Chronology of the Near East (15,000 B.C. - A.D. 636)

c. 15000 B.C. End of the Ice Age.

c. 12000 B.C. small urban centers develop in Mallaha (Jordan valley) and Mureybet (Syria), houses in pits.

c. 9500 B.C. Agriculture (sowing and harvesting).

c. 8500 B.C. Walls of Jericho (Jordan valley), houses on the surface of the ground.

c. 8000 B.C. Domestication of animals, pastoral nomadic life.

c. 7500 B.C. Catal Huyuk (Taurus mountains in eastern Anatolia), obsidian trade, no city streets, terraced roofs, wall paintings (bull, woman).

c. 7000 B.C. Hassuna culture (north Iraq), ceramic pottery, geometric motifs.

c. 6500 B.C. Mixed cereal and livestock farming.

c. 6200 B.C. Samarra culture (north Iraq), symbolic motifs on pottery, plannet settlements, egalitarian society, funerary objects.

c. 6000 B.C. Ubaid culture (south Iraq), irrigation, riverside settlements.

c. 5300 B.C. Eridu culture (south Iraq), hierarchical social organization, monumental buildings.

c. 4200 B.C. Susa is founded in western Persia.

c. 3900 B.C. Susa is founded (western Iran).

c. 3700 B.C. Uruk is founded (central Iraq).

c. 3600 B.C. Akkadians emigrate from Syria to southern Mesopotamia.

c. 3500 B.C. Sumerians control city-states between the lower Euphrates and Tigris rivers: Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Umma, Nippur.

c. 3300 B.C. Sumerians of Uruk invent pictographic writing on clay tablets.

c. 3200 B.C. Sumerians invent the wheel.

c. 3100 B.C. Sumerians of Uruk invent cuneiform writing.

c. 3100 B.C. Tables in proto-Elamite script.

3000 B.C. Sumerians employ mathematics on base 60 (360 degrees in a circle, 60 minutes in an hour).

2900 B.C. Uruk has 40,000 people and is divided in an administrative city and a residential city, while agriculture is delegated to the subjects outside the city.

2800 B.C. Mari is founded on the Euphrates.

2700 B.C. The Sumerian king Gilgamesh rules the city of Uruk.

2700 B.C. A first dynasty creates the Elamite kingdom (non-Semitic) in western Persia with capital in Susa.

2550 B.C. Mesanepada establishes the first dynasty of Ur.

2500 B.C. Ur Nanshe establishes the first dynasty of Lagash.

2450 B.C. Ennatum, Ur Nanshe's grandson, expands the kingdom of Lagash in the south.

2400 B.C. The Hurrians settle in Syria and Anatolia.

2371 B.C. Sargon I becomes king of Kish.

2350 B.C. King Lugalzagesi of Umma conquers most Sumerian cities and destroys the kingdom of Lagash.

2350 B.C. Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira, two towns in the Dead Sea valley, are destroyed by fire (Sodom and Gomorrah).

2350 B.C. The Akkadians conquer Susa.

2340 B.C. Sargon I of Kish builds a new capital, Agade (Akkad, later Babylon) and adopts the Semitic language Akkadian instead of Sumerian.

2334 B.C. Sargon defeats Lugalzagesi conquers Uruk, Ur, Lagash and Umma, thus uniting Akkadian and Sumerian peoples, thus becoming the first emperor in history.

2330 B.C. Sargon's daughter Enheduanna is a poetess.

2320 B.C. Sargon invades Lebanon and the Taurus Mountains and creates the Akkadian empire.

2300 B.C. The Amorites (Semitic people) migrate from Arabia to Syria.

2278 B.C. Sargon dies and is succeeded by his son RImush, who sacks Elam.

2254 B.C. Akkadian king Naram Sin further expands the empire, east and north.

2217 B.C. Naram Sin dies and his son Sharkalisharri.

2200 B.C. Royal graves of Alaca Hoyuk (Anatolia, 200 kms northeast of Ankara).

2180 B.C. The Akkadian empire is destroyed by the Guti, who invade from the north, and the Elamites of Susa regain their independence.

