Timeline of religion

Pre-50th millennium BCE

Homo heidelbergensis deliberately disposed of deceased individuals, usually in funerary caches. The graves, located throughout Eurasia (e.g. the Pontnewydd Cave (Wales), Atapuerca Mountains (Spain), Qafzeh, Es Skhul, Krapina (Croatia), are believed to represent the beginnings of ceremonial rites, although there is some debate about this. Neanderthals placed their deceased in simple graves with little or no concern for grave goods or markers; however, their graves occasionally appeared with limestone blocks in or on them, possibly an archaic form of grave marking. These practices were possibly the result of empathetic feelings towards fellow tribe members; for example, an infant buried in the Dederiyeh Cave after its joints had disarticulated was placed with concern for the correct anatomical arrangement of its body parts.

98,000 BCE

In the area of present-day France and Belgium, Neanderthals began excarnating their dead prior to burial.

50th to 11th millenna BCE

40,000 BCE

The remains of one of the earliest anatomically modern humans to be cremated was buried near Lake Mungo.

38,000 BCE

The Aurignacian Löwenmensch figurine, the oldest known zoomorphic (animal-shaped) sculpture in the world and one of the oldest known sculptures in general, was made. The sculpture has also been interpreted as anthropomorphic, giving human characteristics to an animal, although it may have represented a deity.All convincing evidence for Neanderthal burials ceased. Roughly coinciding with the time period of the Homo sapiens' introduction to Europe and decline of the Neanderthals, individual skulls and/or long bones began appearing, heavily stained with red ochre and separately buried. This practice may be the origin of sacred relics. The oldest discovered "Venus figurines" appeared in graves. Some were deliberately broken or repeatedly stabbed, possibly representing the murders of the men with whom they were buried, or owing to some other unknown social dynamic.

25,000–21,000 BCE

Clear examples of burials are present in Iberia, Wales, and eastern Europe. These, too, incorporate the heavy use of red ochre. Additionally, various objects were included in the graves (e.g. periwinkle shells, weighted clothing, dolls, possible drumsticks, mammoth ivory beads, fox teeth pendants, panoply of ivory artifacts, "baton" antlers, flint blades etc.).

13,000–8,000 BCE

Noticeable burial activity resumed. Prior mortuary activity had either taken a less obvious form or contemporaries retained some of their burial knowledge in the absence of such activity. Dozens of men, women, and children were being buried in the same caves which were used for burials 10,000 years beforehand. All these graves are delineated by the cave walls and large limestone blocks. The burials share a number of characteristics (such as use of ochre, and shell and mammoth ivory jewellery) that go back thousands of years. Some burials were double, comprising an adult male with a juvenile male buried by his side. They were now beginning to take on the form of modern cemeteries. Old burials were commonly re-dug and moved to make way for new ones, with the older bones often being gathered and cached together. Large stones may have acted as grave markers. Pairs of ochred antlers were sometimes mounted on poles within the cave; this is compared to the modern practice of leaving flowers at a grave.

10th Millennium to 51st century BCE

9831 BCE

The Neolithic Revolution began and resulted in a worldwide population explosion. The first cities, states, kingdoms and organized religions began to emerge. The early states were usually theocracies, in which the political power was justified by religious prestige.

9130–7370 BCE

This was the apparent period of use of Göbekli Tepe, one of the oldest human-made sites of worship yet discovered; evidence of similar usage has also been found in another nearby site, Nevalı Çori.

7500–5700 BCE

The settlements of Catalhoyuk developed as a likely spiritual centre of Anatolia. Possibly practising worship in communal shrines, its inhabitants left behind numerous clay figurines and impressions of phallic, feminine and hunting scenes.

5500–4500 BCE

The Proto-Indo-Europeans (PIE) emerged, probably within the Pontic-Caspian steppe (though their exact urheimat is debated). The PIE peoples developed a religion focused on sacrificial ideology, which would influence the religions of the descendant Indo-European cultures throughout Europe, Anatolia and the Indian subcontinent.

50th to 26th century BCE

c.3750 BCE

The Proto-Semitic people emerged from a generally accepted urheimat in the Arabian peninsula. The Proto-Semitic people would migrate throughout the Near East into Mesopotamia, Egypt, Ethiopia and the eastern shore of the Mediterranean.

3300–1300 BCE

The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE) in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, noted for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system and multi-storeyed houses, as well as for creating artifacts which could be linked to pre-vedic religions..

