This timeline tries to compile dates of important historical events that happened in or that lead to the rise of the Middle East. The Middle East is the territory that comprises today's Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Israel, the Gulf States, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Oman. The Middle East with its particular characteristics was not to emerge until late second millennium AD. To refer to a concept similar that of today's Middle East but earlier in time, the term Ancient Near East is used.

This list is intended as a timeline of the history of the Middle East. For more detailed information, see articles on the histories of individual countries. See Ancient Near East for ancient history of the Middle East.

Prehistoric and Ancient Period

main article: Ancient Near East

9th millennium BC (Beginning of the Neolithic time period of the Holocene epoch)

• Agriculture in Mesopotamia
• Domestication of sheep and goats in the Middle East
• Circa 8350 BC – Neolithic settlement at Jericho

8th millennium BC

• Circa 8000 BC–Settlements at Nevali Cori in present-day Turkey are established.
• Circa 7500 BC – Çatalhöyük, a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement in southern Anatolia, is founded.
• Settlements at Sagalassos in present-day southwest Turkey are established.
• Domestication of sheep in Southwest Asia

7th millennium BC

• After 7000 BC–The rise of the Punjab culture.
• First pottery in Mesopotamia
• Domestication of the cow in the Middle East

6th millennium BC

• September 1, 5509 BC – day of creation of the world (according to the Byzantine Empire) and beginning of their calendar [1]
• Around 5400 BC – Irrigation in Mesopotamia.
• circa 5600 BC – According to the Black Sea deluge theory, the Black Sea floods with salt water. Some 3000 cubic miles (12,500 km³) of salt water is added, significantly expanding it and transforming it from a fresh-water landlocked lake into a salt water sea.
• Agriculture appears in the valley of the Nile
• Wheel and plough both invented in ancient Mesopotamia
• Around 5100 BC – Temples founded in South Mesopotamia

5th millennium BC

• c. 4500 BC – Civilization of Susa and Kish in Mesopotamia
• c. 4570 BC –4250 BC – Merimde culture on the Nile
• c. 4400 BC –4000 BC – Badari culture on the Nile
• c. 4000 BC - first examples of Sumerian writing in Mesopotamia

4th millennium BC

• City of Ur in Mesopotamia (40th century BC).
• Naqada culture on the Nile, 4000 BC–3000 BC.
• Epoch of the modern Hebrew Calendar occurred on 7 October 3761 BC.
• Jewish chronology dates creation to 25 September or March 29 3760 BC.
• Civilization of Sumeria, cities-state (36th century BC).
• First to Fourth dynasty of Kish in Mesopotamia.
• c. 3200 BC - King Narmer unifies the Upper and Lower Egyptian Kingdoms, and gives birth to the worlds's first nation: Egypt.
• 35th century BC - beginning of desertification of Sahara. The shift by the Sahara Desert from a habitable region to a barren desert.
• Ur-Nina first king of Lagash (ca. 34th century), the earliest historical person known by name.
• Beginnings of urbanisation in Mesopotamia with the Sumerians.
• First cities in Egypt (35th century BC).
• First writings in the cities of Uruk and Susa (cuneiform writings). Hieroglyphs in Egypt.
• Potter's wheel used in Middle East.
• Sails used in the Nile.
• Archaic Period of Ancient Egypt

(see also Sumer: Ur, Uruk, Kish, Susa)

3rd millennium BC

• Old Kingdom of Egypt
• Akkad: Agade, Isin, Babylon, Larsa
• Mari
• Ebla
• Amorite
• Troy I-V
• Syria: Foundation of the city of Mari (29th century BC )
• Iraq: Creation of the Kingdom of Elam
• Dynasty of Lagash in Sumeria
• Golden age of Ur in Mesopotamia. (2474–2398 BC)
• First dynasty of Babylon
• Babylon conquers Sumeria and Elam
• Third and Fourth dynasties in Egypt.
• Major migration of Central Saharans into West Africa possibly due to climate change starting in 4th millennium BC.
• Djoser, king of Egypt, commissions the Step Pyramid at Saqqara.
• Khufu, king of Egypt, builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza
• Urukagina, king of Lagash, creates the first known judicial code. (24th century BC)
• Lugalsaggizi , king of Uruk and Umma conquers Lagash (2371–2347 BC)
• Sargon the Great, founder of the empire of Akkad and Sumeria (2371–2316 BC middle chronology)
• Ur-Nammu founder of the 3rd dynasty of Ur (2112–2095 BC middle chronology)
• Building of the Great Pyramid of Giza (26th century BC)
• Sails used on ships (20th century BC)
• First ziggurats built in Sumeria
• Near East civilizations enter Bronze Age around 3000 BC
• Completion of the Great Pyramid of Giza

2nd millennium BC

• Middle Kingdom of Egypt
• New Kingdom of Egypt
• Babylonia, second dynasty of Babylon
• Assyria
• Aleppo
• Hittites
• Mitanni
• Hurrians
• Luwians
• Canaan: Ugarit, Kadesh, Megiddo, Kingdom of Israel
• Arzawa, Troy VI-VII

• The Cushites drive the original inhabitants from Ethiopia, and establish trade relations with Egypt.
• Conquest of Canaan (Palestine) by the Israelites
• Middle Kingdom in Egypt (2052–1570 BC)
• Hittites Old Kingdom in Anatolia (1900 BC)
• Civilization in Palestine (1800 BC)
• Egyptian domination over Palestine and Syria (1600–1360 BC)
• Beginnings of Judaism (around 1200 BC)
• Fall of Troy (traditional date 1184 BC)
• late 2nd millennium BC - begin of the Iron Age discovery of iron smelting and smithing techniques in Anatolia or the Caucasus.

(see also Moses, Exodus, Hammurabi, List of Pharaohs, Aegean civilization)

The Arab Middle East

1st millennium BC

• Egypt declined as a major power
• The Tanakh was written
• Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and created the Persian Empire (6th century BC)
• Sparta and Athens fought the Peloponnesian War
• Alexander the Great conquered Greece, Egypt, Persia and Afghanistan
• Hellenic Greek culture spread through the Mediterranean
• The Roman Republic rose and fell

Inventions, Discoveries, Introductions

• Iron use becomes widespread
• The Phoenicians propagate the phonetic alphabet in the Mediterranian
• Many major religious and philosophical viewpoints are created, further explored or codified

(see also: Roman Republic, David, Homer, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Lydia, Median Empire, Chaldean Empire)

1st millennium AD

• Beginning of Christianity and Islam
• Diaspora of the Jews
• The Olympic Games observed until 393
• The Library of Alexandria, largest library in the world, burned
• Rise and fall of the Roman Empire
• Islamic conquest of the Middle East and North Africa
• c. 970 - Al-Azhar University, the oldest Islamic institution for higher studies, with its corresponding mosque of Al-Azhar are founded.

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

• Algebra developed in the Middle East
• Chess developed, gaining widespread use

(at the same time: Beginning of the Middle Ages in Europe)

(see also: Paul of Tarsus, apostle to the gentiles created Christianity, Constantine I, Attila, Muhammad, al-Khwarizmi)

2nd millennium AD

• Mongol Empires in Asia
• The agricultural and industrial revolutions
• The rise of nationalism and the nation state
• European colonization and decolonization in Africa and Asia
• Population explosion
• World-spanning wars (e.g. Seven Years' War, World War I, World War II)
• Capitalism and Communism

(see also: Genghis Khan)

Turks, Crusaders and Mongols

(The dominance of the Arabs came to a sudden end in the mid 11th century with the arrival of the Seljuk Turks)

• c. 1347, a fleet of Genoese trading ships fleeing Kaffa(Feodosiya) reached the port of Messina and spreads the Black Death

(see also: Turks, Crusaders, Mongols)

The Ottoman era

(circa since 1453 when Ottoman emirs captured Constantinople)

(main article: History of the Ottoman Empire)

• 1869 - Construction of the Suez Canal is completed.

European domination of the Arabic and Turkish regions (especially since WWI)

• 1882 - September 13 - British troops occupy Cairo - Egypt becomes British protectorate
• 1922 - February 28 - Egypt is granted independence from British occupation.

Contemporary Middle East

(circa since WWII)

• Israeli and Palestinian nationalism,
• petroleum becomes important political factor
• the Islamic Revolution
• Revolution in Iran,
• Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and
• The Gulf War(s).

• 1971 - The Aswan High Dam is completed with Soviet help in finance and construction.

related articles

• history of Egypt
• history of Palestine
• history of Israel
• history of Jordan
• history of Lebanon
• history of Syria
• history of Turkey
• history of Greece
• history of Iraq
• history of Iran
• history of Saudi Arabia
• history of Yemen
• history of Oman
• Roman Empire
• Ottoman Empire
• Ancient Greece
• Persia,
• History of Ancient Egypt: 3000 BC to 332 BC
• History of Greek and Roman Egypt: 332 BC to 639 AD
• History of early Arab Egypt: 639 to 1517
• History of Ottoman Egypt: 1517 to 1805
• Egypt under Mehemet Ali and his successors: 1805 to 1882
• History of Modern Egypt: since 1882
• Mesopotamia
• Timeline of Islamic history
• Timeline of Jewish history
• Centuries
• History of the Middle East
• List of Pharaohs

external links

• factbook Middle East
• Timeline Assyria
• Resources about Ancient Near East