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• 1 BCE: Following the death of Ai from illness, the court refused to recognize his named successor, Dong- his lover. The official Wáng Mǎng led a rebellion, later declaring himself emperor of the short-lived Xīn (“new”) dynasty (~9-23).-China by Jaivin.

• 4 BCE- 39: Reign of Tetrarch Antipas, son of Herod, who brings prosperity to Galilee and Perea.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 4-3 BCE: In response to a Messianic revolt in Judaea, Roman Governor of Syria Varus with two legions and cavalry, together with a sizeable Nabatean cavalry and infantry force loaned by Areas IV march on Jerusalem. Roman forces capture Sepphoris, selling its inhabitants into slavery and burning the city. Varus spared Sebaste, making camp at Arus to serve as a springboard in an attack against Jerusalem. As Varus marched on Jerusalem, his Nabatean allies torched Arus. They went on to the village of Sappho, as Varus burnt Emmaus. He rapidly cleared Jerusalem, liberating Roman troops held under siege inside the city. Rebels were hunted down and captured; 2,000 were crucified. Achiab persuaded 10,000 men to surrender, their leaders being sent to Rome where they were subsequently released unless they were related to Herod.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 4 BCE: Death of King Herod, his will divides his kingdom into three parts between his three sons- Antipas, Archelaus, and Philip. Herod Antipas, Archelaus' younger brother, was made tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, lands separated by the cities of the Decapolis. Their half-brother Philip- son of Cleopatra, one of Herod's Jewish wives (he had ten wives in total)-was made tetrarch of the predominantly gentile areas north and east of the Sea of Galilee, a sizeable but relatively poor area. Salome, Herod's sister, acquired Jamnia, Azotus, Phaselis, and Herod's palace in the free city of Ascalon. The Hellenized cities of Gaza on the coast and the inland cities of Gadara and Hippus in Transjordan were placed under the governor of Syria. This hotchpotch heritage had many political units, but no real power. Overseeing the entire area was Rome.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• Roman emperor Augustus accepts Herod's will, but reduces Archelaus from king to ethnarch (still a higher rank than that of tetrarch, given to his brothers). Archelaus reigned for nearly ten years when a delegation of Jews and Samaritans complained to Augustus about his harsh rule. The ethnarch was summoned to Rome, deposed and exiled to Gaul. ruled for nearly 43 years bringing peace and prosperity to Galilee and Perea.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 6 BCE: Jesus is born in Bethlehem in Palestine to his mother, Mary, who Christianity believes to be a virgin who became pregnant miraculously through God's power. 

• ~6 BCE: Birth of Jesus of Nazareth (later Jesus ‘Christ’: ‘Messiah’- Greek) in Bethlehem to his parents Joseph, a carpenter, and Mary.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 6 BCE: Caesarea becomes the official Judaean capital (NatGeo). 

• 7-1 BCE: Reign of Āi (aged 20), the last W. Han Emperor; reportedly Ai was caught napping with his lover, Dong, in the imperial bed when Ai was summoned to court. Rather than disturb his beloved, whose head was resting on the long sleeve of his robe, Ai cut off the sleeve (a euphemism for homosexuality).-China by Jaivin.

• 8 BCE: The Roman senate renames the month Sextilis as August. 

• 12 BCE: The Romans campaign against Germanic tribes, advancing into the Alpine foothills in S. Germany and towards Lake Constance (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 15 BCE: Emperor Augustus’s military campaign in the Alps gives the Romans control of the Alpine foothills. The Romans build their first military base in Baden-Württemberg at Dangstetten. However, this castrum is abandoned only a short time later (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 15 BCE: Turicum (modern Zürich) is founded by the Roman (Swiss Museum).

• 22-10 BCE: The seaport of Caesarea is built by Herod the Great in honor of Emperor Augustus Caesar; it becomes the Roman metropolis of Judaea and official residence of the Roman procurators.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 27 BCE: Octavian becomes Augustus (a made-up title meaning something close to ‘Revered One’).

• 29 BCE: The Roman Forum is completed by Augustus (Palatine Archaeological Museum). 

• 30 BCE: Death of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra; Egypt becomes a province of the Roman Empire, straining the fragile truce that the Kushites had brokered with Rome. The Kushites and Rome clash on several occasions (NatGeo). 

• 30 BCE: Octavian becomes Emperor of Rome. 

• Most of his formal powers were officially voted to him by the senate and cast almost entirely in a traditional Republican format, his continued use of the title ‘son of a god’ being the only important exception. And he lived in no grand palace but in the sort of house on the Palatine Hill where you would expect to find a senator, and where his wife Livia could occasionally be spotted working her wool. The word that Romans most often used to describe his position was princeps, meaning ‘first citizen’ rather than ‘emperor’, as we choose to call him, and one of his most famous watchwords was civilitas – ‘we’re all citizens together’. -SPQR by Beard.

• For obvious Roman reasons, he did not call himself king. He made an elaborate show of rejecting the title ‘dictator’ too, distancing himself from Caesar’s example. -SPQR by Beard.

• Augustus’ power, as he formulates it, is signaled by military conquest, by his role of protector and benefactor of the people in Rome and by construction and reconstruction on a vast scale; and it was underpinned by massive reserves of cash, combined with the display of respect for the ancient traditions of Rome. It was against this blueprint that every emperor for the next 200 years was judged. -SPQR by Beard.

• Augustus became something no Roman had been before: the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces, who appointed their major officers, decided where and against whom the soldiers should fight, and claimed all victories as by definition his own, whoever had commanded on the ground. He also secured his position by severing the links of dependence and personal loyalty between armies and their individual commanders, largely thanks to a simple, practical process of pension reform. This must count among the most significant innovations of his whole rule. He established uniform terms and conditions of army employment, fixing a standard term of service of sixteen years (soon raised to twenty) for legionaries and guaranteeing them on retirement a cash settlement at public expense amounting to about twelve times their annual pay or an equivalent in land. -SPQR by Beard.

• In other words, after hundreds of years of a semi-public, semi-private militia, Augustus fully nationalized the Roman legions and removed them from politics. -SPQR by Beard.

• 1-30 Jul, 30 BCE: Octavian sails to Alexandria to finish the job. In what has often been written up as a kind of tragic farce, Antony stabbed himself when he thought that Cleopatra was already dead, though he lived just long enough to discover that she was not. A week or so later she too is said to have killed herself, with the bite from a snake smuggled into her quarters in a basket of fruit. According to the official version, her motive was to deprive Octavian of her presence in his triumphal procession: ‘I will not be triumphed over,’ -SPQR by Beard.

• Octavian took no chances with Caesarion, given his supposed paternity. Now aged sixteen, he was killed. 

• 30 BCE: Herod gains control of Judaea (with Idumaea), Samaria, Galilee, Peraea, and the Greek cities in Samaria (Hippus and Gadara) and all the coastal cities except Ascalon. Hyrcanus II is executed after being found guilty in a conspiracy against Herod.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 31 BCE: An earthquake strikes Qumran, causing the community to abandon the site. The vast collection of writings unearthed at Qumran included books or fragments from the whole Hebrew Bible (except Esther). The discoveries provided biblical manuscripts many centuries earlier than any that had previously survived.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 31 BCE: The Battle of Actium; Roman forces under Octavian defeat Roman-Egyptian forces under Kleopatra and Marc Antony (British Museum).

• 2 Sep, 31 BCE: The Naval Battle of Actium, the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic, is fought between the forces of Octavian, led by Marcus Vispanius Agrippa, and the combined forces of Cleopatra of Egypt and Mark Antony in the Ionian Sea near Actium in Greece. Antony’s naval force was defeated by a numerically superior Octavian resulting in tens of thousands of dead on both sides. Marc Antony and Cleopatra return to Alexandria leaving a large contingent of Antony’s forces in Greece, who eventually surrender. 

• Octavian’s easy victory was owed to his second in command, Marcus Agrippa, who managed to cut off their opponents’ supplies; to a handful of well-informed deserters who disclosed the enemy plans; and to Antony and Cleopatra themselves, who simply disappeared. -SPQR by Beard.

• Mar, 32- Aug, 30 BCE: War of Actium; the last Civil war of the Roman Rep, fought between Mark Antony and Octavian (Wiki). 

• 32 BCE: Octavian convinces the Roman Senate to declare war on the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra (Wiki). 

• 32 BCE: Antony divorces Octavia (Octavians sister) and Octavian responds by getting his hands on Antony’s will and reading out particularly incriminating selections from it to the senate. These revealed that Antony recognized young Caesarion (Cleopatra’s son) as Julius Caesar’s son, that he was planning to leave large amounts of money to the children he had had with Cleopatra and that he wanted to be buried in Alexandria by Cleopatra’s side, even if he died in Rome. The rumour on the Roman streets was that his long-term plans were to abandon the city of Romulus and transfer the capital wholesale to Egypt. It was against this background that open war broke out. -SPQR by Beard.

• 36 BCE: Lepidus is squeezed out of the second triumvirate leaving only Octavian and Antony. -SPQR by Beard.

• 37 BCE- 4: Judaea is ruled by King Herod until his death at his palace in Jericho (NatGeo). 

• 37 BCE: Roman forces capture and execute Antigonus.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 37 BCE: Herod the Great rebuilds the temples in Jerusalem.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 37 BCE: King Herod and Roman troops retake Judaea (NatGeo). 

• 39 BCE: Herod of Jeruslaem is pronounced King of the Jews by the Roman Senate.

• 39 BCE: The Roman Senate names Herod I, son of Antipater, who was probably half-Jewish, King of Judaea. Herod conquers his kingdom 3y later with the aid of Roman Soldiers led by Sosius, and rules for the next 31 years as a puppet king of Rome.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 40 BCE: Herod, son of Antipater, is appointed King of Judaea after appealing to Rome for aid to quell the Judaea civil war fought between the Hasmonaean dynasty on whether to fight or join the Romans (NatGeo). 

• 40 BCE: Octavian and Antony effectively carve up the Mediterranean world between themselves, leaving just a small patch for Lepidus. -SPQR by Beard.

• Oct, 42 BCE: The Battle of Phillipi is fought in Macedonia (Northern Greece) between a combined force led by Marc Antony and Octavian against a force led by the Senators responsible for Caesars death, Cassius and Brutus.  

• 6 Oct, 42 BCE: A first skirmish takes place in Early October with forces under Brutus nearly routing forces under Octavian while the opposite occurs under Antony and Cassius. Upon the defeat of some of his army by Antony and hearing a false report of Brutus’ defeat, Cassius commits suicide. 

• 23 Oct, 42 BCE: A second final battle takes place between the remnants of Cassius’ army and Brutus’ Army against which are defeated after heavy losses on both sides by a combined force between Antony and Octavian. 

• 42 BCE: Octavian and Antony send orders to Rome to kill hundreds of rich, powerful Roman Men antithetical to their cause. This includes many Senators. 

• Oct, 42 BCE: The united forces of the triumvirate defeated Brutus and Cassius near the town of Philippi in the far north of Greece (the focus of much of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar). The victorious allies then began even more systematically to turn on one another. In fact, when Octavian returned from Philippi to Italy to oversee a massive programme of land confiscation, aimed at providing settlement packages for thousands of dangerously dissatisfied retiring soldiers, he soon found himself facing the armed opposition of Fulvia and Mark Antony’s brother Lucius Antonius. They had taken up the cause of the landowners who had been dispossessed, and even managed to gain control of the city of Rome, albeit briefly. Octavian soon had them under siege in the town of Perusia (modern Perugia). Starvation forced their surrender early in 40 BCE, but the stage had been set for more than a decade of further war, interspersed with brief truces, between the different parties who claimed to represent Caesar’s legacy.-SPQR by Beard.

• As a pledge for the future, the widowed Antony married Octavian’s sister, Octavia. It was, however, an empty pledge, as by this date Antony was already in the partnership that would come to define him; he was more or less living with Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, and she had just given birth to his twins. -SPQR by Beard.

• 19 Aug, 43 BCE: Octavian is made Consul of Rome. 

• 21 Apr, 43 BCE: The Battle of Mutina is fought between the Roman Senate led by Octavian and Marc Antony ending in the defeat of some of Antony’s forces. Antony  withdraws North into Gaul for the Winter while the Roman Senate, Octavian, and their legions return to Rome. 

• 43 BCE: Formation of the Roman Triumvirate of Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus. 

• Jan, 42 BCE: A compliant Roman senate formally declares Caesar a God. Octavian was soon trumpeting his new title and status: ‘son of a god’. More than a decade of civil war followed.-SPQR by Beard.

• Winter, 43 BCE: In little more than eighteen months after Roman Octavian’s arrival in Italy, the politics of Rome had been turned upside down. Brutus and Cassius had been allocated provinces in the East and left Italy. Octavian and Antony had come to blows in a series of military engagements in northern Italy and then patched things up again by forming with Lepidus a ‘triumvirate for establishing government’. This was a formal, five-year agreement that gave each of the three men (triumviri) power equal to consuls, their pick of what provinces they wanted and control over elections. Rome was in the control of a junta.-SPQR by Beard.

• 43 BCE: Assassination of Antipater, Idumaean founder of the Herodian dynasty in Palestine (Britannica) and father of Herod I the Great. The Sadducees and opponents to Hyrcanus II seek an alternative Hasmonean candidate in Antigonus II, the surviving son of Aristobulos and nephew to Hyrcanus. Antigonus II and his partisans are driven from Jerusalem with Herod (son of Antipater) being rewarded with the hand of Mariamme, Aristobulos’ grand-daughter. In response, the Parthians enter Jerusalem, kill Phasael (son of Antipater and brother of Herod), and arrest and exile Hyrcanus II to Babylon. Herod escapes to Rome.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• Apr, 44 BCE: Octavian, Caesar’s appointed heir, arrives in Rome, where from the other side of the Adriatic he had been involved in the preparations for an invasion of Parthia. Whatever the rumours and allegations, and whatever the status of the little boy whom Cleopatra had pointedly named Caesarion, Caesar had recognized no legitimate children. So he had taken the unusual step of adopting his great-nephew in his will, making him his son and the main beneficiary of his fortune. Gaius Octavius was then only eighteen years old and soon started capitalising on the famous name that came with his adoption by calling himself Gaius Julius Caesar – though to his enemies, as to most modern writers wanting to avoid confusion, he was known as Octavianus, or Octavian (that is, the ‘ex-Octavius’).-SPQR by Beard.

• Octavian chose to frame all his powers in terms of regular Republican office holding. To begin with, that meant being repeatedly elected consul, eleven times in all between 43 and 23 BCE, and on two isolated occasions later. Then, from the mid 20s BCE, he arranged to be granted a series of formal powers that were modelled on those of traditional Roman political offices but not the offices themselves: he took ‘the power of a tribune’ but did not hold the tribunate, and ‘the rights of a consul’ without holding the consulship.-SPQR by Beard.

• 15 Mar, 44 BCE: Julius Caesar is assassinated on the Ides of March.-SPQR by Beard.

• A gang of twenty or so senators crowded round Caesar on the pretext of handing him a petition. One backbencher gave the cue for the attack by kneeling at the dictator’s feet and pulling on his toga. The assassins were not very accurate in their aim, or perhaps they were terrified into clumsiness. One of the first strikes with the dagger missed entirely and gave Caesar the chance to fight back with the only weapon he had to hand – his sharp pen. According to the earliest account to survive, by Nicolaus of Damascus, a Greek historian from Syria writing fifty years later but likely drawing on eyewitness descriptions, several assassins were caught in ‘friendly fire’: Gaius Cassius Longinus lunged at Caesar but ended up gashing Brutus; another blow missed its target and landed in a comrade’s thigh. -SPQR by Beard.

• At the time of his death, Pompey’s son Sextus still had a force of at least six legions in Spain and was continuing to fight for his father’s cause. But Caesar was mustering a vast force of almost 100,000 soldiers for an attack on the Parthian Empire, a revenge for the ignominious defeat of Crassus at Carrhae and a useful opportunity for military glory against a foreign rather than a Roman enemy. It was just a few days before he was due to leave for the East, on 18 March, that a group of twenty or so disgruntled senators, supported actively or passively by a few dozen more, killed him. -SPQR by Beard.

• 46 BCE: The city of Corinth is rebuilt by Julius Caesar and it regains its former prosperity.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 47 BCE: Antipater is appointed procurator of Judaea by Caesar.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 47 BCE: Regional Judaea Governor Herod is charged with quelling the Hasmonaean threat after they protest Roman imposition of dominance in Judaea (NatGeo). 

• 49-31 BCE: Triumvirate Civil Wars; Caesar v. Pompey. 

• 48 BCE: Battle of Pharsalus; death of Pompey in Egypt. 

• 49-44 BCE: Roman Civil War and the dictatorship of Julius Caesar. -SPQR by Beard.

• 44 BCE: The Roman Senate makes Caesar dictator for life (dictator perpetuus). -SPQR by Beard.

• 46 BCE: The Roman Senate makes Caesar dictator for ten years. -SPQR by Beard.

• 46 BCE: Julian Calendar instituted.

• 47 BCE: The Battle of Zela; Julius Caesar defeats Mithridates’ son Pharnaces, who had died in battle near the Black Sea, was commemorated in the same celebrations by a single placard on which was written one of the world’s most famous slogans ever: ‘Veni, vidi, vici’ (‘I came, I saw, I conquered’, intended to capture the speed of Caesar’s success). -SPQR by Beard.

• 48-45 BCE: Caesar overcomes his Roman adversaries in Africa and Spain as well as squashing trouble from Pharnaces, the son and usurper of Mithridates. -SPQR by Beard.

• 48 BCE: Caesars forces defeat Pompey’s forces at the Battle of Pharsalus in N. Greece (Pompey is murdered soon after when he attempts to take refuge in Egypt), the Roman senate vote again to make Caesar dictator for a year. Pompey was expecting a warm welcome as he put to shore. In fact, he was decapitated by the henchmen of a local dynast, who calculated that disposing of the enemy leader would ingratiate him with Caesar. The murder, however, proved a wrong move for its perpetrators. Caesar, who turned up a few days later, apparently wept as he was presented with Pompey’s pickled head and shortly backed one of the rivals to the throne of Egypt. That rival was Queen Cleopatra VII, best known for her alliance, political and romantic, with Mark Antony in the next round of Roman civil wars. But at this point her interests lay with Caesar, with whom she had an open affair and – if her claims about paternity are to be believed – a child. -SPQR by Beard.

• 49 BCE: Caesar is first appointed to the office for a short term, to conduct elections to the consulship for the next year, an entirely traditional procedure, except for the entirely untraditional fact that he oversaw the election of himself. -SPQR by Beard.

• Despite his rare appearances in Rome, Caesar initiated a vast programme of reforms going beyond even the scale of Sulla’s. One of them governs life even now. For – with some help from the specialist scientists he met in Alexandria – Caesar introduced into Rome what has become the modern Western system of timekeeping. The traditional Roman year was only 355 days long, and it had for centuries been the job of Roman priests to add in an extra month from time to time to keep the civic calendar in step with the natural seasons. Using Alexandrian know-how, Caesar corrected the error and, for the future, established a year with 365 days, with an extra day inserted at the end of February every four years. -SPQR by Beard.

• The majority of Romans still preferred the reforms of Caesar – the support for the poor, the overseas settlements and the occasional cash handouts – to fine-sounding ideas of liberty, which might amount to not much more than an alibi for elite self-interest and the continued exploitation of the underclass. -SPQR by Beard.

• The distribution of cheap grain was Gaius’ most influential reform. -SPQR by Beard.

• Whichever side won, as Cicero again observed, the result was set to be much the same: slavery for Rome. What came to be seen as a war between liberty and one-man rule was really a war to choose between rival emperors. -SPQR by Beard.

• 10 Jan, 49 BCE: Julius Caesar, with just one of his legions from Gaul, crosses the Rubicon, the river that marked the northern boundary of Italy.-SPQR by Beard.

• For us, ‘to cross the Rubicon’ has come to mean ‘to pass the point of no return’. -SPQR by Beard.

• The underlying issue was brutally straightforward. Would Caesar, with more than 40,000 troops at his disposal only a few days from Italy, follow the example of Sulla or of Pompey? -SPQR by Beard.

• Caesar and Pompey, the one-time allies, were now the rival commanders, spread throughout the Mediterranean world. Rome’s internal conflicts were no longer restricted to Italy. The decisive battle was fought in central Greece, and Pompey ended up murdered on the coast of Egypt, beheaded by some Egyptian double-dealers he had imagined were his allies. -SPQR by Beard.

• Dec, 50 BCE:  The Roman senate votes by a majority of 370 to 22 that Caesar and Pompey should simultaneously give up their commands. in response to this overwhelming vote, Pompey took no notice and Caesar, after a few more rounds of fruitless negotiation, marched into Italy. -SPQR by Beard.

• ~50 BCE: Various schools of Buddhism “travel” along trade networks, including the Silk Road. Buddhism starts taking root thousands of miles E. of its homeland, reaching Japan by the 5c (NatGeo). 

• 50 BCE- 272: The Tadmor Kingdom rules over much of the N. Arabian Peninsula after receiving their independence from Rome (Al Fahidi Coin Museum).

• 50s BCE: Battle of Teutoburg Forest; Roman forces under Julius Caesar defeat Gallic tribes.-War by NatGeo.

• 52 BCE: Roman Consul Clodius is murdered leaving Pompey as the sole Roman Consul. Rather than resort to appointing a dictator to take charge of the growing crisis, with all the memories of Sulla’s dictatorship, the senate decided to give to one man an office which by definition had always been shared between two. This time the gamble paid off. Within a few months Pompey had not only taken firm control of the city but also taken a colleague, albeit keeping it in the family: it was his new father-in-law. -SPQR by Beard.

• 53 BCE: The Battle of Carrhae is fought as a military engagement between the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire. Marcus Licinius Crassus had initiated an unprovoked war against the Parthians and met their Army on a plain near the Mesopotamian city of Carrhae (modern Harran, Turkey). Through his expert use of horse archers and cataphracts (armored cavalry), the Parthian noble Surenas destroyed or captured nearly all of Crassus’s legions. Those few who escaped fled to Carrhae and then to Syria. Crassus was tricked into parleying with Surenas before being killed himself (Britannica). 

• 54 BCE: Construction of the Roman Forum is initiated by Gaius Julius Caesar (Palatine Archaelogical Museum). 

• 54 BCE: Pompey’s wife Julia (Caesars daughter) dies in childbirth, leading to the political breakdown between Pompey and Caesar. Pompey had initially sealed his agreement with Caesar in the Gang of Three by marrying Caesar’s daughter, Julia. -SPQR by Beard.

• 55 BCE: Caesar and the Roman Legions first land in Brittania.

• 55-53 BCE: The Battle of Carrhae on the border of Turkey and Syria; the Parthians (modern Iran) defeat a Roman conquest led by Marcus Crassus, who is decapitated and his Army’s ceremonial standards captured. -SPQR by Beard.

• 1c BCE- 225: The Silk Road functions effectively under protection of the Han dynasty.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.

• 56 BCE: Palestine is ruled by Rome, which appoints native kings under a Roman governor.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 58-51 BCE: Transalpine Gaul, the area N. Of the Alps, is conquered by the Romans under Julius Caesar. 

• 58-50 BCE: The ‘Celtic Holocaust;’ Roman Legions under Julius Caesar conquer and murder untold numbers of Celts in Gaul extending their power as far North as the isle of Britain. In doing this, Caesar laid the foundations for the political geography of modern Europe, as well as slaughtering up to a million people over the whole region. . Caesar’s description of these campaigns in the seven volumes of his Commentaries on the Gallic War, an edited version of his official annual dispatches from the front line sent back to Rome, starts with its famous, clinical opener, ‘Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres’ (‘The whole of Gaul is divided into three parts’). It ranks alongside Xenophon’s description (the Anabasis, or Going Up) of his exploits with a Greek mercenary army, written in the fourth century BCE, as the only detailed eyewitness account of any ancient warfare to survive.-SPQR by Beard.

• 58 BCE: Cyprus becomes a Roman province.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 58 BCE: The Roman people vote, in general terms, to expel anyone who had put a citizen to death without trial; forcing Cicero to leave Rome, just before another bill was passed specifically singling him out, by name, for exile. -SPQR by Beard.

• 59 BCE: Caesar is elected consul and secures a military command for himself in southern Gaul, to which a vast area on the other side of the Alps was soon added. -SPQR by Beard.

• 60-50 BCE: The Roman Gang of Three. Against a background of street violence and a breakdown in political order, three men– Pompey, Julius Caesar and Marcus Licinius Crassus – made an informal deal to use their combined influence, connections and money to fix the political process in their own interests. This ‘Gang of Three’, or ‘Three-Headed Monster’, as one contemporary satirist put it, for the first time effectively took public decisions into private hands. Through a series of behind-the-scenes arrangements, bribes and threats, they ensured that consulships and military commands went where they chose and that key decisions went their way.-SPQR by Beard.

• 60 BCE: The Triumvirate (the Gang of Three) with Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Crassus. 

• 63 BCE: Judaea becomes a vassal state of Rome under Procurator and Roman collaborator, Antipater, father of Herod (NatGeo). 

• 63 BCE: Rome is a vast metropolis with more than a million inhabitants.-SPQR by Beard.

• 63 BCE: Pompey defeats Mithridates and arranges settlements in the East.  

• 63 BCE: Roman General Pompey conquers Syria, raising the state’s budget to 340M sesterces.-Sustainability by de Vries.

• 63 BCE: Pompey captures Jerusalem. 

• 63 BCE: Mithridates commits suicide in Crimea after his forces are decisively defeated by Roman forces led by Pompey.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 64-63 BCE: Roman forces led by Pompey destroys the Kingdom of Pontus, killing Antiochus XIII Asiaticus, the last of the Seleucid Kings, and leading to the suicide of King Mithridates VI (63 BCE). Pompey annexes Syria and captures Jerusalem (63 BCE).-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 66-61 BCE: Pompey is granted command over the defeat of Mithridates; powers were to include almost complete control over a large swathe of the eastern Mediterranean for an unlimited period, with more than 40,000 troops at his disposal, and the right to make peace or war and to arrange treaties more or less independently. -SPQR by Beard.

• 63 BCE: Pompey defeats Mithridates and arranges settlements in the East.  

• 63 BCE: Pompey captures Jerusalem. 

• Mithridates was a real threat to Rome’s security and that Pompey was the only man for the job. From the heartland of his kingdom on the Black Sea the king had certainly scored occasional terrifying victories over Roman interests across the eastern Mediterranean, including in 88 BCE a notorious, and highly mythologized, massacre of tens of thousands of Romans and Italians on a single day. -SPQR by Beard.

• Mithridates was quickly driven out of Asia Minor, to his territories in the Crimea, where he was later ousted in a coup by one of his sons and killed himself. -SPQR by Beard.

• 67-63 BCE: The Hasmonean Civil War is fought between two claimants to the Hasmonean Jewish crown, but expands to include first, the Nabatean Kingdom, and then Rome. The conflict results in the loss of Jewish independence (Wiki). 

• Antipater found it easy to persuade Areas, the Nabataean ruler, to assist Hyrcanus in returning to Jerusalem to recover his kingship. Three parties contested power. Aristobulos was contained in Jerusalem with his coterie of priests and important Jewish families. Outside the walls were Hyrcanus, Antipater, and their Nabataean allies. The Pharisees comprised the third party and they ideally sought the eradication of both Hasmoneans and a return to the rule of Law. The survival of Judea and the Arabic-speaking Nabataeans had depended upon the various embassies that the Levantine states had sent to Pompey. Two delegations came from Jerusalem: Hyrcanus II and Antipater were here supported by the Pharisees; the other embassy, including Sadducees, claimed that Aristobulos was the more effective of the two brothers and should be recognized as king. Pompey supported Hyrcanus and he returned to Jerusalem as King (64 BCE). The Nabataeans were instructed to vacate Judea. The year 63 BCE saw Pompey threatening Aretas' Nabataeans by marching two legions south. While the Romans were engaged at Petra, Aristobulos attempted to snatch back the Judean kingship. Pompey returned swiftly to Jerusalem and laid siege to the Temple precinct where Aristobulos' followers sought refugee. The siege lasted three months before the Roman legions entered the precinct and killed the rebels. Aristobulos was sent to Rome. Hyrcanus was re-established as High Priest.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 67 BCE: Death of Hasmonean Queen Salome. Civil war breaks out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees as the former group support Hyrcanus II as king and high priest while the latter Sadducees backed Aristobulos. Hyrcanus' defeat results in Aristobulos usurping the monarchy and High Priesthood. Hyrcanus accepts his defeat and submits to his brother's authority.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 70 BCE: Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (‘Pompey’) is appointed a Roman consul. Pompey is given extraordinary powers to take over the command against Mithridates and to make peace and war and to organize the entire Roman east.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• Late 1c BCE: A second wave of Germanic migrants from Thuringia reach the Mainfranken region and the valley of the Tauber. The Celtic- Germanic mix is now dominated by the Germanic element, setting the stage for the Celts to slowly make their exit and for the Germans to take centre stage (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 71 BCE: Suebian King Ariovistus and his 15K Germanic warriors cross the Rhine from Gaul (Landesmuseum Württemberg), assisting the Arverni and Sequani in defeating their rivals, the Aedui. They settle in large numbers into conquered Gallic territory, in the Alsace region (Wiki). 

• 73 BCE: The Third Mithridatic War; Roman forces led by General Lucius Licinius Lucullus successfully seize Bithynia, defeating Mithridates. His forces are driven out of Bithynia and Pontus into Armenia.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 73-63 BCE: 3rd Mithridatic War

• 73-71 BCE: The Spartacus Slave Rebellion; under the leadership of Spartacus, fifty or so slave gladiators, improvising weapons out of kitchen equipment, escaped from a gladiatorial training school at Capua in southern Italy and went on the run. They spent the next two years gathering support and withstanding several Roman armies until they were eventually crushed in 71 BCE, the survivors crucified in a grisly parade along the Appian Way.-SPQR by Beard

• 74-49 BCE: Rein of the Xuān emperor, W. Han Dynasty.-China by Jaivin.

• 76-67 BCE: Reign of Hasmonean Queen Salome.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 79 BCE: Sulla resigns the Roman Dictatorship

• 80 BCE- 160: Earth experiences a long period of above-average temperatures.-Ecoviews by Gibbons.

• 83-31 BCE: 2nd Mithridatic War

• 83-82 BCE: Sulla re-establishes the city of Rome and engineers his own election as ‘dictator for making laws and restoring order to the res publica’. The dictatorship was an old emergency office which gave sole power to an individual on a temporary basis to cope with a crisis. Sullah took away the tribunes’ right to introduce legislation, curtailed their veto and made anyone who had held the tribunate ineligible for any future elected office – a guaranteed way of turning it into a dead end. The removal of these restrictions became the main rallying cry of the opposition to Sulla, and within ten years of his retirement all were repealed, paving the way for another generation of powerful and prominent tribunes.-SPQR by Beard.

• 83-82 BCE: The Second Mithridatic War; Roman forces invade Pontus but are repulsed by Mithridates.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 88-85 BCE: The First Mithridatic War; encouraged by Rome, Nicomedes raids Pontus. In response, Mithridates, who occupies Roman Asia, marches on Greece, defeating the Roman generals Gaius Flavius Fimbria and Lucius Cornelius Sulla between 86-85 BCE.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 89-85 BCE: 1st Mithridatic War.

• 85 BCE: Defeat of King Mithridates; The Roman Army led by Sullah defeats Mithridates.-SPQR by Beard.

• 85 BCE: Sulla negotiates a truce with Mithridates. 

• 88 BCE: Sulla is given command as dictator to fight Mithridates IV of Pontus. 

• 89 BCE: All Italians are granted Roman citizenship. 

• 91-89 BCE: The Social War (a coalition of Italian allies, or socii) begins after the massacre of Romans at Asculum; Rome defeats the Italians in a multi-year War after a Roman envoy insulted the people of Asculum in central Italy. They responded by killing him and all the other Romans in the town. This brutal piece of ethnic cleansing set the tone for what followed, which was not far short of civil war: ‘It can be called a war against socii, to lessen the odium of it; the truth is it was a civil war, against citizens,’ as one Roman historian later summed it up. And it involved fighting throughout much of the peninsula. The Romans invested enormous forces to defeat the Italians and won victory at the cost of heavy losses and considerable panic. Most of the conflict was over relatively quickly, within a couple of years. Peace was apparently hastened by one simple expedient: the Romans offered full citizenship to those Italians who had not taken up arms against Rome or were prepared to lay them down. -SPQR by Beard.

• 89 BCE: The Siege of Pompeii ends the Social War. 

• 90-89 BCE: Rome extends full citizenship to most of the Italian peninsula. Italy was now the closest thing to a nation state that the classical world ever knew.-SPQR by Beard.

• 1st Century BCE: Maize is first farmed in the N. Americas.-1491 by Mann.

• 1st Century BCE: De Rerum natura (on the nature of things) is written by Lucretius as six untitled books on the nature of nothingness, matter, space, the atoms and their movement, the human mind, spirit, and morality, among others. 

----------100 BCE----------

• 100-50 BCE: Germanic settlers from the east gradually move south into Central Europe while the Celtic population withdraws. Traces of E. Germanic settlements interspersed with Celtic traces in the valley of the Tauber would seem to indicate predominantly unwarlike coexistence (Landesmuseum Württemberg). 

