Human Existence Before the Flood--(Before 4,000 B.C.)

"Human Existence Before the Flood" (Before 4,000 B.C.)



Human Beings have lived in this world now for 6,000 years, according to reckonings of Anglican Bishop James Ussher in the 17th century. Ussher calculated that creation began on the 23rd day of October... the year before Christ 4004. These figures were derived from the Bible, he said.

Modern science reports that mankind has lived on Earth for considerably longer than 4,000 B.C. Below are three archeological sites dated 15,000 B.C., 9,500 B.C., and 7,500 B.C. The cave paintings at Lascaux were done by Ice Age humans of the Magdalenian culture. The temple of the Gobekli Tepe was frequented by groups of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic peoples. Catal Hoyuk was a large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement. We think of the humans connected with these three sites as prehistoric Stone Age men and women.



Cave paintings in Lascaux, France--in 15,000 B.C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnSq0c7jM-A&t=182s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjejoT1gFOc&t=37s

Gobekli Tepe (a temple) in southeastern Turkey--in 9,500 B.C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JdAJpo6Lxk

Çatal höyük (a mud-brick pre-city) in south-central Turkey--in 7,500 B.C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%87atalh%C3%B6y%C3%BCk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIR9wfxIB9I&list=PL4pSZ5yOhlInWZiy7Xy3HLYnNkd08VYuQ&index=19



To tell you the truth, I think of the story of mankind as being about six thousand years old. But there is this other scientific and archeological data to contend with. In fact, science has found the remains of anatomically modern human beings going back 300,000 years. In scientific terms, these are Homo sapiens--the same species as we are. In Judeo-Christian terms, they were made in the Image of God.

I think there is a way of reconciling these two types of information on the history of human beings--the scientific approach and the religious approach. The ends can meet if a way of looking at this matter is considered. First, I think it's important to examine the sequence of human development and achievement as described by science and archeology. The archeological sites below will be discussed.



15 Archeological Sites of Human Development

--Cave paintings in Lascaux, France. Ice Age. Magdalenian culture--15,000 B.C.
--Tell Abu Hureyra--Natufian culture. Upper Euphrates valley Syria--11,000 B.C.
--Jericho--Natufian culture. Canaan --9,600 B.C.
--Gobekli Tepe (prehistoric temple) in southeastern Turkey --9,500 B.C.
--Aşıklı Höyük (a mud-brick village) in south-central Turkey --8,200 BC
--Çatal höyük (a mud-brick pre-city) in south-central Turkey --7,500 B.C.
--Tell Halaf. Upper Mesopotamia. NE Syria. Halaf culture --6,100 B.C
--Tell es-Sawwan. Mesopotamia. Samarra culture --5800 B.C.
--Tell al-'Ubaid. Mesopotamia. Ubaid period . --5400 B.C.
--Eridu. Mesopotamia. Perhaps first city. Ubaid period. --5400 B.C.
--Nile in southern Egypt, predynastic. Naqada culture --4000 B.C.
--Uruk, Mesopotamia. Sumer. Age of Gilgamesh --4000 B.C.
--Ancient Egypt. 1st Dynasty. Upper & Lower Egypt unified. --3000 B.C.
--Ur. Mesopotamia. Sumer, Age of Abraham. --1800 B.C.
--Canaan in the Levant. Age of Abraham. -1800 B.C.




--Cave paintings in Lascaux, France. Ice Age. Magdalenian culture--15,000 B.C.

Lascaux is a cave of prehistoric paintings located in south-central France. The cave paintings are of large mammals--bison, horses, stags, large cats, aurochs, a bear, a rhinoceros, and also a bird, and a human. In all, there are 6,000 figures. Lascaux cave art dates to about 15,000 B.C., and was produced by the Magdalenian culture The paintings are made primarily of charcoal and red ochre. Lascaux Cave was discovered in 1940. Upper Paleolithic (Old Stone Age), Pleistocene Epoch.

This wasn't the first example of prehistoric cave paintings. For instance, the Chauvet Cave paintings in southeastern France date to 35,000 B.C., and are comprised of similar subject matter. The Chauvet paintings were the work of the Aurignacian culture and the Gravettian culture. In terms of other artistic media. the limestone figurine Venus of Willendorf from Austria was created about 23,000 B.C. by a human being of the Gravettian culture.

The Aurignacian was an archaeological culture of the Upper Paleolithic associated with European early modern humans, lasting from 41,000 B.C. to 24,000 B.C. One of the oldest examples of figurative art, the Venus of Hohle Fels in Germany, comes from the Aurignacian culture. The Gravettian culture came next--spanning from 31,000 B.C. to 15,000 B.C. They were expert hunters, and were known for following and hunting mammoths. Next came the Magdalenian culture, from 15,000 B.C. to 10,000 B.C.. The people of this culture hunted smaller mammals, like reindeer and hares. Although the Aurignacian, Gravettian, and Magdalenian cultures all spanned much of Europe, the archeological sites for all three are in France. The people were pre-historic hunter-gatherers during the Ice Age.



--Tell Abu Hureyra--Natufian culture. Upper Euphrates valley Syria--11,000 B.C.

Tell Abu Hureyra in north-central Syria had two stages of human occupation. The first phase began about 11,000 B.C., and is considered Epipalaeolithic--the last stage of the Old Stone Age before the Neolithic Revolution. The 300 or so people of this site at this stage were hunter-gatherers, but were sedentary--not nomadic; they lived in one place for a long time. The second phase of Tell Abu Hureyra was a village of Pre-Pottery Neolithic people. forming after 9,000 B.C. These villagers cultivated crops and domesticated animals. This phase of Tell Abu Hureyra grew to several thousand farmers and their families. These changes began as the Ice Age ended; although there were no glaciers in the Fertile Crescent, there was a general warming trend that was conducive to agriculture.

The first phase of Tell Abu Hureyra, with its 300 people, was the largest group of people about anywhere at this time. Normally at this point, clans of 30 people lived together in a settlement. There weren't very many people in the world for large settlements. The people of Tell Abu Hureyra hunted, fished, and gathered edible wild plants. At this first stage, they did not cultivate crops or pasture animals. Gazelle was hunted seasonally, when vast herds passed by during migration.

An important point in all of this Is that Tell Abu Hureyra was part of the Natufian culture. This Natufian culture was advanced for its time. Evidence suggests that the Natufian people of Tell Abu Hureyru were the first to cultivate a crop, namely rye. Another Natufian culture site in Jordan evidenced the oldest example of breadmaking. And another Natufian culture site near Haifa gave evidence of the first brewing of beer. Natufian culture, which dated from around 13,000 B.C. to 9,500 B.C., was right on the edge of the Neolithic Revolution--when hunter-gatherers turned into farmers.

The second phase of Tell Abu Hureyru came after a climate change had depopulated the original village. After 9,000 B.C. and warmer temperatures, the village populated again. "The second occupation grew domesticated varieties of rye, wheat and barley, and kept sheep as livestock...The second occupation lasted for about 2,000 years." Residents of Tell Abu Hureyru engaged in basket-weaving, which helped in collecting and sowing seed for farming. Advances occurred rapidly. But still, this was a Pre-Pottery Neolithic community.

"During the first settlement, the village consisted of small round huts, cut into the soft sandstone of the terrace. The roofs were supported with wooden posts, and roofed with brushwood and reeds.  Huts contained underground storage areas for food. The houses that they lived in were subterranean pit dwellings."



--Jericho--Natufian culture. Canaan --9,600 B.C.

Some experts say that Jericho is the oldest city in the world. Perhaps it would be more correct to think of it as the oldest city in continuous use. Whatever, it is one of the first cities in existence--likely in its early stages it was at least a proto-city. And too, it had the oldest known protective wall, and the oldest known protective tower. The beginning of Jericho corresponds with the start of the Holocene epoch in geologic history.

Human settlement at Jericho began in 9,600 B.C., or even a bit earlier--during the Epipaleolithic period. As at Tell Abu Hureyra, these were people of the Natufian culture. At this point, the people were hunter gatherers. The Natufian culture villages stretched from south of the Dead Sea to villages in the northern Euphrates region, say the eastern third of the Fertile Crescent. As the average temperature got warmer, it enabled these people of the Natufian culture to remain in Jericho, and participate in the beginning of the Neolithic Revolution of planting crops and domesticating animals.

"About 9000 B.C., a new culture based on agriculture and sedentary dwelling emerged, which archaeologists have termed "Pre-Pottery Neolithic A". Its cultures lacked pottery, but featured the following:

-small circular dwellings
-burial of the dead under the floor of buildings
-reliance on hunting of wild game
-cultivation of wild or domestic cereals"


"At Jericho, circular dwellings were built of clay and straw bricks left to dry in the sun, which were plastered together with a mud mortar. Each house measured about 16 ft across, and was roofed with mud-smeared brush. Hearths were located within and outside the homes."

This was then the Neolithic period, or the New Stone Age. Planting of crops was beginning. The population went from 200 to 3,000 people. In Jericho another new phenomena developed around 8000 B.C.--the building of a wall around the proto-city along with a 28 ft. high stone tower in the middle of the enclosure. The stone wall was 12 ft high. To build these structures would have taken some kind of social structure. The population of Jericho domesticated emmer wheat, barley, and legumes and hunted wild animals.

Jericho in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period, from 7220 to 5850 B.C., saw the domestication of sheep, a larger range of planted crops, a cult of plastered human skulls, and rectangular dwellings made of mud bricks on stone foundations. The dead were buried under the floors. Tools made of obsidian were found. A statue of a human head was found, with one of the earliest representations of the human face.

Conceptually, the Late Neolithic period follows the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period. After the Late Neolithic period comes the Bronze Age--the end of the Stone Age. The Late Neolithic period consists of the Pottery Neolithic phase and then the Chalcolithic phase (or the Copper Age). This taxonomy does not have universal acceptance among archeologists, but it can help as a framework for understanding this section of the human story.



--Gobekli Tepe (prehistoric temple) in southeastern Turkey --9,500 B.C.

Perhaps the world's first temple, Gobekli Tepe consists of large circular structures supported by massive T-shaped stone pillars – the world's oldest known megaliths. It is an early Neolithic site, although when it was first built the place was used by hunter-gatherers. There are no signs of permanent dwellings at Gobekli Tepe, so it appears that it was a regional ritual center for a population in villages up to 125 miles away. By 8000 B.C. Gobekli Tepe was abandoned.

Gobekli Tepe is located in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains in Turkey. The pillars are made of local limestone. There are several cisterns carved into the rock, though no rivers or springs nearby--suggesting that it was not a permanent settlement. Experts believe it was a pilgrimage spot for a prehistoric spiritual system. People as far away as Tell Abu Hureyra might have come there for rituals.

So far four enclosures have been excavated at Gobekli Tepe. Yet there are more. Geophysical surveys have been conducted, and there are 16 other enclosures on the site, with up to eight pillars each. There are in all, 200 pillars. UNESCO has designated Gobekli Tepe as a World Heritage Site, recognizing it as "one of the first manifestations of human-made monumental architecture".

Another important point on Gobekli Tepe is the relief sculpture on the stone pillars. The art carvings are in low relief and high relief. Most of the depictions were of animals in an aggressive posture. Some experts say that Gobekli Tepe was a sacred ritual pilgrimage centers for ancestor cults and funerary rites. Archeologists report that there is evidence of a certain amount of feasting.



--Aşıklı Höyük in south-central Turkey --8,200 BC

Aşıklı Höyük was a mud-brick village made very much like Çatal höyük (which will be described after this). Aşıklı Höyük was perhaps fifty miles northeast of Çatal höyük. It was settled almost a thousand years before Çatal höyük, and Aşıklı Höyük was considerably smaller. Aşıklı Höyük was also in south-central Turkey, in the Cappadocia region. (Just as a matter of perspective, when Aşıklı Höyük was flourishing, lower Mesopotamia was not yet settled by humans.)

The settlement at Aşıklı Höyük was active from 8200 to 7400 BC. It was a farming community with both agriculture and animal domestication. It did not have pottery yet. It was near a mountain that had obsidian. This is a volcanic rock that can be carved into a very sharp tool or weapon. It was an advance in the Stone Age, because at this point bronze was not yet smelted. It is estimated that some 6,000 pieces of obsidian were collected and traded at Aşıklı Höyük, with the obsidian trade reaching as far as Cyprus and Iraq.

What is most distinctive about Aşıklı Höyük are the building structures. Like Çatal höyük a millennium later, they are rectangular mud-brick dwellings that are attached together. There are no doors or windows; the entrance is from the roof. Each dwelling has a hearth in the corner. About 400 such dwellings have been excavated. In many of the dwellings the dead are buried under the floor of the room.