2150 B.C. The Sumerians of Lagash revolt against the Guti.

2125 B.C. Gudea becomes king of Lagash and builds the monumental sanctuary of Eninnu.

2116 B.C. The Sumerians of Uruk revolt against the Guti.

2112 B.C. Ur-Nammu of Uruk recreates the Sumerian empire and rebuilds Ur, including the temple of Nanna and the three-terraced ziggurat.

2100 B.C. The Hurrians settle in the mountains between Mesopotamia and Anatolia and found the holy city of Urkish.

2094 B.C. Ur-Nammu dies and is succeeded by Shulgi, who expands the Sumerian empire to Susa and to the north, bordering the Amorites to the west, the Elamites to the east and the Hurrians (Indo-European people) to the north.

2046 B.C. Shulgi dies.

2018 B.C. The Sumerian empire disintegrates.

2017 B.C. The Sumerian governor of Mari, Ishbi Erra, establishes his own dynasty with capital at Isin.

2007 B.C. The Elamites of Susa capture Ur.

2000 B.C. The game of chess ("shatranj") develops in Persia.

1932 B.C. Gungunum becomes king of the Amorites with capital at Larsa, builds the E-Babbar temple and conquers Ur and Elam.

1900 B.C. The cities of Assur and Nineveh form an Assyrian kingdom.

1900 B.C. The Sukkalmah dynasty seizes power in Elam, turning it into a regional power.

1900 B.C. The Epic of Gilgamesh is redacted in the semitic language of Babylon.

1900 B.C. The Assyrians emerge from the holy city of Ashur (north Iraq) to establish colonies in Anatolia with headquarters in Nesa (Kanes, Kultepe).

1894 B.C. Babylon is conquered by an Amorite dynasty.

1834 B.C. An Elamite, Warad Sin, becomes king of Larsa.

1810 B.C. Amorite dynasties seize power in the cities of Ugarit (Lebanon), Aleppo (Syria), Ashur and Mari.

1809 B.C. Shamshi-Adad conquers the cities of Mari, Ashur and Ekallutum, and thus creates the Assyrian empire.

1800 B.C. The Hittites invent irons and build the first weapons made of iron.

1800 B.C. The Babylonians employ a duodecimal system (a system based on 12 and 6) to measure time.

1794 B.C. Larsa (king Rim-Sin) conquers Isin.

1792 B.C. Hammurabi, sixth king of the Amorite dynasty, is crowned king of Babylon.

1787 B.C. Hammurabi conquers the city-states of Uruk and Isin.

1775 B.C. Work begins on the Etemenanki, the ziggurath to god Marduk, in Babylon.

1764 B.C. Hammurabi defeats the Elamites.

1763 B.C. Hammurabi conquers the city-state of Larsa, and thus Ur, Uruk, Isin.

1761 B.C. Hammurabi conquers the city-state of Mari.

1755 B.C. Hammurabi creates the first code of laws using the Baylonian language.

1750 B.C. Hammurabi dies and the Babylonian empire dissolves into city-states.

1725 B.C. Kutir-Nahhunte I revolts against the Babylonians and Elam regains its independence.

1725 B.C. Pithana, king of Kussara, conquers Nesa.

1700 B.C. Babylonians invent the first windmills for the purpose of irrigation.

1700 B.C. Anitta of Kussara, Pithana's son, ruling from Kussara, conquers eastern Anatolia.

1700 B.C. The "Enuma Elish" (creation story of the Babylonians) originates.

1680 B.C. Labarna of Kussara reaches the Mediterranean Sea.

1650 B.C. Hattusili, son or nephew of Labarna, founds the Hittite kingdom, moves the capital from Kussara to Hattusa (150 kms east of Ankara) and adopts the language of Nesa.

1640 B.C. Hattusili fights the kingdom of Iamhad (with capital in Aleppo).

1600 B.C. Hattusili's son Mursili becomes king of the Hittites.

1595 B.C. The Hittites under king Mursili I conquer the kingdom of Iamhad (Aleppo) and raid Babylon, thus ending the Amorite dynasty.

