DATES

AT JERUSALEM

ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD

638 C.E.

The Arabs, belonging to the new Islamic religion and led by the Caliph Omar, capture Jerusalem, ushering in a four-hundred-and-fifty-year period of Muslim rule.

In 622 C.E., Muhammad makes the journey from Mecca to Medina, known as Hegira, marks the foundation of Islam.

685-691 C.E.

The Caliph Abd el-Malik commissions the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount. This shrine commemorates the spot from which, according to the Koran, Muhammad was carried on his magical horse to the "farthest place," from which he visited Allah in heaven. Muslim tradition says that the "farthest place" was Jerusalem. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, opposite the Dome of the Rock, is built for prayer at the beginning of the eighth century.

900s-1000s C.E.

A number of Muslim groups fight for control of the city.

The Kingdom of Ghana reaches its height in 950 C.E., stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to Timbuktu. The Japanese warrior class, the Samurai, rises c. 1000 C.E.

1099

The Crusaders, Western Christians led by Godfrey Bouillon, capture Jerusalem from the Muslims in the First Crusade. Pope Urban II had called upon Christians to recapture the holy city. The Crusaders massacre both Muslims and Jews alike, and forbid their settlement in the city.

1187

Muslims recapture the city under Sultan Saladin and Muslims and Jews return to the city in large numbers, reinstating Muslim control. Churches are converted into mosques and Muslim shrines are restored.

The Chimor Kingdom in the Andean region of Peru reaches the height of its power in 1200, covering almost two-thirds of the Pacific coast.

1228

The Crusaders return and, through a treaty, the Muslims surrender Jerusalem to Frederick II, who crowns himself King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

In 1215, The Magna Carta (Great Charter) is signed, limiting the power of the British monarchy. That same year, Genghis Khan overruns northern China, one of his first steps in building his vast Mongol empire.

1244

Turkish mercenaries of Egypt reduce Jerusalem to rubble.

1250-1516

Jerusalem is ruled by the Mamluks, soldier-slaves of the Egyptians. They leave behind distinctive architecture before they are replaced by the Muslim Turks of the Ottoman Empire.

In 1326, Ottoman Turks sweep through Anatolia, initiating the creation of their vast empire. More than a century later, in 1492, Christopher Columbus lands at the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola.

1517-1917

Jerusalem remains under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for two centuries. In 1537, Sultan Suleiman, "the Magnificent," rebuids and restores the wall and gates of Jerusalem-those that remain today. Except for the years 1832 to 1840, when Mohammed Ali of Egypt rules, the Ottoman Empire remains in power until 1917. In the 1860s and 1870s, Jews and Muslims begin building neighborhoods outside of the Old City walls.

The First World War begins in 1914.