Timeline
In 60 events (clever, I know), this page tells the story of the dawn of human civilization to our present day with elucidations, artifacts, and a hint of sarcasm. Each of these events are readable in under a minute (60 seconds, if you weren't sure), so if you are short on time, do not fear! However, this is not a definitive guide for the names and dates to memorize, nor is it to be read like a book, from cover to cover, but rather as a taste of the human experience.
~8000 BC
Agriculture Develops in the Fertile Crescent
There is a reason this is first (It's important). In a region of the world ridden with desert beyond the rivers which sustained the region's agriculture, fertile soil allowed for the earliest agricultural societies to develop.
~7000 BC
Jericho is Founded
While relatively unimportant compared to other early events, it does mark the first city, so I guess it should go on the list. However, it, unlike later cities in Sumer, Egypt and the Indus, was not dependent on agriculture and was still inhabited by hunter gatherers.
3100 BC
Narmer Unites Upper and Lower Egypt
Narmer, a king from Upper Egypt, the more southern kingdom conquered Lower Egypt, the more northern kingdom (don't question it: the Nile flows north) uniting both kingdoms to form the first glimpse at a unified Egypt, beginning the 1st dynasty. While Egypt may have been unified prior to this, during the predynastic period, it did not last.
~3000 BC
Cities Arise in Sumer, Egypt, and the Indus
All three of these civilizations, the Sumerians, Egyptians and Indus Valley (Harrapan), arose around the dawn of the third millennium. The early adoption of the Neolithic (Agricultural) Revolution in these places allowed for the rise of cities which marks the dawn of true "civilization" in human history. All these civilizations were dependent on bronze (an alloy of copper and tin), which was only acquirable through trade, primarily for warfare. [Spoiler Alert] This becomes a problem later. However, Egypt and most likely the Harrapan civilization were unified states, unlike Sumer which remained fractured into a multitude of fiercely independent city states.
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2649 BC
The Egyptian Old Kingdom is Founded
With the reign of Djoser, the "Age of the Pyramids" began. During the Old Kingdom, architecture, mostly in the form of funerary complexes (pyramids) reached their height. The most notable of these were the pyramids of Giza (Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure's). Of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Great Pyramid is the only to remain standing (Pyramids of Giza: +1 Library of Alexandria: 0)
~2750 BC
Gilgamesh Rules Uruk
The semi-mythical (mostly mythical) king of Uruk does not mark a major shift in political or religious alignment, however the epic poem, unfortunately not that epic, written about his reign, "The Epic of Gilgamesh" is the first epic poem ever written.
~2700 BC
Khufu Rules Egypt
Khufu, in line with his predecessor of previous dynasties (Khufu was of the 4th) had a massive funerary complex built for himself. But unlike his predecessors, this complex remained the tallest structure in the world for over 3 millennia. His successors, Kafre and Menkaure completed the Giza pyramid complex, building the two smaller pyramids.
~2500 BC
Cretan (Minoan) Civilization Develops
On the island of Crete (somewhere over yonder), a civilization, likely based around a main palace at Knossos, developed around the middle of the 3rd millennia BC. The civilization is still largely shrouded in mystery, even their writing system (dubbed Linear A) has not yet been fully deciphered. However, what is known from remaining artifacts is that they were a peaceful civilization, most likely due to their large navy which maintained trade routes allowing the use of bronze. Their civilization declined around the late16th century, but the cause of it is unknown, and by 1450 BC the civilization had been destroyed, or at least overtaken by the Myceneans from mainland Greece.
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2334 BC
The Akkadian Empire Takes Control of Southern Mesopotamia
Akkad, a relatively unknown city in southern Mesopotamia of recent immigrant origin, rose to prominence in the late third century replacing the city state system of the Sumerians. Akkad reached its greatest height under two rulers, Sargon "The Great" and Naram-Sin, his grandson. Under their reign, many important advancements and firsts in world history occurred, including forming the first multi-ethnic empire, the first postal system, and the first royal dynasty (you'll be seeing a lot of this one).
2070 BC
Xia Dynasty Rules China
The Xia (Pronounced Shaa) Dynasty is, according to Chinese folklore, the first Chinese dynasty to ascend, replacing the loosely organized farming communities of the Yellow River Valley. While most likely mythical, or heavily inflated by mythological retellings, the dynasty or its predecessor, the Shang, began dynastic (passing the the throne within a single family, instead of being chosen by ability) rule within the Yellow River Valley. It is important to note that bronze work likely developed only slightly earlier (or possibly after the Xia) and many of the events that happened in this period are either highly inflated or entirely mythological.
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~1800 BC
Stonehenge is Built
First off, this date is likely wrong, as the monument was probably constructed in phases, beginning around 3100 BC and completed (as far as a bunch of stones can be complete) around 1600 BC. Secondly, the culture that built Stonehenge left no written records, which means that any theories to the function of the structure are purely that, theories. However, it is likely that the site served some religious or ceremonial role in addition to a burial ground.
~1760 BC
Shang Dynasty Established
Unlike the Xia, Shang society has been backed up by archeological evidence (so no more dragons decimating entire populations). During their reign, the Shang built large cities, divided by heavy class distinction, developed elaborate bronze metalwork, and made large advancements in military technology. However, similarly to Mesopotamia, power during Shang rule was heavily concentrated within cities and religious figures.
