Chronology of the beginnings of Civilization

CHRONOLOGY OF THE BEGINNINGS OF CIVILIZATION

4000 B.C. to 401 B.C.

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4000 B.C. to 401 B.C.	Civilization Begins
4000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. Americas	Olmecs settled (1500 B.C.) on the Gulf coast of Mexico and soon developed the first civilization in the western hemisphere. Temple cities and huge stone sculpture date from 1200 B.C.. A rudimentary calendar and writing system existed. Olmec religion, centering on a jaguar god, and art forms influenced all later Meso-American cultures.
4000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. China	Proto-Chinese neolithic cultures had long covered N and SE China when the first large political state was organized in the north by the Shang dynasty (c 1523 B.C.). Shang kings called themselves Sons of Heaven, and they presided over a cult of human and animal sacrifice to ancestors and nature gods. The Chou dynasty, starting c 1027 B.C., expanded the area of the Son of Heaven's dominion, but feudal states exercised most temporal power. A writing system with 2,000 characters was already in use under the Shang, with pictographs later supplemented by phonetic characters. Many of its principles and symbols, despite changes in spoken Chinese, were preserved in later writing systems. Technical advances allowed urban specialists to create fine ceramic and jade products, and bronze casting after 1500 B.C. was the most advanced in the world. Bronze artifacts have recently been discovered in northern Thailand dating from 3600 B.C., hundreds of years before similar Middle Eastern finds.
4000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. Egypt	Agricultural villages along the Nile were united by 3300 B.C. into 2 kingdoms, Upper and Lower Egypt, unified (c 3100 B.C.) under the Pharaoh Menes. A national bureaucracy supervised construction of canals and monuments (pyramids starting 2700 B.C.). Control over Nubia to the S was asserted beginning 2600 B.C.. Brilliant Old Kingdom Period achievements in architecture, sculpture, and painting, which reached their height during the 3d and 4th Dynasties, set the standards and forms for all subsequent Egyptian civilization and are still admired. Hieroglyphic writing appeared by 3200 B.C., recording a sophisticated literature that included religious writings, philosophies, history, and science. An ordered hierarchy of gods, including totemistic animal elements, was served by a powerful priesthood in Memphis. The pharaoh was identified with the falcon god Horus. Other trends were the belief in an afterlife and the short-lived quasimonotheistic reforms of the pharaoh Akhenaton (c 1379-1362 B.C.). After a period of dominance by Semitic Hyksos from Asia (c 1700-1550 B.C.), the New Kingdom established an empire in Syria. Egypt became increasingly embroiled in Asiatic wars and diplomacy. Conquered by Persia in 525 B.C., it eventually faded away as an independent culture.
4000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. Europe	On Crete, the Bronze Age Minoan civilization emerged c 2500 B.C.. A prosperous economy and richly decorative art was supported by seaborne commerce. Mycenae and other cities in mainland Greece and in Asia Minor (e.g., Troy) preserved elements of the culture until c 1200 B.C.. Cretan Linear A script (c 2000-1700 B.C.) remains undeciphered; Linear B script (c 1300-1200 B.C.) records an early Greek dialect. Unclear is the possible connection between Mycenaean monumental stonework and the great megalithic monuments and tombs of W Europe, Iberia, and Malta (c 4000-1500 B.C.).
4000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. India	An urban civilization with a so-far-undeciphered writing system stretched across the Indus Valley and along the Arabian Sea c 3000-1500 B.C.. Major sites are Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro in Pakistan, well-planned geometric cities with underground sewers and vast granaries. The entire region (600,000 sq mi) may have been ruled as a single state. Bronze was used, and arts and crafts were highly developed. Religious life apparently took the form of fertility cults. Indus civilization was probably in decline when it was destroyed by Aryan invaders from the NW, speaking an Indo-European language from which most of the languages of Pakistan, N India, and Bangladesh descend. Led by a warrior aristocracy whose legendary deeds are in the Rig Veda, the Aryans spread E and S, bringing their pantheon of sky gods, elaborate priestly (Brahman) ritual, and the beginnings of the caste system; local customs and beliefs were assimilated by the conquerors.
