Timeline - Topics 1&2

Agriculture

9500 BCE

People discovered that they could continually plant seeds to grow crops which allowed people to move on from their nomadic lifestyle. Eventually, people started to sell the crops instead of keeping them for their family so they made a profit.

The Emergence of Large Cities

8000 BCE

Larger cities started to form which allowed hierarchy and social organization. Taxation, paid labor, and construction became possible with larger cities. Farming was a successful job because the cities were settling near the Tigris and Euphrates River which kept the soil rich.

The Bronze Age - Beginning

3000 BCE

City-states started becoming independent and growing empires of their own during the Bronze Age. The use of bronze is why this era is named the way it is. The use of bronze was very important: weapons and armor were crafted, bronze plows were made, ect.

Cuneiform is Invented

3000 BCE

Mesopotamians invented cuneiform which was the first style of writing ever. Words were represented with pictures and symbols. This was important because scribes could keep documents and records.

King Sargon the Great

2340 BCE

Sargon the Great was the king of Akkad and he is known for conquering most of the smaller cities of Mesopotamia. Sargon had a very powerful empire which he used to take money and put it towards Akkad.

The Hebrews

1900 BCE

The Hebrews were important because they were the first people to divert from the polytheistic religious beliefs and only believe in one God. There were three religions that were separate, but connected by one God: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Hebrew Bible was written 400-600 years later.

Code of Hammurabi

1780 BCE

Hammurabi's laws specified the rights and responsibilities of Babylonians. This was the first time a real set of rules were in place which helped civilization. The laws helped civilization so that there wasn't chaos and people weren't getting away with committing terrible deeds.

The Phoenicians

1300 BCE

The Phoenicians came up with a syllabic alphabet stemming from Greek and Roman writing. This means that instead of using pictures or symbols, they use letters that represent sounds. This is important because it shaped our alphabet today.

The Iron Age - Beginning

1100 BCE

After the collapse of the Bronze Age manufacturing went downhill, so weapons started being forged with iron. During the Iron Age, powerful empires like the Assyrian Empire started to rise. Violence was very prominent during the Iron Age.

Assyrian Empire

880 BCE

The Assyrians Empire was the first empire to conquer most of the neighboring civilizations with a standing army. They became the most powerful empire of the Iron Age. The Assyrians also came up with two new military techniques: a permanent cavalry, and trained soldiers on foot.