The Bible’s chronology of itself (with some help from ancient and medieval rabbis): during the first centuries:

Approx.. 6000 years ago (in traditional Jewish counting: 3760 BCE) creation of the world; year 1 anno mundi (=year [of the creation] of the world)

Adam and Eve, garden of Eden, Cain and Abel

2100 BCE (=1656 A.M.) Noah and the flood; the tower of Babel

1760 BCE: Abraham departs Mesopotamia for the land of Canaan

Isaac (and Ishmael), Jacob (and Esau)

Joseph and his Brothers

1522 BCE children of Israel descend to Egypt

(How many years were the Israelites in Egypt: 400 [Genesis 15:13]? 430 [Exodus 12:40-41]? 210 [the rabbinic calculation]? )

1312 BCE Moses receives the ten commandments and then the entire Torah at Mount Sinai (a/k/a Horev); the construction of the Golden calf and other acts of rebellion

1272 BCE end of 40 years in the wilderness; death of Moses; Israelites enter Canaan

Period of Joshua, Judges, King Saul

Kings David and Solomon

Solomon builds the temple 480 years after the exodus (1 Kings 6:1)

On the other hand, modern biblical scholars (MBSs) have concluded that:

• all of the biblical narratives, especially the Torah, are ideologically motivated narratives;
• their “truth” is not their “facticity” but in the lesson they are trying to impart;
• none of them is a reliable chronicle of what actually happened;
• the earliest literary remains in the Bible are some free-standing poems (Exodus 15, Judges 5, Genesis 49);
• the earliest biblical books are those of the prophets of the eighth century BCE: Amos, Hosea, and First Isaiah; and
• the Torah (the Pentateuch), far from being the earliest book, is actually one of the latest.
• None of the biblical books is an organic unity; all of them, most importantly the Torah, are the product of a long process of edition, accretion, interpolation, and interpretation.

The Bible’s early stories (the creation of the world, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood, the tower of Babel) are clearly mythic and not historical. At what point, then, do the biblical stories shift from mythic or pre-historical to historical?

The stories about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob? Probably not.

Joseph in Egypt, the enslavement of the Israelites, and the Exodus? Probably not (no reference to the Israelites).

The stories of the Israelites in the wilderness (the manna, Golden calf, the spies, Korah and his rebellion)? Probably not.

The figure of Moses? Probably not.

The conquest of Canaan? Probably not.

The period of the Judges? Probably not.

The stories of the rise of King David? Maybe; there is much debate about this.

The glorious reign of King Solomon? Maybe; there is much debate about this.

The divided monarchy (the ninth century BCE)? We’re getting close …

The eighth century BCE? YES, YES, for sure; various historical events involving Israelite and Judaean kings are mentioned in Assyrian and Egyptian records.