25,000 - 10,001 b.c.e. c. 25,000 b.c.e., San Peoples Create Earliest African Art ...... 1 c. 18,000-c. 11,000 b.c.e., Bering Strait Migrations ...... 3 c. 16,000-c. 3000 b.c.e., BaTwa Peoples Thrive in Central Africa...... 6 c. 15,500 b.c.e., Early Australians Create the Bradshaw Rock Paintings ...... 9 c. 15,000 b.c.e., Early Europeans Create Lascaux Cave Paintings ...... 11 c. 13,000 b.c.e., Humans Enter the South American Continent ...... 13 c. 13,000-c. 7000 b.c.e., Paleo-Indian Culture Flourishes in North America...... 15

10,000 - 5001 b.c.e. c. 10,000-c. 300 b.c.e., Jfmon Culture Thrives in Japan ...... 17 c. 10,000 b.c.e.-c. 1 c.e., Saharan Peoples Create Rock Art ...... 20 c. 9500-c. 9000 b.c.e., Clovis Culture Rises in New Mexico ...... 22 c. 9500-c. 5000 b.c.e., Settlement Established at Abu Hureyra in Syria ...... 24 c. 9000-c. 8000 b.c.e., Cochise Culture Thrives in American Southwest ...... 26 c. 9000-c. 7000 b.c.e., Nilo-Saharan Peoples Produce Food and Pottery...... 28 c. 8800-c. 8500 b.c.e., Folsom People Flourish in New Mexico ...... 30 c. 8000 b.c.e., Permanent Settlement of the Andean Altiplano Begins ...... 32 c. 8000-c. 4000 b.c.e., Plano Culture Flourishes in Great Plains Area ...... 34 c. 8000-c. 1000 b.c.e., Archaic Indians Adapt to Warmer Climates ...... 35 c. 7700-c. 1000 b.c.e., Native Cultures Flourish on the North Pacific Coast ...... 38 c. 7500 b.c.e., Birth of Shintf ...... 40 c. 7500 b.c.e., East Asian Grain Cultivation Begins ...... 42 c. 7200 b.c.e., Kennewick Man Lives in North America ...... 44 c. 7000-c. 6000 b.c.e., Khoisan Peoples Disperse Throughout Southern Africa ...... 46 c. 7000-c. 4900 b.c.e., Çatalhüyük Flourishes as Center of Anatolian Culture...... 48 c. 6800-c. 4900 b.c.e., Kitoi People Live Near Lake Baikal in Siberia ...... 50 c. 6500-c. 5000 b.c.e., Nilo-Saharan Farmers Spread Cultivation and Herding ...... 51 c. 6200-c. 3800 b.c.e., Ubaid Culture Thrives in Mesopotamia ...... 53 c. 6000-c. 5000 b.c.e., Niger-Congo Religion Takes Hold Across West Africa ...... 56 c. 6000-c. 1500 b.c.e., Yangshao and Longshan Cultures Flourish in China ...... 58 c. 6000-c. 1000 b.c.e., Omotics Advance Farming Practices in Horn of Africa ...... 60 c. 5800-c. 3700 b.c.e., Chinchorro Inhabit the Peruvian and Chilean Coasts ...... 63 c. 5500-c. 4500 b.c.e., Halafian Culture Flourishes in Northern Mesopotamia ...... 65 c. 5500-c. 4500 b.c.e., Niger-Congo Peoples Spread Agriculture in Africa ...... 67 v The Ancient World

5000 - 3001 b.c.e. c. 5000 b.c.e., Aleutian Coastal Hunters Flourish ...... 69 c. 5000-c. 3000 b.c.e., Kelteminar Culture Flourishes in Central Asia ...... 71 c. 5000 b.c.e.-c. 1 c.e., Red Paint Culture Flourishes in Eastern North America...... 72 c. 4000 b.c.e., Horse Is Domesticated...... 74 c. 4000 b.c.e., Sumerian Civilization Begins in Mesopotamia ...... 76 c. 4000-c. 1000 b.c.e., Old Copper Complex Flourishes in North America ...... 79 c. 4000 b.c.e.-c. 100 c.e., Ban Chiang Culture Flourishes in Thailand...... 80 c. 3800 b.c.e., Cities and Civic Institutions Are Invented in Mesopotamia...... 82 c. 3500 b.c.e., Indus Valley Civilization Begins in South Asia ...... 84 c. 3300-c. 1500 b.c.e., Valdivia Culture Forms Villages in Coastal Ecuador ...... 87 c. 3100 b.c.e., Sumerians Invent Writing ...... 89 c. 3100-c. 1550 b.c.e., Building of Stonehenge...... 91 c. 3050 b.c.e., Unification of Lower and Upper Egypt ...... 94