1590 B.C. The Hittite king, Mursili, is assassinated by Hantili, who becomes king.

1590 B.C. The Hittites install the Kassite dynasty (originating from the Central Asian steppes) in Babylon.

1530 B.C. The Kassites build a new capital, Durkurigalzu.

1525 B.C. Telipinu becomes king of the Hittites.

1500 B.C. A caravan trader, Abraham, leads nomads from Sumer to Canaan and then on to Egypt (Hebrews).

1480 B.C. King Parattarna invades the lands of the Hurrians and creates the (Indo-European) Mitanni empire in northern Mesopotamia/Syria with capital in Wassuganni.

1475 B.C. The Mitanni king Parattarna conquers the kingdom of Aleppo and installs Idrimi as a vassal.

1458 B.C. The Egyptian pharaoh Tuthmosis III defeats the Mitannis and conquers Syria.

1400 B.C. The Mitanni king Saustatar conquers Assyria and reconquers Syria.

1400 B.C. The Mitanni king Artatama and the Egyptian pharaoh Tuthmosis IV sign a peace treaty.

1365 B.C. King Asuruballit restores independence to Assyria.

1350 B.C. The city of Ugarit (Syria) employs an alphabet of 32 letters.

1344 B.C. Suppiluliuma becomes king of the Hittites.

1340 B.C. King Untash-Napirisha of Elam founds a new capital at Chogha Zanbil.

1339 B.C. King Suppiluliuma of the Hittites conquers the Mitanni empire and establishes two viceregal kingdoms in Aleppo and Carchemish.

1307 B.C. Adadnirari I becomes king of Assyria and defeats and destroys the Mitanni empire.

1275 B.C. Khumbannumena expands the Elamite empire.

1274 B.C. The Egyptian king Rameses II is defeated by the Hittite king Muwatallis II at the city of Kadesh.

1259 B.C. peace treaty between Egyptians (Ramesses II) and Hittites (king Hattusili III).

1250 B.C. The Hebrews return from Egypt and establish a kingdom in Palestine.

1250 B.C. The Assyrian army employs iron swords, lances, metal armors.

1250 B.C. The Assyrians divide the circle into 360 degrees.

1250 B.C. The Elamites build the ziggurat at Choga Zambil, the largest of all times.

1237 B.C. Hittite king Hattusili III dies and is succeeded by his son Tudhaliya IV, who builds a palace on the acropolis of the capital, Hattusa.

1225 B.C. The Assyrians under king Tukulti-Ninurta I capture Babylon.

1208 B.C. The Assyrian king, Tukulti-Ninurta I, is murdered by his son.

1200 B.C. The Philistines settle along the shores of Palestine.

1200 B.C. The Arameans migrate from Arabia to Syria (Harrans).

1200 B.C. The Phoenicians move from the Arabian peninsula to the Mediterranean coast.

1185 B.C. The Hittite empire collapses under the invasion of the "Sea Peoples".

1168 B.C. The Elamites sack Babylon, move Hammurabi's stelae to their capital Susa and terminate the Kassite dynasty.

1115 B.C. Tiglat-Pileser becomes king of Assyria.

1105 B.C. Nebuchadrezzar I of Babylon defeats Elam.

1100 B.C. Assyrian king Tiglat-Pileser conquers Syria from the Arameans and Armenia.

1095 B.C. Aramaeans migrate into Assyria.

1077 B.C. The Assyrian king Tiglat-Pileser dies while the Aramaeans increasingly penetrate Assyrian cities.

1050 B.C. Arameans found Damascus and build the temple to the god Hadad.

1020 B.C. The Hebrew king David conquers the Philistines and unifies Israel.

1000 B.C. The Phoenicians control trade in the Mediterranean Sea from their bases in Byblos and Sidon.

965 B.C. Solomon becomes king of Israel, with capital in Jerusalem.

950 B.C. The first temple is built in Jerusalem.

950 B.C. The Phoenicians build the fortified city of Tyre.

934 B.C. Assyrian king Asurdan II fights the Arameans.

922 B.C. King Solomon dies and the Hebrew kingdom splits in two, Israel to the north (capital Samaria) and Judea to the south (Jerusalem).

