Western Civilizations History Timeline

By Gwydion Hershberger
  • Period: 10,000 BCE to 8000 BCE

    Gobekli Tepe

    Worlds First Temple was built during this time, and the signs of farms indicate permanent settlements later.
  • Period: 8200 BCE to 7500 BCE

    Jericho Skull Cult

    Many headless bodies were found in tombs in the Jericho area, presumably due to ritual sacrifices. They also made molds from the skulls and wore them.
  • 7500 BCE

    Ancient Egyptian Civilization

    Around this time, people started forming civilizations around the Nile River Basin.
  • Period: 6000 BCE to 6000 BCE

    Permanant Egyptian Settlements

    The earliest recorded permanent settlements in Egypt showed up around this time. Also, the people had figured out how to create pottery using pottery wheels.
  • 5000 BCE

    Egyptian farming.

    Sheep and cattle had been domesticated by now.
  • Period: 5000 BCE to 3500 BCE

    The City of Ur

    This was the first city in city-states.
  • Period: 5000 BCE to 4100 BCE

    Ubaid people

    The Ubaid people first inhabited the region of Sumer
  • 4500 BCE

    Sailing Ships on the Nile.

    Yeah. The Egyptians made ships to sail on the Nile. That is pretty much it.
  • Period: 4100 BCE to 2900 BCE

    Uruk Period

    Cities began to spread across Mesopotamia and Uruk became not only the most influential city but also was the origin of ziggurats and was where the legendary Mesopotamian Gilgamesh ruled.
  • 3500 BCE

    Cuneiform from this era

    Now a dead language.
  • 3500 BCE

    Hieroglyphs created.

  • Period: 3500 BCE to 1700 BCE

    Chalcolithic Period

  • 3000 BCE

    Narmer Palette

    This carved piece of stone was created around 3000 BC, and depicted a pharaoh striking down a foe. It also symbolizes said pharaoh reuniting the Upper and Lower Kingdoms.
  • Period: 2700 BCE to 2200 BCE

    Old Kingdom

    Time of prosperity and innovation
  • Period: 2700 BCE to 1450 BCE

    The Minoan Civilization

    All that I have for notes on this are that Minos was a "legendary king" and there was a volcanic eruption, which was most likely what wiped the Minoans off the face of the earth, metaphorically.
  • 2650 BCE

    Step Pyramid of Saqqara

    This step-pyramid was built by order of the Pharoah Djoser.
  • 2600 BCE

    The Death of Queen Puabi

    More of a priestess than a queen, Puabi ruled during the First Dynasty of Ur by herself. Upon her death, she was buried with 52 attendants to serve her in the afterlife.
  • Period: 2334 BCE to 2284 BCE

    Sargon

    Sargon rose up from humble origins to end up conquering several Sumerian city-states. By doing this, he ended up becoming a model for later Sumerian kings.
  • Period: 2055 BCE to 1650 BCE

    Middle Kingdom

    This was more of a time of stability rather than innovation. Pharaohs were perceived more as shepherds for the people, rather than distant god-kings.
  • Period: 1894 BCE to 1595 BCE

    First Dynasty of Babylon

    Something about the Nation of Amorites. idk
  • 1800 BCE

    Epic of Gilgamesh

    This was the time when the epic of the legendary king Gilgamesh was created. No one knows if Gilgamesh actually existed though...
  • Period: 1792 BCE to 1749 BCE

    Code of Hammurabi

    This was a set of 282 laws that were created during King Hammurabi's reign, with the punishments scaling based on variables such as gender, class, and whether they were free or enslaved.
  • 1600 BCE

    Thera Volcanic Eruption

    This was a volcanic eruption that destroyed a ton of Minoan settlements.
  • Period: 1600 BCE to 1100 BCE

    Mycenaean Period

    This is the era for the Greeks where their system of writing originated. They also had a variety of materials for trade, including but not limited to: olive oil, pottery, and animal skins.
  • Period: 1500 BCE to 1069 BCE

    The New Kingdom

    This was the height of Egypt's power, as they began to conquer other places and expand.
  • Period: 1353 BCE to 1336 BCE

    Reign of Nefertiti and Akhenhaten

    These 2 worshipped Aten, the sun god, which was the first instance of monotheism. They also helped inspire new forms of art, and were all and all uninterested in foreign affairs.
  • Period: 1334 BCE to 1325

    Tutankhamen

    Though he may have reigned for only 9 years, and lived slightly longer than that, Tut was able to reverse his father's work, eliminating monotheism. His death also marked the end of the royal bloodline.
  • Period: 1279 BCE to 1213 BCE

    Reign of Ramses II

    Generally regarded as the most powerful pharaoh, he worked hard to conquer and build his empire, from taking back land previously taken by the Nubians to building statues of himself everywhere to solidify his legacy.
  • 1250 BCE

    The Sacking of Troy

    In the year 1250 BC. the city of Troy was sacked and burned, which was significant, as Troy was one of the most influential cities at the time. While we do not know for sure if there actually was a fight between the Trojans and the Greeks as Homer's stories say, we do know that Troy was indeed sacked and burned. Following shortly afterward was the fall of the Mycenaean civilization.
  • Period: 1200 BCE to 1200 BCE

