Ancient Civ Timeline

Sumerians Began Trade (M)

8000 BCE

Sumerians begin using clay tokens to represent values and to exchange for goods such as sheep, bread, and oil.

Wall of Jericho built (I)

7000 BCE

The Israelites built the wall of Jericho just after settling.

Sumerians Created Writing System (M)

3500 BCE

In 3200 B.C. they created a true writing system called cuneiform with symbols that represented words or syllables. The Sumerians also began pressing the tokens into clay tablets to make signs.

Menes United the Two Regions (E)

3100 BCE

Menes, the king of Upper Egypt, united the two regions. He created the first capital around Memphis, right by the Nile Delta. They used the Nile as a highway North and South to send armies making it one of the first unified states.

Armies Took Over Mesopotamia (M)

2500 BCE

Armies of conquering people swept over Mesopotamia and overwhelmed Sumerian cities, and eventually was replaced by other civilizations.

Ptah-hotep Wrote a Book (E)

2450 BCE

Ptah-hotep was a vizier to a pharaoh, he wrote a book called 'Instructions to the Vizier Ptah-hotep'. It was about being humble and honest to one's superiors, and to be fair to others of all ranks.

Sargon Took Over City States Around Sumer (M)

2300 BCE

The ruler of Akkad, Sargon, invaded and conquered the neighboring city-states of Sumer.

Hammurabi Took over Mesopotamia's Empire (M)

1790 BCE

The king of Babylon, Hammurabi, brought most of Mesopotamia under control of his empire.

Hyksos ruled Egypt (E)

1700 BCE

Foreign invaders called the Hyksos also lived in the Nile Delta region. They adopted the Egyptians customs/beliefs and after ruling for 100 years new leader families took over and established a New Kingdom.

Hatshepsut Taken Over (E)

1472 BCE

Hatshepsut was taken over by Thutmose III once he had become an adult and he ruled the largest stretch of land that Egypt had ever had.

Amenhotep IV Ruled (E)

1380 BCE

Amenhotep IV devoted his life to Aton, which was a powerful priest of Amon Re. Akhenaton was what he called himself meaning "he who serves Aton".

Assyrians Established Empire (M)

1350 BCE

The Assyrians learned to forge iron weapons, they had established an empire by 1350 B.C.

Jews led out of Egypt (I)

1300 BCE

The Jews were led out of Egypt by Moses.

Ramses II Ruled for 66 Years (E)

1279 BCE

Ramses II became the new ruler for 66 years, and he ruled a stretch of land as far as Syria, and had many temples and monuments.

Assyrians Expanded Emprie (M)

1100 BCE

In 1100 B.C. the Assyrians began expanding their empire across Mesopotamia, and for 500 years were the most feared across the land.

King David captured Jerusalem (I)

1000 BCE

Jerusalem was captured by King David and he established it as the City of David.

Jerusalem and Israel United (I)

990 BCE

Jerusalem and Israel unified as one nation, bringing together many people and a large stretch of land.

King Solomon built Temple (I)

950 BCE

The King of the Israelites, who was King Solomon at the time, built First Temple.

10 tribes left Israel (I)

722 BCE

The Assyrians crushed Israel and 10 of their tribes were executed.

Assyrian Armies Destroyed (M)

612 BCE

After Assurbanipal's death, the neighboring peoples joined together to destroy the Assyrian Armies.

Babylon Fell to Persians (M)

539 BCE

Babylon fell to Persian armies of Cyrus the great. Cyrus built the largest empire yet seen and controlled the territory stretching from Asia Minor to India.

The Jews rebuild Temple (I)

538 BCE

The Jews were allowed to rebuild the temple in return for the oath of loyalty to Persia.

Darius Set a System of Government (M)

522 BCE

Darius set up a system of government that became a model for later rulers. He divided the empire into provinces and each place had a governor called a satrap.

Egypt Declined (E)

332 BCE

The Egyptian power slowly faded and the Assyrians and Persians conquered the Nile. The last Egyptian Dynasty ended and the Greeks took over,

Persia taken over by Alexander the Great (I)

332 BCE

Persia's empire was conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedonia and the Hellenization of Israel began.

The Rosetta Stone was carved (E)

196 BCE

The Rosetta Stone was carved, which is a stone that helped decrypt three languages.

Romans made Jews leave Israel (I)

132 BCE

The Romans forced the Jews to leave Israel when it became Palestine.

Roman's conquered Israel (I)

63 BCE

The Romans conquered the Israeli region.

Romans overtook Egypt (E)

30 BCE

The Roman armies displaced the Greeks and grew more into the Nile Valley.

Howard Carter found Tutankhamen (E)

1922

An archeologist named Howard Carter uncovered a tomb ( that hasn't been touched in over 3000 years) of Tutankhamen who was the son in law of Akhenaton.