The Phoenicians occupied cities along the eastern Mediterranean Sea beginning around 2500 BC. After a long period under the control of Egypt, the Phoenicians mastered the rules of maritime trading and become the dominant traders in the Mediterranean.

Egyptian priests in temple schools taught not only religion but also the principles of writing, the sciences, mathematics, and architecture.

Later, in 2000 BC, the Chinese first used a medical procedure involving insertion and manipulation of needles at various points in the human body. The origins of this procedure we know as acupuncture are unknown, but the reason behind the practice is well understood (but not easily explained to a Westerner).

1500 B.C. (3500 years ago) Hinduism appeared in India.

According to Jewish tradition, the Hebrew people were enslaved and forced to work on state building projects under the regime of Pharaoh Ramses II of Egypt, around 1270 BC. They say to have escaped Egypt under the leadership of the Hebrew prophet Moses. Soon thereafter, the Hebrews journeyed to Mount Sinai and into Palestine. There are no archeological findings related to the 40-year transit of Moses followers across the desert, but in this period, some of the most lasting books of the Bible were written. They still form a significant, revered portion of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

A look at all the archaeological evidence shows that the best fit of the data is to identify the Exodus with the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt around 1570-50 BC. The most important discovery is the Merneptah Stele, shown to the right of this text, that mentions Israel which forced the revision of a number of liberal theories. Before the discovery of this stele scholars placed the date of the exodus and entry into Canaan much later. They were now forced to admit that Israel was already in Canaan at the time of Merneptah. This puts a date of 1210 BC for the exodus.

The evidence from the Sinai shows little occupation during the Late Bronze Age which is probably due to the expulsion of the Hyksos, and when Ahmose marched to Sharuhen, and besieged it for three years. The Middle Bronze Age destructions seem to fit well with the conquest of Canaan by Joshua.

After the death of King Solomon in 922 BC, Hebrews in the northern part of the Kingdom of Israel formed their own state, which retained the name Israel. The southern kingdom, based in Jerusalem, was called Judah.

Around 500 BC, Confucius taught principles of proper conduct and social relationships that embraced high ethical and moral standards. Confucius’s teachings and wisdom were standard scholarly education for the bureaucrats who administered the country. The Confucian tradition, which encompasses education, wisdom, and ethics, persists in China.

The Classical Phase of Greek Philosophy began around 420 BC. The period from the late 400s through the 300s BC represents the high point in Greek philosophy. The major thinkers of this period—Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle—developed the basic categories of analysis of Western philosophy. Underlying all the systems invented during this time was the belief that the special attribute of human beings is the power to reason.

Hermes, Hermeneutics and The Art Of Healing

The art of healing was originally one of the secret sciences of the priestcraft, and the mystery of its source is obscured by the same veil which hides the genesis of religious belief.  That veil was lifted by Paracelsus much later in history (1493), and subsequently by Franz Mesmer.

Whereas Confucianism urged the individual to conform to the standards of an ideal social system, Daoism (300BC) maintained that the individual should ignore the dictates of society and seek only to conform with the underlying pattern of the universe, the Dao (or Tao, meaning “way”), which can neither be described in words nor conceived in thought. To be in accord with Dao, one has to “do nothing” (wuwei)—that is, nothing strained, artificial, or unnatural. Through spontaneous compliance with the impulses of one's own essential nature and by emptying oneself of all doctrines and knowledge, one achieves unity with the Dao and derives from it a mystical power.

Carthaginian Hispania

In 51 BC, Cleopatra VII became queen of Egypt when her father, Ptolemy XII, dies in 51 BC. Cleopatra is exiled three years later when her brother takes the throne, but she assembles an army to seize control of the government once again. Julius Caesar becomes Cleopatra's supporter and the father of her child.

Caesar became dictator in 47 BC. The situation in Rome seems more stable than it has been for many years. A month later the dictator is assassinated.

This time there are again two main contenders for power, both closely linked with Caesar. One is Marc Anthony, who calms Rome with his funeral oration for Caesar. The other is Octavian, a great-nephew who is named in Caesar's will as his heir.

