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The timeline of religion is a chronologicalcatalog of important and noteworthy religious events in pre-historic and modern times. This article reaches extensively into pre-historic times, as the bulk of the human religious experience is not relegated to written history. Written history is only, approximately, 5000 years old (the age of formal writing). A lack of written records results in the fact that most of the knowledge about pre-historic religion is derived from archaeological records and other indirect sources, and suppositions. Much pre-historic religion is subject to continued debate.
Prehistoric period (300th millennium to 34th century BCE)
A commonly held marker for the dawn of religious belief and practice is the advent of intentional burial marks.
300th to 51st millennium BCE
223,000–100,000 BCE
The earliest evidence of Hominids, such as Neanderthals and even Homo heidelbergensis, deliberately disposing of deceased individuals usually in funerary caches. The graves, located throughout Eurasia (e.g. the Pontnewydd Cave (Wales), Atapuerca Mountains (Spain), Qafzeh, Es Skhul, Krapina (Croatia), are believed to represent the beginnings of ceremonial rites, although there is some debate about this. Neanderthals placed their deceased in simple graves with little or no concern for grave goods or markers; however, their graves occasionally appeared with limestone blocks in or on them, possibly an archaic form of grave marking. These practices were possibly the result of empathetic feelings towards fellow tribespeople, for example: an infant buried in the Dederiyeh Cave after its joints had disarticulated was placed with concern for the correct anatomical arrangement of its body parts.
98,000 BCE
In the area of present-day France and Belgium, Neanderthals begin defleshing their dead, possibly after a period of excarnation prior to burial.
The AurignacianLöwenmensch figurine, the oldest known zoomorphic (animal-shaped) sculpture in the world and one of the oldest known sculptures in general, is made. The sculpture has also been interpreted as anthropomorphic, giving human characteristics to an animal, although it may have represented a deity.
All convincing evidence for Neanderthal burials ceases. Roughly coinciding with the time period of the Homo sapiens introduction to Europe and decline of the Neanderthals. Individual skulls and/or long bones begin appearing heavily stained with red ochre and are separately buried. This practice may be the origins of sacred relics. The oldest discovered "Venus figurines" appear in graves. Some are deliberately broken or repeatedly stabbed. Possibly representing murders of the men they are buried with or some other unknown social dynamic.
25,000–21,000 BCE
Clear examples of burials are present in Iberia, Wales, and Eastern Europe. All of these, also, incorporate the heavy use of red ochre. Additionally, various objects are being included in the graves (i.e. periwinkle shells, weighted clothing, dolls, possible drumsticks, mammoth ivory beads, fox teeth pendants, panoply of ivory artifacts, "baton" antlers, flint blades, etc.).
13,000–8,000 BCE
Noticeable burial activity resumes. Prior mortuary activity had either taken a less obvious form or contemporaries retained some of their burial knowledge in the absence of such activity; dozens of men, women, and children were being buried in the same caves which were used for burials 10,000 years beforehand. All these graves are delineated by the cave walls and large limestone blocks. The burials are very similar to each other and share a number of characteristics—ochre, shell and mammoth ivory jewellery—that go back thousands of years. Some burials are double, comprising an adult male with a juvenile male buried by his side. They are now appearing to take on the form of modern cemeteries. Old burials are commonly being redug and moved to make way for the new ones, with the older bones often being gathered and cached together. Large stones may have acted as grave markers. Pairs of ochred antlers are sometimes poles within the cave; this is compared to the modern practice of leaving flowers at one's grave.
The apparent lifespan of Göbekli Tepe, one of the oldest human-made place of worship yet discovered, has also been found in a nearby site, Nevali Çori.
8000 BCE
Four to five pine posts are erected near the eventual site of Stonehenge.
7500–5700 BCE
The settlements of Catalhoyuk develop as a likely spiritual center of Anatolia. Possibly practicing worship in communal shrines, its inhabitants leave behind numerous clay figurines and impressions of phallic, feminine, and hunting scenes.
The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE) in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, noted for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system, and multistoried houses as well as for containing artifacts which could be linked to pre-vedic religions.