• 100 BCE- 100: The Essene sect flourish in the area of the Dead Sea and record what later become known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• ~100 BCE: The first book of Maccabees (1 Maccabees), the Jewish history of the heroic Maccabees family between 175-134 BCE, is translated from a Hebrew work.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 101 BCE: Cilicia is established as a Roman province.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 103 BCE: Pamphylia is established as a Roman province.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 103-76 BCE: Reign of Alexander Janneus over the Hasmonean dynasty. Alexander seizes all port cities of Palestine, taking Gaza.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 104-103 BCE: Reign of Aristobulos I (son of Hyrcanus) over the Maccabees.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 104 BCE: Death of Hyrcanus. His son, Aristobulos I, becomes leader of the Hasmoneans (Maccabees) (Wiki).

• 113-101 BCE: The Cimbrian Wars. The Roman Rep. led by Gaius Marius defeats a coalition of Germanic and Celtic Tribes. 

• Led to the Marian Reforms. 

• 120s BCE: The makings for the Social War begins; a Roman consul was travelling through Italy with his wife and came to the small town of Teanum (modern Teano, about 100 miles south of Rome). The lady decided she wanted to use the baths there usually reserved for men, so the mayor had them prepared for her and the regular bathers thrown out. But she complained that the facilities were neither ready in time nor clean enough. ‘So a stake was set up in the forum, and Teanum’s mayor, the most distinguished man in the town, was taken and tied to it. His clothes were stripped off and he was beaten with sticks.’ It ended with many of the allies going to war on Rome in the Social War, one of the deadliest and most puzzling conflicts in Roman history.-SPQR by Beard.

• 120 BCE- 300: The Al-Anbaat Kingdom rules over parts of the N. Arabian Peninsula (Al Fahidi Coin Museum).

• 62-59 BCE: Reign of King Obadah III as 3rd Al-Anbaat King (Al Fahidi Coin Museum).

• 85-62 BCE: Reign of King Hareth III as the 2nd Al-Anbaat King (Al Fahidi Coin Museum).

• 120-96 BCE: Reign of King Hareth II as the 1st Al-Anbaat King (Al Fahidi Coin Museum).

• 120 BCE: Second Zapotec Civil War; Monte Albán sacks Tilcajete a second time, burning the Kings palace to the ground and emptying the city, leaving Monte Albán firmly in control of Oaxaca. With nothing to impede it, Monte Albán swept out and established a domain of almost ten thousand square miles. For centuries it stood on equal ground with its neighbors, the rising Maya states to the east and Teotihuacan to the north.-1491 by Mann.

• 123 BCE: The Romans occupy the Ballearic Islands, founding the towns of Pollentia (Alcudia) and Palmaria (Palma). 

• 125 BCE: The people of Fregellae attempted to break away from Rome but were crushed by a Roman army under the same Lucius Opimius who a few years later eliminated Gaius Gracchus.-SPQR by Beard.

• 128 BCE: Hasmonean forces led by Hyrcanus attack the weaker cities of Samaria and Shechem, destroying them both, before focusing on Galilee. Hyrcanus forces these Galileans (Ituraeans) to Judaize, insisting that males were circumcised. In the south, Idumaea (Edom) is conquered and its inhabitants are Judaized as well. The town of Medeba, east of the Dead Sea, is taken thereby threatening Nabatean trade routes to the north. On the northern frontier, cities such as Pella, Dion, Gadera, and Hippos, all east of the Jordan, (eventually leaguing with others to form the Decapolis), are made tributary.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 130 BCE: Death of the last King of Pergamon, who bequeaths his kingdom to Rome. Thus, Rome acquires its province of Asia, its first territory beyond the Aegean.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 130 BCE: Rome annexes the Kingdom of Pergamon, doubling the state’s budget, from 100M-200M sesterces.-Sustainability by de Vries.

• 132-127 BCE: Reign of Parthian King Phraates II.  Parthian ruler, Phraates II, surprised the Seleucid army at Ecbatana, defeating it and killing Seleucid King Antiochus II (Wiki). 

• 133 BCE: Lynching of Roman Politician Tiberius Gracchus.

• 133 BCE: Tiberius is elected a tribune to the people. He saw the problem in terms of the displacement of the poor from farming land. So did the poor themselves, if the story of their graffiti campaign in Rome urging him to restore ‘land to the poor’ is true. -SPQR by Beard.

• Nevertheless, it was the events of 133 BCE that crystallized the opposition between those who championed the rights, liberty and benefits of the people and those who, to put it in their own terms, thought it prudent for the state to be guided by the experience and wisdom of the ‘best men’ (optimi), who in practice were more or less synonymous with the rich. Cicero uses the word partes for these two groups (populares and optimates, as they were sometimes called), but they were not parties in the modern sense: they had no members, official leaders or agreed manifestos. -SPQR by Beard.

• Cicero, looking back from the middle of the next century, could present 133 BCE as a decisive year precisely because it opened up a major fault line in Roman politics and society that was not closed again during his lifetime: ‘The death of Tiberius Gracchus,’ he wrote, ‘and even before that the whole rationale behind his tribunate, divided a united people into two distinct groups [partes].’ -SPQR by Beard.

• 133 BCE: Detah of King Attalus III of Pergamum who makes ‘the Roman people’ the heir to his property and large kingdom in what is now Turkey. -SPQR by Beard.

• 134-104 BCE: Hyrcanus is leader and high priest of the Hasmoneans (Maccabees) (Wiki).

• 139 BCE: A radical tribune introduced a law to ensure that Roman elections were conducted by secret ballot; unheard of at this point in history. -SPQR by Beard.

• 140-87 BCE: Reign of Emperor Wu Di over the Han dynasty. During his reign, Wu Di sends ambassadors westwards all the way to Rome in an attempt to build an alliance with various nomadic tribes against the marauding Xiongnu from the North.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 141 BCE: Parthian Kind Mithridates conquers Iran, taking control of Babylon. He founds a new capital at Ctesiphon, reviving Iranian political control of the region (British Museum).

• 141 BCE: The W. Han is ruled by Wǔdì (the ‘Martial Emperor’ aged 15), the 5th Han Emperor.-China by Jaivin.

• 129 BCE: Wudi orders a census as a basis for a system of taxation, as well as conscription for corvée (labor) or military service, revealing a population of ~36M.-China by Jaivin.

• 141-87 BCE: Reign of Emperor Wu; 7th Emperor of the Han Dynasty.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.    

• 138 BCE: The Han navy sails from the Yangtze to fend off Yueh pirates in the SCS. Over the next few years, a series of Han naval attacks maintain firm pressure on the Yueh statelets along the coast. Guangzhou, the capital of the Nan Yueh, falls to the Chinese and is used as a base for a raid into the Gulf of Tongking; the king of Guangzhou is later captured as he tries to flee by sea.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.    

• 2c BCE: Syria falls under Seleucid rule following competition with the Ptolemies of Egypt.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.    

• 2c BCE: Ptolemy, a Greek in Alexandria, Egypt, codifies all ancient astronomical beliefs: the earth is the center of the universe, around which the sun, the planets, and the stars all revolve, and beyond the orbit of the most distant star lay the empyrean, the place where angels and immortal spirits dwelled.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 146 BCE: Greece is annexed as a Roman province after Roman forces capture Macedonia and destroy the chief Greek city of Corinth.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 146 BCE: Greece is annexed by Rome.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 146 BCE: Rome annexes the Greek Peninsula (Wiki). 

• 4c BCE: Istanbul, previously a Greek trading colony rechristened as Constantinople, becomes the capital of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire (NatGeo). 

• 149-146 BCE: The Third Punic War; “Delenda est Carthago” (Carthage must be destroyed- Cato). Roman forces blockade Carthage and then conquer the city, taking it apart house by house and stone by stone, and finally ploughing the whole place under. The survivors become slaves and the surrounding lands the Roman province of Africa.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 149 BCE: a permanent criminal court had been established at Rome, with the main aim of giving foreigners compensation and the right of redress against extortion by their Roman rulers. -SPQR by Beard.

• 149-146 BCE: The Third Punic War; “The Punic Solution.” Roman forces entirely destroy the Carthaginian Empire (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• Spring, 146 BCE: The Carthaginian Solution; Roman forces under Scipio completely destroys Carthage, bringing an end to the Punic Wars and setting Rome up for the conquest of the Mediterranean. Some 450K are killed and Scipio sells the 50K survivors into slavery (Punic Nightmares by Carlin, Wiki). 

• 149-146 BCE: Roman forces under Scipio siege Carthage (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 149 BCE: The Romans ask for 300 Carthaginian noble children as hostages. Just as Carthage lets its guard down, the Romans declare war and deploy an army of ~80K infantry and 4K cavalry to N. Africa to attack Carthage. Rome forces Carthage to disband its army, surrender its weapons and release its prisoners. The Carthaginians were told they had to leave the city of Carthage completely and resettle 16km from the coast. This is too much for Carthage so they begin preparing the city for siege (Ancient-Origins.net).

• 151-150 BCE: The Numidian-Carthaginian War is fought between the Numidians and the Carthaginians as a pretext for a Roman intervention. Numidia had been expanding their territory little by little, absorbing what had once been Carthage’s (Wiki). 

• 150 BCE: The Numidians attack the Carthaginian ctity of Oroscopa. Carthage deploys 31K men to defend and attack the Numidians, however they lose nearly all of their army (Ancient-Origins.net). 

• 153 BCE: The Romans send a senatorial delegation led by Cato to Carthage. Cato finds a powerful, prosperous state and begins advocating for the destruction of Carthage (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 155-133 BCE: Iberian War; Rome v. Celtiberian Tribes.

• 2c BCE: The 24 books that make up the Hebrew Bible are first organized.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 164-160 BCE: Death of Seleucid King Antiochus IV (164 BCE). A young Antiochus V, becomes king under the vice-regency of Lysias. He invades Judea, captured Beth-zur, and defeated Judas at Beth-zechariah, the Jewish troops being forced back into Jerusalem. During the battle, one of the Maccabee brothers, Bleazar, attacked a Syrian elephant:" He crept under the elephant, and slew him: whereupon the elephant fell down upon him, and there he died" (1 Maccabees 6:46). The Jews sued for peace, which Lysias granted owing to internecine strife in the ruling Seleucid family. The Jews were granted religious freedom, but the Temple fortifications were destroyed. The subsequent peace was short-lived. Alcinus, renegade leader of the Hellenized Jews, traveled to Antioch to meet the new Seleucid king, Demetrius I (162-150 BCE), where he complained about Jewish behavior. A large Syrian army, under Bacchides, was dispatched to Judea to protect Alcinus and seize Judas and his brothers. Many Jews supported Alcinus since they thought religious freedom was now assured, but Alcinus had many Jews killed and rebellion flared up. A large Syrian army, led by Nicanor, was sent to destroy Judea and a climactic battle was fought at Beth-horon near Adasa, where Judas enjoyed a great victory: Nicanor was killed (161 BCE). The event has been commemorated as a feast day ever since. Judas' forces shrank. He fought his last battle at Elasa against Bacchides, supported by only 800 men. Despite putting the Syrian right-wing to flight, he fell fighting and his brothers, Jonathan and Simon, secretly buried him at Modin. Simon took over Jewish leadership, finished rebuilding Jerusalem's walls, seized, and fortified Gazara, and seized the Seleucid fort, the Accra, in Jerusalem. Judaea was now practically independent. Simon re-established relations with Rome (1 Maccabees 8:17-32) and Sparta (1 Maccabees 12:5-23), and negotiated away the tribute owing to Demetrius II. Despite setbacks, Judas was able to take Jersualem from the Greeks in 164 BCE and clear the temple of all traces of non-Jewish worship and rededicated it to the Hebrew God.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 166-164 BCE: Death of Mattathias (166 BCE), the Hebrew priest who had ignited the Jewish revolt. His son, Judas, known as Maccabeus, takes over the leadership of the revolt. Judas' military campaigns lasts for a mere six years, but they rock the Syrian military establishment. Most Seleucid forces faced Rome and Parthia so the rebellion is first perceived as a local revolt. Initially, Judas engaged in guerrilla warfare with night attacks on villages and towns adjacent to the wilderness, driving out Syrians, punishing apostates and traitors, and destroying pagan altars. His successes stimulated support and his forces grew into a small army. When Antiochus heard reports of the defeat, he diverted half his forces from a planned campaign against Parthia, leaving half under Lysias to subdue Judah. Lysias sent Ptolemy, Nicanor, and Gorgias with the remaining troops, (some 40,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry), and war elephants into Judah, where they camped near Emmaus. Traders joined the encampment in the expectation of buying Jewish prisoners of war as slaves. Judas and his brothers assembled their forces at Mizpah, prayed, and then marched upon Emmaus (165 BCE). Meanwhile, Gorgias led a night expedition of 5,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry, hoping to surprise the Jewish camp, but it was deserted. Judas attacked Emmaus with 3,000 men at daybreak, defeated the Syrians and plundered their camp. When Gorgias returned, his troops fled into Philistia and Judas finished looting their camp. The following year, Lysias mustered 60,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry and marched into Idumea, camping at Beth-zur. The Judean army of 10,000 men under Judas met them and destroyed 5,000 Syrians; Lysias withdrew to Antioch where he planned to raise a mercenary army for a renewed attack next year. The way to Jerusalem being now opened, Judas found priests to purify and rededicate the Temple (164 BCE). Mount Zion was fortified as was Beth-zur, but the Syrian Accra remained untaken. The anniversary of Temple cleansing is known as the Feast of Hanukkah, when celebratory candles are lit.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 167 BCE: Roman forces seize the treasury of the King of Macedonia, allowing them to eliminate taxation of themselves.-Sustainability by de Vries.

• 167-164 BCE: Revolt of the Maccabees; Judaea jews gain independence from Seleucid rule, expanding their territories under the Hasmonaean dynasty (NatGeo). 

• 167 BCE: Founding of the Hasmonaen Dynasty after a Jewish uprising against the ruling Seleucid Kings is headed by the Maccabees, a family of Jewish high priests from the Temple in Jerusalem who refuse to accept the imposition of Greek Seleucid Culture- a holdover from remnants of Alexander the Greats Eastern Empire from its base in Syria. 

• 167 BCE: Rome abolishes all taxes. 

• 167 BCE: The Jewish revolt begins in the small village of Modin, NW of Jerusalem. A Syrian official and a Jew were going to offer sacrifice on a pagan altar; this apostasy so incensed a priest, Mattathias and his five sons that they killed the Syrian and the apostate. They then fled into the Judaean wilderness of hills, wadis and caves where they might survive attacks from Seleucid forces.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 167 BCE: Seleucid King Antiochus IV robs the Jewish temple of its treasures, plunders and burns parts of Jerusalem and establishes a citadel, the Accra, on a hill overlooking the temple. Antiochus next sought to enforce the state of Hellenism. The Temple at Jerusalem was consecrated to Olympian Zeus and the Samaritan sanctuary of Mount Gerezim was given to the worship of Zeus, the Friend of Strangers.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 168 BCE: Battle of Pydna; Macedonian forces led by Perseus (son of Phillip) are defeated at Pydna by Roman forces. Macedonia is turned into a Roman province, Rome’s first in the Greek world. Roman forces move on and capture the town of Philippi.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 171 BCE: Mithridates, a Parthian governor of the E. province of Parthava, begins to challenge Greek rule. He gradually conquers Iran, taking control of Babylon in 141 BCE (British Museum).

• 172-168 BCE: 3rd Macedonian War; Rome v. Perseus.

• 22 Jun, 168 BCE: The Battle of Pydna; Roman armies led by Aemilius Paullus and Scipio Aemilianus defeat the Macedonians in Greece led by Perseus after the Greeks considered supporting Hannibal in the Punic Wars, resulting in Roman control over Greece. Macedon is broken up into four independent, self-governing states; that paid tax to Rome, at half the rate that Perseus had levied it; and, in this case, the Macedonian mines were shut down, to prevent their resources from being used to build up a new power base in the region. -SPQR by Beard.

• 174 BCE: Seleucid King Antiochus IV deposes the Jewish High Priest, Onias, replacing him with one of his brothers, known as Jason. This new High Priest commenced building gymnasium, an icon of Hellenization. People began to wear Greek dress and the broad-brimmed hat known as the petasos, which was the headgear of Hermes, the god of the gymnasium. Jews were forced to use the gymnasium where all were naked, so they could not hide their circumcision and were punished. The Jews believed Hellenism to be mere nature worship, a continuation of Canaanite religion with Antiochus as a new Baal embodying Canaanite god-qualities of hate, lust, anger, greed, and envy.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 175 BCE: Jews are established in Mumbai.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 175-164 BCE: Reign of Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes (‘God Manifest’), son of Antiochus III the Great and brother of Seleucus IV. Antiochus IV seeks to rid the world of any non-Hellene, non-conformist faith, Judaism being a prime target.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 183 BCE: Hannibal commits suicide with poison after being surrounded by Roman forces near the Black Sea. Ironically, Scipio Africanus, by now an outcast from Roman society, dies as well (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 185 BCE: The Maurya Empire disintegrates in S. Asia. Several independent kingdoms arise in its place including the Satavahana dynasty in the Deccan plateau (British Museum).

• 187-175 BCE: Reign of Seleucid King Seleucus IV, who unsuccessfully attempts to use the wealth of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem to pay off Seleucid war levies to the Romans.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 188 BCE: Death of the Hui emperor; Hui’s Empress Lü places one of his sons on the throne and has all Hui’s concubines murdered. Realizing that the new emperor knew she’d killed his mother, she had him dispatched as well, putting an infant half-brother on the throne in his place. Lü’s entire clan was later exterminated. Ever after, she served as an exemplar about the dangers of giving women too much political power—a situation said to be “as unnatural as a hen crowing at daybreak.”-China by Jaivin. 

• 190 BCE: Roman Armies led by Scipio Asiaticus defeats the Syrians and King Antiochus ‘the great’; Not only was he busy modelling himself on Alexander the Great and extending his power base accordingly, but he had also given a home to Hannibal, now in exile from Carthage, who was reputed to be offering the king master classes in how to confront the Romans. -SPQR by Beard.

• 190 BCE: Battle of Magnesia; Roman forces defeat the Seleucids at Magnesia. This defeat along with the defeat of the Seleucid navy at Myonnesus the year prior led to the total breakaway of Armenia (under Artaxias) and Bactria from the Seleucid Empire. The peace terms with Rome levy a 12-year financial indemnity on the Seleucids and the loss of Asia Minor.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 191 BCE: Battle of Myonnesus; Roman forces crush the Seleucid navy at Myonnesus. The Romans had responded to a request for aid from Pergamon King Attalos II against his eastern neighbor, the Seleucid ruler, Antiochus III.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 192 BCE: Carthage offers to repay their 50y war indemnity only 10y after their defeat. Carthage prospers between the 2nd and 3rd Punic Wars (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 192-188: Syrian War; Rome v. Antiochus III of Syria. 

• 27 Mar, 196 BCE: The Rosetta Stone; a priestly decree is recorded on a large stone slab (stela) in Hieroglyphics at the top, Demotic (the everyday script of Egyptians) in the middle, and Greek (the language of the government) at the bottom. At the time, Egypt was governed by Macedonian Greek rulers, and the decree was issued in honor of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes (British Museum).

• 196 BCE: Construction of the Rosetta Stone (Cape Town Museum). 

• 196 BCE: The Rosetta Stone (4’ x 2.5’) is written in Egypt on a broken slab of black Basalt in three different scripts- hieroglyphics, demotic, and Greek. Its carvings contain a decree of loyalty to the pharaoh, Ptolemy V Epiphanes.-Documents that changed the world.

• 197 BCE: Battle of Cynoscephalae; Roman forces defeat Macedonian forces led by Philip.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 198 BCE: The Syrians capture Jerusalem and desecrate the temple.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

----------200 BCE----------

• 200 BCE: The Battle of Paneoin (‘Panium’); Seleucid forces led by Antiochus III (223-187 BCE) defeat Ptolemaic forces led by Scopas of Aetolia as part of the 5th Syrian war. The Seleucids achieve a complete victory, annihilating the Ptolemaic army and conquering the province of Coele-Syria. The Ptolemaic kingdom never recovers from its defeat and ceases to be an independent great power. Antiochus acquires Palestine, forcing the Jewish population to deal with a new ruler who was not an advocate of religious toleration, and begins to concentrate on the looming conflict with the Roman Empire (Wiki, Atlas of the Bible by Barnes). 

• 200 BCE- 600: Nazca culture in Peru (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 200-197 BCE: The Second Macedonian War; Macedonian forces led by Phillip V of Macedon are defeated by Roman forces allied with Pergamon and Rhodes. Phillip is defeated and forced to abandon all possessions in S. Greece, Thrace, and Asia Minor. The War eventually leads to the conquest of the entirety of Greece (Wiki). 

• 200 BCE- 241: The Al-Hadher Kingdom rules over parts of the N. Arabian Peninsula (Al Fahidi Coin Museum).

• 200 BCE- 222: The Missan Kingdom rules over much of the N. Arabian Peninsula. The kingdom arose in the S. of Iraq and collapsed under the Persian Sassanids. 

• 200 BCE- 68: The Dead Sea Scrolls are written in Palestine. They are the only surviving copies of biblical documents and reveal various details concerning many aspects of Judaism practiced during the Second Temple Period.-Documents that changed the world.

• 3rd Century BCE: the world's first nature reserve was created by King Devanampiya Tissa in Sri Lanka when he declared a piece of forest to be officially protected.

• 202- 195 BCE: The W. Han dynasty is ruled by Liu Bang, the 1st W. Han Emperor; Liu Bang organized society into units of mutual surveillance, lightened the burden of tax, softened harsh laws, and recirculated banned books.-China by Jaivin.

• 202 BCE- 8: The W. Han dynasty rules China.-China by Jaivin.

• 204 BCE: Ptomely V Epiphanes becomes Pharao of Egypt (NatGeo). 

• 206 BCE- 220: The Han dynasty rules China. They create trade routes and establish garrisons throughout Central and Western Asia (British Museum).

• 206 BCE: Reunification of China under the Han, who rule until 220 (British Museum).

• 210 BCE: Death of Qín Shǐhuáng, the first Qin Emperor.-China by Jaivin.

• 210 BCE: The Terra-Cotta Warriors of China are buried to accompany China’s first emperor in the afterlife. (NatGeo). 

• 214-205 BCE: The First Macedonian War; Roman forces allied with the Aetolian League and Attalus I of Pergamon against Phillip V of Macedon, allied with Carthage. There were no decisive engagements and the war ended in a stalemate. During the war, Macedon attempted to gain control over parts of Ilyria, without success. The Peace of Phoenice formally ended the war in 205 BCE (Wiki). 

• 218-201 BCE: The Second Punic War; Hannibal crosses the Alps from Spain and attacks Italy from the North while Rome splits its force and attacks both Spain and Hannibal’s forces throughout N. Italy. The peace treaty the Romans subsequently impose on the Carthaginians strips them of their overseas territories and some African ones, places an indemnity of 10K silver talents to be paid over 50y; Carthage was forbidden to possess war elephants, and its fleet was restricted to 10 warships; it was prohibited from waging war outside Africa and in Africa only with Rome’s express permission (Wiki). 

• 19 Oct, 202 BCE: The Battle of Zama; Roman forces under Scipio Africanus defeat Hannibal’s Carthaginian forces. The victory grants Scipio (previously Sulla) the title “Africanus”- “conqueror of Africa.” The Romans use Numidian cavalry against Carthage (Hannibals tactic) to collapse Hannibal’s flanks and fully defeat the Carthaginians (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 203 BCE: Hannibal is recalled to Carthage to defend it from Rome (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• Spring, 203 BCE: The Battle of Utica; Roman forces under Scipio Africanus conduct a night attack on Numidian and Carthaginian encampments, setting fire to their encampments and slaughtering throughout the night. The Romans kill, wound, or cause to flee some 40-50K soldiers (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 204 BCE: Roman forces under Scipio Africanus land in N. Africa and march on Carthage (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 206 BCE: The Battle of Ilipa; Roman forces under Scipio Africanus defeat Carthaginian forces under Hasdrubal and Mago Barca in Spain (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 207 BCE: Hannibal’s brother Hasdrubal deploys a second Carthaginian army across the Alps to N. Italy to reinforce his brother. Rome deploys forces to various alpine valleys to stop him. Hasdrubal’s forces are defeated at the Battle of Metauro River (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 208 BCE: Carthaginian forces kill both Roman consuls (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 210 BCE: Scipio Africanus takes command of the faltering Roman war effort in the Iberian Peninsula and clears it of enemies within 5y (Wiki). 

• 211 BCE: Hannibal marches on Rome as a feint to draw Roman legions from attacking Carthaginian friendly strongholds throughout the Italy (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 215 BCE: Carthage deploys reinforcements to Hannibal while both Capua, the Macedonians, and Syracuse defect to Hannibal’s side. For the next decade, Hannibal attempts to secure newly switched Carthaginian cities from smaller Roman legions (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 216 BCE: The Roman senate votes not to sue for peace or to negotiate with the Carthaginian’s until they leave the Italian Peninsula. Hannibal opts against marching on Rome. He splits his force sending his brother Mago to S. Italy to gather forces. Mago returns to Carthage, makes a spectacle of their victories by emptying a bag of rings of the Roman elite; he asks for reinforcements and money (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 2 Aug, 216 BCE: The Battle of Cannae; ~89K Roman forces under Consuls Varro & Paulus are encircled and almost entirely destroyed by <50K Carthaginian forces under Hannibal. Rome loses Consul Paulus, both of last year’s consuls, 29 military tribunes, 80 senators, 300 elites, and ~80K soldiers (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 216 BCE: Fabius relinquishes his Roman dictatorship and Paulus and Varro are elected consul. They raise combined armies of 90K and march for Hannibal near Cannae (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 217 BCE: Rome makes Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus dictator of Rome. Fabius employs a “Fabian strategy” but relinquishes dictatorship the following year (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 24 Jun, 217 BCE: A 4K strong contingent of Roman cavalry sent to support Flaminius’ forces is entirely destroyed by Carthaginian forces (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 21 Jun, 217 BCE: The Battle of Lake Trasimene; Hannibal ambushes a Roman army commanded by Gaius Flaminius, resulting in a heavy defeat for the Romans. Some 15K Romans including Flaminius are killed in the battle (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• Dec, 218 BCE: The Battle of Trebia; Hannibal feigns an attack on the Roman encampment at Trebia, getting the Romans to deploy their forces against him across the Trebia River. Hannibal had left his brother with his best troops on the other side of the river to Rome’s rear. Hannibal’s cavalry attack Roman cavalry, driving them off the battlefield and leaving the Roman infantry without protection on their flanks. The Carthaginian cavalry, infantry, and Mago’s forces pivot and attack from all sides, forcing Roman forces to retreat. Some 20K Romans are killed and Longus returns to Rome, hoping to spin the news of the battle (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• Nov, 218 BCE: The Battle of Ticinus; Carthaginian forces under Hannibal defeat a Roman army under Publius Cornelius Scipio near the right bank of the river Ticinus. Hannibal led 6000 Libyan and Iberian cavalries while Scipio led 3600 Roman, Italian, and Gallic cavalry and a large number of light infantry javelmen. Scipio is badly wounded in battle and saved by his teenage son before retreating to a fortified camp to await reinforcements under his co-consul Longus (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 218 BCE: Hannibal marches his Carthaginian force from Spain across the Alps into N. Italy. He reaches the Alps with ~50K forces with the intention of mustering Gallic and other anti-Roman forces into his army. Hannibal loses nearly half his army crossing the Alps over 2 weeks (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 218-201 BCE: The Second Punic War; Carthaginian forces led by Hannibal invade Rome from Carthaginian Spain by crossing the Alps. In a counter-offensive, Rome takes Carthaginian Spain and defeats the Carthaginian fleet, before invading Carthage.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 218-201 BCE: The Second Punic War is fought between Rome and Carthage. 

• Best remembered for the heroic failure of Hannibal, who crossed the Alps with his elephants (more of a propaganda coup than a practical military asset) and inflicted vast casualties on the Romans in Italy. -SPQR by Beard.

• After more than a decade of inconclusive warfare did Hannibal’s home government – increasingly uneasy about the whole escapade and now with the invading army of Africanus to face – recall him to Carthage. -SPQR by Beard.

• 202 BCE: Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, a great-grandson of Barbatus, secures the final defeat of Hannibal: he invaded the Carthaginian’s home territory in North Africa and at the Battle of Zama, near Carthage, routed his army, with some help from Hannibal’s elephants, who ran amok and trampled over their own side. -SPQR by Beard.

• 216 BCE: The Battle of Cannae; the Romans led by General Publius Scipio are defeated by the Carthaginians led by Hannibal with up to 70,000 Roman deaths in a single afternoon, making it as great a bloodbath as Gettysburg or the first day of the Somme, maybe even greater. -SPQR by Beard.

• 218 BCE: The Carthaginian warlord, Hannibal, crosses the Alps with his thirty-seven elephants and inflicts terrible losses on the Romans before they eventually manage to fight him off. -SPQR by Beard.

• May-Dec, 219 BCE: Carthaginian Forces led by Hannibal siege and sack Saguntum, killing and enslaving everyone (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 221-206 BCE: The Qin Dynasty led by Qin King, Ying Zheng (259-210 BCE), rules China. In his short-lived reign, the Qin standardize the Chinese script, currency, and system of measurement, as well as expanding the network of roads and canals. He is also credited with building the Great Wall of China by uniting several pre-existing defensive walls on the N. frontier. His immense underground mausoleum is guarded by thousands of terracotta warriors (British Museum).

• 221 BCE: Unification of China by Qin Shi Huangdi, the first Emperor, after complete conquests of all the remaining warring states, the Qin gain control over the whole of China. His dynasty lasts only 15 years until 206 BCE (British Museum).

• 221-206 BCE: The Qin Dynasty rules Imperial China, named for its heartland in Qin state. The Qin dynasty arose as a fief of the Western Zhou and endured for over 5 centuries until 221 BCE, when it founded its brief empire which lasts only 15 years (Wiki). 

• 221 BCE: Hannibal is placed in charge of Spain’s Carthaginian Army. He marches his army towards the Roman town of Saguntum. Rome sends diplomats to Carthage to ask about Hannibal and the Carthaginian Senate responds with anger, describing all the ways the Romans had wronged the Carthaginians. The Roman Ambassador responds- “I hold within the folds of my toga both peace and war. Which shall I let drop.” “Whichever you want.” “I choose war.” “We except it!” (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 221 BCE: China is unified under the king of the State of Ch'in.-Sustainability by de Vries.

• 221-214 BCE: Conquest of Yueh by the Qin Empire; in the face of tough Yueh resistance, the Qin Empire briefly gains control of much of the coastline of the South China Sea, around the Gulf of Tongking. The conquest of the Yueh towns was accompanied by the settlement in the region of ‘criminals, banished men, social parasites and merchants’, with the long-term effect that the Han Chinese population grew, particularly in the cities, and flourished through trade with Chinese lands further north.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.    

• 221-206 BCE: The Qin Dynasty rules China; The first great unification, the Qin standardize weights, measures, and the written language, and begin construction of the Great Wall of China and his grave, guarded by 3000 terracotta warriors.-China by Jaivin.

• 221 BCE: Emperor Qin Shi Huang orders a million laborers to build the Great Wall in the year (NatGeo). 

• 221 BCE: Fall of the Eastern Zhou, vanquished by the Qin, led by Yíng Zhèng who declares himself Qín Shǐhuáng, the first Qin Emperor. To secure its borders, Qin orders ~1M people (soldiers and commoners, ~1 in 5 of his subjects) to labor on a network of roads and tamped-earth border walls, signal towers, and watchtowers along the N. boundary of his empire. The Great Walls were intended to keep out the confederation of warlike nomadic tribes the Chinese called the Xiōngnú (aka the Hun).-China by Jaivin.

• 222 BCE: Cisalpine Gaul, the area S. Of the Alps, is conquered by the Romans. 

• 223-187 BCE: Reign of Seleucid King Antiochus III, who seeks to rebuild the old Alexandrian Empire.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 225 BCE: The Colossus of Rhodes is toppled during an Earthquake (NatGeo). 

• 225 BCE: The Roman Republic led by Consuls Gaius Atillus Regulus and Lucius Aemillus Papus defeat an alliance of Celtic Tribes and Gauls at the Battle of Telamen. 

• 225 BCE: The Gauls defeat the Roman Rep. at the Battle of Faesulae in Northern Italy. The Gauls march on to fight the Romans at Telamen. 

• 238 BCE: Death of Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (NatGeo). 

• 241-238 BCE: The Mercenary War; Carthage’s unpaid mercenaries led by Hamilcar Barca rise in revolt but are put down by Carthaginian forces. During the war, Rome takes Sardinia and demands additional tribute after Carthage complains (Punic Nightmares by Carlin, Wiki). 

• 247-183 BCE: Life of Hannibal Barca, who poisoned himself in a fortress surrounded by enemies.-War by NatGeo.