Roman Empire: 27 BC - AD 14

In 27 BC the senate gives Octavian a title for life, Augustus Caesar. It is the moment at which, historians subsequently agree, he becomes the first Roman emperor. A new chapter begins in the story of Rome.

The Roman Empire had reached its geographical completeness. The campaigns of Pompey led to the annexation of Syria in 64 BC and the capture of Jerusalem in 63 BC. With Octavian's defeat of Cleopatra at Actium in 31 BC, Egypt also became a province. 

Roman Hispania

The origin of the word Hispania is much disputed and the evidence for the various speculations are based merely upon what are at best mere resemblances (likely to be accidental) and the sketchiest of supporting evidence. One theory holds it to be of Punic derivation, from the Phoenician language of colonizing Carthage. It may derive from the Canaanite Hebrew אי-שפניא (i-shfania) meaning "Island of the Hyrax" or "island of the hare" or "island of the rabbit". Another theory, proposed by the etymologist Eric Partridge in his work Origins, is that it is of Iberian derivation and that it is to be found in the pre-Roman name for Seville, Hispalis, which strongly hints at an ancient name for the country of *Hispa, an Iberian or Celtic root whose meaning is now lost. It may alternatively derive from Heliopolis (Greek for "city of the sun"). Occasionally it was called Hesperia, the western land, by Roman writers, or Hesperia ultima. Another theory derives the name from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place.

Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the Mediterranean coast of Spain along with the central plateau and the north coast, and part of northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalucia, was the province of Hispania Baetica. On the Atlantic west lay the province of Lusitania.

Substituting "Spanish" for Hispanicus or "Hispanic", or "Spain" for Hispania, though sometimes done by historians, is anachronistic and can be misleading, since the borders of modern Spain do not coincide with those of the Roman province of Hispania, or of the Visigothic Kingdom which succeeded it. Although the Latin term Hispania was often used during Antiquity and the High Middle Ages as a geographical name for the Iberian Peninsula, its cognates "Spain" and "Spanish" have become increasingly associated with the Kingdom of Spain alone, after its formation in the 15th century under the Catholic Kings.

The first settlements of Jews in Europe are obscure. From 163 B.C. there is evidence of Jews in Rome. In the year 6 C.E. there were Jews at Vienne (France) [1] and Gallia Celtica in the year 39 at Lugdunum (Lyon)

One might speculate that commerce conducted by Jewish emissaries, merchants, craftsmen, or other tradesmen among the Semitic-Tyrean Phoenicians might have brought them to Tarshish (Spain). More substantial evidence of Jews in Spain comes from the Roman era. Although General Pompey arrived in 63 BCE, Roman rule was solidified when Herod the I (The Great) -lived from 74 BC to 4 BC- was appointed as king of Roman Palestine (Judea).

The spread of the Jews into Europe is most commonly associated with the Diaspora, which ensued from the Roman conquest of Judea, into the greater Roman Mediterranean area antedated the destruction of Jerusalemat the hands of the Romans under Titus.

Hispania came under Roman control with the fall of Carthageafter the Second Punic War(218-202 BCE). Exactly how soon after this time Jews made their way onto the scene is a matter of speculation.

Spanish Jews once constituted one of the largest and most prosperous Jewish communities under Muslim and Christian rule in Spain, before the majority was forced to convert, expelled or killed in 1492. Today, sixty-seven thousand Jews live in Spain, but the descendants of Spanish (and Portuguese) Jews, the Sephardic Jews, still make up around a tenth of the global Jewish population.

The first written records of Jewish settlement in England date from the time of the Norman Conquest, mentioning Jews who arrived with William the Conqueror in 1066 although it is believed that there were Jews present in Great Britain since Roman times. The Jewish population lived in England from the Norman Conquest until they were expelled in 1290 by a decree of King Edward I.

German Jews have existed since at least the early 4th century. The community prospered under Charlemagne, but suffered during the Crusades. Following the growth of Nazism’s antisemitic policies, the Jewish community was severely persecuted. Many emigrated, and of the 522,000 Jews living in Germany in January 1933, only 214,000 were left by the eve of World War II. 90% of the remaining community was killed during the war.

