The eras
- Dates debated
The patriarchs
Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph — family stories set in the ancient Near East.
- Dates debated
Exodus and wilderness
Escape from Egypt, covenant at Sinai, years of wandering before entering the land.
- Roughly the pre-monarchy period
Judges
Loose tribal society, repeated cycles of crisis, deliverance and relapse.
- Around the 10th century BC
United monarchy
Saul, David and Solomon; Jerusalem becomes a religious and political centre.
- After Solomon
Divided kingdoms
Israel in the north, Judah in the south; prophets confront injustice and idolatry.
- 586 BC onward
Exile
Jerusalem and the temple fall to Babylon; deportation, lament and identity crisis.
- From 538 BC
Return and rebuilding
Persian period; temple rebuilt, walls repaired, community re-formed under foreign rule.
- Persian to Roman rule
Second Temple period
Synagogues, scribes, growing scriptural collections, diverse Jewish movements.
- 167–160 BC and after
Maccabean period
Persecution under Antiochus IV, the revolt, and rededication of the temple.
- From 63 BC
Roman rule
Occupation, heavy taxation, unrest and messianic expectation in Judea.
- Roughly 4 BC – AD 30/33
The life of Jesus
Ministry in Galilee and Judea, crucifixion under Pontius Pilate, resurrection accounts.
- AD 30s onward
The early Church
Pentecost, persecution, Paul's journeys, letters written, Gospels compiled.