911 B.C. Assyrian king Asurdan II dies and is succeeded by Adadnirari II, who restores Assyrian power.

891 B.C. Assyrian king Adadnirari II and is succeeded by Tukulti-Ninurta II.

883 B.C. Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta II dies and is succeeded by Ashurnazirpal II.

879 B.C. King Ashurnazirpal II of Assyria moves the capital from Nineveh to Nimrud (Kalhu), for which a citadel and a seven-km wall are built.

860 B.C. King Ben-Hadad II creates a coalition of Aramean cities against the Assyrians.

859 B.C. King Ashurnazirpal II of Assyria dies and is succeeded by his son Shalmaneser II.

855 B.C. Assyrian king Shalmaneser II expands the empire through a campaign against the Arameans.

841 B.C. Assyrian king Shalmaneser II invades the Syrian-Pheonician coast of the Arameans.

836 B.C. Shalmaneser II, King of Assyria, defeats the Medes, who rule in Persia.

835 B.C. Assyria annexes Media (northeastern Iran).

824 B.C. King Shalmeneser III of Assyria dies after conquering Palestine, Turkey, and southern Mesopotamia.

823 B.C. Shalmeneser III's son, Shamshi-Adad V of Assyria, conquers Babylon and extends the empire from the Gulf to the Mediterranean.

814 B.C. The Phoenicians found Carthage in Africa.

750 B.C. The Scythians, a pastoral nomadic group, settle between the Don and the Carpathians.

745 B.C. Aramaeans' language, Aramaic, becomes a lingua franca of the Middle East.

745 B.C. Tiglath-Pileser III becomes king of Assyria and extends the borders.

743 B.C. The Assyrians of Tiglathpileser III defeat the Hittites of Urartu.

732 B.C. The Assyrians of Tiglathpileser III conquer the Arameans (and therefore Syria).

729 B.C. Tiglath-Pileser III appoints himself king of Babylon, thus reigning over both Assyria and Babylon.

727 B.C. Tiglath-Pileser III dies and is succeeded by Shalmaneser V, who conquers Israel.

722 B.C. Dayaukku/DeŠoces founds the Median dynasty in Persia.

721 B.C. Sargon II seizes power in Assyria and forcefully relocates Jews (Jewish diaspora).

720 B.C. King Sargon II of Assyria builds the new capital of Khorsabad (Dur Sharrukin).

717 B.C. The Hittites of Urartu are destroyed by Sargon II of Assyria and the Phrygians submit to Arrysian rule.

710 B.C. Daiukku founds the new capital of the Medes/Persians at Hakmataneh/Ecbatana (Hamadan).

709 B.C. Sargon II of Assyria conquers Babylon.

705 B.C. Sargon II of Assyria dies and is succeeded by his son Sennacherib, who moves the capital back to Nineveh and builds a royal palace.

700 B.C. Achaemenes founds the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia in Anshan, subject to Media.

689 B.C. Assyrian king Sennacherib raids Babylon to quell an insurrection.

681 B.C. Assyrian king Sennacherib dies and is succeeded by his son Esarhaddon, who rebuilds Babylon.

675 B.C. Khshathrita/ Phraortes unites the Median tribes and expels the Assyrians from northeastern Iran.

674 B.C. The Scythian king Partatua marries an Assyrian princess.

671 B.C. King Esarhaddon of Assyria captures the Egyptian capital of Memphis.

669 B.C. King Esarhaddon of Assyria dies and is succeeded by his son Ashurbanipal.

664 B.C. Assyrian king Ashurbanipal conquers Thebes.

653 B.C. The Scythians invade the Median empire (northeast Persia).

653 B.C. King Ashurbanipal of Assyria destroys the Elamite kingdom and its capital Susa.

649 B.C. King Ashurbanipal of Assyria raids Baylon to quell another insurrection.

646 B.C. King Ashurbanipal of Assyria raids the Elamite capital Susa in Persia.

630 B.C. King Ashurbanipal of Assyria assembles in the city of Nineveh a library of tablets from all the literature of Mesopotamia.

