Period 1 10,000-600 B.C.E

Neolithic Revolution

10,000 BCE

The wide-scale transition of many human cultures during the Neolithic period from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement, making an increasingly larger population

Stone age

9600 BCE

The Stone Age is also divided into three different periods. Paleolithic or Old Stone Age: from the first production of stone artefacts, about 2.5 million years ago, to the end of the last Ice Age, about 9,600 BCE. This is the longest Stone Age period.

Paleolithic Era

8000 BCE

The onset of the Paleolithic Period has traditionally coincided with the first evidence of tool construction and use by Homo some 2.58 million years ago,

Mesopotamian city states established

5000 BCE

Between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in the Middle East. Many historians think that cities and towns were first formed in Sumer around 5000 BC. Nomads moved into the fertile land and began to form small villages which slowly grew into large towns.

Neolithic Era

4500 BCE

In the Fertile Crescent, a boomerang-shaped region of the Middle East where humans first took up farming. Shortly after, Stone Age humans in other parts of the world also began to practice agriculture.

Sumerian Civilization

4500 BCE

Emerged upon the flood plain of the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers about 4000 B.C. The social structure of the Sumerians was decidedly different from other societies of that and later times.

Assyrian empire established

2500 BCE

The city of Aššur, together with a number of other Assyrian cities, seem to have been established by 2600 BC. However it is likely that they were initially Sumerian-dominated administrative centres.

Akkadian Civilization

2334 BCE

The Akkadian Empire was an ancient Semitic empire centered in the city of Akkad, which united all the indigenous Akkadian speaking Semites and Sumerian speakers under one rule. The Empire controlled Mesopotamia, the Levant, and parts of Iran.

Hebrews establish Israel

1900 BCE

King David ruled the region around 1000 B.C. His son, who became King Solomon, is credited with building the first holy temple in ancient Jerusalem. In about 931 B.C., the area was divided into two kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south.

Indus River civilization in decline

1800 BCE

Indus Valley climate grew cooler and drier, and a tectonic event may have diverted or disrupted river systems, which were the lifelines of the Indus Valley Civilization.

Hammurabi’s Code

1792 BCE

The Code of Hammurabi was one of the earliest and most complete written legal codes, proclaimed by the Babylonian king Hammurabi, who reigned from 1792 to 1750 B.C. Hammurabi expanded the city-state of Babylon along the Euphrates River to unite all of southern Mesopotamia.

Shang Dynasty

1700 BCE

The Shang Dynasty is the earliest ruling dynasty of China to be established in recorded history, though other dynasties predated it.The Shang dynasty or Yin dynasty, according to traditional historiography, ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Zhou dynasty.

Phoenicians create an alphabet

1500 BCE

Before then the Phoenicians wrote with a cuneiform script. The earliest known inscriptions in the Phoenician alphabet come from Byblos and date back to 1000 BC.

Aryans arrive in Indus River valley

1500 BCE

Aryans migrated into the Indian subcontinent. Coming from central Asia, this large group of nomadic cattle herders crossed the Hindu Kush Mountains and came in contact with the Indus Valley Civilization.

Hittites get iron and chariots

1200 BCE

The Hittites were the first of the Indo-European people to make use of iron. Due to the widespread availability of iron ore, this allowed them to create weapons that were much stronger and cheaper.

Olmec civilization established in Mesoamerica

1200 BCE

The mysterious Olmec civilization, located in ancient Mexico, prospered in Pre-Classical (Formative) Mesoamerica from c. 1200 BCE to c. 400 BCE and is generally considered the forerunner of all subsequent Mesoamerican cultures including the Maya and Aztecs.

Zhou Dynasty

1046 BCE

The Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE) was the longest-lasting of ancient China's dynasties. It followed the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BCE) and it finished when the army of the state of Qin captured the city of Chengzhou in 256 BCE.

Bantus migrate to the east and south

1000 BCE

The Bantu-speaking peoples migrated from Western Africa-- near modern-day Nigeria-- southward and eastward, spreading out across all of the southern half of the African continent. This migration started at about 1000 B.C.E., and ended at about 1700 A.D. although that date is still in dispute.

Chavin civilization in Andean South America

900 BCE

The urban complex of Caral takes up more than 150 acres, and at its peak, approximately 3,000 people lived in Caral. Its urban plan, which contained a central plaza and temples surrounded by homes, was used by other Andean civilizations for the next 4,000 years.

Nebuchadnezzar rebuild Babylon

586 BCE

Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar (c.630–562 bc), king of Babylon 605–562 bc. He rebuilt the city with massive walls, a huge temple, and a ziggurat, and extended his rule over neighbouring countries. In 586 bc he captured and destroyed Jerusalem and deported many Israelites in what is known as the Babylonian Captivity.

Persian Empire established

550 BCE

The ancient Persians of the Achaemenid Empire created art in many forms, including metalwork, rock carvings, weaving and architecture. As the Persian Empire expanded to encompass other artistic centers of early civilization, a new style was formed with influences from these sources

Golden age of pericles

495 BCE

The so-called golden age of Athenian culture flourished under the leadership of Pericles (495-429 B.C.), a brilliant general, orator, patron of the arts and politician—”the first citizen” of democratic Athens, according to the historian Thucydides.

Persian Wars (Greeks v. Persians)

492 BCE

The Persian Empire was the largest and most powerful empire in the world at the time of the Persian Wars. They controlled land that stretched from Egypt all the way to India.

Height of egyptian civilization

1550

The New Kingdom period of Egyptian history began with the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt and restored centralized political control. This period was Egypt's most prosperous time and marked the peak of its power.