All About History Book of History Year By Year

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Ancient armour Prehistoric tools Egyptian art Heroes & Heroines

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YEAR BY YEAR

Understanding the events that have come before us and how they
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All About History Book of History Year by Year Volume 1 © 2014 Imagine Publishing Ltd
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1 2 3 4

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CONTENTS

006-007_Contents_final.indd 6 03/06/2011 17:39





HUMAN
ORIGINS

8 3000

Our earliest ancestors lived in Africa almost eight million
years ago. Over seven million years later, we appeared and
developed the skills – including sophisticated tool-making
and agriculture – that allowed us to colonize the world.

8–4.5 MYA 4.5–2 MYA 2 –1.8 MYA 1.8–1.6 MYA

Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania is a site of great archaeological significance and it is sometimes referred
to as the “Cradle of Mankind”. At least two species of early hominin are associated with this area.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SEVERAL DIFFERENT and still lived partially in trees. ULTIMATELY, THE Boxgrove Swanscombe
HUMAN AND OTHER APES DNA AUSTRALOPITHECINE species Their brains were about the size
and blood proteins suggest that lived in Africa between 4.2 and of those of modern chimpanzees, PARANTHROPINES’ WAY OF LIFE 0.95 MYA Mauer
our lineage separated from that 2 MYA. Although they walked on but some australopithecines seem
of the chimpanzees between two legs most of the time, they to have used tools. The earliest was unsuccessful and they became Atapuerca Steinheim
8 and 6 million years ago (MYA). were rather small and ape-like stone tools come from Ethiopia extinct after about 1.2 MYA, while
Only a few fossil specimens date and date to 2.6 MYA, but bones their cousins Homo habilis and Tautavel 1.2 MYA EUROPE
to this time: Sahelanthropus with cut marks made by stone H. rudolfensis survived. These
tchadensis (7–6 MYA), Orrorin tools have been found associated early Homo species were not very Ceprano Petralona Dmanisi
with Australopithecus afarensis different from australopithecines. Isernia
7 MYA nearby, and date to 3.4 MYA. The
australopithecines’ descendants It was with Homo ergaster (1.8 la Pineta
THE TIME followed two distinct modes of MYA) that our ancestors started
WHEN life: members of the genus to look much more familiar. Kocabas
THE FIRST Paranthropus had huge jaws H. ergaster was tall and slender,
HUMAN and big teeth for eating tough and may have been the first Ubeidiya 1.7 MYA
ANCESTOR vegetable foods; meanwhile, Homo hominin (a term used to describe
APPEARS rudolfensis and H. habilis seem to humans and their ancestors) PROBABLY
have eaten more protein, using without much body hair. Their MORE THAN
tools to get at the protein-rich brains were larger than those of
marrow inside long-bones by their ancestors, and they lost the 1.8 MYA
scavenging from carnivore kills. last of their adaptations to
tree-climbing to become fully AFRICA Bodo
adapted to walking and running. Konso-Gardula
Lake Turkana
Koobi Fora

Olduvai Gorge Olorgesailie

tugenensis (6.1–5 MYA), and OLDOWAN TOOL NOT LONG AFTER THE
two species of Ardipithecus, APPEARANCE of Homo ergaster,
kadabba (5.8–5.2 MYA) and ACHEULEAN TOOL
ramidus (4.4 MYA). While all hominins expanded their range
of these species seem to TOOLS
have walked on two legs beyond Africa for the first time.
like us, it is not certain Lucy Many animal species use natural objects as tools, but the
whether any were actual This unusually complete skeleton manufacture of stone tools is unique to hominins. The earliest are A species called H. georgicus
ancestors of humans. of Australopithecus afarensis, simply sharp flakes broken off stone cobbles by striking them with
Because species are discovered in Kenya in 1974, was a “hammerstone”. These are known as “Oldowan” tools, after appeared in Dmanisi in Georgia by
constantly evolving, and named after the Beatles’ song Olduvai Gorge where they were first found. Later tools, such as
individuals of those species “Lucy in the sky with diamonds”. Acheulean handaxes, required more skill. Our manufacture of tools 1.7 MYA. Another close relative of
can vary, it is difficult to tell might be one explanation for the evolution of the human brain. Homo ergaster, Homo erectus,
from isolated and often poorly
preserved fossils which species lived in China and Indonesia
they should be assigned to, or how
these are related to one another. perhaps not long afterward.
However, these fossils do tell us
a great deal about what the last Some archaeologists believe that
common ancestor we shared
with chimpanzees was like. earlier groups of hominins may

also have left Africa, as some of

the skulls from Dmanisi and from

the much later site of Liang Bua

in Flores in Indonesia (currently

known as Homo floresiensis)
resemble those of Homo habilis
and Homo rudolfensis.

Living further north would have

required a different way of life

7 MaYnAldinHceohamigmienpsiandnizv7ee–etr6cghhMeaoYsdmApewSlinniaatsi,hlniksbe/uclumahtpnaiirmstyihgtpprhhoartopenuu-zgdeshaetteto 4.1A–ua2fsamMtrrYmueaAlncohohspdaislibetarihhrtneugaceascurlhalsyitmhbcraplainaminntbhznsaeotettrsoe;fesstill 3.a5f–rh2iocMmaYniAunAsinu, stthtoreabfileorpisdi3tteh.enp3eatrcMirbofiulYodeyAsnudEecaesrdalitbeyDstsiktciouknate,mEtoatohrliksosp2oi.nak6nMtooYwAEoltEnshasifortroploinimeaesGt ona, 2.“5N–Pu1aht.rr2uaapMgncoYektwAhegrerrorimpnfuudalsinnjb”ag,owtiesseeti,h1ha.a9hns–adib1si.sal6itssocMsun(Yo“tAehc-Hmitaaoontaomedrldsykomewadnaitbdnho”n) es 1.7knMfooYAw(sHsEnfoiralmhosGromlfoeimreoogDsrimengtmoiinarEagnuiircsauissini)a,
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10

1.6–0.35 MYA 350,000–160,000 YA

,, ,,ALL LIVING HUMANS DESCENDED

FROM COMMON ANCESTORS WHO LIVED
IN AFRICA LESS THAN 200,000 YEARS AGO.

Stephen Jay Gould, American palaeontologist, from I have Landed: the end of
a beginning in natural history, 2002

1.6–1.3 MYA Zhoukoudian ACHEULEAN HANDAXES made by While Homo Erectus continued
Homo ergaster and H. erectus were to thrive in Asia, Homo antecessor
ASIA Hexian produced across most of Africa had appeared as far west as
Nanjing and Eurasia, and demonstrate the northern Spain and Italy by 1.2MYA.
ability to learn complex skills Marks on their bones at the site of
Lantian Yunxian from one another and pass them Atapuerca in Spain suggest they
down over generations. To make practised cannibalism. However,
Narmada these tools, knappers had to think these early colonists may not
several steps ahead in order to have thrived in these unfamiliar
1.5–1 MYA select a suitable stone and to landscapes, as very few sites are
prepare and place each strike. known. By 600,000 years ago,
Handaxes were used for a wide a new hominin species, Homo Burying the dead
range of activities, including heidelbergensis, had spread Neanderthals often disposed
butchery, but they might also have much more widely across Europe. of their dead with care. Some
been important for personal or H. heidelbergensis seem to have were buried in graves, as here
group identity, demonstrating been good hunters, or at least at Kebara Cave in Israel, which
their makers’ strength and skill. proficient scavengers. dates to 60,000 BCE.

KEY Trinil Australopithecines Homo heidelbergensis BY AROUND 350,000 YEARS AGO, their throat and voice box anatomy
Sangiran Mojokerto 461 cubic cm 1,204 cubic cm while Homo erectus continued to suggests that a Neanderthal
Ngandong (28 cubic inches) (73 cubic inches) hold sway over eastern Asia, language may have been limited
Homo heidelbergensis in Europe compared to that of humans, they
Site of fossil finds Paranthropines Homo neanderthalensis and Western Asia had evolved into must have communicated in some
517 cubic cm 1,426 cubic cm Homo neanderthalensis. fashion, perhaps by combining a
More likely route (32 cubic inches) (87 cubic inches) less complex form of vocalization
Neanderthals were stockier and with expressive miming.
Less likely route Homo habilis Homo sapiens stronger than modern humans,
Homo rudolfensis 1,478 cubic cm and their brains were as large 200,000
Hominins beyond Africa 648 cubic cm (90 cubic inches) or even larger, although shaped
Our earliest ancestors evolved in (40 cubic inches) slightly differently. Neanderthals THE NUMBER
Africa. Possible dispersal routes were almost certainly very OF YEARS THE
from Africa are shown on this map, Homo erectus accomplished hunters. They were NEANDERTHAL
with dates referring to the earliest Homo ergaster also highly skilled at making DOMINATED
fossils known from each region. 969 cubic cm stone tools and heavy thrusting EUROPE AND
(59 cubic inches) spears with which they tackled WESTERN ASIA
to life in the African savanna. even large and dangerous animal
The climate was cooler and HOMININ BRAIN SIZES prey, such as horses and bison.
environments were more
seasonal, with significant Humans have a disproportionately large brain for a primate of However, despite burying their
variation in food resources their size, but archaeologists disagree about how and why this dead – which may have indicated
over the course of a year. expansion happened. Switching to fatty and calorific foods such ceremonial practices or belief in
Fewer edible plants meant as bone marrow and meat may have “powered” brain growth, and an afterlife – Neanderthals do not
that hominins would have had also demanded more complex tools and effective hunting and seem to have created more than
to rely more on harder-to-find foraging skills. Social skills were also a part of this process, as the most limited art or used any
and fiercely competed-for increasing group co-operation and pair-bonding were necessary symbols, as all modern humans
animal protein for food. They to sustain the longer periods of childhood that infants needed do. Whether or not they spoke in a
needed to move over greater for their larger brains to develop. similar way to modern humans is
distances and work together to also difficult to establish. Although
share resources and information
to survive in these regions.

1.o6f5fHr–oe1omamMmrYolJAfoyarerFoavreimasenlcd1idkts.aaue5trslemoydutyontaod,dbaa1ustmet ya 1.b5oMcyYo”Aomif“seTparaulngenratakaesdaltmonselkareoesfsrlcteoetmnotnTHaonmzaonia 0.r7e9floiMarGYbAcelIeossFnrhieartevsreritodlB0leoe.nfi7fnc8eeofilMtrdeYYAaaas’Eatsaquromtvh,e’ss mcuargrneenttipcolarity 0.o3fMupYsrAmeeEdptuovaltiotordielpesmdlneacc-koeceroems ponent 0.p2e8RbMabfiYmlAres,IftnIrscaorirmsateeBdl ceoreukldhabte 0.1N8ei6na–ancn0dod.em1rm2mth7auaMsnlYssAakelinhllgusangtieng

012-013_8mya-1610.60M0Y0tmAhayEaoraaduta.eregilnlfthriabhdeetcyosdgttutHosiogkohinhn1nmaco3fCvoouwtehosrenisbrnroeieelannsecltnytflury0osd.m8amteya 1.5S–1o.uo4tfhMfiYAArferEiavcitad,sfie1bbinrt.eues2ctsnteMmaEiYntuAaurAyroapplpeeaanrsaann–cteHecooemfssoor h0en.i6odweMlYbwANeiHdreagoe0apems.npn4pedosrMaeeisYrraAstdhDaacislrtoai0nsns.ca4ttEwiMovuoemYroAoydFpeeirnes-pheaarrdseinneudse 0.h3uMtmrYaAaihtMnAsefosiraddkipceeepallrbeenneatHa0rrlg.oi2enm8nuosMsieYsAoFfinrsattuervaidlepnigcemfeonrts E0v.a2enMicsYeAtshMteoitrloaocsfhtarcololnmhdumiamloan0n.1sid6apMlrYtiuAm;Histocsikvmhhueaalolfrreahseamcaasttpsuodeirdseiresoienstsmrsit,nnibecchsutiutvwm2eit5ah/n0s5/2011 16:51

11

8 MYA 3 0 0 0 BCE HUMAN ORIGINS

COLONIZING THE ICA
R
PLANET E
M
THE SPREAD OF MODERN HUMANS ACROSS THE WORLD A

Skeletal and DNA evidence suggests that our species, Homo sapiens, evolved N H 22,000
in Africa and then spread across the globe. The first traces of modern O T YEARS AGO
humans beyond Africa come from fossils in Israel and possibly from stone R Clovis
tools found in Arabia. They date to before 100,000 years ago. Meadowcroft
12,000
Homo sapiens’ colonization of the globe involved many stops, starts, and sometimes retreats, as well YEARS AGO
as waves of different groups of people in some areas. Homo sapiens may have moved into Eurasia
via the Mediterranean coast of western Asia, spreading into Western Europe by 35,000 years ago Buttermilk Creek
(YA . Archaeological evidence suggests that people may also have taken a “southern route” Cactus Hill
across Arabia into southern Asia. There may also have been movement eastward, perhaps
much earlier, as stone tools have been found in India from 77,000YA and Malaysia from SOUTH AT L A N T I C
70,000YA. Some possible Homo sapiens finds from southern China are dated to 68,000YA OCEAN
(Liujiang), and even 100,000YA (Zhirendong). However, these finds remain controversial, and
most scholars favour later dates here. In Australia, widespread colonization probably did Pedra
not occur until 45,000YA, though some sites have been dated to as early as 60,000YA. Furada

Further north, Homo sapiens first spread across northern Eurasia around 35,000YA.
However, they may have retreated during the last Ice Age, and not re-colonized the
region until after 14,000–13,000YA. Genetically, the North American colonists are likely
to have originated in East Asia. They probably travelled across the plain of “Beringia”
– now beneath the Bering Straits between Siberia and Alaska, but exposed by low sea
levels at the height of the last Ice Age. Distinctive “Clovis” spear points (flaked on both
sides) are found across North America around 12,000YA, so modern humans were
widespread at that point, but earlier sites are also known, including South American
sites such as Monte Verde (15,500–15,000YA).

NORTH AMERICA

ASIA PACIFIC
OCEAN
3000 BCE
RICA
Philippine Hawaiian E
Islands Islands M
A
2500 BCE

500 BCE –1 CE

500 BCE New 400–1200 CE
Borneo Guinea
1500 BCE

1400–750 BCE Samoan
Islands

Fiji

AUSTRALIA

1250 CE

NEW PACIFIC
ZEALAND OCEAN

LATE ARRIVALS Tracking language Monte Verde
The islands of Oceania were some of the last parts of the The spread of languages can
globe to be colonized, via the Philippines, by often be tracked to reflect the 15,000–11,000
Austronesian-speaking early farmers from Taiwan. The movement of people. This map YEARS AGO
more remote northern and eastern islands of Micronesia shows the spread of Austronesian
and Polynesia remained uninhabited until after 700 CE, speakers across Oceania. Earlier
and New Zealand was populated as late as 1250 CE. settlers were already present in
some western areas.