626 B.C. Ashurbanipal dies and the Assyrian empire declines.

626 B.C. The Medes/Persians defeat the Scythians.

625 B.C. Median king Cyaxares moves the capital to Ecbatana (Hamadan).

625 B.C. Chaldean chief Nabopolassar seized power in Babylon.

615 B.C. The Medes capture Assyrian cities.

616 B.C. Chaldean king Nabopolassar captures Babylon.

612 B.C. The Babylonians, led by king Nabopolassar, and their allies the Medes, led by Cyaxares, destroy the Assyrian capital of Nineveh (as well as Nimrud) and split the Assyrian empire (Mesopotamia to Babylon and Elam to Media) while Egypt recovers control of Palestine and Syria.

605 B.C. Nabopolassar's son Nebuchadnezzar II leads the Babylonians to conquer Carchemish and defeat the Egyptian army.

604 B.C. Nabopolassar dies and his son Nebuchadnezzar II succeeds him as king of Babylon.

600 B.C. Zarathustra forms a new religion in Persia.

600 B.C. Phoenicians circumnavigate Africa.

600 B.C. Spread by merchants, Aramaic is the lingua franca of Syria and Palestine.

587 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar II conquers Judea (southern kingdom of the Hebrews), destroys Jerusalem and deports thousands of Jews (second Jewish diaspora).

580 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar II builds eight monumental gates, the Esagila complex, the seven-storey ziggurat, and the Hanging Gardens.

562 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar II dies.

560 B.C. Lydian king Croesus conquers Ionia.

559 B.C. Cyrus Achaemenian unifies Elam, and moves the capital of the Achaemenids to Susa.

550 B.C. Cyrus Achaemenian defeats Astyages, emperor of the Medes, conquers its capital Ecbatana (Hamadan), and unifies Media and Elam in the Persian empire.

546 B.C. Cyrus overthrows Croesus of Lydia.

539 B.C. Cyrus of Persia sacks Babylon and frees the Jews.

530 B.C. Cambyses becomes king of Persia.

525 B.C. Cambyses of Persia conquers Egypt at the battle of Pelusium.

522 B.C. Cambyses dies and civil War erupts in Persia.

521 B.C. Darius becomes king of Persia and divides Persia into satrapies.

521 B.C. Darius of Persia expands the Persian empire beyond the Indus River.

518 B.C. Darius founds the new capital of Persia, Persepolis.

514 B.C. The Persian kind Darius invades Scythia.

500 B.C. Darius makes Aramaic the official language of the Persian empire.

490 B.C. Darius of Persia attacks mainland Greece.

485 B.C. Darius dies and Xerxes becomes king of Persia.

480 B.C. The Greeks expels the Persians from Europe.

465 B.C. Artaxerxes I Longimanus becomes king of Persia.

425 B.C. Phoenician explorer Himilco travels from Carthage to Brittany.

424 B.C. Xerxes II becomes king of Persia.

404 B.C. Artaxerxes II Mnemon becomes king of Persia.

360 B.C. King Atheas unites all Scythian tribes and expands their territory to the border with Macedonia.

358 B.C. Artaxerxes III Ochus becomes king of Persia.

339 B.C. Atheas of Scythia is killed in the war against Philip of Macedonia.

336 B.C. Darius Codomannus becomes king of Persia.

336 B.C. Alexander becomes king of Macedonia.

334 B.C. Alexander defeats the Persian army at the Dardanelles.

333 B.C. Alexander invades the Persian empire from Syria to Palestine.

332 B.C. Alexander the Great conquers Egypt.

331 B.C. Alexander the Great conquers Persia and destroys Persepolis, ending the Achaemenid dynasty.

329 B.C. Artaxerxes V dies, last of the Achaemenians.

324 B.C. Alexander invades the Punjab in India.

323 B.C. Alexander the Great dies at Babylon and his empire is carved into three empires: Cassander rules over Greece and Macedonia, Lysimachus rules over Thracia and Asia Minor, Ptolemy rules over Egypt, Judea, Syria, Mesopotamia and India.