3100 BCE

The initial form of Stonehenge was completed. The circular bank and ditch enclosure, about 110 metres (360 ft) across, may have been completed with a timber circle.

3100–2900 BCE

Newgrange, the 250,000 ton (226,796.2 tonne) passage tomb aligned to the winter solstice in Ireland, was built.

3000 BCE

Sumerian Cuneiform emerged from the proto-literate Uruk period, allowing the codification of beliefs and creation of detailed historical religious records.The second phase of Stonehenge was completed and appeared to function as the first enclosed cremation cemetery in the British Isles.

2635–2610 BCE

The oldest surviving Egyptian Pyramid was commissioned by Pharaoh Djoser.

2600 BCE

Stonehenge began to take on the form of its final phase. The wooden posts were replaced with bluestone. It began taking on an increasingly complex setup (including an altar, a portal, station stones, etc.) and shows consideration of solar alignments.

2560 BCE

This the approximate time accepted as the completion of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest pyramid of the Giza Plateau.

25th to 16th centuries BCE

2494–2345 BCE

The first of the oldest surviving religious texts, the Pyramid Texts, was composed in Ancient Egypt.

2200 BCE

The Minoan Civilization developed in Crete. Citizens worshipped a variety of Goddesses.

2150–2000 BCE

The earliest surviving versions of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh—originally titled He who Saw the Deep (Sha naqba īmuru) or Surpassing All Other Kings (Shūtur eli sharrī)—were written.

2000–1850 BCE

This is the traditionally accepted period in which the Judeo-Christian/Islamic patriarch Abraham lived. Probably born in Ur Kaśdim or Haran, he died in Machpelah, Canaan.

1700–1100 BCE

The oldest of the Hindu Vedas (scriptures), the Rig Veda was composed.

1600 BCE

The ancient development of Stonehenge came to an end.

1500 BCE

The Vedic Age began in India after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation.

15th to 11th centuries BCE

1351 or 1353 BCE

The reign of Akhenaten, sometimes credited with starting the earliest known monotheistic religion, in Ancient Egypt.

1300–1000 BCE

The "standard" Akkadian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh was edited by Sin-liqe-unninni.

1250–600 BCE

The Upanishads (Vedic texts) were composed, containing the earliest emergence of some of the central religious concepts of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

1200 BCE

The Greek Dark Age began.

1200 BCE

The Olmecs built the earliest pyramids and temples in Central America.

10th to 1st centuries BCE

877–777 BCE

The life of Parshva, 23rd Tirthankar of Jainism.

800 BCE

The Greek Dark Age ends.

600–500 BCE

The Earliest Confucian writing, Shu Ching, incorporates ideas of harmony and heaven.

599–527 BCE

The life of Mahavira, 24th and last Tirthankar of Jainism.

600–400 BCE

The probable life of Laozi, a legendary figure often thought to be the author of the Tao Te Ching, considered the founding work of philosophical Taoism.

563 BCE

Gautama Buddha, founder of Buddhism was born.

551 BCE

Confucius, founder of Confucianism, was born.

440 BCE

Zoroastrianism entered recorded history.

399 BCE

Socrates was tried for impiety.

300 BCE

Theravada Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka by the Venerable Mahinda.

250 BCE

The Third Buddhist council was convened.

150 BCE

Fragments of the oldest surviving Hebrew Bible manuscripts date to c.2nd century BCE.

140 BCE

The earliest grammar of Sanskrit literature was composed by Pāṇini.

100 BCE–500 CE

The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, constituting the foundational texts of Yoga, were composed.

1st to 5th Centuries

c.4 BCE–c.30/33 CE

The life of Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure of Christianity. Generally accepted establishment of Catholicism.

31-36

The death of John the Baptist.

50–62

The first Christian Council was convened in Jerusalem.

70

The Siege of Jerusalem, the Destruction of the Temple and the rise of Rabbinic Judaism.

220

Manichaean Gnosticism was formed by the prophet Mani.

250

Some of the oldest parts of the Ginza Rba, a core text of Mandaean Gnosticism, were written.

250–900

Classic Mayan step pyramids were constructed.

300

The oldest known version of the Tao Te Ching was written on bamboo tablets.

313

The Edict of Milan decreed religious toleration in the Roman empire.

325

The first ecumenical council (the Council of Nicaea) was convened to attain a consensus on doctrine through an assembly representing all Christendom. It established the original Nicene Creed and fixed the date of Easter. It also confirmed the primacy of the Sees of Rome, Alexandria and Antioch, and granted the See of Jerusalem a position of honour.

c.350

The oldest record of the complete biblical texts (the Codex Sinaiticus) survives in a Greek translation called the Septuagint, dating to the 4th century CE.

