Timeline (Chronology) of Israel and the Jews Before Zionism

1800? BCE

Abraham migrates to Canaan according to Jewish tradition.

1300? BCE

Migration and conquest of Canaan by the Philistines and Israelite tribes. Map of Canaan.

1000? BCE

Jewish conquest of Jerusalem; reign of David (maps); After the death of David's son, Solomon, the kingdom split into two: Israel in the north, Judea in Jerusalem and the south (maps). Brief History of Early Palestine in maps.

721 BCE

Fall of Israel (Northern Kingdom) to Assyria

586 BCE

Fall of Judea (Southern Kingdom) to Babylon and destruction of the first temple

About 539 BCE

Fall of Babylon. Jews allowed to return to Judea. Tradition has it that Ezra and Nehemia led this return, and later rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, but the walls were apparently not built until 100 years later.

About 519 BCE

Rebuilding of the Second Temple under Persian rule.

331 BCE

Alexander the Great conquers Persia. The land was subject to Egyptian rule after his death, followed by Seleucid Syrian rule.

313 BCE

Ptolemy of Egypt rules Jerusalem and Judea.

170 BCE

Antiochus Ephiphanes rules Judea.

166 BCE

Revolt of Judah Maccabee against Syrian Hellenic dynasty; Simon. 164 - Liberation of Jerusalem. Judah is named Friend of the Roman Senate and People; Rule of the Maccabees: 166 - Judah 160 -Jonathan 143

About 61 BCE

Roman conquest of Jerusalem by Pompei. Land is divided into various provinces (maps).

40 BCE

Reign of Herod the Great; Herod conquered Jerusalem in 37 BCE. Herod began an extensive restoration of the temple about 20 BC

4 BCE

Probable year of birth of Jesus. Jesus was crucified between 31 and 33 AD.

66-73 AD

First Jewish revolt. Fall of the Jewish Second Temple to Romans in 70 AD.

133-135

Second Jewish revolt under Bar Kochba crushed. Judea renamed Palestina. Jews are banned from Jerusalem by Hadrianus Caesar.

313

Roman Emperor Constantine legalizes Christianity

614

Persians conquer Judea and Jerusalem..

628

Emperor Heraclius defeats Sassanid Persians, reconquers Jerusalem..

About 638

Arab conquest of Jerusalem. (slightly earlier or later according to different sources). Caliph Omar provides the Christians of Jerusalem with a Covenant guaranteeing their protection. Land divided into the Jund of filastin, in the south (capital in Al-Lod and later in Ramlah), and the Jund of Urdunn in the north, with capital in Tiberias (Tabariyeh).

969

Fatimid conquest. Churches and synagogues of Jerusalem destroyed.

1071

Battle of Manzikert. The Byzantine emperor Romanus IV Diogenes is defeated by the Seljuk Turks, opening Asia Minor to Turkish invasion. Seljuks devastate Jerusalem.

1099

Crusaders conquer Jerusalem, slaughter most Jewish and Moslem inhabitants, expel Jews.

1141

Poet Yehuda Halevi dies in Jerusalem.

1187

Salah-ed-din (Saladin) reconquers Jerusalem

1244

Rise of the Mamlukes. Jerusalem taken by Muslims.

1260

Battle of Ayn Jalut (Nazereth) - Holagu (Mongols) defeated.

1291

Crusaders defeated at Acre and evicted from Palestine.

1517

Ottoman Turkish conquest of Palestine.

1537-41

Muslim walls built around Jerusalem by Suleiman the Magnificent.

1626 - 1676

False Messiah Sabbatai Zevi.

1740

Ottoman Sultan invites Rabbi Haim Abulafia (1660-1744), Kabbalist and Rabbi of Izmir, to come to rebuild the city of Tiberias; thousands of Jews immigrate to the land in a wave of Messianic fervor, including Rabbi Moses Haim Luzzatto (1707-1746).

1799

Napoleon conquers Jaffa but retreats before Acco (Acre); 1799 - Napoleon's Proclamation of a Jewish State was stillborn, and his declaration of equal rights for Jews was repealed in part in 1806.

1831

Egyptian Conquest of Palestine area by Mehmed Ali of Egypt, who rebelled against the Ottomans. He was forced to withdraw in 1840 under pressure by European allies.

1834

Jerusalem Arab families including the Abu Ghosh clan revolt against Egyptian rule. The rebellion is eventually crushed.

1839

Tanzimat - reorganization program- is proclaimed in the Ottoman empire.

1840

Blood libel (accusation that Jews kill Christian children to use their blood for Passover Matzoth) against Damascus Jewry

1843

First Zionist writings of Rabbi Alcalay and of Rabbi Kalischer, ( Emuna Yeshara, Minhat Yehuda) .

1844

First census in Jerusalem shows 7120 Jews, 5760 Muslims, 3390 Christians.

1856

Ottoman reforms (Tanzimat) - including requirement to register ownership of land and pay taxes on it. Laemel school founded in Jerusalem, provides secular as well as religious education, infuriating orthodox Jews.

1860

First Jewish settlement (Mishkenot Sha'ananim) outside Jerusalem walls.

1861

The Zion Society is formed in Frankfort, Germany; Moses Hess writes "Rome and Jerusalem." Pub 1862

1870s

Formation of 'Hovevei Tziyon in Russia

1878

First Zionist Settlement - Petah Tikwa; Naphtali Herz Imber writes Tikvatenu (Our Hope), later adopted as the Zionist anthem and the Israeli national anthem, Hatiqvah (Hatikva).

1881-84

Pogroms in Russia kill tens of thousands of Jews (1881-1884).Leon Pinsker writes Auto-Emancipation in 1882; formation of Bilu; beginning of the First Aliya (wave of immigration) which lasted until 1903. The First Aliya was characterized by plantation settlements funded by the Baron de Rothschild beginning in 1883. Formation of Hibbat Tziyon federation of 'Hovevei Tziyon in 1884, headed by Pinsker.

1890

Publicist Nathan Birnbaum coins the word Sionismus - Zionism.

1892

Railroad from Jaffa to Jerusalem. The Jerusalem railway station was to appear in the first movie newsreels of Palestine.

1893-6

In France, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, falsely charged with espionage. Ultimately he is exonerated with the help of Emile Zola, but the trial and attendant wave of antisemitism cause many Jews to rethink their commitment to assimilation. The trial and other influences led Theodor Herzl to write Die Judenstadt - The Jewish State.

1897

First Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland.

TimeLine of Zionism, Israeli and Palestinian History and the Conflict

TimeLine (Chronology) of Zionism and the History of Israel

Zionism and Israel Timeline Sections:

Other Zionism and Israel Timelines:

Timeline Ancient Israel to Rise of Zionism

Zionism and Israel Timeline Sections:

External Zionism Links