So we have Sumer, Akkad, Babylon and the Indus Valley. These are the larger civilizations both rising and falling in the next 3000 years--along with possibly two floods happening. Don't worry I'll explain that theory when we get there.
5000 B.C.
[pre-Genesis 1:2 Flood? / pre-Creation/Restoration Week / pre-Genesis 7 Flood]
The Halaf/Ubaid period begins in Mesopotamia (5000-4000 B.C.) (Mesopotamia, The Invention of the City Chronology xxi); The term "Ubaid" derives from Tell Ubaid site near Ur excavated by Sir Leonard Woolley in the 1920s and refers to the Chalcolithic cultural levels of southern Mesopotamia; Ubaid potsherds from this year are in the city of Eridu (Mesopotamia, The Invention of the City Pg. 5)
The principle deities worshiped in Ancient Uruk/Erech are Anu (An), the sky god, and Inanna, "Queen of the Sky;" Later, a temple dedicated to Anu--the Anu Ziggurat or "White Temple"--will be built in the middle of the city between 3500-2900 B.C.
Salt mining in modern-day Hallstatt, Austria is being done, however, a number of millennia will pass before more extensive salt mining begins (salzwelten.at)
4000 B.C.
[pre-Genesis 1:2 Flood? / pre-Creation/Restoration Week / pre-Genesis 7 Flood]
Trade routes begin to develop in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq, Kuwait, eastern Iran and southern Turkey), as well as between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley (modern day Afghanistan, Pakistan and a part of eastern India) (History of the World, Map by Map, pg. 32)
3957 B.C.
[Genesis 1:2 Flood? / pre-Creation/Restoration Week / pre-Genesis 7 Flood]
The Biblical Old Earth Theory proposes that at this point, the earth has become engulfed in a worldwide flood (not Noah's flood, this would be a pre-Adamite flood); This may be seen in Genesis 1:2
"And the earth was (or better translated: became) formless and empty. And darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of Elohim hovered over the waters."
The words "deep" and "waters" could be referring to the deep waters of a worldwide flood that destroyed the civilizations before us.
Thought: If this theory is correct, as well as the founding dates of earlier civilizations (such as 5000 B.C. for the founding of the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk), then these cities would now be underwater in this pre-Adamite flood. Adam's Calendar in South Africa with all its millions and millions of stone circles would also have been underwater (but not the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt, those will come later, around 2575 B.C.)
This pre-Adamite/pre-Noah flood, would give a deeper meaning to God's promise to Noah over 1,200 years later in Genesis 9:9-11,
"I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you--the birds the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you--every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."
If there have been previous destructions/floods, these words hold even more weight, for that would mean our present time is the Last Age of this Earth; and when it ends, it will be the final chapter of our planet
3958 B.C.
[post-Genesis 1:2 Flood / pre-Genesis 7 Flood (Noah's Flood)]
Creation Week according to the Biblical Young Earth Theory / OR Restoration Week according to the Biblical Old Earth Theory
(And also if my Biblical calculations are right haha!)
- FIRST DAY: Genesis 1:3 "Elohim said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light 'day' and the darkness he called 'night.' And there was evening and there was morning, the first day." (No sun or moon yet--those are going to be light holders, not the light themselves)
- SECOND DAY: Genesis 1:4-8 "And God said, 'Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.' So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse 'sky.' And there was evening, and there was morning, the second day."
- THIRD DAY: "And God said, 'Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear.' (or more literally "be seen" not "let it come into existence") And it was so. God called the dry ground 'lands' and the gathered waters he called 'seas.' And God saw that it was good. Then God said, 'Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit." (Genesis 1:9-13)
- FOURTH DAY:
- FIFTH DAY:
- SIXTH DAY:
- SEVENTH DAY:
- Sometime during the year?: The fall
3858 B.C.
[pre-Noah's Flood]
Adam and Eve have a son and they name him Cain (approximate year; Adam and Eve would both be 100 years old at this time, which is the average age people were having kids before Noah's flood) (Genesis 4:1)
3857 B.C.
[pre-Noah's Flood]
Adam and Eve have their second child, another son, and they name him Abel (approximate year, I'm assuming Cain and Abel were close in age?) (Genesis 4:2)
3829 B.C.
[pre-Noah's Flood]
Cain (29 years old) kills Abel (28 years old) (approximate year, Genesis does not record how old they were, or how old Adam was when they were born) (Genesis 4:8)
3828 B.C.
[pre-Noah's Flood]
Adam turns 130 years old (Genesis 5:3)
Seth, Adam and Eve's third child is born (Genesis 5:3)
3800 B.C.
[pre-Noah's Flood]
The city of Eridu, the most ancient city in Mesopotamia, is founded (approximate year, archaeologists seem to agree that it was in the 4th millennium B.C., and we have potsherds that date from that time--see below) (Encyclopedia Britannica - Eridu)
Observation: If the creation/restoration of the earth is correctly dated to 3958 B.C., and if people are living for several hundred years (Adam lived to be 930), this would mean that people are dying around 100 years of age or less, possibly from disease or warfare?