• 3c BCE: Archimedes principle is developed by Archimedes in Syracuse, Sicily, an important Greek outpost. The local king Hiero II suspects that the royal jeweler is sneaking some silver into the new, and supposedly 100% gold, royal crown. Hiero calls in Archimedes, who for a while is stumped. He knows that gold weighs more than silver and consequently has less volume and that the volume of a piece of pure gold and of a crown of pure gold weighing the same amount would be the same. But how to measure the volume of a strange-shaped thing like a crown? Then, pondering the problem one day in the tub, Archimedes realizes that a body immersed in liquid displaces exactly its own volume of that liquid. Measure the volume of the water that’s spilled over the side of the tub and you’ve got the volume of the thing in the tub. At which point, Archimedes shouts “Eureka!” The crown causes the water to rise higher, revealing itself to have a greater volume (and hence to be less dense, i.e., not pure gold). And revealing the jeweler to be guilty.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 250-200 BCE: Buddhism and Hinduism reach the island of Sri Lanka from India with both religions influencing the beliefs of the indigenous Wanniya-Iaeto (Vedda) people (British Museum).

• 250 BCE: The integral is first developed in Greece.-Joy of X by Strogatz.

• 246 BCE: The Qin are ruled by Yíng Zhèng (aged 13), a powerful state that had conquered Chu.-China by Jaivin.

• 3c BCE: Founding of the Bereniké Troglodytika seaport by the Ptolemies on Egypt’s Red Sea. The principal Indian products to reach Bereniké was pepper, particularly black pepper from S. India. Other products include coconuts, Indian sesame, mung beans, and Indian gooseberries.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• ~254 BCE: Mauryan Emperor Ashoka leads a military campaign to conquer Kalinga, a coastal kingdom in East Central India. The victory left him with a larger domain than that of his father and grandfather. Accounts claim between 100-300K lives were lost during the conquest. Following the campaign, Ashoka renounces military conquest and other forms of violence and becomes a patron of Buddhism (NatGeo). 

• 256 BCE: The Battle of Ecnomus is fought between Rome and Carthage (NatGeo). 

• 262 BCE: Ashoka (Aśoka) assumes the Mauryan throne (NatGeo). 

• 264-146 BCE: The Punic Wars; Rome defeats Carthage (so-called because the Romans knew the Carthaginians as Poeni).-War by NatGeo.

• 149-146 BCE: Third Punic War; Roman forces under Scipio Aemilianus (grandson of Scipio Africanus) besieges, destroys, and razes the City of Carthage (to which Scipio is said to have wept at the sight).-War by NatGeo.

• 218-202 BCE: Second Punic War; Carthage marches on Rome and wins key battles, but Roman troops eventually win back land and defeat Carthage at the Battle of Zama in Tunisia.-War by NatGeo.

• 202 BCE: The Battle of Zama; Rome forces under Scipio Africanus defeat Carthaginian forces under Hannibal in Zama, Tunisia, ending the 2nd Punic War.-War by NatGeo.

• 209 BCE: The Second Battle of Tarentum; Roman forces led by Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus recapture the city of Tarentum, that had betrayed them in the first Battle of Tarentum (Wiki). 

• 212 BCE: The First Battle of Tarentum; Carthaginian forces under Hannibal capture the Roman city of Tarentum, killing only Romans (Wiki). 

• 216 BCE: The Battle of Cannae; Hannibal’s forces defeat Rome near the fortress of Cannae. Hannibal shaped his troops into an unconventional formation, with the weakest spot in the middle and the strongest forces on the flanks. As the Romans charged, the Carthaginian center fell back while their stronger infantry and cavalry swung around and enveloped the Romans on either side. The result was a massacre, with some 50K-70K Roman soldiers killed as they fought or tried to flee.-War by NatGeo.

• 21 Jun, 217 BCE: The Battle of Lake Trasimeno; Carthaginian forces under Hannibal ambush Roman forces under Gaius Flaminius on the N. shore of Lake Trasimene, resulting in a heavy defeat for the Romans (Wiki). 

• 22 Dec, 218 BCE: The Battle of Trebbia; the first major battle of the 2nd Punic War. Carthaginian forces under Hannibal defeat Roman forces under Sempronius Longus, resulting in a heavy defeat for the Romans (Wiki). 

• 264-261 BCE: First Punic War; Rome defeats Carthage at sea after territorial disputes over the island of Sicily. Rome then annexes Corsica and Sardinia.-War by NatGeo.

• 264-241 BCE: The First Punic War; Rome removes Carthaginian forces from Sicily, taking Sardinia and Corsica.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 264-241 BCE: The First Punic War is fought between Rome and Carthage. 

• Largely fought in Sicily and on the seas round about, except for one disastrous Roman excursion to the Carthaginian homeland, in North Africa. It ended with Sicily, Sardinia (after a few years), and Corsica (after a few years) under Roman control. -SPQR by Beard.

• 264-241 BCE: The First Punic War; Rome defeats Carthage in several battles on and off the coast of Sicily. Carthage cedes Sicily and agrees to pay tribute to Rome. At the outset of the war, Carthage had the worlds largest navy while Rome had none (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 10 Mar, 241 BCE: The Naval battle of the Aegates; the Roman fleet under the command of Gaius Lutatius Catulus and Quintus Valerius Falto, defeat a Carthaginian force led by Hanno (Wiki). 

• 255 BCE: During a single storm, the Romans lose 300 ships and 80K men (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 256 BCE: The Naval Battle of Cape Ecnomus; with 150K soldiers each, Roman forces defeat Carthaginian forces off S. Sicily. Some 40K people die/drown during the battle (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 264-241 BCE: The 2nd Punic War; Carthaginian forces led by Hannibal allied with Macedonian forces led by Philip V are defeated by Roman forces.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 264 BCE: Construction of the via Appia, the Appian Way, connecting Rome and Capua. Construction was commissioned by Appius Caecus. 

• 268-232 BCE: Reign of Ashoka as Emperor of the Maurya Empire in South Asia (British Museum).

• 270 BCE: Egypt revives the silted Red-Med Canal, reopening Alexandria for maritime trade. Regular traffic links Alexandria to the Indian Ocean by way of Myos Hormos on the Red Sea.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  290 BCE: End of the Samnite Wars.

• 3c BCE: 12 Gods emerged as the main deities of the Roman pantheon: Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Minerva, Mars, Venus, Apollo, Diana, Mercury, Ceres, Vulcan and Vesta (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• Early 3c BCE: 72 Jewish Translators (six from each of the 12 tribes) began working on the Pentateuch in Alexandria.-Historical Atlas by Barnes.

• 275 BCE: A new city of Seleucia is built on the Tigris and much of Babylon’s population is moved there. After this, Babylon rapidly declines, eventually falling into ruins.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 278 BCE: Several Celtic tribes come to Asia Minor as mercenaries. They settle in the area around Ankara and become known as the Galatians (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 279 BCE: Celtic armies attempt to plunder the Greek temple at Delphi but fail, supposedly because the God’s intervene (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 280 BCE: Greek General Pyrrhus invades Italy with the Carthaginians. The people of Rhegium in Southern Italy ask Rome for protection. Rome sends a Campanian garrison of 4K men to protect the city but they plunder it instead. The Roman army was punished 9 years later in 271 BCE and the city was returned to the surviving citizens (www.bibleplaces.com).  

• 280 BCE: Pyrrhus, the ruler of a kingdom in N. Greece, sails to Italy to support the town of Tarentum against the Romans. His self-deprecating joke – that his victories against Rome cost him so many men that he could not afford another – lies behind the modern phrase ‘Pyrrhic victory’, meaning one that takes such a heavy toll that it is tantamount to defeat.  He was the first to pull off the stunt of bringing elephants to Italy. -SPQR by Beard.

• 28 Mar, 284- 28 Jan, 246 BCE: Reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus over the Ptolemaic Kingdom (Wiki).

• 284-246 BCE: Reign of Ptolemy Soter II over Egypt (Wiki). 

• 289 BCE: Death of self-proclaimed Sicilian King Agathocles. His mercenaries, the Mamertines, band together and began raiding, killing, and taking captives throughout Sicily (Wiki). 

• 294-282 BCE: The Colossus of Rhodes is built by Charles Lindos (NatGeo). 

• 295 BCE: The Battle of Sentinum. The Roman Army win a decisive victory against a coalition of Samnites, Etruscans, Umbrians, and Senone Gauls. 

• 297 BCE: Having ceded the throne of Maurya to his son, Bindusara, Chandragupta retreats to a Jaiun monastery, where he fasts to death. Chandragupta left behind a unified Indian empire with an efficient central administration that would stand for nearly 150 years (NatGeo). 

• 3c BCE: The Chinese invent the Iron moldboard plow.-1491 by Mann.

----------300 BCE----------

• 300 BCE: Epicurus proposes an eternal cosmos populated by an infinity of worlds. Around the same time, Aristarchus proposes a Sun-centered universe about which the Earth and planets orbit.-Human Universe by Cox.

• ~300 BCE: Stoicism is founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium (NatGeo). 

• 300 BCE- 350: The Meroitic Period; Kushite rulers base themselves at Meroe, in the fertile grassland region of the Butana, the region between the Atbara and Nile in Sudan (British Museum).

• 300 BCE- 100: The Dead Sea Scrolls are written (Cape Town Museum). 

• 300 BCE: Roman soldiers begin to be paid a regular stipend.-War by NatGeo.

• 300 BCE: Dating of the earliest known Olmec writing, on a potsherd from Chiapas.-1491 by Mann.

• 300 BCE- 1279: The Chola Dynasty rules as one of the three most powerful Tamil Kingdoms in Southern India, influencing religion, culture, and architecture via a sophisticated maritime trade system that extended form India throughout SE Asia and China (NatGeo). 

• 300 BCE: Tiwanaku rises to prominence and begins expanding out from S. Titicaca.-1491 by Mann.

• 300 BCE- 250 CE: The Yayoi Dynasty rules Japan.

• 300 BCE: The Elements is published by Euclid in Greece laying down a deductive approach to logical reasoning in all walks of life.-Joy of X by Strogatz.

• 300 BCE: The ancient city of Ur is no longer inhabited.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 300 BCE: The city of Antioch (modern Antalya) is founded as the capital of the Roman province of Syria.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 301 BCE: The Battle of Ipsus; Seleucus adds Asia Minor and Syria to his possessions.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 305 BCE: The Ptolemaic Dynasty is established by Alexander the Great’s General Ptolemy (NatGeo). 

• 305 BCE: Rhodes is successfully defended from attacks by Demetrius. In gratitude, Charles Lindos is commissioned by the inhabitants of Rhodes build the Colossus of Rhodes in honor of Helios (NatGeo). 

• 300s BCE- 1279: The Chola state unifies peninsular India, ruling S. India from the fertile valley of the Kaveri River (Wiki).  

• 307 BCE: The City of Messina is ceded from Sicily to Carthage at the end of the 7th Sicilian War (Wiki). 

• 312-63 BCE: The Seleucid Empire rules over the Mesopotamian region of Babylonia following the division of the Macedonian Empire on the death of Alexander the Great. At the Seleucid Empires height, it consists of territory that covered Anatolia, Persia, the Levant, and modern Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and parts of Turkmenistan.

• 312 BCE: The Appian Way (Regina Viarum- Queen of the Road), Europes first major highway, opens. The route meanders out of Rome to Brindisi and helped inspire the saying “All roads lead to Rome” (NatGeo). 

• 312 BCE: Rome's first aqueduct is built supplying water to a fountain at the city's cattle market.

• 320 BCE: Egypt’s Ptolemaic rulers settle 30,000 Jews on the Sinai and Cyrenaican (at Cyrene, Barca, and Ptolemais) borders, and in Cyprus to protect Egypt from attack.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 321 BCE: Establishment of the Mauryan Empire following the defeat of the Nanda rulers, covering most of the Indian subcontinent as well as parts of modern-day Iran (NatGeo). 

• 321 BCE: Samnites beat romans at battle of the Caudine Forks. 

• 323 BCE: Death of Alexander the Great in Babylon, who intended to make it the capital of his empire (NatGeo). 

• 323 BCE: Death of Alexander the Great in Babylon. His empire disintegrates into a 40-year period of war and chaos with the Hellenistic world. The major parts of his empire are eventually divided among his main generals- Antigonus rules the Kingdom of Pergamon in Asia Minor, Syria, and Palestine. Seleucus rules the Seleucid Empire in Mesopotamia, Persia, and the Eastern parts to the border of India. Ptolemy rules the Ptolemaic Kingdom over Egypt and Libya.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 323 BCE: Death of Macedonian King Alexander the Great. His empires fractures into three parts; the Ptolemies, who rule Egypt, the Seleucids, who rule Mesopotamia, and the Kingdom of Pergamon in Asia Minor and Macedon (lumenlearning). 

• 323 BCE: Death of Alexander the Great in Babylon (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 323 BCE: Death of Alexander the Great; his generals divide his empire into a series of independent kingdoms (British Museum).

• 323 BCE: Death of Alexander of Macedonia in Babylon at the age of 32.-War by NatGeo.

• 324 BCE: Alexander’s troops rebel against further exploration. Alexander turns back toward Mesopotamia.-War by NatGeo.

• 324 BCE: Macedonians return to Susa from Campaigns through Afghanistan, India and more. 

• 325-285 BCE: Reign of Egyptian King Ptolemy I, who builds up Alexandria as a major political, commercial and naval center from which he could exercise command over the E. Mediterranean. Ptolemy I orders the re-digging of the Red-Med canal built on the orders of Persian King Darius the Great.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 325 BCE: Chandragupta of India pounces on the power vacuum left after Alexander’s armies retreat. Over the next 4y, Chandragupta allies with local leader in the Punjab to overthrow the last King of the Nanda rulers of the state of Magadha (NatGeo). 

• 326 BCE: The Roman System of Slavery for Debt is abolished. 

• 327-325 BCE: Macedonian forces led by Alexander cross the Indus and fight their last great battle on the Hydaspes (~325 BCE) against the Kingdom of Porus (in the Punjab). When his troops mutiny and refuse to go any further, Alexander follows the Indus to the Arabian Sea and arrives back in Babylon in 323 BCE.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 327 BCE: Alexander’s troops begin their march to India. Alexander marries Roxana, daughter of a Bactrian chief.-War by NatGeo.

• 330 BCE: The Conquest of Persepolis; Alexander the Great is said to have used 10K mules and 5K camels to transport the rich booty he carries back from his conquest of Persepolis (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 330 BCE: Darius III of Persia is dead and Alexander of Macedonia rules over the former Persian Empire. 

• 331 BCE: Babylon falls to Alexander the Great. Although Alexander had planned to make Babylon the capital of his empire, he died before that came to pass (NatGeo). 

• 331 BCE: Battle of Gaugamela. Alexander the Great and his Macedonian/Hellenic League Armies defeat a numerically superior Royal Persian Force led by King Darius III. 

• 331 BCE: Battle of Gaugamela; Macedonian forces led by Alexander move North from Egypt to attack Babylon. They cross the Euphrates and Tigris, again meeting and defeating Persian forces led by Darius. Darius flees and is eventually murdered by his own generals.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 331 BCE: Babylon is conquered by Alexander the Great; he has ambitions to rebuild the city and make it his capital, but he dies there in 323 BCE.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 332 BCE: Alexander the Great captures Egypt. He founds the city of Alexandria on the Nile estuary, which becomes a center for science, philosophy, and trade.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 332 BCE: Macedonian forces led by Alexander the Great captures Jerusalem.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 332 BCE- 395: Egypt’s Greco-Roman Period (British Museum).

• 334 BCE: Alexander of Macedon seizes control of large parts of the former Persian Empire (British Museum).

• 334-323 BCE: Alex’s worldwide conquest across Asia to India.

• 5 Nov, 333 BCE: The Battle of Issus. Alexander the Great and his Macedonian/Hellenic League Army defeats the Persian royal army led by King Darius III.

• 333 BCE: Battle of Issus; Macedonian forces led by Alexander advance South, meeting Darius and the main Persian Army in NE Syria at Issus. Macedonian pikemen punch a hole through the Persian forces, generating a complete rout, which turns into a disaster by the relentless pursuit of Alexander’s cavalry. After capturing Darius’ family, who he treats with respect, Alexander marches south to Syria and Phoenicia and then into Egypt, thus securing control of the whole Med and ensuring strategic control of the sea.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 334 BCE: Battle of the River Granicus; Macedonian forces led by Alexander cross the Hellespont with 35K men and attack and defeat an Army of Persian’s and Greek mercenaries with little loss to his own forces. Alexander refuses to engage the substantial Persian fleet, resolving to defeat it by occupying all coastal cities and ports in the Persian Empire. Alexander moves through Western Asia Minor, defeating Lycian and Pisidian Hill tribes.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 334 BCE: Invasion of the Persian Empire by Macedonian forces under Alexander.-War by NatGeo.

• 330 BCE: Sack of Persepolis by Alexander’s forces. Darius III is killed by his own men.-War by NatGeo.

• 331 BCE: Battle of Gaugamela; Alexander defeats Darius III near the town of Gaugamela (present day Iraq); After a strategic delay, Alexander led his cavalry across the Persian left flank, through a gap, and turned it against the Persian center. Again, Darius III fled, and Alexander’s Army took the day.-War by NatGeo.

• 333 BCE: Battle of Issus; Alexander defeats Persian King Darius III; Alexander had left sick soldiers in Issus to recover. Persian King Darius III swept in behind him and massacred the troops left behind. Alexander then reversed course and met Darius on the coast plain near Issus. Darius fielded more than 100,000 soldiers including cavalry and infantry against Alexanders 40,000 or so troops. Alexander left the elite cavalry corps known as the Companions at the center while charging towards the Persian left wing, Alexanders cavalry broke through the enemy lines and attacked the Persian center. Terrified, Darius III fled the battlefield, leaving behind not only his weapons and cloak, but also his wife, mother, and children.-War by NatGeo.

• 334 BCE: Battle of the Granicus; Alexander wins his first big battle against the Persians at the Granicus River.-War by NatGeo.

• 335 BCE: The Battle of Thebes. Alexander the Great decisively defeats the Thebans near the city of Boeotia. 

• 336-323 BCE: Reign of Alexander the Great over the Macedonian Empire (NatGeo). 

• 325 BCE: Alexander the Great commissions Nearchos, a Cretan officer, to set off from the Indus to explore the coast between Modern Pakistan and the Persian Gulf. Alexander orders the creation of a port named (predictably) Alexandria at the mouth of the Tigris–Euphrates system, to facilitate trade down the Gulf.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 336 BCE: Assassination of King Phillip of Macedon. His son Alexander assumes the throne.-War by NatGeo.

• 336 BCE: Phillip the Great is assassinated near the Hellespont. Alexander the Great takes the throne of Macedonia. 

• 338 BCE: Battle of Chaeronea: Phillip and the Macedonians defeat an alliance of Thebans and Athenians. 

• Phillip's son, Alexander, leads the Calvary charge that destroys the Theban Sacred Band to a man.

• 341-331 BCE: Latin wars are fought by the Romans. 

• 350 BCE: Fall of the Olmec city of La Venta.-1491 by Mann.

• 360 BCE: The town of Philippi is conquered by Philip of Macedon.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 360 BCE: Terra Preta Formation begins.-1491 by Mann.

• 367 BCE: The Conflict of the Orders ends political discrimination against the plebeians while effectively replacing a governing class defined by birth with one defined by wealth and achievement. -SPQR by Beard.

• Roman Law is changed such that one of the two annual consuls must be Plebian. 

• 371 BCE: Theban forces led by Epaminondas defeat Sparta.-Unto This Last and Others by Ruskin.     

• 371 BCE: Battle of Luktra in which Thebans with deep hoplite ranks, professional forces, and calvary defeat Spartans. Philip of Macedonia is present watching the fight and returns to his country to build/structure his army on the Thebans.

• 373 BCE: An earthquake destroys the city of Helike. The city plummets in the ground and the ocean washes over it, killing all residents (NatGeo). 

• 375 BCE: First Zapotec Civil War; Monte Albán sacks Tilcajete. Undiscouraged, Tilcajete rebuilt itself on a better defensive position and acquired larger armies.-1491 by Mann.

• 384 BCE: Pharos, today’s Stari Grad (Croatian for Old Town), is founded (NatGeo). 

• 387 BCE: Vae Victus- Woe to the Vanquished! Rome falls to the Celts (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 18 Jul, 390 BCE: The Gauls defeat the Roman Rep. at the Battle of Allia at the confluence of the Tiber and Allia Rivers. After a desicive Gallic victory, Rome is sacked by Gauls. 

• Roman Elders remain in the city in their best garb to face the Gauls. 

• After taking the city, the Gauls prepare to siege the Roman Hill fortifications. Both sides agree to 1000lb of Gold instead. The Roman leader accuses the Gauls of fixing the scales and the Gaul King is said to have thrown his sword on the side on the Gaul side of the scale and stated “Woe to the Vanquished.” 

• 396 BCE: The Battle of Veii. The Roman Army led by Camiluss attacks the Etruschan city of Veii walls distracting their armies while a second army attacks into the city via an underground tunnel. The Romans defeat the Armies of Veii and loot the city. 

• 396 BCE- 1c: The Olympic Games are held at the time of the second full moon after the summer solstice and lasted 5 days. In general day 1 included a ceremony, parades, and prayer with private sacrifices. Day 2 was horse racing, pentathlon (long jump, discus, javelin, running, wrestling). Day 3 was a procession to the altar of Zeus and a banquet. Day 4 was foot races and combat sports. Day 5 was a procession, victory ceremonies, and banquet and festivities (Lausanne Olympic Museum).

• 399 BCE: Death of Socrates; magistrates charged him with impiety and corrupting the city’s youth. He spent his final days visiting with friends before drinking a cup of poisonous hemlock (NatGeo). 

• 4c BCE: Measles virus spreads to humans from cattle (NatGeo). 

• 4c BCE: The Nanda Empire rules over much of the Indian subcontinent (NatGeo).

• 400 BCE: The Med-Red Canal built by order of Persian King Darius begins to silt up.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

----------400 BCE----------

• ~400 BCE: Celtic tribes spread across Europe, occupying large parts of upper Italy and continuing down the Danube as far as Greece and Asia Minor. Celtic art, culture and language - apparently not accompanied by migration in Significant numbers - also reached Britain and Ireland, whose inhabitants were not considered Celtic in ancient times (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 400 BCE: Pyrethrum Plants are first discovered in Persia. The flower is used to create natural insecticides that farmers spray on crops to protect them from mites, ants, and aphids without harming anyone’s health (NatGeo). 

• 400 BCE: Rise of the Mayan Kaan Empire in Central America.-1491 by Mann.

• 400 BCE: The Persian Empire eat Sharbat (modern sherbet, sorbet, and syrup), an early ice cream, comprised of cherries, quinces, and pomegranates, that were cooled with snow (NatGeo). 

• End of 4th Century BCE: Rome has 500,000 troops

• 408 BCE: Rhodes is founded as a federal capital and port by the city-states of Lindos, Kameiros, and Ialysos in the Greek Isles (NatGeo). 

• 430 BCE: An epidemic strikes Athens.-1491 by Mann.

• 431-404 BCE: Peloponnesian War between Athens (Delian League) and Sparta (Peloponnesian League). 

• Prelude: 

• 465 BCE: Helot Revolt in Sparta

• Three Phases

• Archidamian War: Sparta launched repeated invasions of attica, while Athens took advantage of its naval supremacy to raid the coast of the Peloponnese attempting to supress signs of unrest.

• Concluded in 421 BC w/ signing of Peace of Nicias. 

• 415 BC: Athens dispatched a massive expeditionary force to attack Syracuse in Sicily which failed disastrously with total destruction by 413 BC. 

• Decelean War aka Ionian War: Sparta, now receiving support from Persia, supported rebellions in Athen's subject states in the Aegean and Ionia, undermining Athens empire and eventually, depriving the city of naval supremacy. The destruction of Athens fleet at Aegospotami effectively ended the war. 

• Lysander (Spartan King) defeated the Athenian fleet in 405 BC, at the battle of Aegospotami, destroying 168 ships and capturing some 3-4,000 sailors. 

• Results: 

• Dissolution of the Delian League (small group of city states that fought the Persians)- from the island of Delos, where their treasury was kept. 

• Sparta became established as the leading power of Greece. 

• Marked the dramatic end to the fifth century BC and the golden age of Greece. 

• MISC

• Strategos: General in Greek

• 431-404 BCE: The Peloponnesian War is fought between the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta and the Delian League, led by Athens. The War ruins Athens and Sparta comes out triumphant, taking over the Athenian Empire.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 431-406 BCE: The Peloponnesian War; Sparta defeats Athens.

• 405 BCE: The Spartan fleet destroys the Athenian fleet at sea. 

• 421 BCE: Temporary truce between Sparta and Athens. 

• 430-425 BCE: An unknown epidemic strikes Athens killing ~25-35% of the population (NatGeo).  

• 432 BCE: Completion of the Parthenon on the Acropolis overlooking the city of Athens (NatGeo). 

• 434 BCE: Conflict between The Ionian Island of Kerkyra and its mother city Corinth forces Athenian intervention, triggering the Peloponnesian War (Wiki). 6th Century: The Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom in Greek) is built as the cathedral for the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire (aka the Byzantine Empire) by Emperor Justinian I (NatGeo). 

• ~5c BCE: The Pentateuch (the five books of Moses) are considered canonical.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 445 BCE: Nehemiah begins rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 447 BCE: Construction of the Parthenon begins in Athens, Greece (British Museum).

• 447 BCE: Construction of the Parthenon in Greece (Cape Town Museum). 

• 449 BCE: The attempted rape and murder of Virginia in Roman Society. The attempted rape and death of Virginia repeals the ban on inter-marriage between members of different classes. 

• 449 BCE: The Peace of Callias is signed by the Delian League ending nearly 50 years of fighting with the Persians and ushering in two decades of peace. 

• 450 BCE: End of the Hallstatt culture period in SW Germany (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 450 BCE: The Western Hallstatt culture evolves into the Celtic La Tène culture (from the site of the finds, La Tène on Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland). Celtic culture gradually spreads across large parts of Europe (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 450 BCE: Young Siddhārtha Gautama earn the title of Buddha, or Enlightened One.-China by Jaivin.

• 450 BCE: Law of the 12 Tables; Roman law is founded on a list of customary rules.-IWM by Heathcote.

• 450 BCE: Roman Society releases the Law of the 12 Tables on Bronze Tablets. 

• 461 BCE: Birth of Athenian Democracy after Ephialtes organizes a vote in the popular assembly stripping all remaining powers from the Areopagus, the old noble council (NatGeo). 

• 461 BCE: Rise of Pericles following the assassination of the Greek founder of Athenian Democracy, Ephialtes. Pericles ushered in what is considered “radical democracy;” ordinary Athenian citizens were paid by the state to participate in public affairs including jury duty, soldiers, sailors, and administrators; lower-class Athenians (called thetes) could now participate as fully as citizens with property. Previously, only the wealthy could afford the time to participate in politics (NatGeo).

• 465-424 BCE: Rein of Persian King Arta Xerxes

• 465 BCE: Death of Persian King Xerxes

• 465 BCE: Helot Revolt in Sparta

• 470-457 BCE: Construction of the Altos site of ancient Olympia, home to the ancient Olympic Games and the temples of Zeus and Hera (US Olympic Museum). 

• 475-221 BCE: China’s Warring States period (British Museum).

• 475 BCE: China is divided into competing states (British Museum).

• 475-221 BCE: China’s Warring States Period.-War by NatGeo.

• 221 BCE: The Chinese Qin ruler, King Zhao Zheng becomes Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di and rules as the first Chinese Emperor of unified China.-War by NatGeo.

• 246 BCE: Zhao Zheng gains the throne of the Chinese state of Qin at the age of 13.-War by NatGeo.

• 256 BCE: Conquest of the Chinese state of Qin ends the power of the Eastern Zhou dynasty.-War by NatGeo.

• 260 BCE: The Battle of Changping; the Chinese state of Qin defeats the state of Zhao. Trapped against Qin fortifications, the Zhao army starved. After 46 days, Zhao Kuo tried one last time to break out and was killed by enemy arrows. The rest of the Army- reportedly 400K- surrendered to the Qin. All were executed save 240 men.-War by NatGeo.

• 278 BCE: The Chinese state of Qin conquers the state of Chu.-War by NatGeo.

• 338 BCE: Execution of Qin administrator Shang Yang; reportedly tied to four chariots and driven off in different directions.-War by NatGeo.

• 340 BCE: The Chinese state of Qin attacks and subdues the state of Wei, which had been weakened by previous attacks from its neighbor Han.-War by NatGeo.

• 361 BCE: Shang Yang takes over as administrator of the Chinese state of Qin.-War by NatGeo.

• 375 BCE: The Chinese state of Han conquers the central minor state of Zheng.-War by NatGeo.

• ~400 BCE: Most of China’s quarreling states consolidate into 7 major powers: Qin, Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Wei, and Zhao.-War by NatGeo.

• 403 BCE: The Chinese states of Wei, Zhao, and Han are formed from the old Jin territory.-War by NatGeo.

• 475-221 BCE: The Autumn period (aka the Warring States period) of China’s Eastern Zhou dynasty.-China by Jaivin.

• 478 BCE: The Delian League is founded as an association of Greek City States under the leadership of Athens whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire. 

• 479 BCE: The Golden Age of Athens begins under the leadership of Pericles.

• 479 BCE: The Battle of Platea; Greek forces rout the Persians on land at Plataea and at sea at Mycale, ending the first Greco-Persian War.-War by NatGeo.  

• Sep, 480 BCE: The Battle of Salamis; the Greeks defeat Persians in a decisive naval battle near the island of Salamis. Greek Commander Themistocles tricked the Persians in a feigned retreat drawing Persian triremes into an exposed position vulnerable to attack. The Greeks lost only 40 vessels to the Persians 300.-War by NatGeo.

• Aug, 480 BCE: The Persians take an abandoned Athens, sacking and burning the city.-War by NatGeo.

• Aug, 480 BCE: The Battle of Thermopylae; Persian forces defeat a heavily outnumbered Greek force led by Spartan King Leonidas, at the pass of Thermopylae. Seeing the end approaching, Leonidas ordered all soldiers except his 300 Spartans and a handful of others to retreat. Standing alone at the pass, they died to the last man.-War by NatGeo.

• 481 BCE: Persian Emperor Xerxes I begins a new invasion of Greece, marching through Thrace, with some 75,000 soldiers supported by a Navy.-War by NatGeo.

• 480’s BCE: Formation of the Hellenic League by squabbling Greek city-states in anticipation of a follow-on Persian Invasion.-War by NatGeo.

• 480-479 BCE: The Second Persian War. 

• 480 BCE: Persians cross the Hellspont (Dardanelles) and enter Europe. 

• Fall, 480: The Battle of Thermopylae.

• A form of courage enters the heart which is not courage but despair and not despair but exaltation. On that second day, men passed beyond themselves. Feats of heart-stopping valor fell from the sky like rain, and those who performed them could not even recall, nor state with certainty, that the actors had been themselves.-Gates of Fire by Pressfield. 

• I and every man there were never more free than when we gave freely obedience to those harsh laws which take life and give it back again.-Gates of Fire by Pressfield. 

• The Persians destroy Platea, Thespia, and burn Athens to the ground.

• Themistocles of Athens, forces a decisive battle at Salamis where the Greek Navy and Army prevail. 

• Xerxes returns to Persia and leaves General Mardonius behind to finish the job. 

• 479 BCE

• July, 479 BCE: Themistocles puts together a combined Greek State Army and force a battle at Platea. 

• After two weeks of stale fighting with the Greeks in the foothills South of Platea and the Persians on the plains below, the Sun comes up and it appears to the persians that the Greeks are retreating. The Persians pursue the main body of the Spartans who ask the Athenians for help. The athenians get stuck fighting the Theban Hoplites and the Spartans and Tegiteans endure prolonged arrow fire before charging the Persians. Gen. Mardonius is killed and the Persians, lacking Armor and with short swords, are destroyed by armored spartans with long spears. 

• Persians retreat to their camp and are surrounded by a combined army of the Spartans and the Athenians, who break in, and destroy the remainder of the Persian Army. 

• 27 August, 479 BCE: The Battle of Mycale is fought between navies of the Greek City States and the Persians. 

• At the same time as Platea is the Battle of Mycale where a Greek Fleet challenges the remnants of the Persian Fleet, who do not want to fight. The Greeks send the Marines who, outnumbered, defeat the Persian land forces. 

• Results in the loss of the Aegean Islands to the Greeks. 

• 480s BCE: Xerxes leads the Persian Army to Egypt and Babylon to put down revolts and then turns his attention to the Greeks. 

• 482 BCE: Babylon is destroyed by Persian King Xerxes I while suppressing a rebellion.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 484 BCE: Construction of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Roman Forum to commemorate the Battle of Lake Regillus (Roman Forum Museum). 

• 485 BCE: The first documented arrival of visitors to the Cape is recorded on a rock painting which depicts a Phoenician merchant ship (Robben Island Museum).

• 485-465 BCE: Reign of Persian king Xerxes.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• Oct, 487 BCE: Death of Persia's Darius the Great. Xerxes the Great takes the Throne of Persia. 

• Sep, 490 BCE: The Battle of Marathon; outnumbered Athenian soldiers defeat the invading Persians at Marathon. Prior to battle, the Athenians called upon Sparta for aid but were turned down, as the Spartans were observing a religious holiday. With 10K Athenian soldiers and 1K allies from Platea, the Athenian general Miltiades made a bold decision: Attack the Persian lines head-on at a run. Charging forward in heavy armor, the Athenians surprised their opponents and crushed them at close quarters.-War by NatGeo.

• Summer, 490 BCE: Darius deploys 600 ships and some 25K soldiers under Median Admiral Datis, across the Aegean to the city of Eretria. Besieged, Eretria quickly surrenders. The Persians move on to the plain of Marathon, some 39km North of Athens.-War by NatGeo.

