If You're Confused About Dates in History, Here's the Explanation

                                                                   

Jewish calendar with sun as used in it, synchronizing with solar calendar

                                                                         

The Jewish Calendar uses the Moon to mark time.  It is a lunar calendar.

Nadene Goldfoot
2000 BCE  1500 BCE 1391 BCE 1271 BCE 1000 BCE, 500 BCE  0 100 CE 500 CE 1000   2015
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BCE means Before the Common Era.  That is referring to the time of Jesus of the Christian religion.
BCE is used by Jews because BC refers to Before Christ, and Christ is somebody we do not accept in our faith.  Therefore, Gentiles use only BC and AD.  AD refers to the Roman phrase, Anno Domini, or After Christ.
Jews use CE, meaning:  The Common Era.

Notice in the BCE era the numbers grow smaller until they reach 0.  Then they grow larger.
54321  0  12345
                                                                     

The Biblical era for Jews started with Abraham who was born in the 2nd millennium BCE.  We figure it was in the year 1948 BCE.  So the history of our religion is about 4,000 years old.  We consider Abraham the father of Judaism.  He was the first monotheist, believing in one unseen G-d.  It was a shocking revelation for other people had to have something they could see, like idols and statues, rocks, anything.

It's hard to understand, but there have been people just like us for the past 25,000 years or longer.  The biblical era is fairly new.  We humans are homo-sapiens.  There were also Neanderthals in Europe at the time when homo sapiens existed.  "Genetic studies now suggest that the functional DNA of modern humans and Neanderthals diverged 500,000 years ago.  So we can say that we have existed as far back in human form as 500,000 years ago.  The forces of natural selection have continued to operate on human populations, with evidence that certain regions of the genome display directional selection in the past 15,000 years."  

Take the line from Moses and his brother, Aaron.  They would have had the Y haplogroup of J1, which is called the Cohen gene, named for the assignment Moses gave to Aaron as high priest or Cohen.  It was a line handed down from father to son.  Thus, we find  Cohens of today also with J1 haplogroup.  "This haplogroup is found to have arisen 10,000 to 15,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, and Abraham was born only about 4,000 years ago."  
                                                                                                                

A Jewish year and its holidays in its 12 months

The Jewish calendar follows the movements of the moon.  Today's date in international dating is 2015.  On the Jewish calendar it is the year 5776.  It started back in the BCE dating period.  It also is made up of 12 months but calculated according to the moon.  The difference between the lunar years of 354 days and the solar (sun) year of 365.25 days is made up by adding a full month after the month of Adar in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th and 17th and 19th year of each 19-year cycle .  The year 5749 began such a cycle.  The month so added is called Adar Sheni or the 2nd Adar, and the year becomes a leap year.  

The calendar that is used internationally is a solar calendar.  It is called a Gregorian calendar.  "The first calendar reform of the early modern era was the Gregorian calendar, introduced in 1582 based on the observation of a long-term shift between the Julian calendar and the solar year.  
                                                                 

The Kabba, Mecca, Saudi Arabia where it is say by Islamists a place that dates back to Abraham.  

 "The Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in most of the Muslim countries (concurrently with the Gregorian calendar), and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic holy days and festivals. Its epoch is the Hijra (corresponding to year 622 of the Dionysian era). With an annual drift of 11 or 12 days, the seasonal relation is repeated approximately each 33 Islamic years."

The Islamic calendar "The Islamic calendar is based on the prohibition of intercalation (nasi') by Muhammad, in Islamic tradition dated to a sermon held on 9 Dhu al-Hijjah AH 10 (Julian date: 6 March 632). This resulted in an observationally based lunar calendar shifting relative to the seasons of the solar year.  Notice it started after 632 when Muhammad died, so it is a very recent calendar. "Years are counted since the Hijra, that is, Mohammed's emigration to Medina in AD 622. On 16 July (Julian calendar) of that year, AH 1 started (AH = Anno Hegirae = year of the Hijra). In the year AD 2003 Muslims  have witnessed the start of Islamic year AH 1424.

2015=5776=1424.  This year.  

Reference:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_sapiens
http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2010/01/jewish-genes-what-haplogroup-could-they.html
http://www.stevemorse.org/hebrewcalendar/hebrewcalendar.htm
http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-islamic.html

Jewish History in "Eretz Yisrael" Documented (Palestine to those who don't understand)

Nadene Goldfoot

Our Jewish history is documented.  

                                                                         

The 5 books of Moses, written by Moses (1391 BCE-1271 BCE) over the 40 years from Egypt to Canaan, tells of the history of the 12 tribes of Jacob who entered Egypt and then went to Canaan.

