A Comprehensive Chronicle of World History Volume I of IV –136,000 to +1399 The Rise of Civilizations and Cultures Frank P. King Version 1.0 (20 July 2008) 2 A Comprehensive Chronicle of World History Volume I of IV ISBN-xxxx ISBN-xxxx © 2008 Frank P. King All rights reserved 3 Table of Contents About the Comprehensive Chronicle of World History........................................................ 5 About Volume I (–136,000 to +1399)................................................................................... 5 Preview Timechart for Volume I........................................................................................... 5 About the Author................................................................................................................... 8 The Comprehensive Chronicle - Volume I............................................................................ 9 Select Sources.................................................................................................................... 261 4 5 About the Comprehensive Chronicle of World History This book exists because we cannot know ourselves, our current situations and problems, our ancestors, and other humans without a dispassionate understanding of our past. History is our best record of reality past, and without it we have no way to appreciate human nature and the length, progress, and depth of our actions, institutions, and experiences. This work, started in 1994, was the unabridged original source for my much shorter book published as A Chronicle of World History: From 130,000 years Ago to the Eve of AD 2000 . Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 2002. It has been my exceptionally good fortune to have David Moore, an engineer, historian, and, in my eyes, a real philosopher (see http://romanconcrete.com and http://battleofsaipan.com), as my longtime friend. His son, John Moore, is also a distinguished engineer with very broad interests and has made it possible for this work to be published on the Internet. I thank both of them for helping to make history better. About Volume I (–136,000 to +1399) Please note : When it comes to dates, the author keeps it simple and non-sectarian: -/minus = BC (before Christ) or BCE (before the common era) and +/plus = AD (anno Domini) or CE (common era). Some entries cover the beginning date (or an estimation) and the ending date to indicate "moving time" or the time span covered by that situation. Example: -100+100 = 100 BC/ BCE to AD/CE 100. Volume I is organized roughly from the appearance of the earliest people like us and their activities and circumstances to the end of the fourteen-century. In summary, one could say that humans during this period spread to nearly all parts of this planet and created civilizations and cultures wherever they settled. During what some call the Classical Era of the ancient world (about –500 to +500), great civilizations, philosophies, institutions, technologies, and religions were created and practiced all over this planet. By the so-called Middle Ages (about –500 to +1500 in Europe), there were secular, Byzantine, Islamic, and Christian successors to the Roman Empire. By the 1300s, the Mongols and Turks seriously threatened the security and order of Eurasia from the Pacific and Central Asia to Russia, the Middle East, and Medieval Europe. Preview Timechart for Volume I (many of these dates are necessarily approximate) First Modern Humans -136,000-35,000 Migrants to America -33,000-13,000 Hunters, Gatherers, Early Farmers -8000-5000 Villages, Towns, Cities -5000-3000 6 Bronze Age -4000-3000 Indus Valley civilizations -3200-1600 Sumerian cities in Mesopotamia -3200-2340 Archaic period in Egypt -3100-2700 Pyramids and Megaliths -3000-2000 First pyramid built in Egypt -2770 Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia -2334-2200 Middle Kingdom in Egypt -2050-2200 Peak of Minoan civilization on Crete -2000-1500 Ironworking in Middle East, Europe, Asia, and elsewhere -2000-1000 Shang Dynasty in China -1700-1027 Hittite Empire -1600-1200 Trojan War -1250 Hebrews settle in Canaan -1200 Kingdom of Israel -933-722 Kingdom of Judah -933-586 Assyrian Empire powerful -750-612 Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem -586 Persian Empire -559-330 Roman Republic -509-27 Hebrew Torah /"Five Books of Moses" compiled -415 The Greek city-states warred/wounded themselves -355-337 Alexander the Great -336-266 Ptolemies ruled Egypt until Cleopatra's death -323-31 Romans led a confederation of Latin cities -280 Romans ruled nearly the entire Mediterranean region -218-146 The First Emperor ruled Qin/China -221-206 Han dynasty in China -206+220 Gaius Julius Caesar, Roman general and emperor -100-44 Romans captured Jerusalem -65 Romans ruled parts of England and Scotland -43-410 Jesus of