4000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. Near Eastern cradle	If history began with writing, the first chapter opened in Mesopotamia, the Tigris-Euphrates river valley. The Sumerians used clay tablets with pictographs to keep records after 4000 B.C.. A cuneiform (wedge-shaped) script evolved by 3000 B.C. as a full syllabic alphabet. Neighboring peoples adapted the script to their own language. Sumerian life centered, from 4000 B.C., on large cities (Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Nippur, Kish, and Lagash) organized around temples and priestly bureaucracies, with the surrounding plains watered by vast irrigation works and worked with traction plows. Sailboats, wheeled vehicles, potter's wheels, and kilns were used. Copper was smelted and tempered in Sumeria from c 4000 B.C., and bronze was produced not long after. Ores, as well as precious stones and metals, were obtained through long-distance ship and caravan trade. Iron was used from c 2000 B.C.. Improved ironworking, developed partly by the Hittites, became widespread by 1200 B.C..
4000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. Sumerian	Political primacy passed among cities and their kingly dynasties. Semitic-speaking peoples, with cultures derived from the Sumerian, founded a succession of dynasties that ruled in Mesopotamia and neighboring areas for most of 1800 years; among them were the Akkadians (first under Sargon I c 2350 B.C.), the Amorites (whose laws, codified by Hammurabi, c 1792-1750 B.C., have biblical parallels), and the Assyrians, with interludes of rule by the Hittites, Kassites, and Mitanni, all possibly Indo-Europeans. The political and cultural center of gravity shifted NW with each successive empire. Mesopotamian learning, maintained by scribes and preserved by successive rulers in vast libraries, was not abstract or theoretical. Algebraic and geometric problems could be solved on a practical basis in construction, commerce, and administration. Systematic lists of astronomical phenomena, plants, animals, and stones were kept; medical texts listed ailments and their herbal cures. The Sumerians worshipped anthropomorphic gods representing natural forces: Anu, god of heaven, and Enlil (Ea), god of water. Epic poetry related these and other gods in a hierarchy. Sacrifices were made at ziggurats-huge stepped temples. Gods were thought to control all events, which could be foretold using oracular materials. This religious pattern persisted into the 1st millennium B.C.. The Syria-Palestine area, site of some of the earliest urban remains (Jericho, 7000 B.C.), and of the recently uncovered Ebla civilization (fl 2500 B.C.), experienced Egyptian cultural and political influence along with Mesopotamian. The Phoenician coast was an active commercial center. A phonetic alphabet was invented here before 1600 B.C.. It became the ancestor of all European, Middle Eastern, Indian, SE Asian, Ethiopian, and many other alphabets.
3874 B.C.	Seth born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
3769 B.C.	Enosh born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
3679 B.C.	Kenan (Cainan) born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
10 February 3641 B.C.	Date of Creation, as it will be reckoned by Mayan calendars in the Western Hemisphere.
3609 B.C.	Mahalalel born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
3600 B.C.	Bronze made by southwest Asian artisans is the first metal hard enough to hold an edge. Copper is alloyed with tin, which is even softer than copper, but the combination (5 to 20 percent tin) creates a metal with many more practical uses than copper (see 5500 B.C.; iron, 2500 B.C.).
3544 B.C.	Jared born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
3500 B.C.	The Sumerian society that marks the beginning of human civilization develops in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where annual floods deposit fresh layers of fertile silt. Agricultural tribespeople settle in communities and evolve an administrative system governed by priests.
3500 B.C.	Bronze enables the Sumerians (see 3500 B.C.) to make objects that were impossible to make with softer, less fusible copper (see 3600 B.C.; iron, 2500 B.C.).
3500 B.C.	A written cuneiform alphabet developed by the Sumerians (see 3500 B.C.) facilitates communication (see 2500 B.C.).
3500 B.C.	The Sumerians (see 3500 B.C.) harness domestic animals to plows, drain marshlands, irrigate desert lands, and extend areas of permanent cultivation. By reducing slightly the number of people required to raise food, they permit a few people to become priests, artisans, scholars, and merchants.
3500 B.C.	Animal-drawn wheeled vehicles and oar-powered ships are developed by the Sumerians (see wheel, 6500 B.C.; alphabet, 2500 B.C.).