312 B.C. Ptolemy's general in Syria, Seleucus Nicator, declares himself satrap of Babylon.

307 B.C. Ptolemy founds the library of Alexandria.

306 B.C. Lysimachus general Antigonus Monophthalmos declares himself king of Phrygia.

305 B.C. Seleucus Nicator establishes a kingdom ranging from Syria in the west to India in the east and founds the Seleucid dynasty with capital in Seleucia (Iraq).

303 B.C. Seleucus grants Punjab and Afghanistan to Chandragupta Maurya.

302 B.C. Mithridates I, a subject of Lysimachus, declares the kingdom of Pontus.

301 B.C. Antigonus is defeated by Lysimachus.

283 B.C. Philataerus, a subject of Lysimachus, seizes the fortress of Pergamum (Pergamon).

282 B.C. Seleucus defeats and kills Lysimachus and thereby conquers Asia Minor.

281 B.C. Seleucus is murdered by the king of Thracia and is succeeded by his son Antiochus who transfers the capital to Antiochia.

265 B.C. Antiochus I founds Antiochia in old Margiana (Mary, Merv) to guard from invasions of the Parni.

263 B.C. Eumenes, son of Philataerus, proclaims the kingdom of Pergamum and begins the Attalid dynasty.

261 B.C. Antiochus II (Seleucid) fights the Egyptans.

250 B.C. Diodotos, a Macedonian ruler of the satrapy of Bactria (Afghanistan), declares its independence from the Seleucids.

250 B.C. The Parni invade the satrapy of Parthia (northern Iran) and found the Parthian empire with capital in Ctesiphon (near Seleucia) and Arsaces as ruler (founder of the Arsacid dynasty).

248 B.C. Tiridates leads the Parthians to independence from the Seleucids.

246 B.C. Defeated by Ptolemy III Euergetes, the Seleucid empire loses eastern lands to the Parthians and to Pergamum.

241 B.C. Attalus, son of Emenes, defeats the Galatians.

239 B.C. Bactria declares independence from the Seleucids.

225 B.C. The Celts in the west and the Sarmatians in the east destroy the Scythian kingdom.

211 B.C. Tiridates dies and Artabanus I becomes ruler of the Parthians.

198 B.C. The Seleucids under Antiochus III conquer Palestine and Phoenicia from the Ptolemaics.

192 B.C. The Seleucids under Antiochus III are defeated by the Romans in Thracia.

190 B.C. Bactrian king Euthydemus defeats Seleucid king Antiochus III at Magnesia.

188 B.C. Pergamum conquers the Seleucid lands of Lydia, Phrygia, Lycaonia, Pisidia.

185 B.C. Parthians under Priapatius expand into Seleucid eastern Iran.

175 B.C. Mithraism (an offshoot of Zoroastrianism that worships Ahura Mazda as the sole and creator god) is born in Bactria.

170 B.C. Batrian king Demetrios I expands Bactria to northwestern India.

165 B.C. The Maccabeans revolt in Palestine and gain independence from the Seleucids.

159 B.C. The new king Eumenes II of Pergamum inaugurates a library that would compete with Alexandria's.

155 B.C. Bactrian king Menander invades northwestern India.

145 B.C. The Kushan (Yuezhi), nomadic tribes expelled from China by the Hsiungnu (Huns), overthrow the kingdom of Bactria (last Greek kingdom in Cental Asia) and push the Scythians south to Iran and India.

141 B.C. The Parthians of Mithradates I conquer Media and Elam from the Seleucids, while Edessa becomes de-facto independent.

135 B.C. The Kushan establish their capital in Kabul.

133 B.C. Attalus III of Pergamum wills his kingdom to Rome.

127 B.C. The Parthians under Phraates II are defeated by the Scythians.

126 B.C. The Parthians under Artabanus II conquer Babylonia from the Seleucids, who now control only Syria.

124 B.C. The Parthians under Artabanus II are defeated again by the Scythians and Mithridates II succeeds Artabanus II as king of Parthia.

