The origin of life, our mortality and our personal destiny are explored here. Ancient historical records reveal when the Universe came into existence and when a disaster destroyed all humanity except for a handful of survivors rescued by an amazing plan! If you search the internet for '539 BC, ' you will discover this is a significant date, widely accepted by historians as the year when Babylon fell and the Empire of the Medes and Persians took over world domination. Beginning from that well attested date, 539 BC, I searched backwards in time, using facts and figures from trusted historical sources including the dependable Masoretic text of the Holy Bible. I carefully calculated back to when King Nebuchadnezzar, the last king of the Babylonian Empire destroyed Solomon's Temple in 586 BC. A few years before that in 597 BC he had exiled the population of Israel to Babylon for seventy years. Prior to that Exile I traced back to the Fall of Assyria in 612 BC. Delving through the reigns of many monarchs, I discovered that the figures of the scribes recording the coronations and other events of the separate royal lines of Israel and Judah correlate with remarkable accuracy. Because of the accepted practice of including both the first and last year in the given length of a reign, I had to make allowance for that in my dating. Saul was the first king of Israel, succeeded by the great King David, who handed the throne over to his son, Solomon, renowned for his wisdom. King Solomon ascended the throne of Israel in 980 BC. Then I found the first verse of chapter 6 of 1 Kings, which begins like this: 'In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel ...' Solomon's 4th year was 977 BC. Travelling back that huge jump of 480 years leads me to date Israel's Exodus from Egypt at 1456 BC. Then it turns out that Israel spent 430 years in Egypt, latterly as slaves to a cruel Pharaoh. This is confirmed by Exodus 12:40-41, which means that 130 year old Jacob moved his family of about seventy into Egypt in 1885 BC. From here we reckon the passing of years, not by life-spans, but according to the age of the father at the birth of his first son. Included in this period is a great man named Noah, who along with his sons, Ham, Shem and Japheth, constructed the Ark, a huge vessel designed to float and house animals. The four men, their wives and a multitude of male and female animal pairs survived a year-long global flood. The deluge began with a 40 day downpour of continual rain on the 17th day of the 2nd month in 2455 BC and ended when the waters had gone down and the land was sufficiently dry on the 27th day of the 2nd month in 2454 BC! Working through the Bible's systematic genealogical data we ultimately arrive back at the year in which the first man and woman came into existence. You will find all this and more as you explore the facts and calculations in my book. The history is recounted in detailed sections, each with a Time Chart Summary. At the end is a complete Chart, which covers the whole period from the Creation through to 70 AD. For the post 539 BC section I've included only events of major significance. For example, in 475 BC the plot to annihilate all Jews during the 12th year of the reign of Xerxes, King of Persia, in 323 BC the division of the Greek Empire into four parts, following the death of Alexander the Great, in 167 BC the defeat of Antiochus Epiphanes by Judas Maccabeus, the death of King Herod the Great in 3 AD and the Sacking of Jerusalem by Titus, son of the Roman Emperor, Vespasian in 70 AD. In this section you will also find dates for the birth, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God's only beloved Son