ASSYRIAN 883 - 609 BC
Leaders included: Shalmaneser, Tiglath-Pileser, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon
Notable events:
732 BC Assyrians capture Damascus
722 BC Assyrians capture Samaria and take Israelites captive
612 BC Assyrian capital, Nineveh, captured by the Babylonians
BABYLONIAN 609 - 539 BC
Leaders included: Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-Merodach, Belshazzar
Notable events:
605 BC Some Jews, including Daniel, taken into exile
597 BC More Jews exiled, including King Jehoiachin and Ezekiel
587 BC Fall of Jerusalem. More Jews exiled
539 BC Babylon captured by the Persians
PERSIAN 539 - 331 BC
Leaders included: Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes (Ahaseurus)
Notable events:
538 BC Zerubbabel and others return to Jerusalem
537 BC Rebuilding of the temple begins
458 BC Ezra returns to Jerusalem
445 BC Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem
GREEK 331 - 63 BC
Leaders included: Alexander the Great
On the death of Alexander the Great, the empire was divided. The south-western part of the empire was under the control of the Ptolomies, based in Egypt. The eastern part of the empire was under the control of the Seleucids, based in Syria. Geographically, Israel was in between these two centres of power.
331-198 BC Israel under Egyptian rule
198-63 BC Israel under Syrian rule
ROMAN 63 BC - 410 AD
Leaders included: Augustus, Tiberius, Nero
Leaders in Israel included: Herod the Great, Herod the tetrarch, Herod Agrippa, Agrippa