in the 15th century BC. The earliest evidence of agriculture, urban settlement and trade in Eritrea (Punt) was found in the western region of the country consisting of archeological remains dating back to 3500 BC. Based on the archaeological evidence, there seems to have been a connection between the peoples of the Gash group and the civilizations of the Nile Valley namely Ancient Egypt and Nubia. Ancient Egyptian sources also give references to cities and trading posts along the southwestern Red Sea coast, roughly corresponding to modern day Eritrea, calling this the land of Punt famed for its incense.
1991-1962 BC. Amenemhet I the first ruler of the twelfth dynasty. Was not of royal lineage. Amenemhat I moved the capital from Thebes to Itjtawy and was buried in el-Lisht.
1800 BC Egyptian Twelfth Dynasty came to an end
1795 – 1750 BC Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite ˤAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer," from ˤAmmu, "paternal kinsman," and Rāpi, "healer"; was the sixth king of Babylon. He became the first king of the Babylonian Empire, extending Babylon's control over Mesopotamia by winning a series of wars against neighboring kingdoms. After the days of Hammurabi, the cult of Marduk eclipsed that of Enlil; although Nippur and the cult of Enlil enjoyed a period of renaissance during the four centuries of Kassite control in Babylonia (c. 1570 BC–1157 BC), the definite and permanent triumph of Marduk over Enlil became felt within the Babylonian empire.
1660-1613 BC eruption of the Santorini Volcano suggest that it occurred very close to the first appearances of the Sea People in Egypt. The eruption and its aftermath would have had wide ranging effects across the Mediterranean, Levant and particularly Greece and could have been the impetus for invasions of other regions of the Mediterranean.
(1570–1070 BC) The New Kingdom was Egypt’s most prosperous time and marked the zenith of its power
1555–1550 BC Kamose expels the Hyksos
B 1800 BC -1200 BC Archaeological sites in India, such as Malhar, Dadupur, Raja Nala Ka Tila and Lahuradewa in present day Uttar Pradesh show iron implements. Some scholars believe that by the early 13th century BC, iron smelting was practiced on a bigger scale in India, suggesting that the date the technology's inception may be placed earlier
1476 BCE The Israelites leave in a mass exodus from Egypt. (Bible timeline wiki)
1440 BC The Egyptian reign of Amenhotep II, during which the first mention of the Habiru (possibly the Hebrews) is found in Egyptian texts. Recently discovered evidence indicates that many Habiru spoke Hurrian, the language of the Hurrians. The Habiru were possibly a social caste rather than an ethnic group, yet even so they may have been incorporated
14th century BC Mitanni sought peace with Egypt and an alliance was formed. During the reign of Shuttarna the relationship was very amicable, and he sent his daughter Gilu-Hepa to Egypt for a marriage with Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Mitanni was now at its peak of power. The Mitanni kingdom is thought to have been a feudal state led by a warrior nobility of Hurrite descent, with the infusion of some Indo-Iranians , who entered the Levant region at some point during the 17th century BC, their influence apparent in a linguistic superstrate in crecords. The spread to Syria of a distinct pottery type associated with the Kura-Araxes culture has been connected with this movement, although its date is somewhat too early.
1400 BCE.The first extant record of Mitra/Mithra is in the inscribed peace treaty between Hittites and the Hurrian kingdom of the Mitanni in the area southeast of Lake Van, There Mitra/Mithra appears in the company of Varuna, Indra and the twin horsemen (Ashwini Twins), the Nasatyas, as the five beings invoked as witnesses and keepers of the pact, and all of whom the rulers of the Mitanni apparently worshipped. (Campbell, 1964 p 256).
14th century BC, the Hittite Empire was at its height, encompassing central Anatolia, north-western Syria as far as Ugarit, and upper Mesopotamia. After 1180 BC, amid general turmoil in the Levant associated with the sudden arrival of the Sea Peoples, the empire disintegrated into several independent "Neo-Hittite" city-states, some of which survived until as late as the 8th century BC.
1353 BC-1336 BC The rule of Akhenaten Effective spirit of Aten, first known as Amenhotep IV and meaning Amun is Satisfied, was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. He is especially noted for attempting to compel the Egyptian population in the monotheistic worship of Aten.
(1334BC) Moses , Although it can not be verified a more recent and non-Biblical view places Moses as a noble in the court of the Pharaoh Akhenaten. A significant number of scholars, from Sigmund Freud to Joseph Campbell, suggest that Moses may have fled Egypt after Akhenaten's death when many of the pharaoh's monotheistic reforms were being violently reversed.
1274BC The Battle of Kadesh took place between the forces of Ramesses II's Egypt and the Hittites of king Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh, the modern Tell Nebi Mend, on the Orontes River of modern Syria. Around Year 5 of Ramesses II's reign when the Pharaoh arrived in the vicinity of Kadesh (or more precisely May 12, 1274 BC based on Ramesses' commonly accepted accession date in 1279 BC). It was probably the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving perhaps 5,000 chariots.