--Çatal höyük (a mud-brick proto-city) in south-central Turkey --7,500 B.C.

Çatal höyük, which existed between 7500 BC to 6400 BC, was something new in that it might be considered the world's first proto-city, with a population of 10,000 people. It was almost as if residents from Aşıklı Höyük and another village named Boncuklu Höyük moved and settled in Çatal höyük.

The excavations at Çatal höyük reveal a community that ranged from the Neolithic (New Stone Age) to the Chalcolithic (Copper Age) periods. They were farmers who grew wheat and barley. "Peas were also grown, and almonds, pistachios and fruit were harvested from trees in the surrounding hills. Sheep were domesticated and evidence suggests the beginning of cattle domestication as well. However, hunting continued to be a major source of food for the community." Çatal höyük manufactured pottery and obsidian implements for their own use and for trade.

The building complex at Çatal höyük was similar to Aşıklı Höyük, only much bigger and had numerous artworks. Dwellings had murals and figurines. Relief figures were also carved into the wall. Heads of animals, particularly cattle, were mounted on the wall. There were no temples it seems, but there may have been shrines in the dwellings. The most striking statue is called the Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük.

Many experts think primitive religion was active at Çatal höyük. Some of the statuary and figurines suggest this. The settlement had granaries, and many believe that residents had devotions to deities to protect their harvest and storages of grain. At this time, ancestor worship and funerary matters appeared to be important. And also fertility and protection of women in child-birth.

These are conclusions arrived at by experts who examine archeological evidence. Certainty does not emerge on mankind's spiritual experiences until after writing systems are utilized, after 3000 B.C. The Sumerians and Egyptians were able to describe for posterity their religious systems. Once writing becomes a norm, history is born. Human experiences at places like Çatal höyük are prehistoric.



--Tell Halaf. Upper Mesopotamia. NE Syria. Halaf culture --6,100 B.C

Tell Halaf was a prehistoric village in northern Syria, close to the Turkish border, and not far from Iraq. This was one of the early settlements in Mesopotamia. This village existed between 6,100 B.C. and 5,400 B.C. The discussion here will really include Halaf culture region of northern Mesopotamia at this time, and some of its original contributions.

Some of the best Halaf culture material finds are from Arpachiyah in northern Irag, not far from Tell Halaf, and from the same time period. Halaf culture produced fine pottery for its time. For instance, a jar painted with lustrous black paint on a salmon-pink slip. And a plate decorated with a floral design in the center, with polychrome in black and red on the buff surfaces. Halaf culture also produced the earliest stone seals, the likes of which were later in common use throughout the ancient Mideastern region. Writing had not yet been invented, so the seals used geometric images as separate identifiers. The seals suggest the concepts of signatures and private property. The Halaf culture also saw the use of obsidian as a form of jewelry.

Halaf culture was in the Neolithic Iii period, Pottery Neolithic. "The Halaf population practiced dry farming (based on natural rainfall without the help of irrigation) growing emmer wheat, two rowed barley and flax; they kept cattle, sheep and goats." Copper smelting had not arrived there yet. The Halaf culture was still in the Stone Age.

The buildings in Halaf culture were mud-brick structures, sometimes rectangular shaped, sometimes round beehive shaped. Figurines have been found in rooms, suggesting some form of spirituality.



--Tell es-Sawwan. Mesopotamia. Samarra culture --5800 B.C.

Tell es-Sawwan was a small village on the Tigris River, midway down prehistoric Mesopotamia. It was active from 5800 B.C. to 4800 B.C. There may have been a hundred residents at Tell es-Sawwan at one time. It was a Neolithic period community, with pottery. Tell es-Sawwan was part of the Samarra culture the existed at this time southeast of where the Halaf culture had been.

Three new features at Tell es-Sawwan really stand out. First there was a wall surrounding the village. There had been a wall at Jericho, but this wall at Tell es-Sawwan was the first at Mesopotamia. Second, the farmers at Tell es-Sawwan built irrigation systems connected to the Tigris River. This then assured that there would be adequate water for their crops, even when there was little rain. Thirdly, there is evidence of a hierarchical system at Tell es-Sawwan. Some houses are larger than others. The earlier archeological digs evidenced a great deal of egalitarianism.

The dwellings at Tell es-Sawwan had windows and doors in the normal place. And there was space between buildings where one could walk. This differs from Çatal höyük, where the dwellings were all connected to another, and there were no windows or doors; to enter the buildings at Çatal höyük, one needed to use a passageway on the roof. Again, at Tell es-Sawwan the buildings were mud-brick. There appeared to be a separate building for a granary.

Samarra period farmers along with food products grew flax, which suggests that they were producing an early form of linen. Their artisans produced pottery and tableware that was traded in a widespread area, and was valued for its uniformity. The artisans also carved alabaster figurines and containers.

Incidentally, a tell is Arabic for "an artificial topographical feature, a species of mound consisting of the accumulated and stratified debris of a succession of consecutive settlements at the same site." Archeologists identify these tell-mounds on the landscape as places to do an excavation.



--Tell al-'Ubaid. Mesopotamia. Ubaid period . --5400 B.C.

Tell al-'Ubaid was a small settlement in lower Mesopotamia, near the Euphrates River, southeast of Tell es-Sawwan and the Samarra region. Tell al-'Ubaid is located between the ancient sites of Ur and Eridu. It is the type site for the Ubaid period, that included the proto-city of Eridu.

Tell al-'Ubaid was a cult site for the Sumerian goddess Ninhursag. In the 3rd millennium B.C. there was a temple built for Ninhursag in Tell al-'Ubaid. Ninhursag "'is known earliest as a nurturing or fertility goddess. Temple hymn sources identify her as the "true and great lady of heaven"". She was the consort to the Sumerian gods Enlil and Enki.

The occupations of Tell al-'Ubaid included fine pottery. They employed kilns to produce this. There are examples of Ubaid pottery from c. 5000 B.C. in the Louvre. Pottery production became specialized craft of Tell al-'Ubaid. The Ubaid area was also a key area in the obsidian trade from Anatolia, with forming the obsidian into finished blades.

The Ubaid people "pioneered the growing of grains in the extreme conditions of aridity, thanks to the high water tables of Southern Iraq." Their irrigation systems brought water to their crops. In the Ubaid culture was the beginning of the Chalcolithic period, or the Copper Age. This period was still the Stone Age because stone implements were still used--copper metal was smelted, but the copper was not as firm and strong as the bronze that came later.



--Eridu. Mesopotamia. Perhaps first city. Ubaid period. --5400 B.C.

Some experts say that Eridu was the world's first city. Others give this honor to Jericho or Çatal höyük. By 7000 B.C., the population of Jericho was about 3,000 people. By 6500 B.C., the population of Çatal höyük was up to 10,000 people. Eridu came later. By 4000 B.C., Eridu's population was 4,000 people, and this went up to 10,000 people by 3700 B.C. If the population size of a community is the only factor to be considered, then any of these three prehistoric centers would be candidates as the world's first cities.

On the other hand, some experts have a broader idea of what constitutes civic culture. For instance, these five factors.
Five criteria for existence of civilization
1. Urban environment
2. Agriculture & pastoralism
3. Monumental architecture
4. Social hierarchy
5. Writing & literacy
Considering these five factors, the first city would be Uruk in lower Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium B.C.

Eridu was in lower Mesopotamia, near the Euphrates River. Although writing did not exist in Eridu when the city was founded in 5400 B.C., a couple thousand years later when writing did emerge in nearby Uruk, the city of Eridu was a key community in Sumerian mythology. According to the myths, Eridu was the first city and was given the gift of civilization. Eridu had the patron god Enki--the prime god of the city. When goddess Inanna wanted the gift of civilization for Uruk, her patron city, she came to Eridu to learn these gifts.

One of the striking things about Eridu was the temple built there in homage to their patron god Enki. It became the pattern throughout the Mesopotamian cities thereafter to build a temple to their patron god or goddess. Even before Eridu, Tell al-'Ubaid had built a temple to the goddess Ninhursag, one of the consorts of the Sumerian god Enki. Archeologists have found the remains of the Eridu temple from the Ubaid period. One of many cases in Sumer where mythology and archeology are congruent.

Another form of monumental architecture was built at Eridu. Archeologists have identified the remains of a large palace at Eridu. This was from the Early Dynastic Period, say around 2900 B.C. So by then social stratification was surely in place. But this was no longer the prehistoric times. Writing, and recorded history, had been invented by then. And the early kings of Eridu are mentioned in the Sumerian King Lists.



--Nile in southern Egypt, predynastic. Naqada culture --4000 B.C.

The Naqada culture of prehistoric Egypt lasted from about 4000 B.C. to 3000 B.C. It existed on the Nile in southern Egypt, near Thebes. The archeological remains were found in three cemeteries, which represent subperiods:
Naqada I: Amratian (about 3900–3650 BC)
Naqada II: Gerzean (about 3650–3300 BC)
Naqada III: Semainean (about 3300–2900 BC)


Naqada I: Amratian in Egypt (about 3900–3650 BC). An early archaeological culture of predynastic Egypt. This culture was known for its black-topped and painted pottery. Also for its unique cosmetic palettes. Naqada I constructed rowboats of bundled papyrus in which they could sail the Nile. Slavery was allowed. Obsidian was imported from Ethiopia, Cedar was imported from Byblos in Lebanon, and marble was imported from the Greek islands in the Aegean. New innovations such as adobe buildings were erected in Naqada I of predynastic Egypt.

Naqada II: Gerzean in Egypt (about 3650–3300 BC). An archaeological culture of Chalcolithic Predynastic Egypt (c. 3650–3300 BC). Chalcolithic means it was Copper Age. There was copper smelting, plus continued use of stone implements. These people produced figurative ceramics. Aspects of their material culture were represented throughout Egypt.

Naqada III: Semainean (about 3300–2900 BC). It is the period during which the process of state formation in Egypt, which began in Naqada II, became highly visible, with named kings heading powerful polities. The Scorpion King first depicted. Attempts at early writing. This was the early bronze period--Egypt was advancing out of the Stone Age. After this followed the Early Dynastic period in Egypt.


Early in this writing, I stated the opinion that the story of mankind began about 6,000 years ago. Eridu culture in southern Mesopotamia, and Naqada culture in predynastic Egypt fit these time schemes. Eridu was about 1,000 years before the flowering of Mesopotamian culture in the city of Uruk. Naqada culture was about 1,000 years before the unification of Egypt and the beginning of the dynasties there. More will be said later about the prehistoric studies of mankind, and my reckoning that the story of mankind began about 4000 BC.


--Uruk, Mesopotamia. Sumer. Age of Gilgamesh --4000 B.C.

The city of Uruk was founded in the middle of 4th millennium BC. in lower Mesopotamia. Developments in the city of Uruk spread all throughout the Mesopotamia region, such that the period of time in the region became known as the Uruk period. Uruk had the early lead in these five criteria for existence of civilization.
1. Urban environment
2. Agriculture & pastoralism
3. Monumental architecture
4. Social hierarchy
5. Writing & literacy


Uruk's high point was between 3200-3000 B.C. By then, it had a population of 40,000 people, and was the largest city in the world. (The population doubled to 80,000 people by 2800 B.C.) It had a large temple district--the ruins of which still exist. The city had a large wall surrounding it. Uruk stood high among the cities of Sumer at this time.

In 4000 B.C. there was no writing in Uruk. Indeed there was no writing anywhere in the world. Mankind was illiterate. Then around 3300 B.C. writing made its first appearance in the world in Uruk. The first use of writing was for commercial purposes--to be better able to record business transactions. Then writing proved useful for temple and palace activities. Finally, writing in Uruk found its place in the creation of literature.

The Epic of Gilgamesh was a work of literature in verse, shorter but with some similarities with Homer's "Odyssey" and Virgil's "Aeneid." Gilgamesh was the first long piece of literature in history--parts of it were written in the 2000s B.C. The story is about Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, who appears to have been a historic character whose reign in Uruk was some time around 2750 B.C. Parts of the story were written in Sumerian, then a full edition in Akkadian, then in Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian. The stories in Gilgamesh are compelling, and remarkable as mankind's first attempt at a long work of fiction.

With the ability to write, the residents of Uruk became the first people on earth to have founded a civilization per the five criteria given above. But in a couple hundred years a new civilization was developing to the west--Egypt on the Nile. The Egyptian hieroglyphics had a pictogram nature, far different from the Sumerian cuneiform. Nevertheless, ancient Egyptians were able to produce literature with hieroglyphs--such as, "The Tale of Sinuhe".

So then, it would seem that the cradle of civilization was Mesopotamia in general, and Uruk in particular. But, Egyptian civilization followed close behind. Whereas Uruk was a city-state on the Euphrates River in Sumer, in Mesopotamia, Egypt began by unifying two large regions of land on the River Nile. This huge tract of land was able to produce wealth of a much higher degree than mankind had experienced before.



