Timeline Chronology: 2 kya
Ancient History
2000 BCE
- Beginning of the Old Assyrian period in Northern Mesopotamia
- City of Ashur becomes dominant in northern Mesopotamia
- Corn, beans,and squash cultivated in southwestern North America; long-distance trade routes in place
2000-1750 BCE
- Arctic Small Tools population, ancestors of the Inuit, spread from Alaska across Canada to settle Greenland
2000-1600 BCE
- Minoan civilization of Crete reaches height
2000-1500 BCE
- penetration of the Indo-Europeans into the Near and Middle East.
1985-1955 BCE
- King Amenemhet I brings stability to Egypt during Middle Kingdom period
1984 BCE
- Founding of first dynasty of Babylon
1965–1920 BCE
- Reign of Senwosret I of Egypt
1960 BCE
- Senwosret I of Egypt defeats Nubia and extends his kingdom as far as second cataract on Nile
1900-1700 BCE
- Indus civilization declines; cities gradually abandoned
1900 BCE
- Towns and small kingdoms developing in Anatolia
- City of Erlitou constructed around Yellow River, China
1800 BCE
- Shang civilization begings in China
-
c. 1800?–1400 BCE
- Hebrews in Canaan and later in Egypt
1813–1781 BCE
- Reign of Shamshi-Adad; conquers northern Mesopotamia to establish Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia, with its capital at Shubat-Enlil
1792 BCE
- Neo-Babylonian period.
- Reign of Hammurabi of Babylon; establishes Babylonian Empire in Mesopotamia and promulgates a legal code for use throughout his empire
1766–1122 BCE
- Jōmon culture in Japan
- Traditional date for founding of Shang dynasty by King Tang, according to Chinese history
1750 BCE
- the kingdom of Assyria falls under the control of Hammurabi of Babylon; Code of Hammurabi.
- Large ceremonial complex of Sechin Alto constructed in Peru
- Linear A script comes into use in Crete
1725 BCE
- Middle Kingdom in Egypt torn by unrest;
- start of Second Intermediate Period (to c. 1540 BCE)
1650–1550 BCE
- Second Intermediate Period and Hyksos in Egypt.
- Hyksos of the Levant conquer Lower Egypt during Second Intermediate Period
1650–1200 BCE
- Hittites establish Old Kingdom in central Anatolia, with Hattusas as its capital
1628 BCE
- A volcano on the Greek island of Thera erupts violently, burying Minoan settlements on the island with ash
1600 BCE
- Mycenaean civilization emerges on the Greek mainland
1595 BCE
- Kassite Babylonia and the Middle Assyrian kingdom
- Hittite king Mursilis raids Babylon, ending the empire founded by Hammurabi
1570 BCE
- First Egyptian pharaohs are buried in Valley of the Kings near Thebe
- Kassites of Iran begin creation of new empire in Babylonia, uniting the region
1550 BCE
- Theban king Ahmose I drives Hyksos from Lower Egypt to reunite Egypt; New Kingdom period begins
- Hittites develop iron-smelting technology
1500-1200 BCE
- Mycenaeans
- Karnak temple complex at Thebes constructed
1500-900 BCE
- Aryans from southern Russia migrate to northern India
1500 BCE
- Indo-Europeans arrive in Italy
- Aryans in India
- Hittite Old Kingdom declines; emergence of Hurrian dynasty of Mitanni in northern Mesopotamia
- Copper worked in the Sahara region
- Egyptians, Mitanni, and New Kingdom Hittites strive for control of the Levant
- Evidence of metalworking in Peru
1450 BCE
- Mycenaean trading network stretches from Sicily to the Levant
- Minoan palaces on Crete destroyed; Mycenaeans take control of the island
1400 BCE
- Bronze-working spreads to Vietnam and Thailand
- Lapita people migrate eastward from Melanesia to colonize Pacific islands
- Shang capital moves from Zhengzhou to Xi’ang in China
1352-1336 BCE
- Reign of Amenhotep IV; breaks with Egypt’s old religion to worship the sun-disk Aten and takes the name Akhenaten
c. 1336–1327 BCE
- Brief reign of the boy-king Tutankhamun; old Egyptian religion restored and Akhetaten abandoned