c. 760 BCE: JONAH’S RUN–IN WITH WHALE

755 BCE: HOSEA BEGINS TO PROPHESIZE

A contemporary of the Greek poet Hesiod, Amos is the first of the “literary prophets.” A herdsman from Tekoa in Judah, but active mainly in Israel, he castigates the rich subjects of Jeroboam II for oppressing the defenseless poor.