Western Civ. Topic 1&2 Timeline (3000BCE-200BCE)

What are the most important events related to the development of civilization?

3001 BCE

One of the most important factors in the development of civilization was the expansionism that was so prominent at the time, as it allowed for new technologies to be developed. The most important of those technologies is the written language, which is what allows us to learn from and know so much about the past. Its use has also allowed us to keep religions, cultures, laws, and so much more intact over great distances and times

First System of Writing Invented in Mesopotamia

3000 BCE

Cuneiform was the first system of writing ever invented. It started as mainly pictographs, but eventually developed to include syllabic symbols too. It was developed to keep track of tax records, as the entire civilization was redistributive. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the first, written story, originating from Mesopotamia and written in cuneiform.

Beginning of the Old Kingdom of Egypt

2680 BCE

Narmer united upper and lower Egypt around 3100 BCE, but, when the Old Kingdom started, there was a burst of culture and prosperity. A new system of record keeping was developed, leading to an entire class of scribes dedicated to recording everything from history, to court proceedings, to taxes. Their religion started to develop into what we recognize today, seeing the king as a god and preforming sacrifices. This is also the era in which all the pyramids were built!

Sargon of Akkad's Conquests

2340 BCE

Sargon formed the world's first empire by conquering many of the Mesopotamian cities, uniting the regions of Akkad and Sumer in the process. It only held together for around 100 years, but it was a first, and it was also known for having the world's first standing army.

Hammurabi's Code

1780 BCE

King Hammurabi wanted to be remembered as a benevolent dictator and was very interested in laws that would ensure prosperity. His code was one of the first, extensive sets of laws known to history. It held the "eye for an eye" belief, leading to some of the punishments being pretty extreme. It was also written in cuneiform.

The Hittites

1700 BCE

The Hittites flourished during the Bronze Age, conquering land in Mesopotamia, Syria, and Canaan, even spreading towards Egypt. They were not interested in erasing the culture of their new cities, though. They instead collected literature, stories, and even gods to add to their own pantheon! They transmitted legends and technologies such as math, astronomy, and engineering. They helped form a link between many Mesopotamian and Mediterranean civilizations.

Beginning of the New Kingdom of Egypt

1550 BCE

Ahmose I expelled the Hyksos from Egypt, starting the New Kingdom. Egypt then used the bronze weaponry, chariots, and compound bows that the Hyksos introduced to start expanding all the way into Mesopotamia. Their army was huge, 1 in 10 men being forced to join. They, of course, justified the expansion by claiming they needed to bring their "divine harmony" to other lands. The princes of the foreign lands were reeducated to be loyal to Egypt when they took their father's places.

The Phoenician’s syllabic alphabet

Period: 1500 BCE to 1401 BCE

(I had difficulty pinning down the date.)
The Phoenician's new alphabet was a game changer. With characters representing syllables instead of a massive list of symbols meant to represent different things, learning to read and write became so much easier, to the point where there was no longer a need for a scribal class. Anyone could learn to write if given the opportunity.

Hatshepsut

1447 BCE

Hatshepsut was the only female pharaoh. She was only ever meant to be a regent for her stepson, but she claimed the title for herself. She was very successful, and she ruled at a time of great prosperity and trade. But the reason she is important in this timeline is because, likely out of resentment, he stepson later tried to hide all evidence of her rule. We only know of her today because of the fantastic record keeping of the scribe class.

The Assyrian Empire's Expansion

880 BCE

The Assyrian empire quickly became the strongest empire known to man at that time by conquering an incredibly large swath of land. They had a trained standing army, yearly expeditions to conquer more land, iron weapons, an advanced messenger system, and eventually war horses to fight from the backs of. They didn't assimilate the captured cities, only taxed them heavily. But they did collect and copy all the literature of the middle east, creating a massive library.

Creation of the Torah

621 BCE

King Josiah ordered strict adherence to monotheism and had the first books of the Hebrew bible put together, creating the Torah. Rabbis were then tasked with copying the Torah as a single text so that Jews could take it with them wherever they went, allowing them to preserve their religion. It helped them keep their religion and culture intact when they ended up scattered across Europe and North Africa.