Russia invades Ukraine

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30025138

Ukraine crisis: Russian troops crossed border, Nato says

Future alert: March 15, 2015

"Notice to the Population. By order of The President of the Russian Federation, I have taken over, as of today, the executive power in the Land of Ukraine, Donetsk HQ, 15 March 2015. Commander, 20th Guards Army, General Lieutenant Andrey Tretyak"

Timeline of Foreigners in Ancient Egypt

(Habiru, Hyksos, Sea Peoples, Israel, Philistines, Syians, and Arameans)

c.2055 – 1675 BC, Middle Kingdom of Egypt

c.1850 BC, The Sumerian logogram SA.GAZ appears in texts from Southern Mesopotamia where it is applied to small bands of soldiers, apparently mercenaries at the service of local city-states and being supplied with food or sheep.
c.1800 BC, Important Canaanite populations first appeared in Egypt towards the end of the 12th Dynasty
c.1720 BC, Canaanites formed an independent realm in the eastern Nile Delta.  The Canaanite rulers of the Delta, regrouped in the 14th Dynasty, coexisted with the Egyptian 13th Dynasty, based in Itjtawy. The power of the 13th and 14th dynasties progressively waned, perhaps due to famine and plague
1700-1400 BC, Proto-Sinaitic script written. Proto-Sinaitic is a Middle Bronze Age script attested in a very small collection of inscriptions at Serabit el-Khadim in the Sinai Peninsula.  Due to the extreme scarcity of Proto-Sinaitic signs, very little is known with certainty about the nature of the script. Because the script co-existed with Egyptian hieroglyphs, it is likely that it represented true writing, but this is by no means certain. It has been argued that Proto-Sinaitic was an alphabet and the ancestor of the Phoenician alphabet, from which nearly all modern alphabets descend.
There have been two major discoveries of inscriptions

c.1675–1550 BC, Second Intermediate Period of Egypt

c.1650 BC Canaanites and Egyptian dynasties were invaded by the Hyksos, who formed their own dynasty, the 15th Dynasty. The collapse of the 13th Dynasty created a power vacuum in the south, which may have led to the rise of the 16th Dynasty, based in Thebes, and possibly of a local dynasty in Abydos.  Both were eventually conquered by the Hyksos, albeit for a short time in the case of Thebes. From then on, the 17th Dynasty took control of the Thebes and reigned for some time in peaceful coexistence with the Hyksos kings, perhaps as their vassals.

c.1550 - 1077 BC, New Kingdom of Egypt

c.1550 BC, Eventually, Seqenenre Tao, Kamose and Ahmose waged war against the Hyksos and expelled Khamudi, their last king, from Egyp.  Ahmose's 3 year long siege of the South Canaanite town of Sharuhen which followed after succeeded in recapturing Avaris, razing it, and expelling the Hyksos rulers from Egypt altogether.

