See as well AFTER CHRIST

600,000-10,000 B.C.
Paleolithic and Mesolithic period. Earliest human remains in the area, found south of Lake Tiberias, dated to circa 600,000 B.C.
10,000-5,000 B.C.
Neolithic period. Establishment of settled agricultural communities.
5,000-3,000 B.C.
Chalcolithic period. Copper and stone tools and artifacts. Remains from this period found near Jericho, Beersheba, and the Dead Sea.
3,000-2,000 B.C.
Early Bronze Age. Arrival and settlement of Canaanites (3,000-2,500 B.C.).
ca. 1,250 B.C.
Israelite conquest of Canaan.
965-928 B.C.
King Solomon. Construction of the temple in Jerusalem.
928 B.C.
Division of Israelite state into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
721 B.C.
Assyrian conquest of the kingdom of Israel.
586 B.C.
Judah defeated by Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar. Deportation of its population to Babylon; destruction of the temple.
539 B.C.
Persians conquer Babylonia. Some Jews allowed to return. Construction of a new temple.
333 B.C.
Conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great brings Palestine under Greek rule.
323 B.C.
Death of Alexander leads to alternate rule by Ptolemies of Egypt and Seleucids of Syria.
165 B.C.
Maccabees revolt against the Seleucid ruler Antiochus Epiphanes and go on to establish independent Jewish state.
63 B.C.
Incorporation of Palestine into the Roman Empire.