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The religious timeline presents a comparative chronology of the major events in human religious history. The timeline is split into two eras. The period of prehistory and the period of recorded history. The prehistoric era covers the bulk of human history, yet no written records exist. As a consequence, much of the information from prehistory is gleaned from indirect sources. The period of recorded history begins with the invention of writing some 5000 years ago.
[edit] Prehistoric Religion
[edit] 300th to 51st millennium BCE
- 300,000
- The earliest known superstantial evidence of possible religious practices. At Atapuerca in Spain, the bones of 28 individuals are found in a single pit. The concentration of human remains is thought to represent intentional or ritual burial.
- 130,000
- Earliest undisputed evidence for intentional burial. Neanderthals are burying their dead at sites such as Krapina in Croatia.[1]
- 90,000
- Human skeletal remains, buried at Qafzeh, Israel, are stained with red ochre and accompanied with a variety of grave goods.
- 80,000-60,000
- Possible intentional burials with grave goods begin to appear in Iraq at Shanidar and in Israel.[1] Cut marks on buried Neanderthal bones from various (e.g. Combe-Grenal and Abri Moula, France) may imply ritual defleshing.
- 70,000
- A giant stone in the African Kalahari desert resembling a python, accompanied by a hidden chamber and surrounded by broken spear heads, is possibly the site of ritual offerings and snake worship.
[edit] 50th to 11th millennium BCE
- 42,000
- The body of the a man known as Mungo Man at Lake Mungo in Australia is sprinkled with red ochre, possibly rituals transmited from Africa.
- 40,000
- Elaborate burials, sculptures, and cave art.
- 30,000
- Earliest known burial of a shaman.[2]
- 11,500
- Göbekli Tepe (in modern Turkey) earliest known ritual complex, predates agriculture
- 11,000
- The Neolithic Revolution following the adoption of agriculture results in population explosions around the world. The first cities, states and kingdoms begin to emerge. The first organized religions emerge as a response to the social, economic and political changes brought about by agriculture. The early states that emerged are theocracies in which the political power is justified by religion.
[edit] 100th to 34th century BCE
- 8000
- Four to five pine posts are erected near the eventual site of Stonehenge.
- 7500-5700
- The settlements of Catalhoyuk develop as a likely spiritual center of Anatolia. Possibly practicing worship in communal shines, its inhabitants leave behind numerous clay figurines and impressions of phallic, feminine, and hunting scenes.
- 3300-2900
- Newgrange, the 250,000 ton (226,796.2 tonne) passage tomb aligned to the winter solstice in Ireland, is built.
[edit] History of Religion
[edit] 33rd to 12th century BCE
- 3100
- The initial form of Stonehenge is completed. The circular bank and ditch enclosure, about 110 metres (360 ft) across, may be complete with a timber circle.
- 3000
- Sumerian Cuneiform emerges from the proto-literate Uruk period, allowing the codification of beliefs and creation of detailed historical religious records.
- 3000 : The second faze of Stonehenge is completed and appears to function as the first enclosed cremation cemetery in the British Isles.
- 2600
- Stonehenge begins to take on the form of its final faze. The wooden posts are replaced with that of bluestone. It begins taking on an increasingly complex setup --including altar, portal, station stones, etc-- and shows consideration of solar alignments.
- 2494-2345
- The first of the oldest surviving religious texts, the Pyramid Texts, are composed in Ancient Egypt.
- 2200
- Minoan Civilization in Crete develops. Citizens worship a variety of Goddesses.
- 2100-2000
- Earliest Vedas are composed.
- 1850
- Abraham is thought to have lived. Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh is written.
- 1600
- The ancient development of Stonehenge comes to an end.
[edit] 13th to 9th century BCE
- 1367
- Reign of Akhenaton in Ancient Egypt. He is credited with introducing Monotheism to religion
- 1250
- The time of the Hebrew exodus from Egypt. The first books of the Torah are composed.
- 1200
- The Greek Dark Age begins.
- 1200
- Olmecs build earliest pyramids and temples in Central America.[3]
- 950
- Pentateuch is written.
- 877
- Parsva, the penultimate (23rd) Tirthankara of Jainism is born.
[edit] 8th to 3rd century BCE
- 800
- Early Brahmanas are composed.
- 800
- The Greek Dark Age ends.
- 628
- Zoroaster, founder of Zoroastrianism is thought to have been born
- 600-500
- Earliest Confucian writing, Shu Ching incorporates ideas of harmony and heaven.
- 599
- Mahavira, the final (24th) Tirthankara of Jainism is born.
- 563
- Gautama Buddha, founder of Buddhism is born.
- 551
- Confucius, founder of Confucianism, is born.[3]
- 440
- Zoroastrianism enters recorded history.
- 300
- Theravada Buddhism is introduced to Sri Lanka by the Venerable Mahinda.
- 250
- The Third Buddhist council was convened.
[edit] 2nd to 1st century BCE
- 63
- Pompey captures Jerusalem and establishes Roman annexes Judea as a Roman client kingdom.
- 7-1
- The early time-frame for the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure of Christianity.
[edit] 1st to 4th century CE
- 1-2
- The later time-frame for the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure of Christianity.
- 26-36
- Time of the Crucifixion of Jesus.
- 50-62
- Council of Jerusalem, the first Christian Ecumenical Council, is held.
- 70
- Siege of Jerusalem and the Destruction of the Temple.
- 220
- Manichaean Gnosticism is formed by profit Mani
- 250
- Some of the oldest parts of the Ginza Rba, a core text of Mandaean Gnosticism, are writen.
- 250-900
- Classic Mayan civilization, Stepped pyramids are constructed.
- 300
- The oldest known version of the Tao Te Ching is written on bamboo tablets.
