One scannable timeline for the whole region. Use the search box to jump to any entry.
Dates before the common era are marked BCE ; everything else is CE . Many
ancient dates are approximate.
When Event
~3500 BCE First cities and writing in Sumer (Mesopotamia) ~2000 BCE Babylon and Assyria rise; Phoenician city-states on the coast~1000 BCE Israelite and Judean kingdoms; Phoenicians spread the alphabet; kingdom of Saba in Yemen ~550 BCE Persian (Achaemenid) empire dominates the region332 BCE Alexander the Great conquers the region, spreading Greek culture~63 BCE Rome takes the eastern Mediterranean~30 CE Life of Jesus in Roman Judea; Christianity begins 70 CE Romans destroy the Second Temple in Jerusalem; Jewish diaspora deepens 330 CE Constantinople founded; the Christian Byzantine era
When Event
610 Muhammad begins preaching Islam in Mecca 622 The Hijra to Medina; year one of the Islamic calendar 632 Muhammad dies; the Rashidun caliphs begin rapid conquests 638 Muslims take Jerusalem 661 to 750 Umayyad caliphate, capital Damascus 750 to 1258 Abbasid caliphate, capital Baghdad ; a golden age of science1071 Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantium at Manzikert , opening Anatolia1095 to 1291 The Crusades ; Saladin retakes Jerusalem in 1187 1258 Mongols sack Baghdad~1250 to 1517 Mamluks rule from Egypt
When Event
~1300 Ottoman state founded in Anatolia1453 Mehmed II captures Constantinople ; end of Byzantium1516 to 1517 Ottomans take Syria, the Levant, Egypt, and the Arabian holy cities 1520 to 1566 Height of empire under Suleiman the Magnificent 1744 The Saud-Wahhabi alliance in Arabia 1839 Britain takes Aden (south Yemen); Ottoman Tanzimat reforms begin 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war and Damascus massacre of Christians1908 Young Turk revolution
When Event
1914 to 1918 World War I ; Ottomans on the losing side1915 Armenian Genocide begins (term disputed by Turkey)1916 Secret Sykes-Picot agreement; the Arab Revolt 1917 Balfour Declaration on a Jewish national home in Palestine1920 French Mandate (Syria , Lebanon ); British Mandate (Palestine , Transjordan ) 1922 to 1924 Ottoman Empire and then the caliphate abolished 1923 Republic of Turkey founded by Atatürk
When Event
1932 Saudi Arabia unified; oil found there in 19381943 to 1946 Lebanon , Syria , Jordan become independent1948 Israel founded; the war and the Palestinian Nakba 1956 Suez Crisis 1958 to 1961 Syria and Egypt unite as the United Arab Republic 1967 Six-Day War ; Israel takes West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, Sinai, Golan1970 Black September in Jordan; Hafez al-Assad takes power in Syria1973 October / Yom Kippur War
When Event
1975 to 1990 Lebanese Civil War 1979 Iran's revolution ; Egypt-Israel peace; Grand Mosque seizure in Mecca1982 Israel invades Lebanon; Sabra and Shatila massacre; Hama massacre in Syria 1987 to 1993 First Intifada 1990 to 1991 Gulf War (Iraq expelled from Kuwait); North and South Yemen unite (1990) 1993 to 1995 Oslo Accords ; Israel-Jordan peace (1994); Rabin assassinated (1995)2000 to 2005 Second Intifada
When Event
2003 US-led invasion of Iraq; Erdogan era begins in Turkey 2005 Hariri assassinated; Cedar Revolution ; Syria leaves Lebanon; Israel exits Gaza2006 Israel-Hezbollah war ; Hamas wins Palestinian elections2011 Arab Spring ; Syrian civil war and Yemen crisis begin2014 ISIS seizes parts of Syria and Iraq; Houthis take Sana'a2015 Saudi-led intervention in Yemen2019 ISIS "caliphate" destroyed; Lebanon's economic collapse begins 2020 Abraham Accords ; Beirut port explosion 2023 7 October Hamas attack and the Gaza war ; Saudi-Iran détente; Turkey earthquake2024 Assad government falls in Syria; Israel-Hezbollah war
Next, a glossary of the terms scattered through these pages. 👉