4000 BCE: Earliest Egyptian Myths Recorded.

3500 BCE: First written evidence of religion in the world recorded on Sumerian tablets.

3000 BCE: Hathor, known as Mistress of Dendera, cult center flourishes in the city of Dendera.

2500 BCE: Osiris as Dying and Reviving God and God of the Dead appears in Pyramid Texts.

2100 BCE: Ziggurats in use in Sumerian cities of Eridu, Uruk, Ur, Nippur and elsewhere

1500 BCE - 500 BCE: The Vedic Period in India after a greater migration of the Indo-Aryans from Central Asia

1500 BCE - 1100 BCE: The Rig Veda written, mentioning the god Rudra (Shiva) and goddess Tara (among others) for the first time.

1500 BCE - 500 BCE: Indian scholars of the so-called Vedic Period commit the Vedas to written form; basic tenets of Hinduism are established.

1120 BCE: Extant copy of the Sumerian Enuma Elish (creation story) is made from much older text.

1000 BCE: Emergence of Yahwism.

700 BCE: Greek poet Hesiod writes his Theogony and Works and Days.

600 BCE: Development of the Charvaka school of philosophy in India.

599 BCE - 527 BCE: Traditional dating of the life of Vardhamana, according to Jain tradition.

566 BCE - 486 BCE: The life of Siddhartha Gautama according to the Corrected long chronology.

563 BCE: Siddhartha Gautama is born in Lumbini (present day Nepal).

563 BCE - 483 BCE: The life of Siddhartha Gautama according to modern scholarly consensus.

515 BCE - 70 CE: The Second Temple Period; Judaism is revised, scriptures canonized, Yahweh becomes sole deity, monotheism established.

6 BCE - 30 CE: Life of Jesus Christ.

1 CE - 100 CE: Mithraism spreads in the Roman empire.

1 CE - 100 CE: The Mahayana movement begins in India with its belief in bodhisattva - saintly souls who helped the living.

42 CE - 62 CE: Paul the Apostle goes on missionary journeys across Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome.

64 CE: Unofficial persecution of Christians in Rome.

65 CE - 100 CE: The tales of the life and work of Jesus (gospels) composed.

132 CE: Septuagint (Greek translation of the Bible) composed at Alexandria.

224 CE: Zoroastrianism becomes Persian state religion under the Sassanian Empire.

312 CE: Roman emperor Constantine I tolerates Christianity.

314 CE: Armenia adopts Christianity as the state religion.

500 CE - 600 CE: In India the Tantric expands the number of deities to include helpful demons, contactable through ritual.

503 CE: Clovis I converts to Christianity.

570 CE: Muhammad is born in Mecca.

600 CE: Babylonian Talmud is compiled.

610 CE: Muhammad receives his first revelation on Mount Hira.

622 CE: Muhammad undertakes the Hegira (Hijra), the migration from Mecca to Medina, establishing the start of the Islamic calendar.

624 CE: Battle of Badr: Muhammad's forces win, resulting in a turning point for Islam against the ruling Quraysh tribe.

625 CE: Battle of Uhud: Quraysh tribe defeats the Muslims.

627 CE: Battle of the Trench: Quraysh troops attempt to siege Medina (then called Yathrib), but lose to the Muslim force.

627 CE: Siege of Bani Qurayzah: Muslims capture the Jewish stronghold.

628 CE: Treaty of Hudaybiyyah: A peace agreement is signed between Muhammad's Muslims and the people of Mecca.

628 CE: Conquest of Khaybar oasis: Jews barricade themselves in a fort at Khaybar oasis and are allowed to remain living there if they pay the Muslims one third of their produce.

629 CE: First Pilgrimage ("lesser" pilgrimage or "umrah") made by Muhammad and his Muslims to Mecca after migrating to Medina.

629 CE: Battle of Mu'tah: Muslims attempt to capture the village east of the Jordan River from the Byzantine Empire to show their expanding dominance, resulting in a Muslim defeat.

630 CE: Non-violent conquest of Mecca: The Quraysh realize that the Muslims now greatly outnumber them and allow the Muslims to capture their city, Mecca, and rule it as they please.

630 CE: Battle of Hunayn: Ending in a decisive victory for the Muslims over the Bedouin tribe of Hawazin.

630 CE: Attempted Siege of Ta'if: Muhammad's forces are initially unable to siege Ta'if and convert its people to Islam.

632 CE: "Farewell Hajj Pilgrimage": This is the only Hajj pilgrimage in which Muhammad participates.

632 CE: Muhammad dies in Medina, not clearly naming a successor to lead the Muslim people.

632 CE - 634 CE: Abu Bakr becomes the first caliph (successor to Muhammad) of the Rashidun Caliphate.

634 CE - 644 CE: 'Umar ibn al-Khattab succeeds Abu Bakr, becoming the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate.

644 CE - 656 CE: 'Uthman ibn 'Affan succeeds Umar to become the third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate.

656 CE - 661 CE: Ali ibn Abi Talib succeeds Uthman to become the fourth and final caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate.

712 CE: The Kojiki is written, a collection of oral myths forming the basis of the Shinto religion.

720 CE: The Nihon Shoki is written, a collection of oral myths forming the basis of the Shinto religion.

807 CE: Imibe-no-Hironari writes the Kogoshui, a collection of oral myths forming the basis of the Shinto religion.

1122 CE: Construction begins of the Hindu temple at Angkor Wat.