Israel - A Brief History : Classical Period

Hasmonean Dynasty

538 BC - Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered the Babylon and took over its empire.  The Achaemenid Empire spanned from Asia to Africa and Europe. 

538–518 BC - Israelites were allowed to return to Judah and rebuilt the Temple ( Ezra 1:1-4 ; 6:13-18).

456 BC - a second group led by Ezra and Nehemiah returned.

334 BC - Alexander the Great defeated the Persian and conquered the empire.  After the death of Alexander, his generals divided the empire among themselves.  Judah became part of the Seleucid Empire.

Maccabees Revolt

During the 2^nd century BC, Antiochus IV Epiphanes ruler of the Seleucid Empire pursued a zealous Hellenizing policy.  Jewish religious practices were forbidden.  Mattathias , a rural Jewish priest from Modiin, Mattathias the Hasmonean killed a Hellenistic Jew who offered a sacrifice to an idol.  Then Mattathias and his five sons then fled to wilderness of Judah.

After Mattathias death, his son Judas Maccabee led guerrilla attacks against Seleucid army.  Jerusalem was recaptured and the Temple cleansed.  The celebratory festival of Hanukkah instituted.  ( 1 Maccabees ;  2 Maccabees ; The Wars of the Jews )

160 BC - Judas died in a battle.  His brother Jonathan succeeded as army commander and High Priest. 

Autonomy

142 BC - Jonathan was assassinated, and was succeeded by Simon.  Simon came to terms with Demitrius II Necator, the Seleucid king.  Maccabees won autonomy, yet the region remained a province of the Seleucid Empire.  Simon led the people in peace and prosperity, until he was assassinated. 

129 BC - Judea was freed from Seleucid rule on the death of Antiochus VII Sidetes, the last Seleucid king. 

63 BC - Judea became a protectorate of Roman Empire, coming under the administration of a governor.  Judea was allowed a king.

Herodian Dynasty

During the time of the Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus conquered Madaba, Sehechum, Transjordan, Samaria, Galilee and Idumea ( Edom ).  Edomites were forced to convert to Judaism.  The Edomites were gradually integrated into the Judean nation, and some of them reach high ranking positions.

During the time of Hasmonean ruler Alexander Jannaeus, Edomite Antipas was appointed governor of Edom.  Antipas’ son,  Antipater was the chief adviser to Hasmonean ruler Hyrcanus II.

47 BC - Julius Caesar appointed Antipater as procurator of Judea.  Antipater’s sons, Phasael and Herold as governors of Jerusalem and Galilee respectively.

40 BC - Herod made king of the Jews by the Roman Senate.

19 BC - Herod commissioned expansion of the Temple.

4 BC - Herod the Great died.  Judea made a Roman province.  Judea was divided among his three sons.  Herod Archelaus ruled Judea, Edom and Samaria.  Herold Philip I ruled Decapolis. Trachonitis and Iturea.  Herod Antipas ruled Galilee and Perea.

6 AD - Judea made a Roman province.

34 AD - Agrippa I ruled Galilee and Perea.  In 41 AD Judea added to his rule.

70 AD - Herod’s Temple destroyed by Roman troops during the Seige of Jerusalem, ending the Great Jewish Revolt.

92 AC - Herodian Dynasty ended.  Judea fully incorporated into Roman province.

Roman Imperial

131 AD - Roman emperor Hadrian renamed Jerusalem “Aelia Capitolina”, Judea renamed “Palaestina”

285 AD - Roman emperor Diocletian divided the Roman Empire’s administration into eastern and western halves.

324 AD - Roman emperor Constantine I transferred the eastern capital from Nicomedia to Constantinople.

395 AD - following the death of Roman emperor Theodosius I, Roman Empire divided politically

476 AD - fall of Western Roman Empire.

Byzantine Empire

480 AD - Western Empire emperor Zeno separated himself from Roman Empire.

614 AD, Jerusalem conquered by Persian, Jews were left to self-govern.

617 AD, Byzatine recaptured Jerusalem, Judaism banned, Jews fled to Baltic.

Arab Caliphs

636 AD - Palestine conquered by the Arab

691 AD - Dome of the Rock constructed on Temple Mount.

705 AD - Al-Aqsa Mosquue constructed on Temple Mount.

Crusader States Vs Ayyubid Dynasty

1071 AD - Muslims of Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantine army in Manzikert. Byzantine emperor Alexis I plead Pope Urban II of Roman Catholic in Rome to the aid to free Jerusalem from Muslim rule.

Crusader states were created in the Levant during the crusades :

1098–1149 : County of Edessa

1098–1268 : Principality of Antioch

1099–1291 : Kingdom of Jerusalem

1104–1289 : County of Tripoli

1187 - Egyptian Muslims of Ayyubid Dynasty concurred Jerusalem.

1193 - civil war within Ayyubid Dynasty

1250 - Mamluk overthrew Ayyubid Dynasty in Egypt

1260 - Mongols overthrew Ayyubid Dynasty in Aleppo

1341 - fall of Ayyubid Dynasty

Mamluk Dynasties

1260 - Mamluk Sultan Qutuz defeated Mongols in Battle of Ain Jalut, conquered Palestine

1291 - Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil conquered Acre, capital of Kingdom of Jerusalem

Ottoman

1516 - Turkish Ottoman Empire Sultan Selim II conquered Palestine

1799 – Napoleon briefly occupied Palestine

1878 – First modern Jewish settlement founded in Petah Tikva.

Large scare return of Jew from the diaspora back to Israel began in 1882.

1882-1903 : First Aliyah – 35,000 Jews returned

1904-1914 : Second Aliyah – 40,000 Jews returned

1919-1923 : Third Aliyah – 40,000 Jews returned

1924-1929 : Fourth Aliyah – 82,000 Jews returned

1929-1939 : Fifth Aliyah – 250,000 Jews returned

1909 – First Hebrew-speakng city, Ahuzat Bayit ( later Tel Aviv ) established.