1213 to 1203 BC The black granite stela primarily commemorates a egyptian victory in a campaign against the Libu and Meshwesh Libyans and their Sea People allies, but its final two lines refer to a prior military campaign in Canaan in which Merneptah states that he defeated Ashkelon, Gezer, Yanoam and Israel among others. The stele has gained much notoriety and fame for being the only Ancient Egyptian document generally accepted as mentioning "Isrir" or "Israel". It is also, by far, the earliest known attestation of Israel. For this reason, many scholars refer to it as the "Israel stele". This title is somewhat misleading because the stele is clearly not concerned about Israel— in fact, it mentions Israel only in passing. There is only one line about Israel: "Israel is wasted, bare of seed" or "Israel lies waste, its seed no longer exists" and very little about the region of Canaan. Israel is simply grouped together with three other defeated states in Canaan (Gezer, Yanoam and Ashkelon) in the stele. Merneptah inserts just a single stanza to the Canaanite campaigns but multiple stanzas to his defeat of the Libyans. The line referring to Merneptah's Canaanite campaign reads: Canaan is captive with all woe. Ashkelon is conquered, Gezer seized, Yanoam made nonexistent; Israel is wasted, bare of seed.
(1200)BC The Iron Age is taken to begin in the 12th century BC in the ancient Near East, ancient Persia, ancient India (with the post-Rigvedic Vedic civilization), and ancient Greece (with the Greek Dark Ages). In other regions of Europe, it started much later. The Iron Age began in the 8th century BC in Central Europe and the 6th century BC in Northern Europe. Iron use, in smelting and forging for tools, appears in West Africa by 1200 BC, making it one of the first places for the birth of the Iron Age
1200 BC to 900 BC Phoenician civilization maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean. centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, Syria and Israel. The principal city's Tyre and Sidon
1175 BC It has been suggested that the Casluhite Philistines formed part of the "Sea Peoples" who repeatedly attacked Egypt during the later Nineteenth Dynasty. Though they were eventually repulsed by Ramses III, he finally resettled them, according to the theory, to rebuild the coastal towns in Canaan. Papyrus Harris I details the achievements of the reign of Ramses III. In the brief description of the outcome of the battles in Year 8 is the description of the fate of the Sea Peoples.
1186-1155 ReUsimare Ramesses III (also written Ramses and Rameses) was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty and is considered to be the last great New Kingdom king to wield any substantial authority over Egypt. He was the son of Setnakhte and Queen Tiy-Merenese. Ramesses III is believed to have reigned from March 1186 to April 1155 BC
1150 BC Internal troubles within Egypt lead to the withdrawal of the last Egyptian garrisons at Beth Shean, the Jordan Valley, Megiddo and Gaza, during the reign of Rameses VI. The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and its chronology are much-debated. It is believed by Kenneth A. Kitchen [22] that the Exodus took place in the reign of Ramesses II due to the named Egyptian cities in Exodus: Pithom and Rameses. Evidence for an Israelite presence in Palestine has been found from only six years after the end of the reign of Rameses II, in the Merneptah Stele.
(1100-7
00)BC Villanovan culture, the earliest Iron Age culture of central and northern Italy, abruptly following the Bronze Age Terramare culture and giving way in the 7th century BC to an increasingly orientalizing culture influenced by Greek traders, which was followed without a severe break by the Etruscan civilization. Villanovan cultural origins, but perhaps not all its peoples, lay in the Eastern Alps, with connections to the Halstatt culture. The Villanovans introduced iron-working to the Italian peninsula; they practiced cremation and buried the ashes of their dead in pottery urns of distinctive double-cone shape
1050 BCE until about 930 BCE. The United Monarchy (United Kingdom of Israel and Judah) refers to a period in the traditional account of the history of ancient Israel and Judah. It is believed that this happened around 1025 BCE. Samuel anointed Saul ben Kish from the tribe of Benjamin as the first king of the Israelites, supposedly in 1020 BCE. It was his successor, David c.1006 BCE, who was responsible for consolidating the monarchy and creating the first Hebrew state.
(1047 BC - 1007 BC) King Saul in the Books of Samuel, the first king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel. 
Tribes of Israel 830bc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Levant_830.svg
(1000 BC) In the time of King David, a friendly alliance was entered into between the Kingdoms of Israel and Tyre.
(930–586 BC) The Kingdom of Judah was one of the successor states to the "United Monarchy" often known as the Kingdom of Israel. According to the Hebrew Bible, the Kingdom of Judah first emerged after the death of Saul the King, when the tribe of Judah elevated King David to rule over them. The Davidic line survived for almost 350 years, until the Kingdom fell in 586 BCE to the Babylonian Empire under Nebuzar-adan, captain of Nebuchadnezzar's body-guard. This event coincided with the destruction of the First Temple of Jerusalem. Prior to this, several deportations of Judaean nobility and leading citizens occurred.
(911BC) The accession of Adad-nirari II, The beguining Neo-Assyrian Empire, lasting until the fall of Nineveh at the hands of the Babylonians in 612 BC. In the Middle Assyrian period, Assyria had been a minor kingdom 
of northern Mesopotamia, competing for dominance with Babylonia to the south. Beginning with the campaigns of Adad-nirari II, Assyria became a great regional power, growing to be a serious threat to 25th dynasty Egypt. It began reaching the peak of its power with the reforms of Tiglath-Pileser III (ruled 745–727 BC)[
9th century BC: Parshva, 23rd Tirthankar of Jain tradition, and at the same time the earliest figure of Jainism considered historically datable. There is no ‘God’ or 
‘Creator of Universe’ as per Jainism. A Jain is a follower of Jinas ("conquerors"), human beings who have rediscovered the dharma, become fully liberated and taught the spiritual path for the benefit of beings. A major characteristic of Jain belief is the emphasis on the consequences of physical and mental behavior.[6] Because Jains believe that all living beings possess a soul, great care and awareness is required in going about one's business in the world. Jainism is a religion in which all life is considered worthy of respect and it emphasizes this equality of all life, advocating the protection of the smallest creatures.