c.1500-1400, Prior to the 3rd Intermediate Period of Egypt from the, names of semitic-speaking pastoral cattle nomadic peoples of the Levant appear, replacing previous Egyptian concern with the Hurrianised 'prw ('Apiru or Habiru). These were called the š3sw (Shasu), meaning "those who move on foot". e.g. the Shasu of Yhw.  Sandars uses the analogous name "land peoples." Contemporary Assyrian records refer to them as Ahhlamu or Wanderers.They were not part of the Egyptian list of Sea Peoples, and were later referred to as Aramaeans.
c.1440 BC, In his account of the conquest of Joppa, General Djehuty or Toth of pharaoh Thutmose III of Egypt asks at some point that his horses be taken inside the city, lest they be stolen by a passing Apir.
c.1420 BC., On two stelae at Memphis and Karnak, Thutmose III's son Amenhotep II boasts of having made 89,600 prisoners in his campaign in Canaan , including "127 princes and 179 nobles of Retenu, 3600 Apiru, 15,200 Shasu, 36,600 Hurrians", etc.
c.1350 BC, Mention of the Sea Peoples: The Lukka, as well as the Sherden, also appear much later in the Amarna Letters.  The letters at one point refer to a Sherden man as an apparent renegade mercenary, and at another point to three Sherden who are slain by an Egyptian overseer. The Danuna are mentioned in another letter but only in a passing reference to the death of their king. The Lukka are being accused of attacking the Egyptians in conjunction with the Alashiyans, or Cypriotes, with the latter having stated that the Lukka were seizing their villages.
c. 1330s BC, Abdi-Heba, the Egyptian vassal ruler of Jerusalem in the Amarna period , wrote a series of letters to the Egyptian king in which he complained about the activities of the "Habiru", who were plundering the king's lands.
c.1300 BC., A stela from the reign of Seti I tells that the pharaoh sent an expedition into the Levant, in response to an attack of "the apiru from Mount Yarmuta" upon a local town.
1292–1290 BC, Pi-Ramesses may have been originally founded by Ramesses I while he served under Horemheb.
c.1279–1213 BC, Ramesses II, rules in the 19th Dynasty
c.1277 BC. Records or possible records of sea peoples generally or in particular date to two campaigns of Ramesses II, a pharaoh of the militant 19th Dynasty: operations in or near the delta in Year 2 of his reign and the major confrontation with the Hittite Empire and allies at the Battle of Kadesh in his Year 5. The dates of this long-lived pharaoh's reign are not known for certain, but they must have comprised nearly all of the first half of the 13th century BC
In his Second Year, an attack of the Sherden, or Shardana, on the Nile Delta was repulsed and defeated by Ramesses, who captured some of the pirates. The event is recorded on Tanis Stele II. An inscription by Ramesses II on the stela from Tanis which recorded the Sherden raiders' raid and subsequent capture speaks of the continuous threat they posed to Egypt's Mediterranean coasts:
"the unruly Sherden whom no one had ever known how to combat, they came boldly sailing in their warships from the midst of the sea, none being able to withstand them."
The Sherden prisoners were subsequently incorporated into the Egyptian army for service on the Hittite frontier by Ramesses, and were involved as Egyptian soldiers in the Battle of Kadesh. Another stele usually cited in conjunction with this one is the "Aswan Stele" (there were other stelae at Aswan), which mentions the king's operations to defeat a number of peoples including those of the "Great Green (the Egyptian name for the Mediterranean)". It is plausible to assume that the Tanis and Aswan Stelae refer to the same event, in which case they reinforce each other.
1274 BC, The Battle of Kadesh was the outcome of a campaign against the Hittites and allies in the Levant in the pharaoh's Year 5. The imminent collision of the Egyptian and Hittite empires became obvious to both, and they both prepared campaigns against the strategic midpoint of Kadesh for the next year. Ramesses divided his Egyptian forces, which were then ambushed piecemeal by the Hittite army and nearly defeated. However, some Egyptian forces made it through to Kadesh, and the arrival of the last of the Egyptians provided enough military cover to allow the pharaoh to escape and his army to withdraw in defeat; leaving Kadesh in Hittite hands.
1213 BCE–1203 BC, Merneptah was the fourth ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty
1208 BC, Merneptah Stele declares:
Depredations of this confederacy had been so severe that the region was "forsaken as pasturage for cattle, it was left waste from the time of the ancestors."
The pharaoh's action against them is attested in four inscriptions: the Great Karnak Inscription, describing the battle, the Cairo Column, the Athribis Stele (the last two of which are shorter versions of the Great Karnak), and a stele found at Thebes, called variously the Hymn of Victory, the Merneptah Stele or the Israel Stele. It describes the reign of peace resulting from the victory.
"The Canaan has been plundered into every sort of woe.  Israel is laid waste and his seed is not"
The Nine Bows were acting under the leadership of the king of Libya and an associated near-concurrent revolt in Canaan involving Gaza, Ashkelon, Yenoam and the people of Israel. Exactly which peoples were consistently in the Nine Bows is not clear, but present at the battle were the Libyans, some neighboring Meshwesh, and possibly a separate revolt in the following year involving peoples from the eastern Mediterranean, including the Kheta (or Hittites), or Syrians, and (in the Israel Stele) for the first time in history, the Israelites. In addition to them, the first lines of the Karnak inscription include some sea peoples, which must have arrived in the Western Delta or from Cyrene by ship:
 "Beginning of the victory that his majesty achieved in the land of Libya] -i, Ekwesh, Teresh, Lukka, Sherden, Shekelesh, Northerners coming from all lands."
Later in the inscription Merneptah receives news of the attack:
" ... the third season, saying: 'The wretched, fallen chief of Libya, Meryey, son of Ded, has fallen upon the country of Tehenu with his bowmen---- Sherden, Shekelesh, Ekwesh, Lukka, Teresh, Taking the best of every warrior and every man of war of his country. He has brought his wife and his children ----- leaders of the camp, and he has reached the western boundary in the fields of Perire'"
c.1206 and 1150 BC, the cultural collapse of the Mycenaean kingdoms, the Hittite Empire in Anatolia and Syria, and the New Kingdom of Egypt in Syria and Canaan interrupted trade routes and severely reduced literacy. In the first phase of this period, almost every city between Pylos and Gaza was violently destroyed, and often left unoccupied thereafter: examples include Hattusa, Mycenae, and Ugarit.
c.1203 BC–1199 BC, Amenmesse (also Amenmesses or Amenmose) was the 5th ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt, possibly the son of Merneptah and Queen Takhat
 The cartouches of Seti II's tomb in Upper Egypt were deliberately erased and then repainted, suggesting that Seti's rule in Upper Egypt was temporarily interrupted by agents of his half-brother.
The records of a court case early in the reign of Seti II also throw some light on the matter. Papyrus Salt 124 records that Neferhotep, one of the two chief workmen of the Deir el-Medina necropolis, had been killed during the reign of Amenmesse (the king's name is written as 'Msy' in the document). Neferhotep was replaced by Paneb his adopted son, against whom many crimes were alleged by Neferhotep's brother Amennakhte in a strongly worded indictment preserved on a papyrus in the British Museum. If Amennakhte's allegations can be trusted, Paneb had stolen stone for the embellishment of his own tomb from that of Seti II in the course of its completion, besides purloining or damaging other property belonging to that monarch. Also he had allegedly tried to kill Neferhotep in spite of having been educated by him, and after the chief workman had been killed by 'the enemy' had bribed the vizier Pra'emhab in order to usurp his place. Whatever the truth of these accusations, it is clear that Thebes was going through very troubled times. There are references elsewhere to a 'war' that had occurred during these years, but it is obscure to what this word alludes, perhaps to no more than internal disturbances and discontent. Neferhotep had complained of the attacks upon himself to the vizier Amenmose, presumably a predecessor of Pra'emhab, whereupon Amenmose had Paneb punished. Paneb, however, then successfully brought a complaint before 'Mose'/'Msy' whereupon the latter decided to dismiss Amenmose from office. Evidently this 'Mose'/'Msy' was a person of the highest importance here who most probably should be identified with king Amenmesse himself.
c. 1200 BC to 1194 BC, Seti II (or Sethos II) was the fifth ruler of the Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt.  Seti II also expanded the copper mining at Timna Valley in Edom, building an important temple to Hathor the cow goddess in the region. Abandoned in the late Bronze Age collapse, where a part of the temple seems to have been used by Midianite nomads, linked to the worship of a bronze serpent discovered in the area.
1197, Chancellor Bay also called Ramesse Khamenteru was an important Asiatic official in ancient Egypt, who rose to prominence and high office under Seti II and later became an influential powerbroker in the closing stages of the 19th Dynasty. Chancellor Bay publicly boasts that he was instrumental in installing Siptah on the throne. 
c.1197 – 1191 BC, Siptah was the penultimate ruler of the 19th Dynasty.  His mother was Sutailja; this is Canaanite rather than a native Egyptian name which means that she was almost certainly a king's concubine from Canaan. However, Dodson/Hilton assert that this is not correct and that the lady was, instead, the mother of Ramesses-Siptah and a wife of Ramesses II.
The identity of his father is currently unknown; some Egyptologists speculate it may have been Amenmesse rather than Seti II since both Siptah and Amenmesse spent their youth in Chemmis and both are specifically excluded from Ramesses III's Medinet Habu procession of statues of ancestral kings unlike Merneptah or Seti. This suggests that Amenmesse and Siptah were inter-related in such a way that they were "regarded as illegitimate rulers and that therefore they were probably father and son."
c.1192 BC, Chancellor Bay later fell out of favor at Court presumably for overreaching himself and last appears in public in a dated Year 4 inscription from Siptah's reign. He was executed in the fifth year of Siptah's reign, on orders of the king himself
c. 1191–1189 BC, Queen Twosret (Tawosret, Tausret) was the last known ruler and the final Pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty. She is recorded in Manetho's Epitome as a certain Thuoris, who in Homer is called Polybus, husband of Alcandara, and in whose time Troy was taken
Queen Twosret is thought to have been a daughter of Merenptah, possibly a daughter of Takhat, thereby making her sister to Amenmesse. She was thought to be the second royal wife of Seti II. There are no known children for Twosret and Seti II
c.1189–1186 BC, Setnakht was the first Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty
From: Papyrus Harris I:  "The land of Egypt was overthrown from without, and every man was thrown out of his right; they had no "chief mouth" for many years formerly until other times. The land of Egypt was in the hands of chiefs and of rulers of towns; one slew his neighbour, great and small. Other times having come after it, with empty years, Irsu ('a self-made man'), a certain Syrian (Kharu) was with them as chief (wr). He set plundering their (i.e.: the people's) possessions. They made gods like men, and no offerings were presented in the temples.
From: Papyrus Harris I:  "But when the gods inclined themselves to peace, to set the land in its rights according to its accustomed manner, they established their son, who came forth from their limbs, to be ruler, LPH, of every land, upon their great throne, Userkhaure-setepenre-meryamun, LPH, the son of Re, Setnakht-merire-meryamun, LPH. He was Khepri-Set, when he is enraged; he set in order the entire land which had been rebellious; he slew the rebels who were in the land of Egypt; he cleansed the great throne of Egypt; he was ruler of the Two Lands, on the throne of Atum. He gave ready faces to those who had been turned away. Every man knew his brother who had been walled in. He established the temples in possession of divine offerings, to offer to the gods according to their customary stipulations."
From: Elephantine stele: "The [crim]inals before him, fear of him seized their hearts, and they fled - (as) tits and sparrows with a falcon after them - having abandoned the gold, silver and [bronze] of Egypt which they gave to these Asiatics to bring about a quick victory for them; for the [chiefs] of Egypt were disastrous conspirators and ineffectual plotters(?)."

