Timeline

Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age): Pliocene Epoch (5,000,000 - 1,800,000 years ago)

c. 7,000,000 ya Possible ancestor to Humans and chimpanzees, Sahelanthropus, in Chad, Africa
c. 4,400,000 A possibly bipedal treeclimber, Ardipithecus ramidus, or "Ardi," in Ethiopia
c. 3,600,000 Footprints indicate bipedal hominid in Tanzania, Africa
c. 3,500,000 Australopithecus afarensis "Lucy" in Ethiopia
c. 2,400,000 Stone tools used in Hadar
c. 1,800,000 Homo erectus in Southeast Asia

Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age): Pleistocene Epoch (1,800,000 - 11,000 years ago)

c. 1,600,000 Fire used in Chesowanja, Kenya and Swartkrans (S. Africa)
c. 1,200,000 Homo antecessor cannibals in Europe
c. 1,000,000 Beginning of the modern Pleistocene Ice Age
c. 1,000,000 Homo erectus in Europe and Asia
c. 400,000 Wooden spear used in Schoningen, Germany
c. 300,000 Blade production line used near Tel Aviv, Israel
c. 300,000 A hut is used in Amata, France
c. 200,000 Mitochondrial Eve in East Africa
c. 150,000 Homo sapien neanderthalensis in Europe and Asia
c. 142,000 Y-Chromosome Adam in Central-Northwest Africa
c. 135,000 Homo sapien sapien in Omo, Ethiopia
c. 100,000 Ochre tool kit used in South Africa
c. 90,000 Homo sapien sapien in Qafzeh, Israel
c. 71,000 Toba eruption in Indonesia causes global cooling
Homo sapien sapien population dwindles to between 1,000 and 100,000
c. 60,000 Symbolic lines etched on eggshells in South Africa
c. 45,000 A flute is played in North Africa
c. 42,000 Deep sea hunters in East Timor collect shark and tuna bones
c. 40,000 Modern humans and Neanderthals in Europe
c. 40,000 Stone tools used in Jordan
c. 37,000 Evolution of Microcephalin, a gene that influences brain size
c. 35,000 Australian aboriginal hunter-gatherer traditions emerge
c. 32,000 Cave art and lunar calendar in Europe
c. 28,000 Last known Neanderthals live in southern Spain
c. 24,000 "Willendorf Venus" carved in Germany
c. 23,000 Mammoth tusk Boomerang in Poland
c. 18,000 Height of the Pleistocene Ice Age
c. 13,600 ya Skeleton in Mexico looks more south Asian than north Asian

Proto-Neolithic Age: Holocene Epoch (12,500 B.C. to 9,500 B.C.)

c. 11,000 B.C.E. Domesticated dogs in the Middle East
Humans in South America
c. 10,500 Pottery in Japan
c. 10,000 Agriculture in the Middle East
Shaman woman buried with animal parts in Israel
c. 9,400 Cermaics used in Mali, Africa
c. 9,000 Jericho first known city
c. 8,500 Wheat and barley in the Middle East
Temple with T-shaped pillars built in Turkey
Clovis culture begins in North America
c. 8,000 Mammoths become extinct
Farming in the Middle East
Sheep herding in the Zagros Mountains, Iraq
End of the Pleistocene Ice Age
Large-scale Agriculture in the Middle East

Neolithic Age ("New Stone Age") (7500-3800 B.C.)

c. 6700 Chatal Hyuk, Turkey settlement
c. 6500 Hussuna culture begins
c. 6200 Copper smelting in Turkey
c. 6000 Cattle domesticated in the Middle East
Halafian and Samarran cultures replace Hussuna
Farming spreads to southern Europe
Bahrain island (Dilmun?) breaks away from the Arabian mainland
c. 5900 Ubaid culture begins
c. 5825 Instant cereal eaten in Bulgaria
c. 5800 Evolution of ASPM, a gene that influences brain size
c. 5500 Samarran cultures ends
Black Sea Flood
Human sacrificed in Sudan
Cave-houses and pottery workshops in China
c. 5400 Halafian culture ends
Farming used in central Europe
c. 5000 First towns, temples, and irrigation in Mesopotamia
c. 4700 Civilization in Europe
c. 4500 Plow, sail, potter wheel used in Mesopotamia

