Israel: Reference materials - maps, useful dates in history

Click on the map for a larger version---->

For quick reference and some interesting facts, see: http://atlas.mapquest.com/atlas/main.adp?region=israel

Here are some dates in history that were mentioned during our tour:

Before Common Era (BCE or, BC):

3500-2200 BCE Early bronze age

• first occupation highlands, southern center at Ai, northern at Tell el-Farah (later, Tizah).

2000-1550 BCE Middle bronze age

1200 BCE Early Israelite settlement - pastoralists

1200-1500 BCE Jaffa gateway built by Ramses II (seen during the tour).

1150 -900 BCE Iron age I

1000 BCE Philistine pottery ends? - continues long after David's conquests

1025-1005 BCE Reign of king Saul

1005-970 BCE Reign of king David

9th century BCE

• Mesha king of Moab

• pottery and architecture at Megiddo, Hazor, Gezer dates after Solomon

970-931 BCE Reign of king Solomon

1005-930 BCE Egypt and Mespopotamia in decline

1006 BCE In Jerusalem: Israelite kingdom.

926 BCE Pharaoh Shishak invades Jerusalem, Megiddo

900 BCE Presumed end of unified monarchy

853 BCE Assyrian king Shalmaneser III battle of Qarqar against northern Israel

835 BCE Reign of king Hazel in Damascus

788-747 BCE Reign of king Jeroboam II

639 BCE Reign of king Josiah begins

586 BCE In Jerusalem: Babylonian period begins

• Destruction of Solomon's temple (the First Temple) by Nebuchadnezzar
  

539 - 332 BCE Persian period

• 535 BCE Construction begins on the Second Temple in Jerusalem after Cyrus the Great authorizes it
• 515 BCE The Second Temple is dedicated, led by Ezra

332 - 63 BCE Hellenistic Period begins with the fall of Palestine to Alexander the Great

• 116-95 The reign of Antiochus IX,

166- 63 BCE In Jerusalem: Hasmonean Period.

• The Maccabees found the Hasmonean royal dynasty. Jews have relative independence for one hundred years.

63 BCE In Jerusalem: Roman period begins under king Herod.
19 BCE Herod begins a massive reconstruction at the site of the Second Temple

• Mount Moriah, at the site of the First Temple, is leveled and a huge plaza is constructed with retaining walls (including the Western Wall)
• A new building replaces the original Second Temple completed in 515 BCE
• The new building is still called the Second Temple as sacrifices are not interrupted during construction.

Common Era (CE or, AD)

70 CE destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans

324 CE In Jerusalem: Byzantine period begins. A Christain church was built on the temple site in Caesarea.

638 CE Jerusalem: Early Muslim period begins. A mosque is built on the temple site in Caesarea.

• 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
• 969 Fatimid conquest is soon followed by destruction of churches and synagogues.
• 1071 Seljuks devastate Jerusalem.

1099 CE In Jerusalem: Crusader period begins

• 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.

1260 CE In Jerusalem: Mamluk (Late Muslim) period begins

• 1229 Treaty returns Jerusalem to the Crusaders.
• 1244 Mamluk Sultans defeat the Ayyubids and rule Jerusalem; city again in Muslim hands.
• 1275 Marco Polo in Jerusalem on his way to China.
  
• 1348 Black Death Plague hits Jerusalem.
• 1492 Jews arrive following Spanish Exile

1517 CE In Jerusalem: Ottoman (old city wall) period begins

• 1517 Palestine and Jerusalem become part of the Ottoman Empire.
• 1537 Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilds the city walls... and executes his architects when done!
• 1860 First Jewish settlement outside walls of the city.
• 1898 Visit by Dr. Theodor Herzi, founder of the World Zionist Organization.

1917 CE In Jerusalem: British Mandate period begins

1948 CE The State of Israel is declared

1948-1949 CE War of Independence against Egypt, Syria, Transjordan (later Jordan), Lebanon, and Iraq

1948-1967 CE In Jerusalem

• Jordan controls the Arab sector, including the Temple Site containing the Dome of the Rock

1956 CE War against Egypt

1967 CE Six Day War against Syria, Egypt, and Jordan

• Jerusalem unified under Israeli control.

1973-1974 CE Yom Kippur War against Egypt and Syria, supported by Jordan, Libya, and the smaller Arab states.

1982 CE War in Lebanon

2006 CE (July) War in Lebanon