1.
2nd millennium BC
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The 2nd millennium BC spans the years 2000 through 1000 BC. It marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age and its first half is dominated by the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and Babylonia. Indo-Iranian migration onto the Iranian plateau and onto the Indian subcontinent propagates the use of the chariot, chariot warfare and population movements lead to violent changes at the center of the millennium, a new order emerges with Greek dominance of the Aegean and the rise of the Hittite Empire. The end of the sees the transition to the Iron Age. World population begins to rise steadily, reaching some 50 million towards 1000 BC, the Pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and their contemporary Kings of Babylon, of Amorite origin, brought good governance without much tyranny, and favoured elegant art and architecture. Farther east, the Indus Valley civilization was in a period of decline, possibly as a result of intense, Egypt and Babylonias military tactics were still based on foot soldiers transporting their equipment on donkeys. Combined with an economy and difficulty in maintaining order, this was a fragile situation that crumbled under the pressure of external forces they could not oppose. About a century before the middle of the millennium, bands of Indo-European invaders came from the Central Asian plains and swept through Western Asia and they were riding fast two-wheeled chariots powered by horses, a system of weaponry developed earlier in the context of plains warfare. This tool of war was unknown among the classical civilizations, Egypt and Babylonias foot soldiers were unable to defend against the invaders, in 1630 BC, the Hyksos swept into the Nile Delta, and in 1595 BC, the Hittites swept into Mesopotamia. The peoples in place were quick to adapt to the new tactics, among the great states of the time, only Babylon refrained from taking part in battles, mainly due to its new position as the worlds religious and intellectual capital. Also contributing to the changes were the Sea Peoples, ship-faring raiders of the Mediterranean, the civilizations, kingdoms and dynasties in this section are organized according to the United Nations geoscheme The events in this section are organized according to the United Nations geoscheme. It is difficult to pinpoint the year or even the correct century for many events of the 2nd Millennium BC. c.1700 BC–1300 BC—Palace complex in Knossos. C.1600 BC–1360 BC Egyptian domination over Canaan and Syria, in the history of the Egyptian language, the early 2nd millennium saw a transition from Old Egyptian to Middle Egyptian. As the most used form of the Ancient Egyptian language. The earliest attested Indo-European language, the Hittite language, first appears in cuneiform in the 16th century BC, Hittite is the best known and the most studied language of the extinct Anatolian branch of Indo-European languages. The first Northwest Semitic language, Ugaritic, is attested in the 14th century BC, the first fully phonemic script Proto-Canaanite developed from Egyptian hieroglyphs, becoming the Phoenician alphabet by 1200 BC. Mycenaean Greek, the most ancient attested form of the Greek language, was used on the Greek mainland, Crete, the people in this section are organized according to the United Nations geoscheme The Canadian–American speculative fiction author S. M. Stirling has written a set in Bronze Age era, circa the 1250s BC
2.
17th century BC
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C.1700 BC, Minoan Old Palace period ends and Minoan Second Palace period starts in Ancient Greece. C.1700 BC, beginning of the Late Minoan period on Crete, C.1700 BC, Aegean metalworkers are producing decorative objects rivaling those of Ancient Near East jewelers, whose techniques they seem to borrow. C.1700 BC, Lila-Ir-Tash started to rule the Elamite Empire, C.1700 BC,1450 BC, Young girl gathering saffron crocus flowers, detail of wall painting, Room 3 of House Xeste 3, Akrotiri, Thera, is made. It is now kept in Thera Foundation, Petros M. Nomikos, C.1700 BC, Bronze Age starts in China. C.1698 BC, Lila-Ir-Tash the ruler of the Elamite Empire died, Temti-Agun I started to rule the Elamite Empire. 1691 BC, Belu-bani, the King of Assyria died, C.1690 BC, Temti-Agun I, the ruler of the Elamite Empire, died. Tan-Uli started to rule the Elamite Empire,1690 BC, Libaia became the King of Assyria. C.1680 BC, Egypt, Development of leavened bread,1675 BC, Tang of Shang, first ruler of the Shang Dynasty becomes ruler in China. C.1673 BC, Sharma-Adad I became the King of Assyria, C.1661 BC, Iptar-Sin became the King of Assyria. C.1655 BC, Tan-Uli, the ruler of the Elamite Empire,1633 BC—May 2—Lunar Saros 34 begins. 1627 BC, Beginning of a cooling of world climate lasting several years recorded in all over the world. It might have been caused by the Minoan eruption of Thera or the Avellino eruption of Mount Vesuvius,1625 BC, Samsu-Ditana becomes King of Babylon. 1621 BC, Lullaia becomes the King of Assyria,1620 BC, Mursili I becomes King of the Hittite Empire. 1615 BC, Shu-Ninua became the King of Assyria, jie, The last ruler of Xia Dynasty, ruled China for 52 years until 1600 BC according to the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project. 1686 BC—Hammurabi 1684 BC—Heremon, Irish legend The last known population of mammoth, preserved on Wrangel Island. See, List of sovereign states in the 17th century BC
3.
