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.