12

13,000 YEARS AGO Bering Straits COLONIZING THE PLANET
Swan Point
14,000 YEARS AGO KEY
General direction
Bluefish Caves Ushki Lake of Homo sapiens
around the world
Tuluaq Hill Site of early
(Sluiceway- Homo sapiens
Tuluaq complex)

Berelekh
Yana

Ust-Mil Diuktai

35,000
YEARS AGO

Kara-Bom Tianyuan 32,000
YEARS AGO
31,000 YEARS AGO EUROPE 42,000
YEARS AGO Yamashita-Cho

Paviland Cave Trou Magrite Kostienki ASIA Matenkupkum, Balof 2,
Kent's Cavern Höhlenstein-Stadel 45,000 YEARS AGO and Panakiwuk
Vindija Cave
Arcy-sur-Cure Niah Caves Huon Peninsula
Korolevo I PACIFIC OCEAN

Saint Césaire Le Piage Istállöskö
El Castillo Riparo Mochi Pestera cu Oase

Cueva Morín 40,000
El Pendo YEARS AGO
Gato Preto Abríc Romaní Bacho Uçagizli Magara 77,000–45,000 YEARS AGO Liujiang
Gorham's Cave Kiro Zhirendong

Temnata

Jebel Irhoud Cova Beneito Cave Ksar Akil
Skhul Qafzeh

100,000 Jebel Faya
YEARS AGO

Jwalapuram

AFRICA Kota Tampan

160,000 YEARS AGO Herto INDIAN
Omo Kibish OCEAN

1.7 MYA Temperate grassland, Malakunanja
mediterranean shrubland Nawalabila I

TIME Riwi and
Carpenter's Gap

Ngarrabulgan

Puritjarra
A
40,000 YA 45,000U
Temperate forest, YEARS AGOS
boreal forest, tundra TRA L I A
Blombos Cave
Klasies
River Mouth 7 MYA Tropical and subtropical Upper Swan
dry broadleaf forest, savanna
Devil's Allen's Cave Cuddie
Changing environments Lair Springs
The ancient ancestors of modern humans
Going global evolved in the African tropics. Over time, as Lake Mungo
Skeletal and genetic evidence suggests that modern humans human species evolved larger brains and
originated in Africa, and spread across the globe from there, developed more advanced skills and behaviour, Kow Swamp
as reflected on this map. This is called the “Out of Africa” they became better equipped to deal with the Willandra Lakes
theory. An alternative “multiregional” theory suggests that challenges of new environments.
Homo sapiens evolved simultaneously in many different parts
of the world, from ancestors who had left Africa much earlier.

13

160,000–45,000 YA 45,000–35,000 YA 35,000–28,000 YA

These cave paintings from Lascaux in France date to around 17,000 years ago. Most cave paintings are from a similar
period, though some were created by the earliest Homo sapiens to arrive in western Europe, around 32,000 years ago.

IN AFRICA, HOMININ FOSSILS HUMANS SPREAD RAPIDLY Flores date to less than 38,000 ,, THE
gradually began to reveal the years ago, and seem to represent NEANDERTHALS
characteristic skeletal traits of Prepared core and flake across Europe and Asia. In specialized, extremely small WERE NOT
Homo sapiens from around Neanderthals and other hominins Europe, modern humans forms of Homo erectus, or APE-MEN…
400,000YA: smaller brow ridges, prepared a stone core before appeared in Turkey from 40,000YA, perhaps even the descendants THEY WERE
higher and rounder skulls, and striking off a sharp flake to use. and in western Europe shortly of earlier hominins. More AS HUMAN AS
chins. DNA analysis of living In Europe this technology is afterwards. In Asia, fossils of evidence comes from Denisova US, BUT THEY
humans suggests that the known as the “Mousterian”. Homo sapiens in Indonesia and Cave in Russia – DNA analysis REPRESENTED
common ancestors of all living China date to at least 42,000YA, of bones found here reveals
humans (known as Mitochondrial and the sea crossing to Australia genetic material distinct from ,,A DIFFERENT
Eve) lived in Africa around occurred before 45,000YA. These that of both modern humans and
200,000YA. An Ethiopian fossil dates suggest that the earliest Neanderthals, dated to around BRAND OF
modern humans in Asia may 40,000YA. It seems increasingly HUMANITY.
250,000 have encountered groups of likely that several groups
Homo erectus, who survived in descended from hominins who Chris Stringer and Clive Gamble, from
YEARS AGO China until at least 40,000 years left Africa before Homo sapiens In Search of the Neanderthals, 1993
ago. In Indonesia the picture may have coexisted in Eurasia
WHEN HOMO was even more complicated. at this time. IN EUROPE, MODERN HUMANS
SAPIENS FIRST Fossils found on the island of overlapped with Neanderthals,
APPEARED who survived until at least 30,000
time and, in such harsh conditions, HOMO SAPIENS NEANDERTHAL years ago. How and why
skull from 160,000YA is almost complex modern language and Neanderthals died out is one of
modern in shape; this has been symbolism would have allowed MODERN HUMANS AND NEANDERTHALS the most intensely debated topics
identified as a subspecies of groups to exchange resources in archaeology. There is little
modern humans, Homo sapiens and information with one Neanderthal skulls (right) were about the same size as evidence of violent interactions
idaltu. Humans moved north into another, which could have made anatomically modern human skulls (left), but they had lower, between the species, and
Western Asia some time before the difference between survival more sloping foreheads and a double arch of bone over their comparison of DNA increasingly
100,000YA, but they do not seem and extinction. However, others eyes that created heavy brow ridges. Their lower faces jutted suggests that there may have
to have stayed there for long. argue that the impact of the out and they did not have chins. Overall, Neanderthal skeletons been some exchange of mating
eruption of Mount Toba has been reveal that they were much more muscular than modern humans, partners between the groups.
It is debated whether uniquely exaggerated, and that achaeology as well as being extremely physically active and well-adapted
human behaviours such as in Africa suggests complex hunting to cold climates. Early humans may have
language and the ability to use practices and the development of outcompeted their relatives for
symbols evolved before or after symbolism even before this. food and raw materials in the
modern human anatomy. One rapidly changing environmental
theory is that such behaviours It is not clear when modern conditions. Environments at the
became vital only after 74,000YA, humans first spread into Eurasia. time were highly unstable, so
when the massive eruption of Some researchers argue they left even a slight increase in
Mount Toba in Indonesia triggered Arabia before 74,000YA. Others competition could have been
a global “volcanic winter”. DNA say the major migration occurred significant. However, populations
analysis suggests that many later, 50,000 YA, and via western were small and spread out, and
human groups died out at this Asia, after developing a new form co-existed for up to 10,000 years
of stone-tool technology that in Europe, and more than 30,000
involved producing long, thin flint
“blades”, which probably formed
part of composite tools.

13I0nc,m0reia0nar0isS–nio1neu1gmt5hu,a0sAme0fr0moicfYaaAfilsshatasnidtes 11H0o,0m0o0s–a9p0i,e0n0s0i7nY5A“L,Eb0eblav0aeraB0dalnyledYotAs”m,AtaebdncovhdsannCinocaclevoidsege,iedSsoo,ucsthhhreeAllfa4rt6icM,a0oh0dui0enmrYsnaAonfuostshaspeilrpsneoaAfrsia 40o,f0N00ewYAGCuoilnoenaization 40s,u0er0rve0ivcYitnAugLsaHintoemChoina 37e,r0au0cp0rtoYiosAsnCmianmuIctpahalyno;ifaaEnsuhrofaplels 35A,0ut0eriec0ghsYnEtnAaauocbcrlhiolotaiaopsgnroheiael,ecssidtnaewacnrlceidusrldltoa-iiscrnstgstone

possible12N0e,a0n0d0eYrAthEaalrlbieusrtial 167M3gt,lT5oo0bb0aaYlAidnTrSohupemienrautterpamticopaneurosafetusre c4ol5o,n0i0z0atYiAonWoidfeAsupsrteraad4li5a,0se0aa0psitYeeAnrHsnorEmeuaorcohpe 40sa,0p0ie0nYsAiHnoCmhiona Euros3pu6eg,,g0se0os0mt –Neh2eut8aem,nc0ahd0nne0oriYntlAhoteagInrlieaascntdion Hom32o,s0a0p0ieYnAsEianrlJieasptan
016-017_160000_12000ya.indd
06/05/11 5:05 PM

14

28,000–21,000 YA 21,000–18,000 YA 18,000–12,000 YA

AT L A N T I C
OCEAN

in Indonesia. Alternatively, the PACIFIC IN EUROPE, SOPHISTICATED BONE and art objects may have helped
exchange of resources and OCEAN and antler points, needles, and establish group identities and
information allowed by modern harpoons characterize the territories, as the number of
humans’ language and symbol INDIAN “Magdalenian” technologies that archaeological sites in this period
use, and their planned and OCEAN were used to hunt a wide range of suggests that populations were
flexible technologies made species, especially reindeer. growing, and competition for rich
Homo sapiens better able to THE MAXIMUM EXTENT OF THE LAST ICE AGE and localized resources may have
withstand climatic downturns The Magdalenian (18,000– been intensifying.
than Neanderthals. European climates after 23,000BCE grew steadily cooler, and 12,000YA) is famous for its
during the “Last Glacial Maximum” (21,000–18,000YA) ice-caps beautiful art objects, engravings, A rise in temperature led to the
Others believe that these covered most of northern Europe. Further south huge areas of and cave paintings. There are many retreat of the ice sheets that had
behaviours were not unique to grassland with few trees offered good hunting for groups of theories about what these mean covered northern Europe, and
modern humans. Hominins humans able to survive the cold. and why they were produced. As these areas were rapidly
would have needed to use rafts most depict animals that were recolonized, with groups
or boats to reach the island of THE “GRAVETTIAN” CULTURE OF AT THE HEIGHT OF THE GLACIAL hunted, the paintings may expanding as far north as Siberia
Flores in Indonesia by 800,000 YA . Europe and Russia (28,000– Maximum, when the ice caps represent a magical means of by around 14,000–13,000YA. Some
Some late Neanderthal sites 21,000YA) is known for its were at their maximum extent, ensuring hunting success, or groups later moved on into Alaska
also contain elements of elaborate sites, which often have people living in more northerly show information about the best and the Americas. Further east in
technologies normally associated complex structures and burials, and mountainous areas retreated ways to hunt different species. China and in the Jomon culture of
with Homo sapiens, although it is as well as large amounts of shell to “refuge” areas such as – in Paintings of imaginary half-human, Japan, some of the first pots
possible that Neanderthals may jewellery, and sculpted bone and Europe – northern Spain and half-animal creatures and the manufactured from clay appeared
have copied, traded with, or even antler. Also found at Gravettian southwest France, where this inaccessibility of some cave art between 18,000 and 15,000YA.
stolen from modern humans. sites are some of the earliest period is known as the “Solutrean”. suggests that painting may have
known clay objects, including some Globally, many groups probably been a magical or ritual activity, Altamira cave paintings
A combination of environmental of the famous “Venus” figurines. died out, but some held on in perhaps practised by shamans This Paleolithic cave painting
unrest and increased competition These may have been fertility or more sheltered regions. To survive or during initiation or religious of bison was discovered at the
is currently considered to be the religious charms, or part of a the harsh conditions, much time ceremonies. Alternatively paintings Altamira cave site in Spain.
most likely explanation for system of exchange between and effort was invested in hunting.
Neanderthal extinction. social networks across the region Weapons include beautifully
as the Ice Age intensified. worked points known as “leaf-
EUROPE points”. Although little evidence
“Venus” statuette survives beyond finely worked
AT L A N T I C This figurine bone needles, people probably
OCEAN from Willendorf developed sophisticated clothing
in Austria depicts to keep them warm. Perhaps
KEY Mediterranean Sea a stylized pregnant
or obese female more importantly, hunters
KEY Neanderthal sites figure. would have worked hard to
predict and intercept the
Modern human sites exaggerated movements of herds of large
belly
Neanderthal and human ranges animals, ensuring the
Modern humans and Neanderthals hunting success that was
co-existed for several thousand the difference between life
years. Sites appear to show evidence and death.
for interaction between the groups.

32p,a0i0n0tiYnAgCs,hFaruavnectecave 27C,0oh0mus0npiYttRleAeeusxrs-ogsnaiattnhheeprlearins 18t,e0c0h0nYoAloMgaiegsdaalpe1pn8eci,aao0rflnn0ot“0rrtoeYhvAseeiDerhsnaoitsabeilsboHisftop”tmehceoimen, 16B–e1rge5aic,nro0nEel0oiaun0dnsrguYioczoAropoafinfentnigdoaoinwbrtitaooohnnrfesdsrtoncnleimd atic17p,0ai0n0tiYnAgLsa, sFcraanucxecave 14d,o0m00eYsAtiEcaatrelidesdtog
atl1at7l,,0Co0ro0msYpAbeeEaarS-ratlhuiernsoitewkreenr,o, Fwfrrnoamnce 15,00a0ScYoAounMtthrooAnvtmeeresVrieaicrladlynee,saCitrhelyilwedi,athtes
know2n8N,0e0a0nYdAeYrotuhnagl essitteGsra2v8e–tt2ia1n,0c0u0ltYuAre 2te1Sc,o0hl0un0torlYeoaAagpnipeesar 21g–l1a8c,i0a0l 0mYaAxLimasutm

15

10,000–3000 BCE

Megalithic (large stone) architecture was used for monumental tombs in Neolithic Europe. Developments around
3300BCE included the construction of stone circles, such as this example at Castlerigg in northern England.

6700- Settled communities lived here productivity. Farming was were domesticated in the Yellow Lepinski Vir "fish god"
6400BCE by 7000BCE, including the therefore a choice that people River valley and rice in the Yangzi Abundant fish supported a settled
Chinchorro who created the made, increasing local valley in China, from where they hunter-gatherer village on the
7500- world’s first mummies (see productivity, often at the cost of spread through East and Southeast Danube in Serbia. Its inhabitants
6700BCE panel, opposite). increasing work and risk. Their Asia. In Africa, other millets and carved fish-human sculptures,
Another area with reasons for farming may have African rice were domesticated probably representing gods.
8500- favourable conditions was included extending their period of after 3000BCE. In the Americas, meat. However, in the Americas
7500BCE West Asia. Here, residence in a settled village, maize was the principal cereal. only the Andes had animals
vegetation included wild providing extra food for feasting or However, although it was cultivated suitable for domestication:
9600- cereals that could be to support a growing population, by 6000BCE, it was not until guineapigs, llamas, and alpacas.
8500BCE stored, sustaining and boosting the supply of 2000BCE that maize was Birds, particularly chickens,
preferred or declining foodstuffs. sufficiently productive to support
13,000- communities throughout the permanently settled villages. bone and antler
9600BCE year when Cereals were common staples of Pulses and vegetables were lightened by
supplemented early agriculture. Wheat and barley grown alongside cereals in many scraping
Population density by other wild were domesticated in West Asia, parts of the world. Star Carr deer cap
The population in western Asia grew foods such as spreading into North Africa, This skull-cap from a hunter-
rapidly from 13,000 to 6400 BCE. gazelle. A period Europe, and Central and South Tubers, such as manioc and gatherer site in England may have
of cold, arid Asia. Broomcorn and foxtail millet yams, and treecrops were been used in hunting rituals.
AS STEEPLY RISING TEMPERATURES conditions from cultivated in moist tropical
between 12,700 and 10,800BCE 10,800 to 9600BCE holes bored regions, beginning at an early date
melted the northern ice sheets, led to a steep into skull in the New Guinea highlands and
global sea-levels rose, lakes the rainforests of Central America
formed, and rainfall increased, decline in the availability of wild and northern South America.
promoting the cereals. This prompted some West
spread of forests Asian villagers to turn to Domestic sheep, goats, pigs,
and grasslands cultivation, planting cereals. and cattle were raised across
and providing new Eurasia and Africa, initially just for
opportunities for Agriculture began in many
hunter-gatherer parts of the world at different
communities. times, using local resources.
Coastal areas Domesticated plants and animals
drowned by rising sea levels were spread by trade between
rich sources of aquatic foods, as neighbouring groups and when
were lakes and rivers. Grasslands farming communities colonized
sustained large herds of animals, new areas. Agriculture was not a
while forest margins provided discovery: hunter-gatherers had a
abundant plant foods and game. deep knowledge of the plants and
Most hunter-gatherers moved animals on which they depended,
seasonally to exploit the and often took actions to increase
resources of different areas, but
particularly favoured places such
as river estuaries could support
people year round. One such
region was coastal Peru and Chile,
where the cold Humboldt current
provides especially rich fisheries.

