Select here for The Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Select here for Israel Forums on The Microsoft Network

Select here for Israel Chat Room on The Microsoft Network


THE FIRST COMMONWEALTH (ca. 1004 - 586 BCE)
1010 - 970 Reign of King David.
ca. 1004 King David captures Jerusalem from the Jebusites. Makes Jerusalem the capital.
ca. 960 King Solomon begins to build the First Temple.
928 Division of Kingdom into Israel (north) and Judah (south).
722 Assyrians conquer northern Kingdom of Israel.
701 Hezekiah successfully withstands Sennacherib's attack on Jerusalem.
597 Babylonians capture Jerusalem.
586 Nebuchadnezzar destroys city and First Temple and exiles Jews to Babylon.
THE PERSIAN PERIOD (539 BCE - 332 BCE)
539 Fall of Babylon.
538-37 Cyrus allows Jews (about 50,000) to return to Jerusalem from Babylon
520 Works begins on the building of the Second Temple under Zerubbabel.
515 Completion and rededication of the Second Temple.
445 Nehemiah appointed governor of Judea by Artaxerxes and rebuilds city walls.
397 Ezra the Scribe initiates religious reforms.
THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD (167 BCE - CE 63)
332 Alexander the Great conquers Palestine.
323 Death of Alexander in Babylon - Wars of Succession begin.
320 Ptolemy I captures Jerusalem.
320 - 198 Rule of Egyptian Ptolemies.
198 - 167 Rule of the Syrian Seleucids.
167 Antiochus IV of Syria outlaws Juda and desecrates the Second Temple.
THE HASMONEAN PERIOD (167 BCE - CE 63)
167 - 141 Maccabean War of Liberation.
164 Judah Maccabee recaptures Jerusalem and restores Temple.
166 - 160 Rule of Judah the Maccabee.
160 - 143 Rule of Jonathan.
143 - 135 Rule of Simon Maccabeus.
ROMAN PERIOD (63 BCE - 324 CE)
63 General Pompey and his Roman legions conquer Jerusalem.
63 - 37 Hasmonean rules continue but under protection of Rome.
40 Rome appoints Herod King of Judea.
40 - CE 4 Reign of Herod the Great.
37 King Herod captures Jerusalem.
18 Herod commences rebuilding of Temple.
ca. 7 BCE - ca. 31 CE Life of Jesus of Nazareth
4 BCE Jerusalem is governed from Caesarea by Roman procurators.
Herod dies.

New Testament Period under Roman Rule (First Century CE)

26 - 36 Pontius Pilate, Roman procurator of Judea.
27 - 31 The ministry of Jesus.
31 Crucifixion of Jesus.
63 Temple completed.
66 Jews revolt against the Romans.
70 Jerusalem is demolished by Titus; survivors are exiled or sold into slavery.
132 Bar Kochba leads a doomed revolt against Rome.
135 Emperor Hadrian rebuilds Jerusalem; builds new walls and renames the city Aelia
Capitolina and country Palestine; bans Jews from Jerusalem.
BYZANTINE PERIOD (324 - 638)
313 Emperor Constantine legalizes Christianity.
324 Constantine becomes sole ruler of the empire.
326 Queen Helena discovers Gologotha and other holy sites; her son, Constantine, builds the Anastasis (Church of the Holy Sepulchre).
438 Empress Eudocia allows Jews to live in Jerusalem.
614 Persian conquest of Jerusalem.
628 Emperor Heraculis recaptures the city.
EARLY MUSLIM PERIOD (639 - 1099)
638 Six years after the Mohammed's death, Caliph Omar captures Jerusalem; Jews readmitted.
691 Dome of the Rock is built by Caliph Abd al-Malik.
715 Al-Aqsa Mosque is completed by al-Walid al-Malik.
750 Power shifts from the Umayyards of Damascus to the Abbasids of Baghdad; Abbasids continue to enhance Jerusalem.
969 Fatimid conquest is soon followed by destruction of churches and synagogues.
1071 Seljuks devastate Jerusalem.
CRUSADER PERIOD (1099 - 1187)
1099 Crusaders led by Godfrey de Bouillon, capture Jerusalem; Baldwin I declared king; Jews and Muslims are slaughtered.
1187 Kurdish general Saladin captures Jerusalem from Crusaders; permits Jews and Muslims to return and settle in the city.
AYYUBID and MAMLUK PERIOD (1187-1517)
1229 Treaty returns Jerusalem to the Crusaders.
1244 Mamluk Sultans defeat the Ayyubids and rule Jerusalem; city again in Muslim hands.
1260 Mamluks of Egypt rule Jerusalem from Cairo.
1267 Rabbi Moshe Ben Nahman arrives from Spain, revives Jewish congregation.
1275 Marco Polo stops in Jerusalem on his way to China.
1291 Acre, the last Crusader stronghold in the Holy Land, is captured by the Mamluks.
1348 Black Death Plague hits Jerusalem.
1492 Jews arrive following Spanish Exile.
OTTOMAN PERIOD (1517 - 1917)
1517 Palestine and Jerusalem become part of the Ottoman Empire.
1537 - 1541 Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilds the city walls.
1799 Napoleon invades Palestine but does not try to conquer Jerusalem.
1831 Mohammed Ali of Egypt rules the country for nine years.
1838 First consulate (British) opens in Jerusalem.
1849 Consecration of Christ Church, first Protestant church in the Near East.
1860 First Jewish settlement outside walls of the city.
1892 Railroad connects the city to the coast.
1898 Visit by Dr. Theodor Herzl, founder of the World Zionist Organization.
THE BRITISH MANDATE PERIOD (1917 - 1948)
1917 British conquest and General Allenby's entry into Jerusalem.
1920 The Mandate for Palestine is conferred on Britain.
1921-29 Arab-Jewish disturbances.
1936-39 Arab-Jewish disturbances.
1925 Hebrew University buildings are inaugurated.
1947 United Nations Resolution to create a Jewish and an Arab state in Palestine.
1948 British withdraw from Palestine; the country is invaded by armies from neighboring states; the State of Israel is declared on May 14.
THE ISRAELI PERIOD (1948 - )
1948 - 49 Israel War of Liberation.
1949 Israel-TransJordan Armistice Agreement signed; Jerusalem divided between two countries.
Jerusalem proclaimed capital of Israel; East Jerusalem is ruled by Jordan.
1967 Israelis capture Old City during Six-Day War.
1973 The Yom Kippur War.
1979 Egypt and Israel sign peace treaty.
1987 Beginning of Intifada.
1993 Israel and the PLO sign the Declaration of Principles.
1995 Israel and Jordan sign peace treaty.