Date

Event

c 3500 BCE

Beginning of Egyptian civilization.

3469 BCE

Methuselah is born.

3300 BCE

Urik, Mesopotamia - Sumerians invent writing. I've been keeping a journal almost since writing began.
(Methos)

Sumerian History

History of Mesopotamia

3282 BCE

Noah's father Lamech is born.

c 3110-2884 BCE

Dynasty 1 in Egypt.

c 3000 BCE

I grew up, the second son of three boys and two girls, in an oasis village, surrounded by the deserts of what would later be Egypt. My family had made their home in the oasis for over 100 years. My father claimed a vague relation to an extinct royal court. My mother had descended from a line of traders who had settled in the area when she was just a baby. In the shade of fig trees and palms, my family made its living barterting with the traders who pass through the oasis.
When I was 28 years old, our oasis began to run dry. My family decided to migrate to another oasis, but on the way a sandstorm trapped and killed us. This was my first death, though I didn't realize it at the time.
A Bedouin scouting party found and revived me. I stayed with them for many years, learning the ways of the desert and how to find water and food, until it became obvious that I wasn't growing older. They thought I was a god or a demon — both of which were unwanted in their home — so they forced me to fight their best warrior to the death. This was the second time I died.
When I revived again the next morning, they tied my hands and banished me to the desert with no weapons or water. I stumbled upon a pile of bones and used them to cut my bindings.
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

Petra - I was there before Indiana Jones and his dad.

Mysterious marvels in Jordan's ancient city of Petra

Petra: map and online tour

Petra: the drama of history

The Complete Petra

c 3000 BCE

Petra - I travel to a hidden settlement that would later be called Petra and settle with the Nabataeans who camped there. I live there many years and learn to carve out caves from the stone walls that protected the camp's location. When it becomes apparent that I'm not aging, I know it's time to move on.
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

c 3000 BCE

I took my first head. Before that everything starts to blur — or so I tell MacLeod.
(Methos)

c 3000 BCE

Sinai - I lived in the desert, married to a beautiful nomad girl. Then, in what has come to be known as the Smiting of Sinai, the Egyptian Pharaoh Djer orders the slaughter of all nomads. My wife is killed when Egyptian soldiers attack our tribe. Distraught, I wander the desert for months until I'm caught stealing figs and brought before the Pharaoh.
Djer is Immortal, but instead of punishing me, he makes me his protegé. He plans for me to be his successor. I plan to avenge my wife's death.
I bide my time until one night, when Djer is sleeping, I creep outside the window of his bedchamber and shoot him with a poison dart. Before he revives, I bind him in burial wrappings and place him in a sarcophagus, dooming him to spend eternity as a mummy.
The next morning, I become the new Pharaoh of Egypt.
(The Methos Chronicles, Flash animated series)

I practice some ancient first aid skills on the Pharaoh Djer.

Virtual Egypt - The Pharaohs of Egypt

Timeline of the Pharaohs

c 2900 BCE

Egypt - Egyptians start using hieroglyphics, and so do I.
(Methos)

See your name in hieroglyphics

My name (Methos) in hieroglyphics

2575-2551 BCE

Dynasty 4, Old Kingdom - Snefru, ruler of Egypt, perfects pyramid building.

Pyramids of Giza

Egypt - I spend some time in Egypt during their pyramid-building years.
(Captive Soul)

c 2500 BCE

Methuselah's grandson, Noah, has the Methuselah Stone.
(Methuselah's Gift)

Noah and his pets

2409 BCE

Sun Tzu the Immortal is "born."
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

c 2400 BCE

This is when I really took my first head, not 5000 years ago as I told MacLeod. So I was rounding off — give me a break! What's 600 years' difference when you're 5000?
I was 603 years old (by my best estimation) when I noticed that some of the people I met gave off a unique feeling — I could sense their presence. One of them, Elijah, spoke of a man named Menahem who told tales of others like us who died at least once and returned from the dead.
Menahem once met a women who told of seeing a man like us fall from a such great height that his head was ripped from his body. She waited for him to return to life, but he didn't. Menahem also met others like us who inspired great anger in him — so much that he wanted to kill them even though he had just met them.
Menahem lived for 750 years and eventually we called him one of the Ancient Ones.
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

c 2400 BCE

At the time, I had begun to resent mortals for their fear and prefer the company of other Immortals. I had fought with some Immortals, but the battles always ended with their death. My first real battle with another Immortal was with a particularly unlikeable guy named Joseph. Remembering Menahem's story, I deliberately swung my sword at Joseph's neck.
After his beheading, I felt a great trembling around me. A mysterious wind grabbed me and threw me to the ground. My mind was filled with visions of places I had never been and people I had never known. I thought I was hexed by some sort of magic or sorcery. I wandered to an inland sea, trying to understand what had happened. It was a while before I beheaded someone again.
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