--Ancient Egypt. 1st Dynasty. Upper & Lower Egypt unified. --3000 B.C.


The history of ancient Egypt is divided into over 31 dynasties that make up over a 3,000 year story of human events. This discussion is about the 1st Dynasty of Egypt, covering a two hundred year period from ca. 3000 - 2800 B.C. In all, there were nine successive pharaohs in this 1st Dynasty, but it was the first pharaoh who did something remarkable. His name was Narmer, also called Menes. What Narmer did was unify the northern and southern parts of Egypt into one huge political entity.

This 1st Dynasty of Egypt was five hundred years before the huge Pyramids at Giza. Egypt had not yet entered the Old Kingdom period. It was still in the Early Dynastic Period. Hieroglyphics were usable by the 1st Dynasty. Their shapes would be used with little change for more than three thousand years. But it wasn't until the Old Kingdom that a piece of literature like the Westcar Papyrus was created.

As tradition developed, Memphis became the capital of the northern half of Egypt, and Thebes became the capital of the southern half of Egypt. But, during the first two dynasties the city of Thinis was the capital of Egypt.Thinis was up the River Nile, northwest of Thebes. Nowadays it is called the Lost City of Thinis, though its geographic location is clearly identified.

So around the year 3000 B.C., Egypt consisted of the land around the River Nile from its delta region going into the Mediterranean, down to the area of Nubia, or the Sudan. Even though Egypt was geographically larger than Sumer, or the lower half of Mesopotamia, it was not as populous. By 2800, the population of Uruk in Sumer was 80,000 people; whereas the population of Memphis, Egypt's most populous city, was 30,000 people. And there were other cities growing in Sumer, while in Egypt people seemed to remain in farming villages along the Nile. This pattern changed around the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, but this was development long after the 1st Dynasty.


--Ur. Sumer, Mesopotamia. Age of Abraham. --1800 B.C.


Ur was south of Uruk on the Euphrates River. Ur had some prominence in Sumer. After the downfall of Uruk and Ur, King Sargon of Akkad conquered the cities of Sumer and established a small empire in the region. This empire lasted a while, but eventually the cities of Sumer gained independence. At this time Ur had some of the flourishing experiences of a Neo-Sumerian emergence.

In the meantime, a new power in the Sumer region north of Uruk was developing. This was Babylon, on the Euphrates. This strong development of Babylon began with the Amorite Dynasty there, around 1900 B.C. Within a hundred years, a conqueror king of Babylon emerged, named Hammurabi. He is known for two things. First, Hammurabi is known for conquering Uruk, Ur, and most of the other city-states in Sumer, and turning the region into a Babylonian empire.

The second really noteworthy thing that Hammurabi did was establish a written code of laws for his empire. Hammurabi's Code consisted of 282 laws or rules of behavior along with punishments for violation. One can see the ancient Hammurabi's Code in the form of a black standing stone now on display at the Louvre in Paris. By today's standards the code is rather punitive. But the point is that Hammurabi's Code was a first--the first attempt to codify a government's laws in writing, as a unified whole.

For a period of time around 2100 B.C., Ur was the largest city in the world, with a population of 100,000 people. This was the Third Dynasty of Ur. It was then that the famed Ziggurat of Ur was built. This temple was dedicated to the moon god Nanna (in Sumerian, or Sin in Aramaic).The Ziggurat of Ur is a huge temple, and can be seen today as it was because of a restoration by the Iraqi government.

Ur was the chief beneficiary of the Neo-Sumerian resurgence. Likewise, Ur was the chief loser as Babylon emerged as a power in Mesopotamia. It was at this time that Abraham, son of Terah, lived in Ur. And we have a new source about the region--the Old Testament of the Bible. In Genesis it says "Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and brought them out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to go to the land of Canaan. But when they reached Haran, they settled there." So from Ur, Abraham went to Canaan in the Levant.


--Canaan in the Levant. Age of Abraham. -1800 B.C.

When Abraham left Ur, he traveled northwest to Haran on the Syrian border. Then to the southwest to Canaan.. During these years he was living in the Levant. This would be lands in the eastern Mediterranean, including present-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and most of Turkey southwest of the middle Euphrates.

Canaan, where Abraham was heading, is roughly where the state of Israel is today, plus territories surrounding Israel. Our last look at Canaan was Jericho at 9600 B.C. Now in the age of Abraham, we are looking at Canaan in 1800 B.C. Around this time Canaan was comprised of city states that had formed into two confederacies--one centered upon Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley, the second on the more northerly city of Kadesh on the Orontes River.

In Genesis, Abraham and Lot see Canaan as sparsely populated. There were four cities near the Dead Sea, including Sodom and Gomorrah. It seems that the cities in Canaan were smaller settlements, not the larger cities that were found in Mesopotamia and Egypt. There isn't monumental architecture in Canaan in this period, around 1800 B.C. This in contrast to Egypt that had the pyramids, and Mesopotamia that had ziggurat temples. Overall, the artwork and craftsmanship was at a lower level in Canaan than in Egypt or Mesopotamia.

At this time, during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, an Egyptian author wrote a work of literature called "The Story of Sinuhe." In it, the main character leads a conquest of Canaan. The account may be fictional, but during the Second Intermediate Period, Canaanite people called the Hyksos became powerful in Egypt. During the New Kingdom, Pharaoh Thutmose III actually did conquer Canaan for the interests of Egypt.


--Assertions on God and Time

God is the Lord of History. As a function of providence, He guides man and mankind throughout history in a planned manner towards a higher degree of civilization and goodness. There exists then a sense of supernatural destiny, where God intervenes in the affairs of man to lead mankind to an Omega Point--where the souls reach paradise and heaven. Salvation History then is akin to providence over time.

According to tradition, the Hebrew calendar started at the time of Creation, placed at 3761 BC. The current 2023 is the Hebrew year is 5783. As mentioned earlier, he 17th century. Bishop Ussher calculated that creation began in the year before Christ 4004. That would be 6,027 years ago.

The year 5783 or 6027. This research essay has cited numerous archeological examples of human activity much older than 6,500 years ago. How can this be? Well, we know that scientific reckonings can be wrong. For instance, the dating of the Shroud of Turin has been found to be suspect.

The Bible has something amazing to say about time. It says that to God, a thousand years is but one day. This statement is found in both the Old Testament and the New Testament--in Psalm 90, v. 4 and 2 Peter, 3:8. Does God have the power to expand and contract time? It would seem that a God powerful enough to create the universe, would be powerful enough to impact on the nature of time. Even beyond this, one might assert that God has the power to change history, and to rearrange the sequence of events in history.

When one looks at the panorama of history, even in the examples given in this research essay, one sees that mankind has advanced in his ability to create artistry, and to create order. Man went from being illiterate to being able to create an epic poem like Gilgamesh. Likewise, man went from living in rudimentary social environments like Tell Abu Hureyra, to living in complex cities like Uruk. Almighty God, the Lord of History, through his plan based on guiding providence, has brought mankind up in the various time periods to a higher level of creativity, complexity, and lovingkindness.

More to Come

The Hand of God and the Growth of Christianity Part Two--The Dark Ages 476 A.D. to 1000 A.D.

The Roman Empire collapsed in the year 476 A.D. The Dark Ages followed for centuries. The light did not shine brightly on Europe for almost a thousand years. Rome was civilized, well-organized, and Christian, Catholic Christian. The hordes of barbarians who destroyed the Roman Empire were uncivilized, chaotic, and either pagan or Arians heretics.

The city of Rome itself was devastated. There were eleven aqueducts that brought fresh water to the city of Rome. The barbarians destroyed the aqueducts, which meant that the only water coming into Rome was the River Tiber. The city of Rome went from a population of a million people to about 20,000 people. Which meant there were hundreds of thousands of Romans wandering the countrywide trying to scrounge food, water, and shelter to somehow stay alive.

Among the remnant of people that remained in the city of Rome was the Bishop of Rome--the Pope. In the early 300s, the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great had built two basilicas in Rome for the liturgical use of the Pope, old St. Peter's Basilica and St. John Lateran Basilica. So with the Papacy housed there, Rome continued in some way to be the Eternal City. And too, from Rome the Papacy for centuries after 476 A.D. planned the re-civilization of Europe. And Europe's return to the Lord Jesus and Almighty God.

When in 376 a force of 200,000 Visigoths crossed the Danube into the territory of the Roman Empire, the germanic Goths were pagans. One wave after another of barbarians took over the regions of the Roman Empire. The germanic Ostrogoths took over Italy. The Visigoths took over Spain. The germanic Franks took over Gaul (what became France). The germanic Anglo-Saxons took over Britain. Slavic-speaking tribes, Bulgars, and Magyar Huns took over eastern Europe. And then the pagan Vikings began their assaults from Scandinavia.

In the beginning all of these ravaging hordes of peoples were pagans. The astonishing thing is that by about 1200 A.D, they were all Christians. A Europe that in 500 A.D, had been a huge cluster of barbarian kingdoms, by the end the the 12th century had become Christendom. A Europe that was under the religious standard of Jesus Christ and Almighty God.

How did this happen?

This writing contends that the hand of God guided this development. That the Lord of History intervened and formed a Europe of Christian allegiance. After that, the hand of God intervened to make the world we know today--where more than twice the population of Europe constitutes the total number of Christians in the world.



--The Barbarians and the Migration Period

The Roman Empire included mainland Europe except territories east of the Rhine River and north of the Danube River. These latter zones were where the German tribes lived. Barbarians. They had no code of laws, they had no literature, no written language, no complex art, no architecture to speak of, no places of schooling, no cities, only rudimentarily paganism to take the place of religion. They did not have the hallmarks of the civilized. But in large numbers, these barbarians could leave a swath of destruction.

For centuries, the legions of the Roman Empire had been able to keep the barbarians at the Rhine-Danube border. .Then in the fourth century A.D. something massive and tragic happened. In history it's called the Migration Period. Huge numbers of germanic Goths near the eastern part of the Roman Empire felt the pressure to migrate southward and westward. In other words into the Roman Empire.

Most experts in ancient history believe that what pushed the Goths to migrate were marauding hordes of asiatic Huns from the east, as in the chaotic pagan Attila the Hun. Some historians suggest this remarkable theory: "The construction of the Great Wall of China [may have caused] a 'domino effect' of tribes being forced westward, leading to the Huns falling upon the Goths who, in turn, pushed other Germanic tribes before them." At any rate, the Goths were an unsettling factor in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, Roman legions were sent to quiet the situation, but were defeated by the Goths at the Battle of Adrianople in 378, where the Roman emperor himself was killed in the battle.

Well over a million people were displaced during the Migration Period. Both barbarians and civilized Romans. After their defeat at Adrianople, the Romans sought to make a peaceful arrangement with the Visigoths. Lands in the eastern portion of the Roman Empire were granted to the Visigoths, and they were allowed to convert to Arianism, which was a type of Christ-oriented sect, but was a heresy because it did not acknowledge the Holy Trinity. Once the Visigoths became Arians, the Ostrogoths and the germanic Vandals followed suit. The Franks and Anglo-Saxons were pagans until they converted to Catholicism, Nicene Christianity. The pagan Huns were pushed out of Europe.



--The Conversion of Clovis, King of the Franks

Clovis (466 - 511) was a pagan king of the Franks, the barbarian tribe that had taken over the Roman province of Gaul. In historical terms, Clovis was the third King of France of the Merovingian dynasty.

The wife of Clovis was named Clotilda. She was a Catholic woman. Clotilda tried to convince Clovis to be baptized a Christian, but he refused. In the year 496, Clovis was at war with another tribe. That year, the Battle of Tolbiac took place between Clovis and his enemy. St. Gregory of Tours describes the events this way:

"It came about that as the two armies were fighting fiercely, there was much slaughter, and Clovis's army began to be in danger of destruction. He saw it and raised his eyes to heaven, and with remorse in his heart he burst into tears and cried: 'Jesus Christ, whom Clotilde asserts to be the son of the Living God, who art said to give aid to those in distress, and to bestow victory on those who hope in thee, I beseech the glory of thy aid, with the vow that if thou wilt grant me victory over these enemies, and I shall know that power which she says that people dedicated in thy name have had from thee, I will believe in thee and be baptized in thy name. For I have invoked my own gods but, as I find, they have withdrawn from aiding me; and therefore I believe that they possess no power, since they do not help those who obey them. I now call upon thee, I desire to believe thee only let me be rescued from my adversaries.' And when he said thus, the enemies turned their backs, and began to disperse in flight."

