This timeline tries to compile dates of important historical events that happened in or that led to the rise of the Middle East. The Middle East is the territory that comprises today's Egypt, the Persian Gulf states, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Cyprus and Northern Cyprus, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Gaza Strip, UAE, and Yemen. The Middle East with its particular characteristics was not to emerge until the late second millennium CE. To refer to a concept similar that of today's Middle East but earlier in time, the term Ancient Near East is used.
This list is intended as a timeline of the history of the Middle East. For more detailed information, see articles on the histories of individual countries. See Ancient Near East for ancient history of the Middle East.
10000 BCE – earliest neolithic sanctuaries at Göbekli Tepe in southern Turkey
9300 BCE – first cultivating of wild emmer in Netiv HaGdud and other sites in Jordan by hunter gatherers
9000 to 7000 BCE – first domestication of sheep in Mesopotamia
8500 BCE – first domestication of the cow (taurine line from the aurochs near Çayönü Tepesi in southeastern Turkey and Dja'de el-Mughara in northern Iraq.
8400 to 8100 BCE – first settlements at Nevali Cori in Turkey
8200 to 7650 BCE – first domestication of emmer wheat near Damascus, Syria
8000 BCE – human settlements at Sagalassos in southwest Turkey
8000 BCE – first domestication of goats from the bezoar ibex in Iran
8000 BCE – first domestication of einkorn wheat near Karaca Dağ in southeast Turkey
8000 BCE – first domestication of Durum wheat near Karaca Dağ in the Levant and the Ethiopian Highlands
7500 BCE – Çatalhöyük, very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement in southern Anatolia
7000 BCE – Jarmo, one of the oldest agricultural communities, in northern Iraq
7000 to 6500 BCE – early undecorated, unglazed and low-fired pottery in Hassuna
6000 to 4000 BCE – invention of the potter's wheel in Mesopotamia
6000 BCE – first irrigation and flood control in Mesopotamia and Egypt
6000 to 4300 BCE – first sail boats in Mesopotamia
5600 BCE – Black Sea floods according to the Black Sea deluge theory
5509 BCE – date of creation according to the Byzantine calendar
5500 BCE – first large scale agriculture by the Sumerians and in the valley of the Nile
5403 BCE – expulsion from the Garden of Eden according to the Genealogies of Genesis
5100 BCE – first Temples in South Mesopotamia
4500 BCE – civilization of Susa and Kish in Mesopotamia
4570 to 4250 BCE – Merimde culture on the Nile
4400 to 4000 BCE – Badari culture on the Nile
4000 BCE – first use of light wooden ploughs in Mesopotamia
4000 BCE – Egyptians discover how to make bread using yeast
4000 to 3000 BCE – domestication of the African wild ass in Egypt or Mesopotamia, producing the donkey
4000 BCE – city of Ur in Mesopotamia
4000 to 3100 BCE – Uruk period
4000 to 3000 BCE – Naqada culture on the Nile
3760 BCE – date of creation according to some interpretations of Jewish chronology
3600 BCE – first civilization in the world: Sumer (city-states) in modern-day southern Iraq
3500 to 3000 BCE – one of the first appearances of wheeled vehicles in Mesopotamia
3500 BCE – beginning of desertification of the Sahara: the shift from a habitable region to a barren desert
3500 BCE – first cities in Egypt
3300 BCE – earliest hieroglyphs
3200 BCE – Iry-Hor reigns as pharaoh of Upper Egypt, the earliest historical person known by name
3100 BCE – King Narmer unifies the Upper and Lower Egyptian Kingdoms, and gives birth to the world's first nation
3100 to 2686 BCE – early Dynastic Period (Egypt)
3000 BCE – first examples of Sumerian writing in Mesopotamia, in the cities of Uruk and Susa (cuneiform writings)
3000 to 2000 BCE – first domestication of the dromedaries in Somalia and southern Arabia
2900 to 2350 BCE – first ziggurats in Sumer
2800 BCE – beginning of Uruk's decline
2600 to 2350 BCE – early Dynastic III period in Mesopotamia
2560 BCE – completion of the Great Pyramid of Giza
2500 BCE – first domestication of the camel in central Asia
