The earliest known settlement of Nineveh. In 1932, Sir Max Mallowan, the eminent British archaeologist, dug a deep sounding which reached virgin soil ninety feet below the top of the mound of Nineveh; this gave a pottery sequence back to prehistoric times and showed that the site was already inhabited by 5000 B.C.

First temple of Ashur – the one Assyrian God – is built

The three great Assyrian cities of Ashur, Arbel and Nineveh are clearly established long before this date, yet no solid archaeological evidence can be cited (because of a lack of research into this area). By 2500 B.C., these cities were thriving metropoli.

Sargon of Akkad rises to power, establishing the first Assyrian kingdom in South Mesopotamia.

The great code of Hammurabi is produced in Babylon.

Adad-narari establishes the first Assyrian empire.

Tiglath-Pileser establishes the second Assyrian Empire. The Aramean invasions of Assyria begins.

Ashur-dan II establishes the Neo-Assyrian empire. The Empire unifies the Middle East, from Egypt to the Caspian Sea, under one rule and by so doing lays the foundation for the subsequent rise of the Persians, Hellenism, Christianity, and Islam. Great advances in science, technology, philosophy, medicine, and government are made. The Assyrian conquests spread civilization to formerly savage lands. The Assyrians never conquered and destroyed, they conquered and civilized, teaching their subjects the art of the highest civilization then in existence. The cultural unification of the Middle East is a subtle point to grasp, yet it must be understood that this was the greatest achievement of the Assyrians. Other achievements in that period are to numerous to list fully. Some examples are: paved roads, postal system, magnifying glass, electric battery, plumbing (with flush toilet), the first use of iron, the first chariots, the first aqueduct (which was in use until 1996 A.D.), the first library, the first system of musical notation.

Aramaic is made an official language of the Empire, alongside Akkadian.

The Neo-Assyrian empire collapses under an attack by Medes, Scythians and Babylonians tribes. The Royal family escapes to Harran.

Ashur-uballit is proclaimed the new king of Assyria in Harran. Egypt sends its army to support the Assyrians but is delayed by Jewish resistance in Gaza and Judah. When the Egyptian army does finally arrive, it is met by a Chaldean force and is defeated. With the collapse of the Egyptian army, its final buttress, the Assyrian empire came to its end.

The Persians ascend to power. They adopt the Akkadian writing system (Assyrian cuneiform).

Assyrians attempt to reestablish their autonomy, but the Persians suppress the attempt and castrate 400 members of Assyrian ruling families.

Assyrians become the first nation to convert to Christianity. The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East is founded by Thomas, Theodos and Bartholomew.

The last known Ashur worshippers. Assyrians are now all Christians.

The School of Nisibis is Established, the first university in the world.

Assyrian monks, because of their close ties with Greek Christianity, translate the significant body of Greek knowledge into Assyrian, including all the great works of religion, medicine, philosophy, science, and mathematics. These works are eventually translated into Arabic and brought to Spain by the Moors, where they are translated from Arabic to Latin and distributed through Europe, igniting the Renaissance.

153,000 Assyrians are massacred by order of the Sassanid king, Yesdegerd II.

The Assyrian Church splits over a doctrinal dispute. Mar Yacob leaves the Church of the East and establishes the Monophysitic Syrian Orthodox Church (also known as the Jacobite church).

The Church of the East missionaries reach China and Japan.

The Church of the East is at its largest, larger than the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic combined, with eighty million members, from Egypt to Japan.

Timurlane the Mongol sweeps westward and destroys everything in his path. The Assyrian Church of the East is completely destroyed. Assyrians are forced to retreat into the Hakkary mountains of eastern Turkey. The Church becomes a small, single nation entity.

The Assyrian Church of the East splits in a dispute over Patriarchal succession. Assyrians now belong to three denominations: Nestorian (Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East), Jacobite (Syrian Orthodox Church), and Chaldean (Roman Catholic Uniates).

50,000 Assyrians are massacred by the Kurd Badr Khan-Bek.

The Ottoman Empire collapses. Three of four Assyrians (750,000 total) are killed by Turks and Kurds. The surviving Assyrians flee to Iraq and Syria (British and French mandates). The Patriarch Mar Benyamin Shimoon is assassinated by the Kurd Simko. A nationalistic movement sweeps through the Assyrians.