1222 Chronology by Regionca. 5000 B.C.E.: Egyptians fi rst build
canals and dikes to irrigate crops.
ca. 4500 B.C.E.: Start of cattle herding in
the Sahara.
ca. 4400 B.C.E.: First evidence of use of
horizontal loom, depicted on Egyptian
pottery.ca. 4000 B.C.E.: Beginning date for the
cultivation of yam along the Niger River.
ca. 3600 B.C.E.: Beginning of Bronze
Age in Egypt.
ca. 3500 B.C.E.: Egyptians develop
complete number system.
ca. 3100 B.C.E.: Egyptian hieroglyphic
writing emerges.ca. 3000 B.C.E.: Egyptians begin to mine
copper and develop the fi rst crude paper,
made of papyrus; Sahara Desert begins to
form in North Africa.
Berbers arrive in North Africa.
ca. 2920 B.C.E.: The start of Egypt’s First
Dynasty, uniting Upper and Lower Egypt.
ca. 2650 B.C.E.: The fi rst pyramid, the
Step Pyramid, built by Imhotep in Egypt.
ca. 2575 B.C.E.: The Great Pyramid of
Cheops is constructed.
ca. 2400–ca. 1500 B.C.E.: Kingdom of
Karmah in Nubia.AFRICA
ca. 6500 B.C.E.: A primitive plow called
the ard is used in the Near East.
ca. 6000 B.C.E.: Production of wine
begins in Mesopotamia and along the
eastern shore of the Mediterranean
Sea.ca. 5000 B.C.E.: People in the valleys
surrounding the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers domesticate cattle and begin to
build irrigation systems for crops.
ca. 4500 B.C.E.: Permanent settlement
is established at Ur in Mesopotamia;
clay tokens are fi rst used for accounting
purposes in Mesopotamia.
ca. 4300 B.C.E.: Turntable for pottery
making is invented in Mesopotamia.
ca. 4200 B.C.E.: Copper mining begins in
the area of modern-day Oman.ca. 4000 B.C.E.: Earliest copper objects
appear in the ancient Near East.
ca. 3500 B.C.E.: The Sumerians begin
crafting tools out of bronze, a mixture
of copper and tin, initiating the Bronze
Age, which begins to reach its height
in about 2000 B.C.E.; Sumerians also
start to use wheeled vehicles pulled by
animals.
ca. 3400 B.C.E.: Earliest form of cuneiform
script is devised to record the language
used by the ancient inhabitants of Uruk in
southern Mesopotamia.ca. 2800 B.C.E.: The sickle is invented by
farmers in Sumer.
ca. 2750 B.C.E.: The Phoenician city of
Tyre emerges as a great sea power.
ca. 2500 B.C.E.: Beginning of the Iron Age
in the ancient Middle East.
ca. 2400 B.C.E.: The Babylonians fi rst use
the abacus for computation; Sumerians
fi rst use “positional notation,” where
numbers take their value depending on
their position in a numerical group.
ca. 2350 B.C.E.: The Old Akkadian Empire
begins rule of Mesopotamia.THE MIDDLE EAST
10,000 B.C.E. – 5000 B.C.E.
(continued)5000 B.C.E. – 4000 B.C.E.
4000 B.C.E. – 3000 B.C.E.
3000 B.C.E. – 2000 B.C.E.
(continues)1195-1234_SocCultAnctWrld-v4_bm.1222 1222 10/10/07 3:30:40 PM