For believers and non-believers alike, the stories of the Bible are highly enjoyable, as they always have been for thousands of years. They indeed represent an important part of human heritage. For millions of Christians and Jews, the Bible is a book of faith. But treating it as book of history invites trouble. Here is a chronology of “historical” events based on the system of genealogy that Biblical scholars use, which concludes that the world is 6000 years old:
4000―1045 BC: From creation of the world to the Israelites settling in the Promised Land
4000 BC — 3070 BC: Creation of the world, then Adam and Eve
2350 BC: The Great Flood punishes a world gone evil (the story of Noah)
2250 BC: Building the Tower of Babel leading to the division of peoples and languages
2090 BC: God directs, Abraham, the patriarch of Judaism who was born in southern Mesopotamia, to Canaan (modern-day Israel). The Bible describes it as a Promised Land, “flowing with milk and honey.” Due to famine, God guides him to Egypt. Later, he would return to Canaan to settle there.
2085 BC: Abraham Promised “many descendants.” His grandson Jacob would have twelve sons, founding the twelve tribes of Israel.
2081 BC: God’s covenant with Abraham and his people through circumcision
2065 BC: Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed
2054 BC: The Offering of Isaac
1895 BC: Joseph is sold into slavery and taken to Egypt
1870 BC: Jacob, the father of Joseph, and his family move to Egypt
1870―1450 BC: Exile and slavery in Egypt for around 400 years. The Israelites (or the Hebrews) multiplied in Egypt to reach between two and three million. They lived in enslavement by the Egyptians.
1450 BC: God sends ten plagues to devastate Egypt culminating in the death of every firstborn male born in Egypt while sparing the Israelites (celebrated as the Passover). Moses lead their “Exodus” from Egypt by parting the Red Sea.
1450―1410 BC: Forty years in the Wilderness (the Ten Commandments)
1400 BC: Back to Canaan: After Moses dies, Joshua leads the Israelites in their conquest of Canaan since it has been promised to them by God
1245―1045 BC: The Israelites are led by judges for 200 years, akin to military leaders, among whom were Gideon, Deborah, Samson and Samuel.
All of the above is considered part of the Jewish folklore. No scientific evidence lends credibility to the Biblical version of creation or any of the other events above. However, there are some evidence that the Israelites (Hebrew tribes) settled in, and perhaps fought for, the land of Canaan about 1250 BC.
1095―930 BC: United Kingdom of Israel (the reign of Kings Saul, David and Solomon)
King David takes the city of Canaanite city of Jebus and renames it Jerusalem. His son King Solomon builds Jerusalem’s First Temple as the center of worship.
There is no conclusive evidence that a united kingdom of the Israelites ever existed. Some of the characters, like King David, might have been leaders—chieftains—of the local tribes, far from their depiction as monarchs of a major kingdom.
930 BC: The Jewish kingdom divided
Due to heavy taxation, ten tribes revolt. Thus, the kingdom splits into two: Israel, the Northern Kingdom (made up of ten tribes), and Judea (or Judah), the Southern Kingdom (the other two tribes). Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom, while Jerusalem was the Southern capital.
The Kingdom of Israel (the Northern one) existed, though it was not as powerful as depicted in the Bible. It certainly was not in the same league with the kingdoms of Egypt, Assyria or Babylonia. As for the so-called Southern Kingdom, it was most likely only a tribal entity in and around the city of Jerusalem.
Whether they were powerful kingdoms or not, what is certain is that both territories were ultimately devastated:
– Israel, the Northern Kingdom: 930 BC — 722 BC
– Judea, the Southern Kingdom: 930 BC — 586 BC
722 BC: Assyrian Kingdom destroys Northern Kingdom of Israel (Assyrian captivity)
Shalmaneser V conquers the northern Kingdom of Israel and refugees relocate to Judah.
The destruction of the Kingdom of Israel is historically accurate. There is an unsettled debate on whether, or how many, inhabitants of the destroyed kingdom were exiled to Assyria or Judea. That is how the myth of the Ten Lost Tribes originated whose fate was never known! From this point on, Samaria, the capital city, does not feature heavily in the Jewish writings. For centuries, Judeans would view Samaritans as rivals and inferior, perhaps since they cease to be racially or culturally pure.