Clovis was baptized on Christmas, 496 at Reims by St. Remigius, bishop of that city, and three thousand of his warriors at the same time embracing Catholicism. According to the pious story, the chrism for the baptismal ceremony was missing and was brought from heaven in a vial borne by a dove. (Pious stories are as they are, though a God capable of creating the universe would surely be able to produce a phenomena as this. At any rate, the vial--called the Sainte Ampoule--was used to anoint French kings from the Middle Ages to time of the French Revolution.)

Thus, with the conversion of King Clovis, France eventually became Christian--under the Catholic Faith. Just twenty years after the fall of Rome, the pagan barbarians were converting to Catholicism. The barbarian Ostrogoths controlled Italy, and the barbarian Visigoths controlled Spain. They followed the Arian heresy. In Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire (sometimes called the Eastern Roman Empire) controlled much of eastern Europe. The Byzantines were Catholic until the 11th century, when a schism resulted in them embracing the Greek Orthodox faith, a second branch of Nicene Christianity. East of the Rhine and north of the Danube was Germania, where the tribes of pagan Germans lived.

St. Remigius. who baptized Clovis, was said by Alban Butler's "Lives of the Saints" to have the gift of miracles. Such supernatural phenomena may have influenced Clovis and the Franks to embrace Christianity with fervor. Some of these miracles were reported in the "Golden Legend" a chronicle of saints compiled by Blessed Jacobus de Voragine in the Middle Ages.

Before the birth of Remigius, the pagan Franks were conquering Gaul/France. The large Catholic population of Gaul felt threatened. A holy hermit, who lost his sight, had a vision of an angel. The visitor from heaven told the hermit that there was a woman named Aline who would give birth to a son who would save Catholic Gaul from persecution. And also, at the time of the boy's birth, the holy hermit would regain his sight. Aline gave birth to a boy named Remigius, and indeed the hermit was no longer blind.



--Ostrogoths, Italy, Justinian

Once the barbarian invasions of the city of Rome turned that city into chaos, the governing city of the Western Roman Empire was moved to Ravenna, a city near the northeastern shores of Italy. When the Ostrogoths took over Italy, Ravenna became their capital of the Kingdom of Italy.

Odoacer, leader of a branch of the eastern Goths, ended the Roman Empire in 476 by deposing its last emperor. Odoacer established the Kingdom of Italy, with its capital in Ravenna. His kingdom lasted 17 years, until the year 493. Although Catholicism was the religion of the populace majority, the ruling germanic minority was Arian. It was a monarchy, but Odoacer allowed the Roman Senate to continue on in an advisory role and also to serve in ministerial functions.

But the main body of Ostrogoths were on the move, heading toward Italy. Their new leader Theodoric had the support of the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople. Theodoric overwhelmed Odoacer, and upon marching into Ravenna Theodoric killed him with his own hands. So in 493 the Ostrogoth Empire was founded, with its capital in Ravenna. It lasted about sixty years. The Catholic Encyclopedia has this to say about Theodoric:

"Theodoric succeeded in establishing law and order in his lands; Roman art and literature flourished. He was tolerant towards the Catholic Church and did not interfere in dogmatic matters. He remained as neutral as possible towards the pope, though he exercised a preponderant influence in the affairs of the papacy. He and his people were Arians and Theodoric considered himself as protector and chief representative of the sect."

After Theodoric died, the Ostrogoths had a series of leaders who did not have the support of the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Emperor Justinian the Great and his general Belisarius waged a war against the Ostrogoths that lasted more than twenty years. By 555 A.D. Justinian's forces were victorious over the Ostrogoths. Justinian now was not only emperor in Constantinople, but also in Italy, Rome, and Ravenna. The emperor brought Catholicism back to the ruling elite of the Italian peninsula. (The populace was already Catholic.)

The Ostrogoths were decimated. As a people they virtually disappeared from the map. Ostrogothic Arianism no longer existed. It is said that a small remnant of Ostrogoths moved northward into the southern portions of Austria. By the Middle Ages these barbarians had become Catholic.



--The Conversion of the Visigoths in Spain

Before the Ostrogoths invaded Italy, the Visigoth barbarians had already left. They travelled to the northwest, and settled in southern Gaul (France) in the 460s. The Visigoth capital there was Toulouse. When King Clovis converted to Catholicism, he decided to push the Arians out of Gaul. The Visigoths were Arians. So Clovis took over that area in southern Gaul, and the Visigoths settled in Spain. Their capital there was Toledo.

The move to Spain had weakened Arianism among the Visigoths. By the middle of the 500s, Emperor Justinian had pretty much brought to an end Arianism among the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the Vandals in North Africa. In Spain, Arianism had its last stand under Visigoth King Leovigild (reign 568-86). It was his two sons, Hermenegild and Reccared, who brought Catholicism to Visigoth Spain.

Hermenegild married Ingunthis, a Catholic princess from Gaul. She worked to convert her husband to Catholicism. To this end, she received help from the bishop St. Leander of Seville, brother of St. Isadore of Seville. Hermenegild converted to Catholicism. His father became enraged, and on Easter 585 King Leovigild's son was beheaded for his Faith. That night a heavenly light came from Hermenegild's cell. According to Butler's Lives of the Saints, those who saw the light were convinced that it was a sign that Hermenegild was a martyr saint in heaven. St. Hermenegild is a saint of the Church; his feast day is April 13.

Within a year of martyring his older son, King Leovigild was critically ill, and on his own deathbed. He told his younger son, Prince Reccared to seek out St. Leander of Seville, who Leovigild had earlier banished from Visigoth Spain. Leovigild had died before St. Leander reached Spain again. But the saint found an attentive student in the son, now King Reccared of the Visigoths. By January 587, Reccared declared that he had converted to Catholicism. He believed with such fervor, that the Visigoth nation also converted.

The formal means of conversion was the Third Council of Toledo convened in 589. It was called by King Reccared, presided over by St. Leander of Seville, and composed of 72 bishops of Spain. The matters of discussion were the rejection of Arianism by the Visigoths, transference of the Arian bishops and clerics to their respective Catholic dioceses.

Before 350 A.D. the barbarian Goths were pagan. About this time the Arian Bishop Ulfilas created a written language for the Goths, which included its own alphabet representing the phonetic sounds of their spoken language. Ulfilas then translated the Bible into Gothic. The Visigoths and Ostrogoths converted to Arianism quickly, possibly because of the compelling promise Jesus made regarding God's Kingdom. Other Germanic tribes south of the Danube also converted to Arianism--the Vandals, the Burgundians, and the Lombards.

Arianism taught that Jesus Christ was a lesser being beneath God the Father. In some expressions of it, Arianism denied the Divinity of Jesus Christ. To be sure, it rejected the dogma of the Holy Trinity. When Ulfilas and other Arians converted the Goths, they no doubt felt they were Christianizing the pagan barbarians. But the Council of Nicaea of 325 and the Council of Constantinople of 381 strongly rejected Arianism. It was identified as heresy.

At the Third Council of Toledo in 589, King Reccared declared that God had inspired him to lead the Goths back to the true faith, namely Catholicism. Reccared reported that the Arian bishops had not been able to produce any miraculous healings, and by implication the Catholic bishops had. After a relevant theological discussion, a unanimous renunciation of Arianism by the bishops occurred. This was followed by a unanimous declaration of acceptance of Catholicism.

Christianity was now the national religion of Spain, under the Catholic Visigoths.



--The Burgundians and the Lombards

Two other Germanic peoples who settled in Europe south of the Danube also went through the progression of being originally pagan, then Arian, then Catholics. These were the Burgundians and the Lombards.

The Burgundians had been pushed around during the Migration Period, and did some pushing themselves. By 476 A.D., they had settled in a large section of southeastern Gaul (France). Sometime before, they had converted from being pagan to being Arians. Burgundian rulers switched back and forth from Arianism to Catholicism. By 534, the Burgundian were defeated by the Franks, who added Burgundy to the Frankish kingdoms. This then meant southeastern France would become primarily Catholic.

The Lombards had migrated south from Scandinavia to Italy in a zig-zag pattern. The Lombards controlled the largest share of Italy from 568 to 774. The Byzantines were unable to rule all Italy due to the effects of natural disaster, famine, and plague. The Lombards had a power vacuum that they were happy to fill. (Still, the Byzantines were able to control Rome, Ravenna, and southern Italy.) The Lombards were converted to Arianism while in the Danube area. Like the Burgundian rulers, the Lombard royalty switched back and forth between Arianism and Catholicism. One researcher has suggested that by the 690s "the Lombards were more or less completely Catholicised." The power situation was settled in 774 when Charlemagne conquered the Lombards, thus taking over Italy.

So France (Gaul) was converted to legitimate Christianity. Italy was converted. Spain was converted. Belgium, Luxemburg, and parts of the Netherlands were converted. By 600, Europe was beginning to take the form of Christendom.



--St. Benedict and St. Columba

Before moving further in the discussion of the Christianization of Europe, mention needs to be made of St. Benedict (480 - 548) and St. Columba (521 – 597). Both were abbots of monasteries, and in that capacity made major contributions the development Christian civilization.

St. Benedict was the son of a Roman nobleman, and born in Nursia, Italy several years after the official fall of Rome. His parents sent him to Rome for the ancient equivalent of a college education. Benedict was so disturbed by the licentiousness in Rome that he fled there, and settled in a cave to become a Christian hermit.

Other monks in the region became became jealous of Benedict's holiness, so much so that twice they tried to poison him. And twice, Benedict was saved by a miracle. First time, they poisoned his drink, but when he blessed the drink, the pottery cup broke into pieces in Benedict's hands. The second time, they poisoned his bread, but as he blessed the bread, a raven swept down, snatched the bread from Benedict's hands, and flew away with it.

The thing St. Benedict is most famous for is the founding of monasteries--particularly Monte Cassino in central Italy. Benedict organized the monastery for 100 to 200 monks, and he would be the abbot--leader. Here, the men would renounce the world, focus on heavenly things, and exert effort to become saintly. Life at the monastery centered on Prayer and Work. These endeavors of Benedict went on during time of Theodoric the Great the Ostrogoth and the Emperor Justinian in Italy.

A key feature of Benedict's organizing at the monastery at Monte Cassino was his writing of "The Rule of St. Benedict". In about 125 pages, his rule identified the primary features and requirements at the monastery. With this document, monks all over Europe had a handbook for setting up monasteries. And this way the Benedictine Order of monks was founded. Eventually, hundreds of Benedictine monasteries in every country in Europe.


St. Columba grew up in a different situation in Ireland. The Roman conquerors and the Anglo-Saxon barbarians had not reached Ireland. The ancient Irish were Celtic barbarians and pagans. This was true until St. Patrick converted them in the fifth century, a conversion that was full of ordeals and miracles. In the century that followed St. Patrick, Christian monasteries sprung up all over Ireland. In fact, the monasteries became the country's population centers, for there were no cities there yet. St. Columba, born in County Donegal, grew up being educated and ordained in Irish monasteries.

When he reached adulthood, St. Columba resolved to convert pagan Scotland to Christianity, particularly the Picts. Like St. Patrick, St. Columba appealed for the hand of God through ordeals and miracles in order to convert Scotland. These miracles of of the saint included raising the dead, calming wind and storm, and miraculous healings. St. Columba sought an audience with King Bridei of the Picts. The king barred the gates of his fortress to the Christian monk. St. Columba made the sign of the cross, and the gates miraculously opened. King Bridei was dumbfounded and agreed on the spot to be baptized. Columba later saw a vision of an angel, who told him to continue his missionary work.

The efforts of St. Columba inspired hundreds of Irish monks to found monasteries in Europe. Like Columba who began his work as abbot of a monastery on the Scottish island of Iona, these monks spread Christianity further and further southward on the continent. One even founded an Irish monastery in Bobbio, near Genoa in Italy.

The monasteries of both St. Benedict and St. Columba were centers of learning. They all had schools attached to them. And they all had scriptoriums where books were copied. So, from different ends of Europe, Benedictine and Columban monasteries were spreading both Christianity and advancements of civilization.

Another thing that the monasteries did was to spread information about the Catholic saints. The veneration of the saints was derived from their holiness and in the miracles associated with them. Miracles happening in their own time served to bolster the faith of people in the Dark Ages. St. Benedict himself prayed to God for the restoration of life for a boy who had just died, and the boy did come back to life. The common people knew of such stories, and their faith in God and their veneration for St. Benedict both increased. And the common people could model themselves after the holiness of the saints--again, holy people in their own time gave regular people in the Dark Ages inspiration to be holy themselves.

St. Dymphna is an example of a saint from the Dark Ages. She is the patron saint of the mentally ill. Dymphna was the Christian daughter of a petty Irish king in the 7th century. The king's wife died, and he became despondent. Dymphna resembled the deceased wife, and the king began to desire his daughter. She knew this was a sin, fled Ireland, and settled in Geel, Belgium. Dymphna's father, taken over by madness, followed her all the way to Geel. When she would not return with him to Ireland, he was filled with rage, and with a sword struck her with a fatal blow.