3723 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Seth (Adam's son) turns 105 years old, and has a son named Enosh (Adam is 235 years when this grandson is born--I'm sure there were many others before this) (Genesis 5:6)
3633 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Enosh (Adam's grandson) turns 90 years old, and has a son named Kenan (Genesis 5:9-10)
3563 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Kenan, Enosh's son, (Adam's great grandson) turns 70 years old, and has a son named Mahalalel (Genesis 5:12)
3500 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Uruk/Erech, the ancient Sumerian city is founded (approx.); It becomes one of the greatest cities of Sumer (now in modern day Iraq); Uruk is surrounded by walls of brickwork about 6 miles long in circumference, which according to legend were built by the mythical hero Gilgamesh (The site will be excavated from 1928 onward by the German Oriental Society and the German Archeological Institute) (Encyclopedia Britannica - Erech)
3498 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Mahalalel, Kenan's son, turns 65 and has a son named Jared (Genesis 5:15)
3336 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Jared, Mahalalel's son, turns 162 and has a son named Enoch (Genesis 5:18),
3271 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Enoch, Jared's son, turns 65 and has a son named Methuselah (Genesis 5:21)
3102 B.C.
Perspective: Most people born in this year will still be alive in the year of Noah's flood (2302 B.C.), as most people were living to be between 800-900 years old
3084 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Methuselah, Enoch's son, turns 187 years old, and has a son named Lamech (Genesis 5:25)
3028 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Adam dies, aged 930 years old (Genesis 5:5), this means Enoch would have known his 5x great grandfather for 308 years
3000 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
The world’s first written language—cuneiform—appears in Sumer (modern day southern Iraq) and remains in use for over 3,000 years; It is used to record many languages including Akkadian, Elamite, Hittite, (Luwian), Hurrian, Old Persian and Ugaritic, Southern Mesopotamia’s first dynasty begins (Early Dynastic I) (The Middle East, The Cradle of Civilization pg. 72)According to the Sumerian King List, eight kings reigned before the Great Flood (Encyclopedia Britannica) (The record is dated to have been written in 1800 B.C., see that year for more info)
____________________________
Wait...What...For Real?
Stonehenge is built (English World Heritage website), it is thought that Stonehenge was built as an astronomical observatory (National Geographic Encyclopedia of Space pg. 113)
____________________________
The Chalcolithic or Copper Age ends (approximately, different places transitioned from the Copper Age to the Bronze age at different times) (Mesopotamia, The Invention of the City Chronology xxi)
2971 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Enoch, Jared's son, has walked with God for 300 years since his first son's birth; After this, Genesis 5:24 says "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." This happens 57 years after Adam dies, he is aged 365, not even half the age of his fore-bearers when they die--Seth, Adam's son, hasn't even died yet; Noah's flood is coming in 669 years (approx.)Thought: The Book of Enoch, though I keep reading it was written in the first century A.D., it was already being quoted by the writers of the New Testament (30s to 60s A.D.), they wouldn't have been quoting it if it had appeared suddenly out of nowhere, and attributed to someone that had lived over two millennia ago; The Book of Enoch goes into greater detail in regards to the book of Genesis, it's an interesting read
2920 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Traditional date of the beginning of Egypt’s (Mizraim in Hebrew) First Dynasty (Unwrapping the Pharaohs pg. 8)
2916 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Seth, Adam's son, dies, aged 912 (Genesis 5:8)
2902 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Lamech, Methuselah's son, turns 182, and has a son named Noah (Genesis 28-29)
2818 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Enosh, Seth's son (Adam's grandson) dies, aged 905 (Genesis 5:11)
2770 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Traditional date of the ending of Egypt’s (Mizraim in Hebrew) First Dynasty (Unwrapping the Pharaohs Pg. 8)
2750 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Southern Mesopotamia’s first dynasty ends, second begins (Early Dynastic II)
2723 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Kenan, Enosh's son (Adam's great grandson) dies, aged 910 (Genesis 5:14)
2668 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Mahalalel, Kenan's son, dies aged 895 (Genesis 5:17)
2620 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
The Early Third Dynasty is reigning in Mesopotamia – Unknown who is ruling in ancient Egypt, the records are scarce and confusing
2600 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Southern Mesopotamia’s second dynasty ends, third begins (Early Dynastic III)
2575 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Traditional beginning date for Egypt’s (Mizraim in Hebrew) Fourth Dynasty, which was responsible for the greatest pyramids ever built by Seneferu
2536 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Jared, Mahalalel's son, dies, aged 962 (Genesis 5:20)
2490 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Traditional end date on the construction of the pyramids in Giza
2402 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Noah turns 500 years old and has three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth (Genesis 5:32)
2350 B.C
[pre-Noah's flood]
Akkadian Empire begins in Mesopotamia (?):
“As the land of Sumer suffered through its warring-states period, a powerful kingdom was forming in the city of Akkad to their north. The conquests of Sargon of Akkad were to mark a watershed in the history of the region.”
