The Giant Timeline
See when things happened, and which came first. Drag to scroll, wheel or pinch to zoom, tap an event for details and a source.
See which came first. The oldest flood story and the oldest "Golden Rule" were written down before Israel is ever mentioned in history. The Bible's books were written over many centuries, and the gospels came decades after Jesus.
1. Deep time (the science side)
| When | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 13.8 billion years ago | Universe begins expanding from a hot, dense state | Big Bang page |
| 4.54 billion years ago | Earth forms (±<1%) | USGS |
| ≈3.5 billion years ago | Earliest known signs of life: microbial remains in Western Australia | UNSW |
| ≈300,000 years ago | Earliest Homo sapiens fossils (Jebel Irhoud, Morocco) | Max Planck |
| ≈11,000 years ago | Göbekli Tepe built by hunter-gatherers; earliest known monumental religious site | Smithsonian |
2. The last 11,000 years: religions, writings, and stories
The view starts at the invention of writing. Use "Whole span" to see back to Göbekli Tepe, and zoom into the crowded years around 1 CE.
Details and sources appear here.
Look at the order. The oldest flood story, the Golden Rule, and the Rigveda all come before the earliest mention of Israel (1208 BCE). The Genesis creation accounts are put in writing in the 10th to 6th centuries BCE, while Babylonian creation tablets were in royal libraries by 668 BCE. The New Testament writings begin around 50 CE. Religions build on each other, and the dates let you see how.
Sources
- Smithsonian Magazine, Göbekli Tepe: The World's First Temple?
- Wikipedia, Golden Rule: Egyptian Eloquent Peasant c. 2040–1650 BCE; Thales, Buddha, Confucius, Mahabharata.
- Britannica, Rigveda: composed c. 1500 BCE; written down c. 300 BCE.
- Biblical Archaeology Society, The Merneptah Stela: Israel Enters History: c. 1208 BCE, earliest known reference to Israel.
- BioLogos, Genesis 1 and a Babylonian Creation Story: Ashurbanipal's library, 668–627 BCE.
- Wikipedia, Genesis creation narrative: Priestly source largely 6th century BCE; Yahwist 10th–9th century BCE (documentary hypothesis); Persian-authorization theory.
- Bart Ehrman, When Was the New Testament Written?: Paul 49–63 CE; Mark c. 70; Matthew and Luke c. 80–90; John c. 95.
- John Day / TheTorah.com and World History Encyclopedia on Atrahasis and the Eridu Genesis (see Borrowed stories).
- Marked for a second source: earliest writing (c. 3400–3200 BCE), the Old Babylonian date of Atrahasis (c. 1700 BCE), the Babylonian exile and Persian period dates, the Buddha's and Confucius's life dates, and the start of Islam (c. 610 CE) are standard reference dates not yet individually linked.