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3000 BCE
Bronze Spreads
Around 3000 BC, the use of bronze became widespread. It was stronger than copper and was used to make more sophisticated tools than wood and stone. -
2334 BCE
Sargon Rules
Sargon of Akkad rules the largest empire of the time. It was only surpassed by the Assyrians centuries later. -
1755 BCE
Hammurabi's Code
Known as the oldest set of laws, this ancient Babylonian text has ideas that we still value today. It placed value on the lives and well beings of people. It also established fines for economic crimes like thievery. -
1300 BCE
Pheonecian Alphabet is Invented
This early alphabet was much simpler than many others because it was syllabic rather than symbolic. It became the base for Latin, and from Latin, languages like English French, Spanish, German, and even languages like Russian and Polish. Notably, there are no vowels. Vowels were infered in Pheonecian like in Arabic today. -
1200 BCE
Bronze Age Collapse
Empires at this time were interconnected through trade. In extremely rapid succession, they all fell apart and sent humanity into a dark age. Egypt was the least affected by this. -
1100 BCE
Start of the Iron Age
This was when Iron started to be used. It was hard to work with, and easily corroded, so it didn't replace bronze very quickly. However, eventually, it became the preferred metal and was able to be turned into steel. -
911 BCE
Neo-Assyrian Empire Founded
This was the final stage of Assyrian history. While Assyria had existed before, this was when it was at its greatest and most wide-spanning geographically. -
814 BCE
Carthage is Founded
Carthage is founded as a colony of the Phoenicians. They would become the most powerful empire in the Mediterranean for a time. They were a great rival to Rome. -
753 BCE
Rome is Founded
Rome, the most influential empire of western civilization, began as a little town in Italy. Through conquest, brutality, spectacular military leadership, and an emphasis on personal glory, Rome expanded all around the Mediterranean and spread its culture through Europe, Africa, and the middle east. -
146
Carthage Falls
Delenda est Carthago. The words of the Roman Orator. He would live to see war waged on Carthage, but not the fall. This day marked the end of what was once a great civilization during the second Punic war.
(It's so close to 200 and I wanted to include the Cato quote)