- 325
- The first Ecumenical Council, the Council of Nicaea, is convened to attain a consensus on doctrine through an assembly representing all of Christendom. It establishes the original Nicene Creed, fixes Easter date, recognizes primacy of the sees of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch and grants the See of Jerusalem a position of honor.
- 380
- Theodosius the 1st declares Nicene Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire.
- 381
- The second Ecumenical Council, the Council of Constantinople, reaffirms/revises the Nicene Creed repudiating Arianism and Macedonianism.
- 381-391
- Theodosius proscripted paganism within the Roman Empire.
- 393
- The Synod of Hippo, the first time a council of bishops of early Christianity listed and approved a Biblical canon.
[edit] 5th to 9th century CE
- 405
- St. Jerome completes the Vulgate, the first latin translation of the bible.
- 410
- The Western Roman Empire begins to decline, signaling the onset of the middle ages.
- 424
- The Assyrian Church of the East formally separates from the See of Antioch and the western Syrian Church
- 431
- The third Ecumenical Council, the Council of Ephesus, is held as a result of the controversial teachings of Nestorius, of Constantinople. It repudiates Nestorianism, proclaims the Virgin Mary as the Theotokos ("Birth-giver to God", "God-bearer", "Mother of God"), repudiates Pelagianism, and again reaffirmes the Nicene Creed.
- 449
- The Second Council of Ephesus declares support of Eutyches and attacked his opponents. Originally convened as an Ecumenical council, it's ecumenicality is rejected and is denounced as a latrocinium by the Chalcedonian.
- 451
- The fourth Ecumenical Council, the Council of Chalcedon rejects the Eutychian doctrine of monophysitism, adopts the Chalcedonian Creed, reinstated those deposed in 449 and deposed Dioscorus of Alexandria, and elevates of the bishoprics of Constantinople and Jerusalem to the status of patriarchates.
- 451
- The Oriental Orthodox Church rejects the christological view put forth by the Council of Chalcedon and is excommunicated.
- 553
- The fifth Ecumenical Council, Second Council of Constantinople, repudiates the Three Chapters as Nestorian and condemns Origen of Alexandria.
- 570-632
- Life of the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam.
- 650
- Qur'an is completed.
- 680-681
- The sixth Ecumenical Council, the Third Council of Constantinople, rejects Monothelitism and Monoenergism.
- 692
- The Quinisext Council (aka "Council in Trullo"), an amendment to the 5th and 6th Ecumenical Councils, establishes the Pentarchy.
- 712
- Kojiki the oldest surviving book and Shinto texts are written[3]
- 754
- The latrocinium Council of Hieria supports iconoclasm.
- 787
- The seventh Ecumenical Council, Second Council of Nicaea, restores the veneration of icons and denounces iconoclasm.
[edit] 10th to 13th century CE
- 1054
- The Great Schism between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches formally takes place.
- 1095-1099
- The first Crusade takes place.
- 1107-1110
- Sigurd I of Norway wages the Norwegian Crusade on Muslims in Spain, the Baleares, and in Palestine.
- 1147–1149
- The Second Crusade is waged in response to the fall of the County of Edessa.
- 1189–1192
- The Third Crusade, European leaders attempt to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin.
- 1199–1204
- The Fourth Crusade takes place.
- 1204
- Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade sack the Christian Eastern Orthodox city of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire.
- 1209-1229
- The Albigensian Crusade takes place in Occitania, Europe.
- 1217-1221
- The Church attempts the Fifth Crusade.
- 1228-1229
- The Sixth Crusade occurs.
- 1244
- Jerusalem is sacked again, instigating the Seventh Crusade.
- 1270
- The Eighth Crusade is organized.
- 1271–1272
- The Ninth Crusade fails.
[edit] 14th to 18th century CE
- 1378-1417
- The Roman Catholic Church is split during the Western Schism.
- 1500
- African religious systems are introduced to the Americas, with the commencement of the trans-Atlantic forced migration.
- 1517
- Martin Luther, of the Protestant Reformation, posts the 95 theses.
- 1469-1539
- The life of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism
[edit] 19th to current century CE
- 1817-1892
- The life of Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith
- 1899
- Aradia (aka the Gospel of the Witches) is published by Charles Godfrey Leland.
- 1905
- Becoming a place of pilgrimage for neo-druids and other pagans, the Ancient Order of Druids organized the first recorded reconstructionist ceremony in Stonehenge.
- 1930s
- Rastafarianism, the Nation of Islam is founded.
- 1952
- Scientology is created.
- 1954
- Wicca, popularized by Gerald Gardner.
- 1960s
- Various Neopagan movements gain momentum.
- 1962
- The Church of All Worlds, the first American neo-pagan church, is formed by a group including Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, and Richard Lance Christie.
- 1972-1984
- The Stonehenge free festivals are held.
- 1972-2004
- Germanic Neopaganism (aka Heathenism, Heathenry, Ásatrú, Odinism, Forn Siðr, Vor Siðr, and Theodism) begins to experience a second wave of revival.
- 1979
- The Iranian Revolution results in the establishment of an Islamic Republic in Iran.
- 1981
- The Stregherian revial, the Arician Tradition is founded and "The Book of the Holy Strega" and "The Book of Ways" Volume I & II are published.
- 1985
- The Battle of the Beanfield forces an end to the Stonehenge free festivals.
- 1990s
- European pagan reconstructive movements (Celtic, Hellenic, Roman, Slavic, Baltic, Finnish, etc) organize.
- 1997
- The Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes is founded.
- 1999
- Regulated solstice festivals are allowed to resume in Stonehenge.
- 2004-2006
- The directors of the first American neo-pagan church, the Church of All Worlds, vote to disband the church due to financial and legal struggles. After a nearly two year hiatus, it is reformed.[4]
[edit] footnotes
[edit] References