3500 B.C.	Rock paintings found 900 miles southeast of Algiers establish that the Sahara was once fertile land. French archaeologist Henri Lhote, 53, dates the paintings in the Tibesti Mountains to 3,500 B.C
3400 B.C.	Egypt's 1st Dynasty (Thinite dynasty) unites northern and southern kingdoms under Menes, who has founded a city that will be called Memphis.
3382 B.C.	Enoch born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
3317 B.C.	Methuselah born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
3130 B.C.	Lamech born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
3074 B.C.	Adam dies at 930 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
3017 B.C.	Enoch taken to heaven at 365 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
3000 B.C.	The world's population reaches 100 million.
3000 B.C.	The Sahara Desert has its beginnings in North Africa, where overworking of the soil and overgrazing are in some places exhausting the land in a region that is largely green with crops and trees (see Lhote, A.D. 1956).
3000 B.C.	Dolphins are killed in the Euxine (Black) Sea, but in some parts of the world the mammal is considered sacred and left unmolested.
3000 B.C.	Gilgamesh in Sumerian cuneiform is the first known written legend and tells of a great flood in which man was saved by building an ark (see 13,600 B.C.; Smith, A.D. 1872). A cuneiform tablet deciphered by British Museum assistant George Smith, 32, bears the Gilgamesh legend of 3,000 B.C. with an Assyrian account of a great flood that conforms closely with the biblical account. Smith announces his discovery in December at a meeting of British archaeologists (see 1837; 1846).
3000 B.C.	Sumerian foods mentioned in Gilgamesh (see 3000 B.C.) include caper buds, wild cucumbers, ripe figs, grapes, several edible leaves and stems, honey, meat seasoned with herbs, and bread-a kind of pancake made of barley flour mixed with sesame seed flour and onions.
3000 B.C.	Potatoes are cultivated in the Andes Mountains of the Western Hemisphere (see A.D. 1530).
3000 B.C.	Cotton fabric is woven in the Indus Valley (see 4000 B.C.; A.D. 1225).
2980 B.C.	Egypt's 3rd Dynasty is founded by Zoser (Tosorthros), who will rule for 30 years with help from his counselor-physician Imhotep.
2980 B.C.	The pyramid of Zoser that Imhotep will erect at Sakkara (Step Pyramid) will be the world's first large stone structure, a tomb copied in stonework from earlier brickwork piles.
2980 B.C.	Imhotep (see 2980 B.C.) will make the first efforts to find medical as well as religious methods for treating disease.
2962 B.C.	Seth dies at 912 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2948 B.C.	Noah is born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2920 B.C.	The two pyramids of Dahshur that will memorialize Snefru (see 2920 B.C.) will each rise more than 310 feet and will commemorate a reign that has vanquished the Nubians and Libyans and has seen the development of sea trade in cedar with Byblos.
2920 B.C.	The Egyptian king Snefru (or Snofru) develops copper mines in Sinai, increases sea trade by using large ships, and raises his country to new heights of prosperity. He is the last pharaoh of the Memphite 3rd Dynasty.
2900 B.C.	Egypt's 4th Dynasty is founded by Cheops (Khufu), who will reign for 23 years. (Dates for all early rulers are approximate and controversial.)
2900 B.C.	The Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza will by some accounts be the work of 4,000 stonemasons and as many as 100,000 laborers working under conditions of forced servitude and given rations consisting in large part of onions and garlic. Rising to a height of 481.14 feet and covering upwards of 13 acres, the Great Pyramid will contain stones weighing as much as 5 tons, each of which will be moved into place with primitive equipment and put together with virtually no space between them. (Variance from absolute accuracy of the work is so small that the 4 sides of the base have a mean error of only 0.6 inches in length and 12 inches in angle from a perfect square.)
2864 B.C.	Enos dies at 905 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2850 B.C.	Khafra (Khafre, or Chephren) rules as the third Egyptian king of the 4th Dynasty.
2850 B.C.	Khafra (see 2850 B.C.) erects a second pyramid at Giza.
2850 B.C.	The Great Sphinx carved from rock at Giza by order of Khafra (see 2850 B.C.) is a wingless symbol of the god Harmachis in whose image the 189-foot-long monument is fashioned.
2800 B.C.	A third pyramid erected at Giza by Egypt's 4th Dynasty (Memphite) king Menkure is the smallest but most perfect of the pyramids at Giza. Menkure's reign marks the beginning of his dynasty's decline.