c. 1186–1155 BC, Ramesses III, the second king of the Egyptian 20th Dynasty was forced to deal with a later wave of invasions of the Sea Peoples—the best-recorded of these in his eighth year. The Pharaoh records the Sea People's activities in several long inscriptions from his Medinet Habu mortuary temple:
"The foreign countries (ie. Sea Peoples) made a conspiracy in their islands, All at once the lands were removed and scattered in the fray. No land could stand before their arms: from Hatti, Qode, Carchemish, Arzawa and Alashiya on, being cut off [ie. destroyed] at one time. A camp was set up in Amurru. They desolated its people, and its land was like that which has never come into being. They were coming forward toward Egypt, while the flame was prepared before them. Their confederation was the Peleset, Tjeker, Shekelesh, Denyen and Weshesh, lands united. They laid their hands upon the land as far as the circuit of the earth, their hearts confident and trusting: "Our plans will succeed!"
c.1175 BC, Egypt was threatened with a massive land and sea invasion by the "Sea Peoples," a coalition of foreign enemies which included the Tjeker, the Shekelesh, the Deyen, the Weshesh, the Teresh, the Sherden, and the PRST; the last group are commonly regarded as identical with the Philistines. They were comprehensively defeated by Ramses III, who fought them in "Djahy" (the eastern Mediterranean coast) and at "the mouths of the rivers" (the Nile delta), recording his victories in a series of inscriptions in his mortuary temple at Medinet Habu. An additional Egyptian source, Papyrus Harris I, records how the defeated foe were brought in captivity to Egypt and settled in fortresses. The Harris papyrus can be interpreted in two ways: either the captives were settled in Egypt and the rest of the Philistines/Sea Peoples carved out a territory for themselves in Canaan, or else it was Ramses himself who settled the Sea Peoples (mainly Philistines) in Canaan as mercenaries.Archaeological evidence indicates that the Philistines originally settled in a few sites in the south, such as Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron. It was not until several decades later, about 1150 BC, that they expanded into surrounding areas such as the Yarkon region to the north (the area of modern Jaffa, where there were Philistine farmsteads at Tel Gerisa and Aphek, and a larger settlement at Tel Qasile).  Most scholars therefore believe that the settlement of the Philistines took place in two stages. In the first, dated to the reign of Ramses III, they were limited to the coastal plain, the region of the Five Cities; in the second, dated to the collapse of Egyptian hegemony in southern Canaan, their influence spread inland beyond the coast.
c.1180 - 700 BC, The states that are called Neo-Hittite, or more recently Syro-Hittite, or Aramean (after the Arameans and the Aramaic language), were Luwian, Aramaic and Phoenician-speaking political entities of the Iron Age in northern Syria and southern Anatolia that arose following the collapse of the Hittite Empire around 1180 BC and which lasted until roughly 700 BC. The term "Neo-Hittite" is sometimes reserved specifically for the Luwian-speaking principalities like Milid and Carchemish, although in a wider sense the broader cultural term "Syro-Hittite" is now applied to all the entities that arose in south-central Anatolia following the Hittite collapse—such as Tabal and Quwê—as well as those of northern and coastal Syria.
1178 BC, April 16—A solar eclipse occurs. This may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom after the Trojan War. He discovers a number of suitors competing to marry his wife Penelope, whom they believe to be a widow, in order to succeed him on the throne. He organizes their slaying and re-establishes himself on the throne. The date is surmised from a passage in Homer's Odyssey, which reads, "The Sun has been obliterated from the sky, and an unlucky darkness invades the world." This happens in the context of a new moon and at noon, both necessary preconditions for a full solar eclipse. In 2008, to investigate, Dr Marcelo O. Magnasco, an astronomer at Rockefeller University, and Constantino Baikouzis, of the Observatorio Astrónomico de La Plata in Argentina, looked for more clues. Within the text, they interpreted three definitive astronomical events: there was a new moon on the day of the slaughter (as required for a solar eclipse); Venus was visible and high in the sky six days before; and the constellations Pleiades and Boötes were both visible at sunset 29 days before. Since these events recur at different intervals, this particular sequence should be unique: the doctors found only one occurrence of this sequence while searching between 1250 and 1115 BC, the 135-year spread around the putative date for the fall of Troy. It coincided with the eclipse of April 16, 1178 BC.
c.1160 BC, A list of goods bequeathed to several temples by Pharaoh Ramesses III includes many serfs, Egyptian and foreign: 86,486 to Thebes (2607 foreigners), 12,364 to Heliopolis (2093 foreign), and 3079 to Memphis (205 foreign). The foreign serfs are described as "maryanu (soldiers), apiru, and people already settled in the temple estate".
c.1159 BC, The Hekla 3 eruption (H-3) is considered the most severe eruption of Hekla during the Holocene. It threw about 7.3 km3 of volcanic rock into the atmosphere, placing its Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) at 5. This would have cooled temperatures in the northern parts of the globe for a few years afterwards.
1152 BC, The laborers that Ramesses IV sent to the quarry of Wadi Hammamat in his third year included 5,000 soldiers, 2,000 men attached to the temples of Pharaoh as well as 800 Apiru. This is the last known reference to the Apiru in Egyptian documents.

