Egyptians
The great power beside Israel from Abraham’s day to the exile. Egypt shelters the patriarchs, holds Israel in slavery, raids Jerusalem, and later fights over Judah.
Who Held the Stage
Empires
Which empire ruled over the land of Israel in each era, and what outside evidence shows and does not show.
This page shows who held the stage over the land of Israel in each era, not who was biggest in the world. Each empire links to its own page.
The empires across the eleven eras
- 1 Creation
No datable empire
- 2 The Patriarchs
Egypt (in the background)
- 3 Exodus & Law
Egypt (Exodus about 1446 BC or about 1270–1250 BC)
- 4 Conquest & Settlement
Egypt, fading (to about 1150 BC) → No empire (after about 1150 BC)
- 5 United Monarchy
No empire
- 6 Divided Kingdom
Before Assyria (931–853 BC; Egypt’s Shishak raided about 925 BC) → Assyria (853–609 BC: contact from 853, empire ends 612, remnant to 609) → Egypt (609–605 BC: Necho holds Judah) → Babylon (from 605 BC)
- 7 Exile
Babylon (to 539 BC) → Persia (from 539 BC)
- 8 Return & Restoration
Persia (539/538–332 BC)
- 9 Intertestamental Period
Persia (to 332 BC) → Greeks (332 to 164/142 BC: Alexander, the Ptolemies, then the Seleucids) → Hasmoneans (164/142–63 BC) → Rome (from 63 BC)
- 10 The Gospel & Jesus Christ
Rome
- 11 The Spread of Christianity
Rome
Each era gets an equal column. Inside an era, widths follow the dates; a small triangle marks a handoff in the middle of an era. Era 4 uses the early-date framework. Hatched spans: no empire is named on the stage. The hatched “Before Assyria” span in era 6 (931–853 BC) is a drawing aid: our source table names no empire there, and Assyrian contact begins in 853 BC. The Hasmonean span is labeled 164/142 because sources differ on its start; the strip draws it from 142 BC.
Era by era
“Grade” is the best-attested contact in that era, on the A–D scale explained below. Dates are BC unless marked AD.
| Era | Empire on the stage, and dates | Where scholars differ | Verses | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Creation | None. No datable empire. | Not applicable. | Gen 1–11 | n/a |
| 2 The Patriarchsc. 2100–1800 BC, early framework | Egypt, in the background. Pharaohs unnamed. Which Egyptian period matches depends on the patriarchs’ date.Egyptians | Patriarchal dates not fixed; no outside text names them. 430-year figures move dates by about two centuries. | Gen 12:10–20; 41:1; 46:1–4 | C |
| 3 Exodus & Law | Egypt. Early date c. 1446 BC (from 1 Kgs 6:1); late date c. 1270s–1250s BC.Egyptians | Live split. The Bible does not name the pharaoh. Early view: Thutmose III / Amenhotep II. Late view: Ramesses II (Raamses, Exod 1:11). | Exod 1:8, 11; 12:40–41; 1 Kgs 6:1 | C (pharaoh). Merneptah Stele is A but only for “Israel in Canaan by c. 1208” |
| 4 Conquest & Settlementc. 1406–1050 BC early; entry c. 1230–1200 BC late | Egypt, fading. Egypt ran Canaan as a province from Thutmose III (Megiddo c. 1457) and kept it until after about 1150. Neither Bible nor outside texts show an empire in the hill country late in the era.Egyptians | How and when Egypt left is not settled (slow decline vs sudden break). Early and late Exodus dates give different pictures. | Judg 11:26; 21:25 (no Egyptian ruler is named) | C for biblical contact; Egypt’s rule of Canaan is itself well attested outside (context) |
| 5 United Monarchyc. 1050–931 BC | None. Egypt had left Canaan, and Assyria was weak and busy with the Arameans. Egypt returns at the very end: Shishak (Shoshenq I), c. 926–925.Egyptians, Assyrians | How big David and Solomon’s kingdom was is debated; a gap between empires does not prove a large state. | 1 Kgs 3:1; 11:40; 14:25 | A (Shishak, Karnak) |
| 6 Divided Kingdom931–722 BC Israel; to 586 BC Judah | Assyria is the main power: contact from 853 (Qarqar), tribute 841 (Jehu), Israel pays 738 (Menahem), Samaria falls 722–720, Judah pays from c. 734–729 (Ahaz), Sennacherib 701; empire ends 612 (Nineveh), remnant 612–609. Egypt is a side player (Shishak c. 925; Tirhakah; Necho held Judah 609–605). Babylon rises from 605.Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians | Vassalage start dates differ. Samaria: one conquest or two. Reign dates of Israel’s and Judah’s kings differ by a few years among schemes. | 2 Kgs 15:19, 29; 16:7–9; 17:3–6; 18:9–13; 19:9, 36–37; 23:29–35; 24:1 | A (Tiglath-pileser III, Shalmaneser V, Sargon II, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Shishak, Necho); B (“So”) |