(814)BC Carthage was founded in 814 BC by Phoenician settlers from the city of Tyre.
(800-396)BC Etruscan developed in Italy after about 800 BC approximately over the range of the preceding Iron Age Villanovan culture. The latter gave way in the seventh century to a culture that was influenced by Greek traders and Greek neighbors in Magna Graecia, the Hellenic civilization of southern Italy.
722 BC, Assyrian Captivity of the Israelites nearly twenty years after the initial invasions and deportations, the Assyrian King Sargon finally finished what Tiglath-Pileser III began in 740 BCE. He completed the conquest of the Northern Kingdom of Israel by taking captive the capital Samaria after a three year siege (which happed to kill Shalmaneser V) and deporting the remaining Israelites, including the ruling class, to the cities of the Medes and other disputed areas, generally believed to be in or near the vicinity of conquered lands occupied by the Assyrian Empire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Deportation_of_Jews_by_Assyrians.svg
753 BC According to a legend, the city of Rome was founded by the twins Romulus and Remus on April 21, and archaeological evidence supports the theory that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built in the area of the future Roman Forum, coalescing into a city in the 8th century BC. The city developed into the capital of the Roman Kingdom (ruled by a succession of seven kings, according to tradition), Roman Republic (from 510 BC, governed by the Senate), but finally the Roman Empire (from 27 BC, ruled by an Emperor); this success depended on military conquest, commercial predominance, as well as selective assimilation of neighboring civilizations, most notably the Etruscans and Greeks. Pieces of pottery that indicate the area of Rome may have been inhabited as early as 1400 BC have been discovered, whilst skeletons of the 10th and 9th centuries BC have recently been found in the Roman Forum
750 BC, a Kushite (Sudan) king called Kashta conquered Upper Egypt and became ruler of Thebes until approximately 740 BC. His successor, Piankhy, subdued the delta, reunited Egypt under the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, and founded a line of kings who ruled Kush and Thebes for about a hundred years.
586 BC Jewish deportation to Babylon. The fall of the Kingdom of David to the Babylonian Empire under Nebuzar-adan, captain of Nebuchadnezzar's body-guard. The tribe of Judah had elevated King David to rule over them some 350 before .The fall of the kingdom coincided with the destruction of the First Temple of Jerusalem. Prior to this, several deportations of Judaean nobility and leading citizens occurred. After the overthrow of Babylonia by the Persian Empire, in 537 BCE the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great gave the Jews permission to return to their native land, and more than 40,000 are said to have availed themselves of the privilege, as noted in the Biblical accounts of Jehoiakim, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
580 and 572 BC born, died between 500 and 490 BC) was an Ionian Greek mathematician and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. He is often revered as a great mathematician, mystic and scientist; however some have questioned the scope of his contributions to mathematics and natural philosophy. Herodotus referred to him as "the most able philosopher among the Greeks
575 bc the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar captured Tyre, which now lost its independence and was no longer able to send reinforcements to Phoenician colonies if they needed them
560BC
Babylonia ,Awil-Marduk (called Evil-Merodach in the Old Testament; 561-560), the son of Nebuchadrezzar, was unable to win the support of the priests of Marduk. His reign did not last long, and he was soon eliminated. His brother-in-law and successor, Nergal-shar-usur (called Neriglissar in classical sources; 559-556), was a general who undertook a campaign in 557 into the "rough" Cilician land, which may have been under the control of the Medes. His land forces were assisted by a fleet. His still-minor son Labashi-Marduk was murdered not long after that, allegedly because he was not suitable for his job.
(559–330 BC.GIF/800px-Seleucid_Empire_323_-_60_(BC).GIF)
) The Achaemenid Persian Empire was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of Greater Iran. At the height of its power, encompassing approximately 7.5 million square kilometers, the Achaemenid Empire was territorially the largest empire of classical antiquity. It spanned three continents, including territories of modern Afghanistan, Pakistan, central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace, most of the Black Sea coastal regions, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. It is noted in western history as the foe of the Greek city states in the Greco-Persian Wars, for freeing the Israelites from their Babylonian captivity, and for instituting Aramaic as the empire's official language.
539 BC. After the conquest of the Babaylonians the Persians under Cyrus allowed Sheshbazzar, a prince from the tribe of Judah, and Zerubbabel, to bring the Jews from Babylon back to Jerusalem. Jews were allowed to return with the Temple vessels that the Babylonians had taken. Construction of the Second Temple began.