c.1077 - 664 BC, Third Intermediate Period of Egypt

c.1020 – 930 BC, United Kingdom of Israel and Judah {currently there is limited archaeological data}
930 – 720 BC, Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)
930 – 586 BC, Kingdom of Judah

Exodus - Update

No one knows when Moses lived or whom the Pharaoh of the exodus was. It is not specifically listed in the bible. P.S. The Ten Commandments movie is not necessarily accurate so it might not be Ramesses II like everyone thinks. :-)

"10 plagues of Egypt": Water turns to blood, frogs, lice, flies, disease on livestock, incurable boils, hail and thunder, locusts, darkness, death of the first-born of all Egyptian humans and animals.

Perhaps the following events were responsible for the 10 plagues. In April 16, 1178 BC, there was a solar eclipse causing the sky to darken. In 1159 BC a volcano in Iceland (Hekla 3 eruption) blew up causing drought, hail and possibly locusts, etc and other for eighteen years in Europe and Asia. Some Egyptologists blame the eruption for the Bronze Age collapse.

Between 1206 and 1150 BCE, the cultural collapse of the Mycenaean kingdoms, the Hittite Empire in Anatolia and Syria, and the New Kingdom of Egypt in Syria and Canaan interrupted trade routes and severely reduced literacy. In the first phase of this period, almost every city between Troy and Gaza was violently destroyed, and often left unoccupied thereafter: examples include Hattusa, Mycenae, and Ugarit. Maybe God was trying to say something? :-)
From Papyrus Harris, The beginning of the Great Harris Papyrus or Papyrus Harris I, which documents the reign of Ramesses III, Setnakhte was Ramesses III's father. There is no real evidence of whom this Isru character is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setnakhte

"The land of Egypt was overthrown from without, and every man was thrown out of his right; they had no "chief mouth" for many years formerly until other times. The land of Egypt was in the hands of chiefs and of rulers of towns; one slew his neighbour, great and small. Other times having come after it, with empty years, Irsu ('a self-made man'), a certain Syrian (Kharu) was with them as chief (wr). He set plundering their (i.e.: the people's) possessions. They made gods like men, and no offerings were presented in the temples.

"But when the gods inclined themselves to peace, to set the land in its rights according to its accustomed manner, they established their son, who came forth from their limbs, to be ruler, "be well", of every land, upon their great throne, Userkhaure-setepenre-meryamun, "be well", the son of Re, Setnakht-merire-meryamun, "be well". He was Khepri-Set, when he is enraged; he set in order the entire land which had been rebellious; he slew the rebels who were in the land of Egypt; he cleansed the great throne of Egypt; he was ruler of the Two Lands, on the throne of Atum. He gave ready faces to those who had been turned away. Every man knew his brother who had been walled in. He established the temples in possession of divine offerings, to offer to the gods according to their customary stipulations."

1207 BC: Pharaoh Merneptah claims a victory over the people of Israel.
1201–1198 BC, Amenmesse (also Amenmesses or Amenmose) was the 5th ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt, possibly the son of Merneptah and Queen Takhat.  Rolf Krauss, followed by Aidan Dodson, suggests that Amenmesse was once a Kushite Viceroy called Messuwy
1191–1189 BC, Queen Twosret is thought to have been a daughter of Merenptah, possibly a daughter of Takhat, thereby making her sister to Amenmesse
1189–1186 BC, or Setnakht ruled.  