106 B.C. Mithirdates II signs a treaty with Chinese emperor Wu-Ti to open the "silk road".

96 B.C. Tigranes becomes king of Armenia.

92 B.C. Mithridates II signs a peace treaty with Rome.

69 B.C. Rome invades Tigranes' Armenian kingdom and edstroys its capital, Tigranocerta.

80 B.C. The Scythians (Saka) under Bhumaka conquer northwestern India from Bactria.

71 B.C. Mithridates VI of Pontus is conquered by Rome.

64 B.C. Syria and the the Phoenician cities are conquered by Roman general Pompey and the Seleucid dynasty ends.

63 B.C. Pompeus captures Jerusalem and annexes Palestine to Rome.

53 B.C. The Parthians led by Orodes II defeat the Romans at Carrhae (Syria).

20 B.C. A treaty between Rome and the Parthians fixes the boundary between the two empires along the Euphrates river (Iraq).

50 A.D. Christianity emerges from Palestine.

78 A.D. Kanishka, king of the Kushan, enlarges the kingdom from Bactria into Uzbekistan, Kashmir, Punjab, moves the capital to Peshawar and promotes Buddhism.

116: Roman emperor Trajan defeats the Parthian king Vologezes III and conquers Mesopotamia, including the Parthian capital Ctesiphon.

224: Ardashir, descendant of the priest Sassan, seizes the throne of Persia/Parthia, ends the Arsacid dynasty, and becomes the first Sassanid king with capital in Istakhr (near Persepolis) and Zoroastrianism as the official religion.

225: Ardashir I Sassanid defeats Artabanus V, last Parthian ruler, and moves the capital to Ctesiphon.

233: Ardashir I Sassanid conquers Kushan.

244: Shapur I becomes king of the Sassanids and attacks Rome.

250: Shahpur I establishes the library of Jondi Shahpur, one of the largest in the world.

256: The Persians/Sassanids conquer Dura Europus in Mesopotamia.

241: Mani, a thinker from Ecbatana, begins to preach in Seleucia-Ctesiphon.

276: Mani is crucified by the Sassanids for tring to incorporate Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism into one religion ("manicheism").

298: The Sassanids sign a peace treaty with Rome.

363: The Sassanid king Shapur II defeats the Roman emperor Julian and recapture Nisibis and Armenia.

379: Shapur II died after conquering Arabia and reaching the border with China.

380: Buddhist monks carve two giant Buddha statues in the rock at Bamiya, Bactria (Afghanistan).

451: Zoroastran Persia (Sassanids) defeats Christian Armenia.

460: Persian king Firuz persecutes Jews, who emigrate to Arabia.

484: Zoroastran Persia and Christian Armenia sign a treaty that allows the Armenians to keep their religion.

528: The Sassanid intellectual Mazdak advocates the abolition of private property, the division of wealth, nonviolence and vegetarianism.

531: Khusro I ascends to the Sassanid throne and is influenced by Mazdakism.

560: The Sassanid king Khusro I builds the Palace of the Great Arch in Ctsiphon.

579: The Sassanid king Khusro I dies and is succeeded by Khusro II.

590: The Sassanid king Khusro II launches a new attack against Byzantium.

600: The Zoroastrian high priest Tanar establishes the canon of the Avesta.

614: The Sassanids capture Jerusalem from Byzantium.

619: The Sassanids capture Egypt from Byzantium.

623: Byzantine troops destroy the fire temples of Persia (in revenge for the Persian desecration of Jerusalem).

626: The Sassanids besiege Byzantium.

627: The Sassanid king Khusrau II is defeated by Roman emperor Heraclius at Niniveh.

628: Khusrau II is assassinated by his troops while the Romans retake Syria from the Sassanids.

632: The Sassanid queen Purandokht signs a peace treaty with Byzantium.

636: The Arabs capture Ctesiphon, the last Sassanid is assassinated in Merv and the Sassanid empire ends.

(adapted from A time-line of the Ancient Middle-East)