11c,o5Al0om0Cn–leioz9rvai0icts0iaos0sntBoboCnyEfeptRhetaoeopopilldse using 10d,o5–m0ra0eynBesdCtiEinbcEaaSatryelrredliiyaec;bsewtyre8ha0el0a0t BCE 90d0oW0mBeeCsEsttEAicasariatleiedstanimals in 90In0c0“r–Ger3iravae0sece0errnsd0o,SsBrmsCaaEihaNnrafosarrhlatle”hp:srA,loafadrkniuecdscae,gsrasslands 80a0gY0reiBgclCluroEolwtEwuaRirnraiglvlieevmrsiltivllaaleglletesy,inChina, 70d0ow0meBgeCsrEstoetZwircenianbtPgueawdckahaistetttalaMetn,e,bhbar7yrg0lfbaea0yryro0h,mhf,aButCnehnErdetsCepGrau-rtlfietslseeehnsdeSoramchoeamsrtamicuatneitdies

1D0r,y8a0st0ecsm–och9lpaed6uee0prsta0see;trdBuivCorbeEedyrYs,ymoparureafnotplegbtiirdeanrb9gr6liyis0ce0eiBnCE 9b5y0h0u–n8t0ear0t-0gGBaöCtbEheeCkroelnirsTsteorpufecs,thiToruninrkeey c9o0lo0an0inni–zbd7aCytt0yhibo0peon0ratuBortsCafoEnstfchSussaeipghtttogeielssreeelts,apatan,tndigodonapti,gs 8vw5ila0lal0lg–be7upa3irltao0tgJb0aeaarBirboCniluEcsynhtSfdooflto,rolanIodsredergaifeneewgnl,,canerfoatre 80M00esBoCEamSqeurdiacosamh; esdsqotumicaeastshetdiacnaindteEbdceuianandsor 7000 BCyEaBmancuaGlntuaivi,natetaeardohi,ingahnNldaenwds6500 BCaEgSrMiicmeusplotlueproiertarimingaciaetinbotenrgailns

16

ducks, and turkeys, were also kept ,, THE NEOLITHIC WAS… A POINT CHINCHORRO MUMMIES
by Old and New World farmers. By IN A CONTINUOUS STORY OF
5000BCE cattle, sheep, and goats The earliest mummies come
were raised for milk as well as ,,GREATER ECONOMIC CONTROL not from Egypt, but from
meat, while cattle were used to coastal northern Chile, an
pull ploughs, enabling people to OVER RESOURCES... FROM arid region where natural
cultivate much larger areas. SCAVENGING TO... FARMING. mummies occur from
7000 BCE. After 5000 BCE the
Wool-bearing sheep were bred in Chinchorro began artificial
mummification. They removed
West Asia in the 4th millennium Clive Gamble, from Origins and revolutions: human identity in earliest the flesh, reassembled and
BCE, and rapidly spread into prehistory, 2007 reinforced the skeleton, stuffed
the skin with plant material,
Europe and Central Asia. The use coated it in clay, and painted
it with black manganese or
of pack animals such as llamas decorated with paintings and bones of a number of individuals. red ochre. Only some
individuals, particularly
and donkeys allowed long- modelled animal heads. Native (naturally occurring pure) children, were mummified.

distance transport. After 7000BCE farmers spread copper and gold were being distant sources. A trading
network developed that
Agriculture was more productive from Turkey into southeast and shaped into small objects by cold stretched from Egypt through
West Asia to the mountainous
than foraging and could support central Europe, while hammering before 8000BCE in borderlands of South Asia, with
towns controlling sources of
larger communities. Settled life Mediterranean hunter-gatherers West Asia. Around 7000BCE, ores materials and strategic points
along the routes. Sumer
also encouraged population gradually turned to agriculture, were smelted here to extract (southern Mesopotamia) was at
the forefront of this development,
growth. Many early farming using imported West Asian crops metal and by 6000BCE copper and but social, religious, economic,

villages in West Asia grew to a and animals. By 3500BCE most of lead were also cast. Metals were Copper axe heads
Gold and copper were the
considerable size. Most Europe had adopted farming. initially made into small personal first metals to be worked.
They became widespread
remarkable was Çatalhöyük in Megaliths – stone chambered objects that could enhance in Europe around and political complexity was also
2500 BCE. emerging in Elam (southwest
Turkey, occupied around 7400– tombs of which a wide variety were prestige and status. Later, Iran) and Egypt. All three regions
developed writing systems
6200BCE, which housed as many built, often with earthen mounds however, copper began to be used before 3000 BCE, which they used
to record and manage economic
as 8,000 people. Its tightly packed – were constructed in western and for tools, and by 4200BCE copper transactions and the ownership
of property. The earliest known
houses were entered from the northern Europe from the early 5th ores containing arsenic were pictographic writing, around
3300 BCE, comes from Uruk in
roof by ladders, and were millennium BCE. Most housed the deliberately selected to produce a Sumer, a huge and complex
settlement that is deservedly
harder metal. The addition of tin known as the world’s first city.

created a stronger alloy, bronze,

which was in use in West Asia

ASIA by 3200BCE.
The development of water-
NORTH EUROPE 4000 BCE
AMERICA control techniques enabled West
7000 BCE 8000 BCE Asian farmers to colonize the
2500 BCE 9000 BCE 9000 BCE 6000 BCE southern Mesopotamian plains,

4500 BCE 8000 BCE 7000 BCE 6500 BCE
6500 BCE

6000 BCE 2500 BCE where agriculture depended

7000 BCE SOUTH AFRICA 7000 BCE entirely on irrigation but was
6000 BCE AMERICA AUSTRALASIA highly productive. By the mid 4th
5000 BCE KEY millennium BCE, this region was
densely populated, and villages
KEY Livestock were developing into towns, with
craft specialists. There was a
Cereals growing demand for raw
materials, including metal
Livestock Other ores, which often came from

Cereals Areas with agriculture

Other

HThuemsapnrsebaedgoafnatogrciuclutilvtautreeplantsAraenads mwiathnaaggreicaunltiumreals independently,
in different areas at different times, across the world.

62c0oE0muBMmpCEehuFsrnaoiritptseiotestsfavamearlsmiltaea6iynb0vgol0aifsa0lshlneBoedCyudEr(tChiaVneihislrilenanagp)eigfisssinha,nYgadrncoghwziicrkiceen,s 55d0em0veBelCtoEaplImlnuderegnpyteionnfdtcehoneptpBea5rl1ka0at0nAsBibCEunCaorp,pBeurlgmairniaing 50a0np0imuBalCaslENilnfsDoogkrortpemmhploeetAusaffogtrti,irhccisman,,iWaalsknedwsatneEAdlulsrioap, e 40c0ufl0ltoBCiovChaEditeWnidoaenpbt-aienrdgidcpineylosfiueglhdesdi,n 35b0eA0gsBianiCanEtdfoSoetbraceaomdunpmsoemsindeiiacisnltpsrWuarteipvsoetses 32e0mfi0erBsrCtgEecUistryausk 31P0r0(oe–taso2ry-9IlsEry0taleBa0nmmriBaoC)innEtaezpceslraocAtsrgeispeattuwheriting

m60a0iz0eBdCwEeviDledolomtepeosssftirniocMtmeexinico Old CopperlaoCncuadlltltyurnaramdetiie,vn5aene0mdec0t,o0awcp–jGoopo1lrrerd0keri-0,naobhfl0tdfaaouLNBsmuCsaeoErtkmdrriestyeohshrneAresedmgineiornicDaopmroebsraatbinclgayetgeoAudfinlncldeareoamappnalsiog,cgwaoirn5llaoap0swtnaht0dcn,e0asaiSBA,nnoCaondfAEnudntndterohdosrep;Atshimc,eaealsritca Domo4lei0ovMsef0teiv0icdniaBnitCteeeiEaorasnrnateednmrene3aEr5nug0rea0ss,BiasCEp–rWeuashedaedsnedlfreoamrdplitiodlriclatyaanlrtshtyrprapoonurusrtgpphoors3te3s00 BCsEoWutrhietirnngMinevseonptoetdaimnia 32o0f0EBgCyE3p2Bti0ea0gniBnwCnEriinFmtgiinrasgntinubfWraocentsuztreeAdsia r3e0ac0h0eBsCEwMesettearlnluCrghyina

17

8 MYA 3 0 0 0 BCE HUMAN ORIGINS

colourful minerals define hole for
geometric facial features cord

design reed geometric,
framework abstract
pattern
coated in
thick plaster

Pottery shard Human figurine Schist plaque finely detailed
4000BCE • ROMANIA 6750–6500 BCE • JORDAN 4000BCE • PORTUGAL engraving
Different cultures can be identified This large statue from Ain Ghazal It is unclear what Neolithic engraved
by their unique ways of decorating is one of several from sites in plaques, like this one from Alentejo, Engraved bone
objects – this shard is typical of the the Near East that may have symbolized, but they seem to have 13,000–8000 BCE • FRANCE
Cucuteni-Tripolye culture. represented ancestors or gods. been made for burial with the dead. Paleolithic artists often carved as well
as painted their depictions of animals,
as with this scene of a bison being
chased, from Laugerie-Basse.

PREHISTORIC PEOPLES
EARLY HUMANS ARE DEFINED BY THE RAW MATERIALS THEY USED TO FASHION TOOLS, WEAPONS, AND ORNAMENTS

Prehistory is traditionally divided into the Stone, Bronze, carefully carved antler
and Iron ages, but many other kinds of raw materials sharpened tip setting
such as wood, hide, and plant fibres were also used in
early technologies. Little evidence of these survives. leather or
sinew binding
As well as being functional aids to survival and subsistence, the objects
made by prehistoric peoples would also have been important in their social
lives. Different groups develop their own ways of manufacturing and
decorating objects, and distinctive designs may become badges of identity
or status symbols. The trade and exchange of objects is another vital way in
which individuals and groups establish social relationships and hierarchies.

scars where long, thin flint head
blades chipped blade set into
wooden
from core sleeve

remains of
flaked cobble

Oldowan tool Blades and core reproduced
2.6–1.7 MYA • AFRICA 100,000 BCE ONWARDS • WIDESPREAD wooden handle
The earliest stone tools were Early modern humans produced uniform,
simple, sharp-edged flakes of narrow blades that would have been fitted Digging tools with adze heads
stone, made by striking a stone to wooden and antler handles or held in the 11,660–4000 BCE • EUROPE
cobble with a hard “hammerstone”. hand, as tools for many different purposes. These Mesolithic adzes were used
for digging up edible roots or cutting
Antler harpoon barbed head made thick base is wood in the forests that spread across
8000BCE • UK from antler easy to hold Europe after the last Ice Age ended.
This harpoon head is attached to a long
handle for spearing fish – a key source of food Flint hand-axe 2260//0055//22001111 1104::0343
when sea levels rose as the last Ice Age ended. 200,000BCE • UK
Hand-axes, such as this one from
20 Swanscombe, were skilfully made
and used for a wide range of activities,
18 including woodworking and butchery.

002200--002211__ccoolllleeccttiioonn__PPrreehhiissttoorriiccvv22..iinndddd 2200

PREHISTORIC PEOPLES

excavation Clay burial chest
damage 4000BCE • NEAR EAST
One Chalcolithic (“copper age”)
burial practice involved leaving
the dead out to decay, then
collecting the bones and placing
them in clay chests like this one.

Carved spear-thrower exaggerated
10,500 BCE • FRANCE features
Spear-throwers, such as this one from
Montastruc, were often carved into animal
shapes – here, a woolly mammoth made
from antler. They enabled hunters to throw
spears further and with greater force.

Neolithic flint blade Lespugue Venus Mummified head
set in reproduction 24,000–22,000 BCE • FRANCE 7000–3000BCE • PERU
handle This ivory figurine from Lespugue in In very dry climates, bodies can
the Pyrenees is one of many “Venus” become mummified. Some of
figurines – depicting women who are the earliest mummies have
pregnant or obese, or whose female been found in Peruvian deserts.
features are greatly exaggerated.

Bronze Age
sickle

Gold jewellery gold easily worked
4700–4200 BCE • BULGARIA into decorative
At the cemetery of Varna in animal shapes
Bulgaria, more than 3,000
pieces of some of the earliest loom
gold jewellery have been found, weight
mainly buried with elite males.

bone
shuttle

soft clay was baked
to preserve design

iron sickle blade

Agricultural tools Neolithic seal Cloth-making tools
9500 BCE 1834 CE • WIDESPREAD 7500–5700BCE • ANATOLIA 6500BCE • ORIGIN UNKNOWN
First wild and later domesticated Seals such as this one From the mid-Neolithic, weaving
cereals were harvested using from the settlement of became common. Loom weights
sickles like these, until they were Çatal Höyük were used held vertical threads taut; bone
superseded in most places by the during the Neolithic to shuttles were used to weave
invention of the combine harvester. stamp decorative designs horizontal threads in and out.
on to skin or cloth.
002200--002211__ccoolllleeccttiioonn__PPrreehhiissttoorriiccvv22..iinndddd 2211 21

19

2206//0055//22001111 1104::0353



EARLY
CIVILIZATIONS

3000 700

This period saw the emergence of complex civilizations.
Communities flourished and trade developed in the fertile
valleys of Egypt, India, western Asia, and China. Europe, and
Central and South America also flourished during this time.

