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c.1000 BCE- Anointed by the prophet Samuel, David becomes king after the death of Saul and his son in battle.
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c.965 BCE- Under King Solomon, son of David, the Temple of Jerusalem is built as a home for the Ark of the Covenant.
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c.922 BCE- Northern tribes establish a new kingdom of Israel, while southern kingdom retains allegiance to David and Jerusalem and renames itself Judah.
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c.722- After growing increasingly corrupt, Israel is defeated by Assyria and most of the Israelites are exiled among the Gentiles, becoming the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.
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586 BCE- King Nebuchadnezzar captures Jerusalem, destroying the Temple and exiling many Judaens, thenceforth known as Jews.
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536 BCE- King Cyrus defeats the Babylonians and allows Jews to return to Israel. Many choose to stay in Babylonia.
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c.516 BCE- The new temple is constructed by Jews who have retruned to Jerusalem since being fredd by Cyrus.
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515 BCE- Ezra leads more Jews from Babylon to Israel, and then seeks to purify the Jewish population and reintroduce the Torah.
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167 BCE- Judas Maccabee, son of Mattathias, a resistor to Greek rule, leads a force of Jews known as the Macabees in guerilla warfare against the Hellenistic Jews and Greek Empire. They reclaim Jerusalem, cleanse the temple, and reestablish traditional Jewish worship.
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Hasmonean dynsasty rules Judea after Judah's death, and conflict between the Pharisee and the Saducee factions intensifies during this time.
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63 BCE- Pompey the Great intervenes in the civil war of the Hasmonean Kingdom, conquering Jerusalem and incorporating Judea into the Roman Empire.
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66-70 CE- The Zealots, Jews seeking freedom from Roman rule, begin a rebellion against their parent kingdom. The Roman gneral Vespasian is sent to deal with the uprising and defeats the Zealots in 70, destroying Jerusalem and the second temple.
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115-117 CE- Revolts in various Jewish areas spiral out of control, with Jewish rebels slaughtering many Roman citizens and others. Roman legionaries eventually crush the rebellions, led by Lusius Quietus.
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332 BCE- Alexander the Great conquers the Persian Empire, including Israel. Jews further west become the Hellenized Jews, assimilating Greek culture with their own.
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167 BCE- The High Priest Jason attempts to depose his succesor, Menelaus, and as a result King Antiochus IV leads his soldiers to Jerusalem to execute many Jews. He then sides with the Hellenized Jews, outlawing traditional practices, destroying the city, desecrating the temple, and slaughtering more who defied his new laws.