380

Theodosius I declared Nicene Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire.

381

The second ecumenical council (the First Council of Constantinople) reaffirmed and revised the Nicene Creed, repudiating Arianism and Macedonianism.

381–391

Theodosius proscribed paganism within the Roman Empire.

393

A council of early Christian bishops listed and approved a biblical canon for the first time at the Synod of Hippo.

5th to 10th centuries

405

St. Jerome completed the Vulgate, the first Latin translation of the Bible.

410

The Western Roman Empire began to decline, signalling the onset of the Dark Ages.

424

The Assyrian Church of the East formally separated from the See of Antioch and the western Syrian Church.

431

The third ecumenical council (the First Council of Ephesus) was convened as a result of the controversial teachings of Nestorius of Constantinople. It repudiated Nestorianism, proclaimed the Virgin Mary as the Theotokos (the God-bearer or Mother of God). It also repudiated Pelagianism and again reaffirmed the Nicene Creed.

449

The Second Council of Ephesus declared support for Eutyches and attacked his opponents. Originally convened as an ecumenical council, its ecumenical nature was rejected by the Chalcedonians, who denounced the council as latrocinium.

451

The fourth ecumenical council (the Council of Chalcedon) rejected the Eutychian doctrine of monophysitism, adopting instead the Chalcedonian Creed. It reinstated those deposed in 449, deposed Dioscorus of Alexandria and elevated the bishoprics of Constantinople and Jerusalem to the status of patriarchates.

451

The Oriental Orthodox Church rejected the christological view put forth by the Council of Chalcedon and was excommunicated.

480–547

Benedict of Nursia wrote his Rule, laying the foundation of Western Christian monasticism.

553

The fifth ecumenical council (the Second Council of Constantinople) repudiated the Three Chapters as Nestorian and condemned Origen of Alexandria.

570–632

The life of Muhammad ibn 'Abdullāh, the Prophet of Islam.

632–661

The Rashidun Caliphate heralded the Arab conquest of Persia, Egypt and Iraq, bringing Islam to those regions.

650

The verses of the Qur'an were compiled in the form of a book in the era of Uthman, the third Caliph of Islam.

661–750

The Umayyad Caliphate brought the Arab conquest of North Africa, Spain and Central Asia, marking the greatest extent of the Arab conquests and bringing Islam to those regions.

680–681 

The sixth ecumenical council (the Third Council of Constantinople) rejected Monothelitism and Monoenergism.

c.680

The division between Sunni and Shiites Muslims developed.

692

The Quinisext Council (also known as the Council in Trullo), an amendment to the 5th and 6th ecumenical councils, established the Pentarchy.

712

Kojiki, the oldest Shinto text, was written.

716–936

The migration of Zoroastrian (Parsi) communities from Persia to India began, caused by Muslim conquest of their lands and the ensuing persecution.

754

The latrocinium Council of Hieria supported iconoclasm.

787

The seventh ecumenical council (the Second Council of Nicaea) restored the veneration of icons and denounced iconoclasm.

788–820

The life of Hindu philosopher Adi Shankara, who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedānta.

c.850

The oldest extant manuscripts of the vocalized Masoretic text, upon which modern editions are based, date to 9th century CE.

11th to 15th centuries

1054

The Great Schism between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches was formalised.

1095–1099

The First Crusade led to the capture of Jerusalem.

1107–1110

Sigurd I of Norway led the Norwegian Crusade against Muslims in Spain, the Balearic Islands and in Palestine.

1147–1149

The Second Crusade was waged in response to the fall of the County of Edessa.

1189–1192

In the Third Crusade European leaders attempted to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin.

1202–1204

The Fourth Crusade, originally intended to recapture Jerusalem, instead led to the sack of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire.

1206

The Delhi Sultanate was established.

1209–1229

The Albigensian Crusade was conducted to eliminate Catharism in Occitania, Europe.

1217–1221

With the Fifth Crusade, Christian leaders again attempted (but failed) to recapture Jerusalem.

1222−1282

The life of Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law and founder of Nichiren Buddhism.. Based at the Nichiren Shoshu Head Temple Taisekiji (Japan), this branch of Buddhism teaches the importance of chanting the mantra Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō.

1228–1229

The Sixth Crusade won control of large areas of the Holy Land for Christian rulers, more through diplomacy than through fighting.