Exodus Chapter 12

21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them: 'Draw out, and take you lambs according to your families, and kill the passover lamb.
22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side-posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.
25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as He hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.
26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you: What mean ye by this service?
27 that ye shall say: It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, for that He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.' And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
28 And the children of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
29 And it came to pass at midnight, that the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the first-born of cattle.
30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night and said: 'Rise up, get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said.
32 Take both your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.'
33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, to send them out of the land in haste; for they said: 'We are all dead men.'
34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.
35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment.
36 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. And they despoiled the Egyptians.

World War III scenario

Syria attempts to attack refugees and/or 'terrorists' into the border area near Turkey. Turkey attempts to stay out of it at first but puts Syria on notice that further attacks on it's soil will not be tolerated. Then Turkey mobilizes a brigade to ensure it's sovereignty. After a week it seems fine but then various Syrian rebels launch an attack from Turkey into Syria which kill dozens of soldiers. Syria launches an attack into Turkey again causing major casualties among the refugees. Turkey then moves in their troops to try and protect the remain refugees and being shelling the border area into Syria.

Syria, then launches a counteroffensive into Turkey using missiles causing significant damage to the nearest brigade and so Turkey mobilizes for war with Syria. Turkey then attack Syria using it's full arsenal and blockades Syria's ports. Russia, has a naval base their attempts to stop this and Turkey becomes under attack from various Russian special forces and naval forces. Then with Turkey being subject to bombardment, they invoke Article 5 of NATO. Various states refuse to step in including France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Greece. However, Poland, the US, Britain, and Canada send ships and troops to the area.

Meanwhile Israel and Saudi Arabia decide to attack Iran and Syria. Egypt and Syria then launch attacks on Israel.

Israel, use it's forces to cripple Syria's army and inflict heavy casualties in Egypt. Egypt and Iran then counterattack along with Hezbollah and Hamas as well as a Palestinian uprising. The Israel's suffer major casualties and have to withdraw from various areas in Syria/Jordan as well as in the Sinai. Then, Iran also launches a series 3 or nuclear missiles from an previously unknown location inside of the Iraq/Syria border. 2 missiles are stopped by the new Iron Dome system but one gets through and destroys large sections of Tel Aviv causing millions of deaths and creating major panic in Israel as no one thought the Iranians had any nukes yet.

Meanwhile, with NATO troops recently arrived in the area, they begin destroying the Russian Naval forces and begin landing marines into Turkey, Israel, and in the Persian Gulf attempting to disrupt Russian/Arab/Iranian forces. They are largely successful except that they are now vulnerable to ground attack from the Russian/Arab/Iranian forces (hereafter known as the Eurasian Alliance). China begins to mobilize and launch attacks on Japan,South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Singapore

Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Australia manage repel any initial naval attack but are vulnerable to marine and land forces within the Korean Peninsula as well as near Malaysia/Indonesia/Singapore. Vietnam, decides to attack China fearing a Chinese hegemony so the situation somewhat stabilizes. The US also send some naval firepower and is able to halt advances in most locations although South Korea is getting pounded. Parts for electronics, cars, etc become extremely expensive due to short supply so rationing is invoked.

Then, Israel fearing for it's collective life, and decide to launch an all out attack on Iran, Syria, and Egypt. They end up destroying Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Damascus, Cairo, and some other cities. Oil prices go even higher (they were already at $250 per barrel at this point). Now prices are at $500 per barrel. With prices that high even China begins to question the war so it tries to make peace but then Pakistan fearing losing it's main partner attacks India with conventional weapons. At first India is comfortable with staying neutral but had begun to talk to NATO about supporting bases for NATO. After the initial attack India fights back and inflicts heavy causalities against Pakistan. Pakistan, then launches a last ditch effort to destroy Indian supremacy using several new advanced missiles from North Korea and China. It results in major damage to India's infrastructure. India then fully mobilizes and begins to destroy all of Pakistan's military infrastructure and reducing it to rubble. Just before it fully collapses, Pakistan launches it's full nuclear compliment against India killing tens of millions and thereby causing India to entirely destroy the state of Pakistan.

Russia, seeing the situation go from bad to worse, then launches a major invasion of the middle east in order to secure the Persian Gulf for itself. China reluctantly agrees to send it's massive army into the Persian Gulf area bypassing Pakistan. NATO, fearing the worst, then attempts to destroy critical command and control facilities in China and Centra Asia as well as in Western Russia. Poland becomes a target again and begins loose it's war with Russia due to advance missile technology in Kaliningrad which is right on the border with Poland. Germany fearing a Russian take over decides to actually help Poland out for the first time in it's history and then launches major attacks on Russia. France eventually joins in and Russia is under attack from the west and the south-west. In the east US marines have begun sabotaging various Siberian petroleum infrastructure points and disrupting it's eastern supply lines.

Meanwhile, Iran has somehow managed to keep alive and has managed to work with China and Russia on securing the oil reserves. The US fearing Russian/Chinese control over all of Eurasia begins to land troops into the area as well as into the Volga region in order to cut off Russian land forces. They are almost destroyed except to a few army groups (thanks to significant NATO air support) that manage to move towards Moscow. With Moscow under daily attacks, Russia warns the US and western Europe that it will never surrender. China then begins experiencing massive rioting that after a few months lead to a full scale uprising. The uprising is put down in most eastern areas but in the central and western areas many provinces break away from central control and announce they are now supporting the US.

With China engaged in a full scale civil war, they begin to move troops back to China to attempt to stabilize the situation. Arab forces are now under a full uprising as well due to lack of food and oil prices that cause the entire economy to collapse.

The US seizes an opportunity to totally destroy the Eurasian forces in the Persian Gulf so it launches a massive 3 pronged missle cruise missile and kinetic attack on the Persian Gulf area, Mediterranean forces, and into Russia itself.

