| ca. 3800 B.C.E. |
Establishment of first cities in Sumeria |
|
| ca. 3200 B.C.E. |
Earliest surviving cuneiform writing |
| 2660–2180 B.C.E. |
Period of the Old Kingdom in Egypt |
| 2500 B.C.E. |
Bronze weaponry becomes common in Mesopotamia |
| ca. 2300 B.C.E. |
Establishment of Akkadian empire |
| 1792–1750 B.C.E. |
Hammurabi rules Babylon |
| ca. 1600 B.C.E. |
Hittites begin to expand their empire |
| ca. 1570–1070 B.C.E. |
Period of the New Kingdom in Egypt |
| ca. 1200 B.C.E. |
Bronze Age Collapse; destruction and drought |
| ca. 1100 B.C.E. |
Iron technology improves; beginning of the Iron Age; Phoenicians begin to trade in the Mediterranean |
| ca. 965–925 B.C.E. |
Hebrew kingdom ruled by Solomon |
| ca. 900–612 B.C.E. |
Assyrian Empire |
| 722 B.C.E. |
Kingdom of Israel destroyed by the Assyrians |
| 587 B.C.E. |
Kingdom of Judah destroyed by the Babylonians |
| 550 B.C.E. |
Cyrus the Great consolidates the Persian Empire |