    The Collapse of the Bronze Age

  • 1180 BCE

    Records at Pylos

    Not gonna lie, looking through my notes AND Google AND a couple other websites, I still don't know what this is.
  • Period: 1100 BCE to 800 BCE

    Greek Dark Ages/Homeric Age/Geometric Age

    A variety of things happened during this time, including Phoenician trade routes being formed, something about a fancy vase used for diluting wine with water, and the development of the Abjad language system.
  • 1000 BCE

    Settlement of the Tiber River

    Latins settle on the Tiber River.
  • Period: 900 BCE to 480 BCE

    Archaic Period

    Several things were made during this period, including the invention of the phalanx, black-figure pottery, and something about dying warrior statues. There was also a system of coinage created during this time.
  • Period: 800 BCE to 200 BCE

    Axial Age

    Judging by the information that I have, I am fairly certain that this was the age where monotheism and other religion-based events started taking off. Then again, that doesn't seem likely to me.
  • 753 BCE

    Rome is built

    Romulus, as in Romulus and Remus, builds Rome smack dab in the middle of Italy.
  • 730 BCE

    Nestor's Cup

    So, basically, fancy clay cup that has some Phoenician-inspired Greek writing on it.
  • 509 BCE

    Rome becomes a Republic

    This Roman Republic even has senators, plebians, and patricians!
  • Period: 264 BCE to 146 BCE

    Punic Wars

    These wars were fought between Carthage and Rome. Also, some cool stuff happened during these wars. Oh, and by the way, Rome won.
  • 218 BCE

    Hannibal crosses the Alp

    Hannibal Lector crosses the Alp's with nothing but a ton of soldiers, a bunch of elephants, and a burning passion for conquering!
  • 149 BCE

    The 3rd Punic War

    Rome attacks Carthage directly. War ends 3 years later.
  • 44 BCE

    Beware the Ides of March, or else we will stab you! Actually, we were going to do that anyway! :)

    So, Julius Caesar becomes too powerful in the republic tries to make himself a king, I think. What I DO remember is that he is stabbed a stupid number of times by his friends and the other republicans.
  • 31 BCE

    Battle of Actium

    Welp, this time, Augustus Caesar gets stabbed, Also, Octavian basically took Rome away from Mark Antony and Cleopatra, and then becomes the new Caesar.
  • Period: 27 BCE to 14

    The Beginning of the Roman Empire

    Yeah, not much else to say other than conquering go brrrrrrr.
  • Period: 1 CE to 32

    Jesus

    Yes, Jesus Christ himself. Immediately gets killed. yeah.
    Also, apparently, I can't do year zero with this timeline, so I just put 1.
  • 64

    Rome gets incinerated.

    Also, something about Nero. I think he was the one to set Rome on fire...?
  • 121

    Hadrian's Wall

    Hadrian built a wall to keep people from the North away?
  • 212

    Citizenship for all.

    Caracalla, as head of the Roman Empire, grants citizenship to everyone in the Empire.
  • 305

    Diocletian Divide

    Emperor Diocletian decides the empire is just a tad too large, so he splits it down the middle, then he returns to his life's passion, cabbage planting.
  • Period: 313 to 324

    Constantine does stuff!

    Constantine first grants lenience to Christians in 313 using the Edict of Milan, then he moved the Roman capital to Constantinople.
  • 395

    Western and Roman Empire split.

    what else am I gonna say? it split AGAIN.
  • 414

    Sacking of Rome

    The sacking was at the hands of the Visigoths. Who they are, I honestly don't know.
  • 476

    The Empire Strikes Back!

    jk, the empire actually fell, or at least the western part of it.
  • 533

    Corpus luris Civilis

    A system of law created by Justinian I, alongside Queen Theodora.
  • 610

    Muhammad visted by Gabriel

    something about "chosen prophet" or something.
  • 622

    Muhammad's tribe forced out of Mecca

    to understand why this is so important, Mecca is now the blessed city to travel to. Also, moving sucks.
  • 630

    They take back Mecca

    yay
  • 632

    Muhammad dies.

    Upon his demise, there is a sort of religious vacuum.
  • Period: 750 to 1517

    The Eastern Empire exists now.

    woohoo
  • Period: 750 to 950

    Translation Movement

    "Hey, Google, translate Greek into Arabic."
    "Ok"
  • Period: 754 to 775

    Al Mansur's reign

    Basically, he may or may not have created Baghdad, or what would become Baghdad.
  • 820

    Algebra created

  • 832

    Al Momoom creates House of Wisdom

    He accomplished this by inviting a ton of scholars, mathematicians, and scientists from all over, even from Greece
  • 850

    The Book of Ingenious Idea

    Written by the Musa brothers.
  • 930

    Al Rashid or something, I might be off by about 200 years.

    Al Mansur's son took the throne, and my notes don't say what he did
  • 1206

    The Book of Ingenious Devices

    NOT written by the Musa brothers, this book had contraptions such as flutes that played themselves.
  • Period: 1312 to 1337

    Mansa Musa has his billionaire kingdom in Mali.

    So, this man was stupidly rich and loved to travel. Once, in Greece I think, he gave away so much money and gold that he crashed that city's economy for the years to come.
  • 1453

    The Roman Empire finally dies.

    This once great empire now falls to the furniture kings themselves, the Ottomans.

  • GODDAMN PLAGUE

    covid sucks rocks. prove me wrong.