With Eurasian forces nearing defeat, Russia decides to launch a nuclear attack on the Persian Gulf area and along with western lines near Poland/Germany. The US announces that nuclear weapons against it's forces and it's allies is unacceptable and then makes it known that Russia has 3 days in which to surrender otherwise it will counterattack with it's entire nuclear arsenal.

Russia, then begins to secretly prepare for Armageddon and is about ready to launch a first strike against Europe and North America.

Iran, then uses all of it's resources to attack Israel, attempting to destroy it once and for all. With a massive Arab/Russian/Iranian army poised to attack Jerusalem their forces are nearly wiped out due to a massive storm that blinds them at the same time a plague suddenly cripples it's soldiers. Iran's remain forces are then destroyed by Israel. Israel and Turkey move into Iraq and Syria cutting off Russian forces in the Persian Gulf.

Then, just as Russia is about to launch a first strike, the Russian President suffers a heart massive attack and the replacement Russian President then has a very lucid nightmare and fearing the worst he decides to talk to the US President using the Red phone who also has had a similar vision/nightmare the same night. After a lengthy discussion, they both agree to an immediate cease fire.

After a few weeks, calm is slowly restored across the world as we suddenly realize how close we came to utter destruction and begin to heal physically, economically, and yes Spiritually.

The END

Dan Fournel

Technology Timeline

What follows is a loose system of classification used to determine the approximate level of technological and socio-political advancement for sentient life on Earth and eventually elsewhere in the Universe. The time span from 7 million B.C. up to the present is based on legitimate archaeological discoveries and historical records. Everything after that is based partly on current scientific theories and partly on my own speculations.
The Ages of Technological and Socio-Political Advancement

Hominid Age (pre-technological age)
7 million B.C. to 2.6 million B.C.
[ex. Sahelanthropus Tchadensis, Australopithecus Anamensis]

Hominid Social Organization. Hominids who evolved from primate mammals emerge in Africa around 7 million B.C.. Food gained through gathering plants. Simple tool users. Unorganized Violence common.

Scavenging Age
2.6 million B.C. to 600,000 B.C.
[ex: Australopithecus Afaraensis, Australopithecus Africanus, Homo Habilis, & Homo Erectus]
Australopithecus Africanus from 3 to 1.6 million years ago
Clan (family) social organization. Scavenging Revolution: food gained through scavenging for meat. Simple stone tools made. Fire Discovered. Transportation by foot, and later on, by water. Organized Violence Develops.

Hunting/Gathering Age
600,000 B.C. to 10,000 B.C.
[ex. Homo Erectus & Homo Sapiens]
Tribal social organization. Hunting/Gathering Revolution: food gained through hunting animals and gathering plants. Simple tools in use. Verbal and pictorial communication. Unorganized Warfare Develops.

Horticultural Age
10,000 B.C. to 4000 B.C.
[ex. Homo Sapiens Sapiens]
Village social organization. Horticultural Revolution: food gained through planting small crops and domestication of some animals. Advanced tools in use. More advanced pictorial communication: writing is invented. Transportation is primarily through animal and water. Wheel invented. Organized Warfare Develops. First cities are built (ie. Eridu, Uruk, and Jericho, etc....) For a more detailed History click here.

Agrarian Age
4000 B.C. to 1700 A.D.
City and Regional social organization (city states control vast areas - ie. Ur, Babylon, Sparta, Athens, Carthage, Rome, Constantinople, and Baghdad, etc..). Agrarian Revolution: food gained through planting large crops using the plough and breeding livestock. Small scale manufactured goods. Parchment is first used, making writing common: used for keeping records, business transactions, religious documents, etc.; Machines are invented. Transportation through animal, water, and/or wind-powered means. For a more detailed history click here. Greek Dark Age (1100 to 750 B.C.). Major religions emerge: Sabeanism, Judaism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism (modern Parsee in India), Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Jainism, Shinto, Christianity, Islam, and Sikhism. Roman Empire established (27 BC). Gunpowder invented. European Dark Age (400 to 1500 AD). Mercenary Armies and Navies established. Organized Warfare becomes common. Era of European Discovery and Colonization (1500 AD to 1900 AD). First nation-states are established (ie. China, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Spain, Portugal, France, England, and Russia) in the later part of the Agrarian age

Industrial Age
1700 A.D. to 1960 A.D.
National social organization (nation states - ie. United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, India, Brazil, etc...). Industrial Revolution: mass production using factories create new occupations. Standing Armies and Navies (and later, Air Forces) are Developed. Electricity is in use. Simple mechanized vehicles. In 1773, the first Stock Market is created in Britain. In 1787, the United States of America is formed. Mass produced text and communication using the telegraph (1844) (and later the telephone) is in use. New Christian religious sects emerge in the west: Jehovah's Witness, Seventh Day Adventist, and Mormonism (Later Day Saints). The Bahá'í Faith emerges out of 19th century Shi'ah Persia. Newspapers are common. Radio and Television is invented. World War I (1914-1918). The United Nations is established after World War II (1939-1945) ends; Nuclear weapons are developed in 1945 thereby beginning the Cold War between the East (Soviet Union and allies) and West (United States and allies). In 1946 the Electronic Computer (ENIAC) is invented. In 1947 A.D., UFO phenomena begins after Roswell Incident shows flying saucers on Earth and captured Alien bodies (Greys). In 1957 A.D. first satellite (Sputnik 1) is launched into Earth Orbit. For a more detailed history click here.

Information Age
1960 A.D. to 2030 A.D. (Present Age)
International social organization (ie. - United Nations, European Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, World Trade Organization, World Bank, and other international organizations). Information Revolution: service-oriented and computer-based occupations. In 1969 AD Earth first landed on its moon, Luna. Petroleum for fuel is in use. Nuclear Fission power plants are in use. Mass production becomes more efficient, giving rise to advances in alloys and plastics: "High-tech" industries. Computers become common. Primitive space travel via chemical rocket technology (liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel).