2500 BCE – Ur-Nina first king of Lagash
2340 to 2280 BCE – reign of Sargon of Akkad, founder of the dynasty of the Akkad
2334 to 2154 BCE – Akkadian Empire
2254 to 2218 BCE – Naram-Sin of Akkad, under whom the empire reached its maximum strength and the first taking the title "god of Akkad"
2200 BCE – Akkad taken by the Guti
2112 tot 2094 BCE – Ur-Nammu, founder of the Third Dynasty of Ur
2111 to 2004 BCE – Third Dynasty of Ur
2052 to 1570 BCE – Middle Kingdom in Egypt
2004 BCE – Elamites destroy Ur
2004 to 1763 BCE – rise of the Amorites who established several city-states in Mesopotamia
2000 BCE – first use of the spoke-wheel by the Andronovo culture and soon after used by horse cultures of the Caucasus region in war chariots
1900 BCE – Hittites Old Kingdom in Anatolia
1800 BCE – civilization in Canaan
1800 to 1200 BCE – emergence of the city of Ugarit when it ruled a coastal kingdom, trading with Egypt, Cyprus, the Aegean, Syria, the Hittites and others
1792 to 1750 BCE – reign of Hammurabi of the First Babylonian Dynasty, extended control throughout Mesopotamia, known for the Code of Hammurabi, one of the earliest codes of law
1763 to 1595 BCE – Paleo-Babylonian Empire
1600 to 1360 BCE – Egyptian domination over Canaan and Syria
1594 BCE – Cassites take Babylon
1595 to 1155 BCE – Cassite Dynasty
1550 to 1077 BCE – New Kingdom of Egypt
1500 to 1300 BCE – Kingdom Mitanni, a Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and southeast Anatolia
1500 to 539 BCE – Phoenicia and the spread of their alphabet from which almost all modern phonetic alphabets derived
1457 BCE – Battle of Megiddo
1380 to 1336 BCE – Shuppiluliuma, king of the Hittites who challenged Egypt for control of the lands between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates
1370 to 1200 BCE – Hittite Empire
1350 to 1050 BCE – Middle Assyrian Empire
1300 BCE – discovery of iron smelting and smithing techniques in Anatolia or the Caucasus: start of the Iron Age
1274 BCE – Battle of Kadesh between the Egyptian Empire under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II, largest chariot battle ever fought
1245 to 1208 BCE – Tukulti-Ninurta I, king of Assyria, first native Mesopotamian ruler in Babylon, took on the ancient title "King of Sumer and Akkad"
1237 BCE – Battle of Nihriya, resulting in Assyrian victory over the Hittites for control over remnants of the former empire of Mitanni in Asia Minor and the Levant
1234 BCE – Babylon taken by the Assyrians
1200 to 1050 BCE – Bronze Age collapse
1200 BCE – oldest Phoenician alphabet inscription engraved on the sarcophagus of King Ahiram
1200 to 884 BCE – Sea Peoples, conjectured groups of seafaring raiders, invaded Anatolia, Syria, Canaan, Cyprus, and Egypt
1200 to 546 BCE – Lydian Empire
1190 BCE – Hattusha, capital of the Hittites, taken by the Sea Peoples
1184 BCE – Fall of Troy
1180 to 700 BCE – Neo-Hittite kingdoms
1155 BCE – Babylon taken by Elamites
1100 to 539 BCE – Neo-Elamite period
1087 BCE – Babylon destroyed by Assyrians
1070 BCE to 350 CE – Cushites, an ancient African Nubian kingdom in Sudan
1102 to 850 BCE – estimated period in which Homer lived
1069 to 664 BCE – Third Intermediate Period of Egypt
1050 to 930 BCE – Kingdom of Israel
1041 BCE – King David captures Jerusalem, designates it the capital of the united Kingdom of Israel
1004 BCE – King Solomon lays the foundation for the First Temple
927 BCE – Jerusalem becomes the capital of the (southern) Kingdom of Judah after the split of the United Monarchy
884 to 858 BCE – Ashurnasirpal II, king of Assyria, embarked on a vast program of expansion, known for his harshness, moved his capital to the city of Kalhu (Nimrod)
884 to 612 BCE – Neo-Assyrian Empire
800 to 480 BCE – Archaic period in Greece with the rise of the city-states, Greek colonies, and Epic Greek poetry: onset of Classical Antiquity
776 BCE – first Olympic Games
745 to 727 BCE – Tiglath-Pileser III, king of Assyria who introduced advanced civil, military, and political systems into the empire