537 the overthrow of Babylonia by the Persian Empire, Persian ruler Cyrus the Great gave the Jews permission to return to the land that they came from, and more than 40,000 are said to have availed themselves of the privilege, as noted in the Biblical accounts of Jehoiakim, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
The Babylonian Captivity and the subsequent return to Israel were seen as one of the pivotal events in the drama between God and His people: Israel. Just as they had been predestined for, and saved from, slavery in Egypt, the Israelites were predestined to be punished by God through the Babylonians, and then saved once more. The Babylonian Captivity had a number of serious effects on Judaism and the Jewish culture, including changes to the Hebrew alphabet and changes in the fundamental practices and customs of the Jewish religion.
This period saw the last high-point of Biblical prophecy in the person of Ezekiel, followed by the emergence of the central role of the Torah in Jewish life.[4] This process coincided with the emergence of scribes and sages as Jewish leaders (see Ezra and the Pharisees).
Prior to exile, the people of Israel had been organized according to tribe; afterwards, they were organized by clans, with only the tribe of Levi continuing in its special role. After the Babylonian captivity, there were always sizable numbers of Jews living outside Eretz Israel, thus marking one starting point of the "Jewish diaspora."
550 BCE The unification of the Median and Persian empires , Cyrus II and later his son Cambyses II curtailed the powers of the Magi after they had attempted to seed dissent following their loss of influence. In 522 BCE the Magi revolted and set up a rival claimant to the throne.
539BC According to the Behistun Inscription pseudo-Smerdis ruled for seven months before being overthrown by Darius I in 521 BCE. The "Magi", though 
persecuted, continued to exist. A year following the death of the first pseudo-Smerdis (named Gaumata), a second pseudo-Smerdis (named Vahyazdāta) attempted a coup. The coup, though initially successful, failed. Whether Cyrus II was a Zoroastrian is subject to debate. It did however influence him to the extent that it became the non-imposing religion of his empire, and its beliefs would later allow Cyrus to free the Jews from captivity and allow them to return to Judea when the emperor took Babylon in 539 BCE. Darius I was certainly a devotee of Ahura Mazda, as attested to several times in the Behistun inscription. But whether he was a follower of Zoroaster has not been conclusively established, since devotion to Ahura Mazda was (at the time) not necessarily an indication of an adherence to Zoroaster's teaching
(513- 512)BC the Persians conquered Abdera, in northern Greece .
500BC After initial success in conflicts with the Greek colonists, Etruria went into a decline. Taking advantage of this, Rome rebelled and gained independence from the Etruscans. It also abandoned monarchy in favour of a republican system based on a Senate, composed of the nobles of the city, along with popular assemblies which ensured political participation for most of the freeborn men and elected magistrates annually.
520-516 BCE. Under the spiritual leadership of the Prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the Second Temple was completed. At this time the Holy Land is a subdistrict of a Persian satrapy (province) known as Yehud.
450 - 419 BCE Elephantine papyri of Jewish military colony in Egypt demonstrate in letters to the temple at Jerusalem that at this time some Jews were polytheistic, as letters specify that Yahweh was considered to have Anat as his consort.
(454) BC, Athens moved the treasury of the Delian League from Delos to Athens, allegedly to keep it safe from Persia
387 BC Rome is sacked and burned by the Senones coming from eastern Italy. Rome hastily rebuilt its buildings and went on the offensive, conquering the Etruscans and seizing territory from the Gauls in the north. After 345 BC, Rome pushed south against other Latins. Their main enemy in this quadrant were the fierce Samnites, who heavily defeated the legions in 321 BC at the Battle of Caudine Forks. In spite of these and other temporary setbacks, the Romans advanced steadily. By 290 BC, Rome controlled over half of the Italian peninsula.
(396) BC Romans sacked Veii Prior to this Rome was sited in Etruscan territory. There is considerable evidence that early Rome was dominated by Etruscans until the Romans sacked Veii.
348bc at the age of Aristotle leaves Platos Academy in Athens, and moves to Asia minor (Turkey)he later returns to start the lycium
(332) BC Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great
331 BCE. The Persian Empire was defeated by Alexander the Great. The Empire of Alexander the Great included Israel. However, it is said that he did not attack Jerusalem directly, after a delegation of Jews met him and assured him of their loyalty by showing him certain prophecies contained in their writings
323 BC Death of Alexander the Great
(322
–185 BCE) The Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE), ruled by the Mauryan dynasty, was a geographically extensive and powerful political and military empire in ancient India. Originating from the kingdom of Magadha in the Indo-Gangetic plains (modern Bihar and Bengal) in the eastern side of the sub-continent, the empire had its capital city at Pataliputra (near modern Patna). The Empire was founded in 322 BCE by Chandragupta Maurya, who had overthrown the Nanda Dynasty and began rapidly expanding his power westwards across central and western India taking advantage of the disruptions of local powers in the wake of the withdrawal westward by Alexander the Great's Macedonian and Persian armies. By 316 BCE the empire had fully occupied Northwestern India, defeating and conquering the satraps left by Alexander.
(321BC) The Partition of Triparadisus was a power-sharing agreement passed at Triparadisus between the generals (diadochi) of Alexander the Great, in which they named a new regent and established the repartition of their satrapies. Following the death of Alexander the Great the rule of his empire was given to his half-brother Philip Arrhidaeus and Alexander's son Alexander IV. However, since Philip was mentally ill and Alexander IV born only after the death of his father, a regent was named in Perdiccas. In the meantime, the former generals of Alexander were named satraps of the various regions of his Empire.