The people of Geel built a chapel in Dymphna's honor. Pilgrims began to visit. Soon miraculous cures of people with mental illness occurred at the chapel. People with mental illness from all over were brought to Geel for care, with many cures. The patients were boarded with townspeople. By 1930, some 4,000 mentally ill boarders were staying in Geel households at one time. There is now a popular novena to St. Dymphna for people with mental ilness.



--Pope Gregory the Great and the Conversion of Anglo-Saxon England

St. Gregory the Great (540 – 604), Pope from 590 till his death, was born in Rome of a noble family. His father was a Roman Senator and the Prefect of Rome, the city's chief administrator. Gregory did very well in his formal education. He was in preparation for a career in public life. Indeed, he became a government official, advancing quickly in rank to become, like his father, Prefect of Rome, the highest civil office in the city, when only thirty-three years old. Gregory's family owned a villa not far from the Palatine Hill in Rome. Upon his father's death, Gregory converted the family villa into a Benedictine monastery, where he became the abbot.

In his movement forward in a spiritual life, St. Gregory had frequent visions of angels from heaven, and of our Lord Jesus himself. More and more, Gregory gave alms to the poor. Gregory became ordained, and the pope at that time sent Gregory on diplomatic missions--even as far as Constantinople. And eventually Gregory was chosen as pope himself.

During St. Gregory's pontificate there was a terrible plague in Rome. Gregory ordered a procession in which he carried a painting of of the Virgin Mary. As the the procession neared Hadrian's Mausoleum near the Vatican, the voices of angels could be heard singing "Regina Caeli, Laetare". Then St. Gregory saw a vision of St. Michael the Archangel atop Hadrian's Mausoleum. After this, the plague was over and the mortality ceased. Hadrian's Mausoleum was built in 139 A.D. to house the remains of the Emperor Hadrian and his family. The building still exists, and is now called the Castel Sant'Angelo. A huge statue of an angel stands atop of it.

At one point, Gregory saw some captive Anglo-Saxons at the Roman Forum, and he never forgot them. When he became pope, Gregory was determined to Christianize the pagan Anglo-Saxons. "The native Britons had converted to Christianity under Roman rule. The Anglo-Saxon invasions separated the British church from European Christianity for centuries, so the church in Rome had no presence or authority in Britain, and in fact, Rome knew so little about the British church that it was unaware of any schism in customs." The pagan Anglo-Saxons were a ruling elite in Britain. Gregory wanted this military power elite to be baptized.

The mission Pope Gregory the Great sent to England was comprised of forty monks. The leader was the prior of Gregory's Benedictine monastery in Rome, Augustine--later canonized St. Augustine of Canterbury. In 597 the monks met with Æthelberht, King of Kent and holder of the imperium over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The discussion was held under an oak tree. Whatever Augustine said or did, it was very impressive to King Æthelberht. The king was not ready to convert yet, but the monks could preach all over England, minister to the people, and Augustine could take up residence in a mansion in Canterbury.

St. Augustine of Canterbury was able to perform miracles in the name of Jesus, and many were baptized. King Æthelberht heard of this and went Augustine to hear more preaching. After the sermon, the king fell at Augustine's feet and asked to be baptized. With the king christened, on Christmas Day ten thousand Anglo-Saxon men plus their women and children were baptized. And then a church was built for the worship of God.

But the Anglo-Saxons did not all convert easily. Miracles and ordeals were important in convincing them that the Almighty God of the Christians was more powerful than their pagan gods. Augustine was able to cure in the name of Jesus a man with leprosy and a man who was lame and deaf and dumb. At one point a man who had been dead 150 years rose from grave and asked Augustine's blessing. Augustine prayed and the man returned to the grave and was at peace.

The miraculous ordeals that Augustine of Canterbury had with the Anglo-Saxons is described in The Golden Legend. In one Anglo-Saxon town there were "wicked people who refused his doctrine and preaching utterly and drove him out of the town". Augustine looked to heaven for an answer to the situation, and the people in the town were marked with a deformity. Once the people there repented and had Augustine baptize them, their deformities went away.

Another miraculous ordeal of Augustine happened in an Anglo-Saxon town where his preaching met with loud scorning and mocking. Almighty God responded by inflicting upon them a burning invisible fire such "that their skin was red as blood, and suffered so great pain that they were constrained to come and ask forgiveness of St. Augustine". The saint "prayed to God for them that they might be acceptable to Him and receive baptism and that He would release their pain, and then he christened them and that burning heat was quenched and they were made perfectly whole, and felt never after more thereof".

These miracles and supernatural ordeals had an impact over time on the Anglo-Saxons. And Pope Gregory the Great sent another group of Benedictine monks to England in order to reach the people. By the time King Alfred the Great of Wessex became overall king of the Anglo-Saxons in 886, the Anglo-Saxons had pretty much all become Christian. So much so that the Anglo-Saxons had converted a Viking king named Guthrum. And in the previous century, Anglo-Saxon monks of the Benedictine Order formed a missionary journey into Germany to convert pagan peoples there to Christianity. One such Anglo-Saxon missionary monk named Winfrid became known as St. Boniface.



--St. Boniface and the Christianization of Germany

St. Boniface began as an Anglo-Saxon monk in a Benedictine monastery in England. His Anglo-Saxon name originally was Winfrid, but the Pope renamed him after a Roman-era martyr. Boniface was offered the position of abbot of the monastery, but he felt drawn to apostolic work.

His first missionary work was in Friesland, in northern Holland in 716. However, warfare between the Frisian king and Charles Martel of the Franks interfered with his mission, so Boniface withdrew. However, it was always in his mind to complete his missionary work with the Frisians. But his work expanded to the German-speaking peoples east of the River Rhine, to the point that Boniface became known as "Apostle to the Germans".

For almost forty years, Boniface labored for God in Germany. In that time he visited Rome three times to get direction and clarification from the Pope. He also had close connections with the Franks, who were bringing large parts of Germany into their empire. Boniface preached in Bavaria, Hesse, Thuringia, the Palatine near the Rhine, areas of Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, and other German-speaking regions. He ministered baptism, the Eucharist, and the other sacraments. He enlisted other men for holy orders, and made appointments of bishops throughout Germany. Boniface arranged for the building of churches, monasteries, and chapels where the worship of God took place.

The fierce Saxons lived in Germania north of Hesse and Thuringia and further west. They were independent, staunchly pagan, and the chief rivals of the Franks. Boniface asked the Pope if he could do missionary work among the Saxons. The Pope said no. The Franks didn't have enough control in Saxony, and he feared that he would lose Boniface, his primary missionary in all of Germania.

Boniface would frequently destroy pagan sacred places and replace them with Christian shrines. One pivotal example was the Donar Oak in 731 in northern Hesse. Donar (Donner) was the god of thunder in Rhineland German paganism. He was known as Thor in Viking paganism. Christian missionaries likened him to the Roman god Jupiter. The oak was a sacred tree among the German pagans, and the Donar Oak was of particular importance. The pagans believed that Donar would kill with a thunderbolt anyone who harmed the tree. Boniface announced that he would chop down the Donar Oak. He got an axe and began chopping. Villagers were amazed that lightening did not strike him. Then, as if by a miracle, a strong wind knocked down the Donar Oak. The villagers concluded that Almighty God of the Christians was more powerful than their pagan gods. A multitude sought out baptism as the story of Donar's Oak spread all over Germania. Boniface took the wood from Donar's Oak to build a Christian chapel on the spot. Today there stands the cathedral of Fritzlar.

In 745, the Pope made Boniface the Archbishop of Mainz in western Germany. Boniface was also made the Primate of Germany. Boniface then had the authority to more easily organize the Christianization of Germania. For instance, he had organizational authority over existing over existing diocese there, and he had authority to form new diocese. The Pope gave Boniface the authority to appoint bishops over the diocese in Germany. These bishops would then appoint priests to build churches to minister the sacraments throughout their diocese. The people in Germany would have a Church to turn to as they set aside paganism.

Since his younger days, Boniface had the desire to convert the Frisians of northern Holland to Christianity. The Pope agreed to let Boniface have a second try with the pagan Frisians. In 754, Boniface and 52 companions began doing their missionary work with the Frisians, and a lot of conversions were happening. But, when they were in a wooded area, they were attacked by a huge band of pagan brigands. Boniface and his followers were slayed. St. Boniface is a martyr of the Church. The Frisians became Christians when Charlemagne conquered them some fifty years later.



--Charlemagne, Christendom, and Civilization

Charlemagne (747 – 814) was King of the Franks and then the first Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He was the son of Pepin the Short, King of the Franks from 751 to 768, the first king of Carolingian Dynasty. And Charlemagne was grandson of Charles Martel, who was Prince of the Franks under the Merovingian dynasty of kings, and who stopped the Muslims at the Battle of Tours in 732. Charlemagne became king in 768.

On Christmas Day in the year 800, Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Pope Leo III placed the crown on his head at old St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican in Rome. He was also King of the Franks, but he was not a barbarian, as was his predecessor Clovis. Charlemagne was civilized. He had a palace of dressed stone in Aachen, with a beautiful Byzantine-style chapel there. The palace had a school of advanced learning, chaired by Alcuin from England, the leading scholar of the day. What Charlemagne represented was a successive shift throughout Europe from barbarism to civilization.

Perhaps more than any other person, Charlemagne was a unifier of Europe. The European countries we know today began to take shape under Charlemagne. The areas he conquered became Christian. It was under Charlemagne that Christendom flourished. A continent where pagan barbarism ruled four centuries before, now under Charlemagne was governed by Christian civilization. There were now two emperors of Christendom. The Byzantine Emperor of the East--Nikephoros I in Constantinople. And Charlemagne in Paris and Aachen--the Emperor of the West.

A generation after St. Boniface, Germania began to take shape under Charlemagne. He conquered the Saxons in 782. Bavaria submitted. The Frisians were conquered in 785. The Lombards were quelled. The two areas of Europe that had become unstable were Spain and Eastern Europe.



--The Second Wave of Barbarian Invasions

During the 7th and 8th centuries a second wave of pagan barbarian invasions shook Europe. These came from the east and the north, possibly caused by migrations and population pressures. The Magyar-Huns pushed into Europe from east of the Caspian Sea. The Slavs settled eastern Europe, in Russia, Poland, Czechoslovakia. Dalmatia, Romania, and other areas. The Bulgars were from the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region before pushing into Europe. The Vikings came down through the waterways from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.



--Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the Apostles to the Slavs

Any discussion of the conversion of the Slavic peoples from paganism to Christianity would need early on to describe the missionary work of Saints Cyril and Methodius. These two brothers have been declared by the Church as the "Apostles to the Slavs". And Pope John Paul II declared them co-patron saints of Europe, together with St. Benedict. Cyril and Methodius were born in Thessalonica, Greece in the early 800s. They became priests, and they were connected with the predecessor school of the Imperial University of Constantinople,

Cyril and Methodius recognized the importance of communicating to Slavic peoples in their own language. To this end, they created the Cyrillic Alphabet, which had letters to represent unique sounds in the Slavic languages. The Cyrillic Alphabet is still used in numerous Slavic countries today. Cyril and Methodius next translated the New Testament, the Book of Psalms, and other parts of the Old Testament into the Slavic language by means of the Cyrillic Alphabet. Finally, they translated the liturgy and other church rituals into the Slavic language.

The Great Moravia was the first Slavic polity to form. It arose in the early 800s from the unification of Slavic tribes in the Danube area, just north of the the river. The Great Moravia consisted of the present-day countries of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and parts of present countries surrounding these two. Three strong successive rulers of the Great Moravia were--Mojmir I, Rastislav, and Svatopluk I. Their chief pagan god was Perun, Slavic god of thunder and war. But the leaders of the Great Moravia became curious about Christianity. So missionaries from the Archbishop of Salzburg and a Bishop in Bavaria came to preach to them.

An interesting pattern was developing. In about 600 A.D., Pope Gregory the Great sent Roman missionaries to convert pagan England. The mission was a success. In the 700s, English missionaries worked to convert the pagan Germans to Christianity. The mission was a success. In the 800s, German missionaries sought to convert the pagan Slavic peoples.

Problems arose though. The Slavs in the Great Moravia wanted to stick to their own language, not the Latin of the missionaries. King Rastislav complained to the Pope, but got no response. Rastislav then sent a request to the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople and the Archbishop of Constantinople for Christian missionaries who spoke the Slavic tongue. Cyril and Methodius were chosen. They knew a Slavic dialect spoken in Thessalonica, from the time of their youth.