3000 - 2001 b.c.e. c. 3000 b.c.e., Australian Aborigines Create Wandjina Cave Paintings ...... 96 c. 3000 b.c.e., Canaanites Inhabit the Levant ...... 97 c. 3000-c. 500 b.c.e., Elamite Empire Rises in Near East ...... 99 2953-2838 b.c.e. traditionally, Reign of China’s Legendary First Ruler, Fu Xi...... 102 c. 2900-c. 2340 b.c.e., Early Dynastic Period Flourishes in Southern Mesopotamia ...... 104 c. 2700-c. 1400 b.c.e., Gash Civilization Thrives in Africa ...... 107 c. 2687 b.c.e., Old Kingdom Period Begins in Egypt ...... 109 c. 2682 b.c.e., Legendary Founding of China by Huangdi ...... 112 c. 2600 b.c.e., Leizu Discovers Silk Making ...... 114 c. 2575-c. 2566 b.c.e., Building of the Great Pyramid ...... 116 c. 2500 b.c.e., Construction of Monumental Architecture at Caral in Peru ...... 119 2500-1900 b.c.e., Wawat Chiefdom Flourishes in Lower Nubia ...... 121 c. 2500-c. 1500 b.c.e., Southeast Asians Migrate into the South Pacific ...... 124 c. 2340 b.c.e., Sumerian Uruk-Agina Makes Social and Political Reforms...... 126 c. 2334-c. 2279 b.c.e., Sargon of Akkad Establishes the Akkadian Dynasty ...... 128 c. 2333 b.c.e., Old Choso©n State Founded in Korea ...... 130 c. 2300 b.c.e., Enheduanna Becomes First Named Author ...... 132 c. 2300-c. 2000 b.c.e., First Great Expansion of Berber Peoples Across North Africa ...... 134 c. 2300-c. 1800 b.c.e., Beaker People Live in Western Europe ...... 136 c. 2200-1500 b.c.e., Kerma Kingdom Develops and Dominates Lower Nubia ...... 138 c. 2160 b.c.e., First Intermediate Period Begins in Egypt ...... 141 c. 2112 b.c.e., Ur-Nammu Establishes a Code of Law ...... 144 c. 2100 b.c.e., Xia Dynasty Marks Start of Historical China ...... 145 c. 2100-c. 600 b.c.e., Mogollon Culture Rises in American Southwest...... 147 c. 2055 b.c.e., Middle Kingdom Period Begins in Egypt ...... 149

2000 - 1501 b.c.e. c. 2000 b.c.e., Composition of the Gilgamesh Epic ...... 152 c. 2000 b.c.e., Mon-Khmer Migrate into Southeast Asia ...... 154 vi Contents c. 2000 b.c.e., Mongols Inhabit Steppes North of China ...... 157 c. 1900-1527? b.c.e., Kerma Kingdom Rules Nubia ...... 159 c. 1900-c. 1400 b.c.e., Early Villages Form in Oaxaca ...... 161 c. 1800-c. 1500 b.c.e., Construction of El Paraíso in Peru ...... 163 c. 1800-c. 700 b.c.e., Poverty Point Culture Builds Earthworks ...... 165 c. 1770 b.c.e., Promulgation of Hammurabi’s Code...... 168 1750-800 b.c.e., Andronovo Culture Rises in Central Asia ...... 171 c. 1650 b.c.e., Hyksos Create Second Intermediate Period ...... 173 1650-1620 b.c.e., Hattusilis I Establishes the Old Hittite Kingdom...... 175 c. 1600 b.c.e., Shang Dynasty Develops Writing and Bronzework ...... 178 c. 1600-c. 1500 b.c.e., Flowering of Minoan Civilization ...... 180 c. 1600-c. 1300 b.c.e., Mitanni Kingdom Flourishes in Upper Mesopotamia...... 183 c. 1600-c. 1000 b.c.e., City of Mycenae Flourishes ...... 185 c. 1570 b.c.e., New Kingdom Period Begins in Egypt ...... 189 c. 1530 b.c.e., Mixtec Civilization Develops in Western Oaxaca ...... 191

1500 - 1001 b.c.e.