An example of a satellite of the late 20th century.
Mass transportation and communication (Radio is transmitted at the speed of light so 1 c=speed of light or 300,000 km/s). For more information on Special relativity click here. Television is common. Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" is written.

Nuclear, Chemical, Biological, and Cyber War are developed. In 1989 the Cold War ends; the Soviet Union is dissolved in 1991. First extra-solar planets discovered. In 2003, the potential for complete recording and summation of daily financial dealings began to be realized. In 1995 the World Trade Organization is founded.

2009
A $1,000 personal computer can perform about a trillion calculations per second.
Personal computers with high-resolution visual displays come in a range of sizes, from those small enough to be embedded in clothing and jewellery up to the size of a thin book.

Cables are disappearing. Communication between components uses short-distance wireless technology. High-speed wireless communication provides access to the Web.

The majority of text is created using continuous speech recognition. Also ubiquitous are language user interfaces (LUIs).

Most routine business transactions (purchases, travel, reservations) take place between a human and a virtual personality. Often, the virtual personality includes an animated visual presence that looks like a human face.

Although traditional classroom organization is still common, intelligent courseware has emerged as a common means of learning.

Pocket-sized reading machines for the blind and visually impaired, "listening machines" (speech-to-text conversion) for the deaf, and computer- controlled orthotic devices for paraplegic individuals result in a growing perception that primary disabilities do not necessarily impart handicaps.

Translating telephones (speech-to-speech language translation) are commonly used for many language pairs.

Accelerating returns from the advance of computer technology have resulted in continued economic expansion. Price deflation, which had been a reality in the computer field during the twentieth century, is now occurring outside the computer field. The reason for this is that virtually all economic sectors are deeply affected by the accelerating improvement in the price performance of computing.

Human musicians routinely jam with cybernetic musicians.

Bioengineered treatments for cancer and heart disease have greatly reduced the mortality from these diseases.

The neo-Luddite movement is growing.

2019
A $1,000 computing device (in 1999 dollars) is now approximately equal to the computational ability of the human brain.
Computers are now largely invisible and are embedded everywhere-in walls, tables, chairs, desks, clothing, jewelry, and bodies.

Three-dimensional virtual reality displays, embedded in glasses and contact lenses, as well as auditory "lenses," are used routinely as primary interfaces for communication with other persons, computers, the Web, and virtual reality.

Most interaction with computing is through gestures and two-way natural-language spoken communication.

Nanoengineered machines are beginning to be applied to manufacturing and process-control applications.

High-resolution, three-dimensional visual and auditory virtual reality and realistic all-encompassing tactile environments enable people to do virtually anything with anybody, regardless of physical proximity.

Paper books or documents are rarely used and most learning is conducted through intelligent, simulated software-based teachers.

Blind persons routinely use eyeglass-mounted reading-navigation systems. Deaf persons read what other people are saying through their lens displays. Paraplegic and some quadriplegic persons routinely walk and climb stairs through a combination of computer-controlled nerve stimulation and exoskeletal robotic devices.

The vast majority of transactions include a simulated person.

Automated driving systems are now installed in most roads.

People are beginning to have relationships with automated personalities and use them as companions, teachers, caretakers, and lovers.

Virtual artists, with their own reputations, are emerging in all of the arts.

There are widespread reports of computers passing the Turing Test, although these tests do not meet the criteria established by knowledgeable observers.

2029
A $1,000 (in 1999 dollars) unit of computation has the computing capacity of approximately 1,000 human brains.
Permanent or removable implants (similar to contact lenses) for the eyes as well as cochlear implants are now used to provide input and output between the human user and the worldwide computing network.

Direct neural pathways have been perfected for high-bandwidth connection to the human brain. A range of neural implants is becoming available to enhance visual and auditory perception and interpretation, memory, and reasoning.

Automated agents are now learning on their own, and significant knowledge is being created by machines with little or no human intervention. Computers have read all available human- and machine-generated literature and multimedia material.

There is widespread use of all-encompassing visual, auditory, and tactile communication using direct neural connections, allowing virtual reality to take place without having to be in a "total touch enclosure."

The majority of communication does not involve a human. The majority of communication involving

There is almost no human employment in production, agriculture, or transportation. Basic life needs are available for the vast majority of the human race.

There is a growing discussion about the legal rights of computers and what constitutes being "human."

Although computers routinely pass apparently valid forms of the Turing Test, controversy persists about whether or not machine intelligence equals human intelligence in all of its diversity.

Machines claim to be conscious. See Artificial Intelligence. These claims are largely accepted.


2049
The common use of nanoproduced food, which has the correct nutritional composition and the same taste and texture of organically produced food, means that the availability of food is no longer affected by limited resources, bad crop weather, or spoilage.
Nanobot swarm projections are used to create visual-auditory-tactile projections of people and objects in real reality.

By 2037 A.D. the European Union (EU) became a loose confederation of states with a common political & economic system. For a more detailed history click here.


Nanotechnology Age
2030 A.D. to 2300 A.D.

Global social organization (World Confederation) and Continental social organization (European Union, North American Union, Islamic Union, Asia-Pacific Co-operative, South Asian Union, African Union, and South American Confederation). Nanotechnology Revolution: creation of self-replicating atom-sized machines thereby revolutionizing the agricultural, industrial, information, and service industries; cybernetic technology developed (brain implants which allow transmission of information from person to person) and organic technology (living machines) developed. Nuclear fusion: (click here for new Fusion principles course & Click here for old Fusion principles course) and solar power are in use.


Enterprise traveling to Mars
Forcefield Technology developed. Interplanetary space travel is developed in 21st century due to low cost Solar Sail Propulsion, Ion Propulsion, and Nanotechnology-based orbital space manufacturing.

