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Great Events from History: The Ancient World, Prehistory-476 c.e.

Table of Contents

San Peoples Create Earliest African Art




Bering Strait Migrations




BaTwa Peoples Thrive in Central Africa




Early Australians Create the Bradshaw Rock Paintings




Early Europeans Create Lascaux Cave Paintings




Humans Enter the South American Continent




Paleo-Indian Culture Flourishes in North America




Jōmon Culture Thrives in Japan




Saharan Peoples Create Rock Art




Clovis Culture Rises in New Mexico




Settlement Established at Abu Hureyra in Syria




Cochise Culture Thrives in American Southwest




Nilo-Saharan Peoples Produce Food and Pottery




Folsom People Flourish in New Mexico




Permanent Settlement of the Andean Altiplano Begins




Plano Culture Flourishes in Great Plains Area




Archaic Indians Adapt to Warmer Climates




Native Cultures Flourish on the North Pacific Coast




Birth of Shintō




East Asian Grain Cultivation Begins




Kennewick Man Lives in North America




Khoisan Peoples Disperse Throughout Southern Africa




Çatalhüyük Flourishes as Center of Anatolian Culture




Kitoi People Live Near Lake Baikal in Siberia




Nilo-Saharan Farmers Spread Cultivation and Herding




Ubaid Culture Thrives in Mesopotamia




Niger-Congo Religion Takes Hold Across West Africa




Yangshao and Longshan Cultures Flourish in China




Omotics Advance Farming Practices in Horn of Africa




Chinchorro Inhabit the Peruvian and Chilean Coasts




Halafian Culture Flourishes in Northern Mesopotamia




Niger-Congo Peoples Spread Agriculture in Africa




Aleutian Coastal Hunters Flourish




Kelteminar Culture Flourishes in Central Asia




Red Paint Culture Flourishes in Eastern North America




Horse Is Domesticated




Sumerian Civilization Begins in Mesopotamia




Old Copper Complex Flourishes in North America




Ban Chiang Culture Flourishes in Thailand




Cities and Civic Institutions Are Invented in Mesopotamia




Indus Valley Civilization Begins in South Asia




Valdivia Culture Forms Villages in Coastal Ecuador




Sumerians Invent Writing




Building of Stonehenge




Unification of Lower and Upper Egypt




Australian Aborigines Create Wandjina Cave Paintings




Canaanites Inhabit the Levant




Elamite Empire Rises in Near East




Reign of China’s Legendary First Ruler, Fu Xi




Early Dynastic Period Flourishes in Southern Mesopotamia




Gash Civilization Thrives in Africa




Old Kingdom Period Begins in Egypt




Legendary Founding of China by Huangdi




Leizu Discovers Silk Making




Building of the Great Pyramid




Construction of Monumental Architecture at Caral in Peru




Wawat Chiefdom Flourishes in Lower Nubia




Southeast Asians Migrate into the South Pacific




Sumerian Uruk-Agina Makes Social and Political Reforms




Sargon of Akkad Establishes the Akkadian Dynasty




Old Choso#x0306;n State Founded in Korea




Enheduanna Becomes First Named Author




First Great Expansion of Berber Peoples Across North Africa




Beaker People Live in Western Europe




Kerma Kingdom Develops and Dominates Lower Nubia




First Intermediate Period Begins in Egypt




Ur-Nammu Establishes a Code of Law




Xia Dynasty Marks Start of Historical China




Mogollon Culture Rises in American Southwest




Middle Kingdom Period Begins in Egypt




Composition of the Gilgamesh Epic




Mon-Khmer Migrate into Southeast Asia




Mongols Inhabit Steppes North of China




Kerma Kingdom Rules Nubia




Early Villages Form in Oaxaca




Construction of El Paraíso in Peru




Poverty Point Culture Builds Earthworks




Promulgation of Hammurabi’s Code




Andronovo Culture Rises in Central Asia




Hyksos Create Second Intermediate Period




Hattusilis I Establishes the Old Hittite Kingdom




Shang Dynasty Develops Writing and Bronzework




Flowering of Minoan Civilization




Mitanni Kingdom Flourishes in Upper Mesopotamia




City of Mycenae Flourishes




New Kingdom Period Begins in Egypt




Mixtec Civilization Develops in Western Oaxaca




Dissemination of the Book of the Dead




Compilation of the Vedas




Aryans Appear in India




Olmec Civilization Rises in Southern Mexico




Lapita Culture Colonizes the South Pacific




International Age of Major Kingdoms Begins in the Near East




Urnfield Culture Flourishes in Northwestern Europe