From c. 1500 b.c.e., Dissemination of the Book of the Dead ...... 194 1500-1100 b.c.e., Compilation of the Vedas...... 197 c. 1500-c. 1000 b.c.e., Aryans Appear in India ...... 199 c. 1500-c. 300 b.c.e., Olmec Civilization Rises in Southern Mexico ...... 201 c. 1500 b.c.e.-c. 500 c.e., Lapita Culture Colonizes the South Pacific ...... 204 c. 1450 b.c.e., International Age of Major Kingdoms Begins in the Near East ...... 205 14th-9th centuries b.c.e., Urnfield Culture Flourishes in Northwestern Europe ...... 208 1400-1300 b.c.e., Aqhat Epic Is Composed in Ugarit ...... 209 c. 1338 b.c.e., Failure of Akhenaton’s Cultural Revival...... 211 c. 1280 b.c.e., Israelite Exodus from Egypt ...... 213 c. 1275 b.c.e., Battle of Kadesh ...... 216 c. 1250 b.c.e., Fall of Troy Marks End of Trojan War...... 218 c. 1250 b.c.e., Transmission of the European Alphabet ...... 221 c. 1250-c. 700 b.c.e., Karasuk Culture Flourishes on Eurasian Steppes...... 224 c. 1200-c. 1050 b.c.e., Sea Peoples Contribute to Mediterranean Upheaval ...... 225 c. 1200-c. 1000 b.c.e., Berbers Expand Across North Africa ...... 227 c. 1100 b.c.e., Arameans Emerge in Syria and Mesopotamia ...... 229 c. 1100-c. 500 b.c.e., Hallstatt Culture Dominates Northern Europe ...... 231 1069 b.c.e., Third Intermediate Period Begins in Egypt ...... 234 c. 1066 b.c.e., Western Zhou Dynasty Begins in China ...... 236

1000 - 801 b.c.e. c. 10th century b.c.e., Queen of Sheba Legends Arise ...... 239 c. 1000 b.c.e., Establishment of the United Kingdom of Israel ...... 241 c. 1000 b.c.e., Greek Alphabet Is Developed ...... 243 c. 1000 b.c.e., Sub-Saharan Ironworking Begins ...... 245 c. 1000-900 b.c.e., Ionian Confederacy Forms ...... 247 c. 1000-c. 700 b.c.e., Mashariki Bantu Establish Chifumbaze Ironworking Culture ...... 249 c. 1000-c. 690 b.c.e., Cimmerian Culture Rises in Russia...... 252 c. 1000-c. 500 b.c.e., Nok Artists Develop Terra-cotta Sculpture ...... 253 vii The Ancient World c. 1000-c. 200 b.c.e., Compilation of the Upani;ads ...... 255 c. 1000 b.c.e.-c. 100 c.e., Adena Mound Builders Live in North America ...... 257 c. 1000 b.c.e.-c. 300 c.e., Urban Commerce Develops in the Sudan Belt...... 260 c. 1000 b.c.e.-c. 900 c.e., Woodland Culture Flourishes in Northern America ...... 261 c. 966 b.c.e., Building of the Temple of Jerusalem ...... 263 c. 950 b.c.e., Composition of the Book of Genesis ...... 265 c. 922 b.c.e., Establishment of the Kingdom of Israel...... 267 c. 900-c. 200 b.c.e., Chavín de Huántar Is Peru’s Urban Center ...... 270 c. 883-c. 824 b.c.e., Second Assyrian Empire Displays Military Prowess ...... 272

800 - 701 b.c.e.

8th century b.c.e., Kushite King Piye Conquers Upper Egypt ...... 275 8th century b.c.e., Scythians Drive the Cimmerians from Central Asia...... 277 8th-6th centuries b.c.e., Phrygian Kingdom Rises...... 279 c. 800 b.c.e., Phoenicians from Tyre Found Carthage ...... 281 c. 800-c. 600 b.c.e., Ironworking Spreads into Sub-Saharan Africa ...... 284 c. 783-c. 591 b.c.e., Napata Kingdom Flourishes in Kush ...... 286 776 b.c.e., Olympic Games Are First Recorded ...... 288 775 b.c.e., Delphic Oracle Provides Guidance for City-States ...... 291 770 b.c.e., Eastern Zhou Dynasty Begins in China ...... 293 c. 750 b.c.e., Homer Composes the Iliad ...... 296 c. 750-c. 500 b.c.e., Marib Dam Is Built in Yemen ...... 299 745 b.c.e., Tiglath-pileser III Rules Assyria ...... 300 c. 736-716 b.c.e., Spartan Conquest of Messenia ...... 303 c. 734-c. 580 b.c.e., Greeks Colonize the Mediterranean and Black Sea Regions ...... 305 c. 733 b.c.e., Founding of Syracuse ...... 307 c. 712-698 b.c.e., Shabaka Reunites the Nile Valley ...... 309 c. 705-330 b.c.e., Founding and Flourishing of the Achaemenian Dynasty...... 311 701 b.c.e., Sennacherib Invades Syro-Palestine ...... 314