586 BC: Babylonian Kingdom conquers Southern Kingdom of Judah (Babylonian captivity)
Nebuchadnezzar II, the most powerful and longest-reigning king of the empire, conquers Judea in the South and destroys the Solomon’s Temple (the First Temple). Hebrew inhabitants were exiled to Babylon.
These events are historically accurate and of great importance to Judaism. Babylon, which was part of the Assyrian Empire, rose as an independent kingdom and defeated the Assyrians who had ruled it for more than a century. The coalition between Babylonian and Median (ancient Iranian) forces brought the destruction of the Assyrian capital Neneveh in 612 BC, and eventually the empire. Babylonian Kingdom would conquer and destroy Jerusalem. As many as a quarter of the defeated population was exiled to Babylon, most of which were the cultural elite, the wealthy and priests. The exile lasted until the Persian Empire allowed them to return in 539 BC.
539 BC: Persian Period: Forces of the Achaemenid (First Persian) Empire conquered the Babylonians
King Cyrus the great, who is honored as a deliverer of the Jews in the Bible, allows the exiled to return to Judah and rebuild their destroyed temple by a decree. Vessels from the First Temple, that had been confiscated by the Persians from the Babylonians are given back to the Jews. The rebuilding of the Second Temple lasts between c. 537 and 516 BC.
Generally, from a historical perspective, the above is true. However, many of the details as have been passed on through Biblical traditions are not. The legend of King Cyrus, the Persian, as a benevolent emperor, anointed and guided by God in his decisions has no historical basis. Also, his tolerance and release of the Jews most likely was merely a political decision.
332 BC: Macedonian Empire (an ancient Greek people) led by Alexander the Great takes over Judea
Alexander the Great and his army conquered the Persians. Then they captured Judea as it was on their path. An important mention of Alexander the Great in the Bible is in the Book of Daniel, where his conquest is woven into apocalyptic visions.
Not much is written in the Bible about the era of Alexander the Great, or that of the two following ancient Greek kingdoms, until the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus under the Roman Empire (view below). This period is often called the The Intertestamental Period (dividing the Old and the New testament), between the Prophet Malachi (c. 440 BC) and John the Baptist, born in the first decade of the following millennium. Some believers refer to this period of four centuries as the Great Silence since God did not speak with this people or send them prophets.
The Macedonian Alexander the Great emerges as a fierce conqueror in 336 BC. His battles against the Persians (the last was in 331 BC) bring an end to their empire. In the same year, he establishes the city of Alexandria, in Egypt, on the Mediterranean. In the preceding year, 332 BC, on his way to conquer Egypt, he invaded Judea. Greek sources do not mention Judea, most likely due to their insignificance, being small local tribes. It is true that the Jews submitted peacefully to the conquering Greeks. The high priest of Jerusalem welcomed him. Persian-speaking officials were replaced with Greek-speaking ones, however Jewish religious and social systems were unaffected. They continued to enjoy the same tolerance they had under the Persian Empire. The death of Alexander the Great, in 323 BC, sparks internal conflict for 20 years, ultimately leading to the breakup of his empire among his generals. The two most important established empires in their own right: Ptolemy who ruled over Egypt, and Seleucus whose empire would eventually rule over Mesopotamia, the Levant (Syria) and Persia.
301―198 BC: Ptolemaic Empire (Egyptian Greeks) takes over Judea
Judea being in between both Egypt and Syria, made it a target for both the Ptolemaic and the later, the Seleucid, Empires. The Ptolemaic dynasty ruled it for a century.