(312 - 60 BC) The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic successor state of Alexander the Great's dominion, including central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, Turkmenistan, Pamir and the Indus valley.
(305)BC The Ptolemaic dynasty was a Hellenistic Greek royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt for nearly 300 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC. Ptolemy, a somatophylax, one of the seven bodyguards who served as Alexander the Great's generals and deputies, was appointed satrap of Egypt after Alexander's death in 323. This Greek royal family ruled the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt for nearly 300 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC.
(304 BC – 232 BC) Asoka Mauryawas an Indian emperor, of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled from 273 BC to 232 BC. Often cited as one of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests. His empire stretched from present-day Pakistan, Afghanistan.He embraced Buddhism from the prevalent Vedic tradition after witnessing the mass deaths of the war of Kalinga, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. He was later dedicated in the propagation of Buddhism across Asia and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha.
300 BC, Euclid of Alexandria and the "Father of Geometry", was a Greek mathematician of the Hellenistic period who was active in Alexandria, almost certainly during the reign of Ptolemy I (323 BC–283 BC
281 BC Ptolemy II Philadelphus (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Φιλάδελφος, 309 BC–246 BC), was the king of Ptolemaic Egypt from 281 BC to 246 BC. He was the son of the founder of the Ptolemaic kingdom Ptolemy I Soter and Berenice, and was educated by Philitas of Cos. He had a half-brother, Ptolemy Ceraunus, who became king of Macedonia in 281 BC and died in the Gallic invasion of 280-279 BC . Ptolemy II Philadelphus, is one of the Kings mentioned by Ashoka (enperor of India) in his edicts, is recorded by Pliny the Elder as having sent an ambassador named Dionysius to the Mauryan court at Pataliputra in India: "But [India] has been treated of by several other Greek writers who resided at the courts of Indian kings, such, for instance, as Megasthenes, and by Dionysius, who was sent thither by Philadelphus, expressly for the purpose: all of whom have enlarged upon the power and vast resources of these nations." Pliny the Elder, "The Natural History", Chap. 21 [3]
264 and 146 BC. The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage between They are known as the Punic Wars because the Latin term for Carthaginian was Punici (older Poenici, from their Phoenician ancestry). The main cause of the Punic Wars was the clash of interests between the existing Carthaginian Empire and the expanding Roman Republic. The Romans were initially interested in expansion via Sicily, part of which lay under Carthaginian control. At the start of the first Punic War, Carthage was the dominant power of the Western Mediterranean, with an extensive maritime empire, while Rome was the rapidly ascending power in Italy. By the end of the third war, after more than a hundred years and the deaths of many hundreds of thousands of soldiers from both sides, Rome had conquered Carthage's empire and razed the city, becoming the most powerful state of the Western Mediterranean
(218)BC Hannibal surprised the Romans by directly invading Italy. He led a large army of mercenaries composed mainly of Gauls, Hispanics, Numidians, and, most famously, three dozen African war elephants, through the Alps. This move had a double edged effect. Although Hannibal surprised the Romans and thoroughly beat them on the battlefields of Italy, he lost his only siege engines and elephants to the cold temperatures and icy mountain paths. In the end it allowed him to defeat the Romans in the field, but not in the strategically crucial city of Rome itself, thus making him unable to draw the war to a decisive close.
Hannibal defeated the Roman legions in several major engagements, including the Battle of the Trebia, the Battle of Lake Trasimene and most famously at the Battle of Cannae, but his long-term strategy failed. Lacking siege engines and sufficient manpower to take the city of Rome itself, he had planned to turn the Italian allies against Rome and starve the city out through a siege. However, with the exception of a few of the southern city-states, the majority of the Roman allies remained loyal and continued to fight alongside Rome, despite Hannibal's near-invincible army devastating the Italian countryside. Rome also exhibited an impressive ability to draft army after army of conscripts after each crushing defeat by Hannibal, allowing them to recover from the defeats at Cannae and elsewhere and keep Hannibal cut off from aid.
188 BC
The Treaty of Apamea, was peace treaty between the Roman Republic and Antiochus III (the Great), ruler of the Seleucid Empire. It took place after the Romans victories in the battle of Thermopylae (in 191 BC), in the Battle of Magnesia (in 190), and after Roman and Rhodian naval victories over the Seleucid navy.
In this treaty, according to Appian, Antiochus III must abandon Europe altogether and all of Asia west of the Taurus, he had to surrender all the elephants he had, and he should have only twelve war-ships for the purpose of keeping his subjects under control, but he might have more if he were attacked. He should not recruit mercenaries from Roman territory nor entertain fugitives from the same
174-163 BCE Antiochus IV Epiphanes: attempted complete Hellenization of the Jews, see also 1 Maccabees.
(146) The fall of Carthage was at the end of the Third Punic War in 146 BC and is burned and destroyed. Its people are in-slaved by the Romans. 
122AD A new city of Carthage was re-built on the same land, and by the 1st century it had grown to the second largest city in the western half of the Roman empire, with a peak population of 500,000. It was the center of the Roman province of Africa, which was a major breadbasket of the empire.
134-104 BCE John Hyrcanus, Ethnarch & High Priest of Jerusalem, "Age of Expansion", annexed Trans-Jordan, Samaria, Galilee, Idumea. Forced Idumeans to convert to Judaism, hired non-Jewish mercenaries, etc.