689 BCE – Babylon destroyed by Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians
678 to 549 BCE – Median Empire
672 to 525 BCE – Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt
626 to 539 BCE – Chaldean Empire (Neo-Babylonian Empire)
612 BCE – Fall of Niniveh by a coalition Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Chaldeans, Scythians, and Cimmerians, leading to the destruction of the Neo-Assyrian Empire
597 BCE – king Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon capturing Jerusalem
587 BCE - king Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon destroys Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple
600 or 576 – 530 BCE – Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and created the Persian Achaemenid Empire
550 to 330 BCE – Achaemenid Empire
539 BCE – Fall of Babylon
537 BCE – Cyrus allows the Israelites to return from the Babylonian captivity and rebuild the Temple
522 to 486 BCE – reign of Darius the Great, third king of the Persian Achaemenid Empire
516 BCE – completion of he Second Temple
510 to 323 BCE – Classical Greek period with large annexations by the Persian Empire and a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and western civilization
500 BCE – Ionian Revolt
499 to 449 BCE – Greco-Persian Wars, finally won by the Greek city-states
480 to 479 BCE – Xerxes invades Greece, start of Second Persian invasion of Greece
477 BCE – founding of the Delian League, an association of Greek city-states under Athenian hegemony
431 to 404 BCE – Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens leading to the end of Athens' hegemony and weakening of Greece
353 to 350 BCE – Mausoleum at Halicarnassus built in Persia
330 BCE – Alexander the Great conquered Persia
323 to 31 BCE – Hellenistic period with Greek influence in Europe, Africa, and Asia, in the arts, exploration, literature, theatre, architecture, music, mathematics, philosophy, and science
247 BCE to 224 CE – Parthian Empire
100 to 44 BCE – Julius Caesar
31 BCE – emergence of the Roman Empire as signified by the Battle of Actium
48 BCE to 642 CE – Destruction of the Library of Alexandria, one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world
92 BCE to 629 CE – Roman–Persian Wars
30 to 100 CE – Apostolic Age, onset of Christianity
66 to 136 CE – Jewish-Roman Wars and Jewish diaspora
135 CE – Roman Emperor Hadrian renamed Iudaea Province into Syria Palaestina
285 to 628 CE – Byzantine–Sasanian wars
376 CE – large-scale irruption of Goths and others, and the subsequent onset of the Fall of the Western Roman Empire
394 CE – Theodosius I suppressed the Olympic Games as part of the campaign to impose Christianity as the state religion
330 to 1453 CE – Byzantine Empire, continuation of the Roman Empire in the east, until it fell to the Ottoman Empire
570 – Birth of Muhammad
614 – Persecution of the Muslims by the Quraish (Migration to Abyssinia)
616 – Second migration to Abyssinia
620 – Ascension to the heavens
622 – Constitution of Medina, establishment of the first Islamic state
624: Battle of Badr, expulsion of the Bani Qainuqa Jews from Medina
626 – Siege of Constantinople
629 to 1050 – Arab–Byzantine wars
630 – Conquest of Mecca
632 – Death of Muhammad, Abu Bakr chosen as caliph
632 to 661 – Rashidun Caliphate
633 to 651 – Muslim conquest of Persia
634 to 641 – Muslim conquest of the Levant (Syria)
639 to 642 – Muslim conquest of Egypt
642 to 799 – Khazar-Arab Wars weaken the Umayyad army and contribute to the eventual fall of the dynasty
642 to 870 – Islamic conquest of Afghanistan
656 to 661 – First Fitna (First Islamic Civil War)
661 to 750 – Umayyad Caliphate
670 to 742 – Muslim conquest of North Africa
680 to 692 – Second Fitna (Second Islamic Civil War)
711 to 718 – Umayyad conquest of Hispania
711 to 714 – Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent
719 to 759 – Umayyad invasion of Gaul
738 – Caliphate campaigns in India
746 to 750 – Abbasid Revolution
750 to 1258 – Abbasid Caliphate
770 to 840 – Khwarizmi, developed algebra
801 to 873 – Al-Kindi, promotor of Greek and Hellenistic philosophy, introduced Indian numerals