The Akkadian Empire collapsed after a period of only 150 years (The Middle East, Cradle of Civilization pg. 86 & 90)
Uruinimgina, a Sumerian prince, inscribes his social and economic reforms in cuneiform on clay cones in Lagash, they are now in the Louvre (The Middle East, Cradle of Civilization Pg. 73)
The carnelian trade begins; "A precious stone known as carnelian was valued second only to lapis lazuli both in Mesopotamian and in Harappan society." The stone is sourced in the Indus Valley (Pakistan, India) and then exported to Mesopotamia (Iraq, Kuwait); It is mostly crafted into beads and amulets (History of the World, Map by Map Pg. 33)
2307 B.C.
[pre-Noah's flood]
Lamech, Noah's father and Methuselah's son, dies, aged 777 (Genesis 5:31)
2302 B.C.
[NOAH'S FLOOD]
Methuselah, Enoch's son and Noah's grandfather, dies, aged 969 (Genesis 5:27)Thought: Did Methuselah, Noah's grandfather, die in the flood?? Noah's dad died 5 years ago, but what are the odds that Methuselah dies in the same year as the flood, but isn't mentioned as being on the ark?? That's crazy. I wonder if Noah begged him to get on the ship, but he would not? Maybe he didn't believe the flood would come?
Noah turns 600 years old, and the worldwide flood destroys the ancient civilizations (Unwrapping the Pharaohs pg. 205) (Genesis 7:6)
2300 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
“Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxhad, and after he became the father of Arphaxhad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters” (Gen. 11:10-11) (From Shem comes Abraham)
2296 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
The Akkadian Empire begins (?) when Sargon (2296-2240 B.C.?) seeks control over the Mesopotamian region; As a young man, Sargon serves the king of Kish, a Sumerian ruler, but he later rebels and overthrows him; He then renames the city-state "Akkad" and builds it into a military power before conquering the cities of southern Mesopotamia and lands to the northwest as far as Byblos (History of the World, Map by Map pg. 33) (According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Sargon reigned 2334-2279 B.C., so the exact dates of his reign seem to be up for debate)
2265 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
Arphaxhad turns 35 years old, and he has his first son, Shelah (Genesis 11:12)
2250 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
The Victory Stele of Naram-Sin which shows the Akkadian king triumphant over the mountain people, a fragment of this stele is now in the Louvre (The Middle East pg. 87)
2235 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
Shelah turns 30 years old, and has his first son, Eber (Genesis 11:14)
2201 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
Eber turns 34 years old, and has his first son, Peleg (Genesis 11:16)
2200 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
Early Bronze Age ends and Middle Bronze Age begins
The Akkadian Empire collapses (The Middle East pg. 90)
The cylinder seal of Shar-kali-sharri, the fifth king of Akkad, which shows buffaloes and water gods is made, it is now in the Louvre (The Middle East pg. 87)
2171 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
Peleg turns 30 years old, and has his first son, Reu (Genesis 11:18)
2166 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
RULERS & ROYALTY: UR II Empire
Perspective: The Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, with its incredible use of phi and pi geometry and astronomical qualities, has been in existence for 434 (using conventional dating)
2150 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
Ur III empire begins
2139 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
Rue turns 32 years old, and he has a son named Serug
2109 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
First Dynasty in Egypt (the name “Egypt” is Greek—it is Mestraim/Mizraim in Hebrew); The earliest Pharaoh was probably Menes, whom some scholars identify with Narmer who left a beautiful stone cosmetic palette (called the Narmer Victory Palette, now housed in the Egyptian Museum Cairo), it was found in 1898 (British Museum says 1894 for some reason) at Hierakonpolis, this palette seems to have commemorated the unification or establishment of Egypt; The Historian Eusebius Pamphilus, Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, who lived during the 300’s A.D. identifies Menes as Mestraim (or Egypt in the Greek translation), the grandson of Noah (Unwrapping the Pharaohs 11), the national Egyptian name for Egypt is Misr, derived from Misraim (Unwrapping the Pharaohs pg. 7)
2080 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
Nahor turns 29 years old, and has his first son, Terah (Genesis 11:24)
2030 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
Approximate year for the beginning of the Middle Kingdom dynasties in Egypt
2010 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
Terah turns 70 years old, and has three sons Abram (Abraham), Nahor and Haran (Genesis 11:26) (I wonder if they were triplets??); Currently, they are living in Ur, in Sumer (modern day southern Iraq and Kuwait) (Genesis 11:28 & 31)
2000 B.C.
[post-Noah's flood]
Old Babylon empire begins
Terracotta relief of Ishtar/Inanna (the Sumerian goddess of fertility and warfare) is made (TME 83)
The fall of the Tower of Babel takes place sometime before Abraham settles in the land of Canaan (modern day Israel); I'm only placing this event here because, as you'll see in the next bullet point, it seems that sometime around 2000 B.C., new languages (particular Berber, which hints towards the word "babel") began to spread out from the Nile valley;
"So Elohim scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it is called Babel--because Elohim confused the language of the whole world. From there, Elohim scattered them over the face of the earth."
(Genesis 11:1-8)