The Early Bronze Age (3300-2200 BC)

Settlement and burial remains from this period were found on the hill of the City of David.

The Middle Bronze Age (2200-1550 BC)

Rushalimum (Jerusalem) is mentioned in the Egyptian Execration Texts.

Settlement and fortification remains were found on the eastern slope of the hill of the City of David.

The Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 BC)

Urushalim (Jerusalem) and its governor, Abdi-Hepa, are mentioned in the el-Amarna Letters.

The First Temple Period (The Iron Age, 1000-586 BC)

c. 1000 BCE — King David conquers Jebus (Jerusalem) and turns it into the capital of the United Monarchy.

c. 960 BCE — Solomon builds the First Temple and the new palace.

c. 928 BCE — The United Monarchy is divided into two kingdoms, with Jerusalem the capital of the Kingdom of Judah.

c. 705-702 BCE — Hezekiah prepares the city for the siege of Sennacherib, king of Assyria.

701 BCE — Sennacherib begins and then unexpectedly lifts the siege of Jerusalem.

586 BCE — The siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. The city is conquered and destroyed and the Temple burned.

The Persian Period (586-332 BC)

538 BCE — The fall of Babylon and the declaration by Cyrus, king of Persia, allowing the return of the exiles to Jerusalem.

516 BCE — The completion of the construction of the Second Temple by the governor Zerubabel.

445 BCE — The completion of the construction of the city's fortified walls during the governorship of Nehemiah.

The Hellenistic Period (332-167 BC)

332 BCE — The Land of Israel is conquered by Alexander the Great.

200 BCE — Antiochus III conquers the city from the Ptolemies.

167 BCE — Antiochus IV decides to Hellenize the kingdom. The Temple is desecrated and its treasures confiscated. As a result, a revolt breaks out under the leadership of the Hasmonean family.

The Hasmonean Period (167-37 BC)

164 BCE — Judas Maccabeus conquers Jerusalem and purifies the Temple.

141 BCE — The conquest of the Seleucid Akra by Simeon the Hasmonean.

63 BCE — The Roman army led by Pompey conquers Jerusalem, following a dispute between the Hasmonean successors.

The Herodian Period (37 BC-70 CE)

37-4 BCE — Jerusalem and Judea come under the monarchy of Herod the Great. Herod undertakes massive building projects in the city, first and foremost of which is the rebuilding of the Temple.

4 BCE-41 CE — Judea is ruled by the Roman procurators.

33 CE — The crucifixion of Jesus during the rule of the procurator Pontius Pilate.

41-44 CE — The reign of Agrippas I, fortifier of the city.

66-70 CE — The Great Revolt breaks out as a result of the procurators' heavy-handed policies. The Temple falls on the 9th of Av in the year 70 CE, following an extended siege of the city by Roman soldiers led by Titus.

The Roman Period (70-324 CE)

130 CE — The Emperor Hadrian establishes a Roman city named Aelia Capitolina on the ruins of Jerusalem.

132-135 CE — The Bar Kokhba Revolt, after which Jews are forbidden to enter the city.

285 CE — The Tenth Roman Legion leaves the city.

The Byzantine Period (324-638 CE)

324 CE — The Emperor Constantine the Great establishes Christianity as the official religion of the Empire.

335 CE — The dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre after Helena, mother of the Emperor identified the location.

361-363 CE — The Emperor Julian the Apostate allows the Jews to rebuild the Temple.

440 CE — The Empress Eudocia, wife of the Emperor Theodosius II (408-450 CE), fortifies the city.

525-565 CE — The Emperor Justinian builds the Nea Church.

614 CE — The city is conquered by the Persians; Christian residents are massacred and churches destroyed.

629 CE — Jerusalem returns to Byzantine rule.

The Pre-Ummayyad Period (638-661 CE)

638 CE — The Caliph Umar ibn al-Khatt‘b conquers the city.

The Umayyad Period (661-750 CE)

691 CE — The Caliph Abd al-Malik builds the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount.

705 715 — The Caliph al-Walid builds the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Caliphs' palace complex to the south of the Temple Mount enclosure.

748/9 CE — A powerful earthquake strikes the country; some of the Umayyad structures in the city are destroyed.

The Abbasid Period (750-969 CE)

The Fatimid Period (969-1099 CE)

1012 CE — The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is destroyed by the ruler el-Hakim B mr Alla.

1033 CE — An earthquake destroys the city walls, which are subsequently rebuilt along a new course.

1073 CE — The city is conquered by the Seljuk Turks.

The Crusader Period (1099-1187 CE)

1099 CE — The Crusaders conquer the city and establish it as the capital of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.

The Ayyubid Period (1187-1250 CE)

1187 CE — The city is conquered and fortified by Saladin the Ayyubid.

1202-1212 CE — The Ayyubid chaliph el-Malik el-Mu azzam Isa adopts a scorched-earth policy and destroys Jerusalem's city walls.

The Mameluke Period (125- 1516 CE)

1267 CE — The Mamelukes conquer Jerusalem. The city again has a majority Muslim population.

The Ottoman Period (1516-1917 CE)

1516 CE — The city is conquered by the Ottoman Turks under the leadership of Sultan Selim I.

1536-1541 CE — The city walls are constructed during the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. ♦