• 490 BCE: Death of Spartan King Cleomones; his half-brother Leonidas, aged 60, ascends the throne of Sparta (NatGeo). 

• 490 BCE: The Battle of Marathon; Greek forces defeat a Persian force while fighting at close quarters in Marathon.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 490 BCE: Leonidas, aged 60, ascends the throne as Spartan King after the previous king, his half brother, Cleomenes, died heirless (NatGeo). 

• 490 BCE: Athenians defeat the Persians at Marathon. 

• Athenians send ~10,000 hoplites to Marathon as a blocking force against some 25,000-50,000 Persians. The Hoplites charge and attack the Persian Front. The center falls while the flanks succeed. They close the flanks and force the Persians into a route.

• 490 B.C., Aristides, one of the great generals of Athenian history, helped defeat the Persians at the battle of Marathon. 

• Persians begin maneuvering towards Athens. All Greek City States submit with exception of the Athenians and the Spartans. The Persians sail to Naxos and take it and then sail to Eritrea and take it. Because Eritrea sided with the Athenians, the Persians burn the city to the ground, sell the women into slavery back in Souza, kill the men, and castrate the boys.

• Darius begins preparing a much larger force that he intends to personally lead until he dies. 

• 491 BCE: Persian Emperor Darius I sends envoys to Athens and Sparta asking for a tribute of earth and water, symbols of submission. The Athenians threw the heralds into a pit; the Spartans hurled theirs into a well and told them to take their land and water from there.-War by NatGeo. 

• 492 BCE: General Mardonius of the Persians leads a force towards Greece to punish the Athenians for supporting the Ionians in the Ionian Revolt. They land in Thrace who submit, move into Macedonia (led by King Alex the Great) who submits. They lose some 20,000soldiers and hundreds of ships rounding the cape near Mt. Athos which hauts their progress (due to a storm) and the remaining forces return to Persia. The Persians make a point not to forget the Athenians. 

• 493 BCE: Persian forces take back the Ionian cities and begin to plan for an attack on Athens.-War by NatGeo.

• 494-287 BCE: Roman Conflict of the Orders (or classes). The rise of the Plebeians (lower classes) with city walk outs decreases patrician powers and make everyone more equal. Appointment of tribunes of the people begin in order to represent the Plebeians. Voting groups become enrolled geographically. Over the next two hundred years, all offices are opened to Pl

• 496 BCE: Battle of Lake Regillus (Roman Forum Museum). 

• 496 BCE: The Battle of Lake Regillus; The Romans defeat a combined Latin/Etruscan force (Palatine Archaeological Museum). 

• 499 BCE: Greek cities in Ionia (Asia Minor) with the support of Athens rebel against Persian Rule.-War by NatGeo.

• 5c BCE: Life of Herodotus, the father of history.-Mythos by Fry. 

----------500 BCE----------

• 500 BCE: The term ‘Celts’ is first mentioned in the writings of Greek historians; Herodotus writes: “For the Istros (Danube) has its source among the Celts, near the town of Pyrene, and flows across the center of Europe.” Pyrene may be a reference to Heuneburg, the town-like settlement along the Danube (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 500 BCE- 700: Zapotec Monte Albán develops in Oaxaca, housing 17K people; the biggest and most powerful population center in Mesoamerica.-1491 by Mann.

• 500 BCE: Rise of Humourism in Greece, which becomes the dominant medical paradigm in Europe for close to 2,000 years. The world humor literally means sap. It was the Greek physician Hippocrates who is most associated with the popularization of the idea, which he described as follows…

• “The Human body contains blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. These are the things that make up its constitution and cause its pains and health. Health is primarily that state in which these constituent substances are in the correct proportion to each other, both in strength and quantity, and are well mixed. Pain occurs when one of the substances presents either a deficiency or an excess, or is separates in the body and not mixed with others.”-If Nietzsche were a Narwhal by Gregg.

• 500 BCE: The first irrational number is discovered by Pythagoras, when he constructs a right angle, each of whose sides was one unit long, and measured its hypotenuse. His proof that it couldn’t be put into fractional form was very upsetting, and resulted in the immediate sacrifice of a hundred oxen.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 500 BCE: Invention of Go.-Five Stars by Gallo.

• 500 BCE- 850: Monte Alban flourishes as the Zapotec Capital in Oaxaca Valley (UNESCO). 

• 500 BCE: To reduce salt, the Persians begin reducing irrigation and planting weeds during the fallow season to keep the water table low. But they faced a new problem when the canals washed river silt into the irrigation systems. They solved it by employing thousands of slaves to dredge the waterways.-Rivers Run Dry by Pearce.  

• 500 BCE: The Biblical books of Exodus and Leviticus take their current shape.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 500 BCE: The Five Classics are written by Confucius in China, aimed at restoring peace through virtuous behavior during China’s warring feudal states period.-Documents that changed the world.

• The Book of Poems: A collection of 305 poems including folk songs, songs for court, ceremonies, eulogies to heroes and hymns to ancestral spirits. 

• The Book of Documents: Speeches and documents alleged to have been written by rulers around 1000 BCE and earlier. 

• The Book of Rites: A description of rites, etiquette, and court ceremonies. 

• The I Ching (Book of Changes): A number system used for divination and storytelling. 

• The Spring and Autumn Annals: A historical record of the state of Liu, where Confucius was born, from 722- 481 BCE. 

• The Classics of Music: This sixth book was lost during the persecution of intellectuals and repression of ideas during the 210’s under Emperor Qin Shi Huang. 

• 500 BCE: The Roman Republic releases the law of the 12 Tables; a commitment to agreed, shared and publicly acknowledged procedures for resolving disputes and some thoughts on dealing with practical and theoretical obstacles to that. There were hierarchies within the free citizen population too. One clause draws a distinction between patricians and plebeians, another between assidui (men of property) and proletarii (those without property – whose contribution to the city was the production of offspring, proles). Another refers to ‘patrons’ and ‘clients’ and to a relationship of dependency and mutual obligation between richer and poorer citizens that remained important throughout Roman history.-SPQR by Beard

• 500 BCE: The Roman Republic is founded by Servius Tullius (the Grand Constitution) who conducts a census, reorganizes the Army, and organizes elections. 

• The army was to be made up of 193 ‘centuries’, distinguished according to the type of equipment the soldiers used; this equipment was related to the census classification, on the principle of ‘the richer you are, the more substantial and expensive equipment you can provide for yourself’. Starting at the top, there were eighty centuries of men from the richest, first class, who fought in a full kit of heavy bronze armour; below these came four more classes, wearing progressively lighter armour down to the fifth class, of thirty centuries, who fought with just slings and stones. In addition, above these there were an extra eighteen centuries of elite cavalry, plus some special groups of engineers and musicians, and at the very bottom of the pecking order a single century of the very poorest, who were entirely exempt from military service.-SPQR by Beard

• Servius Tullius is supposed to have used these same structures as the basis of one main voting assembly of the Roman people: the Centuriate Assembly (so called after the centuries), which in Cicero’s day came together to elect senior officials, including the consuls, and to vote on laws and on decisions to go to war. Each century had just one block vote; and the consequence (or intention) was to hand to the centuries of the rich an overwhelming, built-in political advantage. If they stuck together, the eighty centuries of the richest, first class plus the eighteen centuries of elite cavalry could outvote all the other classes put together. To put it another way, the individual rich voter had far greater voting power than his poorer fellow citizens. This was because, despite their name – which looks as if it should mean that they comprised 100 (centum) men each – the centuries were in fact very different in size. The richest citizens were far fewer in number than the poor, but they were divided among eighty centuries, as against the twenty or thirty for the more populous lower classes, or the single century for the mass of the very poorest. Power was vested in the wealthy, both communally and individually.-SPQR by Beard

• 500 BCE- 700: The Nazca Lines, a series of large ancient geoglyphs, are etched into the Nazca desert, possibly as ritual routes to beg for rain (Cape Town Museum). 

• The designs are shallow lines made in the ground by removing the reddish pebbles and uncovering the whitish/grayish ground beneath.

• 500 BCE: The Rape of Lucretia and the Expulsion of the Roman Kings (End of the Roman Monarchy). 

• It starts with a group of young Romans who were trying to find ways of passing the time while besieging the nearby town of Ardea. One evening, they were having a drunken competition about whose wife was best, when one of their number, Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, suggested that they should simply ride back home (it was only a few miles away) and inspect the women; this would prove, he claimed, the superiority of his own Lucretia. Indeed it did: for while all the other wives were discovered partying in the absence of their menfolk, Lucretia was doing exactly what was expected of a virtuous Roman woman – working at her loom, among her maids. She then dutifully offered supper to her husband and his guests. For during that visit, we are told, Sextus Tarquinius conceived a fatal passion for Lucretia, and one evening shortly afterwards he rode back to her house. After being politely entertained again, he came to her room and demanded sex with her, at knifepoint. When the simple threat of death did not move her, Tarquinius exploited instead her fear of dishonour: he threatened to kill both her and a slave (visible in Titian’s painting [see plate 4]) so that it would look as if she had been caught in the most disgraceful form of adultery. Faced with this, Lucretia acceded, but when Tarquinius had returned to Ardea, she sent for her husband and father, told them what had happened – and killed herself. At the same time, this was seen as a fundamentally political moment, for in the story it leads directly to the expulsion of the kings and the start of the free Republic. As soon as Lucretia stabbed herself, Lucius Junius Brutus – who had accompanied her husband to the scene – took the dagger from her body and, while her family was too distressed to speak, vowed to rid Rome of kings forever. After ensuring the support of the army and the people, who were appalled by the rape and fed up with labouring on the drain, Lucius Junius Brutus forced Tarquin and his sons into exile.-SPQR by Beard

• Fall of the Second Tarquin King- Tarquinius Superbus (taquin the proud).-SPQR by Beard.

• 509 BCE: According to traditional accounts, Roman King Tarquin is overthrown to end the Roman Monarchy.-War by NatGeo.

• 509 BCE: The Rape of Lucretia and the Establishment of the Roman Republic. Sextus Tarquinius, son of the King of Rome, rapes Lucretia, wife of Collatinus. Lucretia commits suicide. The rape of Lucretia leads to the end of the Roman regal period as Brutus and Roland rise up and renounce the Etruscan Kings. Rome fights off an attempt by Etrusca to retake the throne. Consuls (2 of them) are elected by popular vote to serve one year terms. They preside over the election of the following years Consuls. 

• 510 BCE: The Carthaginians 2nd Invasion of Sardinia succeeds in taking the Southern and West-Central part of the island (Wiki). 

• 515 BCE: The Temple at Jerusalem is reconsecrated by the Jews.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 515-510 BCE: Darius and the Persians attack the Scythians in the Steppes which quickly turns into a retreating war of attrition that the Persians have trouble fighting. The Persians retreat leaving a General in charge to continue the fight. Economic and Geopolitical changes throughout the area due to the Persian presence begin to affect the Greeks leading to an Ionian Revolt against the Persians which is supported by Athens (the Spartans decide not to support the Athenians). The Persians put down the revolt and the Ionian Greeks are defeated, men killed, boys castrated, women and girls sold into slavery. The Persians make a point not to forget that the Athenians supported the Ionian Greeks against them. 

• 516 BCE- 70: Judaism’s Second Temple Period. 

• 518 BCE: Darius the Great immortalizes his reign with the Persepolis Complex in modern Iran (Cape Town Museum). 

• 521 BCE: Darius takes the throne and marries two daughters of Cyrus and one of his granddaughters. Darius fights dozens of battles and substantiates his rule. He puts down 19 revolts, introduces metal coinage similar to the Lydians, and runs the empire like a CEO. 

• 522-486 BCE: Reign of Persian King Darius the Great. Darius orders the digging of the Red-Med Canal, connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean (Wiki).

• 510 BCE: Persian King Darius Hystaspis commissions Skylax to sail with a crew from the Indus into the ocean and Westwards around Arabia and up the Red Sea. The voyage towards the port of Arsinoë near Suez took 30months.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 522-486 BCE: Reign of Persian King Darius I on the death of Cambyses II. He moves the capital to Persepolis after a year of disorders follows succession.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 522 BCE: Cambyses Dies, seemingly by accident or by an infected cut. Darius (the spear-bearer of Cambyses and one of his Commanders) puts together an assassin team to take out Gaumata - they kill him: "The Seven"- Darius plus his six assassins. 

• 525 BCE: Cyprus becomes part of the Persian Empire.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 525 BCE: Persian King Cambyses II with support of Phoenician fleets seize Egypt (Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum).

• 525 BCE: Cambyses attacks and takes Egypt with the help of the Venetian Fleet. He destroys religious shrines (supposedly) and stabs the sacred calf of Egypt. Cambyses kills his sister, wife, and son and buries some of his nobles alive. He condemns the Mede King Croesus and then changes his mind about killing him at the last minute. He learns that the punishment that he changed his mind about has not yet been carried out so he punishes the officials charged with carrying out the killing of Croesus. While Cambyses is on campaign in Egypt, an Usurper named Gaumata usurps the Persian throne and claims to be Bartiya. 

• 529-522 BCE: Reign of Persian King Cambyses II on the death of Cyrus. He extends Persian rule into Egypt.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 530 BCE: Death of Cyrus the Great after Persians attack and lose in battle to the Massagetae led by Tamyrus the Queen. Tamyrus' son and major commander, is captured and commits suicide. Cambyses, son of Cyrus, takes over and kills his brother Bardiya (supposedly). 

• 538 BCE: Jewish exiles in Persia received an edict allowing them to return to Judah. An enthusiastic group of exiles, led by Sheshbazzar, travel to Judah, from the Nippur region in Babylonia. On arrival in Palestine, they find Judah to be an impoverished backwater. Jerusalem, claimed by the Samaritans at the time, lay in ruins. New energy arrives with a second wave of Babylonian Jews coming to Jerusalem led by Zerubbabel, nephew of Sheshbazzar, and Jeshua, who eventually become High Priest. Zerubbabel became the civil governor, and all are inspired by the arrival of two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 539 BCE: The Battle of Opis; Persian forces led by Cyrus (c. 576-530 BCE) decisively defeat Babylonian forces on the Tigris River, breaking the Babylonian Army. King Belshazzar is killed. This was the climax of the campaign in which the Persian armies had swept across the eastern frontiers of the Babylonian Empire from the Indian Ocean to the Black Sea, and then struck southwards into the heart of Mesopotamia. Tension between King Nabonidus of Babylon (556-539 BCE) and the Babylonian priests of the chief God, Marduk, lay behind Cyrus’s bloodless victory. Nabonidus had tried to replace the worship of Marduk with the worship of the moon god, Sin, and the Babylonian priests had moved against him. Babylon falls without opposition, but is not sacked.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 539 BCE: Babylon falls to Persian King Cyrus the Great; Jews return from exile (NatGeo). 

• Sep, 539 BCE: Fall of the Babylonian Empire after the Babylonians are defeated at the Battle of Opis by the Persian Army led by Cyrus the Great. 

• 539 BCE: The ‘Cyrus Cylinder’ records Cyrus’ peaceful capture of Babylon: “I am Cyrus, king of the world, great king, legitimate king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four rims (of the earth), son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anshan, descendant of Teispes, great king, king of Anshan, of a family (which) always (exercised) kingship” (British Museum).

• 539 BCE: Persian Ruler Cyrus the Great embarks on the conquest of Babylon, proclaiming himself ‘king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four corners of the world’. Under his successors the Persian Great Kings expand their power as far as Ionia on the coast of Asia Minor.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 540 BCE: Fall of Babylon and the Neo-Babylonian Empire to Persian conqueror Cyrus the Great. Cyrus allows the exiled Jews to return to Judah (NatGeo). 

• 541 BCE: An Etruscan and Carthaginian force attacks Corsica.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 542-24 BCE: The Qatabani State, founded by Qataban Bin Rouman as independent from the Sheba Kingdom, rules over the Southern Arabian Peninsula (Al Fahidi Coin Museum).

• 546 BCE: Persian forces led by Cyrus crosses the Halys, surprises Croesus, and storm the Lydian capital at Sardis. Cyrus then turns east, subduing the regions now known as Pakistan and Afghanistan. With his frontiers secure, Cyrus turns on Babylonia.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 546 BCE: Lydian power comes to an abrupt end with the fall of their capital in events subsequent to the Battle of Halys in 585 BCE and defeat by Cyrus the Great in 546 BCE (Wiki). Following the collapse of the Lydia Kingdom, the Persians dominate the entirety of Anatolia reaching to the Aegean coast. The Persians divide the region into states (Satrapy) governed by Satraps (IST Airport Museum).

• 546 BCE: Persian King Cyrus II begins construction of his capital city at Parsagadae, but is abandoned following his death in battle (NatGeo). 

• 547 BCE: The Lydians who are allied with Anatolian Greeks are defeated by the Persians at the Siege of Sardis. The Lacedemonians send an emissary to Cyrus telling them not to mess with Greece. 

• 550 BCE: Iron ore is mined, processed, and smelted in the area of Neuenbürg in the Black Forest, the oldest known ironworks N of the Alps. Around this time, a fortified settlement is established on the Schlossberg at Neuenbürg (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 550 BCE: Decline of the Phoenician trade network over the Mediterranean due to pressure in the East, from Persians and Assyrians, enabling the Carthaginians, themselves of Phoenician origin, to pick up the pieces and create their own flourishing network.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 550 BCE: Persian King Cyrus II invades Media with the aid of Median General Harpagus, capturing the Median capital at Ecbatana (NatGeo). 

• 551-479 BCE: Life of Confucius, a Chinese philosopher, teacher, and politician (British Museum). 

• 551-479 BCE: Life of Confucius (aka Kongzi- ‘Master Kong’), born in Qūfù (modern Shāndōng province). Following his death, his disciples compiled his aphorisms into The Analects, considered one of the foundational texts of Chinese civilization -China by Jaivin.

• 552-543 BCE: Babylonian King Nabonidus goes into self-imposed exile in Tayma, Arabia. His son, Belshazzar, rules as regent in his place (Wiki). 

• 555-529 BCE: Reign of Persian King Cyrus.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 25 May, 556- 13 Oct, 539 BCE: Reign of Nabonidus as 5th, and last, King of the Babylonian Empire. Throughout his reign, Nabonidus worked to increase the status of the moon god Sin and decrease the status of Babylon’s traditional national deity Marduk (Wiki). 

• 25 May, 556 BCE: Death of Babylonian King Labashi-Marduk (son of Neriglissar) after being deposed and killed in a plot in favor of Nabonidus, likely led by Nabonidus’ son Belshazzar (Wiki). 

• Apr, 556 BCE: Death of Babylonian King Neriglissar after campaigning in Anatolia against the Appuwashu, king of a small kingdom in Cilicia. His son, Labashi-Marduk, assumes the throne (Wiki). 

• 559 BCE: Persian King Cyrus II rises to power (NatGeo). 

• 559 BCE: A young man named Cyrus gathers an immense army from the scattered tribes of Persia and marches against his grandfather Astyages, King of the Medes. Cyrus defeats Astyages with ease, has himself crowned king of Medea and Persia, and begins to forge the Persian Empire. Victory follows victory in quick succession. Cyrus defeated Croesus, ruler of Lydia, then conquered the Ionian islands and other smaller kingdoms; he marched on Babylon and crushes its armies; Cyrus is the Great, King of the World, is forged. Persians control the Medes and the Medean Empire. 

• Aug, 560- Apr, 556 BCE: Reign of Neriglissar as 4th King of the Babylonian Empire. Neriglissar was a prominent official and general in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II and became even more influential after marrying one of Nebuchadnezzar II’s daughters (Wiki). 

• Aug, 560 BCE: Assassination of Babylonian King Amel- Marduk due to a plot by Neriglissar, who usurps the throne (Wiki). 

• 7 Oct, 562- Aug, 560 BCE: Reign of Amel-Marduk (son of Nebuchadnezzar II) as 3rd King of the Babylonian Empire. Amel- Marduk had been imprisoned with Judean King Jeconiah and is best known for releasing him (after 37 years in captivity) after ascending the throne (Wiki). 

• 7 Oct, 562 BCE: Death of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II. His son, Amel-Marduk, assumes the throne (Wiki). 

• 562 BCE: Persia, a vassal state of the Median Empire to the east of Babylon, rebels under the leadership of Cyrus, capturing Ecbatana the capital, and acquiring the Median Empire in one stroke.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 565 BCE: Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) is born in India. 

• 570 BCE: Egyptian forces led by Pharoah Amasis II capture Cyprus (Wiki). 

• 580s BCE: Medan King Astages marries his daughter, Mandane, to the Persian King Cambyses I. Their son is Cyrus II (NatGeo). 

• 582 BCE: The now Babylonian province of Judah faces a third deportation, probably then being incorporated into Samaria. Judah ceases to exist.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 582 BCE: Birth of Pythagoras on Samos.

• 585-561 BCE: Reign of Alyattes as 1st Lydian King (Al Fahidi Coin Museum).

• 585-546 BCE: Reign of Lydian King Croesus (Wiki). 

• 585 BCE: The Battle of Halys (Eclipse) is fought between the Medes and the Lydians and is brought to an end during a solar eclipse (Wiki). 

• 28 May, 585 BCE: The Medes fight the Lydians at the Battle of the Eclipse which is stopped by an actual Solar Eclipse. Babylonians negotiate a peace between the two. 

• 586 BCE: The Babylonian Captivity (1st Diaspora); the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar capture the two tribes of Judah, just S. of Israel, forcing tens of thousands into exile in and around Babylon.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 587 BCE: Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II lays siege to Jerusalem, destroying the Temple, and making Judah a province of his empire. Swaths of the population of Judah are forcibly deported to Babylon. Many scholars use this deportation to mark the creation of the Jewish diaspora, large communities of Jews living outside Jerusalem (NatGeo). 

• 587 BCE: Fall of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah; Babylonian forces capture Jerusalem after a long siege in which food runs out. The fleeing Judean King Zedekiah is captured near Jericho and taken to the Babylonian King at Riblah. Some of his leading priests, military and civil officers and leading citizens are executed. Zedekiah’s sons are killed before his eyes; he is then blinded and sent to Babylon. Nebuzaradan, commander of Nebuchadnezzar’s guard, rounded up thousands of deportations to Babylon, and torched Jerusalem. Judah was organized into the provincial system of Babylon, and placed under the Governor Gedaliah. Jerusalem remains in ruins until ~445 BCE-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 589 BCE: Judah, Tyre, and Ammon rebel against Babylonian rule. As Babylon quells the rebellions, only Jerusalem survives.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 6c BCE: Taoism (Daoism) is founded by Laozi in the E. Chinese province of Henan (Britannica). 

• 6c BCE: Confucianism is founded by Confucius in the E. Chinese province of Shandong (Britannica). 

• 6c BCE: The Babylonians (New Babylonians, Chaldeans) dominate the fertile plain in the S. of Mesopotamia, from their capital at Babylon.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 597 BCE: Babylonians besiege, defeat, and destroy Jerusalem.

• 6c BCE: Founding of the the Games of Delphi (Pythian Games) in honor of Apollo, the Games of the Isthmus of Corinth (Ismithian Games) in honor of Poseidon, and the Games of Nemea (Nemean Games) in honor of Zeus (Lausanne Olympic Museum).

• 6c BCE: The Carthaginians led by Malchus invade Sardinia, but are repulsed by the Nuraghic (Wiki). 

• 6c BCE: Jainism is founded by Mahavira, the son of a king who renounced his wealth and life of leisure in order to find enlightenment. 

• ~6c BCE: Egyptian Pharaoh Psmatek II, 26th dynasty, sacks Napata, forcing the Nubian Empire further S. The Kushites designate the cite of Meroe, along the Nile as the new capital. Kush prospers for centuries there (NatGeo). 

• 595-594 BCE: Internal rebellions plague Babylon.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 597-587 BCE: Reign of Zedekiah, 18th King of Judah.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 598 BCE: Babylonian forces led by King Nebuchadnezzar II (630-562 BCE) attack Judah and lay siege to Jerusalem, leaving the city and the Temple in ruins. He deports a portion of the Jewish population, including King Jehoiachin, to Babylon and the valley of the Euphrates and installs Mattaniah, King Jehoiachin’s uncle, as Judean King. Mattaniah takes the name Zedekiah.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 598-597 BCE: Reign of Jehoiachin, 17th King of Judah (son of Jehoiakim).-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 598 BCE: Death of Judean King Jehoiakim, possibly by assassination, as the Babylonians march on Judah. His 18yo son Jehoiachin assumes the throne, and within three months Jerusalem surrendered.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 599 BCE: The Lydian campaign; Anatolia falls under Lydian rule (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

----------600 BCE----------

• 600 BCE: Herodotus records that the earliest Phoenician ships round the Cape of S. Africa (Table Mountain NP).

• 600 BCE: The Greek establish the colony of Massilia on today’s Med France (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 600 BCE: SW Germany sees the establishment of fortified central settlements (Landesmuseum Württemberg). 

• 600 BCE: The concept of zero is first discussed by the Babylonians to distinguish between their equivalents to 11 and 101, they placed two triangular marks between the digits: 1ΔΔ1, so to speak (Babylonian mathematics was based on 60, rather than 10).-1491 by Mann.

• Late 601 BCE: Babylonian forces led by Nebuchadnezzar battle Egyptian forces near the Egyptian border. Both sides suffer a mauling, so much so that the Babylonians retreat home to reorganize their army. Judean King Jehoiakim rebels against Babylon.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 601 BCE: The Egyptian/Judah Armies are defeated in the Jewish- Babylonian War by the Babylonians.

• 604 BCE: The Philistines are conquered by the Babylonians (NatGeo). 

• 605- 7 Oct, 562 BCE: Reign of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II (Nebuchadnezzar of the Bible).-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 605 BCE: Death of Babylonian King Nabopolassar. His son, Nebuchadnezzar II, assumes the throne (Wiki). 

• 605 BCE: The Battle of Carchemish; Babylonian forces led by King Nebuchadnezzar and allied with the Medes, Persians, and Scythians attack and defeat Egyptian forces, routing then pursuing them South where they are beaten against at Hamath.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 605-561 BCE: Reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II over Babylon, who rebuilds the city on a lavish scale including construction of the Blue Ishtar Gate and sacks Jerusalem, taking captive Jews back to Babylon (NatGeo). 

• 605 BCE: The Egyptian Army is defeated at the Battle of Carchemish by an alliance of Medes, Persians, Babylonians, and Scythians. 

• 609-598 BCE: Reign of Jehoiakim, 16th King of Judah (brother of Jehoahaz).-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 609 BCE: Reign of Jehoahaz, 15th King of Judah before being deposed by Egyptian Pharaoh Neco II.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 609-594 BCE: Reign of Egyptian King Necho II of the 26th Dynasty.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• Following the fall of Nineveh, Assyrian forces retreat towards N. Syria with Babylonian forces massed to destroy them. Taking advantage of the moment, Egyptian Pharoah Neco II chooses to reassert Egyptian power in Asia by moving swiftly by the Way of the Sea to help the Assyrians. Neco told Josiah that he wanted to traverse Judah via Megiddo, Galilee, and the ruins of Hazor. Josiah attempted to stop him at Megiddo, possibly acting as an ally of the Babylonians. The Battle of Megiddo saw Josiah wounded; he was taken to Jerusalem to die. Judah was defeated, Megiddo destroyed. Jehoahaz acceded to the throne of his father. Neco II’s campaign failed, but he secured parts of Syria and the lands south to Egypt. He deposed Jehoahaz, placing his brother, Jehoiakim on the throne while making Judah a vassal.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 609 BCE: The decline of Assyria; Assyrian forces are withdrawn from Palestine to defend core Assyria, leaving  Palestine in a power vacuum. Externally, Judah saw Assyria’s power weaken. Egypt broke away, establishing the 26th (Saite) Dynasty, Babylonia rebelled, while Medes, in the North, pressured the country.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 609 BCE: Remainder of the Assyrian Army capitulates after the new Assyrian Capital of Harran is taken by an alliance of Medes, Babylonians, and Scythians. 

• 610-594 BCE: Reign of Egyptian Pharaoh Necho (Nekau), who orders a channel dug from the Nile to the Red Sea.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 612 BCE: The Assyrian capital Nimrud is destroyed under the onslaught of Babylonians from the S. and Medes from W. Iran (British Museum).

• 612 BCE: Fall of the Assyrian Empire; Niniveh is destroyed by a combined force of Babylonians, Medians, and Scythians (Vatican Museum). 

• 612 BCE: Babylonian and Median forces led by Babylonian King Nabopolassar attack and destroy the Assyrian capital Nineveh. It is never to be rebuilt.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 612 BCE: Fall of the Assyrian Empire after the Medes and Babylonians join together and destroy Nineveh and Assyria's major cities. The Assyrian Empire is split between the Medes and Babylonians. While this happens, the Medes and Elamites join together.

• 615 BCE:  The Medes attack Assyrians at their capital in Ninaveh but aren’t able to take the city. The Medes take Asher and are attacked by the Babylonians who fail to take the city.

• 616 BCE: Babylonians defeat the Assyrians at the Battle of Arrapha. 

• 620 BCE: Judah gains its freedom from Assyria. King Josiah pushes for sweeping religious reforms supported by the prophet Zephaniah who was outraged by the religious practices under Manasseh.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 621 BCE: Draco’s Code; the first Greek Law Code is drafted by Athenian Politician Draco, as a list of specific offenses and the (usually harsh) penalties attached to them.-IWM by Heathcote.

• 626 BCE: The Chaldean dynasty is founded by Aramean-Chaldean Chief Nabopolassar in Babylon. He rebels against Assyrian rule igniting a war that ends 20 years later with the Babylonians in control of the Assyrian Empire.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 631 BCE: Death of Ashurbanipal, Last King of the Assyrian Empire. His sons go to war for the throne leading the empire into dissaray. 

• 639 BCE: Fall of the Elamite Kingdom after its capital Susa is destroyed and plundered with salt and thorny weeds scattered on its lands. 

• 640-609 BCE: Reign of Josiah, 14th King of Judah (son of Judah).-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 640 BCE: Assassination of Judean King Amon. His 8yo son Josiah assumes power.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 642-640 BCE: Reign of Amon, 13th King of Judah (son of Manasseh).-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 646 BCE: Assyrians from ninevah les by Asher banni paul destroy Babylon and then take down the elemites in Souza (646bce) and devastate tribes of elam 

• ~650-450 BCE: The first coins, a mix of gold and silver of particular weight, are produced and used in Lydia (modern Central Turkey) (British Museum).

• 650-600 BCE: Hallstatt culture burial rites begin to change with the dead being buried without cremation and laid to rest with grave offerings such as jewelry and weapons (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 650 BCE: The Law of Draco is established in Greece (now a byword for harshness- draconian).-SPQR by Beard. 

• ~656 BCE: The Assyrian’s invade and conquer Egypt, ending Egypt’s 25th Dynasty. The Nubians retreat to Napata (NatGeo). 

• 657 BCE: Byzantium is colonized by Greeks from Megara. 

• 664-332 BCE: Egypt’s Late Period (26th-31st Dynasties); after the last Assyrian invasion the ruler of Sais, Psamtek I, gained recognition across Egypt, forging the country’s independence from both Assyrian and Kushite domination. Psmatek’s line, the 26th dynasty, brought Egypt new commercial and military power and fostered a cultural renaissance. Egypt fought wars in Syria-Palestine and Cyprus to reaffirm its influence in the Levant. Allied with its former Assyrian enemy, it confronted the growing power of Babylon, which repeatedly tried to invade. The pharaohs of the period used Greek mercenaries and warships. They granted trading privileges to Greek settlements at Naukratis, Egypt’s principal seaport. Egypt later joined with Babylon, Greece, and other states to resist the fast-expanding might of Persia. Nevertheless, Egypt was made a province of the Persian Empire. The emperors Cambyses II and Darius I commissioned Egyptian-style monuments that showed them as pharaohs, but the occupation sparked numerous revolts. Eventually, rulers from the Delta were able to liberate Egypt. This final period of independence ended when Nectanebo II of the 30th dynasty failed to halt a second Persian occupation. A decade later, the entire Persian Empire, including Egypt, was conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedon. 

• 668-631 BCE: Reign of Assyrian King Ashurbanipal, conqueror of Jerusalem (Vatican Museum). 

• ~7c BCE: The Scythians, a horse-riding nomadic people, settle in the area between the Eurasian steppe and the Black Sea (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 669-631/627 BCE: Reign of King Ashurbanipal over the Neo-Assyrian Empire at Nineveh (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 674-663 BCE: Assyrian invasions force the Kushites to abandon Egypt; Taharqo flees back to Nubia, where he dies in 664 BCE. An attempt by his successor, Tanutamani, to retake Egypt fails and he spends the rest of his reign in Nubia (British Museum).

• ~7c-3c BCE: The Scythians, an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people migrate from Central Asia to the Pontic Steppe (modern Ukraine/S. Russia) (Wiki). 

• 7c-6c BCE: Babylon’s Golden Age under Chaldean Rule (NatGeo). 

• 7c BCE: Taking the form of pieces of metal, coinage first appears in the small kingdoms of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). It facilitates commercial transactions, encourages savings and gives a value to objects. It also takes on a political dimension. By minting coins, a city, kingdom or empire, laid claim to political independence and diffused its values and religious beliefs, sometimes beyond its borders (Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum).

• 7c BCE: Babylon is captured by the Chaldeans, who flourish under Nebuchadnezzar II (NatGeo). 

