Bible Atlas: A Manual of Biblical Geography and History

by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut

The Geography and the History of the Bible are so closely united that neither subject can be studied to advantage without the other. We therefore present at the opening of our work the Chart of Bible History, upon which the leading events of Bible History and those of the ancient world in general are arranged in parallel columns. The blue lines extending across the page represent the centuries before Christ, each space between them being 100 years. Until recently the common chronology found in all reference Bibles and Biblical works, was that prepared by Archbishop Ussher, who died in 1656, long before the present sources of information from "the monuments" had been discovered. His chronology has not been regarded as trustworthy by scholars for thirty years past; but until recently it has been retained because students of Biblical and Ancient History were not agreed as to the dates which should be given in place of it. But there is now a substantial, though not complete agreement among scholars; and we therefore discard the Ussherian system, and adopt that obtained from the information given in the inscriptions of Assyria, Babylonia, and Egypt, when compared with statements in the Bible.

We begin at the date 2500 B.C. as the events of Bible History earlier than 2500 B.C. cannot be fixed with any certainty. And it must be admitted that none of the dates earlier than 1000 B.C. can be regarded as established.

I. General Periods. In the first column we note the five great periods of Bible History. These are the natural divisions of the events contained in the Bible story.

1. The Period of the Early Races, from the Deluge, at a date unknown, to the Call of Abraham, B.C. 2280. Before the Call of Abraham, the history in the book of Genesis is introductory.

2. The Period of the Chosen Family, from the Call of Abraham, B.C. 2280, to the Exodus from Egypt, about 1250 B.C.

3. The Period of the Israelite People, from the Exodus, 1250 B.C., to the Coronation of Saul, about 1050 B.C.

4. The Period of the Israelite Kingdom, from the Coronation of Saul, 1050 B.C., to the Captivity in Babylon, B.C. 587.

5. The Period of the Jewish Province, from the Captivity in Babylon, 587 B.C., to the Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, A.D. 70.

II. In the second column the larger periods are broken up into Subdivisions. 1. In the Period of the Early Races the line of division is made at the Dispersion of the Races, to which no date is assigned. 2. The Period of the Chosen Family is subdivided at the Descent into Egypt by Jacob and his family, about 2060 B.C. 3. The Period of the Israelitish People has three subdivisions. (1.) The Wandering in the Wilderness, from the Exodus, B.C. 1250, to the Entrance into Canaan, B.C. 1210. (2.) The Settlement, extending to the Mesopotamian Oppression, B.C. 1180. (3.) The Rule of the Judges, to the Coronation of Saul, B.C. 1050. 4. The Period of the Israelitish Kingdom naturally divides itself into three sections. (1.) Unity, to the Division of the Kingdom, B.C. 935. (2.) Division, to the Captivity of the Ten Tribes, B.C. 721. (3.) Decay, the stage of the kingdom of Judah alone, from B.C. 721 to 587, the Babylonian Captivity. 5. The Period of the Jewish Province has five subdivisions. (1.) Chaldean Rule, to the Return from Captivity, B.C. 536. (2.) Persian Rule, to the Conquest by Alexander the Great, B.C. 330. (3.) Greek Rule, under the kingdoms of Alexander's successors to the Revolt of Mattathias, B.C. 168. (4.) Jewish Independence, to the Annexation of Judæa to the Roman Empire, A.D. 6. (5.) Roman Rule, to the final Destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70.

III. Next, we notice the prominent Persons and Rulers in Sacred History. The perpendicular lines opposite the names of the patriarchs indicate the duration of their lives, according to the common chronology. Only the most important of the Judges are named, and with each is given his number in the order of the list. The crowns show the kings, and the years show the period of their reigns. The chronology during the age of the Judges is very uncertain, and the dates are only conjectural.