DATES OF MAJOR EVENTS IN ANCIENT AND MIDDLE EASTERN HISTORY* 1550 1069 BCE New Kingdom Egypt 1460 1200 BCE Hittite Empire ca. 1200 BCE Sea Peoples arrival in Levant 1069 664 BCE Third Intermediate Period Egypt 1025 928 BCE United Israelite Monarchy 928 722 BCE Northern Kingdom of Israel 928 586 BCE Southern Kingdom of Judah ca. 925 BCE Levantine campaign by Sheshonq I of Egypt 853 BCE Battle of Qarqar between Shalmaneser III and coalition of western forces 750 612 BCE Neo-Assyrian Empire 734 732 BCE Levantine campaigns by Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria 722 BCE Conquest of Samaria by Shalmaneser V of Assyria 701 BCE Conquest of Judah by Sennacherib of Assyria 671 BCE Esarhaddon of Assyria defeats Egypt 664 332 BCE Late Period Egypt 612 BCE Fall of Nineveh to Babylonians and Medes 612 539 BCE Neo-Babylonian Empire 586 BCE Fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon; destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem * In addition to adopting several conventional dates, the timeline was prepared in consultation with Aharoni et al. (1993), Coogan (1998), and Shaw (2000). See Tatlock in this volume for bibliographic information. 307
308 The Middle East: Its History and Culture 539 331 BCE Persian-Achaemenid Empire 539 BCE Persian victory over Neo-Babylonian Empire 525 BCE Cambyses of Persia defeats Egypt 499 479 BCE Greek Persian wars 334 323 BCE Conquests under Alexander of Macedon 323 30 BCE Ptolemaic Dynasty 312 64 BCE Seleucid Dynasty 247 BCE 224 CE Parthian Empire 198 BCE Battle of Banias and Seleucid conquest of Israel/ Palestine 167 37 BCE Hasmonean Dynasty in Judea 63 BCE Roman campaign to Jerusalem 37 4 BCE Reign of Herod the Great in Judea 31 BCE Octavian defeats Antony and Cleopatra at Actium 30 BCE 330 CE Roman Empire 30 BCE Roman annexation of Egypt 66 70 CE First Jewish rebellion against Rome; destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem 132 135 Second Jewish rebellion (Bar Kochba) against Rome; the founding of Aelia Capitolina 224 651 Sasanian Empire 330 1453 Byzantine Empire 610 632 Ministry of Muhammad 614 Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem 622 Muslim migration to Yathrib/Medina (hijra) and start of the Islamic calendar 632 661 Period of the Rightly Guided Caliphs 632 634 Caliphate of Abu Bakr 634 644 Caliphate of Umar 636 Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Yarmuk 638 Islamic conquest of Jerusalem 642 Sasanian defeat at Nihavand 644 656 Caliphate of Uthman 645 Islamic conquest of Alexandria 649 Islamic victory over Cyprus 651 Death of final Sasanian ruler at Merv 656 661 Caliphate of Ali
Major Events in Ancient and Middle Eastern History 309 657 Battle of Siffin 661 750 Umayyad Dynasty 680 Battle of Karbala and martyrdom of Hussein 680 Muslim forces under Uqbah reach the Atlantic Ocean 711 Tariq Ibn Ziyad reaches Gibraltar 712 715 Islamic subjection of Iberian Peninsula 714 Muslim forces under Qutaybah cross Chinese border 716 717 Failed siege of Constantinople by Maslamah 732 Charles Martel turns back Muslim advancement in western Europe 747 Abbasid revolt instigated in Khorasan 750 1258 Abbasid Dynasty 819 999 Samanid Dynasty 977 1186 Ghaznavid Dynasty 1095 Pope Urban II calls for a crusade to liberate the Holy Land 1099 Crusader conquest of Jerusalem 1125 1234 Jin Empire of China 1144 Victory of Zangi over Crusaders at Edessa 1171 1260 Ayyubid Dynasty 1175 Saladin proclaimed Sultan of Syria and Egypt 1187 Saladin reconquers Jerusalem 1206 Chinggis Khan unifies Mongolia 1209 Uighurs of Central Asia recognize Mongolian hegemony 1225 Mongol territory stretches from Amu Darya region (Central Asia) to Manchuria (China) 1239 Mongols control Armenia 1258 Baghdad captured by Mongols under Hulegu 1260 1517 Mamluk Dynasty 1260 Mongol victory over Damascus 1260 Mamluk defeat of Mongols at Ayn Jalut (Palestine) 1265 Kublai Kan victorious in Mongol civil war 1270 Mamluk conquest of Crusader Krac Des Chevaliers 1289 Tripoli falls to Mamluks
