Ancient History Timeline

the start of sumer

5000 BCE

The sumer people formed large towns and cities. They used irrigation to farm their large areas of land.

the first writing

3300 BCE

The Sumerians invent the first writing. They used pictures for words and inscribe them on clay tablets.

Mojenjo-Daro

3000 BCE

Mojenjo-Daro literally means "city of the dead" which is what we named the city of the Harappan people. We don't know for sure what happened to them but we have a lot of theories. It is a huge mystery considering all of the people were found dead in the streets. Some people believe it could have been an environment change, earthquake, large flood, foreign invaders, or some people would even go as far to say it could've been a nuclear bomb.

Harrapans inventions

2600 BCE

These people were actually pretty interesting because they invented several things. They also were believed to be very peaceful and had no signs of war. They invented "plumbing" and what seems to be the first dice used in children's games.

Old kingdom of Egypt

2500 BCE

This is when pyramids and tombs were built. They also believed that the pharaohs were Gods and they were buried in the pyramids at this point in time. They spent a lot of money building and one popular structure that was built during this time was the Great Sphinx.

Middle akingdom of Egypt

2000 BCE

This was considered the "golden age" of Egypt. They built hidden tombs. Pharaohs were wise rulers in this point of time and not godsike in the old kingdom. They had a very powerful army for defense.

Shang Dynasty

1766 BCE

This was one of the first dynasties in ancient China and of course many important things happened. They were known for having large palaces and tombs and the start of Chinese writing started around 2000 BC. They also learned how to make silk which was really important and big in trade since everyone wanted it.

Confucianism

551 BCE

Confucius was the man that started Confucianism. It isn't really a religion but it is more of a philosophy to live by. It teaches how to live a just life and teaches a lot about world and government.

Qin Dynasty

221 BCE

One of the shortest dynasties and only lasted 15 years but was one of the most important. This is where the beginnings of the Great Wall began and Qin Shi Huangdi's tomb is from this period. His tomb had all the terra-cotta warriors in it. This is also when legalism began. China also got its name from the Qin Dynasty.

classic maya period

900

The southern lowland cities collapse and Teotihuacan is abandoned. The reason for the collapse of the Maya Classic period is still a mystery to archeologists.

New Kingdom of Egypt

1000

They conquered many other areas. This was when Ramses the Great was alive. He was known as one of the greatest Egyptian pharaohs. This was also a time of expansion for egypt. The valley of the kings was also built in this time.

ziggurats

4000

the sumer establish powerful city states. They also built large ziggurats in the center of their cities.