A timeline
of the One God

"Tradition says" marks what a faith teaches about its own past; "Historians date" marks what historians can date from evidence. Both matter, and we keep them apart.

1. Tradition: about 4,000 years ago
   Tradition says · AbrahamicAbraham leaves Ur and Haran

   Jews, Christians and Muslims remember Abraham turning from idols to the One God. No outside record names him; believers date him by scripture.

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2. Tradition: Abraham's lifetime
   Tradition says · MuslimAbraham and Ishmael raise the Kaʿba

   The Qur'an says Abraham and Ishmael raised the foundations of the House in Makkah and prayed for the people who would come (2:127).

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3. Tradition: Joseph in Egypt
   Tradition says · AbrahamicJoseph rises in Egypt

   Genesis and Surah Yusuf tell of the brother sold into slavery who forgives in the end. Historians note the story's Egyptian colour; no record names him.

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4. c. 1500–1200 BCE
   Historians date · HinduThe Rig Veda is composed

   The oldest Hindu hymns, in Sanskrit, passed down by memory for centuries. Hymn 10.129 asks who truly knows how the world began.

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5. Tradition: the Exodus
   Tradition says · AbrahamicMoses leads his people out of Egypt

   Jews remember it every Passover; the Qur'an names Moses about 136 times. Scholars debate whether, when and on what scale an exodus happened.

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6. c. 1208 BCE
   Documented · GeneralFirst mention of “Israel” outside the Bible

   An Egyptian victory stele of Pharaoh Merneptah names a people called Israel in Canaan. It is the oldest known outside reference.

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7. Tradition: about 1000 BCE
   Tradition says · AbrahamicDavid, king and psalmist

   The Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an honour David as king and as singer of psalms (Zabūr). Historians debate the size of his kingdom.

8. Tradition: Solomon's reign
   Tradition says · JewishSolomon builds the Temple in Jerusalem

   The Hebrew Bible says Solomon built the First Temple. The Qur'an remembers Solomon as a prophet-king who understood the speech of ants.

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9. 9th century BCE
   Documented · GeneralThe “House of David” stele

   An Aramaic inscription found at Tel Dan in 1993 is read by most scholars as naming the “House of David”, the earliest outside reference to his dynasty.

10. c. 800–300 BCE
    Historians date · HinduThe first Upanishads

    Sages explore Brahman, the one reality, and ātman, the self: “Lead me from the unreal to the real.”

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11. 612 BCE
    Documented · GeneralNineveh falls

    The Assyrian capital, where Jonah was sent, falls to the Babylonians and Medes. Its ruins lie in today's Mosul.

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12. 587/586 BCE
    Documented · JewishBabylon destroys the First Temple

    Jerusalem falls to Nebuchadnezzar; many are taken into exile. Psalm 137: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down.”

13. 539 BCE
    Documented · JewishCyrus lets the exiles return

    The Persian king Cyrus conquers Babylon; exiles return and the Second Temple is finished around 516 BCE.

14. Died c. 400 BCE (older books: 563–483)
    Historians date · BuddhistThe Buddha's awakening

    Siddhartha Gautama awakens at Bodh Gaya and teaches the Four Noble Truths. Historians still debate his dates by about a century.

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15. c. 6th–2nd centuries BCE
    Historians date · JewishThe Hebrew Bible takes shape

    Historians date the main editing of the Torah, Prophets and Writings to the exile and after. Jewish tradition attributes the Torah to Moses.

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16. c. 268–232 BCE
    Documented · BuddhistAshoka's edicts

    The Indian emperor carves edicts on pillars and rocks urging non-violence and respect for all religious communities.

17. 3rd century BCE
    Historians date · JewishThe Hebrew Bible in Greek

    Jews in Alexandria begin the Septuagint, translating God as Theos. Early Christians later read it as their Bible.

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18. c. 250 BCE – 68 CE
    Documented · JewishThe Dead Sea Scrolls are written

    Found in caves at Qumran from 1947, they include the oldest surviving copies of books of the Hebrew Bible.

19. c. 6–4 BCE
    Historians date · ChristianJesus is born

    Most historians place the birth of Jesus a few years before the year 1. Christians and the Qur'an tell of his birth to the Virgin Mary.

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20. c. 28–30 CE
    Historians date · ChristianJesus teaches in Galilee

    He preaches the kingdom of God and the Shema's first commandment. Christians believe he was crucified and rose; Muslims believe he was raised to God.

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21. c. 50–60 CE
    Historians date · ChristianPaul writes his letters

    The earliest Christian writings. Romans 1:20 says God's power is “clearly seen” in the things that are made.

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22. 70 CE
    Documented · JewishRome destroys the Second Temple

    After the Temple, Jewish life centres on Torah study, prayer and the synagogue, led by the rabbis.

23. c. 65–100 CE
    Historians date · ChristianThe four Gospels are written

    Most scholars date Mark first, about 70, and John last, about 90–100. Christians receive them as the inspired good news of Jesus.