• 7c BCE: Byzantium is founded in modern Istanbul as a Greek City (NatGeo). 

• 687-642 BCE: Reign of Manasseh, 12th King of Judah (son of Hezekiah), who remains loyal to Assyria throughout his reign. Judah’s religious establishment suffered as pagan practices, both native and foreign, return to Jerusalem with astral deities worshipped as if they were members of Yahweh’s court.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 687 BCE: Death of Judean King Hezekiah. His son Manasseh succeeds him, reigning for 45 years. Being a realist, he abandons Assyrian resistance and abases himself before Assyria.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 694 BCE: Assyria Attacks Elamites and takes and plunders Babylon. 

----------700 BCE----------

• ~700 BCE: The city of Babylon under Nebuchadrezzar II dominates Mesopotamia (NatGeo). 

• 700 BCE: Hallstatt Culture gradually develops into the E. and W. Hallstatt cultures (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 700 BCE: Shintoism (Shin-tao: Way of the gods), the religion of ancient Japan is developed out of a combination of nature and ancestor worships. Shintoism has a complex pantheon of kami (gods), led by a Supreme Sun Goddess.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• ~700 BCE: Peak of the city of Nineveh under Assyrian King Sennacherib, located on the E. bank of the Tigris (NatGeo). 

• 700 BCE: Invention of “Roof Tiling”, used in both religious and public buildings (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• 700 BCE- ~200: The Chavin Hegemony controls the Central Coast of Peru.-1491 by Mann.

• 700 BCE: The Iliad is written by Homer; 15,700 lines in length and follows the fates of the Greek forces as they besiege and then sack the city of Troy, to retrieve the beautiful Helen, the kidnapped wife of Greek Menelaus. The Iliad is followed by the Odyssey and deals with the attempts of Odysseus, one of the Greek leaders, to get safely home after the war.-Documents that changed the world.

• 701 BCE: A massive Assyrian force marches down the Mediterranean coast in an assault on Phoenicia. Luli, King of Tyre, flees to Cyprus while Tyre and its inland town of Uzu are utterly devastated. Byblos, Arvad, Ashdod, Moab, Edom, and Ammon swiftly send tribute to Assyrian King Sennacherib. Only Ashkelon, Ekron, and Judah continue to hold out. Ashkelon’s dependency, Joppa, falls quickly, leaving the Assyrians to turn on Ekrom. An Egyptian army, strengthened by bowmen, chariots, and calvary, march to relieve Ekron and collide with the Assyrians at Eltekeh. The Egyptians suffer defeat and Eltekeh is destroyed. Sennacherib then takes over the Philistine cities at leisure, such as Timnah and Ekron. Judah was the next target. One Assyrian force traversed the Way of Beth-horon intending to strike Jerusalem from the North. This force fought its way through Bethel, Aiath, Michmash, Geba, Anathoth, and Nob. One unit took Ramah, thereby isolating the lynchpin of Hezekiah’s northern defenses. Sennacherib then surrounded Jerusalem with earthworks so no one could enter or leave the city. While the king of Judah was locked up like a ‘bird in a cage’. The Assyrians execute or deport the populations of 46 cities.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 702 BCE: End of the Babylonian revolt.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 704-681 BCE: Reign of Assyrian King Sennacherib over Babylon (NatGeo). 

• 704 BCE: Death of Assyrian King Sargon II. His son, Sennacherib assumes the throne.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 704 BCE: Construction of the SW Palace of Sennacherib at Niniveh by Assyrian King Sennacherib on his ascension to the throne following the death of his Father, King Sargon II, in battle. Sennacherib moves the Assyrian capital back to Niniveh from Khorsabad (Vatican Museum). 

• 714 BCE: Assyrian King Sargon II invades Armenia and discovers the qanat- water tunnels used to bring water from underground sources to the foothills. Sargon destroys the qanat in the area but bring the concept back to Assyria. Qanat irrigation spreads over the Near East and into N. Africa (Water Encyclopedia, unk). 

• 715-687 BCE: Reign of Hezekiah, 11th King of Judah. Hezekiah joins in anti-Assyrian revolts (713-712 BCE), refusing to pay tribute in an attempt to overturn his father’s pro-Assyrian policies.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 715 BCE: Death of Nubian/Egyptian King Piye, after reigning for 35 years (NatGeo). 

• 720 BCE: Anti- Assyrian revolts break out in Hamath, Damascus, Samaria, and Gaza, possibly inspired by Hamath but are quickly defeated as is an Egyptian army seeking to recapture Gaza.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• After Sargon II destroyed Israel, the Assyrian monarch confronted an insurrection in Babylon led by Merodach-baladan. The conflict lasts 12y, Sargon II being compelled to withdraw troops from Samaria and its environs to suppress the Babylonian rebellion. Consequently, revolts occur in the newly conquered territories along the med coast. Hezekiah of Judah joins in these uprisings (713-712 BCE), refusing to pay tribute in an attempt to overturn his father’s pro-Assyrian policies. Sargon suppressed all these challenges, and left his empire intact to pass on to his son Sennacherib in 704 BCE.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 721 BCE: Fall of Samaria and the Kingdom of Israel to Assyrian forces.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 721 BCE: An Aramean-Chaldean chief seizes power in Babylon in opposition to Assyrian King Sargon II. Attempts at Babylonian independence fail.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 722 BCE: The 10 Northern tribes of Israel are taken captive by the Assyrians and scattered across the Assyrian desert.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 8-7c BCE: The Assyrians dominate the mountain region North of Mesopotamia, from their capital at Nineveh.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 722-705 BCE: Reign of King Sargon over the Neo-Assyrian Empire (Sargonid Dynasty) (Wiki). Sargon deploys his armies as far as Dilmun.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 727-722 BCE: Collapse of the Northern Kingdom of Israel; Assyrians forces move swiftly to put down an Israeli rebellion. Hoshea is taken prisoner and Samaria taken. Shalmaneser dies during the 3-year siege on Samaria and is replaced by Sargon II. Assyrian forces take control of the entire region.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 727 BCE: Death of Assyrian King Tiglath-pileser III. He is succeeded by Shalmaneser V. Assured of Egyptian support, Israeli King Hoshea chooses this moment to rebel against Assyrian rule.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 728 BCE: Kushite King Piye launches an invasion of Egypt. His successor, Shabaqo, achieves complete control by 716 BCE. He and his three successors, Shabitqo, Taharqo, and Tanutamani, form Egypt’s 25th dynasty. The Kings resided chiefly at Memphis and brought Egypt much needed stability and increased political prestige. They fostered a revival of art, architecture and religious learning, drawing inspiration from the great eras of Egypt’s past (British Museum).

• 730-656 BCE: The Kushite Kings of modern Sudan emulate Egyptian pyramids but place thumbs under them (Cape Town Museum). 

• 730 BCE: Nubian King Piye invades and conquers Egypt, extending his control to the whole of the Nile Valley. Piye became the first pharaoh of Egypt’s 25th dynasty (ca 770-656 B.C.), the so-called Black Pharaohs (NatGeo). 

• 730-656 BCE: The Black Pharaos of Sudan & Egypt; Egypt is conquered and ruled by Sudanese (Kush) Kings (NatGeo). 

• 730 BCE: Piye invades Egypt “to save it” from petty warlords who had torn the Egyptian civilization apart (NatGeo). 

• 732 BCE: Assyrian forces led by Tiglath-pileser capture Damascus and move South to control Bashan. Syria is divided into the Assyrian provinces of Damascus, Karnaim, and Hauran Ammon. Edom and Moab remain under loose Assyrian control paying tribute.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 732-724 BCE: Reign of Hoshea, 19th and last King of Israel.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 733 BCE: Assyrians forces target Israel, possibly intending to capture the Galilee and Gilead thereby isolating Syria in the West and South. Assyrian troops pass Mount Hermon descending into the rift valley guarded by the fortress at Ijon and Abel-beth-maacah, both being quickly captured. The Army then moved to confront Hazor, a massive fortress on a 39m high mound. The citadel was stormed and entirely destroyed. At Hazor, the Assyrians divided their army into three detachments. The first was dispatched through Upper Galilee by Kadesh to Janoah, both places being destroyed, and then reaching the coast at Acco. The second and third detachments moved south to Chinnereth on the Sea of Galilee. Splitting here, one unit moved South and East through Pehel to Jabesh-Gilead  with a smaller sub-strike force moving on to Mahanaim while the Assyrians moved throughout Gilead. The entire northern part of the Kingdom of Israel was appropriated by the growing Assyrian Empire. In Israel, events moved on. Pekah was deposed by Hoshea who became the last King of Israel.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 734 BCE: Assyrian forces led by Tiglath-pileser begin their march along the way of the Sea towards the Brook of Egypt, the traditional northern border of Egypt. They capture Gaza and establish a force along the brook of Egypt to prevent any Egyptian raids northwards.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 735-715 BCE: Reign of Ahaz, 10th King of Judah.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 737-732 BCE: Reign of Pekah, 18th King of Israel.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 738-737 BCE: Reign of Pekahiah, 17th King of Israel.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 740-734: Assyrian forces led by Tiglath-pileser III march on Urartian influences: in 739 BCE in Ullubu (the Dohuk-Zakho region of N. Iraq), in 738 BCE in Unqi at the Northern end of the Orontes, with the fall of the capital Kullania, in 737 BCE in the Median area of NE Iran, and in 735 BCE they marched on Urartu itself. In 734 BCE, Tiglath-pileser again turned Westwards extending Assyrian control into Philistia, taking Gaza and reaching the Brooke of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish). He crushed the nomadic tribes and appointed an Arab tribal chief as his warden in Sinai.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Damascus allied themselves in another anti-Assyrian coalition. It included Tyre, Askelon, and some tribes of North Arabia and Transjordan, and sought to persuade Jotham of Judah to join them. He refused, and his son Ahaz, ascending the throne in 735 BCE, also refused. The Israelite and Damascus confederates planned to invade Judah, depose Ahaz, and replace him with someone more amenable.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 742-735 BCE: Reign of Jotham, 9th King of Judah.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 743-740 BCE: Assyrian forces led by Tiglath-pileser III campaign against the Urartian coalition in the West. The Urartian forces are defeated and Arpad, the major seat of resistance taken by siege in 740 BCE; it becomes the capital of an Assyrian province.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 744-727 BCE: Reign of King Tiglath-pileser II over a reviving Assyrian Empire (British Museum).

• 744 BCE: Assyrian forces led by Tiglath-pileser III campaign successfully against revolting mountaineers.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 745 BCE: Reign of Shallum, 15th King of Israel.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 745-738 BCE: Reign of Menahem, 16th King of Israel.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 745 BCE: Tiglath-pileser III (biblical “Pul”) acquires the Assyrian throne and, using his administrative and military skills, begins expanding the Assyrian empire.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 746-745 BCE: Reign of Zechariah, 14th King of Israel. His reign lasts six months. Ruling from Samaria, he is murdered by an Assassin at Ibleam.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 746 BCE: Death of Israeli King Jeroboam.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• ~750 BCE: Tiwanaku village is established in S. Lake Titicaca. North and west of Tiwanaku (S. Peru) was the rival state of Wari (near modern Ayacucho), which then ran for ~1500 km along the Andes.-1491 by Mann.

• 750 BCE: Introduction of ironworking- a skill that originated in the Middle East- to Celtic communities in Central Europe (NatGeo). 

• 750 BCE: Piye, father of Taharqa, ascends the Kushite throne. He gathers his troops and marches N. into a weakened Egypt, seizing temples and conquering towns until he commanded all of Upper and Lower Egypt. With a territory that stretches from what is now Khartoum to the Mediterranean, Kush was for a short time the largest empire to control the region. For a little more than a century, its kings Piye, Shabaka, Shabataka, Taharqa, and Tantamani become Egypt’s 25th dynasty, often referred to as the Black pharaohs (NatGeo).

• 750 BCE: The Nubian Kings of the Kushite Empire, once a vassal of Egypt, conquer Egypt. Their rule lasts a century.

• 750 BCE: Romulus declared Rome an ‘asylum’ and encouraged the rabble and dispossessed of the rest of Italy to join him: runaway slaves, convicted criminals, exiles and refugees. This produced plenty of men. But in order to get women, so Livy’s story goes, Romulus had to resort to a ruse – and to rape. He invited the neighbouring peoples, the Sabines and the Latins, from the area around Rome known as Latium, to come and enjoy a religious festival plus entertainments, families and all. In the middle of the proceedings, he gave a signal for his men to abduct the young women among the visitors and to carry them off as their wives. They went to war with the Romans for the return of their daughters. The Romans easily defeated the Latins but not the Sabines, and the conflict dragged on. During battle, the captured women bravely entered the field and begged their husbands on one side and fathers on the other to stop the fighting. ‘We’ll better die ourselves,’ they explained, ‘than live without either of you, as widows or as orphans.’ Their intervention worked. Not only was peace brought about, but Rome was said to have become a joint Roman–Sabine town, a single community, under the shared rule of Romulus and the Sabine king Titus Tatius.-SPQR by Beard.

• Romulus preys to the god Jupiter, in fact to Jupiter Stator, ‘Jupiter who holds men firm’. He would build a temple in thanks, Romulus promised the god, if only the Romans would resist the temptation to run for it, and stand their ground against the enemy. They did, and the Temple of Jupiter Stator was erected on that very spot, the first in a long series of shrines and temples in the city built to commemorate divine help in securing military victory or Rome.-SPQR by Beard.

• The idea of the asylum reflected Roman political culture’s extraordinary openness and willingness to incorporate outsiders, which set it apart from every other ancient Western society that we know. No ancient Greek city was remotely as incorporating as this; Athens in particular rigidly restricted access to citizenship.- SPQR by Beard. 

• 753 BCE: According to legend, Romulus and Remus establish the first Roman Kingdom.-War by NatGeo.

• 753- 500 BCE: The Age of the Roman Kings.-SPQR by Beard.

• 753 BCE: Twins, Romulus and Remus found the City of Rome. Romulus elects to site the city on the Palatine (Palace) Hill while his brother Remus opts for the Aventine, insultingly jumping over the defences that Romulus was constructing.  There were various versions of what happened next. But the commonest (according to Livy) was that Romulus responded by killing his brother and so became the sole ruler of the place that took his name. As he struck the terrible, fratricidal blow, he shouted (in Livy’s words): ‘So perish anyone else who shall leap over my walls.’-SPQR by Beard.

• Before the twin babies, Romulus and Remus, were washed away to their death, the famous nurturing wolf came to their rescue.-SPQR by Beard.

• We can be fairly confident that larger villages grew up, probably (to judge from what ends up in the graves) with an increasingly wealthy group of elite families; and that at some point these coalesced into the single community of ‘Rome’ whose urban character was clear by the sixth century BCE.-SPQR by Beard.

• Another founding version of Rome: Throughout most of Roman history, the figure of the Trojan hero Aeneas, who fled to Italy to establish Rome as the new Troy. By the first century BCE some sort of coherence was reached by constructing a complicated family tree, which linked Aeneas and Romulus, and at the ‘right’ dates: Aeneas became seen as the founder not of Rome but of Lavinium; his son Ascanius was said to have founded Alba Longa – the city from which Romulus and Remus were later cast out before they founded Rome.-SPQR by Beard.

• 763 BCE: The city of Haran (‘crossroads’), an ancient city on the main route from Nineveh to Aleppo, is sacked. It later becomes the last capital of Assyria after the fall of Nineveh.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 770-221 BCE: The E. Zhou Dynasty rules much of China (British Museum).

• 770-476 BCE: The spring and Autumn period of the Zhou dynasty. After the Zhou capital moves East to Luoyang, Royal power wanes and many local states begin competing for power (British Museum).

• 771 BCE: The capital of the Zhou dynasty (present day Xi’an) falls to invading Steppe peoples. The court flees east wards to present day Luoyang. Royal power wanes and local states begin competing for power (British Museum).

• 771-476 BCE: The Spring Period of China’s Eastern Zhou dynasty.-China by Jaivin.

• 771-221 BCE: The Eastern Zhōu dynasty (divided into the Spring and Autumn periods) rules China.-China by Jaivin.

• 771 BCE: The Zhōu dynasty flees E. following attacks by nomadic tribes from the NW.-China by Jaivin.

• 776 BCE: The first Olympics (that we know of) features a 192m race that is won by a cook named Koroibus (US Olympic Museum). 

• 776 BCE: The inaugural Olympic Games are held in Athens, Greece, coinciding with the religious festivals of Ancient Greece and the cult of Zeus (Lausanne Olympic Museum).

• 783-742 BCE: Reign of Judean King Amaziah from Jerusalem.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 783-742 BCE: Reign of Uzziah, 8th King of Judah (Amaziah’s son); Uzziah engages in offensive actions against his neighbours (2 Chron 26: 6-8). He wages war on Edom, recaptures territory all the way to Ezion-geber, which is rebuilt as a major fortified port and becomes an important town on the caravan route between Damascus and Egypt.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 783 BCE: Assassination of Israeli King Amaziah. His 16yo son, Uzziah, becomes King of Israel.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 786-746 BCE: Reign of Jeroboam II, 13th King of Israel (son of Jehoash).-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 786 BCE: The Northern Kingdom of Israel attacks Jerusalem.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 800 BCE: After occupying most of the Canadian Arctic, the Dorset People of Cape Dorset on Canada’s Baffin Island, predecessors of the Inuit, enter Greenland and inhabited many parts of the island for about a thousand years.-Collapse by Diamond.  

• ~800-700 BCE: The Phoenicians establish the colony of Carthage in modern Tunisia (Punic Nightmares by Carlin).

• 800-200 BCE: Paracas culture in Peru (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 800-450 BCE: The Late Bronze Age urnfield culture gradually evolves into the Hallstatt culture, marking the onset of the iron age. Hallstatt is named for the Hallstatt burial grounds. Two trademark features of Hallstatt are the use of Fe and the construction of burial mounds in which the dead are buried after being cremated on funeral pyres (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 800-100 BCE: The Adena interaction sphere; trade throughout N. America.-1491 by Mann.

• Late 8c BCE: Homer writes the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are the foundational works of Ancient Greek literature. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War, the 10y siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Mycenaean Greek Kingdoms, focusing on the quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. The Odyssety focuses on the 10y journey home of Odysseus, King of Ithaca, after the fall of Troy (Wiki). 

• 8c BCE: The Sabaean capital of Marib thrives as a fertile, food-producing, water-abundant stopping point for thirsty camels and hungry traders (NatGeo). 

• 8c BCE: Hesiod writes a poem titled Theogony, a cosmological work describing the origins and genealogy of the Greek Gods in addition to ‘Works and Days’, on the subjects of farming, morality, and country life, and a large number of lost or now fragmentary poems including the Catalogues of Women, Eoiae, and Astronomy (theoi). 

----------800 BCE----------

• 800-783 BCE: Reign of Amaziah, 7th King of Judah.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 800 BCE: The Greeks assimilate the Phoenician alphabet.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 800 BCE: Death of Israeli King Joash, the only surviving son of Ahaziah, by a Moabite and an Ammonite assassin. Joash’ son, Amaziah, becomes Israeli King. A plot was hatched against Amaziah. He sought sanctuary in the fortress city of Lachish near the Philistine border. The assassins followed him and murdered him.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 801-786 BCE: Reign of Jehoash, 12th King of Israel.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 806 BCE: Egyptian forces led by Pharoah Adadnirari III capture Damascus, taking valuable tribute.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 810-783 BCE: Reign of King Adad-Nirari III over a declining Assyrian Empire (British Museum).

• 811-784 BCE: Reign of Egyptian Pharoah Adadnirari III who rises to the throne as a minor. He re-imposes tribute on some western states, despite being pushed territorially by Urartu.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 814-146 BCE: The Carthaginian Empire; a semitic people in the W. Med migrate from Tyre, Phoenicia, to N. Africa during the early Iron Age. The largest Punic settlement was Ancient Carthage (modern Tunis), but there were ~300 others along the N. African Coast (Wiki). 

• 815-801 BCE: Reign of Jehoahaz, 11th King of Israel. Following defeats suffered by Syrian King Hazael, Jehoahaz is only allowed to keep a bodyguard of 10 chariots and 50 cavalry plus a police force of 10K infantry.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• “For the King of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing.” How had Israel fallen? Ahab had taken 2K chariots to the Battle of Qarqar. Now, Israel had all their Transjordan territory, the valley of Jezreel, the coast, and Galilee under Aramean control, essentially reducing the state to a dependency of Damascus. So weak was Israel that Amos describes his its neighbors raided whenever they wanted.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 823-811 BCE: Reign of King Shamshi-Adad V over a declining Assyrian Empire (British Museum).

• 824-812 BCE: Reign of Egyptian Pharoah Shamshiadad. He crushes internal revolts with Babylonian aid.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 9c BCE: The island of Cyprus is settled by Phoenicians.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 837 BCE: Assassination of Judean Queen Athaliah due to a plot by Chief Priest Jehoiada and officers of the Royal Guard. Joash, aged 7, is brought into the temple proper and crowned. Athaliah cries treason, but the guard seize and execute her. The temple of Baal is demolished and the new king welcomed.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 837-800 BCE: Reign of Joash, 6th King of Judah.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 842-837 BCE: Reign of Athaliah, 1st Queen of Judah (daughter of Ahab) after seizing the throne. Athaliah kills all the seed royal she can find and continues to worship Baal. Elsewhere, an infant son of Ahaziah, Joash, is saved and hidden by his aunt, the wife of Jehoiada, the chief priest, being kept in the temple precinct so the Davidic line could continue in Judah.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 842 BCE: Fall of the House of Omri and the weakening of Israel and Judah. Following the death of his mentor Elijah, Elisha becomes prophet of Israel and takes up the work of confronting and condemning the cult of Baal. Elisha sends a minor prophet to the Israeli Commander Jehu to anoint him as king with orders to wipe out the entire house of Omri. Jehu mounts his chariot and drives to Jezreel, where he kills both Jehoram and Ahaziah. Jehu next purged Israel of Ahab’s family and his entire court. He entered Jezreel and had Jezebel thrown from the window of her summer palace, had the elders kill all 70 of Ahab’s sons (sending their heads in a basked to Jehu) and Jezreel), and advances on Samaria where he slaughters 42 of Ahaziah’s kinsmen. In Samaria, Jehu assembled all the priests and followers of Baal, conducted the required sacrifices, slaughtered the assembled, razed the temple, and turned it into a latrine. The purge was successful in eradicating the cult of Baal, but there were disastrous consequences.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• The murder of Jezebel, her Tyrian retainers, the slaughter of the Priests of Baal, and the insult to the god by destroying his place of worship, meant that the friendly relations with Tyre in Phoenicia were ended. The alliance with Judah could not survive after the killing of King Ahaziah along with many of his family and court. Thus, Israel lost the main source of her material wealth and her only dependable ally.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• ~842 BCE: Aramaean forces led by King Hazael defeat Israeli forces led by King Jehoram and Judean forces led by King Ahaziah at Ramoth-Gilead. Israel loses all of Transjordan south to the lands of Moab on the River Arnon. -Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 842 BCE: Reign of Ahaziah, 5th King of Judah.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 842-796 BCE: Reign of Hazael, King of Aram. During his reign, he leads the Arameans in battle against the forces of Israeli King Jehoram and Judean King Ahaziah. After defeating them at Ramoth-Gilead, Hazael repelled two attacks by Assyrians, seized Israelite territory East of the Jordan River, and the Philistine city of Gath. Although unsuccessful, he also sought to take Jerusalem (Wiki). 

• 842-815 BCE: Reign of Jehu, 10th King of Israel. Despite founding a dynasty that lasted nearly 100 years, Jehu commenced a period of utmost weakness during which Israel lots its alliance system and nearly lost its independence.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 849-842 BCE: Reign of Jehoram, 9th King of Israel (Ahaziah’s brother).-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 849 BCE: Death of Israeli King Ahaziah in an accident. His brother, Jehoram, assume the throne.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 850-849 BCE: Reign of Ahaziah, 8th King of Israel.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 850 BCE: Death of Israeli King Ahab in battle at Ramoth-gilead. Ahab was wounded, but stayed on the battlefield lest his absence weaken the morale of his troops. When the combined Jewish forces withdrew, Ahab’s dead body was taken to Samaria for burial. Ahaziah succeeded Ahab.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 854-846 BCE: The Assyrian conquest of Aram (Wiki). 

• 854 BCE: Battle of Qarqar (‘Karkar’) is fought on the Orontes between the Neo-Assyrian Empire led by Shalmaneser III against the Syrian led allied army of eleven kings led by Hadadezer, King of Aram, Ahab, King of Israel (who contributes 2000 chariots), Irkhuleni of Hammath, Ben-hadad of Damsacus, with the support of Egyptian forces (Wiki, Atlas of the Bible). Each side suffers great losses with the Assyrians claiming victory. The Battle is recorded on the Kurkh Monoliths and is the first recorded record of “the Arabs.” After Qarqar, Shalmaneser III’s forces returned North to face the hostile kingdom of Urartu.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 858-823 BCE: Reign of King Shalmaneser III, son of King Ashurnasirpal II, over the Assyrian Empire (British Museum).

• 858 BCE: Battle of Lutibu; Assyrian forces led by King Shalmaneser III defeat a coalition of Aramaean Kings (Sam’al, Hattina, Carchemish, and Bit Adini) at Lutibu. In later campaigns of 857-854 BCE, Assyrian forces capture and annex Bit Adini.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 859 BCE: Shalmaneser III assumes the Assyrian throne. He projects his strength across the Euphrates into N. Syria right up to the Mediterranean. To meet this threat, Syria and Israel ally, fighting the Assyrians at the battle of Qarqar (~854 BCE).-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• ~860-830 BCE: Reign of Egyptian Pharoah Osorkon II, 5th King of the22nd Dynasty.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 869-850 BCE: Reign of Ahab, 7th King of Israel (Omri’s son); Ahab continues the sound policies of friendship and trade with neighbors, especially Phoenicia whose builders were traditionally welcomed in Israel.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• Ahab married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, King of Tyre and Sidon. She was unhappy with the Solomonic tradition of each foreign wife having a temple to her deity in the capital and wanted to introduce the worship of Baal as a better alternative. Accordingly, she brought in several hundred priests of Baal and Asherah, giving them official status at court. People who resisted this cult could be killed, and Israelite places of worship were attacked and altars to the God of Israel destroyed. The prophet Elijah of Tishbe from Transjordan confronted Ahab and Jezebel and in the new capital of Samaria prophesied that a famine would savage Israel as God’s punishment for praying to false gods. In the droughts third year, Ahab sought Elijah and condemned him for Israel’s troubles. Elijah immediately replied, accusing Ahab of breaking the commandments and following Baal, stating that this was the real cause of the country’s woes. He challenged the king to summon the Baal and Asherah priests to a religious duel on Mount Carmel. Elijah soaked his altar with water and God consumed it with fire. Elijah then commanded the false priests to be captured and led down to the Kishon brook where they were killed. The rains came and Israel was saved.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• A conflict between Ben-hadad of Damascus and Ahab is poorly recorded by the besieged Samaria, being soundly defeated by Ahab. The following year, the Aramaeans returned, but Ahab blocked them before they crossed the Jordan. Each side sought to control Aphek, an important strategic locale East of the Sea of Chinnereth. After a week’s stalemate, the smaller Israelite force attacked, forcing the Syrians to retreat to Aphek where Ben-hadad surrendered. The defeated king handed back some Israelite cities and allowed Israelite traders into Damascus: in return, he was freed.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 873-849 BCE: Reign of Jehoshaphat, 4th King of Judah.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 876-869 BCE: Reign of Omri, 6th King of Israel. Omri introduces political and religious change to Israel and attempts to revive the Solomonic state, seeking peace and trade expansion with his neighbors.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 876 BCE: Reign of Zimri, 5th King of Israel. The Israeli troops proclaim Omri king and march on Zimri’s Tirzah. The city falls and Zimri immolates himself in the citadel of the palace there.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 876 BCE: Assassination of Israeli King Elah by Zimri, a Charioteer commander, who annihilates Baasha’s family and replaces him on the throne.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 877-876 BCE: Reign of Elah, 4th King of Israel (son of Baasha).-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 880 BCE: The city of Samara is founded by King Omri.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 883-859 BCE: Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II over the Assyrian Empire; Assyria establishes Nimrud (originally Kalhu- biblical Calah) as the new Assyrian capital and increases its international power through military campaigns that raised vast sums as tribute (British Museum).

• 873-849 BCE: Reign of Judean King Jehosaphat.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 9c BCE: The Phoenician begin visiting Sardinia with increasing frequency (Wiki).

• 9c BCE: Carthage (Tunisia) is settled by the Phoenicians (Punic- Roman).-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

----------900 BCE----------

• 900-27 BCE: The Etruscan Kingdom rules modern Italy as a federation of city-states that peak around 750 BCE, prior to being absorbed slowly by Rome until 27 BCE (Wiki). 

• 900-550 BCE: A Phoenicians trade network dominate the Mediterranean with its capital at Gadir.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 900-600 BCE: The Urartu State thrives in E. Anatolia; the Urartian’s achieved an advanced level in metallurgy, architecture, dams, ponds, irrigation channels, and roads (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• 900-877 BCE: Reign of Baasha, 3rd King of Israel.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 901-900 BCE: Reign of Nadab, 2nd King of Israel.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 913-873 BCE: Reign of Asa, 3rd King of Judah.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 915-913 BCE: Reign of Abijam, 2nd King of Judah.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 922 BCE: Egyptian forces attack Jerusalem.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• ~925 BCE: Exploiting the Judah-Israel split, Egyptian forces led by Pharoah Shishak advance through the plains of Philistia and split their force at Gaza before invading Judah. They capture 15 Judaean fortresses and appropriate the gold from Solomon’s temple in exchange for sparing Jerusalem. The bible claims that the Egyptians host comprised 1200 chariots and 60K cavalry.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 922 BCE: Egyptian forces attack Jerusalem.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 931-915 BCE: Reign of Rehoboam, 1st King of Judah (Solomon’s son).-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 931-901 BCE: Reign of Jeroboam, 1st King of Israel.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 931 BCE: Death of Hebrew King Solomon and the 1st Jewish Diaspora; his empire collapses into the Northern kingdom of Israel ruled by Jeroboam and descendants of David with its capital at Samaria and the Southern Kingdom of Judea ruled by Solomon’s son Rehoboam and a series of dynasties with its capital in Jerusalem.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• ~935 BCE: The First King of the 22nd Egyptian Dynasty re-establishes Egyptian control of Palestine by military campaign, which takes the Egyptians as far as the Phoenician cities and revives Egypt’s trading relationships with Byblos, North of Damascus. Egypt thus once more had command of the coastal road to the North and to Mesopotamia. In the course of the campaign, Shishak takes Jerusalem and strips the royal palace and the Temple of its treasures. Egyptian supremacy in the region is comparatively short lived, for the 22nd dynasty collapsed in civil war late in the 8c BCE.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 950 BCE- 350: The Kingdom of Kush rules over an empire extending from Central Sudan to the Mediterranean (British Museum).

• ~950 BCE: Israeli King Solomon and Hiram, King of Tyre, launch expeditions down the Red Sea to acquire gold.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 961-931 BCE: Reign of Solomon, 3rd King of Israel (second son of King David and Bathsheba). Solomon consolidates David’s administrative system, builds the temple in Jerusalem to house the Ark of the Covenant, and extends his influence through trade links, reaching from Egypt in the West to Mesopotamia in the East, and to Ophir and Sheba in the South.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 969-936 BCE: Reign of Hiram as Phoenician King of Tyre, who appears in the Bible as an ally of the Israelite kings David and Solomon. Hiram maintained friendly relations with Israel, supplying Solomon with men and materials for the construction of the Temple at Jerusalem and cooperating with Solomon in Mediterranean and Red Sea trading voyages. Solomon gave him tribute and Galilean territory in return (Britannica). 

• 980 BCE: The revolt of Absalom; David’s son Absalom rises in revolt against his father; however, David regains control.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 11c-7c BCE: Babylon is ruled by the Assyrians (NatGeo).

• <1000 BCE: Invention of the horse saddle (the stirrups come later) (NatGeo). 

----------1000 BCE----------

• 3 Ka- ~1500: The Earth warms, reaching a high during the Middle Ages.-Geology by Marshak.

• 3ka: The Great Lakes reach their present-day contours (NatGeo). 

• ~1000 BCE: The Jebusite city of Jerusalem (‘Zion’- Jebusite) is captured by King David. Jerusalem becomes the “City of David.”-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1000-961 BCE: Reign of David, 2nd Hebrew King. David unites rival Hebrew tribes, secures their loyalty by providing a neutral capital- Jerusalem- and subdues various enemies.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1000 BCE: Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa are first settled by Early Polynesians who develop highly complex societies ruled by chiefs (Hawaiian Culture Center). 

• 1000-542 BCE: The Sheba state rules over the Southern Arabian Peninsula (Al Fahidi Coin Museum).

• 1000 BCE: Celtic culture originates along the upper Danube River in Central Europe (NatGeo). 

• 1000 BCE: Cats are domesticated in Egypt (Mex City History Museo). 

• 1000 BCE: Iron age beings after Hittite process of iron smelting and smithing is exposed and spreads through the Middle East and Med. 

