Ancient Jewish History Timetable
This is an approximate timetable, we will discuss its problems in class

c. 10th century BCE -- United Kingdom (Saul, David, Solomon),

until 722 BCE -- Divided Kingdom:  Israel in the North, Judah in the South (Jerusalem)

Fall of Israel to Assyrians

Kingdom of Judah until 587
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587 BCE (before the Common Era) – the Jerusalem Temple is destroyed and the Babylonian Exile begins.

539 BCE – Persian conquest of Babylonia, Jews (actually the Judeans) allowed to return to Judea

(Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah and the authors of the Deutero-Isaiah, Haggai, Zechariach active in this period)

516 BCE – the Jerusalem Temple is rebuilt. – Ezra (ca. 458 BCE or 428)

334-333 BCE Conquest of Alexander the Great and the end of the Persian Period and the beginning of the Hellenistic period (culturally lasting till almost the seventh century CE, but politically was much shorter – Roman rule from the first century BCE).

168-167 BCE religious persecution by Antiochus Epiphanes

164 BCE Maccabean victory, purification of the Temple.

164-63 BCE Maccabean period.

63 BCE Romans in Jerusalem

37-4 BCE rule of Herod the Great

66 CE “the first revolt” against Romans

67 CE beginning of Roman reconquest of Gallilee

70 CE the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple (end of the Second Temple period)

115-117 CE – Jewish revolt in Egypt, Cyprus and in the territories of today’s Libya;

132-135 Bar-Kokhba revolt – Jerusalem now Aelia Capitolina (a ‘pagan’ city);  Judea becomes Palestine.

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