History Pages

All dates, particularly the earlier ones, are approximate.
Scholars are still unsure of the dates of the Exodus and the period of the Judges. One can not merely add up the years recorded for each king's reign, or the life-spans of the patriarchs : fractional years of a reign were recorded as though they were full years, and in some cases an older king would appoint a son as "future king" while he was still living, thus leading to overlapping regnal years (as was the case for David and Solomon).
The calendar itself has varied over the years, from one culture to another and from one period to another.
The dates given below are in accord with the general chronology and sequence of events as accepted by most scholars.
For ease of printing out the tables, the history has been put on several pages, corresponding to major periods in history. Dates for individuals' lives and for kings' reigns are very approximate, and are used only to give an idea of who lived when.

Before 2,000 BC : before Abraham. Strictly speaking, the "History of Israel" should only begin with the entry of the tribes of Israel into the Promised Land, or else with the call of Abram by God. However, there are several thousand years of history and pre-history leading up to these events and laying the ground-work for them, so they are included in the tables in order that students may grasp the over-all sweep of history for that period.