310 The Middle East: Its History and Culture 1291 Mamluks capture Acre, effectively ending Crusader period in the Levant 1396 Ottoman victory over Crusaders at the Battle of Nicopolis 1453 Ottoman conquest of Constantinople 1492 Spanish victory in Andalusia and expulsion of Jewish populace of Spain 1502 1736 Safavid Dynasty 1517 Ottomans victory over Mamluk Empire 1517 1918 Ottoman Empire 1521 Ottomans capture Belgrade under Suleiman 1535 Safavid loss of Baghdad to Ottomans 1547 Ottoman rule over Hungary recognized by Habsburgs 1683 Defeat of Ottomans at the Battle of Vienna 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz and Ottoman territorial losses in Europe 1781 1925 Qajar Dynasty 1798 1799 Napoleonic campaigns in Egypt and Palestine 1805 Muhammad Ali Pasha made Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt 1826 Ottoman Janissary corps disbanded 1830 French conquest of Algiers 1839 Aden colonized by British 1848 French annexation of Algeria 1854 1856 Crimean War 1856 Anglo-Persian War 1869 Suez Canal finished 1874 British establish protectorate over Aden region of Yemen 1878 Berlin Congress and creation of independent Serbia and Montenegro 1879 Urabi Revolt in Egypt 1880 British establish protectorate over Bahrain 1881 French establish protectorate over Tunisia 1882 British establish protectorate over Egypt 1891 British establish informal protectorate over Oman
Major Events in Ancient and Middle Eastern History 311 1892 British establish protectorate over Trucial Sheikdoms (United Arab Emirates) 1898 Mahdist defeat and start of Anglo-Egyptian rule over Sudan 1899 British establish protectorate over Kuwait 1907 Anglo-Russian Agreement and division of Iran 1911 1912 Turko-Italian War 1912 French and Spanish establish protectorates in Morocco 1914 1918 World War I 1915 Hussein-McMahon Correspondence 1916 British establish protectorate over Qatar 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement over Ottoman territory 1917 Balfour Declaration 1918 North Yemeni independence 1920 San Remo Conference and endorsement of Sykes Picot Agreement 1920 Treaty of Sevres 1922 Egyptian independence 1923 Treaty of Lausanne 1924 Formal end of Ottoman Caliphate 1925 1979 Pahlavi Dynasty 1932 Iraqi independence under Hashimite Dynasty 1939 1945 World War II 1943 French and British occupation of Libya 1943 Lebanese independence 1946 Jordanian independence under Hashimite Dynasty 1946 Syrian independence 1947 United Nations partition plan for Palestine 1948 End of British Mandate in Palestine and founding of Israel 1948 1949 Arab-Israeli War 1951 Libyan independence 1951 Anglo-Iranian Oil Company nationalized 1952 Egyptian Republic formed 1953 CIA and MI6 orchestrate coup against Mossadeq in Iran
312 The Middle East: Its History and Culture 1954 Algerian rebellion under National Liberation Front inaugurated 1956 Sudanese independence 1956 Moroccan independence 1956 Tunisian independence 1956 Suez Canal nationalized and ensuing Suez Crisis 1958 Iraqi monarch deposed 1961 Kuwaiti independence 1962 Algerian independence 1967 British withdrawal from south Yemen 1967 The Six-Day War 1969 Libyan monarch deposed 1973 The Yom Kippur War 1971 Omani independence 1971 Qatari independence 1971 United Arab Emirates independence 1975 1990 Lebanese Civil War 1978 1979 Iranian Revolution 1979 1989 Soviet Afghan War 1982 Hizbullah founded 1987 Hamas founded 1980 1988 Iran-Iraq War 1990 Unification of North and South Yemen 1991 First Gulf War 1998 Al-Qaida U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa 2000 Al-Qaida attack on USS Cole in Yemen 2000 Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon 2001 Al-Qaida attack on New York City and Washington, D.C. 2001 U.S. military engagement in Afghanistan 2003 2011 U.S. military engagement in Iraq 2005 Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon 2011 The Arab Spring
Major Events in Ancient and Middle Eastern History 313 Map 1: The Middle East and Its Environs (by Doug Oetter, Georgia College and State University)
314 The Middle East: Its History and Culture Map 2: Climate of the Middle East and Its Environs by Doug Oetter, Georgia College and State University