745-612 BC: Period of Assyrian dominance

745: Tiglath-pileser III becomes king of Assyria

732-722: Assyria conquers Palestine and Syria

722: Assyria conquers the kingdom of Israel

710: Sargon II conquers Babylon

671: Assyria conquers Egypt

663: Ashurbanipal conquers Egypt

625-585 BC: Period of Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) dominance

625: Beginnings of Chaldean kingdom in Babylon

612: Assyrian capital of Nineveh is destroyed by the Chaldeans or Neo-Babylonians

587: Jerusalem is taken by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon

550-330 BC: Chronology of Persian Empire

559-530: Reign of Cyrus the Great

559: Cyrus the Great overthrows Astyages of Media

546: Persians conquer Lydia

538: Persians conquer Babylonia

530-522: Reign of Cambyses

525: Persians conquer Egypt

522-521: Civil War

521-485: Reign of Darius (Reorganizes the government into satrapies; builds an extensive system of roads)

521-519: The Empire is extended beyond the Indus River

490: Attempts to conquer the Greek mainland (490: Battle of Marathon)

485-465: Reign of Xerxes

480: Makes a second attempt to conquer the mainland Greeks

(480: Battle of Salamis)

465-338: A Period of Imperial Decline

465-424: Reign of Artaxerxes I Longimanus

424-404: Reign of Xerxes II

404-358: Reign of Artaxerxes II Mnemon

358-338: Reign of Artaxerxes III Ochus

336-330: Reign of Darius Codomannus

330: Alexander the Great conquers the Persian Empire

300-50 BC: The Hellenistic Period

336-323: The Conquests of Alexander the Great Hellenistic Culture (Alexandria is the center of “Hellenistic” culture), Sculpture, and Philosophy

323: Ptolemy becomes ruler of Egypt (Ptolemaic Kingdom)

306: Seleucus founds the Seleucid Kingdom

279: Celtic invasion of Balkans and Asian Minor

276: Antigonus founds the Antigonid (Macedonia) Kingdom