In 863, Cyril and Methodius began their mission with the Slavic peoples in the Great Moravia. They had considerable success in terms of conversions. Along with their translation of holy books into the Slavic language, the brothers wrote the first Slavic Civil Code, which was used in Great Moravia. By 873, the Pope had made Methodius the Archbishop in the Great Moravia and Pannonia, and Serbia as well. Cyril and Methodius sought to remain in good graces with the Pope and Rome. Earlier there had been a mass baptism of Moravians by a German bishop in 831. And in 846, King Rastislav of the Great Moravia had been baptized.

Still there was tension between the western Christians and the Byzantine Christians. The followers of Cyril and Methodius moved their missionary interest to the land of the Bulgars, further east. The Bulgars were nomadic Turkic invaders from Kazakhstan. King Boris I (d. 907) of the Bulgars was interested in the Slavic translations done by Cyril and Methodius, and wanted a written language for his people. And indeed, the Turkic Bulgar minority assimilated into the Slavic majority--today Bulgaria is a Slavic-speaking country.

The chief pagan god of the Bulgars was named Tengri. But King Boris became curious about Christianity. His sister had converted to Christianity. A famine struck the Bulgar Kingdom. Boris called on the pagan god Tengri to end the famine. No help was forthcoming. Then Boris begged help from the Almighty God of Christianity, the God his sister spoke of. The famine lifted quickly. Prior to this, Christian missionaries had been martyred in Bulgaria. Now Cyril and Methodius's followers had an ear with King Boris. One Christian monk drew a picture of the Last Judgment that terrified Boris, and he sought baptism. In 864, King Boris of Bulgaria was christened into the Christian Church.

King Boris was exuberant on the matter of conversion. He had all pagan worship sites destroyed, and replaced with Christian shrines. Some 52 boyars from all over Bulgaria went into an open revolt. A huge angry crowd of warriors surrounded the royal palace with the intent to kill Boris. The king and his companions were hopelessly outnumbered. They went out to meet their adversaries. Then a miracle happened.

When the gates opened King Boris and companions were "under the sign of the cross". Suddenly seven clergy figures appeared in front of them with lit candles. "Then the rebellious crowd was afflicted with a strange illusion. They imagined that the palace was on fire and was about to fall on their heads, and that the horses of the king and his followers were walking erect on their hind feet and kicking them with their fore hooves. Subdued by mortal terror, they could neither flee nor prepare to strike; they fell prostrate on the ground."

So ended the rebellion. Word of the miracle spread. People in Bulgaria became Christians, and put away the pagan gods. King Boris was serious about Christianity. Before long he abdicated, and he became a Christian monk. Over the centuries, Bulgaria grew close to the Eastern Orthodox Church, and its liturgy was in the Bulgarian Slavic language.



--Christianity Comes to Russia

Russia traced its statehood to Prince Rurik's arrival to Novgorod in 862. By 980, Grand Prince Vladimir the Great had consolidated the Rus realm from modern-day Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine to the Baltic Sea. Vladimir was a thoroughgoing pagan, taking eight hundred concubines, erecting pagan shrines to Slavic gods. In Kiev, he erected statues to seven Slavic gods and goddesses--Perun, Stribog, Dazhd'bog, Mokosh, Khors, Simargl, and Veles.

There were Christian missionaries in Russia from 867 on. In about 945, the ruling regent, Olga of Kiev, visited Constantinople with a certain priest, Gregory. Her reception at the imperial court was ceremonious. Olga was baptized in Constantinople. She requested a bishop and many priests for Kiev. Olga was the grandmother of Grand Prince Vladimir the Great.

Vladimir's father-ruler Sviatoslav remained a pagan his whole life. However, Vladimir's half-brother Yaropolk was curious about Christianity, and went through some preliminary rites of baptism. But Vladimir, while still a pagan, had Yaropolk killed over succession issues. When Vladimir became ruler, Perun was chosen as the supreme deity of the Slavic pantheon and his wooden idol was placed on the hill by the royal palace.

There isn't agreement on the motive, but eight years into Vladimir's reign he decided he wanted to become a Christian. In 988, Vladimir was baptized a Christian by an Eastern Orthodox cleric with connections to Constantinople. Back in Kiev, Vladimir exhorted the residents to be baptized in the Dnieper river. What resulted was a huge mass baptism. Then the newly baptized people destroyed the statues of the pagan gods in Kiev, and threw the statue of Perun into the river.

It took over a century for Christianity to displace paganism in Russia. Whatever his original motive was, after baptism Vladimir the Great lived the teachings of Christianity. He was known for his acts of charity. He distributed food to the poor. He had the desire to share the burden of those carrying a cross of suffering. He founded churches, schools, and introduced ecclesiastical courts.

Vladimir valued the application of the Cyrillic alphabet to Russian, a Slavic language. He implemented the Byzantine law code into his territories after his conversion.



--The Conversion of Poland

The Slavic peoples settled in Poland in the 400s A.D., in lands vacated by Germans who feared the onslaught of Attila and the Huns. They originated in regions of the upper and middle Dnieper River. Their chief god was Svetovit, a Slavic god depicted with four heads, a horn, and a sword. Svetovit was a western Slavic god of abundance and war.

The first arrival of Christian missionaries in Poland was in the late 800s. The Poles did not much appreciate the German missionaries. The influence of The Great Moravia was important in bringing Christianity to Poland. Indeed a large segment of southern Poland had been part of the Great Moravia. The fall of Great Moravia resulted in the expansion of the Czech or Bohemian state, which incorporated some of the Polish lands. The Poles and the Czechs made an alliance that carried over in the area of religion.

Wenceslaus I was the Duke of Bohemia. His grandfather had been converted by Cyril and Methodius, and his mother had been converted to Christianity. Wenceslaus had led a life of heroic virtue, and after he was assassinated in 935, he was made a saint of the Church and a patron of the Czech nation. Boleslaus I, brother of Wenceslaus, was the successor ruler. He became important in Polish history because his daughter married the first ruler of Poland.

Mieszko I (930 – 992) was the first ruler of Poland and the founder of the first independent Polish state, the Duchy of Poland. Mieszko was a pagan, and venerated Slavic gods. He married Dobrawa of Bohemia, daughter of the Bohemian Duke. Dobrawa was a Christian. In 966, Mieszko himself was baptized. This marks the beginning of statehood of Poland.

The first Bishop of Poland was appointed by the Pope two years later, in 968, And in the the year 1000 an Archbishop in Poland was appointed. Mieszko made Christianity the state religion of Poland. Nevertheless, most of the Polish population remained pagan until the early 11th century. In the early stages the clergy was from the western European countries, though in three or four generations the Polish themselves were able to take over that role. "By the 13th century Roman Catholicism had become the dominant religion throughout Poland."



--Conversion of the Magyar-Huns

The Magyar-Huns were an Asiatic people from the Ural Mountains and Kazakhstan region. Due to pressures from the East, they conquered and settled in lands in the middle Danube region. By 895 the Magyar-Huns were established in eastern Europe. They were pagans who worshiped the stars and fire. They also worshiped the Lord of the Sky, whose name was Tengri. They had sacrifices in groves and springs. The Magyars also revered a huge mythological hawk called the Turul.

A paramount chieftain of the Magyars (or the grand prince) was always a member of the Árpád dynasty. The everyday Magyars believed that the Arpad dynasty descended from the Turul, the legendary bird prey. Magyar chieftains visited Constantinople in the middle of the 900s. One of them named Bulcsú was baptized in 948. Hungarian Grand Prince Géza became curious about Christianity. In 972 the Western Emperor Otto I dispatched Bishop Bruno to Hungary, and he baptized Geza. However, Géza and his wife, Sarolt, remained partially pagan, offering sacrifices to pagan gods even baptism.

St. Stephen of Hungary was the only son of Grand Prince Geza and his wife Sarolt. Stephen's pagan name was Vajk. He was baptized at age 10, and he became a very devout Christian. He married the Christian woman, Gisela of Bavaria. When Geza died, Stephen became the Grand Prince of Hungary. Stephen was active in shutting down pagan shrines.

So this was the first devout Christian ruler of Hungary. Stephen so moved European powers that they coronated him King of Hungary in the year 1000 A.D. (The first King of Poland was coronated at about the same time.) "Stephen started the systematic Christianization of Hungary. He established at least eight bishoprics and six monasteries, making magnanimous grants to them. The Archbishopric of Esztergom was established in 1001. Stephen founded four the Benedictine monasteries. He ordered the collection of the tithe, a church tax, for the clergy, and opened Hungary for pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land." Stephen's law book held that every ten villages were to build a church.

Stephen preferred Roman Catholicism to the other forms of Christianity. Even today in Hungary, there are more Roman Catholics than other Christian denominations. St. Stephen was the ruler of Hungary for about forty years. And after he died, the Church canonized him a saint. His feast day is August 15.



--The Vikings Accept Christianity

Around the year 800, the Vikings began raiding the coastal regions of Europe. The Vikings were known for their barbarity and disruption of civilized communities. Traversing waterways, they were able to raid inland cities such as Paris. Originating in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, the Vikings founded communities in Ireland, England, Normandy, Iceland, and Greenland. They were feisty pagans, believing in a pantheon of gods. Their chief god was Odin, and other gods included Thor, Tyr, Loki, and Frigg.

St. Ansgar (801 – 865) is called the "Apostle of the North" because of his missionary efforts to bring the Vikings to Christianity. Ansgar believed strongly that it was God's will that he convert the people of Viking lands. The earliest moves to bring Christianity to the Vikings were in the 830s, when Ansgar built a church among the Danes at Hedeby, and a church among the Swedes at Birka. The goals of conversion that were held by Ansgar were not realized in his lifetime, but they did become real over time. "The conversion of Scandinavian kings occurred over the period 960–1020."

Denmark was the first Viking country to become Christian. By the early 11th century, certainly during the reign of St. Canute (1080 - 1086), Denmark can be said to be a Christian country. King Harald Bluetooth (reign 958 – 986) introduced Christianity to Denmark. "Harald Bluetooth converted to Christianity, reportedly when the Frisian monk Poppo held a fire-heated lump of iron in his hand without injury." (There is a pattern worth noting. The pagan peoples, who had been resistant to Christian conversion, within a century were doing missionary work with the next group of pagan barbarians to have arrived. Reference--Poppo the Frisian monk.)

Norway's King Haakon the Good made the first attempt to bring Christianity to that country in the tenth century, A second unsuccessful attempt to bring Christianity to Norway was made by King Harald Greyhide (935 – 970). Danish King Harald Bluetooth became ruler of Norway for a while, and he also tried and failed to bring Christianity to Norway. After 995, King Olaf I of Norway made another more successful effort to convert the Norwegian Vikings. It wasn't until King Olaf II Haraldsson (995 – 1030), or St. Olaf, that Norway became a Christian country, and paganism came to an end there.

In Sweden, the Vikings vacillated between paganism and Christianity for 150-200 years. The first missionary effort in Sweden was made by St. Ansgar in 830. He set up a church in Birka. The first Christian king of Sweden was Olof Skötkonung (c. 980–1022). King Olof and the pagan priests at Uppsala made an agreement of mutual toleration. Pagans were still strong in Sweden, until the country was officially Christianized by the 12th century,

Iceland was a Viking country after the pagan Norse settled there in 9th century. Before that, it was occupied by Irish monks. There had been tension between the Christian and pagan factions. The question came before the Althing in 1000 AD--that was legislative body in Iceland. It was decided that Iceland would become a Christian country, though paganism could be practiced in private.

The Vikings were the last of the barbarian people in Europe to become Christian. "The realms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden established their own Archdioceses, responsible directly to the Pope, in 1104, 1154 and 1164, respectively." Then, the diocese set up parish churches, and trained and ordained parish priests. Now, almost ten centuries later, the Viking countries are some of the peaceful and civilized people in the world.



--Concluding Comments

Christendom became the outcome of the missionary drive that followed the barbarian invasions after the fall of Rome. The Dark Ages lasted about five hundred years. At the beginning of the Dark Ages it appeared that civilization was destroyed, and that barbarism would dominate the future. But as one barbarian tribe after another accepted Christianity, the glow of civilization began to brighten. By the 11th century, Christendom and civilization had a hold on almost all of Europe.

One exception to this pattern was Spain, where the Muslim sword of conquest sought to establish an inroad into Europe. It worked in Spain until 1492, when the Muslims were finally pushed back into North Africa. It would absurd to think of the Muslims as barbarians. They had achieved some level of civilization while Europe was still in the Dark Ages. It was the Muslim thirst for conquest in Spain, North Africa, the Holy Land, and the Byzantine Empire, that was objectionable--places where Christianity was firmly established, places that already had a higher level of religious development.

