Early Historic Era’s Parts & Ages

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #087 posted March 25, 2019, edited March 10, 2021.

For a better understanding of how I have organized history and the timelines of nations in history, see my postings (a) Outline of World History on June 19, 2017 and (b) Generic Timelines on June 20, 2017.

The 2A – EARLY HISTORIC ERA (665-2 BC)

It (a) began with the 2^nd Hezekiah Disturbance, (b) lasted 663 years (665-2 BC), and (c) ended with the Birth of Messiah. It is divided into four parts.

The 2A-1 – THE OCCIDENT IN THE EARLY HISTORIC ERA

The 2A-2 – THE MIDDLE EAST IN THE EARLY HISTORIC ERA – This part is concerned with the area from the Mediterranean to the Indus Valley, which can be divided into four ages, each of which takes its name from the nation which dominated it. I have divided it into four ages based on Daniel’s prophecy concerning the four kingdoms that will arise in it, each represented by a separate beast: (a) a lion with an eagle’s wings, (b) a bear with three ribs in its teeth, (c) a leopard with four heads and four wings, and (d) a beast with iron teeth and ten horns.

The 2A-2A – Neo-Babylonian Age (665-487 BC), which Daniel characterized as the reign of the lion with an eagle’s wings.^[1] It began with the 2^nd Hezekiah Disturbance, (b) lasted 178 years, and (c) ended with the Fall of Babylon to the Persian King Darius 1. The Middle East during this period saw (a) the wane of the Assyrian Empire under Assurbanipal, son of Essarhadon, (b) the rise of the Neo-Babylonian^[2] or so-called Hittite^[3] Empire under Shamash-shum-ukin, another son of Essarhadon, (c) the rule of its greatest king Nebuchadnezzar II = Hattusilis, and (d) its decline of under Nebuchadnezzar’s descendants.

The 2A-2B – Medo-Persian Age (487-330 BC), which Daniel characterized as the reign of the bear with three ribs in its teeth.^[4] It (a) began the Fall of Babylon to Darius I,^[5] (b) lasted 187 years (487-330 BC), and (c) ended with the Fall of Persia, when Darius III was defeated by the Macedonian King Alexander the Great. in 330 BC.^[6]

The 2A-2C – Macedonian Age (330-146 BC), which Daniel characterized as the reign of the leopard with four heads and four wings.^[7] It (a) began with the Fall of Persia, (b) lasted 184 years (330-147 BC), during which occurred (i) the conquests of Alexander (330-323 BC), (ii) the Wars of the Diadochi^[8] (322-315 BC), and (iii) the founding of four great kingdoms: the Kingdom of Greece, the Kingdom of Thrace & Asia Minor, the Kingdom of the Seleucids, and the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt. and (c) ended with the Fall of Macedon (146 BC), when (i) the Macedonian pretender Andriscus and the Greek general Christolaus were defeated by the Roman praetor Q.C. Metellus Macedonicus and (ii) the Corinthian general Diaeus was defeated by the Roman consul Lucius Mummius Archaicus – an event which marked the end of Greek and Macedonian independence.

The 2A-2D – Roman Age BC (146-2 BC), which Daniel characterized as the reign of the fourth beast with iron teeth and ten horns, in the midst of which grew another little horn with human eyes and a boastful mouth.^[9] It began (a) with the Fall of Macedon (146 BC), (b) lasted 626 years (146 BC–476 AD), the first 144 years (146-2 BC) of which fell in this period, and (c) ended with the Birth of Messiah (2 BC).

The 2A-3 – THE ORIENT IN THE EARLY HISTORIC ERA

The 2A-4 – THE SACRED IN THE EARLY HISTORIC ERA

The 2A-4A – Kingdom of Judah’s Final Years (665-555 BC) – It (a) began with the 2^nd Hezekiah Disturbance (665 BC), (b) lasted 110 years (665-555 BC), and (c) ended with the Fall of Jerusalem (555 BC) to the Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar.

The 2A-4B – Babylonian Exile (555-485 BC) – It (a) began with the Fall of Jerusalem, (b) lasted 70 years (555-485 BC), and (c) ended with the Proclamation of Cyrus (485 BC).

The 2A-4C – Daniel’s 69 Weeks of Years (485-2 BC) – It (a) began with the Proclamation of Cyrus, (b) lasted 483 years (485-2 BC), and (c) ended with the Birth of Messiah (2 BC).