Aqhat Epic Is Composed in Ugarit




Failure of Akhenaton’s Cultural Revival




Israelite Exodus from Egypt




Battle of Kadesh




Fall of Troy Marks End of Trojan War




Transmission of the European Alphabet




Karasuk Culture Flourishes on Eurasian Steppes




Sea Peoples Contribute to Mediterranean Upheaval




Berbers Expand Across North Africa




Arameans Emerge in Syria and Mesopotamia




Hallstatt Culture Dominates Northern Europe




Third Intermediate Period Begins in Egypt




Western Zhou Dynasty Begins in China




Queen of Sheba Legends Arise




Establishment of the United Kingdom of Israel




Greek Alphabet Is Developed




Sub-Saharan Ironworking Begins




Ionian Confederacy Forms




Mashariki Bantu Establish Chifumbaze Ironworking Culture




Cimmerian Culture Rises in Russia




Nok Artists Develop Terra-cotta Sculpture




Compilation of the Upaniṣads




Adena Mound Builders Live in North America




Urban Commerce Develops in the Sudan Belt




Woodland Culture Flourishes in Northern America




Building of the Temple of Jerusalem




Composition of the Book of Genesis




Establishment of the Kingdom of Israel




Chavín de Huántar Is Peru’s Urban Center




Second Assyrian Empire Displays Military Prowess




Kushite King Piye Conquers Upper Egypt




Scythians Drive the Cimmerians from Central Asia




Phrygian Kingdom Rises




Phoenicians from Tyre Found Carthage




Ironworking Spreads into Sub-Saharan Africa




Napata Kingdom Flourishes in Kush




Olympic Games Are First Recorded




Delphic Oracle Provides Guidance for City-States




Eastern Zhou Dynasty Begins in China




Homer Composes the Iliad




Marib Dam Is Built in Yemen




Tiglath-pileser III Rules Assyria




Spartan Conquest of Messenia




Greeks Colonize the Mediterranean and Black Sea Regions




Founding of Syracuse




Shabaka Reunites the Nile Valley




Founding and Flourishing of the Achaemenian Dynasty




Sennacherib Invades Syro-Palestine




Hesiod Composes Theogony and Works and Days




Dorset Culture Extends into Labrador, Newfoundland, and Greenland




Phalanx Is Developed as a Military Unit




Paracas Culture Develops a Sophisticated Textile Tradition




Mound Builders Rise in Ohio Valley




Saite Dynasty Begins in Egypt




Lydia Rises to Power Under the Mermnad Family




Greek City-States Use Coins as Means of Exchange




Rise of Etruscan Civilization in Rome




Draco’s Code Is Instituted




Nebuchadnezzar Creates the First Neo-Babylonian State




Celebration of the Eleusinian Mysteries




Birth of Buddhism




Meroitic Empire Rules from Southern Egypt to the Blue Nile




Suśruta, Indian Physician, Writes Medical Compendium




Appearance of Zoroastrian Ditheism




Greek Philosophers Formulate Theories of the Cosmos




Legislation of Solon




Birth of Judaism




Greek Poet Sappho Dies




Construction of Trireme Changes Naval Warfare




Vālmīki Composes the Rāmāyaṇa




Cyrus the Great Founds the Persian Empire




Fall of Babylon




Jews Return from the Babylonian Captivity




Founding of the Pythagorean Brotherhood




Death of Vardhamāna, Founder of Jainism




Sibylline Books Are Compiled




Darius the Great Conquers the Indus Valley




Scylax of Caryanda Voyages the Indian Ocean




Rape of Lucretia




Roman Republic Replaces Monarchy




Reforms of Cleisthenes




Composition of the Spring and Autumn Annals




Creation of the Jātakas




Composition of The Art of War




Composition of The Great Learning




Acupuncture Develops in China




Pāṇini Composes Sanskrit Work of Grammar




Hecataeus of Miletus Writes the First Geography Book




Creation of the Wujing




Greek Physicians Begin Scientific Practice of Medicine




Libyan Garamantes Flourish as Farmers and Traders




Socially Stratified Kingdoms Arise Around the Middle Niger River




Mithraism Emerges as Significant Religion




Zapotecs Build Monte Albán




Ionian Revolt




Institution of the Plebeian Tribunate




Battle of Marathon




Naval Law of Themistocles Is Instituted




Persian Invasion of Greece




Confucius’s Death Leads to the Creation of The Analects




Athenian Empire Is Created




China Enters Chaotic Warring States Period




Gośāla Maskarīputra, Founder of Ājīvika Sect, Dies




Greek Tragedian Aeschylus Dies




Twelve Tables of Roman Law Are Formulated




