Themed chart
Empires of the Bible
Egypt to Rome — the powers behind the story
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How to read it: Watch one power hand off to the next along the band — the same succession Daniel prophesied.
About this chart
The biblical story plays out against a backdrop of rising and falling superpowers, and seeing them in sequence explains much of what happens on stage. This chart draws the dominant world powers as a band beneath the timeline: Egypt of the patriarchs and the Exodus, then Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and finally Rome.
That succession is more than background. It is the very sequence Daniel saw in the great statue of Daniel 2 and the four beasts of Daniel 7 — the head of gold (Babylon), the chest of silver (Medo-Persia), the belly of bronze (Greece), and the legs of iron (Rome). Each empire shapes the people of God: Assyria scatters the north, Babylon destroys Jerusalem, Persia sends the exiles home, Greece spreads the language the New Testament would be written in, and Rome rules the world into which Jesus was born.
Written by the Selah Editorial Team. Dates are approximate; biblical chronology is debated and shown as ranges.
The empires
Bronze Age – c. 1200 BC
Egypt
The great power of the patriarchal and Exodus age — Joseph rose to rule it, and from it Moses led Israel out.
c. 911 – 609 BC
Assyria
The empire that conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and carried it into exile (722 BC).
c. 626 – 539 BC
Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar's empire — it destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and exiled Judah (586 BC). The head of gold in Daniel 2.
c. 539 – 331 BC
Medo-Persia
Cyrus's empire — it overthrew Babylon and decreed the Jews' return to rebuild the temple. The chest of silver in Daniel 2.
c. 331 – 63 BC
Greece
Alexander's empire and its successors — the Hellenistic world of the intertestamental period. The belly of bronze in Daniel 2.
c. 63 BC – AD 100+
Rome
The empire ruling Judea in the time of Jesus and the apostles, into which the gospel first spread. The legs of iron in Daniel 2.
Related charts & eras
Frequently asked
What were the major empires in the Bible?
In order: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome — the dominant powers from the patriarchs to the early church.
How do the empires connect to Daniel's prophecies?
Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome correspond to the four parts of the statue in Daniel 2 and the four beasts of Daniel 7 — a prophesied succession of world powers.
Which empire ruled during Jesus' life?
Rome. Judea was a client kingdom and then a province of the Roman empire, governed through Herod's family and prefects such as Pontius Pilate.
Preach & teach
Teach through the Empires of the Bible.
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