80BC Alexandria passed formally under Roman jurisdiction, according to the will of Ptolemy Alexander but only after it had been under Roman influence for more than a hundred years. Julius Caesar dallied with Cleopatra in Alexandria in 47 BC and was mobbed by the rabble. His example was followed by Mark Antony, for whose favor the city paid dearly to Octavian. Following Anthony's defeat at Alexandria, Octavian took Egypt for his own, appointing a prefect who reported personally to him rather than to the Roman Senate. While in Alexandria, Octavian took time to visit Alexander's tomb and inspected late king's remains. On being offered a viewing into the tombs of the pharaohs, he refused, saying, 'I came to see a king, not a collection of corpses'. At the time it had the largest Jewish population of the world.
69–30BC Cleopatra VII born in January was a Hellenistic ruler of Egypt, Cleopatra is reputed to have been the first member of her family in their 300-year reign in Egypt to have learned the Egyptian language. Cleopatra adopted common Egyptian beliefs and deities. Her patron goddess was Isis, and thus during her reign, it was believed that she was the re-incarnation and embodiment of the goddess of wisdom.
63 BCE Pompey conquered Jerusalem and the region and made it a client kingdom of Rome
59 BC.(the so-called First Triumvirate).Caesar somehow managed to forge a political alliance with both Pompey and Crassus . Pompey and Crassus would make him Consul, and he would use his power as Consul to force their claims. Plutarch quotes Cato the Younger as later saying that the tragedy of Pompey was not that he was Caesar's defeated enemy, but that he had been, for too long, Caesar's friend and supporter
57-55 BCE Aulus Gabinius, proconsul of Syria, split Hasmonean Kingdom into Galilee, Samaria & Judea with 5 districts of Sanhedrin/Synedrion (councils of law)
51 BC, Pompey made it clear that Caesar would not be permitted to stand for Consul unless he turned over control of his armies. This would, of course, leave Caesar defenseless before his enemies. As Cicero sadly noted, Pompey had begun to fear Caesar. Pompey had been diminished by age, uncertainty, and the harassment of being the chosen tool of a quarreling Optimate oligarchy. The coming conflict was inevitable.
49 BC, with Caesar crossing the Rubicon and his invading legions sweeping down the peninsula, Pompey ordered the abandonment of Rome. His legions retreated south towards Brundisium, where Pompey intended to find renewed strength by waging war against Caesar in the East. In the process, neither Pompey nor the Senate thought of taking the vast treasury with them, probably thinking that Caesar would not dare take it for himself. It was left conveniently in the Temple of Saturn when Caesar and his forces entered Rome.
48BC Pompey retreats to Egypt with Caesar on their backs, the conservatives led by Pompey fled to Greece. Caesar and Pompey had their final showdown at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC. The fighting was bitter for both sides but eventually was a decisive victory for Caesar. Like all the other conservatives, Pompey had to run for his life. He met his wife Cornelia and his son Sextus Pompeius on the island of Mytilene. He then wondered where to go next. The decision of running to one of the eastern kingdoms was overruled in favor of Egypt
48BC After his arrival in Egypt, Pompey's fate was decided by the counselors of the young king Ptolemy XIII. While Pompey waited offshore for word, they argued the cost of offering him refuge with Caesar already en route for Egypt. It was decided to murder Caesar's enemy to ingratiate themselves with him. On September 29, his 58th birthday, the great Pompey was lured toward a supposed audience on shore in a small boat in which he recognized two old comrades-in-arms, Achillas and Lucius Septimius. They were to be his assassins. While he sat in the boat, studying his speech for the king, they stabbed him in the back with sword and dagger. After decapitation, the body was left, contemptuously unattended and naked, on the shore. His freedman, Philipus, organized a simple funeral pyre and cremated the body on a pyre of broken ship's timbers.
48 BC Caesar's Conquest of egypt Plutarch's Lives, written at the end of the first or beginning of the second century, describes a battle in which Caesar was forced to burn his own ships, which in turn set fire to the docks and then the Library, destroying it. This would have occurred during the fighting between Caesar and Ptolemy XIII
48 BC, Ptolemy XIII and Pothinus attempted to depose Cleopatra VII due to her increasing status as Queen. Cleopatra VII proved more successful in winning Caesar's favor and became his lover. Caesar arranged the execution of Pothinus and the official return to the throne of Cleopatra.
(47BC) Born June 23 Ptolemy XV, Philopator Philometor Caesar, nicknamed Caesarion (little Caesar) He was the last king of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, as a child, ruled jointly with his mother Cleopatra VII of Egypt from September 2, 44 BC to August, 30 BC, when he was alegedly killed by Octavian, who would become the Roman emperor Augustus. The eldest son of Cleopatra VII, Caesarion is considered (and it is highly likely, given the evidence) the son of Julius Caesar
46 BC Mark Anthony takes offense because Caesar insisted on payment for the property of Pompey which Antony professedly had purchased, but had in fact simply appropriated. Conflict soon arose, and, as on other occasions, Antony resorted to violence. Hundreds of citizens were killed and Rome herself descended into a state of anarchy. Caesar was most displeased with the whole affair and removed Antony from all political responsibilities. The two men did not see each other for two years. The estrangement was not of long continuance, for we find Antony meeting the dictator at Narbo (45 BC) and rejecting the suggestion of Trebonius that he should join in the conspiracy that was already afoot. Reconciliation arrived in 44 BC, when Antony was chosen as partner for Caesar's fifth consulship.
44 B.C Ceaser assasinated. On March 14, 44 BC, Antony was alarmed by a talk he had with a Senator named Casca, who told him the gods would make a strike against Caesar in the Roman Forum. Fearing the worst, the next day he went down to warn the dictator but the Liberatores reached Caesar first and he was assassinated In the turmoil that surrounded the event, Antony escaped Rome dressed as a slave, fearing that the dictator's assassination would be the start of a bloodbath among his supporters. When this did not occur, he soon returned to Rome, discussing a truce with the assassins' faction. For a while, Antony, as consul of the year, seemed to pursue peace and the end of the political tension. Following a speech by Cicero in the Senate, an amnesty was agreed for the assassins.
44 BC The triumvirate brakes up . After Gaius Julius Caesar's assassination, Antony formed an official political alliance with Octavian (Augustus) and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Disagreement between Octavian and Antony erupted into civil war, the Final War of the Roman Republic,
(d. 43 BC), Antipater the Idumaean , like his father and grandson also known as Antipas, was the founder of the Herodian Dynasty and father of Herod the Great. A native of Idumaea, southeast of Judea between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, and which during the time of the Hebrew Bible had been known as the land of Edom, Antipater became a powerful official under the later Hasmonean kings and subsequently became a client of the Roman general Pompey the Great when Pompey conquered Judea in the name of Roman Republic. When Julius Caesar defeated Pompey, Antipater aided Caesar in Alexandria, and was made chief minister of Judea, with the right to collect taxes. Antipater eventually made his sons Phasael and Herod the Governors of Jerusalem and Galilee respectively. After the assassination of Caesar, Antipater was forced to side with Gaius Cassius Longinus against Mark Antony. The pro-Roman politics of Antipater led to his increasing unpopularity among the devout, non-Hellenized Jews, and he was poisoned. The diplomacy and artful politics of Antipater, as well as his insinuation into the Hasmonean court, paved the way for the rise of his son Herod the Great, who used this position to marry the Hasmonean princess Mariamne, endear himself to Rome, and usurp the Judean throne, to become king of Judea under Roman influence.
42BC Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius had assembled an army in Greece in order to march on Rome, Antony, Octavian and Lepidus allied together to stop Caesar's assassins. After two battles at Philippi in Macedonia, the Caesarian army was victorious and Brutus and Cassius committed suicide (42 BC). After the battle, a new arrangement was made between the members of the Second Triumvirate: while Octavian returned to Rome, Antony went to Egypt where he allied himself with Queen Cleopatra VII, the former lover of Julius Caesar and mother of Caesar's infant son, Caesarion. Lepidus went on to govern Hispania and the province of Africa.
40-39 BCE Herod the Great appointed "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate. Herod the Great was born around 73 BC. He was the second son of Antipater the Idumaean, a high-ranked official under Ethnarch Hyrcanus II, and Cypros, a Nabatean. A loyal supporter of Hyrcanus II, Antipater appointed Herod governor of Galilee at 25, and his older brother, Phasael, governor of Jerusalem. He enjoyed the backing of Rome but his excessive brutality was condemned by the Sanhedrin. In 43 BC, following the chaos caused by Antipater offering financial support to Caesar's murderers, Antipater was poisoned. Herod, backed by the Roman Army, executed his father's murderer. Some of Herod's achievements include the development of water supplies for Jerusalem, building The second temple, fortresses such as Masada and Herodium, and founding new cities such as Caesarea Maritima. He and Cleopatra owned a monopoly over the extraction of asphalt from the Dead Sea, which was used in ship building. He leased copper mines on Cyprus from the Roman emperor.
(39 BC) Antony sails to Greece with his new wife, Cleopatra. The Parthian Empire had supported Brutus and Cassius in the civil war, sending forces which fought with them at Philippi; following Antony and Octavian's victory, the Parthians invaded Roman territory, occupying Syria, advancing into Anatolia and installing Antigonus as puppet king in Judaea to replace the pro-Roman Hyrcanus II. Antony sent his general Ventidius to oppose this invasion. Ventidius won a series of victories against the Parthians, killing the crown prince Pacorus and expelling them from the Roman territories they had seized. Antony now planned to retaliate by invading Parthia, and secured an agreement from Octavian to supply him with extra troops for his campaign. With this military purpose on his mind, Antony sailed to Greece with his new wife, where he behaved in a most extravagant manner, assuming the attributes of the god Dionysus (39 BC). But the rebellion in Sicily of Sextus Pompeius, the last of the Pompeians, kept the army promised to Antony in Italy. With his plans again disrupted, Antony and Octavian quarreled once more.
38 BC. The triumvirate was renewed for a period of another five years. This time with the help of his wife Octavia (Octavian's sister), a new treaty was signed in Tarentum Octavian promised once again to send legions to the East.
