Appendix B: Timeline Date Event th Relics of the Ugaritic alphabet in the city -state Ugarit (Northwest Syria) with 15 c. BC Mesopotamian cuneiform shapes. The writing order was from left to right. th The earliest relics of the Proto -Canaanite (Prot o-Sinaitic) alphabet between ancient 14 c. BC 931 Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) and Egypt. th 11 c. BC The estimated b eginning of the Phoenician alphabet derived from Proto -Canaanite. th 10 c. BC The Mannaeans lived in the current territory of Iran. Beginning of the Neo -Assyrian Empire that first used the Akkadian language with Neo - 934 BC Assyrian cuneiform. th Beginning of the Musnad (ancient South Arabian) alphabet in Yemen , derived from 9 c. BC the Proto-Canaanite script. th The Moabite script is attested on the stele of King Mesha of Moab (present -day 9 c. BC Jordan. 800 BC Beginning of the Greek alphabet derived from the Phoenician script. mid -8th c. The Neo -Assyrian Empire started to use the Aramaic language and the Early Aramaic 932 BC script alongside the Neo-Assyrian cuneiform. th Formation of the first Scythian tribe confederation north of the Black Sea; see Image 7 c. BC D-1 (in a later period). th 933 7 c. BC The Etruscans in Italy took up the Western Greek alphabet. The first Lydian and Carian inscriptions in West Asia Minor. This is the estimated 7th c. BC beginning of the Lydian and Carian scripts. The allied Scythians and Mannaeans attacked Assyria. The Scythians adopted the 676 BC 934 Aramaic script. 625 BC Cyaxares united the Iranian -speaking Median tribes in the territory of present -day Iran. 616 BC Fall of the Mannaean Kingdom . 612 BC The Medians defeated the Scythians. Beginning of the Neo -Babylonian Empire (Mesopotamia). The Aramaic language and the Aramaic script remained in everyday use. The version of the Aramaic language 612 BC called Chaldean Aramaic was used in the Neo-Babylonian Empire, as at that time the Chaldean dynasty ruled the Neo-Babylonian Empire. 600 BC First Old Italian inscriptions. Cyrus the Great established the Achaemenid (Ancient Persian, Medo -Persian ) Empire 549 BC by defeating Media. 539 BC The Achaemenid Empire conquered the Neo -Babylonian Empire. 512 BC Persian K ing Darius was defeated by the Scythian Army. 500 BC The estimated beginning of the Lycian script in Asia Minor (Anatolia). 931 Abulhab 2009 932 Hitch 2010, p. 3 933 Bonfante 1983, pp. 297–311 934 Györffy & Harmatta 1997, p. 148 277 Date Event The Aramaic language and script were adopted as the official language and script in first half of the Achaemenid Empire. They were further developed and called Imperial Aramaic the 5 th c. language and script, since they were used in written communication between the 935 BC different regions of the Achaemenid Empire. The Imperial Aramaic script was de facto standardized in the Achaemenid Empire because of its regular and official use. 4th c. BC The last Carian and Lydian inscriptions in West Asia Minor. ca. 4 th –3rd The Aramaic script and its derivations replaced Phoenician, becoming the main scripts 936 c. BC of the Fertile Crescent. 350 BC The King of Scythians began expansion in the region north to the Black Sea. 339 BC Philip II of Macedon defea ted the Scythian King Ateas (ca. 429 BC –339 BC ). Conquest of Alexander the Great , fall of the Achaemenid Empire. Greek became the official medium of communication among the nations. Aramaic remained in wide use, 330 BC but local variants developed separately and became distinct languages in the 3 rd 937 century. 330 BC The estimated end date of the Lycian script in Asia Minor (Anatolia). Beginning of the Seleucid Empire, which used the Greek as official language and 312 BC script. rd Sarmatians (Iranian -speaking Indo -European nomads) arrived in Europe and lived 3 c. BC north of the Black Sea ( Image D-1). rd Existence of the Alan and As people between the Aral Sea (in Middle Asia) and the 3 c. BC Don River (in Eastern Europe).938 Edessan script as a derivative of Aramaic alphabet arose around Edessa (present -day 3rd c. BC Şanlıurfa, Turkey). 939 It was used up to 3 rd century AD. rd 3 c. BC Evolvement of the Hebrew script derived from Early Aramaic. rd 3 c. BC Foundation of Petra , capital of the Nabataean Kingdom . The Nabat aea ns centered around Petra used the Nabataean script (as a local rd 3 c. BC development of the Aramaic script) is attested to in territories between Syria and 940 Arabia. A local derivative of the Imperial Aramaic, the Palmyrene script arose around Palmyra 3rd c. BC (present-day Tadmor, Syria).941 rd 942 3 c. BC Scythians settled in the Crimean foothills ( Map 3.1 -1). rd The Yuezhi (Yüeh -chih, Rouzhi) people lived i n Middle Asia ( Image D -1). The Yuezhi 3 c. BC 943 Empire adopted the Aramaic-based scripting. 