• 1000 BCE: Vanuatu and the Fijian Islands are settled by the Lapita.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 1000 BCE: Domestication of the camel in parts of Arabia.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 1010 BCE: Hebrew King Saul commits suicide after suffering a major defeat to the Philistines at the Battle of Gilboa.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1021-1000 BCE: Reign of Saul, the first King of Israel; chosen by the Judge Samuel and by public demand for a leader. His major function was to defend Israel against its many enemies, the Philistines in particular. Saul’s reign is an essential interlude of monarchial experiment between the ineffectiveness of the judges and the successful monarchy founded by King David.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 1046-771 BCE: The Western Zhou Dynasty rules much of China (British Museum).

• 1046 BCE: Fall of the Shang Dynasty; the Zhou people from the Wei River Valley defeat the Shang. The subsequent 800y rule of the Zhou had two major phases- the W. Zhou (1046-771 BCE) and the Eastern Zhou (770-221 BCE), marked by the move eastwards of their capital from present day Xi’an to Luoyang. The Zhou dynasty was later regarded as a golden age and taken as a role model for ritual and political morality. The Zhou kings proclaimed themselves ‘Sons of Heaven’, ruling with a ‘Mandate from Heaven’ (British Museum).

• ~1050 BCE: The Battle of Ebenezer; Philistine forces led by the King of Gath defeat Hebrew forces near Ebenezer. The Hebrew had brought the Ark from Shiloh hoping God would bring victory, however the Israelite Army was destroyed, the Bible recording 30K dead (modern estimates show ~4K Hebrew KIA). The Ark was captured, the priests in charge, Phineas and Hophni, killed. The Philistines then occupied the land, took Shiloh and destroyed the tent-shrine of the Hebrew tribal league.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• The Philistines took the ark to Ashdod, placing it in the temple of their God, Dagon. Ashdod and its environs then suffered a plague of emerods or hemorrhoids. The Philistines then moved the ark to Gath and then to Ekron, but the plague struck each place in turn. After 7 months, the Philistines decided to return the Ark, accompanied by expensive gifts to Beth-Shemesh.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1069-664 BCE: Egypt’s Third Intermediate Period (21st-25th Dynasties). Kings in the North ultimately failed to stop Egypt splitting into multiple regional kingdoms and chiefdoms, leaving it vulnerable to foreign invasion. At the end of the New Kingdom, the 21st Dynasty arose at Tanis, a new Delta capital, but by then the priests of Thebes controlled most of Upper Egypt, ruling a state within a state. Libyan settlers established chiefdoms in the Delta and Sheshonq I of Bubastis founded the 22nd Dynasty. He restored unity at home and Egyptian dominance in Palestine. However, factions and strife in later reigns spawned many competing dynasties. King Piankhy of Kush took advantage of Egypt’s division and invaded. He and his successors, the 25th dynasty, imposed themselves as overlords of the local rulers. Napata was the capital in Kush, and Memphis became its Egyptian twin. The Kushites embraced Egypt’s culture and artistic expression, as their own had been transformed by past pharaonic domination. Assyria, now the dominant power in the Middle East, repeatedly invaded Egypt, each time driving the Kushites South. After their last attack, when they sacked Thebes, the Assyrians were distracted by Babylonian aggression. Their Egyptian vassals from the Delta city of Sais exploited the power vacuum, reuniting the country and securing its independence (British Museum).

• 11-10th Centuries BCE: Assyria and Babylon co-exist as major Mesopotamian empires. 

• 1100 BCE: Writing is invented in China.-These Truths by Lepore.

• ~1100 BCE: The Egyptian Red Sea trade goes into recession; the pharaohs are preoccupied with attacks attributed to ‘Sea Peoples’ who came overland from Libya and Syria and from the waters of the Mediterranean.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 1116-1078 BCE: Reign of Assyrian King Tiglath-pileser I, who defeats Babylon, Armenia, Anatolia, and N. Phoenicia.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes. 

• 1122-770 BCE: The Western Zhōu dynasty (aka the first Halcyon Era of the Zhou) rules China.-China by Jaivin.

• 1122 BCE: Decline of the Shang Dynasty and Rise of the Zhōu (a vassal state of the Shang) Dynasty under King Wǔ, the first Zhou Emperor.-China by Jaivin.

• 1124-1103 BCE: Nebuchadnezzar I attacks Elam and regains the statue of Marduk. 

• ~1125 BCE: Hebrew Judges Deborah and Barak of Naphtali rally six tribes from Benjamin to Galilee to defeat Canaanite forces.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• ~1140 BCE: Moses leads a group of transplanted Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt, trekking with them back to the Promised Land (Canaan).-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 1150-500 BCE: Height of the Olmec city of La Venta, with a 103-foot-tall clay mound.-1491 by Mann.

• 1157 BCE: Fall of the Kassite Dynasty after the powerful Elamite kingdom led by Shutruk-nahhunte and his son Kutir- nahhunte conquered Babylon and carried away the statue of Marduk. 

• 1158 BCE: Babylon is sacked by the Elamites, but soon Elam is conquered by Nebuchadnezzar I, who established a new dynasty in Babylon.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 1177 BCE: “The Year Civilization Collapsed”; multiple large civilizations in the Middle East collapse, possibly due to a prolonged drought (NatGeo). 

• 1151-1145 BCE: Reign of Egyptian Pharoah Ramesses IV.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 1182-1151 BCE: Reign of Egyptian Pharoah Rameses III.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 1183-1152 BCE: Reign of Pharoah Rameses III over the Egypt’s 20th Dynasty. He faces assaults by Sea People’s as well as Libyan tribes. Among the Sea peoples, Rameses lists the Pelasta (‘Philistines’), among others who he could not eject from his territories, being forced to allow the Philistines to settle, maybe as mercenaries to man garrisons, and give their name to Palestine.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• ~1197 BCE: Assassination of Assyrian King Tukulti-ninurta I.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1198-1196 BCE: The Late Bronze Age Collapse; decline of the Hittite Empire and the Mycenaean Greek civilizations, as well as many smaller powers and the trade networks that linked them, during a a severe 3y drought in Central Anatolia (NatGeo).  

• 1200 BCE: The Hittite states collapses under attack from migrating Sea People’s, with Anatolia being overrun by Phrygians.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1200 BCE: The Philistines destroy the coastal city of Ugarit.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1200 BCE: Rise of the Olmec (‘Inhabitant of the Rubber Country, Nahuatl), the first complex civilization in Mesoamerica, along the Gulf of Mexico; famous for their invention of rubber (NatGeo). 

• 1200 BCE: Collapse of the Hittite Empire (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• 1200-700 BCE: The Phrygian (Brygian) Dynasty (neighbors of Macedonia) thrives in Anatolia based out of their capital at Gordion and from major cities including Alisar, Bogazköy, Kültepe, Pazarli, and Masathöyük. The Phrygians were, according to Herodotus and Strabo, a Thracian tribe that migrated from Europe to Anatolia through Macedonia and Thrace. For the first 100y, the Phrygians survived in a primitive tribal system under the reign of Mygdo, Askanios, and Otreus. After conquering Troy, the Phrygians moved towards the coast of Lake Askania (Lake Iznik) and the Sangarios (Sakarya) River Valley (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• Matar (‘Mother’): A Phrygian goddess. 

• ~696 BCE: Death of Phrygian King Midas, during the Cimmerian invasions that loot Gordion. With the death of King Midas, the Phrygian State lost power and was ruled by principalities (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• ~742-696 BCE: Reign of King Midas over the Phrygian Dynasty (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• ~742 BCE: Death of Phrygian King Gordios, who gave his name to the Phrygian capital at Gordion. King Midas ascends the Phrygian throne (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• 11c BCE: The first Phrygian immigrants arrive at Yassiköy, which became the capital (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• 1200-700 BCE: The Phrygians rule Modern Turkey from their capital of Gordion- King Midas was a Phrygian (Vatican Museum). 

• 1200 BCE- 100: The Bible is compiled (mostly in Hebrew before being translated to Greek and Latin); considered to be the word of god and the sacred text to Christians and Jews. The teachings of the bible have been taken as the foundation of morality in most European societies for the last 2,000 years.-Documents that changed the world.

• New Testament: Details the birth and deeds of Christ and is only accepted by Christians.-Documents that changed the world.

• 1200s BCE: Moses leads the Israelites.-IWM by Heathcote.

• 1200 BCE: Fall of the Olmec city of San Lorenzo to either revolution or invasion.-1491 by Mann.

• 1200 BCE: Expansion of ancestral Polynesians eastwards over the Pacific Ocean. Until 1200 BCE, the spread of ancient humans from the Asian mainland through Indonesia’s islands to Australia and New Guinea had advanced no farther into the Pacific than the Solomon Islands east of New Guinea. Around that time, a seafaring and farming people, apparently originating from the Bismarck Archipelago NE of New Guinea, and producing ceramics known as Lapita-style pottery, swept nearly a thousand miles across the open oceans east of the Solomons to reach Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga, and become the ancestors of the Polynesians.-Collapse by Diamond.  

• 12c BCE: Decline of the Hittite Empire for reasons unknown (NatGeo). 

• 12c BCE: The Phillistines arrive on the Eastern Shore of the Mediterranean from Greece (NatGeo). 

• 1200 BCE: Collapse of the Hittite Kingdom as people living on the Aegean islands immigrate into Anatolia causing disorder and throne infighting. Central authority gives way to the Late Hittite City states established in SE Anatolia and N. Syria (IST Airport Museum).

• 1202-1200 BCE: Reign of the last Hittite King Suppiluliuma I (IST Airport Museum).

• ~1210 BCE: Moses and the Israelites arrive out of the Sinai into the Land of Canaan. There, Moses camps on the plains of Moab at Abel-shittim, making plans for invasion. He sends one man from each of the 12 tribes of Israel on a spying mission to seek out possible invasion routes and gather any useful information.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• Joshua launched the first invasion, crossing the river Jordan over a dry riverbed and, using Gilgal as his base, extended Hebrew authority over the immediate area. The first major city to be attacked was Jericho. For six days the Hebrew marched around the city. On the seventh day, priests blowing rams horns continued to circle the city, and the walls eventually fell. The Hebrews entered and massacred its inhabitants, taking the treasure they found there for “the house of the lord.” The next phase was toward the fertile hills and forests of Galilee to the North. The major city of the area was Hazor, the largest in Canaan. Joshua gathered his forces in Upper and Lower Galilee in order to launch a surprise attack. He met the Canaanite army in the narrow defiles and forests at Merom where the Canaanite cavalry and chariots were of little value- there was simply no room to manoeuvre. The Hebrew army won a major victory, putting the Canaanites into Shambolic retreat. The Hebrews cut off the Canaanite escape route to Hazor, leaving them no option but to withdraw Northward. Hazor was left undefended. The city suffered the same fate as cities to the south- its population was slaughtered, and the city was razed to the ground. Next was the city of Ai, a typical Canaanite settlement of some 1000 people that stood in the way of the Hebrew advance. Joshua launched a direct attack, but was repulsed with the loss of 36 men. He then formulated a plan that drew the defenders of Ai into the open to the North, while another force attacked from the West. Ai fell, the town was burned and the inhabitants slaughtered.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1224-1214 BCE: Reign of Egyptian King Merneptah. During his reign, his forces repel sea peoples that attack the Delta region, but are unable to prevent them from gaining control of the coastal strip in S. Canaan. They establish , themselves in five main cities: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron and become known as the Philistines.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1237-1212 BCE: Reign of Hittite King Tuthaliya IV with his wife Queen Puduhepa and their son Tudhaliya. They play a significant role in the construction of "Reliefs of Yazilikaya", one of the high-level art and religious cult centers of the Hittites (IST Airport Museum).

• 1245 BCE: Marriage of Egyptian King Ramses to a Hittite Princess (NatGeo). 

• ~1250 BCE: The Exodos; Moses leads the jews out of Egypt “parting” the sea likely North of Lake Timsah. After this, the Hebrews turn South where they are helped by the Midianites (descendants of Abraham’s son Midian who had given Moses shelter and a wife when he had first fled Egypt). They “wander the Sinai for 40 years” and “discover the Arc of the Covenant.”-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1258 BCE: Egyptian King Ramses and the Hittites conclude a peace treaty (NatGeo). 

• 1274 BCE: The Battle of Kadesh (near the Syrian city of Homs); although inconclusive, the Egyptians fight for control of Canaan. (NatGeo). 

• 1275 BCE: The Battle of Kadesh; an Egyptian Army led by King Ramses II (1290-1224 BCE) runs into a trap at Kadesh in N. Palestine. The front section of the army, led by Ramses, is cut off by the Hittite charioteers who attack the second section leaving the king and his section isolated. Only desperate fighting saves the situation. A Treaty eventually follows which leaves the Egyptian frontier in Palestine further South.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1275 BCE: The Battle of Kadesh (the largest chariot battle in history) near Homs in W. Syria is fought to a draw between the Hittites and the Egyptians. By taking it, Ramses sought to neutralize the Hittite threat to his N. sphere of interest, and claim the territories once captured by Thutmose III, and since lost. In the battle, some 3K Hittite Chariots and 40K foot soldiers smash into the smaller Egyptian forces, which is scattered by the charge. Ramses rallies his forces and fight the battle to a draw, later claiming victory (NatGeo). 

• 1285-1270 BCE: The War of Kadesh; Egypt and the Hittites battle over control of territories. The war ends with the “Kadesh Treaty,” the first known treaty in history, signed between Hattusili III and Ramses I in 1270 (IST Airport Museum).

• 1285 BCE: The Battle of Kadesh; Hittite and Egyptian forces clash near the N. Syrian city of Kadesh (NatGeo). 

• 1290-1224 BCE: Reign of Egyptian King Ramses II.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 13c BCE: The 10 Commandments are collected in the Sinai by a Tribe of Israelites. 

• 13-6c BCE: Iron Age

• 13c BCE: Life of Moses during the period in which pharaohs such as Ramses II ruled Egypt (NatGeo). 

• 13c BCE: The Mali Empire is founded by Prince Sundiata (NatGeo). 

• ~1300 BCE: The Assyrians conquer the Hurrians Kingdom of Matanni in N. Mesopotamia. Despite pressure from the Arameans, an Assyrian world empire emerges, its highest level of ascendency being under Tiglath-pileser I.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1300 BCE: Invention of 4-wheeled wagons pulled by two horses in Central Europe (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 1300 BCE: The Assyrians transform warfare with the creation of the first calvary troops. Combining infantry with war chariots pulled by horses, their armies are almost invincible (Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum). 

• 1322 BCE: King Tut is entombed (Cape Town Museum). 

• 1350 BCE: The first clear evidence for monotheism, from the religious revolution of Pharaoh Akhenaten.-21 Lessons by Harari.

• 1380-1346 BCE: Reign of Hittite King Suppiluliumas I. He razes the capital city of the Mitanni and projects his power to Carchemish, which becomes a dependency along with Ugarit and Aleppo.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1380-1346 BCE: Reign of Hittite King Suppiluliumas I, who turns the Hittites into a new Imperial force. Exploiting Mitanni weakness, Suppiluliumas conquers N. Syria and installs his sons as kings of Aleppo and Karkemish (NatGeo). 

• ~1400-1200 BCE: Crete develops its script into Linear B, which represents Mycenaean Greek.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1400 BCE: Introduction of Cacao Wine in Mesoamerica. The drink was served in a long-necked jar shaped like a cacao pod (NatGeo. 

• 1400 BCE: The Most common ancestor of every human alive today lives on Earth.-Brief History by Rutherford.

• 1420-1200 BCE: Hittite Imperial Period; Hittite King Suppiluliuma I transforms the Kingdom into an Empire. Under Suppiliuma I, entire lands of N. Syria are dominated by the Hittites. During this period, Ramses I gains the throne of Egypt and controls the Amurru Kingdom (which depended upon the Hittites) (IST Airport Museum).

• 1446 BCE: Egyptian forces led by Thutmose III march North through Syria and invade the Mitannian Kingdom.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1450 BCE: Decline of Crete as the Mycenaean Greeks started to dominate the eastern Mediterranean (NatGeo). 

• 6 Apr, 1457 BCE: The Battle of Megiddo; Egyptian forces led by Pharoah Thutmose III fight a large rebellious coalition of Canaanite vassal states led by the king of Kadesh. .-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1479-1426 BCE: Reign of Egyptian Pharoah Thutmose III. Thutmose III invades Palestine 17x. He firstly marched via Gaza to Joppa, engages and defeats an alliance of city states at Aruna, and lays siege to Megiddo, taking it after 7 months. He eventually reaches as far as the Euphrates.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1479 (or 6 Apr, 1457) BCE: The Battle of Megiddo; Egyptian forces led by Pharoah Thutmose III defeat a large coalition of Canaanite vassal states led by the king of Kadesh. Megiddo sees the first recorded use of the composite bow and the first body count. The Egyptians routed the Canaanite forces, who flee to Megiddo which leads to the lengthy siege of Megiddo (Wiki).

• 1479-1458 BCE: Reign of Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut (aka Hashepsowe) as the 5th pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.   

• 15c BCE: Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III becomes Egypt’s great empire builder, extending Egyptian control farther and farther east into Syria (NatGeo).

----------1500 BCE----------

• 16c-11c BCE: The Hittites, Kassites, Chaldeans, and Aramaeans struggle over control of Babylon (NatGeo). 

• 16c BCE: Babylon is conquered by the Hittites (NatGeo). 

• ~1500 BCE: Crete is at the center of an extensive trade network with Egypt, Syria, the Aegean islands, and mainland Greece (NatGeo). 

• ~1500 BCE: Egyptians reportedly begin using the chemical ‘alum’ to cause suspended particles to settle out of water (EPA, 2008). 

• 1500 BCE: The Nubian empire stretches from Wadi Half to Meroe with its capital at Napata (NatGeo). 

• 1500 BCE: Date of the earliest evidence of Chinese writing under the Shang Dynasty.-China by Jaivin.

• 1500 BCE: The Olmec build and occupy San Lorenzo, the first known large-scale settlement in Central America, covering 2.7 sqmi. Scattered around the San Lorenzo platform were stone monuments: massive thrones for living kings, huge stone heads for dead ones.-1491 by Mann.

• ~1500 BCE: The Hurrians establish the Kingdom of Mitanni in N. Mesopotamia.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1500 BCE: Gaza is used as a military base by Egyptian Kings.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1500 BCE: Native Americans abandon Greenland.-Collapse by Diamond.  

• ~1500 BCE: Decline of the Indus civilizations, possibly due to environmental changes that dry out the Indus Valley resulting in a gradual decline of the great cities.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 1500-1050 BCE: The Shang Dynasty rules much of China (British Museum).

• 1500 BCE: The independence of Kerma is terminated by the campaigns of Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose I. Newly won territories are divided into two: Wawat (Lower Nubia) and Kush (Upper Nubia) (British Museum).

• 1500-850 BCE: The Al-Mainet State rules over the Southern Arabian Peninsula (Al Fahidi Coin Museum).

• 1500 BCE: An archipelago of villages known as Poverty Point, arises in NE Louisiana.-1491 by Mann.

• ~1500 BCE: The Battle of Megiddo (history’s first recorded battle); Egyptian forces under Thutmose III conquer Canaan. The book of Revelations names Megiddo as the setting for the future apocalyptic battle between good and evil—Armageddon (which means “hill of Megiddo”) (NatGeo). 

• 1521 BCE: Egyptians defeat the Hyskos retaking their cities (NatGeo). 

• 1531 BCE: Fall of the Old Babylonian Empire after the Hittite sack of Babylon (Wiki). 

• 1531-1155 BCE: The Kassites control Babylonia following the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire (Wiki). 

• 1532 BCE: The Hyskos are driven out of Egypt.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 1539-1292 BCE: Egypt, New Kingdom (Britannica). 

• Pharoahs of the 18th dynasty send armies to conquer Nubia, building garrisons on the Nile. Subjugated, Nubians began embracing Egypt’s cultural and spiritual customs- venerating Egyptian gods, using Egyptian language, and adopting Egyptian burial styles (NatGeo). 

• 1500 BCE: The Olmec flourish as the first advanced civilization in Mesoamerica (La Venta culture). Olmec sites include La Venta and San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan along the Gulf of Mexico (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 1550-1070 BCE: Thebes is the capital and cultural center of Egypt’s New Kingdom Period, for which the Karnak temple complex and the Valley of the Kings are among its most outstanding monuments (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 1550 BCE: The Zapotec begin forming villages with defensive palisades in Oaxaca’s Central Valley.-1491 by Mann.

• 1550-1100 BCE: The Deir El-Medina Texts are written by the People of Deir el-Medina in Ancient Egypt on papyrus and ostraca (broken pot shards) detailing the daily life of Ancient Egyptians.-Documents that changed the world.

• ~1550 BCE: The Asiatic Hyksos (“rulers of foreign lands”), possible semitic, rulers of Egypt are overthrown and expelled. The descendants of the Hebrew nomadic shepherds who had settled near the delta find themselves under increasing suspicion as aliens. The Hebrews would certainly have been chosen as one of many groups forced into labor gangs to build Ramses new capital and frontier fortifications.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1550-1069 BCE: Egypt’s New Kingdom period (18th- 20th Dynasties). The kings of the 19th dynasty came from the E. Delta, where they founded a new capital: Piramesse, ‘House of Ramesses’. The early Ramesside’s undertook vast building projects, especially Ramesses II. His temples include the Ramesseum at Thebes and two rock temples at Abu Simbel, in Lower Nubia. Sety I and his son Ramesses II came into conflict with the Hittites of Anatolia over rival expansion in Syria. Under Ramesses II this culminated in the famous battle of Qadesh and later the world’s first documented peace treaty. Merenptah and Rameses III stemmed invasions of migrants from Libya and tribes from distant regions known as the ‘Sea Peoples’, but Egypt lost its possessions in the Middle East. Ramesses III, the sole great king of the 20th dynasty, was possibly killed in a palace plot and succeeded by 8 namesakes. The final century witnessed economic and political difficulties, when workers went on strike for wages and many tombs were looted. Egypt also lost control of Nubia (British Museum).

• 1560-1070 BCE: Egyptians of the early New Kingdom break the power of Kush and take possession of all Nubian lands as far as the 4th cataract. Nubian resources are intensively exploited as part of the Egyptian empire (British Museum).

• 1595 BCE: Fall of Babylon to Hittite Invaders (NatGeo). 

• 16c BCE: After several challenges to royal succession, Hittite King Telepinus standardizes the Hittite royal succession process (NatGeo). 

• ~1595 BCE: Hittite forces defeat Aleppo and conquer Babylon.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• ~1600 BCE: The Epic of Gilgamesh is written on a clay tablet as a story about a great flood.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1600-1200 BCE: The Late Bronze Age of the Middle East; large-scale international contact develops between Egypt, Canaan, Assyria, the Hittites, and Babylonia.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1600-1046 BCE: The Shang Dynasty succeeds the Erlitou, and establish their capital cities in central and N Henan (British Museum).

• 1600 BCE: Height of Minoan power and culture (NatGeo). 

• 1600 BCE: Volcanic ‘super-colossal’ (7 of 8 on the VEI) eruption of Thira (modern Santorini) with a destructive tsunami is one of the greatest eruptions in human history. Many scholars believe the traumatic collective memory of the Bronze Age event, around 1600 B.C., could be seen in Plato’s allegory of the sunken city of Atlantis (NatGeo). 

• 1600-500 BCE: The Lapita Culture; a Neolithic Austronesian people spread across vast tracts of Melanesia via seaborne migration including the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Samoa, and probably Taiwan, where the language of the indigenous population is related to those spoken across Oceania. By around 1000 BCE, the Lapita reached the limits of their expansion, and had created a series of networks across about 4,500 km of the Pacific, in a great arc from New Guinea to Tonga.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 1600 BCE: Peak of the city Megiddo, near present-day Haifa in Israel, which grew, receded, and grew again from 6000 B.C. until 500 B.C (NatGeo). 

• 1600 BCE: Hammurabi’s Code in Babylon is enacted.-SPQR by Beard.

• 3.6ka: Cacao (chocolate) is cultivated in Central America.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 1600-1050 BCE: The Shang Dynasty rules China from its capital at Yin.-China by Jaivin.

• Ended at Battle of Muye.

• 1640 BCE: The Hyskos, a people of mixed semitic and Asian descent, invade Egypt and settle in the Nile Delta, forming the 15th and 16th dynasties of Egypt.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.   

• 1645 BCE: Eruption of the Santorini Volcano.-Geology by Marshak.

• 1650-1420 BCE: Hittite Old Kingdom Period; Hattusili I rules the Hittite as their first great King (IST Airport Museum).

• 17c BCE: The city and seaport of Joppa are founded. It is later given to the tribe of Dan following the Israelite conquest of Canaan.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1650-1620 BCE: Reign of Hittite King Hattusilis, who extends Hittite power over N. Syria.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1650-1200 BCE: The Hittite Empire rules much of Anatolia (Modern Syria) (NatGeo). 

• 1650-1550 BCE: Hyksos period; the Kings of the 15th Dynasty rule Lower and Middle Egypt up to Cusae from their seat of power in the city of Avaris in the Nile Delta. The Hyksos period marks the first in which Egypt was ruled by foreign rulers and they introduced several technological innovations including the horse and chariot, the sickle sword, and possibly the composite bow (Wiki). 

• 1650 BCE: Siege of Urshu; Hittite King Hattusilis mentions that 30 Hittite chariots ranged against 80 chariots belonging to his Hurrian enemies (NatGeo). 

• ~1650 BCE: Ancient Egypt is conquered by the heqa khasut (Hyksos people), thought to originate in Modern Day Israel (NatGeo). 

• 17c BCE: The Hittites emerge as a growing military power under King Labarnas I. His son, Labarnas II, establishes the capital city at Hattusa (NatGeo). 

• ~1680 BCE: The Hittites led by Labarna I invade and conquer nearly all of Central Anatolia. Labarna I founds his kingdom (known as the Hatti) with its capital at Hattusas (present day Bogazköy).-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1750s BCE: Hittite King Anita, son of Pithana, establishes the first political unity in Anatolia by taking other cities under his dominance. Anita moves the states capital to Kanesh and then conquers the Hattusa (IST Airport Museum).

• 2m BCE: Emergence of the Hittite Kingdom in Anatolia following their immigration to the region (IST Airport Museum). 

• 1754 BCE: The Code of Hammurabi is compiled by Hammurabi, the 6th King of Babylon, as a list of laws- a legal code of 282 if-then edicts etched into a four-ton pillar of diorite; one of the first examples of lex talionis- an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. 

• 1700 BCE: Rise of Judaism; Sumerian Abraham preaches there is one God (Yahweh) and relocates to the Promised Land on the other side of the Euphrates (‘other side’- Hebrew).-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• Yahweh promised Abraham offspring galore (Abraham is 99 at the time), along with rights to Canaan, the Promised Land, later renamed Palestine after the Philistines, who occupied part of it—in perpetuity.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 1700 BCE: Wheat is no longer able to grow in the Fertile Crescent as salt soil levels are too high (USGS, unk). 

• 1700 BCE: The Hammurabi Code is established as a long list of rules governing specific offenses including adultery, theft, and faulty workmanship.-IWM by Heathcote. 

• 1700-1300 BCE: The Middle Bronze Age.-SPQR by Beard.

• 1700 BCE- 500 BCE: The Bronze Age

• 17c BCE: The Epic of Gilgamesh is written, the first of its kind; the story of the King of Gilgamesh, who ruled in Uruk city in Mesopotamia in the 27c BCE, glorifying the man who pursued immortality and knowledge. The Epic takes place in Akkadian and Sumerian mythologies (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• ~1720-1500 BCE: Life of the biblical Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel. Joseph, favored by his father Jacob, is throne in a well by his brothers. Assumed dead, he is sold into slavery in Egypt where he rises high and grows rich. He rebukes the wife of Potiphar who, infuriated, claims she was raped. Potiphar has Joseph imprisoned. Joseph interprets dreams for the pharaoh and advises him to plan for drought. Impressed, the pharaoh makes him governor of Egypt, in charge of organizing the storage of grain. Years later during times of drought, Joseph’s father Jacob journeys to Egypt with his sons, where Joseph reveals who he is and loads them with gifts. Eventually, Joseph returns to Canaan.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1750 BCE: Construction of the city of Hebron, ~35km SW of Jerusalem.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1750 BCE: Systematic damming and flooding of the river above Larsa under Babylonian King Hammurabi.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 18c BCE: Possible construction of the Tower of Babel, a ziggurat built in Babylon that may have reached 90m high.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1750-1200 BCE: The Hittite Empire thrives in modern Anatolia, the first stated to be administred within a central system. Hittite art is based upon the Assyrian Trade Colonies period and major Hittite cities include the capital Bogazköy and others such as Inandik, Eskiyapar, Alacahöyük, Alisar, Ferzant, Masathöyük (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• Hittites moved the gods of the lands they conquered to their own pantheons in order to avoid to pull the anger of such gods upon them. Worship and sacrifice ceremonies were determined in every detail and systematized. These ceremonies were mostly administered by the Great King. Since the gods were imaged in human form, various foods, breads and drinks were offered them to meet their needs. The sacred liquid in the libation pots such as "ispantuzz" and "kattakurant", which were probably oversized, was poured into the presence of gods. According to the text, often hymns are sung with libation and musical instruments are played (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• 1785 BCE: Decline of Egypt’s Middle Kingdom (NatGeo). 

• 1792-1750 BCE: Reign of Babylonian King Hammurabi, who enlarges his territory to include many neighboring cities, creating a kingdom of Babylon.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1795-1550 BCE: Egypt’s Second Intermediate Period (13th-17th dynasties) (British Museum).

• 1800 BCE: Rise of the Olmec Empire in the narrow “waist” of Mexico. Olmec culture focused heavily on human sacrifice, invented systems of writing, established widespread trade networks, tracked the orbits of planets, created a 365-day calendar, recorded its history in accordion- folded books of fig tree bark paper called codices, and invented the zero.-1491 by Mann.

• 19c BCE: The city of Ephesus, at the mouth of the River Cayster on the W. coast of modern Asiatic Turkey is established.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 19c BCE: Amorite King Sumuabum establishes a kingdom with its capital at Babylon.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• ~1800-? BCE: Life of the biblical Jacob, son of Isaac and Rebekah, who receives his parents blessing to the detriment of his brother Esau, who becomes jealous and plans to kill him. Jacob flees north to his mother’s people, the Arameans and meets his Uncle Laban, who offers Jacob work and pay. Jacob agrees to work for seven years in exchange for wedding Laban’s daughter Rachel, however Laban gives her Leah. Jacob works another seven years to wed Rachel. He raises a family and becomes extremely wealthy. After residing with Laban for 20 years, Jacob returns to Canaan, fleeing with his family as Laban is away tending his flocks. Jacob and Laban make amends and, during a dream, Jacob is told to change his name to Israel. Jacob makes peace with his brother Esau, builds an altar at Bethel, and gives birth to 12 children; with Leah- Reuben, Simeon Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon, with Rachel- Joseph and Benjamin, with Zilpah (Leah’s handmaid)- Gad and Asher, with Bilha (Rachel’s handmaid)- Dan and Naphtali.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1800-100 BCE: Mesoamerican Preclassical Period; Mesoamerican development of agriculture allows for the establishment of permanent communities. The first Maya cities rise including Kaminaljuyú, Cerros, Nacbé, and El Mirador (Mexico City Culture Museo). 

• 1800-100 BCE: Olmec civilization thrives on the Mexican Gulf Coast with its religious capital at La Venta (Mexico City Culture Museo). 

• 1800 BCE: The Canaanites first appear in the historical record, when the king of the city-state of Mari in today’s eastern Syria complained about “thieves and Canaanites” (NatGeo). 

• 1800 BCE: Desertification of the historic Fertile Crescent, potentially to long term salt accumulation in farmers fields, eventually poisoning soils and crops. Cuneiform tablets of 3800 years ago describe a farm system in its death throes, with “black fields becoming white” and “plants choked with salt.-Rivers Run Dry by Pearce.  

• ~1800 BCE: An ~9.5M earthquake strikes Chile (Livescience). 

• 1800 BCE- 1500: Polynesians settle the Polynesian region of the Pacific Ocean (Wiki). 

• 1878-1843 BCE: Reign of Egyptian Pharoah Senusret III; he invades Palestine along the Way of Horus to Gaza and beyond as far as Shechem.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1895-539 BCE: The Babylonian Empire; An ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in central-southern Mesopotamia (Wiki). 

• 1900-1600 BCE: The Erlitou culture of E. China is thought to be China’s earliest state. The Erlitou carve magnificent blades of polished jade (British Museum).

• 1900-1400 BCE: Late phase of the Indus Valley Civilization, in which it mysteriously disappears.-Sustainability by de Vries.

• ~1900-? BCE: Life of the biblical Isaac, son of Abraham and Sarah, who God promises will lead a great nation. Isaac spends most of his life seeking water for his flocks and occasionally growing crops, as conditions permit. Isaac digs his own well, named Rehboth, and has two sons with Rebekah, Jacob and Esau. 

• 1900 BCE: Crete has developed a hieroglyphic script, possibly under Egyptian influence. Later, Crete develops its script into two linear scripts, Linear A and B.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 1900 BCE: Invaders wipe out the great Indus Valley city of Mohenjo-Daro (NatGeo). 

----------2000 BCE----------

• 2000 BCE: Khoi herders first arrive in the W. Cape of S. Africa (Table Mountain NP).