198―143 BC: Seleucid Empire (Syrian Greeks) takes over Judea
Judea went under the control of the Seleucids. Antiochus Epiphanes IV led a brutal campaign of Hellenizing Judea, to turn it into a Greek polis. He outlawed the Jewish religion. Jewish traditions, such as circumcision and Sabbath observance were forbidden. In 168 B.C., Antiochus Epiphanes IV and his soldiers attacked Jerusalem and massacred thousands of people. They desecrated the Second Temple by erecting an altar to Zeus in the Holy of Holies. Then they committed perhaps the most offensive—and unkosher—act imaginable: they started sacrificing pigs in the temple! There is almost no mention of the above persecution in the canonical Bible (the Old Testament) because it had already been written. However, the “abomination of desolation” inside the temple was mentioned in the Book of Daniel. There is also horrific details of the Jewish persecution recorded in the Books of the Maccabees (not part of the standard Bible) where, for example, circumcised babies were killed and their corpses hung from their mothers’ necks.
The desecration of the Second Temple, the horrific persecution of Jews and other events and characters mentioned above are accurate. Eventually, a Jewish rebellion rose up against the Seleucids (Syrians). It was called the Maccabean Revolt after the name of its guerilla war leader Judah the Maccabee (“the hammer”). The guerrilla war tactics between 167 to 160 BC were successful and the Seleucids were driven out of Jerusalem. The temple was cleaned out of its Greek statues and Jewish worship was restored. The defiled temple was “rededicated” and a menorah, a gold candelabrum, was lit. Hannukah, which means dedication, is celebrated to this day annually by Jews. The lighting of the menorah is at the heart of festival.
The Seleucid Empire became unstable, fighting Jews on one front and Parthians (ancient Iranians) on another. By the 143 BC, Jews under the leadership of the Maccabees become independent. The weakened Seleucid Empire continued to survive though plagued with civil wars, until the Romans made Judea an eastern province, thus closing the chapter on its fleeting grandeur in 63 BC.
143―63 BC: Independent Period: Maccabean or Hasmonean rule
The Seleucid Empire became unstable, fighting Jews on one front and Parthians (ancient Iranians) on another. By the 143 BC, Jews under the leadership of the Maccabees become independent. Jews would enjoy autonomy for 80 years, until the Romans arrived in 63 BC. The weakened Seleucid Empire continued to survive though plagued with civil wars. The Jewish hero, Judas the Macabee, of the Hasmonean family, established a line of priests from his family to rule Judea. High Priests acting as kings meant their roles extended beyond what was formerly only religious. They were in charge of all matters political, civic and military. Two major factions emerged as ruling parties during that period: the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They would be joined in the following historical period by the Jesus movement (the seed of Christianity). The Pharisees were preoccupied with strict adherence to purity and the Holiness code. They were bitter rivals of the Sadducees and later they would challenge Jesus and his disciples. Their name is synonymous in the New Testament with “hypocrite.” Unlike the Pharisees, the Sadducees had no use for the Oral Law (the oral traditions and teachings of the prophets). They observed only the Written Law. However, they took that to extreme levels. For example, written Biblical punishments, such as “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” had to be applied literally. Power rivalry also was at the core of their enmity. As such, Jewish self-rule was not a peaceful era. It was one marked by internal strife and two civil wars, one of which, sparked by a conflict between two brothers over the throne, led to the end of Jewish independence as Pax Romana (Peace of Rome) was enforced. The Roman General Pompey the Great captured Jerusalem in 63 BC and ended the Hasmonian civil war in which thousands had been killed.
– Babylonian Empire: 1895 BC–539 BC
– Achaemenid Persian Empire: 550 BC–330 BC
– Macedonian Empire (ancient Greek): 359 BC–323 BC
– Ptolemaic Empire (Egyptian Greek): 305 BC–30 BC
– Seleucid Empire (Syrian Greek): 312 BC–63 BC
– Roman Empire: 27 BC – 476 AD
– Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman): 395 AD–1453 AD
63 BC: Roman Empire takes over Judea
After the Romans put an end to the Hasmonean civil war, they installed one of the rival brothers, Hyrcanus II, as a ruler of Judea. In 43 BC, Julius Caesar appointed Antipater I the Idumaean as the first Roman ruler of Judea. His son would be the famous King Herod the Great, ruling over Judea from 37 to 4 BC. His title was King of Judea, acting as a vassal for the Roman Empire. Herod the Great is forever associated with a tale in the Gospel of Matthew that starts with learning from three foreign astrologers, “the Wise Men,” that a king has just been born in his kingdom. So he ordered the execution of all male infants under two years in Bethlehem, known as the Massacre of the Innocents. The Holy Family escaped to Egypt. After the death of Herod, Judea is ruled directly by the Empire through governors, who act as appointed representatives. The best known is Governor Pontius Pilate, ruling from 26 to 36 CE, in the reign of Emperor Tiberius, who presided over the trial of Jesus Christ in 33 AD in Jerusalem.