3000–2700 BCE

Stonehenge in western Britain was a ceremonial site from around 3100BCE. An early earth enclosure The Early Dynastic Period made the land fertile. As early
and a circle of wooden posts was later replaced by the outer circle of stones seen here. (c.3100–2686 BCE) was already as 8000 BCE, millet had been
characterized by many of the cultivated in the area around
DURING THE LAST HALF OF THE celebrated aspects of Egyptian Yangshao in Henan Province.
culture: hieroglyphic writing, a Around c.2400 BCE, the
THOUSANDFOURTH MILLENNIUM BCE, the sophisticated religion (including neighbouring Dawenkou culture
belief in an afterlife), and developed into the Longshan
world’s first civilizations arose, preserving the dead using culture of Shangdong Province.
mummification. A complex Longshan farmers grew rice
THE POPULATIONfirst in Western Asia, then North hierarchical society developed, after developing irrigation
with the king at the apex systems. As in other early
Africa and South Asia. Civilization accorded semi-divine status. civilizations, agricultural success
Egyptian kings – later known as allowed the development of an
50 OF THE CITY OFalso appeared in China in the pharaohs – ruled with the help of elaborate society. Chinese
early second millennium BCE. By URUK c.2800 BCE a chief minister, or vizier, regional craftsmen were making bronze
governors (nomarchs), and a tools c.3000 BCE, jade vessels
3000 BCE, the world’s first urban huge staff of lesser officials c.2700 BCE, and silk weaving had
including priests, tax collectors, begun by 3500 BCE.
culture had begun to develop in and scribes.
The Bronze Age was underway
southern Mesopotamia, in what smiths began manufacturing river’s annual flood (known as the In China, civilization originated in western Asia by 3000 BCE, and
in the valleys of eastern rivers possibly considerably earlier. The
is now Iraq. The lower Euphrates bronze. The plough had been in inundation) spread black silt along such as the Huang He (Yellow Bronze Age in Europe seems to
River), where the rich loess soil have developed separately from
River plains had been farmed use since about 5000 BCE, wheeled its banks. The Egyptian farming around 2500 BCE, using ore
from c.6200 BCE, after the carts from around 3500 BCE, and year began in autumn when the
sources from the Carpathian
development of irrigation such advances made farming inundation subsided, and farmers Mountains in Central Europe.
This era also saw the
systems – the Greek word more productive. The resulting cultivated wheat, barley, beans, beginnings of the Minoan
civilization on the Greek
“mesopotamia” means “land food surplus freed some people and lentils in the fertile soil. island of Crete around
2000 BCE, with trading links
between the rivers”. By 3500 BCE, from the farming life, allowing By the end of the 4th to the nearby Cyclades
Islands and the wider
farming communities were specialization into professions millennium BCE, farming Mediterranean. In Western
Europe, the earlier tradition of
growing into towns and then such as priesthood, crafts, trade, communities had evolved into megalithic tomb building and a
growing interest in astronomical
cities such as Ur, Uruk, and and administration. The world’s two kingdoms: Upper Egypt in observation gave rise to a new
megalithic tradition of erecting
Eridu. Over the next 300 years, first tiered society developed, the south and Lower Egypt in stone circles, stone rows,
standing stones, and tombs
each city came to dominate its headed by kings sometimes the north. King Narmer united including astronomical features.
surrounding area, forming a known as lugals. the two kingdoms c.3100 BCE. These include Newgrange in
Ireland, Stonehenge in England,
group of city-states in the land In Egypt, one of the world’s most After Narmer came Menes, and Carnac in France.

called Sumer in southeast complex ancient civilizations although historians are

Mesopotamia. was forming along the banks of unsure whether Menes was

Metalworking had begun in the River Nile by 3100BCE. The Narmer’s successor

Mesopotamia around 6000 BCE. Nile formed a narrow strip of or a different name for

Around 3200 BCE, Sumerian cultivatable land, floodplain, as the Narmer himself. Menes

is credited with founding

aurus Mountains Tigris the Egyptian capital at
Medit Memphis and Egypt’s
Euphrates Mesopotam ia Nippur Zagros Mountains first dynasty.
Elam
T As in Mesopotamia,
S eearr a n e a n Syrian Kish Umma efficient agriculture
Desert produced prosperity and
Shuruppak Lagash specialism, allowing arts,
crafts, engineering, and
Arabian Peninsula Uruk Ur Persian early medicine to develop.
Eridu Gulf

Ancient cities of Mesopotamia KEY Narmer Palette
Sumer in southern Mesopotamia was the Extent of Early Dynastic This carved piece of green siltstone
location of the world’s first urban civilization city-states records the triumph of the legendary
from c.2900 BCE as agricultural success Ancient coastline King Narmer of Upper Egypt over
led to a complex society. his enemies.

c.3E2a–0rlt0cyou–wIl2ntnu6dsr0uea0ssnBpdiCneErrIeinogddiounsaVlalley c.3F1iro0sf0EtE–dagP2yryenl8(pytra9otiDs.o0ctydBy.n2Cba6Ees8gt6iincBCsE) c.3o0fic0no0spBopCueEtrhE-evwirdnoerFnkrcianengce c.3L0od0ne0g(vcseB.3hClo2Eap0ni0nc–gucl.it3nu0Cr0eh0iBnCaE) c.3ru0ml0e0aasndBodeCvEeuLKrpoiawnogeuf rnUMi(ptneepnoderertsEh(gseyorpnut)thEegrynp)t c.2sc9Sr0iu0pmtBCdeEer,vCMeulenospeosifpoionrtmamia c.2F8idr0se0atvl–eco2elnor7gpe0mci0nooBaSCnsoEitauoltfhcPeAenmrtrueersica,

c.30A0g0eBCuEwndeBesrrtoewnrac(zncy.e1.A3i2ns20i00a0B–CE) MEaersloycpD.so3yut0nac0amh0siat–aisc2; UC3P3Eiret,4ryrUii-dBorsCudutEakfliint,noeausSnrudismher Andcp.eo3at0ant0oaf0aen–rsdm2ar5ena0ridss0eqaBgunCarEiodlnpwolalaac,masas c.3M0i0n0oaBnCEcDivailwioznnatoCifornete c.290s0t–rau2tc4tSW0ut0rooecBnoesCderEbeheunemcinolotgmneipallex c.28S9e0co–n2d68d6yonBfaCEEsgtyypt cb.2ro7n5fz0oeuBnaCErdtFienifrasCcthtsina

22

2700–2500 BCE 2.3MILLION
THE NUMBER OF
BLOCKS USED TO
BUILD THE GREAT
PYRAMID OF GIZA

The three pyramids at Giza were built for the pharaohs Khufu, Khafra, and Menkaura between 2575 and 2465 BCE.
They are guarded by the statue of the Sphinx, which may bear the features of King Khafra.

Standard of Ur mound – provided the focus for side panels is still a mystery; they resources. This led to conflicts The Indus Valley civilization
This box-like object has two side religious ceremonies, and grain may have formed the soundbox over land and water, and alliances began to emerge in South Asia in
panels – one depicting war, the other was stored in storerooms within of a lyre. between cities were forged the fourth millenium BCE, as flood
(shown here) times of peace. the temple precincts. From around and broken. control technology developed. By
2500BCE, some citizens of Ur were Arising from the need to keep 2600BCE, the Indus Plain contained
SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA was buried in tombs along with economic and administrative The first signs of civilization in dozens of towns and cities. Of
a patchwork of over 40 city-states, treasures such as the Standard records, the first pictographic the Americas appeared along the these, Mohenjo-daro on the
among which Ur, Uruk, Nippur, of Ur. The purpose of its intricate writing developed in Sumer coast of Peru and in the Andes River Indus, and Harappa, to the
and Kish were the most important. (c.3300BCE). Pictographs (pictorial c.2800BCE. Andean farmers grew northeast, were pre-eminent, with
Trade flourished using a network writing representing a word or potatoes and the cereal quinoa, populations of around 100,000 and
of rivers and canals, and trade phrase) evolved into a script called and raised alpacas and llamas. 60,000 respectively.
links extended to Anatolia cuneiform c.2900BCE, in which There were fishing communities
(modern-day Turkey), Iran, scribes pressed sharpened on the coast, while inland towns In Egypt, King Sanakht acceded
and Afghanistan, with grain, became ceremonial centres, to the throne in the year 2686BCE,
minerals, timber, tools, and reeds into soft clay to leave built around mud-brick temple marking the beginning of the Third
vessels traded. The Sumerian wedge-shaped impressions. platforms. An exceptional example dynasty and the Old Kingdom era
population was unique in being is Caral, about 200km (125 miles) – a time of strong, centralized
predominantly urban. In Ur, Southern Mesopotamia from Lima and dating from rule and pyramid-building.
Uruk, and other centres, people became densely populated, c.2600BCE. Another, Aspero, had These magnificent monuments
lived in clustered mud-brick putting pressure on natural six platform mounds topped by were built as royal tombs. In
houses. At the heart of the city, the temples. Cotton was grown in the Early Dynastic times, kings had
ziggurat – a terraced temple Cuneiform tablet region, and maize was cultivated been buried beneath rectangular
Over time, the inventory of signs from around 2700BCE. mud-brick platforms called
regularly used in cuneiform script mastabas. Around 2650BCE, the
was greatly reduced. first pyramid, the Step Pyramid of
Saqqara, was completed for King
Djoser. Designed by the architect
Imhotep, it resembled six stone
mastabas on top of one another.

Straight-sided pyramids
appeared soon after, the greatest
of which were the three pyramids
at Giza. These incredible feats of
engineering were constructed not
by slaves as was once thought, but
by a staff of full-time craftsmen
and masons supplemented by
farmers performing a type of
national service during the Nile
floods. Enormous blocks of stone
(lower stones of 6–10 tonnes;
higher ones of 1–2 tonnes) were
cut from local quarries, hauled on
site using sleds, and then heaved
up ramps, which grew ever-higher
as construction progressed.

c.2K6ian8ng6kdeiBn(orClgamaEssoO,tpfslbedpeurogniwoitndiels,rcfi.nu2l1E8g1ypBCtE) c.2F6oi1un3rcbtl–uhuK2idldh4deya9isnnf4ratgaBhs,CpetEayhpnaoydrfraEMaogmehynsipdktK-;ahuurafu, c.2R6ui0nle0arrcoBsrcyCeooaEoifrglfdUngUirnroragbfuvuKketorsiinin;leegdSgGueimnlgdea,rmesh c.2P6lto0hu0egBIhCnEidnuussVeailnley c.2o5fS0stt0oonBnCeeEhsOeenurgteeecr,teBcdirricataltein
Pycr.a2m6E6igd7y–bp2ut6,ilf5t(or0a.r2tBK6CS6iEna7Sgq–tq2Dea6pjro4as8,eBrCE) c.2589bBo(eCcfgEotiCmhnrospenaleestttpGeryudirzcacat.mi,2oE5nidg0s4ypBtCE)
c.2T6Eh8gi6ryd–p2tdK6ysin1tna3agrsBtStsCyaEwonfiatkhht c.2600 BcCeEnCterCreeasmr,caosolua,nscbithaualialltsPienru c.2eb5ae0rgl0iineBssdCtiEisnbcBrEoorvuonernzrozeepedaeAri,ntgweePfiatohcltasnd

23

2500–2350 BCE 2350–2200 BCE

The ruined citadel of Mohenjo-daro was made up of various buildings. It was Silbury Hill in Wiltshire, England, is one of the tallest man-made chalk mounds
built on a platform to guard against flooding of the River Indus. in Europe. These mounds probably had a social or cultural function.

IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 3RD Shortughai Himalayas A NEW POWER AROSE IN BRONZE AGE EUROPE
MILLENNIUM BCE, civilizations MESOPOTAMIA c.2334BCE, King
continued to develop in western Iranian Indus Valley Indus Ropar Sargon (c.2334–2215BCE) from Bronze-working had begun
Asia, Egypt, and and southern Plateau the northern region of Akkad in West Asia c.3200BCE (see
Asia, and complex societies were Harappa Banawali defeated Lugalzagesi of Umma to 10,000–3000BCE). It was
emerging in China, Europe, and become the ruler of Sumer. developed by the Únětice
South America. Kalibangan Rakhighari Through subsequent campaigns culture of Bohemia and
to the Levant, Syria, and Anatolia,
In southern Asia, the Indus Nausharo Sargon carved out the world’s first Poland c.2500BCE, and
civilization (see 2700–2500BCE) empire – the Akkadian Empire – 200 years later had
emerged in its mature form M o uZnatgarionss Mohenjo-daroIndus stretching from the eastern spread to Italy and the
around 2500BCE, stretching Persian Gulf Mediterranean to the Gulf. Balkans. Bronze
1,700km (1,060 miles) from east Sutkagen-dor Chanhu-daro provided a hard metal
to west and 1,300km (800 miles) Dholavira Sargon’s exploits were recorded for forging armour,
from north to south. The region’s Arabian in several documents, such as the weapons, and tools
prosperity was based on farming, Sea Lothal Sumerian King List. His name such as this hand axe.
mining, crafts, and trade. More Kuntasi means “legitimate king”, which The bronze industry
than 100 sites have been Indus civilization led some scholars to believe that also increased trade,
excavated, including the cities Excavations suggest that the Indus KEY he took power through force.
of Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, civilization covered an area far larger than Zone of urban civilization Sargon spoke Akkadian, a making Europe more
and Dholovira. Mesopotamia and Egypt combined. Urban centres Semitic language that replaced interconnected than
Modern coastline Sumerian as the official
Mohenjo-daro and Harappa language of the empire. ever before.
were well-planned cities laid
out on a grid system. Each city such as pottery, bead-making, the surrounding regions in return ,, UNDER HIM grandson, Naram-Sin, extended
was protected by brick walls and metalworking. for metal ores, precious stones, ALL COUNTRIES the empire, but it lasted for only
and dominated by a citadel and timber. Long-distance trade LAY [CONTENTED] four generations before falling
overlooking a “lower town” of Indus cities and towns had the routes reached as far as IN THEIR to attacks. Sargon’s rule
public buildings and residential most advanced plumbing system Mesopotamia and Afghanistan. established a practice of
town houses of one or two storeys. in the ancient world, with enclosed ,,MEADOWS, AND statewide bureaucratic controls
wells and covered drains. Latrines By around 2500 BCE, an Indus and standardization in many
The residential areas emptied waste into drains, which script of hundreds of signs THE LAND aspects of economic life.
were seemingly ran below the streets. appeared on seals and pottery. REJOICED.
divided by industry, Attempts to decipher the script In Egypt, this period saw a
These urban centres were also have failed; hence, many aspects Lugalzagesi, king of Sumer, weakening of the power of the
one-piece connected by extensive trade of this culture remain a mystery. defeated by Sargon c.2316 BCE Old Kingdom rulers (see
cart wheel 2700–2500BCE), in favour of
links. Merchants In western Asia, Mesopotamia Akkadian rule was enforced regional governors called
supplied craft (see 2700–2500BCE) remained a through regional governors who nomarchs, who administered
products from patchwork of small but powerful collected tributes and taxes. The different parts of the Nile valley
the valleys to city-states, each controlling the empire’s weakness lay in its lack and delta. To the south of the first
surrounding farmlands where of defensible borders, and it cataract on the Nile, the kingdom
Agrarian lives barley, pulses, and date palms came under regular attacks from of Nubia also grew more
A clay model of a were grown. To the west, city- neighbouring hill tribes. Sargon’s powerful. Nubia was centred
bullock cart found states were developing in Syria around the city of Kerma at the
at Mohenjo-daro, and the Levant. A trade network third cataract. By the end of
dating back to linking Mesopotamian towns the Sixth dynasty (c.2184BCE , the
c.2500–1900BCE, gives suggests co-operation between
an insight into farming states, but there was frequent
life in the Indus warfare as well.
civilization.

c.2cu5pl0tou0ttrBeeCriEyn,LbCorhoningnzscaeh.2pc,aer5anonn0dtd0rueBsciCeolkEsf mUranaumfaacjtourringc.2M5ac0irtt0ii,heBaesCnLEidneEovSbatyhlnraeti,raemanedrge c.2B5rion0n0CzBeeCnAEtrgael bEce.u2pgr5hionca0pisvs0eielBioCzafEtIMniodanutuesmrce.e2src5gr0eisp0tBeCmE eInrdguess c.2ce5Kn0otb0rtueoBaissCnlh,tEdA,iCnctsheopcerneoetraAimonsntuaodaenneldistPaolebreu c.2L3uo5gfa0aUllBzlmCaSmEguemasuienr ites c.2S3iEx4tg5hy–pd2ty1fno8au1sntBydCeoEdf

ccK.o2inn5tg0ind0uoBemCsEPinOerlEdigodypt c.2500 BCcEuBltienuClrlWeeBnesetspratarekelreanErduasrnodpe disEtavindicecne.nS2tcr5oeau0dot0fheBlAroConmEuget-ersicac.2400 BoCfEaLrEaeaganasnsoahfturSumulemser ce.2rec4ce0tre0edmBCaosEtnoSAiuatltollhncswoetomehnsepetnlsBegxreiitnain c.2334A–k2k3a1d6cBotCnoEqcuSreeararsgfiteorSsnwutmooefrmelrdp’sire 26/05/2011 11:51
026-027_2500_2000BCE.indd 26