c 2400 BCE-2100 BCE

I meet Kronos and his friend Silas, who share my distaste for mortals. Caspian is the last to join our band. Silas has an idea to use our power to wreak havoc among mortals. We become known as the Four Horsemen and rule the countyside for several hundred years.
On one of our raids we encounter an Immortal living in a small village with mortals who had accepted him despite his inability to age. Kronos takes his head. This is the first I know of someone besides me intentionally receiving a Quickening. After this, Silas and Caspian hunger to experience it for themselves. Fearing their betrayal, I strike out on my own, avoiding contact with Immortals for the next few years.
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

c 2100 BCE

Ur, Mesopotamia - I lived in the city of Ur of the Chaldeans around the time of Ur-Nammu, king of Sumer and Akkad (2112-2095). There I became friends with a 100-year-old Immortal named Abraham. We worked together for several years on many of the king's construction projects, sharing what knowledge we had of Immortals. From time to time, we met and fought other Immortals.
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

c 2000 BCE

Ammaletu the Akkadian sees Gilgamesh come back to life and subsequently creates the Watchers.
(Indiscretions)

c 2000 BCE

Tibet - Sun Tzu the Immortal enters a Tibetan monastery.
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

c 1994-1523 BCE

Hsia Dynasty - Beginning of Chinese civilization.

c 1664 BCE

Egypt - I do Pharaoh Merneferre Ay (1664-1641) a favor, solve a political dispute or two, and get a royal medallion as a reward.
(Captive Soul)

c 1664-1573 BCE

Albion - I spend about a hundred years wandering this island and enjoying its good beer, friendly women and intriguing henge monuments. Hated the abysmally chill, dank weather though. During that time I try to groom the brooding young Prince Amar for future kingship but when the crops fail, Amar sacrifices himself.
(Captive Soul)

c 1573 BCE

Malta - On the way from Albion to Egypt, Western Bird, the Levantine ship I'm travelling on, puts in at Malta. The women there are friendly too — when it pleases them to be.
(Captive Soul)

1573-1570 BCE

Egypt - I help future pharaohs Kamose and his brother Ahmose in their battle against sadistic Hyksos overlords. I also face the Immortal Hyksos prince Khyan, but fail to take his head.
(Captive Soul)

c 1570 BCE

Ur, Mesopotamia - When I was around 1380 years old, a 100-year-old Immortal named Joshua came hunting for Abraham's head. Their fight outside the city walls eventually approached the boundary of an old burial ground. I felt this strong sense of dread. I knew Abraham felt it too, because he started to edge away from the boundary. When he stumbled, Joshua struck, but the moment his blade touched Abraham's neck, it stopped and fell to the ground. Joshua vanished as though he had never been there.
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

c 1300 BCE

Beginning of Hellenic (Ancient Greek) civilization.

c 1200 BCE

Troy, Turkey - I see Helen of Troy. She doesn't have that great a face, and it only launches a hundred ships, not a thousand.
(Comes a Horseman)

Likeness of Helen of Troy

c 1200 BCE

The Watchers estimate the birthdates for Kronos, Caspian and Silas as 1200 BCE, but admit they may have been around earlier.
(Watcher Chronicles CD-ROM)

c 1000 BCE

Bronze Age - I ride with Kronos, Silas and Caspian as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
(Comes a Horseman)

c 1000 BCE

A pre-Immortal Cassandra is taken in by a nomadic Bedouin tribe.
(Watcher Chronicles CD-ROM)

c 1000 BCE

Olympia, Greece - I win a foot race or two and the Ancient Greeks carve a lifesize marble statue of me crowned with laurel leaves.
("Postcards from Alexa: Postcards from Athens"/Evening at Joe's)

c 904 BCE

After 1300 years of life, the Immortal Abraham dies. I make my way to Jerusalem to enjoy the anonymity of a big city and get employment as a master stone cutter.
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

c 904 BCE

Jerusalem - I learn about the Watchers after overhearing a group of people discussing some Immortal names that I recognize. When I show interest in their conversation, they invite me to one of their meetings. There I meet Ruth — tall, lovely, opinionated and outspoken. She had taught herself to read and write, skills that many men found off-putting in a woman.
I tell them my name was Alexander so I wouldn't be recognized as an Immortal. Later on, I learn that my low profile had paid dividends — Methos is virtually unknown in their records, mentioned only in passing.
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

