Civilisation · Era

Bronze Age (Near East)

c. 3,300 BCE – 1,200 BCE

First great civilisations: Sumer, Egypt, Indus, Shang China.

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First great civilisations: , Egypt, Indus, China.

Figures of this eraLoaded catalogue matches

Imhotep

c. 2,700 BCE – 2,600 BCE

Architect · Vizier · Healer · God of Medicine

Sargon of Akkad

c. 2,334 BCE – 2,279 BCE

King of Akkad · First Empire-Builder

Abraham

c. 1,996 BCE – 1,821 BCE

Patriarch of the Three Abrahamic Religions

Hammurabi

1,810 BCE – 1,750 BCE

King of Babylon

Hatshepsut

c. 1,507 BCE – 1,458 BCE

Pharaoh of Egypt · Builder of Deir el-Bahri

Moses

c. 1,391 BCE – 1,271 BCE

Prophet · Lawgiver · Liberator of the Hebrew Slaves

Nefertiti

c. 1,370 BCE – 1,330 BCE

Great Royal Wife of Akhenaten · Possible Pharaoh

Zoroaster

c. 1,200 BCE – 1,000 BCE

Founder of Zoroastrianism · Prophet of Ahura Mazda

Key events

c. 3,500 BCE – 2,000 BCE

Sumerian city-states

City-states, temples, and the first kingdoms.

c. 3,200 BCE

Early writing in Mesopotamia

Early tablets recorded quantities and administration in southern Mesopotamia. Writing developed over time, with separate early traditions elsewhere.

3,100 BCE

Egypt Unified — Narmer

Upper and Lower Egypt become one kingdom.

c. 2,600 BCE – 1,900 BCE

Indus cities: the Mature Harappan phase

Harappa and other Indus settlements developed extensive urban systems. Earlier regional communities preceded this phase, and settlement histories continued afterwards.

c. 2,550 BCE

Great Pyramid of Khufu

Harvard Digital Giza uses around 2550 BCE. Accepted chronologies differ; this point is a date estimate, not an exact one-year construction period.

1,754 BCE

Code of Hammurabi

One of the earliest legal codes — "an eye for an eye."

1,600 BCE

Shang Dynasty — China

The first Chinese dynasty with written records.

1,200 BCE

Bronze Age Collapse

Civilisations from Greece to Egypt collapse mysteriously.

Era Overview

Periodc. 3,300 BCE – 1,200 BCE

Events and overlapping lifetimes are paginated below.

ScaleCivilisation

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