Four Roman Emperors are mentioned by name in the Bible: Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius and finally Nero. In the reign of Augustus, Jesus was born. During the reign of Tiberius, Jesus Christ was tried and executed. Claudius is mentioned in the Book of Acts as one who banished all Jews from Rome. Nero was also mentioned several times in the Book of Acts which is not surprising since he vehemently persecuted Christians. Paul was martyred during his reign. However, the most important probable allusion to Nero is not explicit which is in the Book of Revelation, the last Biblical book. Most likely, he is the “Beast.” That book was written around 96 AD during the reign of Domitian (81 – 96 AD). Note that the Bible does not record the deterioration in the relationship between the Romans and the Jews, though history records the mayhem of Jerusalem.
The Massacre of the Innocents is almost certainly a legend. It is clearly inspired by another story in Exodus, itself is also probably a legend, of an evil pharaoh who tries to massacre the infants of the Israelite people while enslaved in Egypt. The truth about Herod the Great was probably different from what was depicted in the Gospel. He had a Jewish upbringing. He might have seen himself as a Jew but his Jewish subjects were not convinced. Nonetheless, he still showed respect for Jewish worship and culture. He failed to connect with Jewish people. He left behind great buildings, many of which are still standing.
Regarding the banishment of Jews from Rome under Claudius, there is no historical record. Though that actually happened upon edicts from other Roman Emperors, there is no record of that instance. In fact, Jews probably lived in peace under his reign. This reference might be to the expulsion of some Christian missionaries, still associated with Jews in the Roman eyes.
Nero was certainly not a friend of Christians or Jews. It is a fact that several Roman Emperors persecuted Christians with perhaps Nero, and decades later, Diocletian, at the top of the list. Nero accused that group for the burning of Rome. Close to the end his reign, in 67 AD, he sent future emperor, Vespasian, to crush a Jewish rebellion. That paved for a disaster three years later. The second-in-command was Vespasian’s son, and also a future emperor, Titus. When Vespasian became the Roman Emperor, he left behind his son in charge. In 70 AD, the Roman soldiers besieged, captured and destroyed the walled city of Jerusalem, one of the most glorious cities of the East. The Temple, that was at the heart of Jewish worship, was also destroyed. Among the remains that one could still find today is the Western Wall, or the Wailing Wall. Tens of thousands perished in the entire Jewish-Roman conflict, from both sides, as it lasted from 66–73 AD. Most of the local population were either killed or banished into the Jewish diaspora.
How history somehow made Jerusalem the most contested city in the world?
The Roman ban on Jews from entering Jerusalem continued throughout the second and third centuries. Then one of the greatest ironies of history took place: Constantine, the ruler of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, joined the faith, or so he seemed, of a sect that started after their leader—a “criminal”—was executed three centuries earlier in the Eastern province of Judea! Constantine became Christian in what is arguably the most important religious conversion of all time. He tore down pagan temples and built in 335 AD the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, at the site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial. That construction brought back the grandeur of Jerusalem but as a site of Christian pilgrimage and their holiest city.
In the seventh century (621 AD), the Arab prophet, Muhammad told of a single-night experience where he flew on top of a winged mule to Jerusalem and led other prophets in prayer. Decades later, in 705 AD, the Umayyad caliph built Al-Aqsa Mosque, thus making it the third holiest site for Muslims. The mosque was built on the Temple Mount on what formerly was the Second Temple. Today that site is at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is also a major part of dramatic apocalyptic scenarios for millions of believers in all three religions.