The 2A-4C-1 – Daniel’s 7 Weeks of Years (485-436 BC) – It (a) began with the Proclamation of Cyrus, (b) lasted 49 years (485-436 BC) and (c) ended with Completion of Reconstruction (436 BC). During it, the Hebrews returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt its walls and its Temple under the protection of Persia..

The 2A-4C-2 – Daniel’s 62 Weeks of Years (436-2 BC) – It (a) began with the Completion of Reconstruction, (b) lasted 434 years (436-2 BC), and (c) ended with the Birth of Messiah (2 BC). During it, the Hebrews were ruled for (a) 106 years under the protection of the Persians, 162 years by miscellaneous leaders, (b) 128 years by the Maccabees as satraps of Rome, and (c) 38 years by the Herodians as satraps of Rome.

The 2A-5 – GEOLOGY IN THE EARLY HISTORIC ERA

[1] See Daniel 7:4.

[2] The kings of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty were

- (B-10-06) Essarhadon (659-647 BC = 12 years),
- (B-10-07) Shamash-shum-ukin (647-627 BC = 20 years), who was also known as Suppiluliuma II,
- (B-10-08) Kandalanu (627-606/603 BC = 21/24 years)
- (NB-03) Nabopolassar II (c.603-581 BC = 22 years), who was also known as Mursilis, Bel-shum-ishkun, Belesys, and possibly Candalanus,
- (NB-04) Nergilissar I (c.581-574 BC = 7 years), who was also known as Nergil I, Muwatalis I, and Labarnas ,
- (NB-05) Labash Marduk I (less than a year),
- (NB-06) Nebuchadnezzar (c.574-530 BC = 44 years), who was also known as Hattusilis,
- (NB-07) Amel Marduk (530-509 BC = 21 years), who was also known as Evil Marduk.
- (NB-08) Nergilissar II (c.509-505 BC = 4 years), who was also known as Nergil II,
- (NB-09) Labash Marduk II (c.505-504 BC = 1 year),
- (NB-10) Nabonidus (c.504-487 BC = 17 years) and his coregent Belshazzar (c.501-487 BC = 14 years), who were deposed by Darius I-the-Mede, who was also known as Astyages.

[3] See Immanuel Velikovsky’s Ramses II and His Time, Doubleday, New York, 1978. It establishes that the so-called Hittite records found at Bogazkoi were actually the Chaldean archives of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

[4] See Daniel 7:5.

[5] The later rulers of the Medo-Persian Empire were

(PE-06) Cyrus II (558-529 BC = 29 years),
(PE-07) Cambyses II 529-522 BC = 7 years)
(PE-08) Bardiya (522 BC = a few months),
(PE-09) Darius I-the Great or Darius-the-Mede (522-485 BC = 37 years),
(PE-10) Cyrus-of-the-Bible (485-482 BC = 3 years)
(PE-11) (Xerxes I–the Great (482-465 BC = 17 years), who may have taken Esther to be his wife,
(PE-12) Artaxerxes I–Longimanus (465-424 BC = 41 years),
(PE-13) Xerxes II (424 BC = less than a year), who was also known as Ahaseurus 3,
(PE-14) Sogdianus (424-423 BC = 1 year),
(PE-15) Darius II (423-405 BC = 18 years), who was also known as Nothus and Ochus,
(PE-16) Artaxerxes II (405-359 BC = 46 years), who was also known as Arcases,
(PE-17) Artaxerxes III (359-338 BC = 21 years),
(PE-18) Xerxes III (338-336 BC = 2years), who was also knowns as Arses,
(PE-19) Darius III (336-330 BC = 6 years), who was also known as Codomanus.
(PE-20) Ariobarzane (330-329 BC = 1 year), who rebelled against and was defeated by Alexander, and
(PE-21) Phrasaortes (329-328 BC = 1 year) – a satrap.

[6] Some scholars, on the other hand, might regard the Battle of Issus in 333 BC as the boundary event between Persian and Greek domination of the Middle East, in which Alexander defeated Darius decisively and thereafter proceeded to dismantle the Persian Empire from Egypt in the south to Bactria in the north.

[7] See Daniel 7:6.

[8] See Glossary.

[9] See Daniel 7:7.

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