Christian Era

 

4? BC - AD 29?  Jesus Christ - Jesus is born in Bethlehem in Judea. He establishes a new ministry among Jews, proclaiming the coming of the kingdom of God. His followers regard him as the promised deliverer of the Jewish people.

 

Matthew 10: 1 And having called his twelve disciples together, he gave them power over unclean spirits… and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities. 2 And the names of the twelve Apostles are these: The first, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, 3 James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, and James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, 4 Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

 

However, many Jewish and Roman authorities of the time consider his teachings a threat to religious and legal authority and to social conventions. He is sentenced to death for blasphemy and executed by crucifixion. Jesus Christ becomes the central figure of Christianity.

 

The three pagan kings that, according to scripture, visited Jesus after his birth were called Magi because of the great science of astrology which was theirs. Those whom the Hebrews called scribes and the Greeks, philosophers, and the Latins, wise men, the Persians called Magi. And the reason that they were called kings is that in those days it was the custom for the philosophers and wise men to be rulers (Vita Christi).

The Mediterranean, center of the known world, had become what it would remain for the next four centuries, the Roman sea. It is in that historic framework that Palestine existed in the year 33 AD, the year that Jesus was crucified.

The Romans were intolerant of acts against their authority, but nowhere is it evident that Jesus’ followers were plotting against the regime. With their leader dead, early Christianity was in disarray,  but a Jew (Saul, or Paul), determined to crush Christianity, was destined to become a great apostle.  Many of the disciples traveled the world spreading Christianity. Peter went to Rome and James went to Iberia. James' remains are said to be in the Cathedral of Santiago (St. James) de Compostela.

46-52 Paul Spreads Christianity - Paul of Tarsus becomes the first Christian theologian. Through his missionary journeys, Paul makes one of the most significant contributions to the spread of Christianity beyond its Jewish roots.

50 - 150 New Testament Written - The 27 books of the New Testament are written, originally in Greek. They contain the core of Christian belief and are divided into the four Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and the Book of Revelation.

197 A Roman expedition defeats the Macedonians. The Roman commander then uses an occasion when representatives of all the Greek communities are gathered together, at the Isthmian games in 196, to make a dramatic announcement: all Greek states are now free, under Roman protection.

180 Galen Writes Methodus Medandi - Greek physician Galen writes Methodus Medandi, which summarizes medical knowledge of ancient times and influences medical theory and practice for centuries.

185-254 Christian Theologian Origen - Egyptian theologian Origen teaches Christian doctrine in Alexandria, Egypt, and later in Caesarea, Palestine, while writing dogmatic treatises and critical works. His writings make him perhaps the most influential biblical scholar and theorist of the early Christian church.

269-272 Zenobia Rules Anatolia - The wife of King Odenathus, the Roman ruler of Palmyra, Zenobia yearns to rule for herself. She is believed to have caused the assassination of her husband so that she can act as regent on behalf of her son. Zenobia expands her realm into Egypt and Anatolia, but is conquered by the Roman emperor Aurelian.

350 Long-Distance Trade in Fine Spices - Demand for the fine spices—cloves, nutmeg, and mace, which grow only on a few southeast Asian islands—increases throughout the eastern part of the Indian Ocean basin. In later centuries, demand for the fine spices will spread throughout Asia and Europe.

410-476 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

600 Islam Emerges as a World Religion - In Arabia the Prophet Muhammad founds Islam, one of the major world religions, in the early 600s. Believers are united in a simple faith of "surrender to the word of God" and in adherence to rituals such as daily prayer. Islam's Holy Book, the Qur'an (Koran) (Qur'an), is a collection of revelations given by God to the Prophet.

691 Dome of the Rock Mosque Built in Jerusalem - The Dome of the Rock mosque is built in Jerusalem on the site where Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to heaven. It is the earliest surviving example of Islamic architecture and a site of Muslim pilgrimage.