Middle East (WOD)

This is an article for the Middle East in the Classic World of Darkness. Please see also Egypt and Mediterranean for more information.

Vampire: The Masquerade

See:

• Ashirra
• Assamites
• Second City
• Sihr

Mummy: The Resurrection

See Web of Faith

Hunter: The Reckoning

See Ikhwan Al-Safa

Timeline

• Prehistory: Caine invents murder and deceit when he kills his brother Abel, fundamentally altering existence. The War is suddenly lethal. Abel's death also triggers a storm in the underworld.

• Prehistory:The Grand Experiment. Lucifer selects 10 of his most trusted retainers and sends them to teach humankind the secrets of not only Creation but of Heaven as well. This knowledge spawns the Civilization of Ashes where human cities rival those built by the angels and include cities built upon oceans, mountains, deserts, and jungles. Enoch is likely one of these cities.

• 10500 BCE: The Beth-Alpha Synagogue in Galilee mosaic has encoded time indicators pointing to this year.

• 9600 BCE: Ananasi Jericho Euler helps to build the ancient city of Jericho.

• 4000 BCE: Assamite antitribu Izhim ur-Baal was Embraced.

• 4000 BCE: Babylon's first settlers arrive.

• 4000 BCE-2800 BCE: Thanatoic and Ecstatic cults arise in India. The Akashic Brotherhood takes form in China and Tibet. Babylonian priest-scientists discover principles of geometry and astronomy, harnessing the power of mathematics and the heavens to the human will. Druid priests and practitioners of magic raise Stonehenge in accordance with the movements of celestial bodies.

• 3800 BCE: Sumer's Uruk period starts at about this time.

• 3800 BCE: Babylonian tablet series named "The Day of Bel" is thought to have been written during this time, the reign of Sargon I, King of Agade.

• 3500 BCE: Artisan-priests of Babylon discover sacred geometry and astrology.

• 3200 BCE: - 2900 BCE: Sumer's Jemdat Nast period, best described as an extension and decline of the Uruk period.

• 2000m BCE: A massive meteor of near civilization-destroying proportions may have landed somewhere in the desert in the Middle East.

• 2900 BCE - 2370 BCE: Sumer's Early Dynastic period.

• 2000m BCE: The hero Gilgamesh ascends to the throne of Uruk. Kindred offer him the Embrace, but he decides against it due to the intervention of Siduri Sabitu, a Child of Gaia, and he rejects the Embrace and turns the people against the Kindred.

• 2500 BCE: Archmagi Djhowtey and his wife Sesheta are active in Phoenicia (located in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, and in Egypt. The two are responsible for the creation of the alphabet.

• 2300 BCE: Sargon of Akkad gathers seers and magicians and conquers the Sumerians. All Mesopotamia comes under his rule.

• 2100 BCE: In Sumer, Uthegal's rule is usurped by on of his lieutenants, establishing the third Ur dynasty shortly before this point.

• 2000 BCE: The Sumerian society collapses when the Amorites migrate into the area and gain control of the region.

• 1856 BCE: Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. This occurs because Lot turns his daughters over to the mob to be gang-raped, and in response, Black Furies descended upon the cities via moon-bridges and destroy them.

• 1830 BCE: Hammurabi orders the construction of Etemenanki ("the foundation of heaven and earth"), a seven-tiered ziggurat.

• 1500s BCE: The mages of Etemenanki, the first Labyrinth, create a gate.

• 1300s BCE: Founding of Judaism. The Weaver influences it with the seed of Dogma. The semi-Incarna of the Patriarch eventually forms.

• 1220 BCE: Moses leads the Israelite Exodus, performing many miracles along the way.

• 1120 BCE - 630 BCE: Ma'inite period.

• 1020 BCE: Hebrews found kingdom in Palestine.

• 900s BCE: A small sect of priests, The White Veils of the Temple live in the Holy Land.

• 996 BCE: Suleiman the Wise is born.

• 966 BCE: Suleiman founds the city of Palmyra, in what is now central Syria, northeast of Damascus. It was to become a major trade centre at the junction of several trade routes.

• 965 BCE: Suleiman becomes king of Israel; moves to consolidate power in the Lands of Faith by building a massive Temple in Jerusalem at the confluence of many Ley Lines, in accordance with Hermetic principles. This upsets the balance of power between humans and djinn in favor of humans.

• 965 BCE-937 BCE: Suleiman raises temple and assembles many of the basic tenets of Hermeticism.

• 950 BCE: Career of the archmagus Solomon, king of Israel. Solomon wrote three magickal texts, of which two (the Greater and Lesser Keys of Solomon survive in watered-down editions. The unabridged books later form the basis of the Order of Hermes.

• 945 BCE-930 BCE: The great khans and pashas of the Invisible World decide that the meddling of humans in "their" world must come to an end. The 10,000 Djinni Plague begins in 645 BCE. Malicious spirit hordes invade the Middle East. Suleiman contains many; early Arab sorcerers capture or destroy the remainder in or before 930 BCE.

• 939 BCE: Suleiman compiles and releases the Solomonic Code.

• 928 BCE: Suleiman the Wise dies under mysterious circumstances.

• 800 BCE - 115 BCE: The Sabaean period.

• 612 BCE: Scythians and Medes sack Nineveh. Black Fury Leukippes and her pack fight in the battle.

• 600s BCE: According to the Nephite Priesthood, God grants secret wisdom to the Nephi.

• 600s BCE: Many Enuma Anu Enil fragments are inscribed at this time.