Timeline of Middle Eastern History: Encyclopedia II - Timeline of Middle Eastern History - Prehistoric and Ancient Period

Timeline of Middle Eastern History - Prehistoric and Ancient Period

main article: Ancient Near East

Timeline of Middle Eastern History - 9th millennium BC Beginning of the Neolithic time period of the Holocene epoch

• Agriculture in Mesopotamia
• Domestication of sheep and goats in the Middle East
• Circa 8350 BC – Neolithic settlement at Jericho

Timeline of Middle Eastern History - 8th millennium BC

• Circa 8000 BC–Settlements at Nevali Cori in present-day Turkey are established.
• Circa 7500 BC – Çatalhöyük, a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement in southern Anatolia, is founded.
• Settlements at Sagalassos in present-day southwest Turkey are established.
• Domestication of sheep in Southwest Asia

Timeline of Middle Eastern History - 7th millennium BC

• After 7000 BC–The rise of the Punjab culture.
• First pottery in Mesopotamia
• Domestication of the cow in the Middle East

Timeline of Middle Eastern History - 6th millennium BC

• September 1, 5509 BC – day of creation of the world (according to the Byzantine Empire) and beginning of their calendar [1]
• Around 5400 BC – Irrigation in Mesopotamia.
• circa 5600 BC – According to the Black Sea deluge theory, the Black Sea floods with salt water. Some 3000 cubic miles (12,500 km³) of salt water is added, significantly expanding it and transforming it from a fresh-water landlocked lake into a salt water sea.
• Agriculture appears in the valley of the Nile
• Wheel and plough both invented in ancient Mesopotamia
• Around 5100 BC – Temples founded in South Mesopotamia

Timeline of Middle Eastern History - 5th millennium BC

• c. 4500 BC – Civilization of Susa and Kish in Mesopotamia
• c. 4570 BC–4250 BC – Merimde culture on the Nile
• c. 4400 BC–4000 BC – Badari culture on the Nile
• c. 4000 BC - first examples of Sumerian writing in Mesopotamia

Timeline of Middle Eastern History - 4th millennium BC

• City of Ur in Mesopotamia (40th century BC).
• Naqada culture on the Nile, 4000 BC–3000 BC.
• Epoch of the modern Hebrew Calendar occurred on 7 October 3761 BC.
• Jewish chronology dates creation to 25 September or March 29 3760 BC.
• Civilization of Sumeria, cities-state (36th century BC).
• First to Fourth dynasty of Kish in Mesopotamia.
• c. 3200 BC - King Narmer unifies the Upper and Lower Egyptian Kingdoms, and gives birth to the worlds's first nation.The Narmer Palette is believed to be the historical record of this event: Egypt.
• 35th century BC - beginning of desertification of Sahara. The shift by the Sahara Desert from a habitable region to a barren desert.
• Ur-Nina first king of Lagash (ca. 34th century), the earliest historical person known by name.
• Beginnings of urbanisation in Mesopotamia with the Sumerians.
• First cities in Egypt (35th century BC).
• First writings in the cities of Uruk and Susa (cuneiform writings). Hieroglyphs in Egypt.
• Potter's wheel used in Middle East.
• Sails used in the Nile.
• Archaic Period of Ancient Egypt

(see also Sumer: Ur, Uruk, Kish, Susa)

Timeline of Middle Eastern History - 3rd millennium BC

• Old Kingdom of Egypt
• Akkad: Agade, Isin, Babylon, Larsa
• Mari
• Ebla
• Amorite
• Troy I-V
• Syria: Foundation of the city of Mari (29th century BC )
• Iran: Creation of the Kingdom of Elam
• Dynasty of Lagash in Sumeria
• Golden age of Ur in Mesopotamia. (2474–2398 BC)
• First dynasty of Babylon
• Babylon conquers Sumeria and Elam
• Third and Fourth dynasties in Egypt.
• Major migration of Central Saharans into West Africa possibly due to climate change starting in 4th millennium BC.
• Djoser, king of Egypt, commissions the Step Pyramid at Saqqara.
• Khufu, king of Egypt, builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza
• Urukagina, king of Lagash, creates the first known judicial code. (24th century BC)
• Lugalsaggizi, king of Uruk and Umma conquers Lagash (2371–2347 BC)
• Sargon the Great, founder of the empire of Akkad and Sumeria (2371–2316 BC middle chronology)
• Ur-Nammu founder of the 3rd dynasty of Ur (2112–2095 BC middle chronology)
• Building of the Great Pyramid of Giza (26th century BC)
• Sails used on ships (20th century BC)
• First ziggurats built in Sumeria
• Near East civilizations enter Bronze Age around 3000 BC
• Completion of the Great Pyramid of Giza

Timeline of Middle Eastern History - 2nd millennium BC

• Middle Kingdom of Egypt
• New Kingdom of Egypt
• Babylonia, second dynasty of Babylon
• Assyria
• Aleppo
• Hittites
• Mitanni
• Hurrians
• Luwians
• Canaan: Ugarit, Kadesh, Megiddo, Kingdom of Israel
• Arzawa, Troy VI-VII

• The Cushites drive the original inhabitants from Ethiopia, and establish trade relations with Egypt.
• Conquest of Canaan by the Israelites
• Middle Kingdom in Egypt (2052–1570 BC)
• Hittites Old Kingdom in Anatolia (1900 BC)
• Civilization in Palestine (1800 BC)
• Egyptian domination over Palestine and Syria (1600–1360 BC)
• Beginnings of Judaism (around 1200 BC)
• Fall of Troy (traditional date 1184 BC)
• late 2nd millennium BC - begin of the Iron Age discovery of iron smelting and smithing techniques in Anatolia or the Caucasus.

(see also Moses, Exodus, Hammurabi, List of Pharaohs, Aegean civilization)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Prehistoric and Ancient Period", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki