CHAPTER TWO:
Ancient Times Before Christ
4004 to 1 BC
4004 BC
Adam and Eve are created in the Garden of Eden.
c.3900 BC
The first kings rule in Upper Egypt.
3776-2807 BC
The Life of Methusaleh; the oldest man who ever walked the Earth.
c.3500 BC
Writing is invented in the Middle-East.
3228-3102 BC
The Life of Krishna, eighth avatar of Vishnu.
c.3300 BC
In India: The Harappan Civilisation arises along the Indus River valley.
c.3200 BC
The Double Falcon King rules in Lower Egypt.
3059 BC
The Scorpion King unites the Upper and Lower Kingdoms of Egypt.
~ Beginning of the Old Kingdom in Egypt.
c.3000 BC
The Indian guru Vyasa composes the epic Mahabharata.
2807 BC
The Great Flood
A great deluge inundates the entire lands of India, China, and Sumeria and devastates their ancient civilisations.
2749-2623 BC
Gilgamesh reigns as the fifth king of Uruk.
2698-2598 BC
In China: The reign of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor.
2635 BC
Imhotep, King Djoser’s visier, designs Egypt’s first pyramid.
c.2600 BC
The chariot is introduced to Mesopotamia.
The first swords are used in the Middle-East.
2589-2504 BC
The Great Pyramids of Giza are constructed in Egypt.
2271-2215 BC
The Reign of Sargon the Great; Conqueror of Uruk and founder of the Akkadian Empire.
2215 BC
The Gutian invasion puts an end to Sargon’s Empire.
2205 BC
In China: The Beginning of the Xia Dynasty.
c.2200 BC
Minoan civilisation arises on the isle of Crete.
2181 BC
End of the Old Kingdom in Egypt.
2119 BC
The Sumerian Renaissance (Third Dynasty of Ur).
2055 BC
Beginning of the Middle Kingdom in Egypt.
2004 BC
The Elamite invasion spells an end to the Third Dynasty of Ur.
1921 BC
The Lord’s Call to Abraham
Father Abraham, his wife/sister Sarah, and his whole family leave Mesopotamia to go and settle Israel and fulfill the Lord’s promise to His Chosen People.
c.1900 BC
In India: The Harappan Civilisation declines and disappears.
1792 BC
Babylon gains hegemony over Mesopotamia under Hammurabi, the Law-giver.
~ Founding of the Old Babylonian Empire.
1766 BC
In China: The Beginning of the Shang Dynasty.
1728 BC
Joseph gets his technicolor dreamcoat.
~ His ten older brothers, jealous of his fine duds, sells him into slavery in Egypt.
1650 BC
The Hyksos people rise to power in Egypt.
~ End of the Middle Kingdom.
c.1600 BC
The rise of Achaean civilisation in Greece.
1595 BC
The Hittites sack Babylon.
~ End of the Old Babylonian Empire.
1570 BC
Beginning of the New Kingdom in Egypt.
Baby Moses is born and gets put in a reed basket on the Nile.
c.1500 BC
The Aryans invade northern India.
Iron first comes into use.
1491 BC
The Volcanic Eruption of Thera
The island of Thera is wiped off the map. It’s massive tsunamis wreak havoc on Minoan civilisation, it’s immense clouds of ash the direct cause of the Ten Plagues of Egypt.
Moses leads the Hebrew people out of Egypt, parts the Red Sea, and recieves the Ten Commandments from the Lord on Mount Sinai.
1491-1451 BC
The Hebrew Exodus from Egypt
c.1450 BC
Pharaoh Thutmose III conquers a mighty empire for Egypt.
c.1430 BC
The rise of the Hittite Empire.
c.1400 BC
The Achaeans invade the isle of Crete, bringing an end to Minoan civilisation.
1324 BC
King Tut is buried in Egypt.
1291-1226 BC
The Life of Hercules; greatest of Greek heroes.
1268 BC
Jason and the Argonaut’s Quest for the Golden Fleece.
1194-1184 BC
The Trojan War
The Long-Haired Achaeans attack the great city of Troy to recover the beautiful Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta, from the weasely Prince Paris. Waged by great heroes such as Odysseus, Hector and the mighty Achilles, the Achaeans are victorious after conivingly stowing into the city inside a giant wooden horse designed as a gift.
1184-1174 BC
The Odyssey
Odysseus, Achaean hero of the Trojan War, sails back to his home of Ithaca and his wife Penelope but is betrot with innumerable perils along the way.
1183-1152 BC
The reign in Egypt of Pharaoh Ramses III; Defeater of the invading Sea People.
1175-1155 BC
Samson, the strongest man who ever lived (until 1970 AD when he was surpassed by Arnold Schwarzenegger), rules as Judge of Israel.
c.1160 BC
The collapse of the Hittite Empire.
1122 BC
In China: King Wu, the Martial King, defeats the Shang and establishes the Chou Dynasty.
c.1100 BC
The Dorians, descendants of the mighty Hercules, invade Achaean Greece.
c.1100-800 BC
The Greek Dark Ages.
1095 BC
The prophet Samuel annoints Saul as the first king of Israel.
1070 BC
The shepherd boy David kills the giant Goliath with a slingshot (well, actually he only knocked out Goliath with the slingshot and then proceeded to saw the man’s head off with a sword while he was unconscious).
1069 BC
End of the New Kingdom in Egypt.
1055-1015 BC
King David rules in Israel.
1015-980 BC
King Solomon, the son of David, rules in Israel. the wisest man who ever lived.
1012 BC
The Temple of Solomon is founded in Jerusalem.
c.1000 BC
The Avesta is thus spoken by Zarathustra, founder of Zoroastrianism and inventor of magic.
934 BC
The Assyrian Empire is founded.
c.900 BC
The first cavalries come into use in Assyria.
814 BC
The founding of Carthage by Queen Dido of Tyre.
c.800 BC
The first Greek city-states appear.
776 BC
The first Olympic Games are held in Greece.
771 BC
In China: The Chou’s capital in the West is sacked by barabarians and the royal court is forced to move East.
Beginning of the Spring and Autumn Period in China.
753 BC
The Founding of Rome.
Romulus and Remus are suckled by a she-wolf and Romulus is made the first king of Rome.
745-729 BC
Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria conquers much of the known world, culminating in his victory over Babylon in 729.
664 BC
Beginning of the Late Period in Egypt.
660 BC
In the mysterious Far East: Japan is founded by the ancestral Emperor Jimmu.
626 BC
Nabopolassar leads a revolt against the Assyrian Empire.
~ The New Babylonian Empire is Founded.
586-536 BC
The Babylonian Captivity of the Jews
The destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple by the Babylonians. The Jews are taken into captivity for seventy years.
563-483 BC
The Life of Siddhartha Gautama; the Buddha.
Leaves his palace at the age of 29, attains enlightenment at 35 and founds the great religion of Buddhism.
559 BC
Cyrus the Great is crowned king, establishes the Persian Empire.
551-479 BC
Confucius lives and teaches in the exotic land of China.
546 BC
Cyrus the Great conquers Lydia and the Medes.
539 BC
Cyrus overthrows Babylon while a feasting King Belshazzar sees “The Writing on the Wall”.
536 BC
The Second Temple is founded in Jerusalem.
525 BC
Egypt is conquered by Cambyses II of Persia.
515 BC
Darius the Great of Persia invades northern India.
509 BC
King Tarquin of Rome is overthrown after his son Sextus was caught raping a noblewoman.
~ The Founding of the Roman Republic.
492-479 BC
The Persian Wars in Greece.
490 BC
The Greeks defeat the Persians at the Battle of Marathon.
~ The marathon race is invented.
480 BC
300 Spartans defend Greece to their deaths at the Battle of Thermopylae.
478 BC
The Tower of Babel is despoiled by Xerxes.
475 BC
In China: Various small states and principalities across the land coalesce into eight warring states.
Beginning of the Warring States Period.
469-399 BC
The Life of Socrates.
458 BC
The humble farmer Cincinnatus answers the call to serve as dictator of Rome.
c.450 BC
In China: Beginning of the Warring States Period
431-404 BC
The Peloponnesian Wars in Greece.
428-348 BC
The Life of Plato.
404 BC
Sparta defeats Athens and becomes the leading city in Greece.
Amyrtaeus of Sais defeats Darius II, putting an end to Persian rule in Egypt.
c.400 BC
Cast iron is invented in China.
384-322 BC
The Life of Aristotle.
371 BC
Sparta is defeated by Thebes.
362 BC
The whole of Greece falls into anarchy after the Theban leader is killed in battle against Sparta.
356 BC
Alexander the Great, son of King Philip II of Macedon, is born in the city of Pella. Is tutored by the famed philosopher, Aristotle.
343 BC
Artaxerxes III of Persia once again defeats Egypt, effectively ending native rule of Egypt for good.
338 BC
Philip II of Macedon, alongside his son Alexander, conquers all of Greece after defeating Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea.
336 BC
Alexander the Great becomes King of Macedon after the assasination of his father.
336 BC
Alexander sets out to conquer all of Asia.
332 BC
Alexander conquers the Persian province of Egypt, almost without a fight.
331 BC
The Battle of Arbela
Alexander defeats the Persian King Darius III, conquering Persia and establishing the Macedonian Empire.
326 BC
Alexander’s army turns back at India, tired of the combat, pain and the glory.
323 BC
Alexander dies of fever in Babylon.
His empire is divided four ways between his generals. Most notably to Seleucus in Syria and the Ptolemy’s in Egypt.
305 BC
Ptolemy Soter declares himself Pharaoh of Egypt.
~ Beginning of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt.
273-232 BC
In India: The Reign of Ashoka the Great
266 BC
Rome conquers the entire Italian peninsula.
264-241 BC
The First Punic War
Rome vs. Carthage
256 BC
In China: The End of the Chou Dynasty.
221 BC
In China: The Chinese Empire is founded by the legendary Emperor Ch’in, for whome the land of China is named.
The Beginning of the Ch’in Dynasty.
218-202 BC
The Second Punic War
Rome is pitted against the forces of Hannibal of Carthage and his elephants.
214-205 BC
The First Macedonian War
212 BC
The Greek philosopher, Archimedes, directs sunlight with mirrors to set Roman ships on fire during the Siege of Syracuse.
206 BC
In China: Beginning of the Han Dynasty
200-196 BC
The Second Macedonian War
172-168 BC
The Third Macedonian War
164 BC
The Maccabees defeat the Seleucids. Israel regains her independence for the last time in antiquity.
150-148 BC
The Fourth Macedonian War
Rome defeats Greece. Two years later, Macedonia becomes a province of Rome.
149-146 BC
The Third Punic War
Carthage is utterly destroyed.
139 BC
Mithridates I of Parthia conquers much of Seleucus’ Empire.
133BC
Tiberius Gracchus pushes for reforms in the Roman Senate and gets killed as a result.
123 BC
Gaius Gracchus pushes for reforms in the Roman Senate and gets killed as a result.
100 BC
Julius Caesar is born.
82-79 BC
The dictatorship of Sulla in Rome.
73-71 BC
Spartacus leads his slave revolt against the Roman Republic.
63 BC
Israel becomes subject to Roman rule.
58-49 BC
The Gallic Wars
Julius Caesar defeats the Celtic chief, Vercingetorix, and conquers all of Gaul (modern-day France) as province of Rome.
49 BC
Caesar and his army cross the Rubicon.
~ Julius Caesar is made dictater of the Republic.
49-30 BC
The Final Wars of the Roman Republic.
44 BC
March 15: Caesar is assassinated in the Senate Hall. Gets stabbed a whopping twenty-three times.
31 BC
Marc Antony and Cleopatra are defeated at the Battle of Actium by Octavian, nephew and heir of Julius Caesar.
27 BC
The Roman Empire is officially established as the Senate gives Octavian the title of Augustus.
~ Augustus Caesar - First Emperor of Rome.
19 BC
King Herod restores the magnificent Second Temple in Jerusalem.
1 BC
December 25: Our Lord, Jesus of Nazereth, is born in the City of Bethlehem.
