A Brief Chronology

A Brief Chronology B.C.E. is an abbreviation of "Before the Common Era" and C.E. of the "Common Era." The Common Era is that of the Gregorian calendar, where time is measured before or after what was thought to be the birth year of Jesus: in Latin, Anno Domini, the "Year of the Lord," abbreviated A.D. In fact, Jesus' date of birth is now placed in or about 4 B.C.E. Muslims also use a "before" and "after" system. In their case the watershed date is that of the Hijrah or Emigration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 C.E., called in the West A.H., or Anno Hegirae. Jewish time reckoning is only "after," that is, from the Creation of the World, normally understood to be about 4000 years B.C.E. B.C.E. ca. 1700 God's Covenant with Abraham ca. 1200 The exodus from Egypt; the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai ca. 1000 David, king of the Israelites, captures Jerusalem and makes it his capital ca. 970 Solomon builds the First Temple in Jerusalem 621 Josiah centralizes all Jewish worship in the Temple in Jeru- salem 587 Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar carry Israelites into exile in Babylon; the destruction of Solomon's Temple £38 Exiles return to Judea; Ezra; Nehemiah; rebuilding of Jerusa- lem Temple 332 Alexander the Great in the Near East; Greek dynasties rule Palestine ca. 280 Translation of Bible in Greek: the "Septuagint" 200 The Seleucid dynasty of Syria replaces the Ptolemies as rulers of Palestine 17 £-164 Antiochus IV Epiphanes; profanation of the Temple 164 Maccabean revolt; Jewish independence 164-37 The Hasmonean dynasty rules Palestine xviii CHRONOLOGY 37-4 Herod the Great, king of Judea ca. 25-45 c.K. Philo in Alexandria 20 Herod begins restoration of the Temple ca. 4 Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem C.E. 6 Romans take over direct rule of Judea 26-36 Pontius Pilate, Roman prefect of Judea ca. 30 Execution of Jesus in Jerusalem the £os Letters of Paul ca. 60-70 Composition of Mark, earliest of the Gospels ca. 62 Death of James in Jerusalem and Peter and Paul in Rome 66 Jewish insurrection in Palestine; flight of Yohanan ben Zakkai to Jabneh (Jamnia) and of Jewish Christians to the Transjordan 70 Romans under Titus destroy Herod's Temple ca. 80-100 Remaining three canonical Gospels written ca. 100 Death of the Jewish historian Josephus 13^ Second Jewish revolt in Palestine; Jerusalem leveled and Jews forbidden to live there ca. 200 Widespread persecutions of Christians in the Roman Empire; redaction of the Mishna by Judah uthe Prince" ca. 2£o Antony, the first hermit, withdraws to the desert of Egypt 303 Last violent persecution of Christians by Diocletian 313 Constantine, the first Christian emperor, suspends persecution of Christians 318 Pachomius founds the first monastery, or community of as- cetics, in Egypt 32£ First ecumenical council of the Christian Church at Nicea 330 Constantine and his mother Helena begin the conversion of Jerusalem into a Christian holy city 340 First Christian monasteries founded in the West 381 Decree establishing Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire 399 Death of the Christian mystic Evagrius of Pontus 410 Visigoths sack Rome 42 £ Office of Nasi, or Patriarch, abolished in the Roman Empire 430 Death of Augustine, Latin theologian of Hippo in North Africa 4£ 1 Ecumenical council of Chalcedon ca. £00 Completion of the gemaras at Tiberias and (ca. 600) in Iraq: thus the final versions of the "Jerusalem" and "Babylonian" Talmuds ca. £3£ Benedict founds his monastery at Monte Cassino ca. £70 Birth of Muhammad at Mecca CHRONOLOGY XIX £90—604 Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, lays claim to papal abso- lutism 610 Muhammad's earliest revelations: the beginning of the Quran 622 Muhammad's "emigration" (hijrah) to Medina; political suc- cesses against Mecca 632 Death of Muhammad 632-634 Abu Bakr, Caliph 634-644 Umar, Caliph 638 Peaceful submission of Jerusalem; building of first al-Aqsa mosque; Jews permitted to return to Judea 644—6 $6 Uthman, Caliph; official edition of the Quran 6$6-66i Ali, Caliph 661—7 £0 The Umayyad dynasty rules the Dar al-Islam from Damascus; beginnings of the "Party of Ali" (Shfat Ali) 680 Massacre of Ali's son Husayn at Karbala in Iraq 692 Caliph Abd al-Malik builds the Dome of the Rock and his son al-Walid rebuilds the Aqsa Mosque ca. 700 Emergence of the Sufi movement ca. jgo Rise of Islamic law "schools" The Abbasid dynasty rules the Dar al-Islam from Baghdad ca. 800 Rise of the Karaite movement 820 Death of the premier Muslim lawyer Shafi'i ca. 8$o-iooo Translations of Greek scientific and philosophical works into Arabic 866 The so-called Photian schism 870 Death of Bukhari, author of the first collection of canonical hadith 874 Death of the eleventh Shi'ite Imam and "occultation" of his son 892-942 Saadya the Gaon revives work on Jewish theology ca. 900 Rise of the Isma ili Shi ite dynasty of the Fatimids 922 Crucifixion of the mystic al-Hallaj in Baghdad 969 Fatimids take Egypt and found Cairo as their capital; the open- ing of al-Azhar 1038 Death of Ibn Sina (Avicenna), the Muslim philosopher 1040-110$ Rashi, Torah commentator Great Schism between Western and Eastern churches Building of the first Muslim law school (madrasa) in Baghdad 1073-108$ Pontificate of Gregory VII 108^-1140 Judah Halevi 109$ Preaching of crusade by Urban II 1099 Latin knights take Jerusalem from the Muslims 1111 Death of the Muslim theologian and mystic al-Ghazali XX CHRONOLOGY 1134-1204 Moses Maimonides, Jewish theologian and lawyer 1187 Muslims under Saladin retake Jerusalem 1198 Death of the Muslim philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes) 122£-i 274 Thomas Aquinas; the height of medieval Christian theology in the West ca. 1300 Compilation of the Zohar, the primary work of Kabbala 1323 Pope Boniface VIII publishes the bull Unam Sanctam 1377 Ibn Khaldun's Prolegomenon to History 14^3 Constantinople falls to the Turks 1492 Christian reconquest of Spain completed; Jewish migrations to Islamic lands in North Africa and the Near Hast 1488—1 £7$ Joseph Caro, author of Shulhan Aruch 1 £17 Luther posts his controversial theses; beginning of the Protes- tant Reformation.

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