Bible Timeline with Historical Context
When did the events of the Bible take place?
Check out this Bible Timeline with Historical Context to find out when biblical figures like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David lived in relation to world history.
3,000’s BC
The Sumerians were the first known civilization, and historians date them as existing before 3,000 BC. This means that Adam and Eve had to have come before them, and Noah likely did as well. This is when early forms of writing like Cuneiform and Egyptian Hieroglyphs were known to have been used.
2,000’s BC
In the 2,000’s BC, the Sumerians lost their prominence, and Egypt (Old Kingdom) gained more prominence. This is when they constructed the Giza pyramids.
1,000’s BC
The 1,000’s BC were jam-packed with history. Assyria became a dominant world power, and Abraham was born. Then Babylon surpassed Assyria as the dominant world power, and Hammurabi enacted Hammurabi’s Code, which was the first one of the oldest and most complete surviving legal codes. Abraham’s family grew through the generations of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, until Joseph ended up in Egypt. Then Egypt (New Kingdom) rose to power and started oppressing the Israelites, until Moses led them back to Canaan as depicted by Exodus–Joshua. Israel became ruled by Judges for a while (Judges–2 Samuel), until they entered an era of being ruled by kings. (1 Kings–2 Chronicles).
00’s BC
During the 00’s BC, the events of 1 Kings–2 Chronicles continued to unfold until Israel split into Israel and Judah. Assyria became the dominant world power again, and God sent his prophet Elijah to the split nation. More prophets followed as Israel became exiled by Assyria and Judah became exiled by Babylon (under Nebuchadnezzar’s rule. Then the Medes and Persians rose to become the dominant world power, and Cyrus the Great let God’s people gradually return to Canaan. (God sent more prophets throughout that time.) Then Alexander the Great led Greece to become the dominant world power for a time until Rome surpassed them.
00’s AD
Around “year zero,” Jesus was born, which kicked off the events of the New Testament. Then Jesus’s followers like Paul spread Christianity throughout the world. After the Roman empire fell, it was replaced by the Middle Ages which also included the Age of the Vikings.
1,000’s AD
The Middle Ages continued, and eventually led to the crusades. Eventually, the Renaissance began, which was marked by world-changing discoveries such as the printing press and Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the Americas. A couple hundred year later, the Industrial Revolution began, ushering in the modern age with skyscrapers and electricity. The United States soon became a nation, and became the dominant world power after the World Wars.
2,000’s AD
Today, we now find ourselves in history 2,000 years after Jesus’s coming.
Check out the Bible Timeline with Historical Context to see all this info laid out as an infographic.