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24. c. 200 CE
    Historians date · JewishThe Mishnah is edited

    Rabbi Judah the Prince sets down the Oral Torah: “whoever saves a single soul … saved a whole world.”

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25. 325 CE
    Documented · ChristianThe Council of Nicaea

    Bishops agree the first form of the Nicene Creed: “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty.”

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26. 328 CE
    Documented · GeneralThe Namara inscription

    An early Arabic text in Nabataean letters, the epitaph of Imru' al-Qays, “king of all the Arabs”, found in southern Syria.

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27. c. 330–360 CE
    Historians date · ChristianCodex Sinaiticus is copied

    One of the oldest complete New Testaments, kept for centuries at St Catherine's Monastery, Sinai.

28. 5th century CE
    Documented · ChristianThe Sleepers of Ephesus are told

    Christians tell of young believers who slept for centuries in a cave; the Qur'an tells the People of the Cave (18:9–26).

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29. 512 CE
    Documented · ChristianThe word on the church wall at Zabad

    Arab Christians carve a lintel for a shrine of St Sergius in Greek, Syriac and Arabic. The Arabic calls on al-ilāh, “the God”.

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30. c. 500–600 CE
    Historians date · JewishThe Babylonian Talmud is completed

    The rabbis' debates on law, ethics and story become the centre of Jewish study for 1,500 years.

31. 568 CE
    Documented · ChristianThe Harran inscription

    Another Christian Arabic inscription, from a martyr's shrine in southern Syria, shows Arabic used for Christian worship before Islam.

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32. c. 570 CE
    Historians date · MuslimMuhammad is born in Makkah

    The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace be upon him) is born into the Quraysh tribe. Tradition calls it the Year of the Elephant.

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33. 610 CE
    Tradition says · MuslimThe first revelation

    In the cave of Hira, Muslims believe, the angel Gabriel brings the first words of the Qur'an: “Read, in the name of your Lord who created” (96:1).

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34. Parchment c. 568–645
    Documented · MuslimThe Birmingham Qur'an leaves

    Radiocarbon dating places the parchment within about the Prophet's lifetime or soon after. Scholars debate what that says about when it was written.

35. 622 CE
    Documented · MuslimThe Hijra to Madinah

    The Prophet (peace be upon him) and his followers move to Madinah. Year 1 of the Islamic calendar.

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36. 632 CE
    Documented · MuslimThe Prophet dies in Madinah

    By his death the Qur'an's revelation is complete, Muslims believe. Abu Bakr becomes the first caliph.

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37. c. 650 CE
    Historians date · MuslimUthman sends out standard copies

    Muslim sources say the third caliph had the Qur'an copied into a single standard text and sent to the main cities.

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38. 691/692 CE
    Documented · MuslimThe Dome of the Rock

    Its mosaic inscriptions, among the earliest dated Qur'anic text, speak of the One God and of Jesus son of Mary.

39. 711–1492
    Historians date · AbrahamicAl-Andalus

    Muslim rule in Iberia. At its best, Muslims, Jews and Christians shared learning in Arabic in Córdoba and Toledo; historians debate how peaceful it was.

40. 9th century
    Historians date · MuslimBaghdad's age of translation

    Scholars of all three faiths translate Greek science and philosophy into Arabic in Abbasid Baghdad.

41. 867 CE (253 AH)
    Documented · ChristianPaul's letters in Arabic

    Bishr ibn al-Sirri finishes Sinai Arabic 151 in Damascus in Ramadan: the earliest dated Arabic Bible manuscript known.

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42. 882–942
    Documented · JewishSaadia Gaon's Arabic Torah

    The head of the Sura academy translates the Torah into Arabic: “Know, O Israel: Allah is our Lord, Allah the One.”

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43. 980–1037
    Documented · MuslimIbn Sina's Necessary Existent

    The Persian philosopher-physician argues for God as the being who cannot fail to exist; Aquinas and Maimonides read him.

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44. 1058–1111
    Documented · MuslimAl-Ghazali

    Theologian and Sufi who sharpened the argument from the world's beginning, still taught in RE classes today.

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45. 1138–1204
    Documented · JewishMaimonides' Guide for the Perplexed

    Born in Córdoba, physician in Cairo, he wrote in Judeo-Arabic that God is One and beyond any likeness.

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46. 1225–1274
    Documented · ChristianThomas Aquinas

    The Dominican friar's Five Ways draw on Aristotle, Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd and Maimonides.

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47. 1290
    Documented · JewishJews expelled from England

    Edward I expels England's Jewish community. They are not formally welcome again for more than 360 years.

48. 1492
    Documented · JewishExpulsion from Spain

    Spain expels its Jews; many find refuge in the Ottoman Empire and North Africa.

49. 1469–1539
    Tradition says · SikhGuru Nanak's call

    After a spiritual experience at the river, Sikhs remember, Guru Nanak said: “There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim.” Sikhi begins.

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50. 1534
    Documented · ChristianLuther's German Bible

    The full Bible in German; Tyndale's English New Testament had appeared in 1526.