How did Christendom come to be? In the year 476 A.D., Europe was overrun by marauding tribes of pagan barbarians. In the year 1000 A.D., Europe was comprised of Christian farmers and lords set up in feudal configurations. The barbarians didn't disappear--they became the church-going feudal lords and farmers. How did this happen? This historical essay demonstrates that tribe after tribe of barbarians converted to Christianity. A remarkable phenomenon! I don't believe this could have happened without the Hand of God guiding it.

Along with Christendom, came the reestablishment of civilization. By the end of Dark Ages came the development of places of learning like universities. During the Dark Ages, the establishment of monasteries brought libraries of books and scriptoriums where books were copied. Reading and writing became more widespread, as evidenced by the writing of chronicles and new works of literature in the vernacular. There was more stability; there weren't bands of barbarians pillaging and plundering. Life as a serf/farmer was not idyllic, but the social stability meant that there was more security for the common man. As new towns and villages formed in the more stable environment, people had more access to things of interest.

Being something of a humanist of the type of St. Thomas More, I am glad that four hundred years after the end of the Dark Ages, the Renaissance flowered in the history of mankind. Such a wonderful development in my view. Advancements in art, literature, music, architecture, knowledge, and progress in city life. But one wonders if Spiritual advances were more prominent during the Dark Ages. There were fewer distractions from worldly things then, and one could focus more on God and heavenly things. Were there more saintly people during the Dark Ages? I wonder.

The hand of God, I believe through Faith, combines with Providence to guide history over time. When the acts of man go haywire, God gives mankind a chance to correct things, and then the hand of God moves in to bring the situation to a good resolution. The Dark Ages are an example of this. It was a very hard time. But eventually the hand of God brought hope through the establishment of Christianity throughout all of Europe. Then in a later time, in the Americas, and in parts of Asia, Africa and Australasia. This hope includes the better parts of civilization and a happy afterlife. God, the Lord of History, moves mankind in a good direction over time. To believe this is often a matter of Faith.



--Sources



Stewart C. Easton. The Western Tradition to 1500. (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1966).

A Journey through Western Christianity: from Persecuted Faith to Global Religion (200 - 1650). by Yale University. Internet course from Prof. Bruce Gordon. https://www.coursera.org/learn/western-christianity-200-1650/home/welcome

Church History: Complete Documentary AD 33 to Present on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFIXMM1KWyc&list=LL&index=24&t=2402s

The Catholic Encyclopedia--St. Hermengild, Justinian I, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, St. Leander of Seville, St. Boniface, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Moravia,

Wikipedia--Theodoric the Great, Ostrogoths, Clovis I, Battle of Tolbiac, Odoacer, King of Italy, Hermenegild, Migration Period, Arianism, Ulfilas, Fritigern, List of aqueducts in the city of Rome,Leander of Seville, Reccared I, Third Council of Toledo, Gothic alphabet, Columba, Pope Gregory I, Dymphna, Æthelberht of Kent, Augustine of Canterbury, Paulinus of York, Gregorian mission, Alfred the Great, Saint Boniface, Donar's Oak, Charlemagne, Pepin the Short, Saxons, Massacre of Verden, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Mojmir I of Moravia, Bulgarians, Bulgars, Christianization of Bulgaria, Tengri, Kievan Rus' , Christianization of Kievan Rus' , Millennium of Russia, Poland in the Early Middle Ages, Wenceslaus I Duke of Bohemia, Mieszko I, Hungarians, History of Christianity in Hungary, Ansgar, Christianization of Scandinavia, Norway, Christianity in Norway, Christendom, Golden Legend, Francia, Human sacrifice, Germany

Lives of the Saints https://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/lots/index.htm

The Golden Legend https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/goldenlegend/index.asp

New World Encyclopedia https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/

Los Angeles Times article on St. Dympha https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-14/praying-with-st-dymphna-the-patron-saint-of-mental-health

Article on St. Columba https://www.thenational.scot/news/19288820.st-columbas-miracles-helped-turn-scotland-hub-christianity/

The Early History of the Bulgarians https://www.bulgariandiocese.org/bulgarianchurchhx

Christianity comes to Denmark https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-viking-age/religion-magic-death-and-rituals/christianity-comes-to-denmark/

12 years of education from Dominican nuns.

More to come

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TIMELINE

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TIMELINE



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PREDYNASTIC (ca. 4000-3000 B.C.)



Naqada culture I (Amratian) (ca. 4000 - 3600 B.C.) centers in the village of Naqada, north of Thebes, on the Nile in southern Egypt. Names in parentheses stand for locations of cemeteries. Trade with Nubia, Western Desert oases, and Eastern Mediterranean. Obsidian from Ethiopia. Black-topped and painted pottery. Neolithic.

Naqada culture II (Gerzean) (ca. 3600 - 3150 B.C.) Scorpion King--first ruler of southern Egypt, around 3200 BC. Represented throughout Egypt. First marl pottery, and metalworking.

Naqada culture III (Semainean) (ca. 3150 - 3000 B.C.) Dynasty 0. More elaborate grave goods, first Pharaohs. Cylindrical jars. Writing.

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EARLY DYNASTIC (ca. 3000 - 2675 B.C.)

Dynasty 1 (ca. 3000 - 2800 B.C.) 9 pharaohs. Narmer--believed to be the same person as Menes and to have unified Upper and Lower Egypt. Egyptian hieroglyphs were fully developed by then, and their shapes would be used with little change for more than three thousand years. Power was centered at Thinis. Human sacrifice was practiced as part of the funerary rituals associated with all of the pharaohs of the first dynasty.

Dynasty 2 (ca. 2800 - 2675 B.C.) 10 pharaohs. The seat of government was centered at Thinis. For the first three pharaohs, sources are fairly close in agreement, then agreement breaks down. Not much is known about this dynasty. Brick-made mastabas were the burial architecture in the first two dynasties.

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OLD KINGDOM (ca. 2675 - 2130 B.C)

Dynasty 3 (ca. 2675 - 2625 B.C.) 5 pharaohs. The first King of the Old Kingdom was Djoser of the Third Dynasty, who ordered the construction of a Step Pyramid in Memphis' necropolis, Saqqara. An important person during the reign of Djoser was his vizier, Imhotep. Dynasty 3 was the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom The capital during the period of the Old Kingdom was at Memphis, in the north. Djoser divided Egypt into 42 provinces, called nomes. At the head of each nome was a provincial governor, called a nomarch.

Dynasty 4 (ca. 2625 - 2500 B.C) 6 pharaohs. Period of pyrimid building. Peace and prosperity. Sneferu c. 2600 B.C built three experimental pyrimids, including the Red Pyramid. He was considered a pious and generous pharaoh. Khufu or Cheops c. 2575 B.C built the Great Pyramid of Giza. The Westcar Papyrus. Djedefre c. 2555 B.C-- some scholars believe he created the Great Sphinx of Giza as a monument for his deceased father. Khafre c. 2535 B.C builder of the second largest in Giza. Menkaure c. 2510 B.C builder of third and smallest in Giza.

Dynasty 5 (ca. 2500 - 2350 B.C.) 9 pharaohs. Userkaf c 2490 B.C built a solar temple in Abusir. Djedkare c. 2400 B.C introduced comprehensive reforms of the Egyptian administration. Longest reign in dynasty. Pyramid of Unas c. 2350 B.C is inscribed with the earliest instance of the pyramid texts. Expeditions were sent to Wadi Maghareh and Wadi Kharit in the Sinai to mine for turquoise and copper, and to quarries northwest of Abu Simbel for gneiss. Trade expeditions were sent south to Punt (perhaps Somaliland) to obtain malachite, myrrh, and electrum, and archeological finds at Byblos attest to diplomatic expeditions sent to that Phoenician city. Sed festivals.

Dynasty 6 (ca. 2350 - 2170 B.C) 7 pharaohs. Perhaps last effective dynasty of the Old Kingdom. The religious institution had established itself as the dominant force in society; a trend of growth in the bureaucracy and the priesthood, and a decline in the pharaoh's power had been established. Officials were endowed with greater authority—eventually leading to the creation of a feudal system in effect. Decentralization of authority, coupled with growth in bureaucracy. The most notable pharaoh of this dynasty was Pepi II c. 2200 B.C , who is credited with a reign of 94 years. The pharaohs sent trade expeditions south to Punt and north to Byblos, and expeditions not only to these locations, but also as far as Ebla in modern-day Syria. Cattle tax.

Dynasties 7-8 (ca. 2170 - 2130 B.C.) What all the experts agree on is that the centralized power of the pharaohs dissipated during this period. Power was diverted to the provincial governors (the nomarchs) and the priestly class. The pharaos rapidly turned over, their tenures became short. Depending on which ancient chronicler you are willing to believe, there were 70 kings in 70 days (Africanus) or 5 kings in 75 days (Eusebius). Whichever, the golden age of the Old Kingdom could not hold up in this chaos and Egypt fell apart into strong and weak provinces.

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FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (ca. 2130 - 1980 B.C.)

Dynasties 9-10 (ca. 2130 - 1970 B.C.) By this time, upper and Egypt were no longer united. No pharaoh governed all of Egypt. Provincial governors competed like warlords to see if they could become pharaoh. None could during this First Intermediate Period. For instance, the 9th Dynasty was founded at Herakleopolis Magna, and the 10th Dynasty continued there. This city was the capital of the 20th nome of ancient Upper Egypt, and its nomarchs declared themselves kings--but did not become pharaohs of all Egypt. This pattern held in the Tenth Dynasty.

Dynasty 11, Part I (ca. 2081 - 1980 B.C.) Perhaps 5 nomarchs in succession in the Intermediate Period. Intef the Elder was a Theban nomarch considered a founding figure of the 11th Dynasty. Members of his dynasty were able to defeat the other warlord nomarchs and unify upper and lower Egypt, and become pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom.

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MIDDLE KINGDOM (ca. 1980 - 1630 B.C.)

Dynasty 11, Part II (ca. 1980 - 1938 B.C.) 3 pharaohs. Mentuhotep II reunites Eqypt. The kings of the Eleventh Dynasty ruled from Thebes, in the south of Egypt. Mentuhotep II sent renewed expeditions to Phoenicia to obtain cedar. Sankhkara Mentuhotep III sent an expedition from Coptos south to the land of Punt. So the monarchy moved from Memphis in the north to Thebes in the south. This had ramifications in later temple-building, as in the magnificent temples at Karnak and Luxor near Thebes. The Valley of the Kings near Thebes later became the pharaohs' burial place, as opposed to the Old Kingdom pyramids near Memphis in the north.

Dynasty 12 (ca. 1938 - 1759 B.C.) 8 pharaohs. The kings of the Twelfth Dynasty ruled from el-Lisht, near Cairo. Sesostris I expanded Egypt into Nubia. A high point of ancient Egyptian literature. The Story of Sinuhe. The Satire of the Trades, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor, The Dispute between a man and his Soul. Sesostris I ruled over an age of prosperity. Sesostris I established diplomatic relations with some rulers of towns in Syria and Canaan. Sesostris III and Canaan

Dynasty 13 (ca. 1759 - after 1630 B.C.) Number of pharaohs unclear. The power of the 13th Dynasty waned progressively over its 130 years of existence and it finally came to an end with the conquest of Memphis by the Hyksos rulers of the 15th Dynasty, c. 1630 BC.

Dynasty 14 (dates uncertain, but contemporary with later Dynasty 13)

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SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (ca. 1630 - 1539 B.C.)

Dynasty 15 (ca. 1630 - 1523 B.C.) Perhaps eight kings of the Hyksos in Egypt. Hyksos people who emerged from the Fertile Crescent to establish a short-lived governance over much of the Nile region. It is believed that they spoke a Western Semitic language. The kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty are said to have been Canaanite. Their capital in Egypt was Avaris, in the north on the Nile Delta. They were the first foreign rulers in Egyptian history. Ancient Jewish historian Josephus identified the Hyksos with the Hebrews of the Bible. Hyksos King Apophis ruled for more than forty years.

Dynasty 16 The Sixteenth Dynasty was a native Theban dynasty emerging from the collapse of the Memphis-based 13th dynasty around 1650 BC. They were finally conquered by the Hyksos

Dynasty 17 (ca. 1630 - 1539 B.C.) About 9 rulers. Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt was a dynasty of pharaohs that ruled in southern Egypt during the late Second Intermediate Period, approximately from 1580 to 1550 BC. Its mainly Theban rulers are contemporary with the Hyksos of the Fifteenth Dynasty and succeed the Sixteenth Dynasty, which was also based in Thebes. Kamose, the second son of Seqenenre Tao and last king of the Seventeenth Dynasty, was the brother of Ahmose I, the first king of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Kamose is credited with defeating the Hyksos and ending their rule.