803 – Jabir ibn Hayyan, first to produce sulfuric acid, and other chemicals and instruments
810 – House of Wisdom set up in Baghdad, where Greek and Indian mathematical and astronomy works were translated into Arabic
821 to 979 – Iranian Intermezzo
821 to 873 – Tahirid dynasty in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
827 to 902 – Muslim conquest of Sicily
836 to 901 – Thabit Ibn Qurra, discovered a theorem which enables pairs of amicable numbers to be found
847 to 871 – Emirate of Bari
861 to 1003 – Saffarid dynasty, an Iranian Persian empire
864 to 930 – Al-Razi, advocate of hygiene and patients' psychology, wrote on alkali, caustic soda, soap, glycerine and naphta in "Book of the Secret of Secrets
875/819 to 999 – Samanid dynasty, an Iranian empire
909 to 1171 – Fatimid Caliphate, originally based in Tunisia, spanned a vast area of the Arab lands, ultimately made Egypt its centre
929 to 1031 – Caliphate of Córdoba, with the Iberian peninsula as an integral province, ruled from Damascus
932 to 1055 – Buyid dynasty in Iran
942 to 979 – Sallarid dynasty in Iran, Azerbaijan and Armenia
965 to 1091 – Emirate of Sicily
970 – foundation of Al-Azhar University, oldest Islamic institution for higher studies
1037 to 1194 – arrival of the Turkish Seljuq Empire, and the subsequent end of Arab dominance
1044 or 1048 to 1123 – Al-Khayyam gave a classification of cubic equations with geometric solutions using conic sections, extracted roots using the Indian decimal system
1096 to 1487 – Crusades
1100 to 1166 – Muhammad al-Idrissi, known for having drawn some of the most advanced ancient world maps
1147 to 1269 – Almohad Caliphate, a Moroccan Berber Muslim movement, started by Ibn Tumart among the Masmuda
1171 to 1260 – Ayyubid dynasty
1213 to 1288 – Ibn Al-Nafis, discovered the lesser circulatory system of the heart and the lungs), and described the mechanism of breathing and its relation to the blood
1218 to 1221 – Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia marked the beginning of the Mongol conquest of the Islamic states
1241 to 1244 – Mongol invasions of Anatolia
1258 – Forces of the Mongol Empire sack Baghdad and destruct the House of Wisdom, marking the end of the Islamic Golden Age
1260 to 1323 – Mongol invasions of the Levant
1261 to 1517 – Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo
1261 to 1517 – Abbasid Caliphate
1299 to 1923 – rise of the Ottoman Empire
1300 – deportation of the last Muslims from Lucera, Italy
1303 – Battle of Marj al-Saffar, defeat for the Mongols, which put an end to Ghazan Khan's invasions of Syria
1347 – a fleet of Genoese trading ships fleeing Caffa (Theodosia) reached the port of Messina and spreads the Black Death
1380 – al-Kashi, contributed to development of decimal fractions for approximating algebraic numbers and real numbers such as pi
1393 to 1449 – Ulugh Beg commissions an observatory at Samarqand in Uzbekistan
1453 to 1550 – Classical Age of the Ottoman Empire
1550 to 1700 – Transformation of the Ottoman Empire
1700 to 1789 - Ottoman ancien régime
1798 – Napoleon Bonaparte leads a campaign in Egypt and Syria
1828 to 1908 – Decline and modernization of the Ottoman Empire
1862 to 1892 – development of the internal combustion engine rivals the steam engine, and ultimately makes petroleum an important political factor in the following century
1869 – Construction of the Suez Canal is completed
1882 – British troops occupy Cairo – Egypt becomes British protectorate
1908 to 1922 – Defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire
1917 – Lord Balfour, Foreign Minister of Great Britain, in a letter to Lord Rothschild, gives British government approval to Zionist's goal of building a "national home" in Palestine
1918 – Britain and France occupy former Ottoman Empire lands
1919 to 1921 – Franco-Syrian War
1919 to 1923 – Asia Minor Catastrophe reshapes Anatolia, as continuous fighting incorporates the newly founded Republic of Turkey, Armenia, France, Greece
1922 – Egypt is granted nominal independence from the United Kingdom.
