History Pages - Part 2
Abraham and the Patriarchs - ca. 2,000 BC - 1,300 BC
All dates, particularly the earlier ones, are approximate.
The (modern) Jewish Calendar uses 3,760 BC as year 1
| Technological level in Middle East | Egypt | Mainland Greece | Crete - Minoan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle Bronze II ca. 2,000-1,550 BC | Middle Kingdom ca. 2,040-1,720 BC | Early Helladic ca. 2,750-2,000 BC | ProtoPalatial (Middle Minoan I 7 II) ca. 1,900-1,720 BC |
| Hyksos 1,720-1,575 BC | Middle Helladic ca. 2,000-1,550 BC | NeoPalatial (Middle Minoan III) ca. 1,720-1,470 BC | |
| Late Bronze Age ca. 1,500-1,200 BC | New Kingdom ca. 1,575-1,200 BC | Late Helladic (Mycenean) ca. 1,550-1,150 BC | PostPalatial ca. 1,470-1050 BC |
| approx. Dates | Israel & Canaan | Egypt | Mesopotamia | Greece & Asia Minor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ca. 2,000 BC | God called Abram to leave Ur and travel to the Promised Land. | papyrus for writing. | Sumerians used cuneiform writing on clay tablets potter's wheel used in Mesopotamia. development of Semitic alphabet |
Minoan culture in Crete Minoan pictographic writing, leading to Linear A first palace of Minos at Knossos, Crete |
| 2,000 BC - 1,700 BC | Sesostris III invaded Canaan | Wine making manufacture of imitation turquoise (faience) for jewelry 2,040 - 1,720 BC "Middle Kingdom" of Egypt. 1,887 - 1,849 Sesostris III 1,720 - 1,690 BC Hyksos invasion of Egypt "The Story of Sinuhe" "The Book of the Dead" percussion instruments added to Egyptian musical ensembles knotted rope triangles used for construction of right angles irrigation system utilized Nile floods 1,700 BC horse-drawn chariots introduced in the Egyptian army; most soldiers were infantry with hide shields and bronze spears, and were barefoot the myth of Osiris became the main after-life teaching |
1,820 BC Sumerian King List (copy of an earlier list) Isin (in Iraq) 1,900 - 1,530 BC the "Old Babylonian period" - the Amorites (Old Babylonians), a Semitic tribe, gained control, and based their capital on Babylon (originally Agade) The Epic of Gilgamesh Hittites invaded and plundered Babylon, attacked Syria 1,792 - 1,750 BC Hammurabi reunited Babylon; "Code of Hammurabi" - code of laws and penalties for breaking the law Royal Palace of Mari, destroyed by the Babylonians 1,757 BC |
Hittite kingdom founded. Hittites were Indo-Europeans who adopted Old Babylonian/Sumerian culture Hittite cuneiform inscriptions, using a 24-sign "alphabet" 2,000 - 1,000 BC migration of Greek peoples (Hellenes) into Greece (Hellas) (according to tradition) - Cecrops first king of Attica oldest palace at Mycenae (Greek mainland) 1,900 BC - Middle Helladic phase of Bronze Age. Change of population on mainland Greece, Greek-speakers, using "Minoan" pottery 2,000 - 1,700 BC Middle Minoan period in Crete 1,700 BC the "Phaistos Disk" - clay disk with an undeciphered syllabary |
| ca. 1,700 BC | Jacob and his family joined Joseph in Egypt | |||
| 1,700 BC - 1,300 BC | Israelites stayed ca. 400 years in Egypt Thutmose III extended Egyptian empire to include territories between Egypt and Mesopotamia Moab and Edom began to emerge as new political entities |
1,690 - 1,575 BC Hyksos ruled Egypt 1,575 BC Hyksos driven out by Amosis I, (Ahmose) 1,575 - 1,200 BC the "New Kingdom" of Egypt building of the Great Temple of Karnak and the Temple at Abu Simbel 1,555 - 1,530 BC Amenhotep I 1,530 - 1,515 BC Thutmose I, built first tomb in the Valley of the Kings 1,500 BC "shaduf" - pole and bucket for raising water from canals into irrigation channels 1,515-1,480 BC Queen Hatshepsut 1,480-1,450 BC Thutmose III 1,385-1,358 BC Akhenaten (Amenophis IV, Amenhotep IV) 1,358-1,350 BC Tutankamun 1,300-1,200 BC war with Hittites 1,290-1,224 BC Rameses II of Egypt ca. 1,200 BC "Sea Peoples" invaded Egypt, were driven off, and some settled on the Mediterranean coast of Canaan (became the Philistines) |
1,600 BC glassworking and molding 1,500- 1,170 BC the Kassites moved into the region (Indo-Europeans moving in with horses and chariots) 1,200 BC Assyrians regained control and drove out the Kassites 1,500 BC chickens introduced (from China); "birds that lay eggs every day" given as tribute by Syria to Thutmose III of Egypt Decline of Babylon under Hammurabi's son Samsuiluma 1,415-1,155 BC Kassite dynasty of kings of Babylon Shalmaneser I of Assyria founded city of Nimrud kingdom of Mitanni 2-wheeled chariots used in warfare |
1,650 BC Linear A script used by Minoans 1,600 - 1,100 BC Mycenaean civilization, mainland Greece ca. 1,500 BC eruption of Santorini on Thera 1,480 - 1,450 BC - Cultural differentiation between Knossos and the rest of Crete - might indicate occupation of Knossos by Mycenaeans 1,450 Mycenaeans spread to Crete Mycenaeans adopted Linear A and developed Linear B for their own language (proto-Greek) 1,400 BC Destruction of Knossos 1,400 BC - Earliest inscriptions in Linear B; Knossos documents in a very early form of Greek, pre-dating Homeric Greek. The language of the Linear B Knossos tablets indicates that there had been an occupation of Knossos by Greek-speaking people. 1,400 BC Phoenicians developed their alphabet from earlier proto-Canaanite versions 1,600-717 BC the Hittite empire 1,400 - 1,300 BC extensive correspondence between Hittite kings and Egyptian pharaohs Late Minoan period in Crete. Rebuilding of the palace of Knossos, painted frescoes beginning of the Greek Alphabet (copied from the Phoenicians) Foundation of Corinth Phoenicians imported tin from mines in England (tin is used for making bronze) 1,300 BC - Troy VI destroyed, probably by an earthquake 1,260 BC - Fall of Troy VIIa 1,300-1,200 BC war between Hittites and Egypt - exhausted both empires |
| 1,290 BC | Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. | |||
Main Sources : Smithsonian Timelines of Ancient History, The Timetables of History (Bernard Grun)
Go here for Geography PagesCopyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