24

2200–2000 BCE

Relief sculptures in Egyptian tombs represented everyday life and religious rituals. This carving from
the Sixth dynasty shows boys with sticks, on the left, and youths wrestling, on the right.

authority of the Egyptian rulers and along the Pacific coast and THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF brought fertility to the Nile Longshan pottery
had steadily eroded. inland valleys. Andean cultures This elegant pottery tripod
were based on farming and GUTIUM ATTACKED the Akkadian valley. The rule of jug has tapering legs and
In Western Europe, the Bell herding. Coastal settlements Empire c.2150BCE. Sumerian Memphis, the capital city
Beaker culture flourished. such as Aspero (Peru) were swirling patterns,
Named after the distinctive shape unique in their dependence on states such as Kish, Ur, and of the Old Kingdom, was characteristic of
of pottery vessels found in fishing rather than on agriculture. the Longshan
graves, this culture emerged by The coastal people grew cotton for Lagash took the opportunity to overthrown as nomarchs and culture.
c.2600BCE in France, Spain, and textiles, and gourds, which were
the Netherlands. Over the next used as fishing floats. reassert their independence. nobles seized control of the been found to confirm the
three centuries, it spread to existence of a centralized state
Germany and Britain. Around For the next 80 years, the provinces. This ushered in a in China at this time.
2300BCE, bronze technology
from Mediterranean regions and city-states vied for control in time of unrest called the First By the end of the 3rd millennium,
from Central Europe started Europe’s first civilization was
to spread northwards Mesopotamia. In 2112BCE, Ur Intermediate Period, the first emerging on the Mediterranean
along the Rhine and island of Crete, which lay at the
Danube. The under Ur-Nammu (r.2112– of the three eras of uncertainty heart of Mediterranean trade
increasingly routes. Known as the Minoan
militaristic societies 2095 BCE) gained ascendancy. The in Egyptian history. For 140 civilization, it grew prosperous
used bronze to create through trade and farming.
weapons, triggering armies of Ur overran eastern years, kingdoms such as Cretan farmlands produced wheat,
the appearance of olives, wine, and wool, which could
small chiefdoms Mesopotamia and Elam, and Herakleopolis in central Egypt be easily transported by sea. The
across Europe. Minoans also made bronzework,
regained much of vied for control with Thebes pottery, and dyes for export. By
As populations grew, Sargon’s empire. in the south. In c.2040BCE, 2000BCE, Crete was home to
competition over land several small kingdoms.
and resources Ur-Nammu founded the the Theban ruler Nebhepetre
intensified. Fields were
enclosed, farming Third dynasty of Ur, Mentuhotep defeated his
expanded, and boundary
walls built. Imposing which witnessed a rivals and united Egypt once
structures such as chalk
mounds were constructed revival of Sumerian more, beginning the start of
in many areas.
power, as well as an what came to be known as the
In South America,
societies continued to artistic and cultural Middle Kingdom.
develop in two distinct
regions: the upland valleys renaissance. Sumerian In China, the Neolithic
and high plains of the Andes,
scholars devised a method Longshan culture (see 3200 BCE)
Akkadian warrior king
This bronze cast of an Akkadian of counting, based on units continued to develop along the
ruler may depict Sargon I or his
grandson, Naram-Sin, who of 60. This system is Yellow River in Shandong
extended Sargon’s empire.
reflected in our modern province. According to Chinese

division of hours into 60 historical tradition, the first

minutes, minutes into 60 dynasty, Xia (Hsia), was founded

seconds, and a circle into by Yu the Great. However, no

360 degrees. archaeological evidence has
100Ur-Nammu also

commissioned the first
ziggurat in Ur – an imposing
stepped platform topped
with a temple. The ziggurats
later became a characteristic
of ancient western Asian
architecture. THOUSAND
In c.2181BCE, Egypt’s Old

Kingdom collapsed following

a series of natural disasters, THE LIKELY
including famine. This POPULATION
undermined the authority of OF UR c.2100
the king, who was believed to
secure the annual floods that

c.2b3eign0i0IntBsaCliynEaBsnordountthhzeeerBAnagElekuaronpse, c.2a1ne8dn1dOdBilssodCafiEnKsrtuSiEenlirgegxsyrdthpwotmdeayafnpkteeearrnsitnoayaduttuhroarlity c.2In1bt8ee1(rgtmBoinCe2sE0di4Fina0itrEeBsgCtPyEep)rt iod c.2k1ino5fg0oEdnBogCTmyEphteiN,rmdbuabeCsiraaegtndaersaatscoKtueotrfhmNaile 21o1f2UUBrr-C,NEfoaTumhnimdrdeudD(tbyony2a0s0ty4 BCcE.)2M0eT4nht0teouBbuhCenoEstitNedepeeEfboeghfayetpspteritvraels

227o8f P–2e1p8yd4IyInBoaCfsEtthRyeeiniSgEinxgthypt c.2205 BiCGnEreeXaaistat,edaryctnrcnaoCadrshdittiiyninoafgnorb;utuosylneaYCddiudheuidttnhnoeethislae1v7e66 c.2A1k5k0aBMdCeiaEsnGospu;otcLitaiaatnygms-asiisdanthe,ad,fsteeerupaescetahonsfasdseerntce c.2U1r1-2N–ma2mu0mc9hr5ueoBbofCufMEiUldeRrsseroUieagpursno’nstaoaittfmzeeimsgiagp;ulerca.t20o5f0tBhCecEMivEiinlmiozeaartngioepnna,clCaecreetec.2040BCaEnMenewenactruaMphioettaKmelipnpatghfoIdistuoj;-nmTMdosibwdedy2gl0ein0s4BCtoEECliatymoidtfeyUnsr,a2esfant4yld/l0sionf5gU/2r011 14:06
026-027_2500_2000BCE.indd 27

25

3000 700 BCE EARLY CIVILIZATIONS

hieroglyphs
are picture

symbols

hieratic script reads papyrus, made illustration shows a Egyptian hieroglyphic and hieratic script
from right to left by pressing priest making an offering This ancient Egyptian papyrus manuscript shows two forms of
together layers Egyptian writing: hieratic script (left) and hieroglyphic script
of strips of reed to the god Osiris (right) above the two figures. Hieroglyphic is an elaborate script
in which signs take a highly pictorial form, while hieratic is a
simplified version of hieroglyphic for ease of speed and writing.

Prehistory c.3200 BCE 8th century BCE Greek wax tablet 100
Pictograms Egyptian hieroglyphs The Greek alphabet The Roman alphabet
Pictures painted on walls Egyptian writing develops The first alphabets, using The Romans adapt the
of caves up to 25,000 100 years after cuneiform. only consonants, develop Greek script to write Latin.
years ago are considered This script begins as a form in the Levant by c.1150 BCE. Through the Roman Empire,
a precursor to writing, of picture writing, and They include the Phoenician this alphabet spreads across
recording information includes signs for words and alphabet, which spreads to Europe and is used for
that could then be also sounds. It remains in the Greeks through trade, personal as well as official
understood by others. Cave images by Anasazi Indians use until the 4th century CE. who add vowels. correspondence.

3300 BCE Mesopotamian tablet c.1900 BCE Chinese paper scroll c.6th century BCE Chinese
Cuneiform Chinese writing Parchment parchment scroll
The first proper written The first surviving Chinese Made from dried and
script is developed by the writing appears on oracle processed animal skins,
Sumerians of Mesopotamia. bones, used in divination. parchment becomes a
Writing with a reed stylus This ancient script is still popular medium for writing
creates a wedge-shaped in use today. Chinese script around the 6th century BCE,
impression on tablets of wet involves 50,000 characters taking over from papyrus,
clay, which then dry hard. that stand for words. a paper made from reeds.

28 2254//0055//22001111 1170::5261

26

002288--002299__SSttoorryy__WWrriittiinngg..iinndddd 2288

THE STORY OF WRITING

THE STORY OF

WRITING

FROM CAVE PAINTINGS TO THE DIGITAL AGE, WRITING IN ITS VARIOUS FORMS HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN IMPORTANT PART OF OUR CIVILIZATION

The development of writing was an amazing breakthrough as it allowed people
to communicate over distance and record information for posterity. Writing
evolved separately in different cultures: in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus
Valley before 2500 BCE and later in Crete, China, and Mesoamerica.

Some scholars consider that prehistoric cave Writing systems can be divided into three types, Roman mosaic Modern sign
paintings featuring images and symbols constitute according to the function of the signs used:
a form of writing. The first proper script was logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic. However, PICTOGRAPHIC SYMBOLS
developed by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia (now some scripts make use of two types of signs. In
Iraq) around 3300 BCE. Soon, a number of different logographic scripts, each sign stands for a whole
ancient cultures had developed writing, usually to word; Chinese writing is an example, although it
keep economic records or track of time. As writing also uses syllabic signs. The drawback is that a very
developed, it was commonly used to reinforce the large number of symbols are needed (Chinese has
authority of rulers. Many early texts, including 50,000 characters). In syllabic scripts, signs stand
monumental ones in stone, glorify the deeds of for syllables. A smaller but still large number of
kings and attribute their success to divine approval. signs are needed – 700 in Babylonian cuneiform.
In alphabetic scripts, each sign stands for a sound.
Far fewer symbols are needed – usually around 26. Pictograms, or picture signs, are an ancient form
The first alphabets developed in the Levant between of communication. Some scholars do not consider
1450 and 1150 BCE. For years, the spread of writing pictograms to be “true” writing, since the symbols
was limited by the labour involved in hand-copying do not convey the sounds of words in any language.
texts, but this changed with the invention of For example, the pictures above – from a house
printing. In the late 20th century, writing became in Roman Pompeii dating to 79CE, and a modern
electronic with the invention of word processors. sign – convey the same warning. The symbol
In the 1990s, the spread of information was again can be read in any language, for example as
revolutionized by the arrival of the Internet. canis, chien, Hund, or dog. Those words convey
the same idea but reproduce the sounds of different
Ancient texts in the digital world languages – Latin, French, German, and English.
Nowadays, ancient texts can be viewed digitally. Pictograms have limited use but remain
Here, a student examines a digitized page of the Codex widespread, appearing for example on street
Sinaiticus, handwritten in Greek over 1,600 years ago. signs, maps, and clothes labels.

7th century c.1450 1884 1990–present
Arabic script Invention of printing
The Arabic alphabet is In medieval times, the laboriousness The fountain pen Text messaging
used to write down the of copying by hand limits the
Qur’an, the holy book spread of writing. The invention The first practical fountain In the 1990s, the first text
of Islam. Its use spreads of printing using moveable type
with the Islamic faith to makes writing far more accessible. pen is produced by American messages are sent via mobile
become one of the world’s In 1500, an estimated 35,000 texts
most widely used scripts. are in print. inventor L.E. Waterman, and phones. Texting becomes very

quickly replaces the quill popular in the 2000s. In 2009,

pen. Biros, invented by more than 1.5 trillion

Medieval László Bíró, are in use Waterman text messages
Qur’an
by the 1940s. fountain pen are sent. Smartphone

4th century 7th–9th centuries 1867–1868 1971
The codex Illuminated manuscripts Writing enters the digital age
The codex, or manuscript In early medieval times, the The typewriter In 1971, Ray Tomlinson sends the
in book form, gradually use of writing spreads through first electronic message (email)
supersedes the roll of the copying of Christian texts. American inventor Christopher from one computer to another.
parchment. Originally Illuminated manuscripts are Emails become popular with the
developed by the Romans, highly decorative, with ornate Latham Sholes helps to build spread of personal computers
the use of codices spreads capital letters and marginal in the 1980s.
with the Christian religion. illustrations. the first practical typewriter.

The patent is sold to

Remington, who puts

the first typewriters The Remington

Book of Durrow on sale in 1874. Model I

002288--002299__SSttoorryy__WWrriittiinngg..iinndddd 2299 29

27

2254//0055//22001111 1170::52

2000–1850 BCE 1850–1790BCE

Egyptian hieroglyphics involved the use of pictorial signs. This example 40
is from a coffin from the Middle Kingdom period.

THE MINOAN CIVILIZATION, named the administration, religious worshipped in Minoan shrines THE NUMBER
after the legendary King Minos, facilities, and state storerooms. seem to have been female, with OF DAYS IT
flourished on the Aegean island Those at Knossos, Phaestos, a goddess of nature being the TOOK TO
of Crete in the early 2nd Mallia, and Zakros were most popular. However, details of MUMMIFY
millennium, reaching its peak particularly impressive, judging by Minoan culture remain obscure A BODY
between 2000 and 1600BCE. It is their remains. Around 1700BCE, since the Minoan scripts, known
thought that Crete’s prosperity these palaces were burnt down, as Cretan hiroglyphic and Linear extending Egypt’s borders as far Shang bronze
was based on the export of and only Knossos was rebuilt, on A, have yet to be undeciphered. as the second cataract of the Nile. This bronze plate was found at
pottery, gold, and bronze, as well a more magnificent scale than Nubia yielded gold, copper, and Erlitou, and is of the Xia period. It is
as possibly grain, wine, and oil, before, suggesting its dominance In Egypt, King Mentuhotep had slaves to swell the ranks of inlaid with turquoise mosaic, believed
to Egypt, Cyprus, and Palestine. over the entire island. The palace reunited the country at the end Egypt’s army. Around a century to represent a dragon’s scales.
The Minoans established colonies was five storeys high, with rooms of the 3rd millennium (see later, Senwosret III also made
in many parts of the Aegean, opening onto inner courtyards. 2350–2000BCE). Yet, the second of Levant a vassal state of Egypt. IN CHINA, THE SHANG
including the islands of Kythera, This maze-like complex is thought Egypt’s eras of strong, centralized CIVILIZATION developed along
Thera, Melos, and Rhodes, and at to have given rise to the labyrinth rule only began with the reign of Middle-Kingdom Egypt was the Yellow River by 1850BCE.
Miletos on the Turkish mainland. in the legend of the Minotaur, a Amenemhet I, from about more democratic than it was According to legend, China’s first
bull-headed monster. 1985BCE, during the Middle during the Old Kingdom period. dynasty was the Xia, but current
The farmlands of Crete were Kingdom. In 1965BCE, his Rulers presented themselves as archaeological evidence points
ruled from cities with central Bulls certainly featured in successor Senwosret I conquered shepherds of the state rather than to Shang as the first dynasty.
palaces that housed workshops, Minoan ceremonies. The deities the land of Nubia to the south, absolute monarchs. The process At Erlitou in Henan province,
of mummification, once confined archaeologists have uncovered
to kings, was now permitted for a palace complex built on a
ordinary citizens. In order to
preserve it as a permanent home 20,000
for the spirit, the body was dried
in natron salt, its vital organs were THE NUMBER
removed, and it was stuffed with OF CLAY
linen and wrapped in bandages. TABLETS SO
FAR FOUND
Charging bull AT MARI
Minoan rituals included a bull-leaping
ceremony, in which athletes grasped
the bull’s horns and vaulted over
its back.This Knossos fresco dates
back to c.1500 BCE.