The initial form of Stonehenge is completed. The circular bank and ditch enclosure, about 110 metres (360 ft) across, may be complete with a timber circle.
Stonehenge begins to take on the form of its final phase. The wooden posts are replaced with that of bluestone. It begins taking on an increasingly complex setup—including altar, portal, station stones, etc.—and shows consideration of solar alignments.
Minoan Civilization in Crete develops. Citizens worship a variety of Goddesses.
2150–2000 BCE
The earliest surviving versions of the SumerianEpic of Gilgamesh (originally titled "He who Saw the Deep" (Sha naqba īmuru) or "Surpassing All Other Kings" (Shūtur eli sharrī)) were written.
A suggested time for the biblical Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.
1200–600 BCE
The Upanishads (Vedic texts) get composed which contain the earliest emergence of some of the central religious concepts of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism
The oldest record of the complete biblical texts survives in a Greek translation called the Septuagint, dating to the (appx. placement here) 4th century CE (Codex Sinaiticus).
The Rashidun Caliphate brings Arab conquest of Persia, Egypt, Iraq, bringing Islam into those regions.
650
The verses of the Qur'an are compliled in the form of a book in the era of Uthman, the third Caliph of Islam.
661–750
The Umayyad Caliphate brings Arab conquest of North Africa, Spain, Central Asia. Marking the greatest extent of the Arab conquests bringing Islam into those regions.
Death of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the last Sikh guru, who, before his death, instituted the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, as the eternal Guru.
The situation following the French Revolution, France and Pope Pius VII entered into the Concordat of 1801. While "Catholicism" regains some powers and becomes recognized as "...the religion of the great majority of the French", it's not reafforded the latitude it had enjoyed prior to the Revolution. It's not the official state religion, the Church relinquishes all claims to estate seized after 1790, the clergy is state salaried and must swear allegiance to the State, and religious freedom is maintained.
1819–1850
The life of Siyyid 'Alí Muḥammad Shírází (Persian: سيد علی محمد شیرازی) Bab (October 20, 1819 – July 9, 1850), the founder of Bábism.
A neo-Hindu religious movement, the Brahma Kumaris or "Daughters of Brahma" started. Its origin can be traced to the group "Om Mandali", founded by Lekhraj Kripalani(1884–1969).
The Palestinian Authority creates the Second Intifada in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Although largely political in nature, the uprising centered on religion and utilized Islamic extremism to carry out terrorist acts and suicide bombings against Jews and Israeli civilians in the name of Jihad.
USA goes to war with Afghanistan and Iraq- President Bush claims that God told him to attack Afghanistan and Iraq.
2006
Simmering sectarian rivalries explode in Iraq between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, with both sides targeting each other in terrorist acts and bombings of mosques and shrines.
2008
The only Hindu Kingdom in the world, Nepal, is declared a secular state by its Constituent Assembly after declaring the state a Republic on 28 May 2008.
2009
The Church ofScientologyin France is fined €600,000 and several of its leaders are fined and sentenced to jail for defrauding new recruits out of their savings. The state fails to disband the church due to legal changes occurring over the same time period.
2011
Civil war breaks out in Syria over domestic political issues, the country soon splits along sectarian lines between Sunni, Alawite and Shiite lines. War crimes and acts of genocide are committed by both sides as Islamic religious leaders condemn the other side as heretics in need of annihilation. The Syrian civil war soon becomes battleground for regional sectarian unrest, as fighters join the fight from countries as far away as North America and Europe, as well as Iran and Arab states.
2014
Islamic Caliphate is established by self claimed Islamic State in regions of war torn Syria and Iraq, drawing global support from radical Sunni Muslims. This is a modern-day attempt to re-establish Islamic self-rule in accordance with strict adherence to the shariah- Islamic religious law. In the wake of the Syrian civil war, Islamic extremists target the indigenous Arab Christian communities. In acts of genocide, numerous and ancient Christian and Yazidi communities are cleared out and evicted and threatened with death by various Moslem Shia fighter groups. After ISIS terrorist forces infiltrate Iraq from Syria and take over large parts of the North, many ancient Christian and Yazidi enclaves are destroyed.
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