THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT/CLASSICAL SOUTHWEST ASIA
600,000 BCE
500,000 BCE
12,000 BCE
10,000 BCE
9,000 BCE
8,500 BCE
7,500 BCE
6,000 BCE
5,500 BCE
4,000 BCE
4,000 BCE
3,500 BCE
3,500 BCE
3,100 BCE
3,000 BCE
2,700 BCE
2,700 BCE
2,550 BCE
2,200 BCE
2,000 – 1,700 BCE
2,000 – 1,700 BCE
2,000 BCE
2,000 BCE
2,000 BCE
2,000 BCE
1,750 BCE
1,750 BCE
1,700 BCE
1,600 BCE
1,575 BCE
1,500 BCE
1,400 BCE
1,300 BCE
1,200 BCE
1,200 BCE
1,200 – 1,000 BCE
1,000 BCE
911 – 626 BCE
911 – 626 BCE
7th Century BCE
668 – 627 BCE
626 – 539 BCE
626 – 539 BCE
539 – 323 BCE
5th Century BCE
Hunter-gatherer bands spread across Afro-Eurasia; subsistence living
Humans harness fire; bone, wood tools; generalized gender equality
Stone tools become widely used; cave painting suggest complex religion
Neolithic Revolutions: farming villages, widespread domestication
Humans domesticate pigs, goats, sheep, cattle
Sedentarism sees rise of classes, patriarchal villages, extended families
Pastoralists herd domesticated animals; women retain some rights
Pottery allows storing of food; irrigation leads to increased productivity
First towns in Southwest Asia; trade develops; Farming along the Nile River
Sumerians migrate into Tigris Euphrates River Valley; small city-states arise
Sumerian technological revolution in writing, plow, wheel; elaborate irrigation
Sumerian civilization: nobles, priests rule; command economies
Sumerian writing develops; Mesopotamian culture syncretic, patriarchal
Menes unites Egypt; hieroglyphics writing; centralized state; social hierarchy
Bronze Age in Southwest Asia, Egypt; trade in handicrafts, luxuries spreads
Old Kingdom in Egypt = pharoah, theocracy; centralized polytheism
Egyptian women could own property, make contracts, and divorce husbands
Great pyramids in Egypt, public architecture; religion complex polytheism
First empire as Akkad conquers Mesopotamia; conquest becomes common
Pharoah’s power reduced; commoners acquire right to religious afterlife
Priests in Egypt, temples come to control much of land; much social influence
Sumer’s Epic of Gilgamesh world’s first piece of literature
Migration of Semitic tribes (Jews, Arabs) throughout Southwest Asia
Cycle of Civilization: nomads invade, settle, assimilated by sedentary peoples
Phoenician trading cities: first alphabet, metal artisans, cloth, purple dye
Nubian Kingdom along southern Nile famed for metal work, trade
Hammurabi’s Law Code establishes regular, codified law, punish to fit crime
Hyksos (Semitic Chariot nomads) invade Egypt; conquer northern area
Indo-Aryan (Persian) nomads migrate from Central Asia, disrupt civilizations
Egyptian Empire; slavery becomes widespread in SW Asia due to warfare
Great Hittite Empire: iron, chariot warfare arrive in Southwest Asia, Egypt
Hittites establish large empire in Asia Minor, use iron tools
Egyptian Book of the Dead details religious life, instructions for afterlife
First monotheistic religion arose amongst Jews in Southwest Asia
Jewish exodus, migration to Israel; Books of Moses arise as oral tradition
Sea Peoples disrupt Mediterranean; Philistines settle in Israel
Domestication of camel makes desert travel, trade common; Arabs develop
Neo-Assyrian Empire conquers Fertile Crescent; regular army, use of terror
Neo-Assyrian Empire: centralized government, tribute empire
Lydians of Western Asia Minor invent coinage
Ashurbaniphal reigns in Assyria; builds great library
Neo-Babylonian Empire; astronomy, astronomy at height
Jewish Babylonian captivity; Judaism develops in Babylon
Persian Empire conquerors all of SW Asia and Egypt; height of classical state
Zoroastrianism develops; Persians tolerant, allow local self-government