2800 B.C.	The yang and yin philosophy of nature originated by the legendary Chinese emperor Fu Hsi says that health and tranquility require perfect equilibrium-a harmonious relationship among the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water), which correspond to the five planets, the five seasons, and the five colors, sounds, senses, viscera, and tastes. The yang (male element) is always dominant, says Fu Hsi.
2800 B.C.	The sickle invented by Sumerian farmers of the Tigris and Euphrates valleys is a curved instrument of wood or horn fitted with flint teeth. It will remain the predominant tool for harvesting grain until it is superseded by tools with tempered metal blades.
2769 B.C.	Cainan dies at 910 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2750 B.C.	Tyre is founded by mariners on the east coast of the Mediterranean and begins its rise as a great Phoenician seapower. (The Greek historian Herodotus will say in 450 B.C. that Tyre was founded "2,300 years ago.")
2714 B.C.	Mahalalel dies at 895 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2700 B.C.	Principles of herbal medicine and acupuncture originated by the legendary Chinese emperor Shen Nung are based, in part, on the basic principles of yang and yin proposed a century ago by Fu Hsi. The body has 12 canals related to vital organs says Shen Nung. They circulate the two principles of yang and yin; puncturing the canals with small needles permits the escape of bad secretions or obstructions and restores the body's overall equilibrium.
2640 B.C.	Silk manufacture is pioneered by the wife of the Chinese emperor Huang Ti.
2600 B.C.	Annual Nile floods permit the Egyptian peasant to produce enough barley and Emmer wheat to feed three with the surplus going to the builders of flood control projects, public buildings, and pyramid tombs.
2600 B.C.	The Egyptians preserve fish and poultry by sun-drying.
2600 B.C.	Oxen harnessed to plows in the Near East make it possible to plow deeper and to keep the soil productive longer.
2595 B.C.	Nei Ching by the legendary Chinese emperor Huang Ti is the most ancient of medical texts. Chinese medicine will contribute to the pharmacopoeia such substances as camphor, chaulmoogra, ephedrine, opium, and sodium sulfate.
2582 B.C.	Jared dies at 962 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2500 B.C.	The Sumerians develop a cuneiform script alphabet of some 600 simplified signs. They have earlier developed a written language using thousands of picture-signs, or ideograms, as in the Gilgamesh legend of 3000 B.C., and the new alphabet is based on those ideograms (see 1300 B.C.; Grotefend, A.D. 1837).
2500 B.C.	The Iron Age dawns in the Middle East, where artisans produce a new metal much harder than the bronze used since 3600 B.C. The men use temperatures of 1500° C, much higher than the heat needed to smelt copper, but the new metal will not come into wide use for another 1,000 years.
2500 B.C.	Egypt and Mesopotamia are well into the Bronze Age that began in 3600 B.C., but central Europe and the British Isles are only entering the Stone Age that began in 9000 B.C.
2475 B.C.	Maize is domesticated in primitive form in the isthmus that links the two continents of the Western Hemisphere, while potatoes and sweet potatoes are cultivated in the southern continent. Olive trees are cultivated in Crete, which grows rich by exporting olive oil and timber.
2353 B.C.	Lamech dies at 777 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2350 B.C.	The Akkadian Empire, founded by Sumer's Sargon I, will rule Mesopotamia for the next 2 centuries. The Sumerian city-state civilization now reaches its zenith; and the empire will incorporate the advances made by the Sumerians, giving them wide currency.
2348 B.C.	Year of the Flood, 600 years after the birth of Noah, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2347 B.C.	Methuselah dies at 969 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2346 B.C.	Arpachshad born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2311 B.C.	Shelah born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2300 B.C.	Rice (Oryza sativa) from the Indus Valley is introduced in northern China, where a civilization flourishes on a level comparable to any at Mohenjo-Daro or Harappa.
2281 B.C.	Eber born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2247 B.C.	Peleg born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2217 B.C.	Reu born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2205 B.C.	The Xia (Hsia) dynasty that will rule much of China for roughly 700 years is inaugurated.