16th century BC
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The 16th century BC is a century which lasted from 1600 BC to 1501 BC.1700 BC –1500 BC, Hurrian conquests. 1601 BC, Sharma-Adad II became the King of Assyria, C. c.1600 BC, The date of the earliest discovered rubber balls. C.1600 BC, Early Mycenaean culture, weapons, Cyclopaean walls, C.1600 BC, Unetice culture ends in Czech Republic, eastern Europe Development of the windmill in Persia. 1595 BC, Sack of Babylon by the Hittite king Mursilis I. c.1595 BC, The overthrow of the ruling Amorite dynasty in Aleppo,1570 BC, Cretan palaces at Knossos and other centres flourish despite disasters. 1567 BC, Egypt, End of Fifteenth Dynasty, end of Sixteenth Dynasty, end of Seventeenth Dynasty, C.1550 BC, The city of Mycenae, located in the northeast Peloponnesus, comes to dominate the rest of Achaea, giving its name to Mycenaean civilization. 1556 BC, Cecrops I builds or rebuilds Athens following the flood of Deucalion. He becomes the first of several Kings of Athens whose life account is considered part of Greek mythology,1556 BC, Shang Dynasty of China established *. 1525 BC, End of Fifteenth dynasty of Egypt, C.1512 BC, The flood of Deucalion, according to OFlaherty, Augustine, Eusebius, and Isidore. 1506 BC, Cecrops I, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 50 years, having survived his own son, he is succeeded by Cranaus. 1504 BC, Egypt started to conquer Nubia and the Levant, C.1500 BC, Many scholars date early parts of the Rig Veda to roughly the 16th century. C.1500 BC, Queen Hatsheput in Egypt, C.1500 BC, The element Mercury has been discovered in Egyptian tombs dating from this decade. C.1500 BC, Settlers from Crete, Greece move to Miletus, C.1500 BC, Early traces of Maya civilization developing in Belize. C.1500 BC, The Phoenicians develop an alphabet—see Timeline of communication technology, C.1500 BC, Indo-Aryan migration is often dated to the 17th to 16th centuries. Tang of Shang, first ruler of Shang Dynasty, ruled China for 29 years since 1600 BC according to the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project,1597 BC—Aaron born to Amram and his wife Jochebed. Kamose, last Pharaoh of the 17th Dynasty of Egypt, ahmose I, Pharaoh and founder of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. Hatshepsut, first female Pharaoh of Egypt c.1473 BC See, List of sovereign states in the 16th century BC
4.
15th century BC
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The 15th century BC is a century which lasted from 1500 BC to 1401 BC.1504 BC –1492 BC, Egypt conquers Nubia and the Levant. 1500 BC –1400 BC, The Rigveda was composed around this time,1500 BC –1400 BC, The Battle of the Ten Kings took place around this time. C.1490 BC, Cranaus, legendary King of Athens, is deposed after a reign of 10 years by his son-in-law Amphictyon of Thessaly, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha. 1487 BC, Amphictyon, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha and legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 10 years and is succeeded by Erichthonius I of Athens, C.1480 BC, Queen Hatsheput succeeded by her stepson and nephew Thutmosis III. C.1469 BC, In the Battle of Megiddo, Egypt defeats Canaan, C.1460 BC, The Kassites overrun Babylonia and found a dynasty there that lasts for 576 years and nine months. 1437 BC, Legendary King Erichthonius I of Athens dies after a reign of 50 years and is succeeded by his son Pandion I.1430 BC –1160 BC,1430 BC –1178 BC, Beginning of Hittite empire. C.1420 BC, Crete conquered by Mycenae—start of the Mycenaean period,1400 BC, In Crete the use of bronze helmets. 1400 BC, Palace of Minos destroyed by fire, C.1400 BC, Linear A reaches its peak of popularity. C.1400 BC, The height of the Canaanite town of Ugarit, royal Palace of Ugarit is built. Myceneans conquers Greece and border of Anatolia, see, List of sovereign states in the 15th century BC
5.
Mycenae
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Mycenae is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 kilometres southwest of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 11 kilometres to the south, Corinth,48 kilometres to the north, from the hill on which the palace was located, one can see across the Argolid to the Saronic Gulf. In the second millennium BC, Mycenae was one of the centres of Greek civilization. The period of Greek history from about 1600 BC to about 1100 BC is called Mycenaean in reference to Mycenae, at its peak in 1350 BC, the citadel and lower town had a population of 30,000 and an area of 32 hectares. Although the citadel was built by Greeks, the name Mukanai is thought not to be Greek, legend has it that the name was connected to the Greek word mycēs. Thus, Pausanias ascribes the name to the legendary founder Perseus, the earliest written form of the name is Mykēnē, which is found in Homer. The reconstructed Mycenaean Greek name of the site is Mukānai, which has the form of a plural like Athānai, the change of ā to ē in more recent versions of the name is the result of a well-known sound change in later Attic-Ionic. An EH–MH settlement was discovered near a well on top of the Kalkani hill southwest of the acropolis. The first burials in pits or cist graves manifest in the MH period on the west slope of the acropolis, during the Bronze Age, the pattern of settlement at Mycenae was a fortified hill surrounded by hamlets and estates, in contrast to the dense urbanity on the coast. Richer grave goods mark the burials as possibly regal, mounds over the top contained broken drinking vessels and bones from a repast, testifying to a more than ordinary farewell. A walled enclosure, Grave Circle A, included six more shaft graves, with nine female, eight male, Grave goods were more costly than in Circle B. The presence of engraved and inlaid swords and daggers, with points and arrowheads, leave little doubt that warrior chieftains. Some art objects obtained from the graves are the Silver Siege Rhyton, the Mask of Agamemnon, the Cup of Nestor, Alan Wace divided the nine tholos tombs of Mycenae into three groups of three, each based on architecture. His earliest – the Cyclopean Tomb, Epano Phournos, and the Tomb of Aegisthus – are dated to LHIIA, burial in tholoi is seen as replacing burial in shaft graves. The care taken to preserve the shaft graves testifies that they were by then part of the royal heritage, being more visible, the tholoi all had been plundered either in antiquity, or in later historic times. Within these walls, much of which can still be seen, the final palace, remains of which are currently visible on the acropolis of Mycenae, dates to the start of LHIIIA,2. Earlier palaces must have existed, but they had cleared away or built over. The construction of palaces at that time with an architecture was general throughout southern Greece
