|
Descriptions of the
Eight Charts |
|
Chart 1 |
Chart 2 |
Chart 3 |
Chart 4 |
Chart A1 |
Chart A2 |
Chart A3 |
Chart A4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Charts 1-4 (the basic set)
|
|
I created
these charts for my own benefit.
The project started as a personal Bible-study enhancement. The
charts have proven to be a blessing to my own understanding,
and they are now available for wider distribution. I began
distributing the charts on the Internet in 1995 on a donation
basis, and received enthusiastic response from many who
acquired them under that program. I now
sell the charts
for $10.00 per set, including shipping and handling. A deluxe
set and other products are also available now.
Ordering Information |
|
The charts
focus on the historical era recorded in the Christian Bible,
which includes the time "between the Testaments." They
illustrate, in graphical form, the major events throughout the
world during that era. They depict relevant events in a more
colorful, easily understood, and detailed fashion than any
other charts. They include the names of most of the pharaohs
and rulers of major kingdoms throughout the era. An index
of all names and events is included. |
|
The
information on the charts has been gathered from many sources.
The underlying biblical chronology is based on the work of
Edwin R. Thiele, whose book The Mysterious Numbers of the
Hebrew Kings (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951)
is regarded by biblical chronologists as foundational for
conservative understanding of biblical history. The
second-most-used source of dates has been Jack Finegan's
Archaeological History of the Ancient Middle East (New
York: Dorset Press, 1979 [1986 edition]). |
|
The charts
vary in scale because more information is available for more
recent history, and because data for a each major biblical era
has been kept on a single 8 1/2" x 11" sheet. Charts 1 - 3
overlap slightly. The scale is as follows: Chart 1, 3900 -
1900 BC: 1" = 200 years (Pre-Abraham Era) Chart 2, 2000 - 900
BC: 0.93" = 100 years (Patriarchal Era to Judges) Chart 3, 950
- 450 BC: 1" = 50 years (Kingdom Era) Chart 4, 450 BC - AD
100: 0.93" = 50 years (Postexilic and New Testament Era).
The information on all four of these charts is combined on the
banner chart. You can view reduced images of the
charts by clicking View Charts above. For a free,
printable sample, click Free Sample. |
|
Of course
the charts can't include all significant events in world
history, so they are weighted toward events related to
biblical history. If you compare my charts to charts available
elsewhere, you'll find more information in a more concise
form on these charts than than on any others. The top area of each chart depicts events in
Palestine. The next lines are ranked approximately according
to geographical proximity to Palestine, or impact on
Palestine. |
|
|
|
Chart 1:
Commonly-Accepted Archaeological Dates 3900 - 1900 BC
|
|
This
chart's main purpose is to provide reference points for those
reading about history and archaeology, so that they can get a
fix on where events and eras fit in relation to the stories in
Genesis. The top section of the chart also makes some
correlation between this chart and Chart A1, in reference to
the date of the Genesis flood. There is no intention to
actually pin down the date of the flood, or Creation, but
simply to note some interesting correlations. |
|
The dates
given are simply those that are commonly accepted by
archaeologists. No attempt has been made to correlate them
with any biblical genealogical list prior to the time of
Abraham. The fact that the dates shown for North America
extend back farther than many conservative Bible readers would
accept is not an indication that we accept these dates. The
dates are given only for reference. |
|
|
|
Chart 2:
Time Lines 2000 BC - 900 BC |
|
This chart
takes in the first biblical history dates that can be
definitely correlated to events in the rest of the world. The
birth date of 1950 B. C. for Abraham has been selected on the
basis of the major chronological texts in the Bible. This is
accomplished by working backward from well-established dates
that can be checked against chronological records from other
nations such as Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. |
|
The
reasoning applied follows that of Edwin R. Thiele, and is as
follows: 1 Kings 6:1 states that the fourth year of Solomon's
reign was 480 years after the Exodus. The date of the
beginning of Solomon's reign is established at 971 B. C. by
working through the chronologies of the various kings, which
are shown on Chart 3. Correlation of events during and after
Solomon's reign with Egyptian chronology indicates that this
date is at least a close approximation. This establishes the
fourth year of Solomon's reign in either 967 or 966 B. C.
Four-hundred-eighty years prior to that brings us to
approximately 1445 B. C. for the exodus. Galatians 3:17
(compare Exodus 12:40) implies that the 430- year period that
Israel was in Egypt includes all the years from the time
Abraham first left Haran until the exodus. This establishes
the date of Abraham's departure from Haran at about 1875 B. C.