700 - 601 b.c.e. c. 700 b.c.e., Hesiod Composes Theogony and Works and Days ...... 317 c. 700-c. 500 b.c.e., Dorset Culture Extends into Labrador, Newfoundland, and Greenland ...... 319 c. 700-330 b.c.e., Phalanx Is Developed as a Military Unit ...... 321 700 b.c.e.-100 c.e., Paracas Culture Develops a Sophisticated Textile Tradition ...... 324 c. 700 b.c.e.-c. 500 c.e., Mound Builders Rise in Ohio Valley ...... 326 664 b.c.e., Saite Dynasty Begins in Egypt...... 328 c. 645-546 b.c.e., Lydia Rises to Power Under the Mermnad Family ...... 331 c. 640 b.c.e., Greek City-States Use Coins as Means of Exchange ...... 333 625-509 b.c.e., Rise of Etruscan Civilization in Rome ...... 335 621 or 620 b.c.e., Draco’s Code Is Instituted ...... 338 c. 607-562 b.c.e., Nebuchadnezzar Creates the First Neo-Babylonian State ...... 340 Before 600 b.c.e., Celebration of the Eleusinian Mysteries ...... 343

viii Contents

600 - 501 b.c.e.

6th or 5th century b.c.e., Birth of Buddhism ...... 346 c. 6th century b.c.e.-c. 350 c.e., Meroitic Empire Rules from Southern Egypt to the Blue Nile ...... 348 6th-4th century b.c.e. (traditionally, 1st millennium b.c.e.), Sukruta, Indian Physician, Writes Medical Compendium ...... 351 c. 600 b.c.e., Appearance of Zoroastrian Ditheism ...... 353 600-500 b.c.e., Greek Philosophers Formulate Theories of the Cosmos ...... 355 c. 594-580 b.c.e., Legislation of Solon ...... 358 587-423 b.c.e., Birth of Judaism...... 360 c. 580 b.c.e., Greek Poet Sappho Dies...... 362 c. 550 b.c.e., Construction of Trireme Changes Naval Warfare ...... 365 c. 550 b.c.e.,V3lmtki Composes the R3m3ya]a...... 368 547 b.c.e., Cyrus the Great Founds the Persian Empire ...... 370 October, 539 b.c.e., Fall of Babylon ...... 373 c. 538-c. 450 b.c.e., Jews Return from the Babylonian Captivity ...... 375 c. 530 b.c.e., Founding of the Pythagorean Brotherhood ...... 377 527 b.c.e., Death of Vardham3na, Founder of Jainism ...... 380 c. 525 b.c.e., Sibylline Books Are Compiled ...... 382 520-518 b.c.e., Darius the Great Conquers the Indus Valley ...... 384 520-518 b.c.e., Scylax of Caryanda Voyages the Indian Ocean ...... 387 509 b.c.e., Rape of Lucretia ...... 389 c. 509 b.c.e., Roman Republic Replaces Monarchy ...... 392 508-507 b.c.e., Reforms of Cleisthenes ...... 394

500 - 401 b.c.e.