c.2of0dA0oMs0mhBeuiCnsrEoabpnCeotitctiynaommnoiearsthern c.2170A50r0p0co–BtoipCcfuAEtSlhlasmaeetsiaItkontlalnlue,TaitGaoc,nrrosoeclpsseersnsetlaCoadanrsndfraodma to c.1K9isn8tg5aM–bAi1idml9idte5ylen5teoKBmCiEnEhggeydptotImdburpirneingrgsiod c.1R9eo6ifg5En–g1oy9fp2St0enBwCEosret I c.1o9fa0Er0rRolBuiivtCneoEdru,CYCceiothlynlionswatructed 18S1h3na–omK1rt7iswhn8hegi1itr-dhnBAoiCdtMmsEaedcRos;aefocpiUpogitonpnatqplaouaemfetrirSaMshteuosbeoasptt-oaEbtnalilmsilhia,
24/05/2011 14:08
030-031_20c0.02a-01n06d0i5nsBA0qCsmBuEoaeuCMsrttrEhihacaeiw.azdis;neeel,csdorutbdoneleurtgaint-vne3daNssit0s,eoitndratnphclaece MciCn.2roe0at0ne0cr–eiv1ai6lcihz0ae0tsBiohCnEeoigfhtc.fi1r9s8t4dBynCaEsFtoyuonfdBinagbyolfon eoxtfeE1ng9dy6sp0stheBidscCeokEfeninSadgetcsdnaowNtmauorsbaaricasettfaoaInnrdaNsile c.19d0e0veBslComEpaiTnlolgwkiinnnsgAadnnoadmtoslia c.c1i9v0il0iz–a1ti7o0n0cdiBteiCecEsliIgnanrebdasaud;nsuidtasolnlyed

28

1790–1650 BCE

KEY ASIA ,, ,,IF A MAN PUTS OUT THE EYE

Area of Shang influence Yellow River Bo Hai OF AN EQUAL, HIS EYE SHALL
Shandon BE PUT OUT.
Shang city Xi’ang Taixicun ngtze River g
Shang capital Xingtai East China Sea Law Code of Hammurabi, king of Babylon
Shang China 1400–1300 BCE
The middle course of the Yellow River Anyang Yellow
was the heartland of the Shang Huixian Shang capital Sea
civilization from c.1800–1100BCE. 1300–1027 BCE
From here, Shang influence, such as
bronze-working, spread elsewhere. Luoyang Zhengzhou WHEN THE ASSYRIAN KING measure as the crime committed
Shang capital SHAMSHI ADAD died in 1781BCE, – “an eye for an eye”. However, it
platform of compressed earth. Erlitou 1600–1400 BCE he was succeeded by his son is thought that the law code was
They have also unearthed bronze Ishme-Dagan. During his reign, more of a moral statement of
vessels. Evidence suggests that Huai River Assyria declined, allowing the principle than an enforced judicial
many features that were to state of Babylon to come to the system. As such, the code bound
characterize Chinese society later, Henan fore. During the reign of Shamshi- the powerful and wealthy as well
such as a strong bureaucracy Adad, Babylon was probably a as ordinary people; the strong
and the worship of ancestors, Panlongcheng vassal state of Assyria, but as were exhorted to refrain from
date back to this time. Ya Assyria declined, King Hammurabi oppressing the weak.
of Babylon saw his chance to seize
In southern Asia, the Indus Wucheng a wider kingdom. From 1760BCE,
civilization, which had thrived Hammurabi embarked on a series
during the 3rd millennium (see Long-distance trade routes linked in c.1894BCE. In the north, the city of conquests, which made
2500–2350BCE), went into a coastal towns with communities of Ashur became an important Babylon the region’s foremost
decline by around 1800BCE. in Andean valleys to the east and trading centre in the 20th century state. Between 1763–1762BCE,
Scholars believe that this was beyond. This allowed for the BCE. In 1813BCE, it was taken over he defeated Elam to the east and
partly caused by the changes in spread of pottery from Colombia by the Amorite king Shamshi- Larsa, which controlled Sumer, to
the regimes of the rivers that to Peru by 1800BCE. Meanwhile, Adad, who carved out a kingdom the south. Between 1757–1755BCE,
provided water for irrigation. in North America, crops such in northern Mesopotamia. This King Hammurabi conquered
Cities seem to have been ravaged as sunflowers and gourds began kingdom was a forerunner of the much of northern Mesopotamia
by diseases such as cholera and to be cultivated in the east. Greater Assyrian Empire of the and took the city of Eshnunna
malaria. Trade with Mesopotamia 9th century BCE (see 900–800BCE). after diverting its water supply.
also declined. Meanwhile, new In Western Asia, the fall of the
crops such as millet and rice were Ur III Empire led to the rise of two Clay tablets recovered from Mari Hammurabi introduced the
introduced. All these factors seem states – Assyria in the north and in central Mesopotamia hold Babylonian law code in the region
to have led to a decline in urban Babylon in the southeast – which records of trade and tributes under his control. Its 282 laws
culture, characterized by writing were to dominate Mesopotamia levied by Assyria from vassal- covered property, family, trade,
and a centralized bureaucracy, in for the next 1,500 years. The first states. Writing from this period and business practices. The Law
favour of a rural-based culture. dynasty of Babylon was established included copies of the earliest Code of Hammurabi is famous
for punitive laws which meted out
In South America, large-scale surviving work of literature, punishments in the same
cultivation was taking place along The Epic of Gilgamesh.
the Pacific coast by about
1800BCE. Substantial settlements Sumerian hero Set in stone
such as El Paraiso and Sechin Tablets and stone carvings Hammurabi’s code was inscribed on
Alto in Peru were dominated by from the Old Babylonian stone pillars called stele. This stele
massive temple complexes. period provide a record of shows the god of justice Shamash
the Epic of Gilgamesh, (right) dictating laws to the king.
previously passed down
in the oral tradition.

c.1c8ivi0nil0iCzBhaCitnEioaSnhbaenggins 17R9e2oi–fgB1Bna7aMob5bfeyp0yHlsrlBoouooaCnnmspmEi;eoaumetntalshgumEtraaromtaibuaeblpgsiaisihrnahoedeluasintwhciosdeemfoprire 17d6a6StehBTaCfaonECnrghgTfir,donaayuedcnnsicatdeoisoirhntndyigsainbtloogyfrtKyoing c.1A7us5cs0reBipiCntECcLoriemnteeeasrinto
030-031_2000-1650BCE.indd 31
c.180c0eBnCtrEeCoefrbLeuamilFotlnioniraiPldearu cecr.1e7cmo5on0nsoBitfaCrSluEcceLotceamhdrigpnienlAexPlteoru c.172s5taBrCtEoEfMgSiydepdctoletnoPKdreinInrnigbtodyedorum(mntoreiencds.i1ta;52te460/)05/2011 10:51

29

3000 700 BCE EARLY CIVILIZATIONS to Central and
Northern Europe

MYCENAEAN
GREECE

Sardinia Ionian Gla WILUSA
Sea Thebes TroySEHA
Sicily
Orchomenos Athens RIVER MASA
Tiryns LAND
Mycenae
Apasa MIRA
Pylos
Menelaion ARZAWA

Miletus
LUKKA

TRADE COMMODITIES Knossos

AFRICA gold Crete
silver
tin Mediterranean Sea
copper
fine metalwork

fine pottery

TRADE COMMODITIES textiles

gold timber

The importance of trade silver grain
Trade was essential to supply societies with the raw tin ivory
materials and manufactured KgoEoYds needed for daily life copper ivory objects
(such as metals and timber), for dMisycpelanyaienagn sGtraeteucse(such as fine metalwork perfumed oils
fine rwoeyaapl opnalrayc),eosr(sfourcehmasbelallpisishilnaHgzitutrileti)el.igETimroaupdisreemalosnoupmroemntosted fine pottery olive oil
and TRADE COMMODITIES textiles wine
the spread of knowledge, technolMogitya,nanni d ideas. gold timber glass
Assyria
A
KEY Kassite Babylonia silver grain faience objects SAH
Mycenaean Greece Elam tin ivory turquoise

Hittite Empire New Kingdom Egypt copper ivory objects murex dye

Mitanni Arzawa fine metalwork perfumed oils seashells

Assyria Trade routes c.1350BCE fine pottery olive oil horses R
A
Kassite Babylonia textiles wine weapons
to sub-Saharan Africa
Elam timber glass

New Kingdom Egypt grain faience objects
Arzawa EMPIRESivory
turquoise
ANCIENTTrade routes c.1350BCE ivory objects murex dye
perfumed oils seashells

olive oil horses

THE BIRTH OF ADVANCED SOCIETIES wine weapons

glass

faience objects THE WORLD PICTURE

In the 3rd millennium BCE, states emerged in Etugrqyupoiste, Mesopotamia, and the Urbanism and complex societies became more
widespread during the 2nd millennium BCE.
Indus. Urban society was consolidated in Westmeurrenx dyAe sia in the 2nd millennium, While they shared many features such as
and powerful states vied for control of lands; ihsneoarsscehseollns trast, in South Asia, towns
disappeared. Complex societies emerged in Cwheianpoansand the Americas.

The exceptional agricultural productivity of the increasingly focused on urban centres, and came trade, high agricultural productivity, dense
Nile, Euphrates, Indus (see p.2264), and Yellow River into competition for resources and markets. populations, and their managerial needs, urban
(see p.3219) valleys undoubtedly played a part in the High-level diplomacy was essential to the smooth societies took many different forms. In the

precocious emergence of civilizations in these operation of international trading networks and Americas, large ceremonial complexKeEsY with
residential suburbs provided the focus Cfoharvtínhe
regions. So did international trade, which was also to success in inter-state power struggles. Royal

important in the development of the first New letters found in the Egyptian capital, Akhetaten communities of the wider region, strongOllmyec
World civilizations. Trade also enabled many (Amarna), provide a fascinating picture of relations
neighbouring societies to achieve prosperity: between the 14th-century BCE rulers of the rival connected by shared religion and tradeS. hang
through time they developed complex cultures great states of the eastern Mediterranean.
Advanced centres KEY Mycenaeans
,, ,,FOR A LONG TIME WE HAVE This map shows Chavín Egypt
established and Olmec Babylonia
HAD GOOD RELATIONS BETWEEN emerging civilizations Shang Assyria
US KINGS… in the later 2nd Mycenaeans Hittites
millennium BCE. Egypt Mitanni
Societies of farmers Babylonia Elam
and hunter-gatherers
occupied other
regions.

Babylonian king Burnaburiash II to Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, Assyria
from the Amarna letters, 14th century BCE
Hittites

Mitanni

Elam

32

30 03/06/2011 17:39

032-033_Ancient_empires.indd 32

Black Sea KINGDOMS OF ANCIENT EGYPT
The Nile Valley's exceptional agricultural
TUMMANNA fertility promoted the early development Cyprus
of urbanism in Egypt. Settlements clung Mediterranean Sea
PALA KASKAS to the Nile Delta and riverbanks, beyond
which lay arid desert. The great mineral
Hattusas UPPERLAND resources of the flanking desert regions
and Nubia, which included gold, were
HITTITE URUADRI important for both domestic use, and to Nile Delta
(URARTU) support international trade. LOWER
EMPIRE ISUWA Giza Memphis
HAPALLA Saqqara Sinai
EGYPT

TA R H U N TA S SKAIZZUWACTNaArchemish Eastern
Desert

MUKISH Washshukanni DWEESSETRE R N Abydos R e dMSEDeJaA
T Nile
Harran UPPER
Alalah Nineveh KEY EGYPT
Arbbiill Trade routes Elephantine

Ugarit Aleppo Emar MEEuIuppTANNI ASSYRIA Capital cities NUBIA

Cyprus Arwad NIYA Ashur SAHARA YAM SATJU
(Alashiya) Tunip NDUEBSIEARNT
Tigris
Qatna hrates
Qadesh

Simurru Labwe ttoo AAffgghhaanniissttaann

Byblos Kumida DDuurr--KKuurriiggaallzzuu Old Kingdom c.2686–2181 BCE
Rulers exercised centralized control
Sidon Hazor BABYLONIA and commanded impressive resources,
Tyre Shechem as shown by the pyramids at Giza.
Gaza Jerusalem Babylon SSEEAALLAANNDD SSuussaa ELAM
Lachish
Sharuhen Nippur

Uruk AAnnsshhaann
UUrr

Memphis Cyprus

Persian Gulf LLiiyyaann Mediterranean Sea

Red Sea Avaris
(Tell el-Dab’a)
Nile
capital
Sinai c.1650–1550 BCE
Akhetaten LOWER
Memphis
EGYPT EGYPT
Itjtawy

capital Eastern
c.1985–1650 BCE Desert

DWEESSETRE R N Waset (Thebes) Red Sea
T KarnakNile

DDIILLMMUUNN capital UPPER
EGYPT

Thebes c.2055–1985 BCE
and c.1650–1550 BCE
NUBIA

Arabian SAHARA WNDAUWEBASTIEARNT
Peninsula
KUSH

ttoo PPuunntt Middle Kingdom c.2040–1640 BCE
Decorated tombs record prosperous life
under the stable 12th dynasty, but the
state disintegrated under later rulers.

Siberia Cyprus
Mediterranean Sea

Hattusas Per-Ramesse (Qantir)

Mycenae Anyang
Xi’ang
Babylon Ashur PACIFIC LOWER Sinai
Memphis Susa Zhengzhou OCEAN EGYPT
Memphis
SAHARA
ATLANTIC Eastern
OCEAN Akhetaten (Amarna) Desert

San DWEESSETRE Red Sea
Lorenzo Nile
R N Waset (Thebes)
T UPPER
EGYPT

Chavín de ATLANTIC INDIAN SAHARA NUBIA
Huántar OCEAN OCEAN
NDUEBSIEARNT
PACIFIC PUNT KUSH
OCEAN

New Kingdom c.1550–1069 BCE
Egypt reached its greatest power and
prosperity, conquering Nubia and the
Levant, and building several temples.

032-033_Ancient_empires.indd 33 33

31

26/05/2011 18:22

1650–1550 BCE 1550–1400 BCE

Hattusas, the Hittite capital, was founded by Hattusalis I Built over 300 years, the temple complex at Karnak, Egypt, includes the world’s
in 1650BCE and destroyed in 1180BCE. largest temple, dedicated to Amun-Re, the patron deity of the pharaohs.

