Timeline of Middle Eastern History
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This timeline tries to compile dates of important historical events that happened in or that lead to the rise of the Middle East. The Middle East is the territory that comprises today's Egypt, the Gulf States, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Yemen. The Middle East with its particular characteristics was not to emerge until late second millennium AD. To refer to a concept similar that of today's Middle East but earlier in time, the term Ancient Near East is used.
This list is intended as a timeline of the history of the Middle East. For more detailed information, see articles on the histories of individual countries. See Ancient Near East for ancient history of the Middle East.
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
[edit] Prehistoric and Ancient Period
main article: Ancient Near East
[edit] 9th millennium BC (Beginning of the Neolithic time period of the Holocene epoch)
- Agriculture in Mesopotamia
- Domestication of sheep and goats in the Middle East
- Circa 8350 BC – Neolithic settlement at Jericho
[edit] 8th millennium BC
- Circa 8000 BC–Settlements at Nevali Cori in present-day Turkey are established.
- Circa 7500 BC – Çatalhöyük, a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement in southern Anatolia, is founded.
- Settlements at Sagalassos in present-day southwest Turkey are established.
- Domestication of sheep in Southwest Asia
[edit] 7th millennium BC
- After 7000 BC–The rise of the Punjab culture.
- First pottery in Mesopotamia
- Domestication of the cow in the Middle East
[edit] 6th millennium BC
- September 1, 5509 BC – "day of creation of the world" (according to the Byzantine Empire) and beginning of their calendar [1]
- Around 5400 BC – Irrigation in Mesopotamia.
- circa 5600 BC – According to the Black Sea deluge theory, the Black Sea floods with salt water. Some 3000 cubic miles (12,500 km³) of salt water is added, significantly expanding it and transforming it from a fresh-water landlocked lake into a salt water sea.
- Agriculture appears in the valley of the Nile
- Wheel and plough both invented in ancient Mesopotamia
- Around 5100 BC – Temples founded in South Mesopotamia
[edit] 5th millennium BC
- c. 4500 BC – Civilization of Susa and Kish in Mesopotamia
- c. 4570 BC–4250 BC – Merimde culture on the Nile
- c. 4400 BC–4000 BC – Badari culture on the Nile
- c. 4000 BC - first examples of Sumerian writing in Mesopotamia
[edit] 4th millennium BC
- City of Ur in Mesopotamia (40th century BC).
- Naqada culture on the Nile, 4000 BC–3000 BC.
- Epoch of the modern Hebrew Calendar occurred on 7 October 3761 BC.
- Jewish chronology dates creation to 25 September or March 29 3760 BC.
- Civilization of Sumer, city-states (36th century BC).
- First to Fourth dynasty of Kish in Mesopotamia.
- c. 3200 BC - King Narmer unifies the Upper and Lower Egyptian Kingdoms, and gives birth to the worlds's first nation.The Narmer Palette is believed to be the historical record of this event: Egypt.
- 35th century BC - beginning of desertification of Sahara. The shift by the Sahara Desert from a habitable region to a barren desert.
- Ur-Nina first king of Lagash (ca. 34th century), the earliest historical person known by name.
- Beginnings of urbanisation in Mesopotamia with the Sumerians.
- First cities in Egypt (35th century BC).
- First writings in the cities of Uruk and Susa (cuneiform writings). Hieroglyphs in Egypt.
- Potter's wheel used in Middle East.
- Sails used in the Nile.
- Archaic Period of Ancient Egypt
(see also Sumer: Ur, Uruk, Kish, Susa)
[edit] 3rd millennium BC
- Old Kingdom of Egypt
- Akkad: Agade, Isin, Babylon, Larsa
- Mari
- Ebla
- Amorite
- Troy I-V
- Syria: Foundation of the city of Mari (29th century BC )
- Iran: Creation of the Kingdom of Elam
- Dynasty of Lagash in Sumer
- Golden age of Ur in Mesopotamia. (2474–2398 BC)
- First dynasty of Babylon
- Babylon conquers Sumer and Elam
- Third and Fourth dynasties in Egypt.
- Major migration of Central Saharans into West Africa possibly due to climate change starting in 4th millennium BC.
- Djoser, king of Egypt, commissions the Step Pyramid at Saqqara.
- Khufu, king of Egypt, builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza
- Urukagina, king of Lagash, creates the first known judicial code. (24th century BC)
- Lugalsaggizi, king of Uruk and Umma conquers Lagash (2371–2347 BC)
- Sargon the Great, founder of the empire of Akkad and Sumer (2371–2316 BC middle chronology)
- Ur-Nammu founder of the 3rd dynasty of Ur (2112–2095 BC middle chronology)
- Building of the Great Pyramid of Giza (26th century BC)
- Sails used on ships (20th century BC)
- First ziggurats built in Sumer
- Near East civilizations enter Bronze Age around 3000 BC
- Completion of the Great Pyramid of Giza
[edit] 2nd millennium BC
- Middle Kingdom of Egypt
- New Kingdom of Egypt
- Babylonia, second dynasty of Babylon
- Assyria
- Aleppo
- Hittites
- Mitanni
- Hurrians
- Luwians
- Canaan: Ugarit, Kadesh, Megiddo, Kingdom of Israel
- Arzawa, Troy VI-VII
- The Cushites drive the original inhabitants from Ethiopia, and establish trade relations with Egypt.