935 O’Connor 1996, p. 96 936 Abulhab 2009 937 Goerwitz 1996, p. 489 938 Vásáry 2003 939 Hitch 2010, p. 5 940 O’Connor 1996, p. 98; Daniels 1996, p. 499 941 Hitch 2010, p. 10 942 Aibabin 2008, p. 2 943 Györffy & Harmatta 1997, p. 148; Harmatta 1997b, p. 173 278 Date Event The first appearance of the Kharo ṣṭ hī script at Shazbazgarhi and Mansehra (present - day North Pakistan). 944 The Kharo ṣṭ hī script was used primarily in the region of ca. 250 BC Gandhara (present-day North Pakistan and East Afghanistan). The Kharo ṣṭ hī script is 945 well-documented in relics from Gandhara as well as Central Asia. Foundation of the Greco -Bactrian Kingdom, where the Kharo ṣṭ hī script was used ca. 250 BC 946 along with the Greek alphabet. Beginning of the Parthian (Arsacid) Empire, in which Middle Iranian languages (including the Parthian) were used ( Image D-1). However, the Imperial Aramaic 247 BC language remained in use in the western part of the Parthian Empire. A variant of the Imperial Aramaic script, namely Inscriptional Parthian , started to be developed and 947 later used in the Parthian Empire. Maotun —whose dignitary name was shanyü —established the Hiungnu (Xiongnu , 209 BC Hsiung-nu) confederation of nomadic tribes and created an empire north of China. His 948 was the first nomadic empire of the Eurasian Steppe. Iranian words gradually began to appear in Aramaic inscriptions, which were used for nd 2 c. BC only the Aramaic language before. This means that the Aramaic script was used to 949 record in the Iranian languages. The Hiungnu defeated the Yuezhi. The majority of the Yuezhi people fled to the East 174 BC Tarim Basin (present-day West China). They were identified as Tocharians by J. 950 Harmatta. East of the Aral Sea existed the country Kangju , which extended its contro l over 129 BC Sogdiana . The Iranian-speaking As people also lived in Kangju. The influence of the Kharo ṣṭ hī script was probably strong on their orthography. 951 128 BC The Yuezhi (Tocharians) defeated Bactria, and then that area was called Tocharia. 70 BC The end of the Scythian Kingdom north to the Black Sea. Beginning of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia. 952 The Kushans may have been one of the tribes of the Yuezhi speaking Tocharians. Near Kangju, in the north-western 953 10 AD part of the Kushan Empire the Kharo ṣṭ hī script was in use. The Kushans used the dignitary name jabgu ,954 which was applied later by several Steppe nations, including the Turks, the Khazars, and the Magyars. The Alans secured a dominant position over the Sarmatians between the Don River and the Caspian Sea ( Image D-1). 955 Alans and Sarmatians lived between the lower 30 AD reaches of the Volga and Don rivers, the Northern and East Azov regions, and the 956 middle reaches of the Kuban River ( Map 3.1-1 and 3.5.1-1). 944 Hultzsch 1925, XXXV 945 Salomon 1998, p. 47 946 Harmatta 1999, p. 433 947 Skjærvø 1996, p. 517 948 Zimonyi 2007, p. 1 949 Rogers 1999, p. 257 950 Harmatta 1998, p. 130 951 Vásáry 2004, p. 42 952 Vásáry 2004, p. 42 953 Harmatta 1999, p. 433 954 Puri 1999, p. 247 955 Zadneprovskiy 1999, p. 467 956 Aibabin 2008, p. 2 279 Date Event st mid -1 c. 957 The beginning of the Hiungnu groups’ movements west of the Hiungnu Empire. AD mid -1st c. A part of Kangju (the As people) moved West from Central Asia and reached Eastern 958 AD Europe. There, they defeated the Alans and mixed with them. between 93 AD and The end of the Xiongnu Empire.959 155 AD nd 960 2 c. AD The Inscriptional Parthian script attained its final form. ca. 150 AD The Ostrogoths (eastern branch of the Germanic nation Goth ) reached the Black Sea. 2nd –3rd c. Influence of the Iranian -speaking As –Alans on the Hungarians near the Don River. 961 AD From that time on As–Alan groups always lived together with the Hungarians. Connecting grapheme s became popular in the Greater Arabian Peninsula and Persia rd th (Iran). Cursive writing necessitated radical changes in the grapheme shapes. 3 –4 c. Graphemes were mirrored, rotated, extended, or replaced in order to adhere to the 962 cursive rules. rd Germanic peo ple settled at the lower reaches of the Chorna River (Crimean Peninsula, 3 c. 963 near Kherson; see Map 3.5.1-1) and the southern coast of the Crimean Peninsula. rd 3 c. Partition of the Hiungnu Empire into five local tribes .