AFTER HAMMURABI’S DEATH in IN c.1550BCE, THE THEBAN KING Egyptian religion was very on the Greek mainland. Its people
1750BCE, the Babylonian Empire Ahmose I (r.1550–1525BCE) complex. Every village, town, and are now known as the
(see 1850–1790BCE) declined. drove the Hyksos from Lower district had its own patron deity. In Mycenaeans, after the fortress-
At the same time, other powers Egypt, ushering in the third paintings and sculptures, many palace of Mycenae, believed to be
were on the rise, such as the period of settled rule in Egypt, deities were shown with animal the home of the mythical king
Hurrians of Mitanni in Syria, and known as the New Kingdom heads, representing their most Agamemnon from Homer’s Iliad.
the Hittites of Anatolia in Turkey. (c.1550–1070BCE). During this important attributes. For example, However, the Mycenaeans
By 1650BCE, the Hittites had time, Egyptian rulers assumed the falcon god Horus protected
built an extensive kingdom in IRON WORKING the king, while the ibis-
central Anatolia, with its capital 2000 headed Thoth was the
at Hattusas. The Hittites had The Hittites developed iron patron god of scribes.
developed advanced bronze- and smelting by c.1500BCE. At THE NUMBER
iron-working skills and they first iron was used only in OF NAMES FOR By 1600BCE, a
were also known to be fierce luxury objects, such as in the GODS AND new civilization
fighters. In 1595BCE, the Hittite decoration of this box from GODDESSES emerged
king Mursilis (r.1620–1590BCE) Acemhoyek. Later, as IN ANCIENT
raided Babylon and expanded his technology developed, iron EGYPT
empire. However, he was killed was used to create superior
soon after, and the empire shrank weapons. Though the Hittites
back for about a century. traded iron goods, they kept
this technology secret for
In Egypt, the Middle Kingdom about 300 years. Around
(see 2000–1850BCE) was waning 1200BCE, iron-working
spread to Greece, and then to
Central Europe by c.750BCE the title “pharaoh”, meaning
– the dawn of the Iron Age. “great house”. A succession of
warrior kings campaigned to
Man and beast by 1670BCE, partly due to erratic expand Egypt’s boundaries Mask
The Hittite Empire was known for its floods in the Nile. As regional once more. Tuthmosis I of gold
bronze craftsmanship. Bronze governors became more (r.1504–1492BCE) drove the German
weapons and artefacts fetched a high powerful, civil war broke out. Nubians back in the south and archaeologist
price. This statuette of a man and a Outsiders soon took advantage recaptured Sinai and parts of Heinrich
horse was probably a commission. Syria and Palestine. Under Schliemann found this
of the unrest. The Nubians Tuthmosis III (r.1479–1425BCE), funerary mask at a grave
won back lands that the Egypt controlled a strip along the in Mycenae, and claimed it
Egyptians had taken earlier Mediterranean coast and north of belonged to King Agamemnon.
(see 2000–1850BCE). In 1650BCE, the Euphrates (see p.33).
the Hyksos from the Levant
seized Lower Egypt, but The conquered states paid huge
Upper Egypt remained under the annual tributes to Egypt, a part of
control of Egyptian kings. which was spent building one of
the world’s largest religious sites
at Karnak and the impressive
mortuary temple of Queen
Hatshepsut (r.1473–1458BCE).

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c.1e5mK00ienndrBogygCrndeEtaohnHsmectiretyntdoioetMffecHMelOisuniltordeaprsnio;antnai imnia
Hyck.sE1o6gs5yIncp0oottf–endt1rqhmu5uer5eeiL0ndregiBLavCSoatEeenwctPeoernrdiod c3.c41iv6i0li0ztahBtCeiEoGnMreeymceekenrmageaeaisnnpolhacnan.1rda5o7oh0fssthaBeCreEKFbiniurgrssiteEndegianyprVtTiaahlnleebcyne.1esI5wra7ne0mBbCepEgiurKiennaiictsnirsneBigtaaettbsihoyeonlofronefigai,on c.150o0f BmCEetEavliwdoenrinkciePnegru c.c1o5Km0a0pr–lne1ax2kac0tot0enTmBshCtpeErlbueectsed
034-035_1650-1300BCE.indd 26/05/2011 19:20

32

1400–1300 BCE

Tutankhamun was buried with fabulous treasure. This detail from the
pharaoh’s throne shows him being anointed by his wife Ankhesenamun.

probably called themselves Black Sea IN c.1352 BCE, AMENHOTEP IV, Since the 1570s BCE, Egypt’s
Ahhiyawa. They had migrated a religious reformer, became pharaohs had been buried in
from the Balkans or Anatolia MACEDONIA THRACE Egypt’s pharaoh. He broke with rock-cut tombs in the Valley
about 500 years earlier. Their the traditional religion, with its of the Kings, on the west bank
lands were a patchwork of small Sea of pantheon of gods, and initiated of the Nile. Rulers hoped their
kingdoms, each later dominated Marmara the worship of a single god, Aten, tombs would be safe from
by a palace-citadel such as the or sun-disk. He changed his name robbers, but almost all the
ones at Mycenae, Tiryns, and Lemnos to Akhenaten, meaning “living tombs were robbed of their
Pylos. They spread their influence spirit of Aten”, and founded a new rich goods. However, in 1922,
through trade. After the collapse THESSALY capital between Thebes and British archaeologist Howard
of the Minoan Empire in Memphis. He named it Akhetaten, Carter discovered
c.1450BCE, the Mycenaeans took Iolcus Lesbos meaning “horizon of Aten”. Tutankhamun’s tomb virtually
over several sites formerly intact. The shrine room had four
occupied by the Minoans, Ionian Orchomenus Sporades Aegean Anatolia Akhenaten’s religious reforms gilded shrines, holding the
including Knossos. Islands Gla Euboea Sea were believed to have been king’s coffin and mummy with
After c.1400BCE, they also took Miletus unpopular, especially with the a solid gold mask. The other
over Minoan trade networks Ionian Gulf of Corinth Thebes Chios anese influential priestly elite. After his rooms contained jewellery,
Sea death in c.1336 BCE, his son furniture, golden statues, and
and established settlements Mycenae Dendra Athens Tutankhamun ascended the musical instruments.
on Rhodes, Kos, and the throne at the age of nine. He
Anatolian mainland. Argos Aegina restored the old gods
The Mycenaeans Tiryns and abandoned the new
inherited Minoan arts Peloponnese Cyclades Dodec capital. Tutankhamun is
and crafts, adapting Menelaion believed to have died
the Linear A script Pylos Vapheio Melos Phylakopi under mysterious
to write an early circumstances at 18,
form of Greek Thera and was hastily buried
known as the in a minor tomb. It was
Linear B script. Mediterranean Sea of Crete Rhodes thought for years that
They were great Sea Tutankhamun died of a
traders, and ventured Chania Crete Knossos blow to the head, but
out to Sicily and Italy. the latest evidence
A ship believed to be Phaistos suggests he died of
of Canaanite origin, blood poisoning after
wrecked off Uluburun on Aegean civilizations KEY breaking his leg in a
the coast of Turkey, was Around 1450BCE Mycenaean Mycenaean site chariot crash while out
influence spread throughout the Mycenaean major palace hunting in the desert.
found to contain tin from Iran Aegean, including to several sites that
or Afghanistan, copper and had been part of the Minoan Empire.
pottery from Cyprus, ivory and
jewellery from Egypt, and the Hurrians, Hittites, Elamites, by defensive walls. Kings and Sun worship
Mycenaean swords. Egyptians, and the Kassites. In nobles were buried in tombs, Akhenaten instituted the
The late Bronze Age was a the 1570sBCE, the Kassites had which held fabulous grave goods. worship of the sun disk
time of unrest in Western Asia. gained control of Babylon. The Shang capital moved several Aten. In this relief carving
From 1550–1400BCE, there was However, by 1450BCE, the Hittite times during this period. Shang found at Akhetaten
a struggle between various New Kingdom was growing society was believed to be well (modern el-Amarna), he
powers in the region, including in influence, partly due to an organized and extremely is seen worshipping the
alliance with Egypt. Around this hierarchical. Writing began sun with his wife Nefertiti.
time, the Mitanni dominated Syria, around 1900BCE. Most examples
but by the 1400s, the Hittites were of early writing took the form of
fighting for control of the region. oracle bones, attesting to the
Shang rulers’ practice of
In China, the Shang civilization consulting their ancestors on
(see 1850–1790BCE) flourished important decisions. Questions
around 1500BCE, with its rulers concerning the future were
dominating a large area of inscribed on the bone of an ox or
central China. However, the on a turtle shell, which was then
Shang had to regularly fend off struck with a hot metal tool.
threats to their kingdom from The way the bone cracked was
nomadic tribes to the north. believed to provide the answer.
Shang capitals were surrounded

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mid-140m0isgMBraCeEtleaLneaeapssiittaPawatapocreidcfioopcflrloioesnmliazneds
034-035_1650-1300BCE.indd 35 33

1300–1200 BCE 1200–1100 BCE

The facade of the temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel features four colossal seated The boulders used to make these walls, now in ruins, at Mycenae on the Greek
statues of the pharaoh, but the statue second from left has perished. mainland were so huge, later civilizations believed they were built by giants.

TOWARDS THE END OF THE 2ND,, Ancient propaganda The late 2nd millennium BCE BETWEEN 1250 AND ABOUT 1050 could not prevent them from
MILLENNIUM BCE, the eastern A detail from the temple saw the resurgence of Ashur, BCE, many of the powers that colonizing the Levant.
Mediterranean and Western Asia,, of Ramesses II at Abu in what is now called the Middle had dominated Western Asia for
were a mosaic of empires, which Simbel shows the king Assyrian Empire (1350– centuries went into decline, and Around 1200BCE, the
comprised Egypt, Babylonia, Elam, firing an arrow, taking 1000BCE). Following the death of some disappeared altogether. The Mycenaean kingdoms entered a
Assyria, and the Hittites in Anatolia. on the Hittite army Shamshi-Adad in 1781BCE (see eastern Mediterranean entered time of upheaval, a result of both
Borders fluctuated as each kingdom single-handed at the 1850BCE), Ashur had become a time of turmoil, and many internal disintegration and
strove to gain ascendancy over its Battle of Qadesh. a vassal, first of Babylon, then coastal cities were laid waste by external threats. The defences of
neighbours through conquest or of Mitanni. A revival of Ashur’s unknown invaders – written many Mycenean palaces were
diplomacy. In war and peace, vital the most famous was fortunes began under Ashur- records of the period give few strengthened. Records at Pylos
trade routes, through which tin and the Battle of Qadesh uballit I (r.1363–1328BCE), who clues as to their identity. First to show the inhabitants feared attack
copper for bronze reached the (c.1274BCE). Although broke free of Mitannian rule and succumb were the Hittites, whose from the sea. By 1100BCE, most of
region, remained intact. Ramesses claimed carved out a kingdom in northern capital Hattusas was sacked the Mycenaean palaces had been
victory at Qadesh, the Iraq. His later successors, and abandoned c.1200BCE. sacked and abandoned. This
A frequent flashpoint for conflict battle is believed to Shalmaneser I and Tukulti- By c.1180BCE, Hittite possessions triggered the so-called Dark Age
was the Levant (modern Syria and have been inconclusive, Ninurta I, continued to gain in the Levant were lost and the of Greece, when writing fell out of
Lebanon), which Egypt had lost to and the Hittites held on territory, expanding the kingdom’s empire fragmented. use, not to be reintroduced until
the Hittites following the reign to the region. borders west to conquer eastern the Homeric age (see 800BCE).
of Akhenaten (see 1350BCE). In the Mitanni and briefly, from 1225– These conflicts were most likely
13th century BCE, Pharaoh Seti I and In 1259BCE, after 1216BCE, southeast to Babylonia. instigated by the waves of migrants In the late Bronze Age, parts of
his son Ramesses II campaigned further campaigns in known collectively as the Sea Europe came to be dominated by
to win it back. Ramesses’ 67-year Syria, Ramesses tried In the Aegean, the Mycenaean Peoples. These warlike peoples the Urnfield Culture – named
reign (r.1279–1213BCE) was a different tactic, and palace-kingdoms of the Greek came from many different areas, after the practice of cremating the
negotiated a pioneering peace mainland continued to thrive. including Sicily, Sardinia, Greece, dead and burying the remains in
YOU ARE A treaty with the new Hittite king, Libya, and Anatolia. Whatever funerary urns, sometimes
GREAT WARRIOR Hattusilis III. Ramesses also took their origins, their movements accompanied by rich grave goods.
WITHOUT EQUAL, two Hittite princesses in marriage through the eastern Mediterranean This culture originated in the
VICTORIOUS IN (he had about seven wives in total). in c.1200–1100BCE led to attacks Danube region in 1300BCE, and
SIGHT OF THE Following the treaty, Ramesses on Cyprus, Egypt, Anatolia, and spread to Italy and central and
kept up a friendly correspondence Canaan and Syria in the Levant. eastern Europe in the following
,,WHOLE WORLD. with the Hittite ruler, which was In 1178BCE, the Egyptian pharaoh centuries.
recorded on clay tablets in Ramesses III drove the Sea
Inscription commemorating the Akkadian cuneiform script. Peoples from Lower Egypt, but Between 1200 and 700BCE iron
victory of Ramesses II at Qadesh technology spread northwards
Ramesses also embarked on from Greece to Central Europe.
a time of stability and prosperity an extensive programme of
for Egypt. Through a combination monument-building. On Egypt’s THEY CAME BOLDLY
of war, diplomacy, and strategic southern border with Nubia he SAILING IN THEIR WARSHIPS
marriage, Ramesses sought constructed the magnificent
to extend Egyptian influence to temple of Abu Simbel. He founded ,,FROM THE MIDST OF THE
Western Asia. In the 1270sBCE, he a new capital at Per-Ramesses in
fought a series of wars with the Lower Egypt, although Thebes in SEA, NONE BEING ABLE TO
Hittite king, Muwattalis II, of which Upper Egypt remained an WITHSTAND THEM…
important centre. West of Thebes
he built a vast mortuary temple, An inscription by Ramesses II (r.1279–1213), referring to the Sea Peoples
which doubled as a palace, court,
and centre of learning.

c.1F3as0rpm0Gr–eaen1anro0dsgr0etath0hsnerBdBorCnuapEsgaIinhsndttoiihnarealits 12o7f9(RtoBaC1mE2Se1ts3asBreCtsEo)IfIrienigEngypt c.1c2uP0lte0urBruCevEieaCmnhaeAvrngídneessin the c.1e2m0e0rBgCeEsOilnmMeecxcicuolture c.1R1al8am4ssetBtasCgrEsrteRessae(titIgoIpIn,h1Eao1grf5ay3opBhtC’,sE) c.1E1m8p0iBrCeEcHoiltltaitpeses

c.c1u3l0t0urBmeCEeidUmdrlenerfigDeealsdnriuenbgeion cH.1i2tt7it4eBsCfiEgEhgtyapttitahnoesfBaQanatddtleesh c.12o0f0HBaCtEtuHsitatsitedecsatpriotayled c.1200inBrCtaEhiSedSeetLaadetPevbaseynotthpeles stMreyncgetnhaeenacen.1df1ed, 5iaenrf0deoBincCfcaEaettisntagck
036-037_1299-1000BCE.indd 36
20/05/11 12:46 PM
34