1229

The Codex Gigas was completed by Herman the Recluse in the Benedictine monastery of Podlažice near Chrudim.

1244

Jerusalem was sacked again, instigating the Seventh Crusade.

1270

The Eighth Crusade was launched by Louis IX of France but largely petered out when Louis died shortly after reaching Tunis.

1271–1272

The Ninth Crusade failed.

1320

Pope John XXII laid the groundwork for future witch-hunts with the formalisation of the persecution of witchcraft.

1378–1417

The Roman Catholic Church split during the Western Schism.

1469–1539

The life of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism.

1484

Pope Innocent VIII marked the beginning of the classical European witch-hunts with his papal bull Summis desiderantes.

1486-1534

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu popularised the chanting of the Hare Krishna and composed the Siksastakam (eight devotional prayers) in Sanskrit. His followers, Gaudiya Vaishnavas, revere him as a spiritual reformer, a Hindu revivalist and an avatar of Krishna.

16th Century

1500

African religious systems were introduced to the Americas, with the commencement of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.In the Spanish Empire, Catholicism was spread and encouraged through such institutions as the missions and the Inquisition.

1517

Martin Luther posted The Ninety-Five Theses on the door of All Saints' Church, Wittenberg, launching the Protestant Reformation.

1534

Henry VIII separated the English Church from Rome and made himself Supreme Head of the Church of England.

1562

The Massacre of Vassy sparked the first of a series of French Wars of Religion.

17th Century

1699

Guru Gobind Singh Ji created the Khalsa in Sikhism.

18th Century

1708

Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the last Sikh guru, died after instituting the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, as the eternal Guru.

1770

Baron d'Holbach published The System of Nature said to be the first positive, unambiguous statement of atheism in the West.

1781

Ghanshyam, later known as Sahajanand Swami/Swaminarayan, was born in Chhapaiya at the house of Dharmadev and Bhaktimata.

1789–1799

In the Dechristianisation of France the Revolutionary Government confiscated Church properties, banned monastic vows and, with the passage of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, removed control of the Church from the Pope and subordinated it as a department of the Government. The Republic also replaced the traditional Gregorian Calendar and abolished Christian holidays.

1791

Freedom of religion, enshrined in the Bill of Rights, was added as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, forming an early and influential secular government.

19th Century

1801

The French Revolutionary Government and Pope Pius VII entered into the Concordat of 1801. While Roman Catholicism regained some powers and became recognized as "the religion of the great majority of the French", it was not afforded the latitude it had enjoyed prior to the Revolution and was not re-established as the official state religion. The Church relinquished all claims to estate seized after 1790, the clergy was state salaried and was obliged to swear allegiance to the State. Religious freedom was restored.

1819–1850

The life of Siyyid 'Alí Muḥammad Shírází (Persian: سيد علی ‌محمد شیرازی) Bab, the founder of Bábism.

1817–1892

The life of Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith.

1830

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded by Joseph Smith.

1835–1908

The life of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the messianic Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam.

1836–1886

The life of Ramakrishna, saint and mystic of Bengal.

1841

Satguru Ram Singh Ji created the Namdhari sect within the Sikh religion.

1875

The Theosophical Society was formed in New York City by Helena Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge and others.

1879

Christian Science was granted its charter in Boston, Massachusetts.

1889

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was established.

1893

Swami Vivekananda's first speech at The Parliament of World Religions, Chicago, brought the ancient philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world.

1899

Aradia (aka The Gospel of the Witches), one of the earliest books describing post witchhunt European religious Witchcraft, was published by Charles Godfrey Leland.

20th Century

1901

The incorporation of the Spiritualists' National Union legally representing Spiritualism in the United Kingdom.

1904

Thelema was founded by Aleister Crowley.

1905

In France the law on the Separation of the Churches and the State was passed, officially establishing state secularism and putting an end to the funding of religious groups by the state.Becoming a place of pilgrimage for neo-druids and other pagans, the Ancient Order of Druids organised the first recorded reconstructionist ceremony in Stonehenge.

1915

The Ottoman empire committed the Armenian Genocide killing 1.5 million.

1917

The October Revolution in Russia led to the annexation of all church properties and subsequent religious suppression.The 1917 Constitution of Mexico made Mexico a secular state.

1920

The Self Realization Fellowship Church of all Religions with its headquarters in Los Angeles, CA, was founded by Paramahansa Yogananda.

1926

Cao Dai founded.

1929

The Cristero War, fought between the secular government and religious Christian rebels in Mexico, ended.