5th century b.c.e., Composition of the Spring and Autumn Annals ...... 396 c. 5th-4th century b.c.e., Creation of the J3takas ...... 398 c. 5th-3d century b.c.e., Composition of The Art of War ...... 400 5th-1st century b.c.e., Composition of The Great Learning...... 403 c. 500 b.c.e., Acupuncture Develops in China...... 405 c. 500 b.c.e., P3]ini Composes Sanskrit Work of Grammar...... 407 c. 500-470 b.c.e., Hecataeus of Miletus Writes the First Geography Book ...... 409 500-400 b.c.e., Creation of the Wujing ...... 411 c. 500-400 b.c.e., Greek Physicians Begin Scientific Practice of Medicine...... 413 c. 500 b.c.e.-c. 200 c.e., Libyan Garamantes Flourish as Farmers and Traders...... 416 c. 500 b.c.e.-c. 300 c.e., Socially Stratified Kingdoms Arise Around the Middle Niger River ...... 418 c. 500 b.c.e.-c. 600 c.e., Mithraism Emerges as Significant Religion...... 420 c. 500 b.c.e.-c. 700 c.e., Zapotecs Build Monte Albán ...... 422 499-494 b.c.e., Ionian Revolt ...... 424 494/493 b.c.e., Institution of the Plebeian Tribunate ...... 427 September 17, 490 b.c.e., Battle of Marathon ...... 428 483 b.c.e., Naval Law of Themistocles Is Instituted...... 431 480-479 b.c.e., Persian Invasion of Greece ...... 434 479 b.c.e., Confucius’s Death Leads to the Creation of The Analects...... 437 478-448 b.c.e., Athenian Empire Is Created...... 440 475-221 b.c.e., China Enters Chaotic Warring States Period ...... 443 ix The Ancient World c. 467 b.c.e., Gok3la Maskartputra, Founder of #jtvika Sect, Dies ...... 446 c. 456/455 b.c.e., Greek Tragedian Aeschylus Dies ...... 448 451-449 b.c.e., Twelve Tables of Roman Law Are Formulated ...... 451 c. 450-c. 425 b.c.e., History Develops as a Scholarly Discipline ...... 453 450-100 b.c.e., City-State of Yeha Flourishes in the Ethiopian Highlands ...... 456 447-438 b.c.e., Building of the Parthenon ...... 457 445 b.c.e., Establishment of the Canuleian Law...... 460 c. 440 b.c.e., Sophists Train the Greeks in Rhetoric and Politics ...... 462 c. 438 b.c.e., Greek Lyric Poet Pindar Dies ...... 464 May, 431-September, 404 b.c.e., Peloponnesian War ...... 466 c. 420 b.c.e.-c. 100 c.e., Yuezhi Culture Links Persia and China ...... 469 June, 415-September, 413 b.c.e., Athenian Invasion of Sicily ...... 470 406 b.c.e., Greek Dramatist Euripides Dies ...... 473 September, 404-May, 403 b.c.e., Thirty Tyrants Rule Athens for Eight Months ...... 475 401-400 b.c.e., March of the Ten Thousand ...... 477

400 - 301 b.c.e. c. 4th century b.c.e.-3d century c.e., Kauzilya Compiles a Treatise on Practical Statecraft...... 480 Early 4th century b.c.e., Founding of Mohism ...... 482 c. 400 b.c.e.-c. 300 c.e., Bantu Peoples Spread Farming Across Southern Africa ...... 485 c. 400 b.c.e.-c. 300 c.e., Dong Son Culture Appears in Vietnam ...... 487 c. 400 b.c.e.-400 c.e., Composition of the Mah3bh3rata ...... 489 399 b.c.e., Death of Socrates ...... 491 Between 394 and 371 b.c.e., Xenophon Writes the Anabasis ...... 494 386 b.c.e., King’s Peace Ends Corinthian War ...... 496 c. 385 b.c.e., Greek Playwright Aristophanes Dies ...... 499 c. 380 b.c.e., Plato Develops His Theory of Ideas ...... 501 359-336 b.c.e., Philip II Expands and Empowers Macedonia...... 504 c. 350 b.c.e., Diogenes Popularizes Cynicism...... 507 340-338 b.c.e., Origin of Municipia ...... 509 August 2, 338 b.c.e., Battle of Chaeronea ...... 511 336 b.c.e., Alexander the Great Begins Expansion of Macedonia ...... 513 c. 335-323 b.c.e., Aristotle Writes the Politics ...... 516 333 b.c.e., Battle of Issus ...... 518 332 b.c.e., Founding of Alexandria ...... 520 October 1, 331 b.c.e., Battle of Gaugamela ...... 523 327-325 b.c.e., Alexander the Great Invades the Indian Subcontinent ...... 526 325-323 b.c.e., Aristotle Isolates Science as a Discipline ...... 528 323 b.c.e., Founding of the Ptolemaic Dynasty and Seleucid Kingdom ...... 530 c. 323-275 b.c.e., Diadochi Divide Alexander the Great’s Empire ...... 533 c. 321 b.c.e., Mauryan Empire Rises in India ...... 535 c. 320 b.c.e., Theophrastus Initiates the Study of Botany ...... 538 312 b.c.e., First Roman Aqueduct Is Built...... 540