Uruk Period (4300-3100 B.C.)

c. 4300Copper working practiced in Sumer
Ubaid culture ends
4004 Victorian date for Adam and Eve
4000 Pitch balls used for war in Syria

Early Bronze Age (3800-2000 B.C.)

c. 3800 Bronze produced in Elam (Iran)
Seafarring ships used in Egypt
c. 3500 Cities built and wars are waged in Mesopotamia
First hundred settlements in Israel
Unknown Indus Valley script used on pottery and mass-produced wands
Logograms used in Sumer
3474 Victorian date for Adam's death
3400 Pictographs used in Sumer
Priests take a governmental role in Sumer
c. 3300 Writing used in Egypt's tomb of the Scorpion King

Jemdet Nasr Period (3100-2900 B.C.)

c. 3100 Extensive irrigation used in Sumer
c. 3000 Sumerian logograms develop linguistic character
Semitic spell to ward off snakes used in Egyptian pyramid
Military rivalry between cities in Sumer
2948 Victorian date for Noah's birth

Early Dynastic Period (2900-2334 B.C.)

There is about a 70 year discrepancy of opinion for some of the dates.
c. 2900Euphrates river floods Shurrupuk
Defensive walls built around Sumerian cities
Tin bronze used in Sumer
Development of cuneiform script
c. 2800Brain surgery performed in Burnt City of Iran
2780 First pyramid built by Imhotep in Egypt
2750 Secular rulers achieve increasing importance in Sumer
2680 Great Pyramid of Giza built by King Khufu
2650 Dumuzi the Fisherman rules Uruk
2625 King Bilgames' rules Uruk
c. 2600Sumerian logograms generalized into cuneiform
Mass suicide burials take place in Ur's "Royal Cemetery"
2400 Four-wheeled war wagons used
2350 Urukagina of Lagash promulgates law code
Lugal-Zagesi unites Sumer and Akkad
2348 Victorian date for Noah's Flood

Akkadian Period (2334-2000 B.C.)

2334 Sharru-Kin (Sargon) conquers Mesopotamia (Gen. 10:8)
c. 2200Settlement crisis in Israel causes mass immigration (Gen. 12:10)
2193 Gutians invade Mesopotamia and the Akkadian Empire falls
2112 Ur-Nammu founds Ur III
2100 Ur-Nammu builds ziggurats in Ur, Eridu, Uruk, and Nippur
2034 Amorites begin to infiltrate Mesopotamia
2004 Elamites sack Ur (Gen. 12:1)

Middle Bronze Age (2000-1600 B.C.)

1998 Victorian date for Noah's death
1996 Victorian date for Abraham's birth
1921 Victorian date for Abraham leaving Ur (Gen 12:1)
1896 Victorian date for Isaac's birth
1894 Amorite dynasty established in Babylon
1836 Victorian date for Jacob's birth
1821 Victorian date for Abraham's death
1813 Shamshi-Adad ruler of Assyria
c. 1800Semitic alphabet in Egypt
1792 Hammurapi takes throne in Babylon
1787 Hammurapi conquers Uruk and Isin
1757 Hammurapi destroys Mari
1763 Rim-Suen of Larsa is defeated by Hammurabi
1760 Victorian date for famine causing Israelite immigration into Egypt (Gen. 46)
c. 1750Indus Valley civilization collapses
1745 Victorian date for Joseph's birth
c. 1700Horse drawn chariots are used
1680 Hurrians occupy Assyria
1635 Victorian date for Joseph's death
c. 1600Canaanites use alphabetic script
1595 King Mursilis of the Hittites sacks Babylon
1550 Settlement crisis in Israel leads to mass immigration (Gen. 46)
c. 1400Mycaeanian Greeks use Linear B script
c. 1300Hebrew script used in Jerusalem