Nazareth was probably born in Bethlehem -4 Roman Empire -27+476 Roman Rhine-Danube frontier was "quiet" +16+166 New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke +36+80 Goths attacked romans in the Balkans +200+300 Classic Period of Maya history/culture +300+900 Constantinople ruled most of Roman Empire 323+1453 Eastern Germanic Gothic kingdoms 350+499 Huns attacked Goths in Ukraine 370+378 Roman Empire became officially Christian 380 Romans retreated from Britain to defend Rome 405+408 Franks drove the Vandals into Spain/Portugal 409+439 Visigoths captured and pillaged Rome 410 Most of the Huns had been driven from Europe 470 Buddhist missionaries entered Japan from Korea 550+575 7 Muhammad/Mohammed, the prophet of Islam 570+632 Byzantines temporarily reunited the Roman Empire 535+562 Vikings/Northmen invaded Ireland 620s Arabs/Muslims ruled from Syria to Spain to France 633+722 Arab/Muslim overlords ruled Persia 641+1253 Dome of the Rock was built in Jerusalem 691/2 Kingdom of Ghana 700+1200 Reconquista of Spain/Portugal 850+1493 Carolus Magnus/Charlemagne ruled the West 768+814 Holy Roman Empire 800+1806 Worst years of Viking raids in Europe 880+911 Toltecs ruled the Valley of Mexico 900+1160 Military dictators ruled most of Japan 900+1600 First European parliament met in Iceland 930 East Anglians/Anglo-Saxons paid Danes tribute 991+1162 Muslim kingdoms were founded in India 1000+1500 Byzantine Empire squeezed by the Seljuk Turks 1050+1243 High Middle Ages in Europe 1050+1300 England and Normandy were a united kingdom 1066+1204 Venice a kind of "free city" 1082+1797 Christian Crusades 1095+1291 Crusaders captured Jerusalem 1099 Sultan Saladin regained Jerusalem 1187 Crusaders pillaged Constantinople 1204 Mongols threatened from Japan to France 1206+1405 Cambridge University founded in England 1209 Spanish defeated Muslims at Las Navaas de Tolosa 1212 Magna Carta 1215 Teutonic Knights terrorized Prussia and Poland 1220+1295 "Free cities of the sea" formed the Hanseatic League 1241+1669 Global Exploration 1250+1550 Moorish Kingdom of Granada in Spain 1264+1493 Marco Polo went to China and back to Venice 1271+1295 Genghis Khan captured Beijing/Khubilai Khan born 1279 Mongols ruled China as the Yuan dynasty 1279+1368 The great Ottoman Empire 1284+1922 Mongols attacked Lebanon 1291 Swiss Confederation built piece-by-piece 1291+1815 City-state of Florence a great cultural center 1300+1375 European Renaissance, according to a few 1300+1500 Mansa Musa ruled Mali Empire in western Africa 1312+1337 Hundred Years' War in Europe 1337+1453 Black Death may have killed one in three 1347+1351 Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians temporarily united 1350+1400 Germany in chaos and fragments 1350+1450 Ottoman Turks defeated the Serbs at Kosovo 1389 Medicis were Renaissance "royalty" in Florence 1389+1650 8 Byzantine Empire was Constantinople and little else 1391 Mongol-Turkish troops ruled from India to Egypt 1392+1404 Other Volumes in the Chronicle Volume I covers the period –136,000 to +1399. During this period, humans just like us physically and mentally created cultures and made the difficult progression from living as nomadic hunters and gatherers to the time when they lived in organized societies everywhere. In brief, our predecessors went from living in isolated wandering bands to living in fixed communities and nation-states. Volume II covers the period +1400 to 1799. During this time, our ancestors worked to change their conditions from being members of agricultural, feudal societies ruled by warlords or absolute rulers to the start of the Industrial Revolution with people ruled by constitutional monarchies and democratic republics. In other words, people created more enlightened, scientific/technological, liberal societies that respected individual rights and were part of the emerging interdependent global economy. Volume III covers the period from 1800 to 1899. During the 19th century, nationalists, progressives, and nation builders defeated absolute, totalitarian, and authoritarian rulers and great empires and dynasties in China, India, Japan, France, the Mediterranean region, Latin America, and many other places while better unifying themselves in places like Germany and Italy with more advanced economies. Volume IV covers the period from 1900 to 2000. During the 20th century, which can very easily be called the Great Age of Global Wars, new forms of totalitarian, expansionist governments and the last phases of colonialism and imperialism were defeated while a new, united Commonwealth of Nations and a kind of World Civilization started to become apparent. About the Author Frank P. King has lived and worked in Las Vegas, Nevada, the US Territory of Guam, Hawaii, the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, Japan/ Okinawa,