2205 B.C.	The Chinese domesticate dogs, goats, pigs, oxen, and sheep.
2205 B.C.	The Chinese demonstrate the first knowledge of milling grain.
2185 B.C.	Serug born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2155 B.C.	Nahor born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2126 B.C.	Terah born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2008 B.C.	Peleg dies at 239 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2007 B.C.	Nahor dies at 148 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
2000 B.C.	The Egyptians abandon efforts to domesticate antelope, gazelle, and oryx, devoting more effort instead to hunting, fowling, fishing, and gathering wild celery, papyrus stalks, lotus roots, and other plant foods to supplement the grain and vegetables they grow on their Nile flood plains.
20^th Century B.C. 1 Jan 2000 B.C.	20^th Century B.C. Begins
2000 B.C.	Europe remains in the Stone Age as the Bronze Age proceeds in the Near East.
2000 B.C.	Watermelon is cultivated in Africa, figs in Arabia, tea and bananas in India, apples in the Indus Valley; agriculture is well established in most of the central isthmus of the Western Hemisphere.
2000 B.C.	Byblos, on the Levant Coast, has grown into a port for the export of Lebanese timber to Egypt.
2000 B.C.	Phylakopi, on the Aegean island of Milos, has become a center of trade in the volcanic glass obsidian found on the island for at least 5,000 years.
2000 B.C.	Square sails on two and even three masts assist Phoenician and Cretan oarsmen.
2000 B.C.	Farmers in the Near East raise some cattle for meat, some for milk.
1998 B.C.	Noah dies at 950 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1996 B.C.	Abraham born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1978 B.C.	Reu dies at 239 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1955 B.C.	Serug dies at 230 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1921 B.C.	Abraham leaves Haran, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1910 B.C.	Ishmael born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1908 B.C.	Arphaxad dies at 438 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
19^th Century B.C. 1 Jan 1900 B.C.	19^th Century B.C. Begins
1900 B.C.	Stonehenge will be erected sometime in the next 3 centuries by Bronze Age Britons, possibly as a monumental calculator to chart the movements of the sun, moon, and planets.
1897 B.C.	Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1896 B.C.	Isaac born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1878 B.C.	Shelah dies at 433 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1856 B.C.	Isaac marries Rebekah, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1836 B.C.	Jacob and Esau born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1821 B.C.	Abraham dies at 175 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1817 B.C.	Eber dies at 464 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
18^th Century B.C. 1 Jan 1800 B.C.	18^th Century B.C. Begins
1800 B.C.	Taboos against eating pork appear among some peoples of the Near East, possibly because they are sheepherding peoples and the pig is the domesticated animal of their farmer enemies (see 621B.C.; Cook, A.D. 1779).
1745 B.C.	Joseph born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1728 B.C.	Joseph sold by his brothers at 17 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1716 B.C.	Isaac dies at 180 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1716 B.C.	Joseph is promoted at 30 years of age to second in authority to the Egyption pharaoh, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1706 B.C.	Jacob comes to Egypt to live, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
17^th Century B.C. 1 Jan 1700 B.C.	17^th Century B.C. Begins
1700 B.C.	Judaism is founded by Abraham, a prince of Ur in Mesopotamia, who moves to Canaan, replaces human sacrifice with the sacrifice of rams, and begins a religion that will attract many followers in the Middle East (see Jacob, 1650 B.C.).
1700 B.C.	An Egyptian papyrus written during the reign of Re-Ser-Ka shows that Egyptians suffer from tooth decay and ophthalmic troubles. A German Egyptologist will discover the document in A.D. 1872, and it will be called the Ebers papyrus.
1700 B.C.	Knossos, on the island of Crete, is destroyed either by earthquake or by troops from the rival city of Phaistos, but the Minoans (who take their name from the legendary King Minos) will rebuild the city (see 1600 B.C.).
1700 B.C.	Babylonians employ windmills to pump water for irrigation.
1700 B.C.	Eastern Europeans cultivate rye (Secale cereale). It will soon become the major bread grain of the Slavs, Celts, and Teutons in northern areas where the growing season is too short for dependable wheat production (see ergotism, A.D. 857).
1700 B.C.	Smallpox or a similar disease occurs among the Chinese.
1680 B.C.	Hyksos tribesmen invade Egypt from Palestine, Syria, and farther north. They wear sandals, which enable them to outfight the Egyptians on the hot sands, and introduce horses that will help them dominate the Egyptians for the next century.