Since he was 75 years old at that time (Genesis 12:4), this
places his birth date in about 1950 B. C. |
|
The period
of the judges cannot be "nailed down" tightly. Dates listed
for the individual judges are tenuous at best, but the overall
period allowed is amenable with the chronological texts cited
above. Even among conservative scholars and archaeologists
there is considerable disagreement as to whether the period of
the Judges should be set later than the dates given on these
charts. This era is one of the least-understood, and the
charts simply follow Thiele's interpretation, which seems a
reasonable representation of the biblical data. |
|
|
|
Chart 3:
Time Lines 950 BC - 450 BC |
|
This chart
covers the most significant years of the biblical history of
Israel, the years covered by the books of Kings and
Chronicles, plus Esther and part of Ezra. In addition it
covers the years of most of the Old Testament prophets and
many of the great Greek, Indian, and Chinese philosophers--the
time of the formulation of most of the world's great
religions. Much of the material on these charts is looked at
in greater detail in Charts
A2,
A3
and A4. |
|
|
|
Chart 4:
Time Lines 450 BC - AD 100 |
|
This chart
deals with the intertestamental era, a time that many Bible
readers have little familiarity with, plus the New Testament
era, ending about the time of the death of the last apostle.
It includes many events that general readers of history are
familiar with, and shows their correlation to biblical events. |
|
Order
Charts Request Free
Sample |
|
Auxiliary Charts A1 - A4
|
|
Chart A1: Life Spans from Adam
to Abraham According to Various Old Testament Manuscripts
|
|
Many Bible
students assume that the Old Testament posits the date of
Creation at approximately 4000 B. C. Hence the great
excitement that surrounded the turn of the millennium in
2000. Most of these
people are unaware that the various Old Testament source
manuscripts render the early Genesis genealogies differently,
yielding differing ages for the earth, none of which add up to
anything very near 6000 years in the year 2000. |
|
This chart
uses the available data from various renditions of the
biblical genealogical lists that have come down to us, and
illustrates that the age of the earth in the year A. D. 2000
might be as low as 5,955 years, or as high as 7,421 years,
based on biblical chronology. |
|
The only
direct correlation between this chart and the others is that
it is based on the assumption that Abraham was born in about
the year 1950 B. C. The flood dates are also carried over to
Chart 1 for reference, not as an attempt to pin down the exact
date of the flood. |
|
Although I
do not make note of this on the charts, my personal viewpoint
is that some generations may have been skipped in the biblical
genealogies, and that the genealogies prior to Abraham cannot
be used for direct chronological reckoning. Thus I make a
break between the biblical dates on Charts A1 and the more-
easily verified dates on the other charts. Chart A1 uses A. C.
(After Creation) dates while the rest of the charts use B. C.
and A. D. dates. |
|
|
|
Chart A2:
Era of the Kings: Relationship Between Faithfulness and
Prosperity |
|
This chart
is based on reading the history of the kingdoms of Israel and
Judah in the books of Kings and Chronicles. It is a line chart
with one line depicting the level of faithfulness of the
leadership of each nation, as assessed by the biblical
authors, and a second line depicting the national prosperity,
based chiefly on the amount of area controlled. |
|
While it is
not possible to precisely measure the level of faithfulness or
prosperity of any of the kings, nor to know just how
responsive the people of the kingdom were to reforms, the
books of Kings and Chronicles give numerous clues. The
prophets living in the same era often judged faithfulness by
different standards, but this chart uses the historians'
assessments without reference to the prophets' assessments.
Faithfulness and prosperity did not always go hand in hand,
but a strong overall correspondence can be seen. |
|
|
|
Chart A3:
Israel, Judah, and Their Neighbors, 950 BC - 700 BC
|
|
This chart
is designed help readers follow the events recorded in the
books of Kings and Chronicles. It graphically illustrates the
chronological relationship between events, particularly wars
and alliances, recorded there. Nine nations that interacted
with Israel and Judah are each assigned a color, and symbols
are used to depict the various interactions, especially wars
and treaties. This chart also includes a brief explanation of
the division of Israel into two separate kingdoms. |
|
|
|
Chart A4:
Time Line Detail 540 BC - 440 BC |
|
This is the
most finely detailed chart, covering only 100 years at a scale
of one inch to ten years. It covers a little- understood era
that is recorded in the books of Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah,
Esther, Haggai, and Zechariah. Events are pinpointed on the
timeline, and extensive text details the activities of
returned exiles in Palestine, information about the three
decrees that allowed for the re-establishment of Israel, and
information about the kings of Persia during the period. In
keeping with the conservative, Bible-centered basis of these
charts, the biblical dating of the various books is taken at
face value, without reference to higher criticism.
|
