Timeline taken from New Living Translation Life Application Study Bible

 BIBLICAL REFERENCES / CHARACTERS IN BOLD

Creation - ca. 4,000 - 5,000 B.C. ? 

Noah builds the ark - ca. 2,500 - 3,000 B.C. ? 

----------- B.C. ------------ 

2500  Egyptians discover papyrus and ink for writing and build the first libraries; iron objects
          manufactured in the ancient Near East

2400  Egyptians import gold from other parts of Africa

2331  Semitic chieftain, Sargon, conquers Sumer to become first "world conqueror"

2300  Horses domesticated in Egypt; chickens domesticated in Babylon; bows and arrows
          used in wars

2166  Abraham born

2100  Glass made by the Mesopotamians; ziggurats(like the tower of Babel) built in
          Mesopotamia; earliest discovered drug, ethyl alchohol, used to alleviate pain

2091  Abraham enters Canaan 

2066  Isaac born

2006  Jacob & Esau born

2000  Native Americans immigrate to North America from northern Asia; stock breeding and
          irrigation used in China; Stonehenge, England, a center for religious worship, is
          erected; bellows used in India, allowing for higher furnace temperatures.

1929  Jacob flees to Haran

1915  Joseph born

1900  Egyptians use irrigation systems to control Nile floods; spoked wheel invented in the
          anicient Near East; horses used to pull vehicles.

1898  Joseph sold into slavery

1885  Joseph rules Egypt

1805  Joseph dies

1750  Babylonian mathemeticians already understand cube and square root; Hammurabi of
          Babylon provides first of all legal codes

1700  Egyptian papyrus document describes medical and surgical procedures

1526  Moses born

1500  Sundials used in Egypt; Mexican Sun Pyramid built

1446  The Exodus from Egypt

1445  Ten Commandments given

1406  Hebrews (Israelites) enter Canaan

1400  First period of Chinese literature; intricate clock used in Egypt

1380  Palace of Knossos on island of Crete destroyed by earthquake

1375  Judges begin to rule Israel

1358  Egyptian king Tutankhamen dies and is buried inside an immense treasure-laden tomb

1250  Silk fabrics manufactured in China

1209  Deborah becomes Israel's judge

1200  Labor strike in Thebes; first Chinese dictionary

1183  Destruction of Troy during Trojan War

1162  Gideon becomes Israel's judge

1105  Samuel born

1075  Samson becomes Israel's judge

1050  Saul becomes Israel's first king

1010  David becomes Israel's king

1000  City of Peking built; mythology fully developed; California Indians build wood-reed
          houses; Chinese mathematics utilizes root multiplication, geometry, proportions, and
          theory of motion; glazing of bricks and tiles begins in Near East.

970  Solomon becomes Israel's king

959  Temple in Jerusalem completed

950  Gold vessels and jewelry popular in northern Europe

930  Kingdom of Israel divides; (Israel - Northern Kingdom)
                                                    (Judah - Southern Kingdom) 

900  Celts invade Britain; Assyrians invent inflatable skins for soldiers to cross rivers

875  Elijah prophesies in Israel

874  Ahab becomes Israel's king

850  Evidence of highly developed metal and stone sculptures in Africa

848  Elisha prophesies in Israel

835  Joash becomes Judah's king

814  Founding of Carthage, a Phoenecian trading post

800  Development of caste system in India; Babylonian and Chinese astronomers understand
        planetary movements; spoked wheels used in Europe; Homer writes Iliad and Odyssey;
        ice skating a popular sport in northern Europe

793  Jonah becomes a prophet

776  First known date of Olympic games

753  Hosea becomes a prophet

753  Traditional date for founding of city of Rome

750  Earliest music notation written in ancient Greece; Celts introduce plow to Britain

743  Israel invaded by Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria

740  Isaiah becomes a prophet

722  Israel (Northern Kingdom) falls

715  Hezekiah becomes Judah's king

701  Jerusalem besieged by Sennacherib of Assyria

700  False teeth invented in Italy

660  Japan established as a nation

650  Soldering of iron invented

648  Horse racing first held at 33rd Olympic Games

640  Josiah becomes Judah's king

627  Jeremiah becomes a prophet

612  Assyrian capital of Nineveh destroyed

605  Daniel taken captive to Babylon

600  Temple of Artemis built in Ephesus - one of the seven wonders of the ancient world

586  Judah (Southern Kingdom) falls to Babylon

563  Guatama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, born in India

562  King Nebuchanezzar of Babylon dies

560  Aesop writes his fables

551  Confucious, famous Chinese scholar, born

550  King Cyrus the Great conquers the Medes and founds the Persian Empire; lock & key,
        water level, and carpenter's square invented.