1680 B.C.	Leavened (raised) bread is invented in Egypt (time approximate).
1650 B.C.	The Jewish religion begun half a century ago by Abraham and carried on by his son Isaac is propagated by his grandson Jacob, whose 12 sons will come to head 12 tribes of Israel (see 933 B.C.).
1635 B.C.	Joseph dies at 110 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
16^th Century B.C. 1 Jan 1600 B.C.	16^th Century B.C. Begins
1600 B.C.	Knossos, on the island of Crete, is rebuilt within a century after its destruction in 1700 B.C. A brilliant civilization flourishes at Knossos and at Phaistos, Tylissos, Hagia, Triada, and Gornia (but see 1470 B.C.).
1568 B.C.	The New Kingdom that will rule Egypt until 332 B.C. is inaugurated at Thebes by the Diospolite (18th Dynasty) king Amasis who begins to drive out the Hyksos who invaded Egypt in 1680 B.C. and to reunite Upper and Lower Egypt.
1545 B.C.	Egypt's Amasis I dies after a 23-year reign. His son will reign until 1525 B.C. as Amenhotep I, invading Nubia and warring with the Libyans and Syrians.
1525 B.C.	Egypt's Amenhotep I dies after a 20-year reign that has secured the nation's borders. His successor, who is not of royal blood, will reign until 1504 B.C. as Thutmose I, conquering Nubia.
1525 B.C.	Thutmose I (see 1525 B.C.) will restore the temple of Osiris at Abydos, will build hypostyle halls at Karnak, and will erect two pylons and two obelisks. He will have a record of his deeds preserved in rock inscriptions near the third cataract of the Nile.
1526 B.C.	Moses born, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1520 B.C.	A volcanic eruption on the Greek island of Thera (Santorini) destroys all life on the island (see 1470 B.C.)
1512 B.C.	Egypt's Thutmose I is deposed after a 13-year reign in which he has led successful expeditions as far as the Euphrates. His bastard son will reign until 1504 B.C. with his wife and half sister Hatshepsut as Thutmose II.
1504 B.C.	Egypt's Thutmose II dies at a young age after successful military campaigns against the Nubians and Syrians. Hatshepsut rules as regent for her infant nephew Thutmose III and will assume the title of queen next year.
15^th Century B.C. 1 Jan 1500 B.C.	15^th Century B.C. Begins
1500 B.C.	Geometry helps the Egyptians survey boundaries of fields whose dividing lines are effaced by the annual floods of the Nile (see Euclid, 300 B.C.).
1500 B.C.	Water buffalo are domesticated along with several species of fowl by China's Shang dynasty, whose monarchy rules at Anyang on the Huanghe (Yellow) River. Aryan nomads from the Eurasian steppes push into the Indian subcontinent, bringing with them flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. India's Aryan invaders (see 1500 B.C.) introduce a diet heavily dependent on dairy products, using ghee (clarified butter) rather than whole butter, which is too perishable for India's climate.
1500 B.C.	Horse-drawn vehicles are used by the Chinese (see Sumerians, 3500 B.C.).
1500 B.C.	Silk is woven by the Chinese who also use potter's wheels.
1486 B.C.	Moses flees from Egypt, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1483 B.C.	Two obelisks at Karnak are erected by the Egyptian queen Hatshepsut, who has built a magnificent temple on the west side of the Nile near Thebes and has had its walls decorated with pictorial representations of an expedition to the land of Punt.
1483 B.C.	Thutmose III comes of age and begins a 33-year reign in which Egypt will reach the height of her power, extending hegemony from below the fourth cataract of the Nile in the south to the Euphrates in the east. The title "pharaoh," or "Great House," will come into use under Thutmose III.
1483 B.C.	Thutmose III builds walls around his aunt Hatshepsut's obelisks at Karnak and tries to destroy all evidence of her existence.
1470 B.C.	Mycenae is established as a new cultural center in the Greek Peloponnesus by survivors of the Minoan civilization destroyed in Crete (see 1470 B.C.).