37 BC Installs Herod the Great... Mark Anthony sailed to Alexandria , skepticak of Octavian's true support of his Parthian cause. Leaving Octavia pregnant with her second child Antonia in Rome. Cleopatra, the mother of his twins lent him the money he needed for the army, and after capturing Jerusalem and surrounding areas in and, he installed Herod the Great as puppet king of Judaea, replacing the Parthian appointee Antigonus. Antony then invaded Parthian territory with an army of about 100,000 Roman and allied troops but the campaign proved a disaster. After defeats in battle, the desertion of his Armenian allies and his failure to capture Parthian strongholds convinced Antony to retreat, his army was further depleted by the hardships of its retreat through Armenia in the depths of winter, losing more than a quarter of its strength in the course of the campaign.
35BC Lepidus was forced to resign after an ill-judged political move. Octavian woos the traditional Republican aristocracy to his side, and becomes the sole power in Rome. He married Livia and started to attack Antony in order to raise himself to power. He argued that Antony was a man of low morals to have left his faithful wife abandoned in Rome with the children to be with the promiscuous queen of Egypt. Antony was accused of everything, but most of all, of "becoming native", an unforgivable crime to the proud Romans. Several times Antony was summoned to Rome, but remained in Alexandria with Cleopatra.
35bc ?
Marc Antony again invades Armenia, this time successfully. On his return to Alexandria, Surrounded by Cleopatra and her children, Antony. He distributed these concurred kingdoms between his children: Alexander Helios was named king of Armenia and Media and Parthia (which were never conquered by Rome), his twin Cleopatra Selene got Cyrenaica and Libya, and the young Ptolemy Philadelphus was awarded Syria and Cilicia. As for Cleopatra, she was proclaimed Queen of Kings and Queen of Egypt, to rule with Caesarion (Ptolemy XV Caesar, son of Julius Caesar), King of Kings and King of Egypt. Most important of all, Caesarion was declared legitimate son and heir of Caesar. These proclamations were known as the Donations of Alexandria and caused a fatal breach in Antony's relations with Rome.
(34 BC) The Donations of Alexandria were a political statement by Mark Antony in which he distributed lands held by Rome and Parthia amongst Cleopatra VII and their children.
32 BC During the King Malichus II reign, in 32 BC Herod the Great started a war against Nabatea, with the support of Cleopatra. The war started with Herod's army plundering Nabataea and with a large cavalry force, and the occupation of Dium. After this defeat the Nabatean forces amassed near Canatha in Syria, but were attacked and routed. Athenio (Cleopatra's General) sent Canathans to the aid of the Nabateans, and this force crushed Herod's army which then fled to Ormiza. One year later, Herod's army overran Nabataea
31 BC. Antony was defeated by Octavian at the naval Battle of Actium, and in a brief land battle at Alexandria. He committed suicide, and his lover, Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, killed herself shortly thereafter The war started with Octavian's loyal and talented general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa capturing the Greek city and naval port of Methone, loyal to Antony. The enormous popularity of Octavian with the legions secured the defection of the provinces of Cyrenaica and Greece to his side. On September 2, the naval Battle of Actium took place. Antony and Cleopatra's navy was destroyed, and they were forced to escape to Egypt with 60 ships. Octavian, in August 30 BC, assisted by Agrippa, invaded Egypt. With no other refuge to escape to, Antony committed suicide by stabbing himself with his sword in the mistaken belief that Cleopatra had already done so (30 BC). Probably within two weeks following his death, Cleopatra committed suicide. Her servants, Iras and Charmion, also killed themselves, and Caesarion was murdered. Antony's daughters by Octavia were spared, as was his son, Iullus Antonius. But his elder son, Marcus Antonius Antyllus, was killed by Octavian's men while pleading for his life in the Caesarium.
31 BC — Judea suffers a devastating earthquake. Octavian defeats Mark Antony, so Herod switches allegiance to Octavian, later known as Augustus.
30 BC Octavian invaded Egypt , Cleopatra VII sent Caesarion, then seventeen years old, to the Red Sea port of Berenice for safety, with possible plans of an escape to India. Octavian captured the city of Alexandria on August 1, 30 BC, the date that marks the official annexation of Egypt to the Roman Republic.
(25–13) BC Ceaserea city built by Herod the Great. Today, the city lies on the Mediterranean coast of Israel about halfway between the modern cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. In 13 BCE, Caesarea became the civilian and military capital of Judaea, and the official residence of the Roman procurators and governors, Pontius Pilatus, praefectus and Antonius Felix. Early Christian mentions of Caesarea in the apostolic period follow the acts of Peter who established the church there when he baptized Cornelius the Centurion (Acts, 10, 11). The Apostle Paul often sojourned there (9:30; 18:22; 21:8), and was imprisoned at Caesarea for two years before being taken to Rome (23:23, 25:1-13).
20 BC: Pontius Pilate, later to become the Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, is born at Fortingall. http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usfeatures/timeline/to1000.html
12 BC, March 6 after the death of Lepidus, Agustus additionally took up the position of pontifex maximus, the high priest of the collegium of the Pontifices, the most important position in Roman religion
10 BC APP— The newly expanded temple in Jerusalem was inaugurated. War against the Nabateans began.
4BC Herod the Great dies
4BC After the reign of the client king Herod the Great , Judea was added to the Roman province of Syria.
2 BC, February 5, Augustus was also given the title pater patriae, or "father of the country
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