• 2000 BCE: The Minoans build a large palace complex with impressive murals at Knossos, Phaistos, and Malia on the island of Crete. The Minoans were skilled seafarers with a network of trade relations that extended all the way to Egypt (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• ~2000 BCE: The Canaanites, Phoenicians, and Greeks spread viniculture throughout the Mediterranean (NatGeo).

• 2000- 500 BCE: The Maya are the most advanced civilizations in the Meso-America’s Yucatán Peninsula. The peninsula had significant gradients in elevation, soil thickness, rainfall and water accessibility. Three river basins on the peninsula provided transition zones – or ecotones – which created and sustained cultural diversity.-Sustainability by de Vries.

• 2000-1500 BCE: Milpa Harvests break 200lbs/acre for the first time, giving rise to the Olmec, Mesoamerica’s first great civilization.-1491 by Mann.

• ~2000 BCE: The Chinese enjoy frozen syrups (NatGeo). 

• 4 Ka: Writing begins in Mesopotamia.-Brief History by Rutherford.

• 4ka: Plinian Eruption of Mt. Mazama, leaving the now water filled Crater Lake.-Volcanoes by MacDonald.  

• 4ka: The Climatic Optimum; a period of warm climate in which the world is somewhat warmer than now.-Volcanoes by MacDonald.  

• ~2M BCE: Babylon (S. of present-day Baghdad) flourishes (NatGeo). 

• ~2000 BCE: Lipstick is first used in Egypt to mimic the reddened genitals of the sexually aroused female.-Body Language by Pease. 

• ~2000 BCE: The Mesopotamian city of Ur thrives as an affluent port of roughly 60K people (NatGeo). 

• 2m BCE: The Assyrian Trade Colonies Period begins, bringing the cuneiform script the Assyrians had learned from the Sumerians to Anatolia (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• ~2000-? BCE: Life of the Biblical Abraham, aged 75, who travels with his father Terah, his brother Lot, and his wife Sarai from Ur to Haran (where Terah dies) to the lands of Canaan. Enroute, they stop at Sichem and Beth-el, where Abram builds an alter to Yahweh. Due to a famine, they journey to Egypt before returning to Canaan, however the lands can’t sustain the flocks of both Lot and Abram, so the brothers agree to split up. Abram remains in Canaan and Lot moves into the plains of Jordan. God tells Abram that Canaan is his land and he moves to Mamre in Hebron. During conflict between Sodom, Gomorrah, and the Elamites, Abram leads 318 men in a surprise attack on Elam and is victorious. He gives all his war spoils to Melchizedek, king of Salem. Meanwhile, Abraham’s wife Sarai is childless, so Abram beds her handmaid, Hagar, who gives birth to Ishmael. After more than a decade, God appears to Abram (now Abraham), promising him a son by Sarai (now Sarah). Abraham’s brother Lot escapes the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, moving into a cave where his daughters give birth (by him) over two years to the lineages of the Ammonites and the Moabites. Abraham moves S to Gerar, where his bareness is “cured” and he and Sarah give birth to Isaac. Sarah, jealous of Hagar and Ishmael, has them exiled into the wilderness. The sons of Ishmael become the Arabs. Abraham settles disputes over a well with Abimlech in Gerar and digs his own well at Beersheba. Abraham nearly sacrifices his son, Isaac, but stops at the last minute. Sarah dies in Kirjath-arba and Abraham finds Rebekah in Nachor where his brother resides. Rebekah marries Isaac, Abraham marries Keturah, who bears him six children, and Abraham later dies, leaving everything to his son Isaac.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes. 

• ~2000 BCE: Metallurgy develops, honing the effectiveness of weapons and introducing the sword, which appears on blood-splattered battlefields, probably introduced by the Assyrians.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 2000 BCE: The potter’s wheel is first used in Canaan.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 2000-1600 BCE: The Middle Bronze Age of the Middle East; the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and a Mesopotamian culture under the rule of Hammurabi flourish.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.  

• 2000 BCE: Damascus is a well-established and flourishing city.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.   

• ~2000 BCE: The Amorites and Semites from the Syro-Arabian desert settle in Mesopotamia leading to the dynasty of the Amorite, Sumuabum of Babylon. Under Hammurabi’s leadership, Babylon defeats Mari, and establishes an empire of letters. Babylonian power declines in the face of Kassite invasions from the NE, being followed by Hurrian invasions, and biblical Horites, drifting in from the Caucasus.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 2000-1600 BCE: Wadi Gawasis (‘Mersa Gawasis’) harbor is in use on the Red Sea.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.   

• 2000-1800 BCE: Egypt’s 12th Dynasty (Middle Kingdom period).-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 2000 BCE: Chickens are first domesticated in Central and South Asia (Mex City History Museo). 

• 2000 BCE: The Mixtecs settle in Yazanu, Central Mexico (Mex City Culture Museo). 

• 2025-1795 BCE: Egypt’s Middle Kingdom (Late 11th- 12th Dynasties) (British Museum).

• ~2050 BCE: Uruk King Utu-hengal, leading the cities of Sumer, revolts against Gutian King Tirigan. Utu-hengal’s forces are victorious and the Gutians flee back towards Gutium. Utu-hengal establishes himself as the king of Sumer (Wiki).   

• 2070-1600 BCE: The Xia Dynasty rules China.-China by Jaivin.

• Dynasty ended at the Mythical battle of Mingtiao.

• 2181-2025 BCE: Egypt’s First Intermediate Period (7th- Early 11th Dynasties); during this era there was no strong national government. Power had shifted from the court to the provincial elites. In Memphis, there was a rapid succession of ineffective kings (7th/8th dynasties). For the first time in a thousand years the country split into smaller political entities, vying for influence and territory. Two lines of powerbrokers rose to prominence: the 9th/10th-Dynasty kings from Herakleopolis in the north, and the governors of Thebes. While Herakleopolis controlled the Nile Valley as far as Asyut, the Theban governors became the dominant power in the south and began to style themselves as kings (11th Dynasty). A protracted Civil war came to an end when Montuhotep Il of Thebes secured control of the entire land. Later generations revered him as the founder or a new era, now known as the Middle Kingdom. The decentralization of power led to a decline in standards of artistic production, but many provincial centers saw an Increased output of private monuments. Tomb inscriptions of provincial governors inform us or their accomplishments and loyalty to either the Herakleopolitan or Theban rulers (British Museum).

• 2200 BCE: The 4.2 kiloyear (4.2K) event; a severe long-term drought, the most severe climatic event of the Holocene epoch, is hypothesized to have caused the collapse of the Old Kingdom of Egypt (due to a series of civil uprisings) as well as the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia, and the Liangzhu culture in the Lower Yangtze River Area. Drought may also have initiated the collapse of the Indus River Valley Civilizations, with some populations moving SE as well as the migration of Indo-European speaking people into India (Wiki).-Sustainability by de Vries.

• 2200 BCE: The Canaanites rule over parts of the Northern Arabian Peninsula from their capital at Ugarit City (modern Ras Shamra in N. Syria) (Al Fahidi Coin Museum).

• 2200 BCE: Written law codes first appear in the Babylonia.-IWM by Heathcote.

• ~2230 BCE: The Gutians, invaders from the Zagros mountains, sweep down into Babylonia (southern Mesopotamia), overthrowing the Akkadian empire (Britannica). 

• 2250-2150 BCE: A prolonged dry period strikes the Middle East and N. Africa, bringing a series of consistently low floods and more than half a century of famine.-Sustainability by de Vries.

• 23c BCE: Babylon is established as a provincial capital ruled by the Kings of the city of Ur.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.   

• 2250 BCE: King Ur-Nanše, ruler of the Sumerian city of Lagash, asserts that ‘ships of Dilmun, from the foreign lands, brought me wood as tribute’.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 2300 BCE- 100: The Mesoamerican Preclassical (Formative) Period is characterized by the development of intensive agriculture (Mexico City Culture Museo). 

• 2300 BCE: A temple dedicated to the Assyrian goddess Ishtar is built in Nineveh (it is later restored in ~1800 BCE).-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.   

• ~2300 BCE: The Akkadians are united by Sargon (c. 2330-2279 BCE), who develops trade routes to the NE, to Asia Minor in the W, and into the Indus valley. The empire established by Sargon and his sons reaches to the Persian Gulf, Elam, Upper Mesopotamia, and Syria, ruling from sea to sea.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• ~2300 BCE: A powerful wave of Semitic nomads surg into Mesopotamia from the Syro-Arabian desert, the Zagros Mountains, and Persia, pounding the civilized areas, and laying the foundations of the Akkadian kingdom.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• ~2300 BCE: Domestication of Bees for Honey (NatGeo). 

• 2300 BCE: Sumer is ruled by King Sargon and trade with ships from Meluḫḫa and Magan at the Sumer dock in Akkad. The creation of a sea link between the cities is one of the first moments when civilizations that had developed independently to a comparable cultural level entered into dialogue with one another across the sea.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 2334-2154 BCE: Akkadian dynasty; the first empire of Mesopotamia following the long-lived civilization of Sumer. It was centered in the city of Akkad and its surrounding region. The Empire united Akkadian and Sumerian speakers under one rule and exercised influence over Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Anatolia (Wiki). 

• ~2350 BCE: Tales of shipwrecked sailors written on Papyrus tell of a remarkable voyage to the region of Punt.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 2350-2150 BCE: The Akkadian dynasty thrives in modern Anatolia (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• 2360 BCE: Birth of the Celestial Sun in Mayan Culture (Mex City History Museo). 

• ~2400 BCE: After defeating Lagash, Umma King Lugal-zage-si expands his rule over the cities of the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers, possibly extending his rule to the Med coast. Others look on leading to an escalation in warfare in which Sargon of Akkad, puts an end to the glory of Lugal-zage-si.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 2437-2393 BCE: Reign of Pharoah Djedkare-Izezi over Egypt’s 5th Dynasty during which the oldest surviving papyrus documents are dated.-Human Universe by Cox.

----------2500 BCE----------

• 2500-1700 BCE: The Hattian culture thrives in modern Anatolia (“Land of Hatti”). Hattians lived in local principalities and spoke Hattian. The most important known Hatti principality is Alacahöyük (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• Bull: Considered a sacred animal during this era, likely used as a symbol on a staff during ceremonies. 

• 2500- 1700 BCE: Reign of the Indus Valley Civilization in what is now mainly Pakistan on the Indian subcontinent. The Indus Valley people benefited from the highly fertile lands of the Indus River floodplain and trade from nearby Mesopotamia. Two cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, once home to 40,000 to 50,000 people, testified to their sophistication and central planning (NatGeo). 

• 2500 BCE: War between Umma and Lagash in the Tigris-Euphrates River Basin is fought over water.-Chasing Water by Richter.

• 2500 BCE: The Canaanites began to develop towns and cities (NatGeo). 

• 2500 BCE: The earliest recorded dam was built in Egypt and was made of earth, as all dams were until concrete was invented.-Blue Gold by Marlow.

• ~2500 BCE: Construction of Stonehenge in southern England (NatGeo). 

• ~2500 BCE: Jerusalem is first settled by a Semitic people.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 2500-64 BCE: The Phoenician period, an ancient Thalassocratic Civilization originating in the Levant region of the E. Med, primarily located in Modern Lebanon. The Phoenicians came to prominence in the mid-12c BCE, following the decline of most influential cultures in the Late Bronze Age collapse. They were renowned as skilled traders and mariners, becoming the dominant commercial power for much of classic antiquity. The Phoenicians developed an expansive maritime trade network that last over a millennium, helping facilitate the exchange of cultures, ideas, and knowledge between major cradles of civilization such as Greece, Egypt, and Mesopotamia.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• ~2500 BCE: An 80/20 split of salt tolerant barley and less tolerant wheat is grow in the fertile crescent as salt accumulates in fertile crescent agricultural fields (USGS, unk). 

• 2500 BCE: The cities of Harappā and Mohenjo-daro dominate the Indus Valley.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 2500 BCE: Greenland is first settled by Native Americans.-Collapse by Diamond.  

• 2500-1500 BCE: The Kerma kingdom rules over N. Sudan, centered on the town of Kerma. The Kingdom rapidly extends its cultural influence, and probably its control, as far upstream as the 4th Cataract region (British Museum).

• 2560 BCE: The Great Pyramid is completed at Giza in Egypt (British Museum).

• 2600 BCE: Rise of the Old Kingdom of Egypt along the fertile Nile River Valley as one of the first great ancient civilizations.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 2600-1900 BCE: The Indus Civilization, one of the first urban societies in history, develops in the fertile Indus River Valley (British Museum).

• 2550-2490 BCE: The Giza Pyramids are built in Egypt by the Pharaohs; Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure (NatGeo). 

• 2490 BCE: Construction begins on Menkaure’s Pyramid. 

• 2520 BCE: Construction begins on Khafre’s Pyramid and includes the Sphinx. 

• 2550 BCE: Construction begins on Khufu’s Pyramid, the tallest at 147n with ~2.3 million stone blocks each weighing between 2.5-15 tons. 

• 2575-2130 BCE: Egypt, Old Kingdom (Britannica). 

• ~2600-2350 BCE: The Umma-Lagash War(s) (‘Hundred Years War’) are fought in modern S. Iraq as disputes between the two as Umma infringed upon an old border treaty with neighboring city-state Lagash regarding a fertile piece of land coveted by both (Wiki).

• 2600 BCE: The Umma-Girsu War is fought between the Sumerian states. Known as the world’s first recorded water, when the king of Umma in Sumer cut the banks of irrigation canals dug by his neighbor, the king of Girsu. But the kings of Girsu were not beaten. They dug a new canal to capture the waters of the Euphrates’ twin river, the Tigris.-Rivers Run Dry by Pearce.   

• 2600 BCE: Reign of Egyptian Pharaoh Snefru.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• ~2686-2181 BCE: Egypt’s Old Kingdom Period (3rd- 6th Dynasties) (British Museum).

• 2686-2125 BCE: The Old Kingdom Period of Ancient Egypt; highlighted by mummification, in which elite members of society had their organs (stomach, intestines, liver and lungs) placed in canopic jars, and preserved the body in linen bandages, leaving the heart untouched and the brain removed and discarded.-If Nietzsche were a Narwhal by Gregg.

• 2700 BCE: Upper and Lower Egypt are unified under the early pharaohs, resulting in the creation of a centralized, affluent society able to draw upon the rich resources in wheat and barley of the lands regularly inundated by the Nile.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 2700-2400 BCE: The Corded Pottery culture spreads across vast parts of central and eastern Europe, once again uniting large areas of the continent into a collective cultural space. West of this population group was the Bell Beaker culture. Corded Pottery burial sites show observance of strict burial rites, with the dead laid to rest on their left or right sides depending on gender, and aligned in a W-E direction (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 2800-1000 BCE: The Sanxingdui culture of Sichuan province, China (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 2800-1900 BCE: Mature phase of the Indus Valley Civilization, characterized by a period of at least a dozen large cities. A variety of crops were grown, including rice and cotton, and there were extensive metal mining and smelting activities.-Sustainability by de Vries.

• 2890-2686 BCE: Egypt’s 2nd Dynasty; Rival kingdoms brought strife to Egypt’s two lands. In the S, King Peribsen broke with tradition and adopted the god Seth as his patron, instead of Horus, the falcon god. Order and unity were finally restored by the dynasty’s ultimate king, Khasekhemwy, who took both Horus and Seth as his patron deities. Leading the country to new cultural heights, Khasekhemwy consolidated his power with an intensive campaign of construction. Technological developments in his reign led to the first extensive use of dressed stone in Egyptian history, preparing the way for the Pyramid Age that followed (British Museum).

• 2900 BCE: Earliest evidence of bronze-working in China (British Museum).

----------3000 BCE----------

• ~3000 BCE: Cuneiform (‘wedge-shaped’), the earliest known system of writing, emerges in the Sumerian cities of Mesopotamia (although it’s possible that Egyptian hieroglyphs may predate it). Cuneiform comprises a thousand or more symbols created using a stylus made from reed that was pressed into a soft clay tablet.-Human Universe by Cox.

• ~3000 BCE: Unification of Egypt’s upper and lower kingdoms. 

• 3000 BCE: The city of Canaan is established by Semitic settlers.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 3000-2100 BCE: The Early Bronze Age of the Middle East witnesses the rise of civilizations of the Old Kingdom in Egypt, the Kingdom of Sargon of Akkad, and the Sumerian Empire in Mesopotamia.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• ~3000-1200 BCE: The Bronze Age in the Middle East.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 3000-1900 BCE: The Longshan culture of E. China produces high quality jades (British Museum).

• 2900 BCE: Egypt is ruled by Pharaoh Den (NatGeo). 

• 3000 BCE: The earliest chariots appear in Mesopotamia (NatGeo). 

• 3000 BCE: The Mixtecs emerge in Mesoamerica (Mex City Culture Museo).  

• 3000 BCE: Camels are first domesticated in SE Asia (Mex City History Museo). 

• ~3000 BCE: Peak of the city of Uruk, the chief city of Sumer, the earliest known civilization in S. Mesopotamia (near present day Samawah, Iraq). Ur (present day Tell el-Muqayyar in Iraq), S. of Uruk, rises in its place  (NatGeo). 

• ~3000 BCE: The common cold is spread from horses to humans.-Killer Germs by Zimmerman.

• 3000-1950 BCE: The Early Chalcolithic (Bronze) Age in Türkiye; with the establishment of city states, the village life moved to the cities and local principalities were founded. The invention of Bronze, by alloying Cu and Sn, melted in high temperature and re-hardening when cooled, became influential in all aspects of life (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• 3m BCE: Glass is first produced in Sumeria; considered the first artificial material, glass consists of silica, soda and limestone melted at around 1000 C (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• 3000 BCE: Rise of Crete as a trading power in the Mediterranean (NatGeo). 

• 3000-1100 BCE: Minoan culture dominates the Mediterranean (NatGeo). 

• 3000 BCE: Horses are first domesticated in Eurasia (Mex City History Museo). 

• 3000 BCE: Corn, Chiles, and Beans are first cultivated in Mesoamerica and South America (Mex City History Museo). 

• 3000 BCE: Dating of the homes and quarries of Stonehenge, discovered in England in 2003 (Cape Town Museum). 

• 3000 BCE: Evidence suggests that workers in the city of Uruk (modern Iraq) were paid by their employers with volumes of beer (Nautika Restaurant Dubrovnik). 

• 5 Ka- 3 Ka: The Earth cools, with temperatures on dipping to a low by ~3 Ka.-Geology by Marshak.

• 5 Ka: Founding of the first cities.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 3000 BCE: The Alpaca is first domesticated in South America (Mex City History Museo). 

• 3100-2800 BCE: Early phase of the Indus Valley Civilization, characterized by early farming communities and pastoral camps.-Sustainability by de Vries.

• ~3100 BCE: Upper Egyptian King Narmer unifies Egypt incorporating the lands west of the fertile, triangular Nile Delta region (Cairo to Lake Nasser) into his own kingdom; the worlds first territorial state (NatGeo). 

• End 4m BCE: City states begin to emerge in the Jordan River Valley.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 3100-2890 BCE: Ancient Egypt’s First Dynasty; a series of 8 kings from Abydos rule over a unified Egypt. These early kings ruled an increasingly urban society that was socially divided and spread over a large geographical area. Using a mixture of traditional and new ideology, effective management, and brute force, they forged the world’s first nation state (British Museum).

• 3100: Reign of Narmer, Egypt’s first king. Narmer inaugurates Egypt by winning a battle in the Western Delta and fully unifies upper and lower Egypt (British Museum).

• 13 Aug, 3114 BCE: Beginning of the fourth and last cycle of the world’s creation/destruction, according to the Maya (British Museum).

• 3114 BCE: Creation of the Universe in Mayan Culture (Mex City History Museo). 

• 3150 BCE: Egyptians maintain industrial-scale breweries of the sort that was eventually used to supply workers building the great Pyramids at Giza (NatGeo). 

• 3200 BCE: Unification of Egypt and the rise of the Old Kingdom.-Sustainability by de Vries.

• 3200 BCE: Writing is invented in Mesopotamia.-These Truths by Lepore. 

• 3200 BCE: Sumerian scribes begin inscribing on clay tablets with sharpened reeds.-1491 by Mann.

• 3250 BCE: Ancient Egyptians invent Hieroglyphs (sacred carvings- ‘gods words’) (British Museum).

• 3300-2600 BCE: The Early Bronze Age; the invention of writing in Mesopotamia and the establishment of the first pioneer city states occur in Anatolia with executive systems based on religion and military power. Interregional relations intensify with the emergence of sea and land trade routes (IST Airport Museum). 

• 3300-2200 BCE: The Liangzhu culture around Lake Tai in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces of E China; jades are worn on the body (British Museum).

• 3300 BCE: Ötzi the iceman, the world’s oldest intact human, is killed by a foes arrow in the Ötzal Alps in Italy (NatGeo). 

• 3400 BCE: Creation of the Ouachita mounds in NE Louisiana.-1491 by Mann.

----------3500 BCE----------

• ~3500 BCE: The Sumerians, a non-semitic people, push into the SW part of Mesopotamia from the NE, establishing a number of wealthy city states, such as Babylon, Kish, Isin, Shurrupak, and Uruk.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes. 

• 3500 BCE: The potter’s wheel is first used in Mesopotamia.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 3500-1200 BCE: Canaanite culture dominates the area between Egypt and Mesopotamia during the Bronze Age (NatGeo). 

• 3500-3100 BCE: The earliest known clear chemical evidence of beer produced from barley is found at Godin Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of W. Iran (Nautika Resturant Dubrovnik).

• 3500-3000 BCE: Sumerian’s invent writing in order to overcome the problem of storing large amounts of data, including numbers.-Sapiens by Harari.  

• 3500 BCE: Sumerians in the Fertile Crescent construct the first large irrigation system using river water diverted from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers down long canals and erected earth defenses against the spring floods. Building on this agricultural prosperity, they began to construct great cities including Ur, Kish, and Uruk, where the first writing was produced and the first sciences developed.-Rivers Run Dry by Pearce.  

• ~3500 BCE: The Nomadic Yamnaya culture of E. Europe begin riding horses (NatGeo). 

• ~3500 BCE: A 50/50 split of Barley and Wheat is grown in the Fertile Crescent (USGS, unk). 

• 3500 BCE: Bronze Age begins as people in present-day Turkey develop process of making stronger, more durable bronze tools and weapons. 

• 5.6 Ka: Horses are domesticated in Eurasia.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 3600 BCE: The first Neolithic settlers arrive on Orkney from Scotland.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 3630 BCE: Sericulture is first practiced in China.-China by Jaivin. 

• 3700-2800 BCE: The ‘A-Group’ culture lives in Wawat, south of the Egyptian border (British Museum).

• 3700-1800 BCE: Norte Chico Culture inhabits modern Peru.  

• 2700 BCE: Porvenir and Upaca Cities rise in S. America.-1491 by Mann.

• 3100 BCE: Caballete City rises in S. America.-1491 by Mann.

• 3200-2500 BCE: Technologically sophisticated societies first arise in Peru with large scale public buildings under Norte Chico Culture.-1491 by Mann.

• 3500 BCE: Rise of Huaricanga in modern Peru as the S. American continents first known city.-1491 by Mann.

• 3761 BCE: The first day of creation according to the Jewish Bible.  

----------4000 BCE----------

• 4000 BCE: Metalworking of gold and copper, previously worked cold, are first smelted and cast.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 4000 BCE: Introduction of Cassava Beer. Ancient brewers made the potent drink by peeling, boiling, and then chewing the starchy root; their saliva converts starch into a fermentable sugar (NatGeo). 

• 6 Ka: The city of Uruk extends >100 ha. Rural peasant families produce foods such as wheat, barley, vegetables, milk, meat and the flax, wool, hides, dung, reeds, clay for nonfood needs such as clothing and housing.-Sustainability by de Vries.

• 4000 BCE: Cultivation of corn in Central America explodes, allowing Mayan culture to expand (NatGeo). 

• 4000 BCE: End of the Mesolithic; start of the Neolithic. Human populations begin moving towards land ownership as opposed to land exploitation as in the Mesolithic.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• ~4000 BCE: Founding of the city of Uruk, the chief city of Sumer and the earliest known civilization in S. Mesopotamia (near present day Samawah, Iraq). (NatGeo). 

• ~4000 BCE: Founding of Ur (later the birthplace of the biblical patriarch Abraham) in Mesopotamia (present Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq) (NatGeo). 

• 4000 BCE: Austronesians from Taiwan began migrating to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Australia.

• > 6 Ka: The Fertile Crescent is first irrigated, providing the foundation upon which civilizations are built. However, canals do not sufficiently drain excess water, thus salts accumulate in water and soils (USGS, unk). 

• 0900, 4004 BCE: Creation of Earth, according to Irish Prelate Ussher.-Sustainability by de Vries.

• 23 Oct, 4004 BCE: Day of Creation according to Archbishop James Ussher.-1491 by Mann.

• 4400-3900 BCE: The Badarian are Egypt’s earliest agricultural society. Badarian farmers live in small villages and cultivate wheat, barley, and flax (British Museum).

• 4400 BCE: The Saharan climate turns dry and people began abandoning the desert to settle in oases and by the Nile. There, they take up farming, an innovation from the Levant, triggering social and technological development that leads directly to the beginning of Egyptian civilization at about 3100 BCE (British Museum).

----------4500 BCE----------

• 5m BCE: The earliest known gold jewels are discovered on the banks of the Black Sea in Modern Bulgaria (Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum).

• 5m BCE: Sumerian coins, made of sea shells, first appear during the period of Prophet Noah (Al Fahidi Coin Museum). 

• 4500 BCE: Introduction of Koumiss in Central Asia, a mildly alcoholic drink made from mare’s milk (NatGeo). 

• ~4500 BCE: Earliest evidence of barley beer from Godin Tepe, Iran (NatGeo). 

• 4500-1900 BCE: Sumer Culture; the earliest known civilization in the historical region of S. Mesopotamia (S. Central- Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages. It is one of the cradles of civilization in the world (Wiki). 

• 4500 BCE: The Sumerians develop writing and urbanize the first city in Uruk, discovered in 1849 in Iraq (Cape Town Museum). 

• 4500 BCE: Rise of the Ubaid culture in S. Iraq.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 4500 BCE: The land bridge connecting Europe and Britain closes. 

• 4500 BCE: Collapse of the Linear Pottery culture. Following it, small or more wide-ranging cultures alternated in rapid succession in the loess areas. They continued to be strongly related to the Danubian tradition in their way of life, building styles and burial customs (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 4600-4400 BCE: Rössen culture spreads in Central Europe (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 4700-2900 BCE: The Hongshan Culture of NE China; jades appear in the tombs of the elite (British Museum).

• 4700-4200 BCE: Horses are first domesticated near the intersection of the Volga and Don Rivers in S. Russia (NatGeo). 

----------5000 BCE----------

• ~5000 BCE: The city of Ur (modern ‘Tell el-Muqayyar’ in S. Iraq) on the River Euphrates is first occupied.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• ~5000 BCE: The Jordan river valley is first inhabited.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 5000 BCE: Jericho is settled (the first known human settlement) on the W. Bank of the Jordan River. It covered barely 10 acres and had a thick defensive wall. Close by was a spring, recorded in the Bible as Elisha’s Spring. It was the reason for Jericho’s existence.-Rivers Run Dry by Pearce.  

• ~5000 BCE: Founding Aslantepe (Melidia-Meliddu), 7km NE of modern Malatya (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• 5000 BCE: Desertification of the Sahara.-Rivers Run Dry by Pearce.  

• 7 Ka: Lake Mega Chad spreads > 400K sqkm, making it slightly larger than the Caspian Sea (the biggest lake on Earth today) (Earth Observatory). 

• 7 Ka: Rise of Eridu in S. Iraq, possibly as the worlds first city- a Mesopotamian political and religious center for hundreds of generations of urban dwellers until its final abandonment around 600 BCE (NatGeo). 

• 7ka: Potatoes are cultivated in S. America.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 7ka: Bananas are cultivated in SE Asia.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• ~5300 BCE: Earliest evidence of grape wine at Hajji Firuz in the Zagreb Mountains of Iran (NatGeo). 

----------5500 BCE----------

• 5500-3300 BCE: The Chalcolithic Period; complex and advanced social differentiation develops in response to increasing commercial and technological development. Metallurgy becomes large scale during this period (IST Airport Museum). 

• 6m BCE: Dating of the oldest known irrigation canals in Choga Mami, an agricultural settlement in the low hills NW of Bagdad (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 5500-4500 BCE: Linear Pottery Culture flourishes around Europe. Most cultural evidence has been found on the middle Danube, the upper and middle Elbe, and the upper and middle Rhine. The pottery consists of simple cups, bowls, vases, jugs without handles and, in a later phase, with pierced lugs, bases, and necks (Wiki).

• 5600 BCE: In SW Germany, the transition from game hunting to farming takes place; sheep, goats, cattle and pigs are now being bred as domestic animals, and cereals grew in the fields (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 5700 BCE: Crater Lake in OR is formed following the massive eruption of Mt. Mazama. The lake has a max depth of ~600m.-Ecology by Singer.

----------6000 BCE----------

• 6000 BCE: Domestication of grapes (NatGeo). 

• 6000 BCE: Introduction of Sorghum beer, made from a nutritious grain and spread across the Sahel when the climate was wetter (NatGeo). 

• 6000-5200 BCE: Half Culture thrives in modern Syria. The largest known Half settlement is Domuztepe, Kahramanmaras (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• 5750 BCE: Goddess Figurine Terracotta Catalhöyuk (Ankara Anatolia Museum).

• 6000- 4000 BCE: The Neolithic Period. 

• 6000 BCE: The first known people of modern Norway settle at Vistehola (Viking Museum Lofoten). 

• 6000 BCE: The Paituna Culture inhabit parts of Amazonia.-1491 by Mann.

• 6000 BCE: Potatoes are domesticated in the South American Andes. 

• 6000-5000 BCE: Earliest evidence of jade-working in China (British Museum).

• 6000 BCE: The Sumerites inhabit Babylon. 

• 8 Ka: Chickens are domesticated in SE Asia.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

----------6500 BCE----------

• 6500-3700 BCE: The Ubaid prehistoric period of Mesopotamia (Wiki). 

• 6500 BCE: The land bridge connecting Britain and Ireland closes. 

• 6500 BCE: Modern humans in S. Asia turn from hunter-gathering to farming and herding (British Museum).

----------7000 BCE----------

• ~7000 BCE: Some of the earliest farmers settle in Beidha (modern day Jordan). Living in round, stone-built houses, they grow barley and wheat and domesticate goats, engage in ritual and ceremony, and bury their dead.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 7000 BCE: Earliest evidence of alcohol beverages- a kind of wine from rice, honey, and fruit, at Jiahu, China (NatGeo). 

• 7000 BCE: Domestication of corn in Mesoamerica (NatGeo). 

• 7000 BCE: Beginnings of agriculture in China (British Museum).

• 9ka: Rice is cultivated in China.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 9 Ka: Pigs are first domesticated, based on evidence derived from SE Turkiye (Stuttgart Pig Museum).

• 9ka: Sheep are domesticated in Middle East.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 9ka: Corn is cultivated in N. America.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

----------7500 BCE----------

• 7500 BCE: Evolution of farming culture in China (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 7500 BCE: Wheat is domesticated in the S. Levant (British Museum).

• 9.5ka: Wheat is cultivated in the Middle East.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 9.5ka: Çatalhōyūk, Turkey begins to grow into a city.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

----------8000 BCE----------

• 8000 BCE: Evidence of farming first occurs in the Nile River Valley, Asia’s Indus Valley, and in Mesoamerica.-Human Universe by Cox.

• ~8000 BCE: Jericho, ~10km W. of the River Jordan and ~16km N. of the Dead Sea, is thought to have been first inhabited.-Atlas of the Bible by Barnes.

• 8000 BCE: Domestication of Barley, rice, and wheat (NatGeo). 

• 8000 BCE: Rising seas caused by a warming climate separate Australia and New Guinea (NatGeo). 

• 8000 BCE: Close of the last ice age and retreat of the Ice Sheets.-Rivers Run Dry by Pearce.  

• 8000 BCE: Village accountants in the Fertile Crescent began keeping records with clay tokens.-1491 by Mann.

• 10 Ka BCE: The Chinchorro, Peru’s first inhabitants, create history’s first mummies in the Atacama Desert.-1491 by Mann.

• 10 Ka: Domestication of Canis Lupis, the Grey Wolf; of which all modern dog breeds originally descended.

• 10 Ka: The Neolithic Revolution (farming) in Mesoamerica.-1491 by Mann.

• 10 Ka: Formation of Lake Agassiz and the River Warren in Minnesota covering 110K mi2. 

• 10 Ka: Construction of Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, the world’s oldest known temple (NatGeo). 

• 10 Ka: Cows are domesticated in Africa and the Middle East.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 10 Ka: Ice age Ice sheets recede leaving rock scars and filling pluvial lakes in cirques, basins, and other general low points including the Great Basin, Death Valley. Lake Bonneville, for example, was around 300 m deep at its crest and covered hundreds of miles (Dutch, 1999). Over time the climate changed for the drier, these glacial lakes disappeared (JHU Watersheds, Patterson).

• 10 Ka: Squash is cultivated in N. & S. America.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

----------8500 BCE----------

• 10.5ka: Humans begin domesticating plants and animals.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 8600-4400 BCE: The Sahara is green as moisture released into the atmosphere and summer rain falls during the end of the last Ice Age (~10Ka) (British Museum).

• ~10,800-9,800 Ka: The Younger Dryas; a 1000-year cold period triggers dryer conditions in the region of the fertile crescent possibly initiating the transition from hunter-gathering to agriculture as the Natufians in the region begin cultivating the previously abundant wild crops on which they had come to rely.-Human Universe by Cox.

----------9000 BCE----------

• 9000 BCE: The foundational crops of modern agriculture, including wheat, barley, peas, and lentils, are all found in the Fertile Crescent.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 9000-5500 BCE: The Neolithic Age; humans pivot from hunter-gatherers to an agrarian based lifestyle with permanent settlements. Urbanization, economics, constitutions, and empires follow (IST Airport Museum). 

----------9500 BCE----------

• 9600 BCE: Dating of the Göbekli Tepe in Modern Turkey, the oldest known temple (discovered in 1994) (Cape Town Museum). 

• ~9600 BCE: Construction of Göbekli Tepe, a circular and rectangular stone enclosure with mysterious T-shaped pillars that, one of the world’s oldest known temples (NatGeo). 

• 10m BCE: People in the middle east are growing emmer, single-corn wheat and barley and domesticating the wild ancestors of European sheep and goats. Initially, cattle were kept as a continuous reserve of meat; later on, wool and milk production took on growing importance. Early farmers had to process cows' milk so that they could drink it; later on, their descendants developed an enzyme that allowed adults to digest larger quantities of milk (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

----------10,000 BCE----------

• 10,000-4000 BCE: Dating of the Rock art masterpieces of the Sahara, depicting a desert teeming with life (discovered in the mid 1800s) (Cape Town Museum).

• 10,000: The Agricultural Revolution occurs; humans learn to farm lands and to domesticate animals. It is theorized that when people learned how to control nature, they invented gods to help them control it more when they fail.-Sapiens by Harari.

• 10ka: Sugarcane is domesticated in New Guinea.-1493 by Mann. 

• 10,000- 4,000 BCE: A slight shift in the Earth's orbit brought between 7 and 8% more sunlight to the northern hemisphere. This enhanced the rainfall of Mesopotamia by 25-20%, markedly altering the ratio of rainfall to evaporation and increasing the overall moisture available to plants sevenfold. What was once a desert was transformed into a verdant plain that supported dense farming communities. After 3800 BC, however, Earth's orbit reverted to its former Pattern and rainfall dropped off, forcing many farmers to abandon their fields and wander in search of food.-The Weather Makers by Flannery.

• 11ka: The earliest archaeological evidence of fermentation consisting of a beer with the consistency of gruel is found at the Raqefet Cave in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa in Israel. The beer was used by the seminomadic Natufians for ritual feasting (Nautika Restaurant Dubrovnik).

• 11ka: Retreat of the Ice Age Glaciers, gouging the basins that become the Great Lakes (NatGeo). 

• 11ka: Jericho in the West Bank begins growing into a city.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• ~11 Ka: Horses disappear from the W. Hemisphere.-Ecoviews by Gibbons.

• 11 ka: The Neolithic Revolution (farming) in the Western Fertile Crescent. Societies began grouping into villages, cultivating wheat and barley. In the next few millennia, the wheel and the metal tool sprang up in the same area. The Sumerians put these inventions together, added writing, and in the third millennium B.C. created the first great civilization. Every European and Asian culture since, no matter how disparate in appearance, stands in Sumer’s shadow.-1491 by Mann.

• 11.5ka: The Holocene Period begins following a temporary warm phase in the middle of a continuing ice age.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

----------11 ka: Holocene Epoch Begins----------

• 11.6 Ka- ~5 Ka: The Earth warms, with temperatures reaching a peak at ~5,000 to 6,000 years ago, a period called the Holocene maximum, when average temperatures peaked at about 2°C above temperatures of today. This warming led to increased evaporation and therefore to increased precipitation, making the Middle East unusually wet and fertile—conditions that may have contributed to the rise of civilization in Mesopotamia and Egypt.-Geology by Marshak.

• ~12 Ka: The Natufians begin settling into larger communities in the fertile crescent around modern-day Jordan and Syria, perhaps because of the relatively benign climate. The area would have been forested and rich in wild cereals, fruits and nuts, rather than the austere desert of today.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 12 Ka: Human proto-societies begin shifting from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to agriculture; population densities increase.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 12 Ka: The Holocene begins, marked by the beginning of the current inter-glacial period.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 12 Ka: Invention of Agriculture.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 12 Ka: Agriculture originates in the so-called Levantine Corridor, near the Jordan valley lakes, in the form of the domestication of cereals and pulses.-Sustainability by de Vries.

• 12 ka: Horses in N. America go extinct following the arrival of humans.-Restoring Paradise by Cabin. 

• 12 ka: Beringia, the land bridge between Asia and America, sinks underneath rising sea levels.-1491 by Mann.

• 12.5 ka: Britain is first inhabited, possible at the end of the Ice Ages.-1491 by Mann.

• 12.8ka: Paleo-Indians occupy Monte Verde in S. Chile (16K km from the Bering Strait).-1491 by Mann. 

• 12.9 Ka- 11.6 Ka: The Younger Dryas period; the Earth cools, named for an Arctic flower that became widespread during the interval.-Geology by Marshak.

• 13 Ka: The Admiralty Islands are first settled by the Lapita.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 13.8 Ka - 11.4 Ka: Clovis culture dominates N. America in the late Pleistocene; mastodon, armored rhinos, dire wolves, sabretooth cats, glyptodonts, giant beavers, giant turtles, sloths, ostriches, all vanish.-1491 by Mann. 

• 14 - 13 Ka: The Trans-Canadian corridor is ice free allowing Paleo- Indians to cross Beringia and descend into S. Alberta and, hence, North America.-1491 by Mann.

• 14 Ka: Humans migrate to Siberia. 

• 13000 BCE: Earliest evidence of Potato Chicha in South America, a mildly alcoholic beverage made from potatoes (NatGeo). 

• 15 Ka: End of the Ice Ages; the climate warms, glaciers slowly melt, and sea levels rise.-1491 by Mann.

• When the glaciers melted, water gushed south, creating the Mississippi River and the Illinois and Missouri Rivers that funnel into it.-1491 by Mann.

• 15 Ka: Humans migrate to North America.

• 1600 BCE: Eruption of Thera in the Aegean Sea with an ~VEI of 7; possibly alluding to the destruction of Atlantis (NatGeo). 

• 15c BCE: The Minoans are a wealthy maritime power centered on Crete (NatGeo).  

• 16-12 Ka: Europe’s Magdalenian Period; Reindeer and horse hunters reach the edge of N. Europe. Conditions for human and animal survival in the thinly wooded tundra improve; the ice sheet starts to melt. Sparse woodlands begin appearing along the Danube. Deer, roe deer, aurochs, wisent and wolves roam the landscape, their presence clear evidence of a warmer climate (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 17 Ka: The Cary substage of the Last Ice age; sea level is ~90m below present.-Volcanoes by MacDonald.  

• 17 Ka- 12.9 Ka: The Earth warms during which the last ice-age glaciers retreat.-Geology by Marshak.

• 16000 BCE: Earliest known evidence of palm wine; still popularly In Africa and tropical Asia, it may have first been made by fermenting the sap of wild palms (NatGeo). 

• 18 Ka: Central Europe is slowly resettled by humans migrating from the W (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 18 Ka: Lascaux Cave artwork is drawn in southwestern France by Paleolithic painters who evoked on a grand scale the animals they knew nearly 20,000 years ago (NatGeo). 

• 18 Ka: Ice Sheets peak during the last Ice Age, reaching down from the poles to almost as far south as the OH River in the US Midwest (JHU Watersheds, Patterson).

• 18 Ka: Europe N. of the Loire Valley becomes habitable again as the Ice Age begins to wane.-1491 by Mann.

• 18 Ka: The first animals are domesticated.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 18.5 Ka: Dating of the Monte Verde Settlement in Chile, discovered in 1977 (Cape Town Museum). 

• 19c-16c BCE: Babylon is ruled by the Amorites, including King Hammurabi (NatGeo). 

• 20 Ka: The Second Glacial Maximum; peak of the ice age; the region N. of the Alps remains virtually unpopulated for an entire millennium (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 20 ka: Humans first settle in the Americas. Although no consensus has emerged, a growing number of researchers believe that the New World was occupied by a single small group that crossed the Bering Strait, got stuck on the Alaska side, and trickled to the Americas in several separate groups, possibly in boats along the Pacific coast.-1491 by Mann.

• 20 Ka: Peak of the last Ice Age; glaciers encase much of N. America, Europe, and Asia, days were about 11 degrees colder, and humans and animals lived further southward.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 20 ka- 12 ka: Formation of the Great Lakes from glacial meltwater; they contain 20% of the world’s freshwater, making them the largest fresh water system on earth. So vast and deep are these lakes that only the top 75 centimeters (about 30 inches) — one percent of the total water volume — is renewed each year.-Blue Gold by Marlow.

• 23 Ka: Evidence form a small group of humans living in current- day Israel suggests humans have figured out how to plant and harvest wild barley and oats in little farm plots.-If Nietzsche were a Narwhal by Gregg.

• 25 Ka: Neanderthals and Denisovans die out, leaving homo-sapiens as the only human species on Earth.-Geology by Marshak.

• 25 Ka: The first evidence of a human wearing a hat is found from the Venus von Willendorf statute, a limestone carving depicting a female figure wearing a beaded headdress.-If Nietzsche were a Narwhal by Gregg.

• 26.5ka- 20ka: The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM); temperatures decrease and growing glaciers lock up an increasing volume of water with sea levels dropping by ~400’ (from today). Many land features emerged from the seas including Beringia, connecting modern Siberia and Alaska (NatGeo).

• As temperatures during the LGM dropped, a pair of massive ice sheets—known as the Laurentide and Cordilleran—advanced across what is now Canada, forming a near-continuous icy wall from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans perhaps (NatGeo).

• 28 Ka: Modern humans migrate to South Asia (British Museum).

• 29-21 Ka: Europe’s Gravettian Period; named for the French site of La Gravette. During this period, the rather inhospitable climate of the Swabian Jura seems to have allowed no more than sporadic settlement. In these dry and cold times, the region was dominated by steppe and tundra landscapes covered with little more than grasses and herbs. Only a few robust tree species like pines, birches and willows managed to grow in well-protected spots. In the cold and dry conditions, the sparsely wooded steppe with roaming herds of mammoths gradually became a tree- less tundra grazed by wild horses and reindeer. And as Alpine glaciers advanced further and further south in these climatic conditions, the region ultimately became uninhabitable for millennia (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 29 Ka: The Solomon Islands are first settled by the Lapita.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 30 Ka: Dating of the oldest known Aboriginal Rock Art (Cape Town Museum). 

• 30,000 BCE: The Western Beringian peoples living near the Yana River in Siberia are the first to cross the Bering Strait.-Brief History by Rutherford.

• 30,000 BCE-11,000 BCE: The Last Glacial Maximum; the earth is subjected to a cold snap that sucks up the sea into glaciers and ice sheets extending from the Poles. The reach of the most recent Ice Age was at its fullest. Sea level was somewhere between 60-120m lower than today.-Brief History by Rutherford.

• 30 Ka: Australia’s Aboriginal tribes began to colonize the coastlines.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 32-14 Ka: Humans cross the Bering Strait, either island hopping by sea and/or in successive waves between the massive Laurentide and Cordilleran Ice Sheets, colonizing the America’s (Mexico City Culture Museo). 

• 32 Ka: Neanderthals Extinction.

• 32 Ka: Humans arrive in Okinawa.

• 35 Ka: Disappearance of Neanderthals, replaced by Cro-Magnons, a hipper subspecies of H. sapiens responsible for celebrated cave paintings in Lascaux, France.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 35 Ka: The Island of New Guinea is first settled by the Lapita.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 40-30 Ka: Europe’s Aurignacian period; named for a French site at Aurignac (Haute-Garonne), it begins with the appearance of the first modern humans in Europe. The Aurignac culture was known for its outstanding small-size works of art and occurred during a time of rapidly alternating climate extremes (Landesmuseum Württemberg).

• 40ka- Present: The Megafauna Extinction; most world megafauna species go extinct from human hunting.-Sixth Extinction by Kolbert. 

• ~1750: The final pulse of the Megafauna Extinction; New Zealand’s Moa’s are wiped out.-Sixth Extinction by Kolbert.

• ~1500: The third pulse of the Megafauna Extinction; Madagascar’s Giant Lemurs, Pygmy Hippos, and Elephant Birds are wiped out.-Sixth Extinction by Kolbert.

• 15ka: The second pulse of the Megafauna Extinction; N. & S. American megafauna are wiped out.-Sixth Extinction by Kolbert.

• 40ka: The first pulse of the Megafauna Extinction; Australian megafauna are wiped out.-Sixth Extinction by Kolbert.

• 40 Ka: The rate at which genes change in response to selection pressures begins rising in early humans. The rate increases after 20 Ka, with genetic change reaching a crescendo during the Holocene era, in Africa as well as in Eurasia.-Righteous Mind by Haidt.

• 40 ka: A natural land bridge opens across the Bering Strait connecting Asia and America (Mexico City Culture Museo). 

• >41 Ka: There is no evidence of modern humans in Europe.-Human Universe by Cox.

• ~43 Ka: A small group of humans move from Arabia into Southern Europe while another group travels through India and into Australia.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 44 Ka: A group of humans living in Sulawesi, Indonesia, walk into a cave on the islands SW tip and, using red pigment, draw various hunting scenes- humans (with the head of animals) chasing wild pigs with ropes and spears. The Sulawesi therianthropes are the worlds earliest known evidence for our ability to conceive of the existence of supernatural beings.-If Nietzsche were a Narwhal by Gregg.

• ~45 Ka: Extinction of Neanderthals, with a brain size of ~1400cc.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 45 ka: Humans travel across the sea and arrive in (Indonesia and) Australia in what is considered as one of the most important expeditions. It is the time when humans scaled the food chain. After a few thousand years, 23 out of 24 animal species in the continent became extinct.-Sapiens by Harari.  

• Less than a thousand years after the arrival of the first Australians, 85 percent of the megafauna—that is to say, animals with a body weight of more than 100 pounds—had disappeared. The disappearance had nothing to do with excessive hunting. Quite the opposite, in fact. In the researchers’ opinion, the large animals reproduced so slowly that even a moderate level of hunting inflicted grave damage. The scientists calculated that every hunter removing just a single adult animal every ten years was enough to wipe out the species in a few hundred years.-Secret Wisdom of Nature by Wohlleben.

• 50 Ka: Hominids spread out from Africa and the Middle East.-Righteous Mind by Haidt.

• 50ka: Humans migrate from SE Asia to the landmass of Australia and New Guinea in simple boats outfitted with sails (NatGeo). 

• 50 ka: Humans migrate to Europe. 

• ~60 Ka: Homo sapiens first leave Africa in large numbers; a group of ~1000-2500 individuals leave East Africa and move N across the Red Sea and through Arabia. The group then split, moving into Southern Europe ~43 Ka. 

• 60 Ka: The Aborigines first settle in Australia, after crossing hundreds of miles of open sea.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 60 Ka: Humans migrate to China. 

• 70-30 Ka: Homo Sapiens invent boats, oil lamps, needles, bows, arrows, art objects, and so much more. During this time, the first concrete evidence of religion, commerce, and social stratification appeared. Most researchers believe that these accomplishments were the product of new ways of thinking and communicating among Homo sapiens – this marks the Cognitive Revolution.-Sapiens by Harari. 

• ~70 Ka: Evolution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which still kills ~2M people per year in the modern world.-Immune by Dettmer.

• 70 Ka: Wurm Glacial Stage. 

• 70 Ka: Homo Sapiens spread from East Africa to the Arabian Peninsula. 

• 70 Ka: The Cognitive Revolution; humans gain the ability to speak and create myths.-Sapiens by Harari.  

• 71 Ka: The Toba Super volcano erupts in what is today, Sumatra, causing a global volcanic winter and ensuing climate cooling. 

• 74 Ka: The Eruption of Toba Volcano in Indonesia dramatically alters Earth’s climate, killing nearly all living humans.-Righteous Mind by Haidt.

• 74 Ka: Modern humans nearly go extinct as a result of extreme climate change with the population being reduced to ~10K adults of reproductive age.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 80 Ka: Humans migrate to India. 

• ~94-12 Ka: Life of Homo floresiensis (Flores, Indonesia) aka ‘The Hobbit’; a hominid who stood ~3’ tall and weighed ~55lbs. Their brains were about as big as grapefruits.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 100 Ka: Hominids reach the Island of Flores which is shortly after isolated from Sunda and the Asian mainland by a stretch of sea.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 100 Ka: Evolution of collective intentionality as humans begin gathering in larger groups. Coupled with language, collective intentionality begins to spawn formal rules and laws governing the behavior of individuals within a larger social group.-If Nietzsche were a Narwhal by Gregg.

• 100 Ka: There are no Homo sapiens anywhere on Earth apart from in Africa, as far as we know. 

• 100 ka: Polar Bears (Urus maritimus) evolve from brown bears.

• 125 Ka: Glaciers advance south to cover much of N. America (NatGeo). 

• 126 Ka: End of the Chibanian Age; humans trek out of Africa to Europe, where they encounter Neanderthals and Denisovans.-If Nietzsche were a Narwhal by Gregg.

• 140-18 Ka: Pleistocene era Intermittent Ice Ages; sea levels are lower, while much water is locked in N. ice floes and glaciers. At one extreme, the sea level stood 100m lower than present levels, but within that time frame it rose and fell, so at some points it was only about 20m lower than nowadays. During this era, the Australian continent encompassed the whole of New Guinea and Tasmania.-Boundless Sea by Abulafia.  

• 150 Ka: Appearance of modern humans, Homo sapien sapien.-Geology by Marshak.

• 164ka: Modern humans collect and cook shellfish.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• ~195 Ka +/- 5Ky: Dating of Omo 1 and Omo 2, the earliest fossilized remains identified as Homo sapiens.-Human Universe by Cox.

• ~195 Ka: Rise of modern humans- Homo sapiens sapiens (‘wise, wise man’) with a brain size of ~1350cm3.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• ~200 Ka: Evolution of Homo sapiens.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 200 Ka: The climate in the Rift Valley varies quickly and violently.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 200-100 ka: Humans migrate throughout East and South Africa.

• 200-150 ka: Homo Sapiens populate East Africa.

• 240 Ka: Middle Pleistocene (Chibanian Age); Humans and chimpanzees’ live side by side in the East African Rift.-If Nietzsche were a Narwhal by Gregg.

• ~250-30 Ka: Life of Homo sapiens neanderthalensis (Thal: valley- German); a hominid. Neanderthals disappeared mysteriously ~35ka, to be replaced by Cro-Magnons, a hipper subspecies of H. sapiens responsible for the celebrated cave paintings in Lascaux, France.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 300 Ka: The first known human settlers arrive in N. Sudan (British Museum).

• 300 Ka: Humans are cooking food with fire.-Brief History by Rutherford.

• 300 Ka: The species Homo sapiens emerges in pockets in the east and north of Africa.-Brief History by Rutherford.

• 300ka: Evolution of Homo sapiens in Africa.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 300-125ka: Evolution and decline of Homo heidelbergensis, an early human with a large brain that built shelters and hearths.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 325ka: Hominids began communicating with symbols.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 350-236 Ka: Life of Homo Naledi (South Africa Museum). 

• 400 Ka: The Neanderthals and Sapien lineage moves apart.-Brief History by Rutherford.

• 400ka: Denisovan predecessors split from their Neanderthal relatives. The Denisovans spread through Asia, eventually breeding with ancestors of modern humans of Asian descent (NatGeo). 

• 400-50ka: Reign of Homo neanderthalensis. 

• 430ka-40ka: Life of Homo neanderthalensis; males stood ~164cm tall and weighed 65kg.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 500ka: Evolving hominids undergo a rapid increase in brain size.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 500 ka: Hominins begin making tipped spears.-The Body by Bryson.

• ~600-100 Ka: Life of Homo sapiens (‘wise man’) or Homo heidelbergensis (from Heidelberg, Germany); a hominid with a flatter face and bigger brain (~83% the size of ours).-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• ~700-600 Ka: Evolution of Homo heidelbergensis, the ancestors of Neanderthals and us. The first hominids with brains as large as ours begin appearing in Africa and then Europe. At their campsites we find the first clear evidence of hearths and spears. The oldest known spears were just sharpened sticks, but later they became sharp stone points attached to wooden shafts and balanced for accurate throwing.-Righteous Mind by Haidt.

• 700-50 Ka: Life of Homo floriensis; adults stood ~106cm tall and weighed only 29kg.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 700 Ka- Present: Earth’s magnetic polarity is normal.-Volcanoes by MacDonald.  

• 750- 675 Ka: Mindel Glacial Stage.

• 800 Ka: Evolution of Homo heidelbergensis; generally accepted to be the ancestor of Homo sapiens and the Neanderthals.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 900-200 Ka: Reign of Homo heidelbergensis. 

• 1 Ma: End of Volcanism of Oahu’s Koolau Volcano.-Volcanoes by MacDonald.  

• 1 Ma: The climate in the Rift Valley varies quickly and violently.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 1.1 Ma: Neanderthals colonize Europe.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 1.1 Ma: Homo floresiensis are in Southern Asia.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 1.3 Ma: Homo erectus evolves from Homo ergaster and spreads around the world until ~800 Ka (Mexico City Culture Museo). 

• 1.5 Ma- 35,000 BCE: Indonesia is inhabited by Homo Erectus, "Java Man."

• 1.4 Ma: Extinction of Homo habilis while Homo erectus, with an ~ 1000cc brain size, thrives.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 1.5 Ma: Early humans first occupy S. Asia. The region has been continuously inhabited since (British Museum).

• 1.5 Ma: Cranial size of Homo habilis and ergaster reaches 700cc, ~same as modern human (Mexico City Culture Museo). 

• 1.6 Ma: Homo erectus arrives in SE Asia.-Human Universe by Cox.

• ~1.7-1.5 Ma: Life of Homo ergaster (‘work man’); considered the first hominid with a conscience, since a female H. ergaster was found to be in the advanced stages of a nasty bone disease, meaning that other members of the tribe must have looked after her.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 1.8 Ma: Evolution of both Homo habilis and Homo erectus in the East African Rift Valley. At this time there are at least five or six separate hominin species living side by side in the area.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 1.8 Ma: A large number of deep-water lakes begin appearing in the Rift Valley, indicating that the climate, and in particular the level of rainfall, was varying quickly and violently.-Human Universe by Cox.

• ~1.8 Ma: Life of Homo georgicus (found in the nation of Georgia); an apelike species.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• ~1.8 Ma- 300 Ka: Life of Homo erectus (‘erect man’); an apelike species close to the size of modern humans with a smaller jaw, larger brain (~750-1225cm3) and probably stronger than modern humans. An Atkins-like protein-rich diet meant a larger brain and a smaller gut. H. erectus produced the first hand-axes and was the first to make use of fire and shelter—the rude beginnings of culture.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 1.8 Ma: Early humans develop longer legs and travel to new regions.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• ~1.8 Ma: Hominids in East Africa began making new and more finely crafted tools, known as the Acheulean tool kit, the main tool was a teardrop-shaped hand axe.-Righteous Mind by Haidt.

• 1.8. Ma: Homo ergaster evolves and migrates throughout Eurasia (Mexico City Culture Museo). 

• 1.89 Ma- 143 Ka: Life of Homo erectus.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 1.9-1.2 Ma: Life of Paranthropus robustus.  

• 2 Ma: Extinction of the early elephant species Gomphothere anacus (Table Mountain NP).

• 2 Ma: The Yucatan Peninsula emerges from the sea floor with its surface, formed by limestone. 

• 2 Ma: The common Hominid ancestor of Neanderthals and Denisovans depart Africa for Europe and Asia.-If Nietzsche were a Narwhal by Gregg.

• 2 Ma: End of volcanism of Kauai’s volcano.-Volcanoes by MacDonald.  

• 2 Ma: Hominins begin endurance running and, with it, persistence hunting.-The Body by Bryson.

• 2 Ma: Evolutionary split of Bonobos from Chimpanzees. 

• 2 Ma: Homo species evolve from Australopithecine (Mexico City Culture Museo). 

• ~2-1.5 Ma: Life of Paranthropus or Australopithecus robustus; an apelike species with a small brain size (~530cm3), large teeth, and a humanoid humerus and femur.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• ~2.1-1.1 Ma: Life of Paranthropus or Australopithecus boisei (‘super robust’); an apelike species standing upwards of 5.5’ tall and weighing as much as 150lbs with large teeth (known as “nutcracker man”) with some molars measuring 2cm from front to back, suggesting the species was still primarily vegetarian.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 2.1-.3 Ma: Life of Homo erectus. 

• 2.3-1.2 Ma: Life of Paranthropus boisei, an early hominid; males stood ~137cm tall and weighed ~49kg.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• ~2.4-2.1 Ma: Dating of the earliest known tools at Olduvai Gorge (discovered in 1959) (Cape Town Museum). 

• ~2.4-1.5 Ma: Life of Homo habilis (‘handy man’); an apelike species standing ~4.5-5’ tall and weighting from 64-100lbs with a moderately sized brain (~750cm3).-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 2.5-1.6 Ma: Life of Homo habilis. 

• 2.4 Ma: Evolution of Homo habilis (handy men), hominids with larger brains that used a simple stone tool known as the Oldowan tool kit.-Righteous Mind by Haidt.

• 2.5 Ma: Rise of Homo erectus in Africa. 

• 2.5 Ma- 700 Ka: Earth’s magnetic polarity is reversed from present.-Volcanoes by MacDonald.  

• 2.5 Ma: The Ice Ages; the first of at least 17 severe glacial episodes begins. 

• ~2.5 Ma: Life of Australopithecus garhi (garhi: Surprise- Afar); an apelike species with a small brain size, large teeth, and a humanoid humerus and femur.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 2.6 Ma- 10 Ka: Earth’s Sea levels are ~110m lower than today (JHU Watersheds, Patterson).

• 2.6 Ma: Dating of the oldest known tools used by proto humans in Ethiopia’s Afar region.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 2.6 Ma: Glacial–interglacial cycles begin (Barnosky, unk). 

• ~2.6-2.3 Ma: Life of Australopithecus aethiopicus; an apelike species with a small brain size (~410cm3), a large, flat face with no forehead, huge teeth, and evidence of powerful chewing muscles.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 2.6 Ma: Early humans begin making tools and eating the meat of large animals.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 3 Ma: Mid Pliocene Warm Period (Hansen, 2013).

• 3.2 Ma: Lucy, a member of the extinct hominin species Australopithecus afarensis, walks in the open savannah of Ethiopia’s Afar Depression. Standing just over 1m tall and weighing < 30 kg, she would have looked more ape-like than a human. Her brain was small, about one-third of the size of a modern human’s and not much larger than a chimpanzee’s. The anatomy of her knee, the curve of her spine and the length of her leg bones suggest that Lucy regularly walked upright on two legs.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 3.2 Ma: The famous "Lucy" walks the Earth. 40% of her fossilized skeleton (a lot to be preserved for remains that old) was discovered in 1974 by Donald Johanson, and named after the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” that was playing back at the researcher’s base camp in the Awash Valley in Ethiopia. Lucy was one of the first members of the species Australopithecus afarensis discovered.-Brief History by Rutherford.

• 3-2 Ma: Life of Australopithecus africanus; an apelike species with a small brain size (~420-500cm3) in a very apelike skull.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 2.7-2.1 Ma: Life of Australopithecus africanus; an early hominid with a sloping face and apelike features that still climbed trees but walked upright on a regular basis; males stood ~138cm tall and weighed ~41kg.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 3.3-2.2 Ma: Reign of Australopithecus africanus. 

• ~3.3 Ma- 1700 BCE: The Stone Age; proto-humans create and use stone tools, divided into three periods; Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic, based on degree of sophistication (Britannica). 

• ~2700 BCE- 1700 BCE: Neolithic Period (aka New Stone Age); 

• ~8000 BCE- 2700 BCE: Mesolithic Period (aka Middle Stone Age); 

• ~3.3 Ma- 8000 BCE: Paleolithic Period (aka Old Stone Age); 

• 3.4-2.5 Ma: Earth’s magnetic polarity is normal.-Volcanoes by MacDonald.  

• ~3.7 Ma: Dating of the Laetoli footprints preserved in volcanic ash in Tanzania and showing that our earliest ancestors walked upright (discovered in 1978) (Cape Town Museum). 

• 3.9-3 Ma: Life of Australopithecus afarensis (from Afar region); an apelike species with a small brain size (~400cm3) in a very apelike skull (though with more humanlike teeth).-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 3.85-2.95 Ma: Life of Australopithecus afarensis; an early hominid; males stood ~151cm tall and weighed ~42kg.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 4 Ma: Bipedal Apes walk the Earth; standing upright was a quintessential step in our own evolution, as it prompted and coincided with a number of anatomical changes, such as the position and shape of the spine, how it connects to the skull, and so on.-Brief History by Rutherford.

• ~4-2 Ma: Evolution of African penguins (Boulders Penguin Colony). 

• ~4 Ma: Life of Australopithecus anamensis (anam: lake- Turkana); a bipedal apelike species.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 4 Ma: The Kauai Shield Volcano reaches its maximum height; erosion begins to dominate.-Volcanoes by MacDonald.  

• 4.4-3.5 Ma: Life of Australopithecus anamensis. 

• 4.7-4.2 Ma: Life of Ardipithecus ramidus. 

• 5-3 Ma: Growth of NH Ice Sheets (Hansen, 2013).

• 5 Ma: Formation of Kauai (NatGeo). 

• 5 Ma: Formation of the Isthmus of Panama; Panama rises from the sea, closing the gap between North and South America, disrupting the flows of warming currents between the Pacific and Atlantic, and changing patterns of precipitation across at least half the world. One consequence was a drying out of Africa, which caused apes to climb down out of trees and go looking for a new way of living on the emerging savannas.-Short History by Bryson.

• 5.3 Ma: The refilling of the Mediterranean (NatGeo). 

• ~5.8-5.2 Ma: Life of Ardipithecus ramidus (ardi: ground/floor- Afar); an apelike species that stood ~4’ tall and weighed ~80lb; could walk upright, but probably spent a lot of its time in the trees.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 5.5 Ma: The Mediterranean rises to its present level, and gravel, sand, and mud carried by the Nile River accumulates in the pre-Nile canyon.-Geology by Marshak. 

• 6 Ma: The Northward-drifting African Plate collides with the European Plate, forming a natural dam separating the Mediterranean from the Atlantic. At times when global sea level dropped, water stopped flowing over this dam from the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean evaporated. The salt that had been dissolved in its water precipitated to form a solid deposit of halite and gypsum on the floor of the resulting basin, and the pre-Nile canyon formed. At times when sea level rose, water flooded in from the Atlantic into the Mediterranean, filling the basin again.-Geology by Marshak.

• When the Mediterranean Sea dried up, the Nile River flowed down into a deep lowland, and in the process, it carved a canyon. Later, when the sea refilled with water, the river could no longer cut down, and the flooded canyon filled with sand and gravel brought in from upstream.-Geology by Marshak.

• 6 Ma: The Strait of Gibraltar connects Europe and Africa, salt begins to pile up (NatGeo). 

• 6 Ma: Early hominins begin walking.-The Body by Bryson.

• 6 Ma: Hominids (Homo) split from the Chimpanzee lineage.-Brief History by Rutherford. 

• 6 Ma: Life of Orrorin turenensis; an apelike species.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 6.5 Ma: Last common ancestor of the Homo and Chimpanzee line.-Human Universe by Cox.

• 7-5 Ma: Ancestral humans first diverge from Chimpanzees and Bonobos.-Righteous Mind by Haidt.

• 7 Ma: Evolutionary divergence of Humans and Chimpanzees from their common ancestor Sahelanthropus tchadensis.-If Nietzsche were a Narwhal by Gregg.

• 7 Ma: Gorillas and Chimpanzees split into separate species.-21 Lessons by Harari.

• 7-6 Ma: Life of Sahelanthropus tchadensis; an apelike species with a small brain size (~350cm3).-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 7-6 Ma: Life of Sahelanthropus tchadensis, the earliest known fossil human.-Smithsonian Nat. History Museum.

• 9 Ma: Teton orogenesis; a 64-km-long fault opens within the Earth. Since then, about once every 900 years, the Tetons experience a really big earthquake, enough to jerk them another 2m higher. It is these repeated jerks over eons that have raised them to their present majestic heights of 2,000m.-Short History by Bryson.

• 10 Ma: The Colorado River begins carving the Grand Canyon after uplift of the Colorado Plateau. 

• 10 Ma: Mutation of the ADH4 gene in one of the last common ancestors of African apes and humans. This change creates an enzyme that makes it possible to digest ethanol up to 40x faster (NatGeo). 

• 15 Ma: Peak warming of Miocene (Hansen, 2013).

• 15 Ma: The Earth’s climate cools; steamy forests give way to grassy savannah, and tree dwellers eventually move around the savannah floor, giving rise to the family Hominidae.-Incomplete Edu by Jones.

• 15 Ma: Evolutionary split of the Orang-utan and the Gorilla. 

• 19 Ma: Fossil records in the form of denticle (shark scales) reduction indicate that nearly 90% of the worlds open ocean sharks go extinct (NatGeo). 

• 20 Ma: Ape-like primates diversify.-Geology by Marshak.