In 2088, New Alexandria, the first permanent Mars Colony is established and a monument to Carl Sagan is erected in the centre of the colony. By 2130 Spacecraft with rotational centrifuges are employed traveling at sublight speeds (by 2130 it would take 53 days to travel to Mars and 150 days to travel to Jupiter using Fusion Propulsion with a 10kw/kg payload ratio). Colonies on various in-system worlds such as Europa, Io, Venus, and Titan were established in the late 21st and early 22nd centuries.
Tachyon-based communication allows almost instant communications over interplanetary distances (at 100 c). Common Global language and script developed (Terran). Common weights and measures is established: Metric System (System Internationale). Artificial Intelligence systems become common. Holovision becomes common. Holo-rooms are invented. Nano-based and Space-based Warfare are developed. In 2045 A.D. the United Nations Confederation is established taking control of global security (peacekeeper force), overseeing shipping/mining/development/colonization of new areas (land, sea, and space), environmental stabilization/reconstruction, and overseeing the world economy. The oceans, Antarctica, and Luna become International territory under the jurisdiction of the World Confederation. By 2075 A.D. all organized warfare (international and civil wars) ceases to exist due to enforcement by the World Federation. In 2095 A.D. the World Union is established becoming the final political/judicial authority on Earth.

In 2207, artificial gravity is invented: allowing residents of space habitats and passengers on spacecraft to have an Earth-like gravity. By 2300, a planetary matrix develops on Earth (Terran Union) linking Earth, Luna, and it's colonies into an single interconnected network or matrix. By 2300 AD, all unorganized warfare (border skirmishes, rebellions, uprisings, etc...) ceases to exist. Mars did establish it's own independent government (in 2649 AD which lasted for approx. 500 years)

Quantum Age
2300 A.D. to 15,000 A.D.
Stellar Social Organization (Stellar Matrices: interconnected planets and moons all functioning together in one Star System - ie. Sol Matrix (est. 3212 AD), Alpha Centauri Matrix, Vega Matrix, and Tau Ceti Matrix, etc...). Type I civilization* (ability to harness the power of a planet).
* Star faring civilizations may be classified according to the scale of energies they command, in a ranking termed as Karadashev levels or types I, II, and III. A type I civilization is able to utilize the power output of an entire planet. A type II, an entire star, type III, an entire galaxy. One estimate is that humanity itself may reach Type III status around one million AD (if it doesn't destroy itself in the meantime). As of 2000 AD humanity was estimated to rate 0.7 on the Karadashev scale, in terms of interstellar transmission capacities alone.

Quantum Revolution: Creation of matter and energy from quantum dynamics: replication technology. Highly efficient nanotech-industries used for energy prohibitive items; Cyber-organic technology becomes common: development of Starships. Jumpgate technology is discovered allowing interstellar travel (100 c using Tachyon drives). The first interstellar colony that was founded was Proxima 3 Colony in 2464 A.D, followed by her sister world Alpha II colony in 2489 A.D. Magneto-Gravitic technology becomes common: artificial gravity and propulsion. Memory can be transferred from person to person. In 3130 A.D. first contact is made with an Alien civilization (the Vaq'lar). Interactive Holo-rooms are common.


General trade is conducted with various Alien Civilizations. Hyperspace Communication Developed (10,000 times the speed of light). By 5000 A.D. all organized violence (piracy, gangs etc...) ceases to exist.


Creative/Artistic Age
15,000 A.D. to 300,000 A.D.
[ex. Vaq'lar and Neohumans]
Galactic Social Organization: (Galactic Matrices: interconnected star systems all functioning together in one Galaxy - ie. Milky Way Matrix, Andromeda Matrix, and Large Magellenic Matrix, etc...). Type II civilization* (ability to harness the power of a star). Creative/Artistic Revolution: society engages in creative/artistic pursuits as primary occupation: return to nature and art. By 10,000 A.D. Empathic ability develops: the ability to read the emotions of others. By 30,000 A.D. all unorganized violence (homicide & suicide) ceases to exist. Entry/exit to Hyperspace accomplished through advanced means: dimensional phasing/hyperflux (10,000 c). Subspace Communication developed (1,000,000 c). Ability to transfer 'soul' from one body to another: creation of artificial bodies - see Greg Bear's novel "Eon" for more information. Planetary-scale device construction possible (Dysan Spheres and other Megascale Engineering). Empathic ability develops: the ability to feel the emotions of others. By 100,000 A.D., Empathic ability is common and Psychic ability begins to develop: the ability to read the thoughts of others.

PSI Age
300,000 A.D. to 3 million A.D.
[ex. Posthumans]
Intergalactic Social Organization: Single Transgalactic Consciousness develops. Type III civilization* (ability to harness the power of a galaxy).
PSI Revolution: Society/Consciousness engages in psychic pursuits as primary occupation. Temporal Research leads to ability to view the past. The manipulation of stars possible. Wormhole Communication develops with ability to communicate instantly anywhere in the universe. Subspace Conduits are constructed (1,000,000 c) enabling fast travel across the galaxy. Psychic ability is common and Telekinetic ability begins to develop: the ability to move objects with one's mind.

Temporal Age
3 million A.D. to 300 million A.D.
Universal/Cosmic Social Organization: Cosmic Consciousness. Temporal Revolution: Manipulation of the time stream possible. Wormhole Transportation developed allowing instant travel anywhere in the universe. Extradimensional Communication is developed. Telekinetic Ability is common. Superbeings begin to evolve existing as pure energy.


Ascendant Age
300 million A.D. to 3 billion A.D.
Interdimensional Social Organization: Q Continuum. Superbeings, almost god-like in intelligence and power. All, in part or in whole, are extradimensional in nature. No barrier bars their passage in either space or time (at least in this Multiverse).

Borg encounter at Star Trek: Experience

Borg and me at Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas, 2005