2.1: Chronology
Ancient Mesopotamia
c. 10,000 BCE Beginnings of the Agricultural Revolution
c. 3500 BCE Appearance of Sumerian city-states in lower Mesopotamia
c. 3200 BCE Early use of cuneiform
c. 2900 BCE Production of bronze
2334 – 2100 BCE Akkadian Empire
c. 2000 BCE Gilgamesh first recorded in cuneiform
1792 – 1595 BCE Babylonian Empire
1792 – 1750 BCE Reign of Hammurabi
900 – 612 BCE Assyrian Empire
626 – 539 BCE New Babylonian Empire
605 – 562 BCE Reign of Nebechadnezzar
Ancient Israel
c. 1300 – 1200 BCE Israelites leave Egypt (following Moses)
c. 1050 – 1010 BCE Israelites establish a kingdom
c. 1000 – 970 BCE Reign of King David
c. 979 – 930 BCE Reign of King Solomon
931 BCE Israel divides into two kingdoms
586 – 539 BCE Babylonian captivity of Israelites
Northeast Africa (Egypt and Nubia)
c. 7000 BCE Beginnings of Agricultural Revolution in Northeast Africa
c. 6000 – 3500 BCE Desiccation of the Sahara Desert pushed people towards Nile River Valley
c. 4000 BCE Towns and villages grew along the Nile River
c. 3100 BCE Unification of Egypt
3100 – 2600 BCE Egyptian Archaic Period
2660 – 2160 BCE Egyptian Old Kingdom
2400 – 1450 BCE The Kingdom of Kerma
2040 – 1640 BCE Egyptian Middle Kingdom
1640 – 1570 BCE Egypt’s Second Intermediate Period (Egypt under Hyksos Rule)
1530 – 1070 BCE Egyptian New Kingdom
1350 – 1325 BCE Amarna Period (under Pharaoh Akhenaten)
1040 – 332 BCE Egyptian Late Period
750 – 656 BCE The Kingdom of Kush ruled Egypt, creating the “Ethiopian Dynasty”
750 – 593 BCE Kingdom of Kush (with capital at Napata)
656 – 639 BCE Assyrians occupied Egypt
593 BCE Egyptian army sacked Napata, the capital of Kush
593 BCE The Kingdom of Kerma moved its capital to Meroe
525 BCE Persian conquest of Egypt
323 BCE Alexander the Great conquered Egypt/Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt
30 BCE Roman conquest of Egypt