1930

The Rastafari movement began following the coronation of Haile Selassie I as Emperor of Ethiopia.The Nation of Islam was founded in Detroit, Michigan.

1932

A neo-Hindu religious movement, the Brahma Kumaris or "Daughters of Brahma", started. Its origin can be traced to the group "Om Mandali", founded by Lekhraj Kripalani(1884–1969).

1939–1945

Millions of Jews were relocated and killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

1947

British India was partitioned into the Islamic nation of Pakistan and the secular nation of India with a Hindu majority.

1948

The modern state of Israel was established as a homeland for the Jews.

1952

Scientology was created.

1954

Wicca was publicised by Gerald Gardner.

1960s

Various Neopagan and New Age movements gained momentum.

1961

Unitarian Universalism was formed from the merger of Unitarianism and Universalism.

1962

The Church of All Worlds, the first American neo-pagan church, was formed by a group including Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, and Richard Lance Christie.

1962–1965

The Second Vatican Council was convened.

1965

Srila Prabhupada established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and introduced translations of the Bhagavad-Gita and Vedic Scriptures in mass production all over the world.

1966

Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan.

1972–1984

The Stonehenge free festivals started.

1972–2004

Germanic Neopaganism (aka Heathenism, Heathenry, Ásatrú, Odinism, Forn Siðr, Vor Siðr, and Theodism) began to experience a second wave of revival.

1973

Claude Vorilhon established the Raëlian Movement and changed his name to Raël following a purported extraterrestrial encounter in December 1973.

1979

The Iranian Revolution resulted in the establishment of an Islamic Republic in Iran.

1981

The Stregherian revival continued. "The Book of the Holy Strega" and "The Book of Ways" Volume I & II were published.

1984

Operation Blue Star in the holiest site of the Sikhs, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, led to Anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and adjoining regions, following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

1985

The Battle of the Beanfield forced an end to the Stonehenge free festivals.

1989

Following the revolutions of 1989, the overthrow of many Soviet-style states allowed a resurgence in open religious practice in many Eastern European countries.

1990s

Reconstructionist Pagan movements (Celtic, Hellenic, Roman, Slavic, Baltic, Finnish, etc.) proliferate throughout Europe.

1993

The European Council convened in Copenhagen, Denmark, agreed to the Copenhagen Criteria, requiring religious freedom within all members and prospective members of the European Union.

1998

The Strega Arician Tradition was founded.

21st century

2000

The Palestinian Authority created the Second Intifada in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Although largely political in nature, the uprising centred on religion.

2001

21 terrorists from Al-Qaeda killed 2,977 on September 11, 2001 in the name of Islam against the United States of America. Osama Bin Laden claimed responsibility and praised the attacks.

2001

In England and Wales, 390,127 people (almost 0.8%) stated their religion as Jedi on the 2001 Census forms, surpassing the numbers of Sikhs, Jews and Buddhists, and making it the fourth largest reported religion in the country. In the same census, 2.6% of the population of Brighton claimed to be Jedi..

2006

Sectarian rivalries exploded in Iraq between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, with each side targeting the other in terrorist acts, and bombings of mosques and shrines.

2008

Nepal, the world's only Hindu Kingdom, was declared a secular state by its Constituent Assembly after declaring the state a Republic on 28 May 2008.

2009

The Church of Scientology in France was fined €600,000 and several of its leaders were fined and imprisoned for defrauding new recruits of their savings. The state failed to disband the church owing to legal changes occurring over the same time period.

2011

Civil war broke out in Syria over domestic political issues. The country soon split along sectarian lines between Sunni, Alawite and Shiite Muslims. War crimes and acts of genocide were committed by both parties as religious leaders on each side condemned the other as heretics. The Syrian civil war soon became a battleground for regional sectarian unrest, as fighters joined the fight from as far away as North America and Europe, as well as Iran and the Arab states.

2014

The Islamic Caliphate was established by the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in regions of war torn Syria and Iraq, drawing global support from radical Sunni Muslims. This was a modern-day attempt to re-establish Islamic self-rule in accordance with strict adherence to Shariah- Islamic religious law. In the wake of the Syrian civil war, Islamic extremists targeted the indigenous Arab Christian communities. In acts of genocide, numerous ancient Christian and Yazidi communities were evicted and threatened with death by various Muslim Shia fighter groups. After ISIS terrorist forces infiltrated and took over large parts of northern Iraq from Syria, many ancient Christian and Yazidi enclaves were destroyed.