51. 1575
    Documented · GeneralAkbar's House of Worship

    The Mughal emperor builds the Ibadat Khana at Fatehpur Sikri and invites Muslim, Hindu, Jain, Zoroastrian and Christian scholars to debate.

52. 1604
    Documented · SikhThe Adi Granth is installed

    Guru Arjan compiles Sikh scripture, with hymns of Hindu and Muslim saints, and installs it at Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar.

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53. 1611
    Documented · ChristianThe King James Bible

    The English translation that shaped the language for centuries. Its phrases still run through everyday English.

54. 1656
    Documented · JewishJews return to England

    After Menasseh ben Israel's petition, Cromwell tacitly lets Jews settle and worship; a London synagogue opens soon after.

55. 1670
    Documented · ChristianPascal's Pensées published

    Including the famous wager on whether God exists.

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56. 1699
    Documented · SikhThe Khalsa is founded

    At Vaisakhi, Guru Gobind Singh initiates the Khalsa, the community of committed Sikhs.

57. 1701
    Documented · JewishBevis Marks Synagogue opens

    In the City of London. It is Britain's oldest synagogue still in use.

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58. 1708
    Documented · SikhThe Guru Granth Sahib becomes Guru

    Guru Gobind Singh declares the scripture the eternal Guru of the Sikhs.

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59. 1872
    Documented · GeneralThe Babylonian flood tablet is read

    George Smith, at the British Museum, finds a flood story on a clay tablet from Nineveh.

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60. 1889
    Documented · MuslimBritain's first mosques

    Abdullah Quilliam opens the Liverpool Muslim Institute on Christmas Day; the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking, the first purpose-built, opens the same year.

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61. 1893
    Documented · GeneralWorld's Parliament of Religions

    Chicago hosts the first global interfaith gathering; Swami Vivekananda's speech becomes famous.

62. 1911
    Documented · SikhBritain's first gurdwara

    The Khalsa Jatha opens a gurdwara in a house in Putney, London, moving to Shepherd's Bush in 1913.

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63. 1914–1918
    Documented · GeneralThe First World War

    Soldiers of every faith, including over a million from undivided India, serve. Remembrance Day grows from it.

64. 1926
    Documented · BuddhistLondon Buddhist Vihara

    Anagarika Dharmapala founds the first Sri Lankan Buddhist monastery outside Asia, in London.

65. 1927
    Documented · ChristianA priest proposes the expanding universe

    Georges Lemaître, a Belgian Catholic priest and physicist, proposes what becomes the Big Bang theory.

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66. 1942
    Documented · GeneralThe Council of Christians and Jews

    Founded in wartime Britain to fight antisemitism and build understanding.

67. 1941–1945
    Documented · JewishThe Holocaust

    Nazi Germany and its collaborators murder about six million Jews, along with Roma, disabled people and others.

68. 1947
    Documented · JewishThe Dead Sea Scrolls are found

    Bedouin shepherds find the first scrolls in a cave at Qumran.

69. 28 October 1965
    Documented · ChristianNostra Aetate

    The Second Vatican Council says the Church regards Muslims with esteem, as they adore the one God, and rejects blaming Jews for Jesus' death.

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70. 1970
    Documented · HinduAn early British mandir

    A Swaminarayan mandir opens in a converted church in Islington, north London.

71. 1995
    Documented · HinduNeasden Temple opens

    The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, described as Europe's first traditional Hindu stone temple, opens in north-west London.

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72. 2000
    Documented · JewishDabru Emet

    A statement by Jewish scholars says that Jews and Christians worship the same God.

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73. 27 January 2001
    Documented · GeneralHolocaust Memorial Day

    The UK's first Holocaust Memorial Day remembers the Holocaust and later genocides.

74. 2001
    Documented · GeneralThe Census asks about religion

    For the first time, the Census in England and Wales asks about religion; the question is voluntary.

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75. November 2004
    Documented · MuslimThe Amman Message

    Issued in Jordan, then backed in 2005 by about 200 scholars from over 50 countries: forbidding Muslims from declaring other Muslims unbelievers.

76. 2007
    Documented · MuslimA Common Word

    138 Muslim scholars write to Christian leaders: love of God and love of neighbour are common ground.

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77. November 2009
    Documented · GeneralThe first Inter Faith Week

    Held across England and Wales, it now takes place every November.

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78. 2010
    Documented · AbrahamicAnnunciation Day in Lebanon

    Lebanon makes 25 March a shared Christian–Muslim holiday honouring Mary (peace be upon her).

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79. 2015
    Documented · MuslimThe Birmingham Qur'an makes news

    The University of Birmingham announces radiocarbon results on two Qur'an leaves in its collection.

80. February 2019
    Documented · AbrahamicDocument on Human Fraternity

    Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of al-Azhar sign a joint declaration in Abu Dhabi on peace and living together.

81. 2021
    Documented · GeneralNo religion: 37.2%

    The 2021 Census finds 37.2% of people in England and Wales say they have no religion.

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