| ca. 250,000 B.C.E. | Homo sapiens evolve in Africa |
| 250,000–9,000 B.C.E. | Paleolithic era |
| 9000 B.C.E. | Beginning of the Neolithic; crop raising; domestication of sheep and goats |
| ca. 7000 B.C.E. | Domestication of cattle; plow agriculture |
| ca. 5500 B.C.E. | Smelting of copper |
| ca. 3800 B.C.E. | Establishment of first Mesopotamian cities |
| ca. 3200 B.C.E. | Development of cuneiform and hieroglyphic writing |
| ca. 3100 B.C.E. | Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt |
| ca. 3000 B.C.E. | Development of wheeled transport; beginning of bronze technology |
| ca. 2500 B.C.E. | Bronze technology becomes common in many areas |
| ca. 2300 B.C.E. | Establishment of the Akkadian empire |
| ca. 1800 B.C.E. | Hyksos people begin to settle in the Nile Delta |
| 1792–1750 B.C.E. | Hammurabi rules Babylon |
| 1258 B.C.E. | Peace treaty between Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II and Hittite king Hattusuli III |
| ca. 1200 B.C.E. | “Bronze Age Collapse”; destruction and drought |
| A note on dates: This book generally uses the terms B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era) when giving dates, a system of chronology based on the Christian calendar and now used widely around the world. |