- Conquest of Canaan by the Israelites
- Middle Kingdom in Egypt (2052–1570 BC)
- Hittites Old Kingdom in Anatolia (1900 BC)
- Civilization in Canaan (1800 BC)
- Egyptian domination over Canaan and Syria (1600–1360 BC)
- Beginnings of Judaism (around 1200 BC)
- Fall of Troy (traditional date 1184 BC)
- late 2nd millennium BC - begin of the Iron Age discovery of iron smelting and smithing techniques in Anatolia or the Caucasus.
(see also Moses, Exodus, Hammurabi, List of Pharaohs, Aegean civilization)
[edit] 1st millennium BC
- Egypt declined as a major power
- 993 BCE: King David captures Jerusalem and designates it the capital of the united Kingdom of Israel.
- c. 960 BCE: King Solomon builds the First Temple.
- 922 BCE: Jerusalem becomes the capital of the (southern) Kingdom of Judah after the split of the United Monarchy.
- The Tanakh was written
- 606 BCE-586 BCE: The Babylonians destroy Jerusalem. King Nebuchadnezzar burns the Solomon's Temple.
- Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and created the Persian Empire (6th century BC)
- 537 BCE: Cyrus allows the Israelites to return from the Babylonian captivity and rebuild the Temple.
- 515 BCE: The Second Temple is built.
- Sparta and Athens fought the Peloponnesian War
- Alexander the Great conquered Persia
- Hellenic Greek culture spread through the Mediterranean
- The Roman Republic rose and fell
[edit] Inventions, Discoveries, Introductions
- Iron use becomes widespread
- The Phoenicians propagate the phonetic alphabet in the Mediterranean
- Many major religious and philosophical viewpoints are created, further explored or codified
(see also: Roman Republic, David,Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great,Parthian Empire, Homer, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Lydia, Median Empire, Chaldean Empire)
[edit] Common Era
[edit] 1st millennium AD
The map shows the extension of the Caliphate under Al-Walid I, who reigned from 705 - 715
- Beginning of Christianity and Islam
- Jewish-Roman Wars and Jewish diaspora. In 135, Roman Emperor Hadrian renamed Iudaea Province into Syria Palaestina.
- The Olympic Games observed until 393
- The Library of Alexandria, largest library in the world, burned
- Rise and fall of the Roman Empire
- Islamic conquest of the Middle East and North Africa
- c. 970 - Al-Azhar University, the oldest Islamic institution for higher studies, with its corresponding mosque of Al-Azhar are founded.
[edit] Inventions, discoveries, introductions
(at the same time: Beginning of the Middle Ages in Europe)
(see also: Paul of Tarsus, apostle to the gentiles created Christianity, Constantine I, Attila, Muhammad, al-Khwarizmi)
[edit] 2nd millennium AD
- Mongol Empires in Asia
- The agricultural and industrial revolutions
- The rise of nationalism and the nation state
- European colonization and decolonization in Africa and Asia
- Population explosion
- World-spanning wars (e.g. Seven Years' War, World War I, World War II)
- Capitalism and Communism
(see also: Genghis Khan)
[edit] Turks, Crusaders and Mongols
(The dominance of the Arabs came to a sudden end in the mid 11th century with the arrival of the Seljuk Turks)
- c. 1347, a fleet of Genoese trading ships fleeing Caffa (Theodosia) reached the port of Messina and spreads the Black Death
(see also: Seljuk Turks, Crusades, Mongols)
[edit] The Ottoman era
(circa since 1453 when Ottoman emirs captured Constantinople)
(main article: History of the Ottoman Empire)
- 1869 - Construction of the Suez Canal is completed.
[edit] European domination of the Arabic and Turkish regions (especially since World War I)
- 1882 - September 13 - British troops occupy Cairo - Egypt becomes British protectorate
- 1922 - February 28 - Egypt is granted independence from British occupation.
[edit] Contemporary Middle East
(circa since WWII)
- 1947 - UN General Assembly proposes to divide Palestine in to an Arab and Jewish state.
- 1948 - Israel declares independence.
- 1948 - The first Arab-Israeli war.
- Israeli and Palestinian nationalism,
- petroleum becomes important political factor
- 1963 - Ba'th Party stages military coup in Iraq under the leadership of General Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr and Colonel `Abd as-Salām `Arif
- 1964 - Abdul Rahman Arif stages military coup in Iraq against the Ba'th Party and brings his brother, Abdul Salam Arif, to power.
- 1964 - Saddam Hussein imprisoned.
- 1967 - Saddam escapes from jail.
- 1968 - Ba'athists stage second military coup under General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Saddam is made vice president of Iraq.
- 1971 - The Aswan High Dam is completed with Soviet help in finance and construction.
- 1976 - Saddam rises to become general of the Iraqi armed forces
- 1979 - Saddam becomes president of Iraq
- 1979 - Iranian Revolution
- 1991 - The Gulf War.
- 2003 - The 2003 Iraq War
[edit] See also
- Empires
- Mesopotamia
- Anatolia
- Canaan
- Egypt
- Ancient Egypt: 3000 BC to 332 BC
- Ptolemaic Egypt: 332 BC to 30 BC
- Roman Egypt: 30 BC to 639 AD
- History of Arab Egypt: 639 to 1517
- History of Ottoman Egypt: 1517 to 1805
- Egypt under Mehemet Ali and his successors: 1805 to 1882
- History of Modern Egypt: since 1882
- Iran
- Arabia