~1730 BC
Hammurabi Rules Babylon
Hammurabi, the sixth king of Babylon, would rise from the king of an unstable polis (city-state) to the author of the first law code and the king of the greatest empire the world had ever seen. Unlike the relatively powerful Sumerian city states, Babylon was founded by a nomadic people known as the Amorites who had moved into the area prior to the 3rd millennium BC.
Unlike his predecessors and the Sumerians before him, Hammurabi streamlined administration of the state and undertook risky military expeditions. By using his abilities as a statesman, Hammurabi quickly conquered most of southern Mesopotamia, building and breaking alliances with shifting states. However, what Hammurabi became famous for was his "code" which instituted the first known written law beyond a singular city state. His legacy and code have proved monumental to the development of civilization as a whole and remains one of he most monumental events in world history.
~1500 BC
Phoenician Civilization Rises to Prominence in Present Day Lebanon
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In what is now Lebanon, or what was Lebanon, currently, the rubble north of Haifa, city-states, similar to those in Sumer arise in the early third millennia BC, most notable in this early phase is Byblos, which flourished in the early bronze age. However, most of these cities did not develop and expand until the late Bronze Age, around 1500 BC including the rise of famous biblical cities such as Sidon and Tyre. These ports thrived, becoming centers of trade and commerce in the eastern Mediterranean. Even after the Bronze Age collapse, Phoenician cities continued to produce valuable Tyrian purple dye, whose trade had enriched the cities during the bronze age.
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~1360 BC
King Tut Rules Egypt
King Tut is probably the most famous dead person of human history. Unimportant in his lifetime, Tut ascended the Egyptian throne after his father, Akhenaten, who had attempted to reshape Egyptian religion around one god, Aten, and move the capital to a now lost city known as Akhenaten (he was very humble). Unsurprisingly, this did not end well and Tutankhamen's advisors work throughout the boy king's life to repeal these. Becoming king at 9 proved difficult and he was killed in what was likely a chariot accident at 19. It would not be until 1922 when his body was discovered would he gain international fame, proving to be one of few Egyptian kings to have his grave robbed by 20th century "archeologists" instead of bronze age criminals.
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1298 BC
Battle of Kadesh
Throughout the late Bronze Age, Egypt and the Hittite Empire had continually clashed for control of the Levant, see map here, and by 1298, the two sides met in southwestern Syria. Neither side would claim a definitive victory here, but Rameses II would make such an effective propaganda campaign; it is generally accepted to be an Egyptian PR victory. Several years later, the first peace treaty ever would be signed, proving to be far more significant than the battle itself.​​
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~1200 BC
Brone Age Collapse
So...uh...civilization had a bit of a snafu. Remember all that dependence on bronze by chance? Yeah, that probably wasn't the best for long term stability. And when that trade and necessary diplomacy fell apart, so did everything else.
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First off, we still don't know what caused the Bronze Age collapse, but we do know what it meant for civilization. The largest states of the eastern Mediterranean, the Hittites, Egyptians, Myceneans, and the states of Mesopotamia were either completely destroyed or devastated to such an extent that they would never fully recover. I can't fully explain the collapse in 60 seconds but I do have a detailed explanation of the collapse in the blog so if you want to know more, please check it out.
~1200 BC
Trojan War?
Before I begin, while the war coincided with the Bronze Age Collapse, it is not related and its existence was highly disputed until Troy was excavated by german businessman, Heinrich Schliemann. According to legend, the Trojan war began with the abduction of Helen, the wife of a Greek (Mycenaean) king, by a Trojan prince and lasted for ten years, only ending when the Greeks decided to use a infamous wooden horse to infiltrate and conquer the city of Troy. The story has been retold in many works of literature and art throughout history and underwent countless adaptations, but it is not unlikely that a war was waged between the Mycenaean Greeks, and Hittite vassal states, and . For more on the Bronze Age states, read here. And for more on the Trojan War, read here for now (Blog post coming soon!).
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~830s BC
Carthage is Founded
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I tried really hard to think of something clever to say about Carthage but I couldn't think of anything (not surprising) so I'll just tell you about it. ​According to legend, Carthage was founded around 825 BC by Queen Dido, who fled Tyre to escape her brother. Matan, the first king of Tyre, who ruled for eight years before dying in 831 BC, decreed that his son Pygmalion and daughter Alyssa, also known as Dido, would split rule. However, the people of Tyre were unhappy with this arrangement and protested, eventually leading to Pygmalion's coronation as a single monarch. To be honest its not quite as good as Rome's but its a pretty damn good story.
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Carthage would rise to become one of the most powerful city states in the Mediterranean world but Carthage might just come up later so I wont talk about it now.
753 BC
Rome is Founded
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I couldn't help but put this right after Carthage but unlike Carthage I can't reasonably cover the entire history of Rome from 753 to 1453 in 60 seconds so a blog post will be coming soon, but for now I just want to introduce it. The city of Rome was legendarily founded in 753 BC by two brothers, Romulus and Remus, I bet you can guess who got killed by the other. The city would be ruled by a successive order of somewhat tyrannical and corrupt kings until one, Tarquinius the proud would overthrown by the people and a republic would be established. I want to make clear that these kings were NOT contiguous with the later Roman Empowers and controlled relatively small territories, typically consisting of the small city of Rome and the surrounding countryside. The area to the north was controlled by a significantly more powerful people known as the Etruscans and their decline may have well ushered in the republican era of Rome.
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