History Develops as a Scholarly Discipline




City-State of Yeha Flourishes in the Ethiopian Highlands




Building of the Parthenon




Establishment of the Canuleian Law




Sophists Train the Greeks in Rhetoric and Politics




Greek Lyric Poet Pindar Dies




Peloponnesian War




Yuezhi Culture Links Persia and China




Athenian Invasion of Sicily




Greek Dramatist Euripides Dies




Thirty Tyrants Rule Athens for Eight Months




March of the Ten Thousand




Kauṭilya Compiles a Treatise on Practical Statecraft




Founding of Mohism




Bantu Peoples Spread Farming Across Southern Africa




Dong Son Culture Appears in Vietnam




Composition of the Mahābhārata




Death of Socrates




Xenophon Writes the Anabasis




King’s Peace Ends Corinthian War




Greek Playwright Aristophanes Dies




Plato Develops His Theory of Ideas




Philip II Expands and Empowers Macedonia




Diogenes Popularizes Cynicism




Origin of Municipia




Battle of Chaeronea




Alexander the Great Begins Expansion of Macedonia




Aristotle Writes the Politics




Battle of Issus




Founding of Alexandria




Battle of Gaugamela




Alexander the Great Invades the Indian Subcontinent




Aristotle Isolates Science as a Discipline




Founding of the Ptolemaic Dynasty and Seleucid Kingdom




Diadochi Divide Alexander the Great’s Empire




Mauryan Empire Rises in India




Theophrastus Initiates the Study of Botany




First Roman Aqueduct Is Built




Building of the Appian Way




Commercial City of Jenne Is Founded on Niger River




Jimmu Tennō Becomes the First Emperor of Japan




Laozi Composes the Dao De Jing




Euclid Compiles a Treatise on Geometry




Izapan Civilization Dominates Mesoamerica




Hohokam Culture Arises in American Southwest




Stoics Conceptualize Natural Law




Yayoi Period Begins




Berber Kingdoms of Numidia and Mauretania Flourish




Khoikhoi and Kwadi Adopt Pastoral Lifestyle




Construction of the Māhabodhi Temple




Lex Hortensia Reforms the Roman Constitution




Xunzi Develops Teachings That Lead to Legalism




Composition of the Zhuangzi




Greeks Advance Hellenistic Astronomy




Aśoka Reigns over India




First Punic War




Discoveries of Archimedes




Third Buddhist Council Convenes




Tipiṭaka Is Compiled




Commissioning of the Septuagint




Dead Sea Scrolls Are Composed




Buddhism Established in Sri Lanka




Diodotus I Founds the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom




Rise of Parthia




Exploitation of the Arch




Qin Dynasty Founded in China




Building the Great Wall of China




Legalist Movement in China




Advances Are Made in Chinese Agricultural Technology




Second Punic War




Construction of the Qin Tomb




Maodun Creates a Large Confederation in Central Asia




Liu Bang Captures Qin Capital, Founds Han Dynasty




Battle of Zama




Silk Road Opens




Birth of Hinduism




Composition of the Intertestamental Jewish Apocrypha




The Bhagavad Gita Is Created




Nasca Lines Drawn in Desert Near Coast of Peru




Hopewell People Construct Earthworks




Establishment of the Cursus Honorum




Revolt of the Maccabees




Roman Playwright Terence Dies




Greco-Bactrian Kingdom Reaches Zenith Under Menander




Third Punic War




Sack of Corinth




Wudi Rules Han Dynasty China




Composition of the Huainanzi




Rise of the Pharisees




Pergamum Is Transferred to Rome




Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus Is Tribune




Marius Creates a Private Army




Dong Zhongshu Systematizes Confucianism




Sātavāhana Dynasty Rises to Power in South India




Indian Buddhist Nuns Compile the Therigatha




Sima Qian Writes Chinese History




Compilation of the Lotus Sutra




Celtic Hill Forts Are Replaced by Oppida




Zapotec State Dominates Oaxaca




East African Trading Port of Rhapta Flourishes




Armenian Empire Reaches Its Peak Under Tigranes the Great




Julian Law Expands Roman Citizenship




Spartacus Leads Slave Revolt




Catiline Conspiracy




Druidism Flourishes in Gaul and Britain




Caesar Conquers Gaul




Roman Poet Catullus Dies




Cicero Writes De Republica




Cleopatra VII, Last of Ptolemies, Reigns




Establishment of the Julian Calendar




Second Triumvirate Enacts Proscriptions




Battle of Actium




Completion of the Augustan Settlement




Roman Poet Vergil Dies




Rhine-Danube Frontier Is Established