540  Horseback postal service in Persian Empire

539  Babylon overthrown by Cyrus of Persia

538  First Jewish exiles return to Jerusalem

534  Tragedy emerges as a form of Greek drama

525  Polo a sport among Persians

520  Public libraries open in Athens, Greece

515  New Temple completed in Jerusalem

509  Rome becomes a republic 

500  Glass first imported to China from Near East; Indian surgeon Susrata performs cataract
        operation; origin of Halloween, a Celtic festival.

490  First time Greek men choose short haircuts

479  Esther becomes queen of Persia

469  Socrates, philosopher of the ancient world, born

460  Birth of Democritus, who introduced the atomic theory by arguing that all bodies are
        made of indivisible and unchangeable atoms.

458  Ezra returns to Jerusalem

457  Golden Age in Athens, Greece begins

448  The Parthenon built on top of Athens' Acropolis 

445  Nehemiah builds Jerusalem wall

438  Greek sculpter Phidias makes a 60-foot-high statue of Zeus-one of the seven wonders of
         the ancient world.

430(?) Malachi becomes a prophet

430  Romans agree to concept of a dictator in times of military emergency

399  Socrates condemned to death by Athenian jury

390  Aramaic begins to replace Hebrew as Jewish language

384  Aristotle born

370  Plato writes his most famous book, The Republic

330  Alexander the Great defeats the Persian Empire

312  Romans build first paved road, the "Appian Way," from Rome to Capua

255  Hebrew Old Testament translated into Greek and called the Septuagint

241  Romans conquer Sicily and add their first non-Italian territory to the Roman Empire

215  Great Wall of China built

169  Temple of Jerusalem plundered by Antiochus IV

165  Judas Maccabeus begins a revolt against Antiochus IV

139  Jews and astrologers banished from Rome

102  First Chinese ships reach east coast of India; ball bearings used in Danish cart wheels

100  Julius Ceasar, first emperor of Rome, born

55    Romans conquer England and make it part of Roman Empire until A.D. 442

51    Cleopatra becomes last independent Egyptian ruler of the ancient world

46    Julius Ceasar became dictator for life, then was assassinated two years later

37    Herod the Great made king of Judea by the Romans

30    Cleopatra and her lover, Marc Antony, both die by suicide

25(?)   Mary, Jesus' mother, born

23    Sumo wrestling in Japan

20    Herod the Great begins remodeling Temple in Jerusalem

6/5   Jesus Christ born

4      Herod the Great dies

------------- A.D. -------------- 

1     Saddles first used in Europe

5(?)    Apostle Paul born

6/7  Judea becomes a Roman province; Jesus visits Temple as a boy

7     Zealots in Judea rebel against Rome

14   Tiberius succeeds Ceasar Augustus as Roman Emperor

26   John the Baptist begins his ministry; Pontious Pilate appointed governor

26/27   Jesus begins his ministry

30   Jesus crucified; Jesus ascends into Heaven; Pentecost; early church
         beginnings

35   Paul's conversion on Damascus road

40   Herod Agrippa appointed king of Judea

43   London founded; first definite reference to diamonds

46   Paul begins first missionary journey

50   Romans begin using soap

54   Emperor Claudius poisoned by order of his wife; Nero becomes emperor

57   Paul writes the book of Romans; Paul imprisoned in Caesarea

59   Paul's voyage to Rome

60   Paul writes "prison letters"

62   Paul released from prison

64   Fire burns much of Rome.  Nero blames Christians for setting it.

66   Painting on canvas

67(?)  Paul martyred

68   Romans destroy a Jewish religious commune at at Qumran. Before the Qumran
        community was captured, they hid their library of Bible manuscripts in a cave by the
        Dead Sea(discovered in 1948).

70   Romans destroy Jerusalem

73   960 Jews commit mass suicide at Masada while under Roman attack.

74   China opens silk trade with the west

75   Rome begins construction of famous Colosseum

79   Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupts, killing 30,000 people and burying cities of Pompeii and
        Herculaneum.

95   Apostle John writes Revelation