A Brief Chronology of Jordan

before 8300 BC Paleolithic Hunting and gathering communities
8300 - 4500 BC Neolithic Early farming communities; pottery after 6000 BC
4500 BC - 3200 BC Chalcolithic First appearance of copper
3200 BC - 2000 BC Early Bronze Age Urban settlements formed, then abandoned
2000 BC - 1500 BC Middle Bronze Age Hyksos invasion; destruction in Palestine and Jordan
1500 BC - 1200 BC Late Bronze Age Revival of trade, followed by invasion of "Sea Peoples" and widespread collapse
1200 BC - 539 BC Iron Age Development of kingdoms and empires
1000 BC - 900 BC Kingdoms of Israel, Ammon, Moab, and Edom Saul, David, Solomon
900 BC - 612 BC Neo-Assyrian Empire King Ahab, 869-850
612 BC - 539 BC Neo-Babylonian Empire Nebuchadnezzar II conquers Jerusalem, 587
539 BC - 332 BC Persian Empire Cyrus II frees the Jews in Babylon, 539
323 BC - 64 BC Hellenistic Period Alexander the Great takes Persepolis, 332
Ptolemies and Seleucids, 323 - 198
Nabataeans first appear in the historical record
168 BC - 106 AD Nabataean Kingdom
c.168 BCAretas I
late 2d century BCRabbel Ifirst Nabataean coins
c.103-96 BCAretas II
c.96-86 BCObodas IObodas I defeats Judaeans and Seleucids
86-62 BCAretas IIIAl-Khazneh, c.85 BC
Herod the Great in Petra, 65 BC
Pompey conquers Syria, 64 BC
62-59 BCObodas II
59-30 BCMalichus I
30-9 BCObodas IIIQasr al-Bint, Great Temple
9 BC - 40 ADAretas IVPetra Theater
40-70 ADMalichus IIad-Deir
70-106 ADRabbel II
100 AD - 324 AD Roman Empire Trajan annexes Nabataea, 106
324 AD - 641 AD Byzantine Empire Earthquake in Petra, 363
661 AD - 750 AD Umayyad Dynasty Construction of "desert castles."
Earthquake in Palestine, 749
750 AD - 969 AD Abbasid Dynasty Islamic capital moves from Damascus to Baghdad; economic decline in Transjordan
969 AD - 1171 AD Fatimid Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1099 - 1291
Crusaders visit Petra, 1100
1174 AD - 1263 AD Ayyubid Saladin defeats Crusaders at Battle of Hattin, 1187
1250 AD - 1516 AD Mamluk Mamluks take Acre, 1291
Turks take Constantinople, 1453
1516 AD - 1918 AD Ottoman Ottoman neglect; population decline in Transjordan
1919 AD - 1945 AD Transjordan Political consolidation of Transjordan as Protectorate, then Emirate
1946 AD - present Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan National independence