First Civilizations Timeline

By NKeita
  • 3500 BCE

    Sumer Civilization established

    Located in the southern parts of Mesopotamia. Thought of as the "cradle" of Middle-Eastern civilization.
  • 3400 BCE

    Ta-Seti Civilization established

  • 3200 BCE

    Ta-Seti Civilization ended

  • 3200 BCE

    Sumer develops city-states

    Each city-state was ruled by a king who controlled the affairs in the walls as well as in the surrounding rural area. 80% of Sumer's population lived in one of these states.
  • 3100 BCE

    Egyptian Civilization established

  • 3000 BCE

    Indus Valley Civilization established

    Not much is known about this civilization. It was comprised of small republics that were ruled by priests but had no temples or palaces.
  • 3000 BCE

    Norte Chico Civilization established

    This civilization developed along the Central Coast of Peru. They had an extremely rich fishing industry with anchovies and sardines.
  • 2663 BCE

    Egypt's Old Kingdom established

    The pyramids constructed during this time reflected the citizens' beliefs that the high ranking people will have a safe passage to "eternal life in the Land of the West."
  • 2400 BCE

    Deforestation and soil erosion in Sumer

    This obviously reduced the crop yields. On top of this, salinization of the soil was becoming a bigger problem but, it's what happens when there is a long period of irrigation going on in the area.
  • 2400 BCE

    Pharaoh power in Egypt diminishes

    Local officials and nobles had the higher authority at this time.
  • 2350 BCE

    Sumer's city-states conquered

    Because of the environmental devastation, Sumer was left weak to the outside forces. Stronger groups from northern Mesopotamia conquered all of Sumer. The Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians would in the later years take up all of Mesopotamia.
  • 2350 BCE

    Akkadian Civilization established

  • 2250 BCE

    Low floods in Egypt

    These led to a decrease in agricultural output, a lot of starvation, loss of livestock, and political disruption from the citizens.
  • 2200 BCE

    Early Chinese Civilization established

  • 2200 BCE

    Oxus Valley Civilization established

  • 2195 BCE

    Egypt's Old Kingdom ended

  • 2070 BCE

    Xia Dynasty established

    Emperor Wu made flood control projects.
  • 2000 BCE

    Mohenjo Daro flourished

  • 2000 BCE

    Mesopotamia made patriarchal enforced laws

    These laws offered women paternal protection only if they submissed to the authority of men.
  • 2000 BCE

    Akkadian Civilization ended

  • 2000 BCE

    Pharaoh power restored in Egypt

    The Pharaohs never gained back the power and prestige that they had back in the Old Kingdom. Kings had to now partake in the Day of Judgement for their actions.
  • 2000 BCE

    Epic of Gilgamesh created

    Ancient Mesopotamian poem.
  • 1950 BCE

    Low flood in Egypt end

  • 1900 BCE

    Babylon Civilization established

  • 1800 BCE

    Norte Chico Civilization ended

  • 1775 BCE

    Code of Hammurabi created

    The Babylonian Empire scribed laws of punishment called the Code of Hammurabi. The severity of the punishments depended on social status.
  • 1700 BCE

    Indus Valley Civilization cities abandoned

    The repeated irrigation made the salt in the soil increase. The mud bricks and dried in ovens required a lot of wood which contributed to deforestation and soil erosion. This lead to the people to abandon the cities.
  • 1700 BCE

    Oxus Valley Civilization ended

  • 1700 BCE

    End of deforestation and soil erosion in Sumer

  • 1650 BCE

    Foreigners migrated to surrounding regions in Egypt

    Because of the migration, Egypt got introduced to horse-drawn chariots, new armor, weapons, new instruments, olive and pomegranate trees, etc.
  • 1600 BCE

    Xia Dynasty ended

  • 1600 BCE

    Shang Dynasty established

  • 1595 BCE

    Hittites sacked Babylon

    The Hittites had access to chariots which made it easier for them to threaten the Babylonian civilization.
  • 1550 BCE

    Egyptian New Kingdom established

  • 1500 BCE

    Babylon Civilization ended

  • 1500 BCE

    Egyptian Empire established

    Egpyt became an imperial state to several countries bridging Africa and Asia. The Egyptian Empire became part of the international political system with the Babylonian and Assyrian Empires.
  • 1472 BCE

    Hatshepsut rules

    Even though Egypt was patriarchal, they gave their women greater opportunities to get into power. Hatshepsut was Egypt's most famous queen but was sometimes portrayed as a man.
  • 1457 BCE

    Hatshepsut's rule ends

  • 1200 BCE

    Olmec Civilization established

    Along the Coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Olmec arose from a bunch of chiefdoms.
  • 1064 BCE

    Egyptian New Kingdom ends

  • 1046 BCE

    Shang Dynasty established

  • 1046 BCE

    Zhou Dynasty established

    The Zhou Dynasty emperors were ruled by the Mandate of Heaven. But if the emperors weren't well behaved, the Mandate could be overthrown along with them.
  • 900 BCE

    Olmecs create first written language in America

  • 900 BCE

    Assyrian Civilization started

  • 900 BCE

    Chavin religious movement in Peru

  • 800 BCE

    Beginning of Hebrew prophets

  • 771 BCE

    Zhou Dynasty ends

  • 760 BCE

    Kush invades Egypt

    The Kush was able to rule Egypt for a solid hundred years.
  • 750 BCE

    Greek city-states created

  • 730 BCE

    Nubian conquest of Egypt

  • 660 BCE

    Zoroaster preached of single God

  • 660 BCE

    Kush's Egyptian conquest ends

  • 612 BCE

    Assyrian Civilization ends

  • 600 BCE

    Confucius and Laozi preach in China

  • 566 BCE

    Buddha starts teaching

  • 553 BCE

    Achaemenid Dynasty established

  • 509 BCE

    Roman Republic established

  • 500 BCE

    Persian Empire established

  • 499 BCE

    Start of the Greco-Persian Wars

  • 469 BCE

    Rise of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle

  • 449 BCE

    End of Greco-Persian Wars

  • 400 BCE

    Olmec Civilization ends

  • 400 BCE

    Start of Hinduism

  • 336 BCE

    End of Grecian city-states

  • 332 BCE

    Alexander The Great starts conquest of Persian Empire

  • 330 BCE

    Achaemenid Dynasty ends

  • 326 BCE

    Alexander's conquest ends

  • 326 BCE

    Mauryan Empire established

  • 300 BCE

    Kingdom of Meroe established

  • 300 BCE

    Niger Valley Civilization established

  • 221 BCE

    Qin Shihuangdi ruled

    Qin was supposedly China's first emperor. He was brutal and adamant about linking all of China's warring states and unifying them.
  • 210 BCE

    Qin Shihuangdi's rule ended

  • 200 BCE

    Roman Empire prospers

  • 200 BCE

    Qin and Han Empires flourish

  • 184 BCE

    Mauryan Empire ends