   1. Genesis- till the 17th century BCE; creation and patriarchal history till descent into Egypt

   2. Exodus-till the 13th century BCE; bondage, exodus, revelation and laws

  3. Leviticus; mainly priestly legislation

  4. Numbers-till the 13th century BCE; history of the trek from Egypt to Canaan

  5. Deuteronomy-legal recapitulation, Moses' ethical testament  

                                                                             

The Prophets records our ancient history

1. Joshua  13th century BCE; conquest, settlement of Canaan until death of Joshua

2. Judges 13th-11th century BCE; invasions repulsed by tribal leaders; until King Saul

3. I Samuel 11th century BCE; prophet anoints Saul, first king of Israel

4. II Samuel 10th century BCE; internal and international strife, reign of King David

5. I Kings 10th century BCE; reign of Solomon; the Temple, division of the kingdom

6. II Kings

Latter Prophets:

7. Isaiah 8th century BCE; ethics, admonition, prophecy of ultimate redemption

8. Jeremiah 7th-6th century BCE; indictment of sin; fall of Jerusalem foretold and recounted

9. Ezekiel 6th century BCE; prophecies of Israel's doom; consolation to Babylonian exiles

The Twelve Prophets

10. Hosea 8th century BCE; Israel's infidelity, future repentance

11. Joel (date uncertain) retribution, Israel's restoration at the end of days

12. Amos 8th century; prophecies against the nations; reproof, visions

13. Obadiah (date uncertain) oracle of doom on Edom

14. Jonah (date uncertain) message of repentance to Nineveh

15. Micah 8th century BCE; moral rebukes, vision of the universal reign of peace 

16. Nahum 7th century BCE; prophecy of the downfall of Nineveh

17. Habakkuk 7th-6th century BCE;  problem of injustice, prayer for compassion

18. Zephaniah 7th century BCE;  condemnation of idolatry, vision of Zion restored

19. Haggai 6th century BCE; encouragement to build 2nd Temple, its role

20. Zechariah 6th century BCE; visions of rebuilt Jerusalem and Divine rule of Universe

21. Malachi 6th-5th century BCE moral exhortations

The Writings

1. Psalms; poetic devotional literature, a main source of the liturgy

2. Proverbs; wisdom literature in the form of short maxims

3. Job; problem of evil discussed in narrative form

4. Five Scrolls-Song of Songs; allegorical love-song between G-d and his people

5. Ruth; narrative and social history of period of the Judges (13th-11th century BCE)

6. Lamentations; descriptive dirge of Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem (597-586 BCE)

7. Ecclesiastes; wisdom, literature on worldly vanities

8. Esther-the Purim story, salvation of Jews in ancient Persia (Iran). 

9. Daniel 6th century BCE; episode of martyrdom and prophecy in Babylonian exile

10. Ezra 5th century BCE; return of Babylonian exiles and rebuilding of Temple

11. Nehemiah 5th century BCE; rebuilding of Walls of Jerusalem, religious and communal legislation

12. Chronicles I until 965 BCE, genealogical lists and other historical information to period of King David. 

13. Chronicles II 965-638 BCE, history of the monarchy from King David to decree of Cyrus II, who died in 529 BCE, King of Persia, overran the Babylonian empire including Eretz Yisrael (Palestine) granted permission in 538 to exiles of Judah to return to homeland and rebuild the Temple as written in Ezra 1:1-44 and Chronicles 36:22-3.  Jews thought he was a divine agent.  

Life in Eretz Yisrael 

13th-11th century BCE Settlement and Tribal Autonomy

11th -6th century BCE 1st Temple:  Kings and Prophets

516 BCE-70 CE  Exile and Return;  2nd Temple

1st century -20th century CE;  Foreign Rule of 1878 years -- from 70 CE to 1948 CE

   1. Roman; 70 CE-395 CE changed name of Israel, Judah to Palaestina (for Philistines) Jerusalem changed to Aelia Capitolina.  

   2. Byzantine; 395-636 CE ; Jews became minority, Christians majority

  3. Arab; 636-1072 CE; divided land into Filastin(Palestine) and Urdun (Jordan), built Ramla; population converted to Islam, spoke Arabic, Arab tribes from Arabia and Egypt immigrated here

  4. Seijuk; 1072-1099 CE

  5. Crusaders'; 1099-1291; named land "the Kingdom of Jerusalem" , 30,000 crusaders lived here

  6. Mamluk; 1291-1516;  divided land into 3 districts; Safad, Gaza and Damascus; destroyed cities, towns in coastal plain to deter foreigners, remained empty till Jewish re-settlement 19th century CE

  7. Ottoman Rule (Turkey)  (1516-1917; Beduin tribes came in, villages reduced by half, population small, did not go over 250,000 till 1914, land west of Jordan had 680,000; 85,000 were Jews.   November 1894 Dryfus Affair in France caused Zionist meetings about returning to Eretz Yisrael , Pogroms in Russia, Pale of Settlement, anti-Semitism all over world.

  8. British Rule;  1918-1948; held mandate, renamed land Palestine. Partitioned into Palestine (west of Jordan) and Transjordan (east of Jordan) in 1922.  

Reference: Facts About Israel, division of Information, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem, 1973

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_affair