1922 to 1923 – French Mandate of Syria and Lebanon and British Mandate of Palestine come into power, Emirate of Transjordan is an autonomous region under the Mandate for Israel
1924 – abolition of the Caliphate as part of Atatürk's Reforms
1925 – Sheikh Said rebellion of Kurds against Turkey
1927 to 1930 – Ararat rebellion of Kurds, as Republic of Ararat is declared, but dissolved upon defeat
1932 – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia declared in unification of Najd and Hejaz
1933 to 1936 – Tribal revolts in Iraq of Assyrians in Simele, Shia in the south and Kurds in the north
1934 – Saudi-Yemeni War
1935 – Persia becomes Iran
1937 – Dersim rebellion, is the largest uprising of the Kurds against Turkey, massive casualties
1939 to 1945 – Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre
1946 – Emirate of Transjordan becomes Kingdom of Jordan (named Transjordan until 1948)
1946 – Kurdish Republic of Mahabad declared along with Azerbaijan People's Government, but defeated by Iranian military forces and dissolved
1947 – UN General Assembly proposes to divide Palestine into an Arab and Jewish state
1948 – Israel declares independence and Arab-Israeli war erupts
1952 – After a revolution in Egypt the monarchy is overthrown
1953 – The coup d'état in Iran
1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes president of Egypt
1954 – Central Treaty Organization
1956 – Suez Crisis
1961 – First Kurdish-Iraqi War erupts in north Iraq.
1963 – Ba'th Party comes to power in Iraq under the leadership of General Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr and Colonel Abdul Salam Arif
1964 – Abdul Rahman Arif stages military coup in Iraq against the Ba'th Party and brings his brother, Abdul Salam Arif, to power
1967 – Six-Day War, Israel occupies the Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights, West Bank and Gaza Strip
1967 – Kurds revolt in Western Iran, the revolt is crushed
1968 – Ba'athists stage second military coup under General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Saddam Hussein is made vice president of Iraq
1970 – Gamal Abdel Nasser dies; Anwar Sadat becomes president of Egypt
1971 – The Aswan High Dam is completed with Soviet help in finance and construction; independence of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE
1973 – Yom Kippur War
1974 – The PLO is allowed to represent the people of Palestine in the UN
1974 to 1975 – Second Kurdish-Iraqi War
1975 to 1990 – Lebanese Civil War
1976 – Syria invades Lebanon
1978 – Camp David Accords
1979 – Saddam Hussein becomes president of Iraq; Iranian Revolution; Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty
1980 to 1989 – Iran–Iraq War results in 1–1.25 million casualties, Iraq uses chemical weapons against Iran and rebel Kurds; large scale economic devastation and surge in oil prices affect the global world economy
1981 – Murder of Anwar Sadat
1982 – Israel invades Lebanon
1987 to 1990 – First Intifada
1991 – The Gulf War
1993 – Oslo Accords
1994 – 1994 civil war in Yemen
2000 - Israeli troops leave Lebanon
2001 - Members of al-Qaeda attacked sites in the U.S.
2003 - The 2003 Iraq War
2004 to present – Shia insurgency in Yemen
2005 - Syrian troops leave Lebanon as a result of the Cedar Revolution
2006 - The 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict; Saddam Hussein executed for "crimes against humanity"
2010 - Arab Spring, which culminates in the Syrian Civil War with involvement of many regional powers to either support the Syrian opposition or the ruling Ba'ath party
2014 - ISIS rises in Iraq and Syria;rival groups try to overthrow Syrian president
Timeline of Middle Eastern history Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA