TIMELINE important events in the Middle East
10,000 -3,500
BCE Neolithic Age in the Middle East.
Farming begins; villages appear.
7750
BCE
Jericho is founded
c. 4000-2450
BCE Sumerians build a civilization in the Tigris and
Euphrates valley
3500
BCE
Sumerians develop a system of writing (cuneiform)
c. 3500-30 BCE Egyptian
empire
2000
BCE
Babylonaian empire emerges
1025
BCE
Israelites set up the kingdom of Israel
722
BCE
Assyrians conquer the northern part of Israel
586
BCE
Babylonia destroys the Jewish Temple.
Beginning of Jewish Diaspora
332-30
BCE
Greek Empire in the Middle East
146
BCE
Rome defeats Carthage
30
BCE
Egypt becomes a Roman province.
31 BCE-180
CE
Pax Romana
70
CE
Rome sacks Jerusalem and destroys the second temple.
313
CE
Constantine recognizes Christianity
400
CE
Christianity becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire
330-1453
CE
Byzantine Empire
c.
600
Middle East is divided between Persian and Byzantine empires
570 Muhammad is born in Mecca
622
Muhmmad's light from Mecca; beginning of Muslim calendar; Islam becomes a religion
630
Muslims conquer Mecca
632
Death of Muhammad.
635
Muslims conquer Syria
640
Muslims control the Tigris-Euphrates valley
642
Muslims control Egypt
650
Persia is under Muslim control
656
Islam is divided between Shiites and Sunnites
732 Charles Martel defeats the Muslims at
the battle of Tours
750-1265
The Abbasids rule the Islamic empire
1000-1150
The Seljuk Empire
1095-1290
The Crusades
1258
The Mongols invade the Middle East and capture Baghdad
1260
The Mamelukes defeat the Mongols in battle.
1359
Mongols overthrown in Persia; Turks take control
1280-1914 The Ottoman Empire
1280-1326
The rule of Osman I
1453
The Ottomans capture Constantinople
1481
Ottomans control Anatolia and the Balkans
1492
Columbus reaches North America
1520-1566
The rule of Suleiman I
1570s
Ottomans control most of North Africa
1700s
Europeans take advantage of Ottoman debts to win privileges
c.
1760
The industrial revolution begins in England
1798
Napoleon invades Egypt
1822
Egypt captures Sudan
1830
French invade Algeria
1854-1856
Crimean War
1869
Suez Canal opens
1881
French occupy Tunisia
1882
British occupy Egypt
1911
Italy takes control of Libya
1912-1913
Balkan Wars
1913
Young Turks take power
1914
World War I begins
1914-present
National Era
1917 Balfour Declaration
1920
Syria and Lebanon become mandates of France
1922
Britain grants Egypt independence.
1923
Turkey becomes a republic.
1932
Iraq gains independence from Britain
1939-1945
World War II
1943
Lebanon becomes independent
1945
The Arab League is formed
1946
The French leave Syria and Lebanon; Jordan gains independence
1947
The United Nations partitions Palestine
1948
The State of Israel is
declared
1948-1949
The First Arab-Israeli War
1951
Libya becomes independent
1952
Egypt becomes a republic
1956
Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal; Israel, France, and Britain invade
Tunisia and Morocco gain independence
1958
Iraq becomes a republic
1958-1961
The United Arab Republic
1962
Algeria achieves independence
1967
Six-Day War between Arab states and Israel
1969
Muammar Gahdafi takes power in Libya
1970
Black September in Jordan; Sadat succeeds
Nasser
1973
Yom Kippur War
1973-1974
Arab oil embargo
1974
Civil war begins in Lebanon
1977
Sadat visits Jerusalem
1979
Camp David Accord signed; Iranian
Revolution
1980-1988
Iran-Iraq War
1981
Iran frees American hostages; Sadat is assassinated
1982
Israel pulls out of the Sinai
1983
Israel invades Lebanon
1985
Israel withdraws from Lebanon
1987 Intifada begins
1989 Ayatollah Khomeini dies; Soviets leave
Afghanistan
1990
Iraq invades Kuwait
1991
Persian Gulf War
1991
Madrid Talks begin between Arab countries and Israel.
1993
Oslo Accord
1995
Oslo II; Rabin is assassinated
1996
Netanyahu is elected president; the peace process stalls
1997-98
Saddam Hussein continues to defy UN weapons inspections
2001 World
Trade Center bombing and U.S. invades Afghanistan to f find
Osama bin Laden and topples the Taliban government.
2003 Iraq is invaded and Saddam Hussein’s government is toppled
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