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NEW KINGDOM (ca. 1539 - 1075 B.C.)

Dynasty 18 (ca. 1539 - 1292 B.C.) 15 pharaohs, including Ahmose I, Thutmose I, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV, Amenhotep III--The Magnificent, Akhenaten, Tutankhamun. This dynasty ruled from Thebes (in the south), except for Akhenaten, who ruled from Amarna. Thutmose III has been called the Napoleon of ancient Egypt, and was probably Egypt's greatest military leader ever. He extended Egypt's boundaries to include Canaan, Phoenicia, and Syria, Libya, and Nubia--its farthest extension. Battle of Megiddo. Hatshepsut was a female pharaoh who built a huge mortuary temple and large additions to the Temple of Karnak. Akhenaten's effort with monotheism. Tutankhamun--King Tut's tomb.

Dynasty 19 (ca. 1292 - 1190 B.C.) 8 pharaohs, including Seti I, Ramesses II, and Merneptah. Ramesses I had been the vizier of the previous pharaoh before founding the 19th dynasty. Seti I confronted the Hittites several times in battle. Without succeeding in destroying the Hittites as a potential danger to Egypt, he reconquered most of the disputed territories for Egypt and generally concluded his military campaigns with victories. Seti I built the Great Hypostyle Hall at the Temple of Karnak, the Temple at Abydos, and his Mortuary Temple. Ramesses II the Great (1303–1213), son of Seti I, is considered to be the pharaoh of Moses and the Exodus. Ramesses II continued expanding Egypt's territory until he reached a stalemate with the Hittite Empire at the Battle of Kadesh in 1275 BC, after which the famous Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty was signned. Had one of the longest Egyptian reigns. He built Abu Simbel, his Mortuary Temple at Abydos, the Ramesseum, and additions to the temples at Luxor and Karnak. Pharaoh Merneptah was the son of Ramesses II.

Dynasty 20 (ca. 1190 - 1075 B.C.) 10 pharaohs, nine of whom were named Ramesses. The capital was Pi-Ramesses, in the Nile delta. This dynasty is generally considered to be the start of the decline of Ancient Egypt. A consistent theme of the dynasty was the loss of pharaonic power to the High Priests of Amun. With the High Priests now acting as intermediaries between the gods and the people, rather than the pharaoh, the position of pharaoh no longer commanded the same kind of power as it had in the past. Setnakhte, the founder of the dynasty, is believed to have been a usurper. Ramesses III had historic battles with the Sea Peoples, from the Aegean region in c. 1178 BC. He finally settled them in Philistia. During the reign of Ramesses IV, Egyptian power started to decline. The pharaohs of the 20th Dynasty were experiencing what became known as the Bronze Age Collapse, where peoples from periphery mountainous regions made iron weapons and defeated older Bronze Age cultures, like ancient Egypt.

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THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (ca. 1075 - 656 B.C.)

Dynasty 21 (ca. 1075 - 945 B.C.) 7 pharaohs. The pharaohs of the Twenty-first Dynasty ruled from Tanis in the Nile delta, but were mostly active only in nortern Egypt, which they controlled. The dynasty was a relatively weak group, unable to govern both upper and lower Egypt. Meanwhile, the High Priests of Amun at Thebes effectively ruled middle and southern Egypt in all but name. Psusennes I and Siamun were the most powerful kings of this dynasty. They appear to have been native Egyptians.

Dynasty 22 (ca. 945 - 712 B.C.) 11 pharaohs. The pharaohs of the Twenty-Second Dynasty were Libyans, ruling from the city of Tanis--near the Nile delta. These were Berber rulers, not native Egyptians. These pharaohs ruled only in the north of Egypt. The founder of this dynasty was Shoshenq I--identified with the biblical Shishak. Pharaoh Osorkon II was an ally of Israel who fought Shalmaneser III of Assyria at the battle of Qarqar in 853 BC. Pharaoh Osorkon IV possibly the biblical Pharaoh So (2 Kings 17:4) with Hoshea c. 725 B.C .

Dynasty 23 (ca. 838 - 712 B.C.) 7 pharaohs. The Twenty-Third Dynasty was a local group, again of Libyan origin, based at Herakleopolis and Thebes. These rulers overlap the pharaohs of Dynasty 22 and Dynasty 24 because their spheres of influence were in different parts of Egypt. Such was the fragmentation of power in the Third Intermediate Period. Dynasty 23 controlled parts of middle and southern Egypt. Sometimes this period is known as the ‘Libyan anarchy’.

Dynasty 24 (ca. 727 - 712 B.C.) 2 pharaohs. The Twenty-fourth Dynasty was a short-lived rival Libyan dynasty located in the western Delta (Sais). Dynasty 22 ruled from the eastern Delta. Pharaoh Tefnakht I attracted the attention of the Nubian king, Piye, who recorded his conquest and subjection of Tefnakhte of Sais and his peers in a well-known inscription. (Nubia was a country of black Africans from what is now Sudan.) Even though these three dynasties were Lybyans, their official language was Egyptian and their official religion Ancient Egyptian Religion.

Dynasty 25 (ca. 760 - 656 B.C.) 5 pharaohs, named Piye, Shebitku, Shabaka, Taharqa, and Tantamani. The 25th dynasty was a line of African pharaohs who originated in the Kingdom of Kush, located in present-day northern Sudan and southern Egypt. Most of this dynasty's kings saw Napata as their spiritual homeland. They reigned in part or all of Ancient Egypt from 747–656 BC. Napata was the capital of Nubia--often called the Kingdom of Kush. Their capitals were Napata and Memphis. The official languages were Egyptian and Meroitic. Their official religion was the ancient Egyptian religion.

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LATE PERIOD (ca. 664 - 332 B.C)

Dynasty 26 (ca. 664 - 525 B.C.) 6 pharaohs. The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt was a native dynasty that ruled Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC. The dynasty's reign (664–525 BC) is also called the Saite Period after the city of Sais, where its pharaohs had their capital. Pharaoh Psamtik I of this dynasty reunified Egypt. He was the son of Necho I and father of Necho II. This latter Pharaoh Necho II, reigned 610–595 BC, most likely the pharaoh mentioned in several books of the Bible and the death of Josiah. Battle of Megiddo (609 BC) Judah and Egypt, won by Egypt. The Battle of Carchemish was fought about 605 BC between the armies of Egypt allied with the remnants of the army of the former Assyrian Empire against the armies of Babylonia, allied with the Medes, Persians, and Scythians. The Egyptians lost.

Dynasty 27 (ca. 525 - 404 B.C.) 7 pharaohs. Egypt was conquered by the Persian Empire in 525 BC and constituted a satrapy as part of this empire until 404 BC. The Persian kings were acknowledged as Pharaohs in this era, forming the 27th Dynasty. Some of these Persian rulers were Cambyses II (son of Cyrus the Great), Darius I the Great, Xerxes I the Great, Artaxerxes I, and Darius II. Darius the Great took a greater interest in Egyptian internal affairs than Cambyses Ii. He reportedly codified the laws of Egypt, and notably completed the excavation of a canal system at Suez, allowing passage from the Bitter Lakes to the Red Sea, much preferable to the arduous desert land route. This feat allowed Darius to import skilled Egyptian laborers and artisans to construct his palaces in Persia.

Dynasty 28 (ca. 404 - 399 B.C.) 1 pharaoh. The Twenty-eighth Dynasty lasted only 6 years, with one pharaoh. Pharaoh Amyrtaeus was a native Egyptian and descendant of the Saite pharaohs of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty; he led a successful revolt against the Persians. He had the help of Cretan mercenaries. Although Artaxerxes II, Darius' successor as King of Persia attempted to lead an expedition to retake Egypt he was unable to do so, due to political problems with his brother, Cyrus the Younger. This allowed Amyrtaeus to solidify Egyptian rule over Egypt. Very little is known about Amyrtaeus' reign. No monuments from this dynasty have been found. In 398 BC Amyrtaeus was overthrown and executed by Nepherites I, ending the 28th Dynasty and beginning the 29th Dynasty

Dynasty 29 (ca. 399 - 380 B.C.) 4 pharaohs. Nepherites I founded the 29th Dynasty by defeating Amyrtaeus in open battle, and later putting him to death at Memphis. Nepherites then made Mendes, in the Nile delta, his capital. Pharaoh Hakor successfully resisted Persian attempts to reconquer Egypt, drawing support from Athens and from the rebel king of Cyprus. It was a native Egyptian dynasty. Hakor's son was overthrown after being pharaoh for only 4 months, ending the dynasty.

Dynasty 30 (ca. 380 - 343 B.C.) 3 pharaohs. Capital--Sebennytos on the Nile delta. This is the final native dynasty of ancient Egypt; after this, Egypt fell under foreign domination until 1952 A.D. Pharaoh Nectanebo I had gained control of all of Egypt by November of 380 BC, but spent much of his reign defending his kingdom from Persian reconquest with the occasional help of Sparta or Athens. He also engaged in many building projects across Egypt, perhaps outdoing many of his predecessors. Pharaoh Nectanebo II also instituted many building projects. He was the last native ruler of ancient Egypt, his deposition marked the end of Egyptian hegemony until the middle of the 20th century.

Dynasty 31 (ca. 343 - 332 B.C.) 3 pharaohs. The Thirty-first Dynasty of, also known as the Second Egyptian Satrapy, was effectively a satrapy of the Achaemenid Persian Empire between 343 BC to 332 BC. It was founded by Artaxerxes III, the King of Persia, after his reconquest of Egypt and subsequent crowning as Pharaoh of Egypt, and was disestablished upon the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great. The period of the 31st Dynasty was the second occasion in which Persian pharaohs ruled Egypt, hence the term "Second Egyptian Satrapy". =========================================

MACEDONIAN PERIOD (ca. 332 - 305 B.C.) 3 rulers.

Alexander the Great and his successors. The Macedonian Greeks under Alexander the Great ushered in the Hellenistic period with his conquest of Persia and Egypt. They ruled from 332 to 309 BC: Alexander the Great ruled Egypt from 332 BC until his death in Babylon in 323 BC. Philip Arrhidaeus, the mentally disabled half-brother of Alexander the Great, ruled from 323–317 BC. Alexander Aegus, the son of Alexander the Great and Roxana of Bactria, ruled from 317–309 BC. After this there were wars of succession--called Wars of the Diadochi. The Ptolemys won the right to rule Egypt.



PTOLEMAIC DYNASTY (ca. 305 - 30 B.C.) about 16 rulers

The Ptolemaic dynasty was a Macedonian Greek royal dynasty which ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Ancient Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 to 30 BC. The Ptolemaic was the last dynasty of ancient Egypt. The Egyptians soon accepted the Ptolemies as the successors to the pharaohs of independent Egypt. Ptolemy's family ruled Egypt until the Roman conquest of 30 BC.

Ptolemy I Soter c. 305 BC. married first Thaïs, then Artakama, then Eurydice, and finally Berenice I

Ptolemy II Philadelphos c 284 BC. Made major strides in building Alexandria. Founded the Library of Alexandria.

Ptolemy III Euergetes c. 246 BC.

Ptolemy IV Philopator c. 222 BC.

Ptolemy V Epiphanes c. 204 BC. Cleopatra I Syra ruled some of these years. Rosetta stone created

Ptolemy VI Philometor c. 180 BC.

Ptolemy VIII Physcon c. 171 BC. Cleopatra III ruled some of these years

Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator c. 146 BC. Cleopatra II Philometora Soteira ruled some of these years

Ptolemy IX Soter c. 116 BC.

Ptolemy X Alexander c. 110 BC. Berenice III ruled some of these years

Ptolemy XI Alexander c. 80 BC.

Ptolemy XII Auletes c. 80 BC. Cleopatra's father

Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator c. 51 BC. Cleopatra's brother

Cleopatra VII c. 30 BC. The famous Cleopatra. Roman rule took over after the Battle of Actium. The end of Ptolemy rule.

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ROMAN EMPIRE (ca. 30 B.C.. - 476 AD.) Beginning with Augustus Caesar

BYZANTINE EMPIRE (476 AD. - 642 A.D.)

MUSLIM INVASION and rule

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SOURCES

Text was copy and pasted from Wikipedia and other encyclopedia sources.

Outline format used in this timeline
https://www.memphis.edu/egypt/resources/timeline.php

List of pharaohs--Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pharaohs

Wikipedia description of each dynasty
First Dynasty of Egypt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Dynasty_of_Egypt

Hyksos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyksos
https://www.archaeology.org/issues/309-1809/features/6855-egypt-hyksos-foreign-dynasty
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/first-foreign-takeover-ancient-egypt-was-uprising-not-invasion-180975354/


Karnak Temple
https://discoveringegypt.com/karnak-temple/

More to Come