| 7 Exile586–538 BC | Babylon. Rule over Judah from 605 (servant) or later; first capture of Jerusalem 597; destruction 587/586; Babylon itself falls to Persia Oct 539. Persia from 539. Egypt: refuge for some (Jeremiah) and Hophra.Babylonians, Persians | Start of Babylonian rule over Judah: 605 vs 597 vs 586. Fall of Jerusalem 587 or 586. Jeremiah’s “seventy years” read as 605–539 or 586–516. | 2 Kgs 24:1, 10–17; 25:1–12, 27–30; Jer 25:11–12; 44:30; Dan 1:1–2 | A (Nebuchadnezzar II, Evilmerodach, Belshazzar, Cyrus, Hophra) |
| 8 Return & Restoration538–c. 430 BC | Persia, 539/538 to 332. Kings in the era: Cyrus, Darius I (522–486), Xerxes/Ahasuerus (486–465), Artaxerxes I (465–424/425).Persians | 539 or 538 as the start. Which Artaxerxes in Ezra 4:7–23. Order of Ezra and Nehemiah. Darius the Mede is unresolved. | Ezra 1:1–4; 4:5–6; 6:14–15; 7:1; Neh 2:1; Esth 1:1 | A (Cyrus, Darius I, Xerxes, Artaxerxes I). D: Darius the Mede |
| 9 Intertestamental Periodc. 430–5 BC | Persia to 332. Greece/Hellenistic: Alexander 332; Ptolemies (Egypt) about 301–200; Seleucids (Syria) about 200–164 and later; Hasmonean interlude 164/142–63; Rome from 63 (Pompey), Herod king 40/37–4.Persians, Greeks and the Hellenistic Kingdoms, Hasmoneans, Romans | Ptolemaic vs Seleucid control: 301–200/198, war dated 202–198. Hasmonean start: 164, 142 or 141. Daniel’s date (500s vs c. 165). | Dan 8:21–22; 11:3–4, 31 (titles only); Mal 4:5–6; Luke 2:1 | A for the people (Gaugamela diary, Rosetta, Heliodorus, Antiochus IV diaries, Hasmonean coins). No Greek ruler is named in the 66 books |
| 10 The Gospel & Jesus Christc. 6 BC–AD 30/33 | Rome. Augustus (27 BC–AD 14), Tiberius (AD 14–37), client kings (Herod the Great 37–4 BC; Archelaus to AD 6), Pilate (prefect AD 26–36/37).Romans | Herod’s death 4 BC (majority) or 1 BC (minority). Quirinius’ census date. Crucifixion AD 30 or 33. | Luke 2:1–2; 3:1; Matt 2:1; Matt 27:2; John 19:12–16 | A (Augustus, Tiberius, Herod, Pilate); Quirinius A for the man, D for the timing |
| 11 The Spread of Christianityc. AD 30–100 | Rome. Claudius (41–54), Agrippa I (37–44), Agrippa II, Felix, Festus, Gallio (proconsul c. AD 51–52).Romans | Gallio’s years (51–52 or 52–53); Claudius’ expulsion of Jews (AD 49 or 41). | Acts 11:28; 12:1, 20–23; 18:2, 12; 24:27; 25:11; 2 Cor 11:32 | A (Claudius, Gallio, Agrippa I and II); B (Felix, Festus) |
| End point: the fall of Jerusalem, AD 70, and the close of the New Testament era (c. AD 100) | Rome. Titus takes Jerusalem AD 70 (Arch of Titus; Judaea Capta coins). Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70.Romans | Revelation’s date (c. 95 or 68–70). Titus is not named in the Bible. | Luke 21:20–24 (foretold); Rev 13 | A (event) |
What outside evidence shows, and does not show
Many kings in the Bible also appear in carvings, clay tablets and coins made by their own people or their enemies. We give each one a grade. The grade is about the person or the contact. It is not a grade on a miracle or on every detail of a story.
- A
- Named in a record from their own time (a stone, a tablet or a coin), and the match is clear.
- B
- Seen outside the Bible, but only in a later writer or a damaged text, or scholars argue about who he was.
- C
- So far only the Bible names him. That does not mean he was not real. Many pharaohs, and kings of small nations, are rarely named by anyone else.
- D
- Something does not fit or is not solved. Two examples: Darius the Mede, whom no outside text names, and the date of the census in Luke 2.
What this evidence shows: Names, dates and events line up. Outside records fix 853 (Ahab), 841 (Jehu), 701 (Sennacherib), 597 (Jehoiachin) and 539 (Cyrus).
What it does not show:
- The Bible does not name the pharaoh of the Exodus, and no Egyptian record of the Exodus is known.
- None of the 66 books names Alexander, a Ptolemy or a Seleucid. Those names come from history and from 1–2 Maccabees (books not in Protestant Bibles).
- The Cyrus Cylinder does not mention the Jews.
- The Siloam Tunnel inscription does not name Hezekiah.
Proof that a king lived is not proof of every story told about him. Where scholars disagree, we say so.
The empire pages
Assyrians
The empire that destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and threatened Judah.
Babylonians
The empire that destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC and took many of its people into exile.
Persians
The empire that conquered Babylon in 539 BC and allowed the exiles to return.
Greeks and the Hellenistic Kingdoms
Alexander’s conquest and the kingdoms that came from it. Ptolemaic Egypt, then Seleucid Syria, ruled Judea until the Maccabees.
Hasmoneans
The family of Mattathias. They led the revolt against Antiochus IV and ruled Judea as a free state for about eighty years.
Romans
The rulers of Judea and the Mediterranean world in the time of Jesus and the early church.