Ancient history: a digital timeline

  • Unification of Lower and Upper Egypt by king Narmer
    3100 BCE

    Unification of Lower and Upper Egypt by king Narmer

    The Upper Egyptian leader Narmer, also known as Menes, led his military forces to defeat Lower Egypt. He became the first king to rule over both Upper and Lower Egypt.
  • Period: 3000 BCE to 2300 BCE

    Mesopotamia: Sumerian period / Early Dynastic period

    Era during which some of the most significant cultural advances were made including the rise of the cities, the development of writing, and the establishment of governments.
  • Period: 2700 BCE to 2200 BCE

    Egypt - Old Kingdom

    It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" as it was the reigns of the great pyramid-builders who perfected the art of pyramid-building.
  • Period: 2300 BCE to 1800 BCE

    Mesopotamia Akkadian Empire

    The first ancient empire of Mesopotamia after the long-lived civilization of Sumer
  • Period: 2050 BCE to 1720 BCE

    Egypt - Middle Kingdom

    Also known as The Period of Reunification, is the period following a period of political division known as the First Intermediate Period.
  • Period: 1800 BCE to 1350 BCE

    Mesopotamia Babylonian Empire

    Start as a small provincial town dbut greatly expanded during the first half of the 18th century BC and became a major capital city.
  • Code of Hammurabi
    1750 BCE

    Code of Hammurabi

    It is the longest, best-organised, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hammurabi, sixth king of the First Dynasty of Babylon.
  • Period: 1550 BCE to 1069 BCE

    Egypt New Kingdom

    Also referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period between the XVI century BC and the XI century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasties of Egypt.
  • Period: 1350 BCE to 612 BCE

    Mesopotamia Assyrian Empire

    It was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state and eventually became an empire from the 14th century BC to the 7th century BC.
  • Period: 1110 BCE to 750 BCE

    Greece - Dark Age

    Is the period of Greek history from the end of the Mycenaean civilization around 1100 BC to the beginning of the Archaic age around 750 BC
  • Period: 753 BCE to 509 BCE

    Rome - Monarchy

    The Roman Kingdom was the earliest period of Roman history when the city and its territory were ruled by kings.
  • Period: 750 BCE to 500 BCE

    Greece - Archaic Period

    Known for its art, architecture and philosophy. Archaic Greece saw advances in art, poetry and technology, but is known as the age in which the polis, or city-state, was invented.
  • Period: 715 BCE to 31 BCE

    Egypt Late Period

    when Egypt was ruled by the Alexander the Great prior to the rise of the Greek Ptolemaic Dynasty
  • Period: 612 BCE to 539

    Mesopotamia Neo-Babylonian Empire

    Also known as the Second Babylonian Empire was the last of the Mesopotamian empires to be ruled by monarchs native to Mesopotamia.
  • Period: 509 BCE to 27 BCE

    Rome - Republic

    It was as a state of the classical Roman civilization, run through public representation of the Roman people with the establishment of the Roman Empire, Rome's control rapidly expanded during this period—from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world.
  • Period: 500 BCE to 323 BCE

    Greece - Classical Period

    The Classical Period was a time when the Greeks achieved new heights in art, architecture, theater, and philosophy. Democracy in Athens was refined under the leadership of Pericles.
  • Battle of Marathon
    490 BCE

    Battle of Marathon

    It was part of the first Persian invasion of Greece. The battle was fought on the Marathon plain of northeastern Attica and marked the first blows of the Greco-Persian War. "
  • Battle of Thermopiles (480 a.C.)
    480 BCE

    Battle of Thermopiles (480 a.C.)

    was fought between an alliance of Ancient Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas I of Sparta, and the Achaemenid Empire of Xerxes I. It was fought over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece
  • Construction of the Parthenon
    432 BCE

    Construction of the Parthenon

    The Parthenon is a temple in the middle of the Acropolis in Athens to honor the goddess Athena for nearly 900 years, and originally had a huge idol to her. The name Parthenon means the virgin's place in Greek. It is considered one of ancient Greece's greatest architecture accomplishments
  • Period: 323 BCE to 31 BCE

    Greece - Hellenistic Period

    The Hellenistic period goes between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire.
  • Battle of Zama
    202 BCE

    Battle of Zama

    It was fought in 202 BC near Zama, now in Tunisia, and marked the end of the Second Punic War. A Roman army defeated the Carthaginian army led by Hannibal.
  • Assassination of Julius Caesar
    44 BCE

    Assassination of Julius Caesar

    He was assassinated by a group of senators on the Ides of March (15 March) of 44 BC during a meeting of the Senate at the Curia of Pompey of the Theatre of Pompey in Rome where the senators stabbed Caesar 23 times
  • Battle of Actium
    31 BCE

    Battle of Actium

    was a naval battle fought between a maritime fleet led by Octavian and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former Roman colony of Actium, Greece, and was the climax of over a decade of rivalry between Octavian and Antony.
  • Period: 27 BCE to 476

    Rome - Empire

    It was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, ruled by emperors.
  • Battle of Salamis
    480

    Battle of Salamis

    It was a naval battle fought between an alliance of Greek city-states and the Persian Empire. It resulted in a decisive victory for the outnumbered Greeks. The battle was fought in the straits between the mainland and Salamis, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens, and marked the high point of the second Persian invasion of Greece.