1470 B.C.	A volcanic eruption on the Greek island of Thera that is far more violent than the eruption of 1520 B.C. deposits ashes on Crete and emits poisonous vapors that destroy the Minoan civilization of 1600 B.C. Seismic waves 100 to 160 feet high, created by the eruption, rush in to fill the void created at Thera, temporarily dropping water levels on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. Egyptian croplands are engulfed by seawater from seismic waves (see 1470 B.C.), the land is made uncultivatable, and famine ensues.
1450 B.C.	Egypt's Thutmose III dies after a splendid 33-year reign. His son, who has ruled jointly for the past year, will remain until 1424 B.C. as Amenhotep II with successful campaigns in Judea and on the Euphrates.
1446 B.C.	The Exodus from Egypt, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
1424 B.C.	Egypt's Amenhotep II dies after a 27-year reign and is succeeded by his son, who will reign until 1417 B.C. as Thutmose IV. The new king will marry a Mitannian princess, form alliances with Babylonia and the Mitanni, lead military expeditions into Phoenicia and Nubia, and complete the last obelisk of his grandfather Thutmose II.
1417 B.C.	Egypt's Thutmose IV dies and is succeeded by his brilliant son, who will reign in luxury and peace until 1379 as Amenhotep III, the last great ruler of the New Kingdom.
1406 B.C.	Moses dies at 120 years of age, as it will be reckoned by Irish theologian James Ussher in A.D. 1650.
14^th Century B.C. 1 Jan 1400 B.C.	14^th Century B.C. Begins
1400 B.C.	The first domestic poultry is introduced into China from the Malayan Peninsula, where the jungle fowl Gallus bankiva has been domesticated. The Iron Age begins in Asia Minor as an economical method is found for smelting iron on an industrial scale (see 2500 B.C.).
1380 B.C.	A canal completed by slaves of Egypt's Amenhotep III connects the Nile with the Red Sea and will remain in use for centuries (see 609 B.C.).
1379 B.C.	Egypt's Amenhotep III dies after a 38-year reign in which Babylonia has recognized Egyptian supremacy. The pharaoh has led a successful expedition into Upper Nubia above the second cataract of the Nile, developed his capital of Thebes into a monumental city of great temples, pylons, and colossi, erected hypostyle halls at Karnak, built the Temple of Amun in Luxor, and reigned in an era of prosperity and magnificence. Amenhotep is succeeded by his son, who will reign until 1362 B.C. as Amenhotep IV (Ikhnaton), but the Hittite king Suppiluliumas will take advantage of Egypt's weakness in the next 35 years to build an empire that will extend south from Anatolia to the borders of Lebanon.
1374 B.C.	Monotheism is introduced by the Egyptian king Amenhotep IV, who will be called Ikhnaton (Akhenaten or Akhnaton), meaning "Aten is satisfied." The pharaoh establishes a new cult that worships the sun god (or solar disk) Aten, and he opposes the priests of Amen, possibly due to the influence of his beautiful wife Nefertiti.
1358 B.C.	Egypt's Ikhnaton dies after a 17-year reign and is succeeded by his son-in-law, 9, who will rule until 1350 B.C. The new pharaoh Tutankhamen has accepted the sun worship faith of his wife and her father but will return to the religion of the priests of Amen and move Egypt's capital back to Thebes from the new city of Akhetaton.
1350 B.C.	The Egyptian throne is seized by the soldier Harmhab, who will reorganize the country's administration and reign until 1315 B.C., founding Egypt's 19th Dynasty.
1350 B.C.	Harmhab (see 1350 B.C.) will restore worship according to the traditional tenets of the Amen priests.
1349 B.C.	Egypt's late pharaoh Tutankhamen is buried at Thebes with a vast treasure of decorative art objects.
1327 B.C.	Egypt's Harmhab dies and is succeeded by the aged Ramses, who will plan and begin a great hypostyle hall at Karnak.
1325 B.C.	Egypt's Ramses I dies and is succeeded by his son, who has served since last year as co-regent. He will reign until 1304 B.C. as Seti I.
1304 B.C.	The pharaoh Seti (see 1304 B.C.) has completed a colonnaded hall at Karnak begun by his father Ramses I and has also built a magnificent sanctuary at Abydos dedicated to the great Egyptian gods.
1304 B.C.	Egypt's pharaoh Seti I dies after a reign i