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
