History of Ancient Israel Timeline

Question 1

Patriarchal Period (1)

Answer 1

Time of the Patriarchs
Abraham (beginning of the covenant)
Isaac (Abraham’s promised son)
Jacob (Isaac’s son. Jacob has 12 sons; 12 tribes of Israel)
Joseph (Jacob’s favourite son, of technicolour fame)

Question 2

Exodus (2)

Answer 2

Exodus of Israelites from Egypt to the promised land (Canaan).
Rule of the judges (non-hereditary rulers) during which the land was conquered.

Question 3

Monarchic Period (3)

Answer 3

Israelites united under a king
Saul (first king of Israel)
David (second king of Israel)
Solomon (David’s son. Builds temple in Jerusalem)
After his death, split of North and South Kingdom
Northern kingdom conquered by Assyria (722/721 BC)

Question 4

Babylonian Exile (4)

Answer 4

Southern kingdom invaded by Babylonians
Temple destroyed
Population dispersed
Much of OT reaches its final form
586 BC

Question 5

Persian Period (5)

Answer 5

Persians conquer the Babylonians
Cyrus (king of Persia) allows Jews to return to Israel
Israelites begin to rebuild the temple

Question 6

Hellenistic Period

Hasmonean Period) (6

Answer 6

Greeks conquer the Persians (Alexander the Great)
Israel is a frontier between Greeks and Seleucids
Maccabean revolt, brief period of Jewish independence
Old Testament translated into Greek (the Septuagint)