904 BCE

Jerusalem - I share the secret of my immortality with Ruth, only to find that she had already suspected the truth. She had seen something in my eyes that gave me away. We get married soon after. When I'm unable to father a child with Ruth, I realize that I've never actually heard of an Immortal man or woman having children.
Using the Watchers' records, I confirm that though Immortals can't have children, there's not yet a finite number of Immortals. I learn about Quickenings, the Game and the Prize.
The Watchers begin to grow in membership and reach. Several smaller factions begin to form. Most support the official policy that Immortals should be watched in order to positively influence the outcome of the Game and protect humanity from outcomes like the abuses of the Horsemen. Some renegrade groups, however, think all Immortals are abominations and not worthy of any life.
I quit my building job to devote myself full-time to the Watchers.
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

c 900 BCE

Jerusalem - Kronos finds me as he's passing through the city and unimaginatively resorts to blackmail — he will leave Ruth and I alone in exchange for us giving him information about the Watchers. On the day of the exchange, Kronos instead challenges me to a fight. I almost take his head but Ruth and a group of Watchers intervene and capture Kronos. They plan to take him to an underground chamber that was part of an ancient prison and trap him there for eternity.
Though disappointed in Ruth for knowingly marrying an Immortal, they don't turn us in because I'm not a danger to them and it would upset the entire organization. Ruth and I leave the city on an extended "assignment."
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

852 BCE

Ruth dies. I go to Tibet to learn about the spiritual side of existence. I begin as a helper in a monastery, cutting wood and hauling water in service to the monks. I get the opportunity to learn their written language and read their books.
After proving to them that I'm here to study and I'm not looking for quick answers, the monks agree to train me. It's like being in the military, with physical exertion and plenty of weapons training. My master Lin Chi teaches me how to read people's intentions by the way they carry themselves.
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

c 832 BCE

Tibet - After 20 years of seeking the truths, Lin Chi tells me that the time has come for me to study with his master. His master turns out to be a 1577-year-old Immortal, Sun Tzu. I'm his first Immortal student. Sun Tzu had lived here this long by pretending to be a different person drawn from the ranks of the monks every 50 years. He believes in a benefic Creator who would never allow a tyrant to win the Prize. I spend many years training physically and mentally with Sun Tzu.
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

Sun Tzu - The Art of War

c 800 BCE

Tibet - Li Quan, the keeper of the temple, dies. He's replaced by Wang Xi. Sun Tzu tells Lin Chi, now approaching 80 years, the truth about our immortality.
Sun Tzu teaches me to become a philosopher warrior, to find balance between my soul and mind. Wang Xi teaches me the fighting style of his native region.
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

c 706 BCE

Tibet - After calling the temple home for 126 years, Sun Tzu says it's time for me to return to the world and apply all that I've absorbed. I am 2271 years old.
("The Methos Chronicles"/Evening at Joe's)

c 700 BCE

I begin to use Ancient Greek in my journal.
(Methos)

470-399 BCE

Greece - Was a friend of Socrates, teacher of Plato.
(Messenger)

A couple things he said:

• I was afraid that by observing objects with my eyes and trying to comprehend them with each of my other senses I might blind my soul altogether.
• Let him that would move the world, first move himself.

Socrates said the best, greatest love can only be made by the soul — but everyone knew he was ugliest man in Athens.

c 400 BCE

The Four Horsemen break up — according to what Duncan tells Joe (like he would know).
(Watcher Chronicles CD-ROM)

372-289 BCE

China - Knew Mencius, Chinese philosopher and student of Confucius (551-479 BC).
(Chivalry)

Some nuggets of wisdom he passed on to us are:

• Friendship is one mind in two bodies.
• The great man is he who has not lost his child's heart.
• Kindly words do not enter so deeply into men as a reputation for kindness.

238 BCE

Rome, which has been in existence since 745 BCE, starts to conquer Italy and expand building the Roman Republic.

100-44 BCE

Rome - Knew Julius Caesar's favorite food — no, it wasn't salad — and shared the stage with him once.
(Methos, Comes a Horseman)

He wouldn't shut up either:

• I came, I saw, I conquered.
• As a rule, men worry more about what they can't see than about what they can.
• All bad precedents began as justifiable measures.
• If you must break the law, do it to seize power. In all other cases observe it.
• I have lived long enough both in years and in accomplishments.

Julius Caesar

Likeness of Cleopatra

74 BCE

Rome - Contrary to the Watcher Chronicles, it's really that snivelling weasel Marcus Aedilies and not Peter Gaicus (the greatest swordsman in Rome) who takes the head of Titus Marconus. And Aedilies kills Marconus in a vomitorium, not outside the Forum. I had a tidy little sum wagered on Marconus too. I was hoping to use my winnings to buy a summer place outside Herculaneum.
(To Be)

69-30 BCE

Egypt - Knew Egyptian queen Cleopatra.
(Messenger)

27 BCE

Roman Republic collapses. Beginning of the Roman Empire.