Princeton University Press

Chapter Title: A Brief Chronology

Book Title: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: The Classical Texts and Their Interpretation,
Volume III
Book Subtitle: The Works of the Spirit
Book Author(s): F. E. PETERS
Published by: Princeton University Press. (1990)
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv39x8p3.5

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 A Brief Chronology

B.C.E. is an abbreviation of "Before the Common E r a " and C.E. of the

" C o m m o n Era." The Common Era is that of the Gregorian calendar,
where time is measured before or after what was thought to be the birth
year of Jesus: in Latin, Anno Domini, the "Year of the Lord," abbreviated
A. D. In fact, Jesus' date of birth is now placed in or about 4 B.C.E.

Muslims also use a "before" and "after" system. In their case the
watershed date is that of the Hijrah or Emigration of Muhammad from
Mecca to Medina in 622 C . E . , called in the West A . H . , or Anno Hegirae.
Jewish time reckoning is only "after," that is, from the Creation of
the W o r l d , normally understood to be about 4000 years B.C.E.

B. C.E.
ca. 1700 God's Covenant with Abraham
ca. 1200 The exodus from Egypt; the giving of the Torah to Moses on
Mount Sinai
ca. 1000 David, king of the Israelites, captures Jerusalem and makes it
his capital
ca. 970 Solomon builds the First Temple in Jerusalem
621 Josiah centralizes all Jewish worship in the Temple in Jeru­
salem
587 Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar carry Israelites into exile
in Babylon; the destruction of Solomon's Temple
538 Exiles return to Judea; Ezra; Nehemiah; rebuilding of Jerusa­
lem Temple
332 Alexander the Great in the Near East; Greek dynasties rule
Palestine
ca. 280 Translation of Bible in Greek: the "Septuagint"
200 The Seleucid dynasty of Syria replaces the Ptolemies as rulers
of Palestine
175-164 Antiochus IV Epiphanes; profanation of the Temple
164 Maccabean revolt; Jewish independence
164-37 The Hasmonean dynasty rules Palestine

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 C H R O N O L O G Y

37-4 Herod the Great, king of Judea

. 25-45 C.E. Philo in Alexandria
2o Herod begins restoration of the Temple
ca. 4 Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem

E.
6 Romans take over direct rule of Judea
26-36 Pontius Pilate, Roman prefect of Judea
ca. 30 Execution of Jesus in Jerusalem
the 50s Letters of Paul
ca. 60—70 Composition of Mark, earliest of the Gospels
ca. 62 Death of James in Jerusalem and Peter and Paul in Rome
66 Jewish insurrection in Palestine; flight of Yohanan ben Zakkai
to Jabneh (Jamnia) and of Jewish Christians to the Transjordan
70 Romans under Titus destroy Herod's Temple
ca. 80-100 Remaining three canonical Gospels written
ca. 100 Death of the Jewish historian Josephus
Second Jewish revolt in Palestine; Jerusalem leveled and Jews
forbidden to live there
ca. 200 Widespread persecutions of Christians in the Roman Empire;
redaction of the Mishna by Judah "the Prince"
ca. 25 0 Antony, the first hermit, withdraws to the desert of Egypt
303 Last violent persecution of Christians by Diocletian
313 Constantine, the first Christian emperor, suspends persecution
of Christians
318 Pachomius founds the first monastery, or community of as­
cetics, in Egypt
325 First ecumenical council of the Christian Church at Nicea
330 Constantine and his mother Helena begin the conversion of
Jerusalem into a Christian holy city
340 First Christian monasteries founded in the West
381 Decree establishing Christianity as the official religion of the
Roman Empire
399 Death of the Christian mystic Evagrius of Pontus
410 Visigoths sack Rome
Office of Nasi, or Patriarch, abolished in the Roman Empire
430 Death of Augustine, Latin theologian of Hippo in North Africa
Ecumenical council of Chalcedon
ca. 500 Completion of the gemaras at Tiberias and (ca. 600) in Iraq:
thus the final versions of the "Jerusalem" and "Babylonian"
Talmuds
ca. 535 Benedict founds his monastery at Monte Cassino
ca. 5 7 0 Birth of Muhammad at Mecca

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 C H R O N O L O G Y xix
590-604 Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, lays claim to papal abso­
lutism
610 Muhammad's earliest revelations: the beginning of the Quran
622 Muhammad's "emigration" (hijrah) to Medina; political suc­
cesses against Mecca
632 Death of Muhammad
632-634 Abu Bakr, Caliph
634-644 Umar, Caliph
638 Peaceful submission of Jerusalem; building of first al-Aqsa
mosque; Jews permitted to return to Judea
644-656 Uthman, Caliph; official edition of the Quran
656-661 Ali, Caliph
661-750 The Umayyad dynasty rules the Dar al-Islam from Damascus;
beginnings of the "Party of A l i " (Shi at Ali)
680 Massacre of Ali's son Husayn at Karbala in Iraq
692 Caliph Abd al-Malik builds the Dome of the Rock and his son
al-Walid rebuilds the Aqsa Mosque
ca. 700 Emergence of the Sufi movement
ca. 750 Rise of Islamic law "schools"
750-1258 The Abbasid dynasty rules the Dar al-Islam from Baghdad
ca. 800 Rise of the Karaite movement
820 Death of the premier Muslim lawyer Shafi'i
CA. 850-1000 Translations of Greek scientific and philosophical works into
Arabic
866 The so-called Photian schism
870 Death of Bukhari, author of the first collection of canonical
hadith
874 Death of the eleventh Shi'ite Imam and "occultation" of his
son
892-942 Saadya the Gaon revives work on Jewish theology
ca. 900 Rise of the Isma' ili Shi' ite dynasty of the Fatimids
922 Crucifixion of the mystic al-Hallaj in Baghdad
969 Fatimids take Egypt and found Cairo as their capital; the open­
ing of al-Azhar
1038 Death of Ibn Sina (Avicenna), the Muslim philosopher
1040-1105 Rashi, Torah commentator
1054 Great Schism between Western and Eastern churches
1065 Building of the first Muslim law school (madrasa) in Baghdad
1073-1085 Pontificate of Gregory VII
1085-1140 Judah Halevi
1095 Preaching of crusade by Urban II
1099 Latin knights take Jerusalem from the Muslims
1111 Death of the Muslim theologian and mystic al-Ghazali

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XX C H R O N O L O G Y

1134-1204 Moses Maimonides, Jewish theologian and lawyer

1187 Muslims under Saladin retake Jerusalem
1198 Death of the Muslim philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes)
1225—1274 Thomas Aquinas; the height of medieval Christian theology in
the West
ca. 1300 Compilation of the Zohar, the primary work of Kabbala
1323 Pope Boniface VIII publishes the bull Unam Sanctam
1377 Ibn Khaldun's Prolegomenon to History
1453 Constantinople falls to the Turks
1492 Christian reconquest of Spain completed; Jewish migrations to
Islamic lands in North Africa and the Near East
1488-1575 Joseph Caro, author of Shulhan Aruch
1517 Luther posts his controversial theses; beginning of the Protes­
tant Reformation

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