Roman Lyric Poet Horace Dies




Birth of Jesus Christ




Pyu Kingdom Develops Urban Culture




Kingdom of Aksum Emerges




Tai Peoples Migrate into Southeast Asia




Fourth Buddhist Council Convenes




Caṅkam Literature Composed in South India




Alani Gain Power




Kingdom of Funan Flourishes




Development Begins at Teotihuacán




Ovid’s Metamorphoses Is Published




Battle of Teutoburg Forest




Wang Mang’s Rise to Power




Guang Wudi Restores the Han Dynasty




Condemnation and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ




Preaching of the Pentecostal Gospel




Trung Sisters Lead Vietnamese Rebellion Against Chinese




Roman Conquest of Britain




Creation of the Roman Imperial Bureaucracy




Compilation of the New Testament




Paul Writes His Letter to the Romans




Boudicca Leads Revolt Against Roman Rule




Buddhism Enters China




Nero Persecutes the Christians




Year of the Four Emperors




Roman Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem




Destruction of Pompeii




Founding of the Classic Period Maya Royal Dynasty at Tikal




Synod of Jamnia




Ban Zhao Writes Behavior Guide for Young Women




Kushān Dynasty Expands into India




Roman Juvenal Composes Satires




Construction of the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon at Teotihuacán




Moche Build the Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna




Cai Lun Invents Paper




Trajan Adopts Anti-Christian Religious Policy




Kanishka’s Reign Brings Flowering of the Arts




Dedication of Aelia Capitolina




Zhang Daoling Founds the Celestial Masters Movement




Aśvaghosa Composes Complete Biography of the Buddha




Galen Synthesizes Ancient Medical Knowledge




Gaius Creates Edition of the Institutes of Roman Law




Yellow Turbans Rebellion




Christian Apologists Develop Concept of Theology




Lima Culture Flourishes on the Central Andean Coast




Maya Civilization Flourishes




Anasazi Civilization Flourishes in American Southwest




Wang Bi and Guo Xiang Revive Daoism




Huns Begin Migration West from Central Asia




Giant Stelae Are Raised at Aksum




Cai Yan Composes Poetry About Her Capture by Nomads




Three Kingdoms Period Begins in China




Ulpian Issues Dictum in Rome




Ardashīr I Establishes the Sāsānian Empire




Manichaeanism Begins in Mesopotamia




Himiko Rules the Yamatai




Outbreak of the Decian Persecution




Saint Denis Converts Paris to Christianity




Sima Yan Establishes the Western Jin Dynasty




Inauguration of the Dominate in Rome




Saint Anthony of Egypt Begins Ascetic Life




West African Gold First Reaches North Africa




Licchavi Dynasty Begins in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal




Bantu People Invent Copper Metallurgy




Three Kingdoms Period Forms Korean Culture




Kofun Period Unifies Japan




Ezana Expands Aksum, Later Converts to Christianity




Ancient Ghana Emerges




Shāpūr II Reigns over Sāsānian Empire




Conversion of Constantine to Christianity




Inception of Church-State Problem




Western Jin Dynasty Falls




Adoption of the Nicene Creed




Constantinople Is Founded




Failure of Julian’s Pagan Revival




Asanga Helps Spread Mahāyāna Buddhism




Battle of Adrianople




Theodosius’s Edicts Promote Christian Orthodoxy




Gupta Dynasty Reaches Its Peak Under Chandragupta II




Saint Jerome Creates the Vulgate




Toba Establishes the Northern Wei Dynasty in China




Ōjin Tennō, First Historical Emperor of Japan, Reigns




Ge Chaofu Founds the Lingbao Tradition of Daoism




Chinese Monk Faxian Travels to India




Kālidāsa Composes Sanskrit Poetry and Plays




Lydenburg Bantus Sculpt Life-Size Terra-cotta Heads




First Major Text on Hinduism’s Great Goddess Is Compiled




Statesman Tao Qian Becomes Farmer and Daoist Poet




Gothic Armies Sack Rome




Saint Augustine Writes The City of God




Mathematician and Philosopher Hypatia Is Killed in Alexandria




Southern Dynasties Period Begins in China




Nestorian Controversy




Vandals Seize Carthage




Invasions of Attila the Hun




Saxon Settlement of Britain Begins




Conversion of Ireland to Christianity




Era of the Nine Saints




Battle of Châlons




Council of Chalcedon




Buddhist Temples Built at Ajanta Caves in India




Bodhidharma Brings Chan Buddhism to China




Fall of Rome