,,1100–1000 BCE

,,WHEN ALL LONGINGS THAT ARE

IN THE HEART VANISH, THEN A
MORTAL BECOMES IMMORTAL…

Krishna Yajur Veda

Iron rapidly replaced bronze in heads clad in helmets. They also THE CLOSE OF THE 2ND MILLENIUM In China, a new dynasty replaced sacred writings. Sanskrit, an
tools and weapons, signalling the established long-distance trade SAW MAJOR CHANGES in the the Shang in 1027BCE, when King Indo-European language related
end of the Bronze Age. routes. Meanwhile, other cultures power politics of West Asia Wu of the Zhou defeated the last to Iranian and almost all European
were emerging, such as at Cerro In 1070BCE, the Egyptian New Shang ruler, Di-Xin. The Zhou languages, is also the ancestor
In Mesoamerica, the region’s Sechin, in what is now Peru. Kingdom ended and Egypt dynasty was to rule China for of modern languages such as
first great civilization, the Olmec, entered a time of unrest called 700 years. This long era is usually Hindi and Urdu.
was emerging in the lowlands of Stone warrior the Third Intermediate Period, divided into two periods: the
Mexico’s southern Gulf coast. The Monumental carvings from temples which lasted until 747BCE (see Western and Eastern Zhou. Sacred writings called the
Olmecs built ceremonial centres, at Cerro Sechin on the Peruvian 800–700BCE). Historians believe During the first era the Zhou capital Vedas were transmitted orally
including San Lorenzo, constructed coast show warriors, torture victims, that the power of the pharaohs was Zongzhou. This was a time in Sanskrit for many centuries.
temples and houses on earthen and human sacrifices. had been eroded by a priestly elite of prosperity and strong central Although the Vedas are largely
mounds, and carved huge stone who had gained control of many control. Zhou territory was divided religious writings and hymns,
areas. By 1000BCE, all the into fiefs held by trusted noblemen, the geographical information that
territories won by New Kingdom in return for military allegiance. they contain not only describes
pharaohs had been lost. But many aspects of Chinese the gradual spread of farmers
tradition already present in the and pastoralists from the Punjab
In Mesopotamia, there were Shang period continued in the Zhou, to the Ganges basin, but also
frequent wars between the including ancestor worship and the gives some information about
Babylonians, Assyrians, and use of oracle bones for divination. conflicts with other groups, and
Elamites; the region was also local life at the time. For example,
subjected to devastating raids by Meanwhile in Japan, the Jomon the division of society into
Aramaean nomads from the west. culture, named after the cord varnas or castes is described in
patterns (jomon) that decorate its the Vedas, first appearing in Book
Meanwhile, other powers were pottery, continued. The Jomon X of Rigveda, although there is
rising in the region. A Semitic- people were still hunter-gatherers, nothing in the text to suggest
speaking people, who called albeit prosperous and sedentary. that the system was hereditary
themselves Canaanites, had at the time.
inhabited the Levant for centuries, In northern India, small groups
living in city-states that controlled of nomadic pastoralists had been
the surrounding territory. They migrating into the Ganges basin
were skilled seafarers and played from Central
a major role in international trade. Asia since
By 1100BCE, Canaanite port cities the 1500sBCE.
such as Arwad, Byblos, Tyre, and By the
Sidon were expanding their 1100sBCE, most
operations, establishing trading had begun to
posts and colonies throughout the settle and cultivate
eastern Mediterranean. They crops. They spoke
traded cedarwood from Lebanon, Sanskrit, which became
glass- and ivory-ware, metal ores, the language of early Indian
and most important, an expensive
purple dye made from murex Mark of a culture
shellfish. It was this luxury In this example of late-Jomon
commodity that caused them to pottery, the bowl and stand bear
be known by their more familiar the distinctive rope patterns that
Greek name, the Phoenicians, give the Jomon period its name.
after phoinix, the Greek for purple.

c.1p1eA0r0gioeBdCoEefMnGdyrsceeaenncaedebDaeangrikns 10T6h9PireBdCrEiIonSdtteainrrtmEoegfdypiatte 10S0aH6uBelCbaErsDekwaivnsigd(Iossrfuatcehcleeiteedss)

036-037_1299-1000BCE.indd 37 clai1mf0os2rf7SehBitCaeEndHKgMeiknaaigvnnegWdnahuttaoesroufle coPlohnoieensiactnhiadenc.pMs1o0eers0dttsi0ateaBbrCrlroiEsauhnnedan 20/05/11 12:46 PM

35

3000 700 BCE EARLY CIVILIZATIONS knob is part of
locking device
neck is circled
by a collar

Perpauty and children bringing Decorated box of Perpauty
his wife offerings c.1370 BCE
This sycamore box belonging
to a man called Perpauty may
have held linen. All four sides
are painted with scenes. This
side shows Perpauty and his
wife being offered gifts by their
son and three daughters.

Cat figurine Statue with stele Duck-shaped flask
c.600 BCE c.1360 BCE c.1700 BCE
This copper alloy figurine sits on a A carved figure representing a high-priest This jar is carved in the shape of a
wooden base. Cats were linked with of Amun holds a stele, or carved slab. These duck, which appears to be trussed
the goddess Bastet, who protected slabs were used as grave or commemorative and plucked. It probably held cosmetic
the pharaoh. A hole through the markers. The inscription is a hymn to the Sun paste, such as eye-paint, which was
nose originally held a ring. god and lists local dignitaries. likely removed and applied using a
stopper-cum-applicator, now lost.
ANCIENT EGYPT
material is the rare
A REMARKABLE CIVILIZATION REVEALED THROUGH EVERYDAY ITEMS AND TREASURES blue stone, anhydrite

Artefacts manufactured over some 2,000 years bear Mummiform shabti
witness to the skills of Egyptian craft workers. They also c.1300 BCE
reflect Egypt’s wealth and its trade network, through This large shabti figure has
which ebony, lapis lazuli, and turquoise were imported. been carved from wood.
The tools the figure carries
Many of the objects shown here were used in daily life by well-to-do are traditional symbols of
Egyptians. They reflect belief in the afterlife and the practice of burying kingship, while the scarab
possessions that it was believed would be used by the dead person’s represents the god Khepri.
spirit in the afterlife. The ruling classes were buried with great wealth,
but almost all of their tombs were stripped of their riches either in scarab ornament
antiquity or more recently. on chest

mask of cartonnage – a combination details such
of plaster and linen as eyes are

modelled
in paler

wrappings

Shabtis lapis lazuli
1292–1190 BCE inlay
Statuettes of servant-figures called shabtis
were commonly placed in tombs. The Egyptians Mummified jackal or dog
believed they would come alive to serve the c.600 BCE
dead person’s spirit in the life to come. Jackals and, from the 8th century BCE
onwards, also dogs were mummified in
Funerary mask honour of the jackal-headed god Anubis,
c.1500 BCE who presided over funerals and embalmings.
This mask would have been placed over the head
of a mummy. The Egyptians mummified bodies 2250//0055//22001111 1180::0096
because the deceased spirit could not survive
unless there was a body for it to return to.

36

003388--003399__ccoolllleeccttiioonn__EEggyyppttiiaann..iinndddd 3388

ANCIENT EGYPT

Necklaces Ear studs and earring backing for
c.1550 –1069 BCE c.1550 –1069 BCE
Egyptian craftsmen had access Once the basic shapes for these Wooden comb mirror
to many semi-precious stones studs and earring were made, c.300 BCE
and precious metals. Necklaces strands of glass in a contrasting
were worn in daily life and also colour were wound around This double-sided comb has a
buried with the dead. them. The studs required large
perforations in the wearer’s lobes. row of longer and shorter teeth.
gold band
purple amethyst Cosmetic spoon Many Egyptians had short hair handle and
ibex symbolizes grace c.1360 BCE and wore wigs. Combs were backing made
and mastery over the This spoon for cosmetic paste has
natural world been carved from schist in the used to keep both natural hair of ebony
shape of an ibex, with its head
disk representing sun bent over its back, so that its and wigs tidy.
straight horns touch the bowl.

Amulet Mirror handle
912–343 BCE c.1360 BCE
The wedjat eye symbolizes This hardwood mirror setting
the eye of the god Horus. This originally held a polished
charm was placed on mummies bronze mirror disc. The handle
to protect the dead person’s is carved in the shape of a
spirit in the afterlife. It also papyrus column topped with
symbolized regeneration. the god Bes – a popular deity.

Male figure amulet Frog amulets
c.2200 BCE c.1360 BCE
This golden charm shows a Frogs were a symbol of life
kneeling male god clasping and fertility. Women wore
two palm ribs. He is probably frog amulets for luck. These
the god Heh, who symbolized charms are made of blue
eternity. The palm ribs are faience (pottery) with details
notched, representing years. picked out in gold.

inlay held charm may
within cells have been part
of gold of a necklace

Scarab pectoral Winged scarab
c.1361–52 BCE 644–322 BCE
This magnificent chest ornament Scarabs were common lucky charms.
represents the scarab god Khepri The scarab beetle was a symbol for
rolling the red sun-disk. It was found rebirth and was worn as jewellery
in the tomb of King Tutankhamun. in ancient Egypt.

003388--003399__ccoolllleeccttiioonn__EEggyyppttiiaann..iinndddd 3399 39

37

2250//0055//22001111 1180::0098

1000–900 BCE 900–800 BCE

In the mid-10th centuryBCE, during the reign of King Solomon, Megiddo (in The jaguar featured in many Mesoamerican and South American religions.
modern Israel) was an important Israelite fortress and administrative centre. Here it is depicted in a stone carving from Chavín de Huántar.

IN THE 10TH CENTURY BCE, THE SHALMANESER III (858–824 BCE) were skilled engineers and Grave goods
PERIOD OF DECLINE in the major architects who built canals and This Iron Age brooch
powers of Western Asia continued. In the 9th century BCE, King levelled slopes for farming and was discovered in a grave at Hallstatt
Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria had Shalmaneser III of Assyria construction. The main in Austria. The type of jewellery
weakened, enabling the rise of the greatly expanded his empire, settlement, Chavín de found suggests that a woman was
short-lived but historically with campaigns against Huántar, was high in the buried there.
significant Kingdom of Israel. Mesopotamian tribes, Israel Andes, and seems to have
The Israelites were Semitic- and Judah, Syria, Urartu, and been a pilgrimage centre for a plied the western Mediterranean.
speaking pastoralists who, Anatolia. This black limestone cult of supernatural beings that Colonies were set up in Cadiz, in
according to the Bible, migrated obelisk commemorates his were part-human, part-animal. Spain, on the Balearic Islands,
into the land of Canaan in the deeds and those of his The main god, the “Staff God”, is and, most notably, on the North
1200sBCE. There, they came into commander-in-chief, Dayyan- usually depicted with fangs. African coast at Carthage (in
conflict with the local Philistines Assur. It details, in cuneiform, modern Tunisia). Through this
and Canaanites. Around 1000BCE the enforced tributes paid by In Europe, iron was gradually trading network, the Phoenician
King David (r.1006–965BCE) the people he conquered. replacing bronze as the metal of alphabet became known
united the Israelite tribes, and choice for tools and weapons. The throughout the Mediterranean.
established his capital at Israel and, later, Judah became THE OLMEC CULTURE CONTINUED area around Hallstatt in Austria
Jerusalem. David’s son Solomon part of the Assyrian Empire. became a centre for an early Iron In Western Asia, the Neo-
(r.c.965–928BCE) increased TO DEVELOP IN MESOAMERICA Age culture which developed from Assyrian Empire began to
Israelite territory and built a Meanwhile, Assyria began to in the 9th century BCE. After the Urnfield culture (see 1200BCE . expand, and, one by one, Israel,
magnificent palace and temple in re-emerge as a major power in San Lorenzo was destroyed Hallstatt chieftains dominated Judah, and the small states of
the capital, but on his death the Mesopotamia. King Ashur-dan II in c.900BCE, La Venta to the local salt-mining and iron working. nearby Syria and Phoenicia were
kingdom split in two. Eventually (r.934–912BCE) boosted agriculture, northeast became the main They lived in hilltop forts and were brought under Assyrian control.
bringing prosperity. His successor Olmec centre. This larger buried with rich grave goods.
Etched in gold Adad-nirari II increased Assyria’s settlement was dominated by
This golden plaque showing the territory, regaining lands that had a 34m (111ft) high pyramid, the During the 9th century BCE, the
protective wedjat eye symbol dates been held by the Middle Assyrian forerunner of Mayan temples. Phoenicians were becoming a
from the reign of Psusennes I of the Empire in the 13th century BCE. The Olmecs also devised a script major power in the Mediterranean.
21st dynasty, when Egypt was divided. of glyphs – the first in the region. Their trading ships, previously
Their influence spread across confined to the eastern sea, now
Mesoamerica, impacting on other
cultures that were starting to KEY EUROPE
emerge at this time – the
Zapotecs and the Maya. Assyria Caere Black Sea
Pithekoussai
In eastern North America, the Egypt Athens Khorsabad
Adena culture was developing Carthage Corinth
in the Ohio Valley. It was Phoenician Miletus Nimrud
characterized by ritual earthworks colonies AFRICA
and burial mounds containing Gadir Syracuse Sparta Al Mina
objects of fine craftsmanship. Phoenician editerr nean
city-states M Byblos
Far to the south, the Chavín Babylon
culture had appeared in the Greek a S e a
Peruvian Andes by c.1200BCE and colonies
spread to the coast. The Chavín Jerusalem
Greek
city-states Bast Tanis

Emerging
Etruscan
city-states

Mediterranean region
This map of the Mediterranean region in the 8th century BCE shows
the colonies established by the dominant civilizations of the period,
including the Phoenicians and Greeks.

c.1G0rt0eo0eifnkBosCtuhEnbedeAgcieongloenaines c.1u0na0itn0ehdBsisCmtEhcaKaekpiInesitsgraalJDeealrivtueidstarliebmes, c.1k0inf0og0udBnoCdmEeNdouf bKiuasnh 96E6mBCpEirNeefoo-uAnsdseydrian 90n0oa–mc7ra0od0sssBCstEphrSeecsaytdtehpipaen 85w3ianBgCskEaiBinSnaghstattollcfemoDoaaaflnmiQteioasaenrsqrclaueIIrsdI by c.8k4inb0geBdcCooEmmAerosmf pUeonrwaiarentruful c.8cu0il0ntuBECruEerHoaappleplsetaartst

bHuci.il1ltl0tino0p0wBfeoCsErEttuesrronpe cocm.1m0G0ua0nniBgtCieeEssFvasaerlmtlteliyen,dgInindia deAvdeelonpaacluolntgucr.NO1eho0sri0otta0hRrBAtiCsvmEetroerinica 965SBoClEoISsmrtaaorentl’so(tfroeK9iig2nn8gBinCE) 8b8e0cBoCmE Nesiomcf arAupsdistayrlia settcl.es8mi5tee0noBtCfEbRuEoiamltrleoieninstthItealy 814 BCEinCNarotrhthagAefPrfiohcuoanebdnyeictdhiaens c.800HBuCáEnCtahrafvoínunddeed

040-041_1000-700BCE.indd 40 26/05/2011 20:48

38

800–700 BCE

In 705BCE, the Assyrian capital moved to Nineveh. This stone relief shows the Assyrian
king and his queen feasting in the gardens of the royal palace there.

ASSYRIA CONTINUED ITS POLICY Ritual container In China, the Zhou capital moved been embroiled in a Kushite statue
OF AGGRESSION through the 8th Zhou smiths were highly skilled east to Luoyang in 770BCE, destructive civil war, and This alabaster statue dates
century BCE, conquering rival metal-workers. This bronze bowl marking the start of the earlier was now divided into from the period of Kushite
states in Western Asia and dates from the 8th century BCE, the part of the Eastern Zhou era, small states. In the 8th rule in Egypt. Amenirdis I,
reducing them to provinces. time of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. which lasted until about century BCE, the Kushite
Assyrian success was based 480BCE (see 500BCE . Royal ruler of Nubia to the sister of Shabaka (r.c.716–
on a disciplined, technically Anatolia, conquering Babylon and, control had weakened, as the south, Piye (r.747– 702 BCE), is shown holding
advanced army and an efficient in 714BCE, defeating the Armenian lords who held large fiefdoms had 716BCE), conquered a flail – a traditional
bureaucracy. Conquered peoples state of Urartu. He also defeated grown more powerful. Now both Upper and symbol of Egyptian rule.
had to pay costly tributes, and the Israelites and transported the central control disintegrated, and Lower Egypt, and
revolts were ruthlessly crushed. “ten lost tribes” of Israel to rival warlords fought one another. united them under for their own language,
Particularly troublesome nations northern Mesopotamia. Despite the chaos, this era was a Kushite rule. and not long after, Homer’s
suffered forced deportations – time of technical and cultural epic poems the Iliad and
large numbers of people were advancement. Iron tools increased In the Mediterranean, the Odyssey – hitherto
resettled in Assyria. efficiency in agriculture and food Phoenician influence transmitted orally – were
production. Populations and cities continued to spread, probably written down.
Following a period of weak rule grew, and philosophy, the arts, as the city of Carthage
in the first half of the 8th century and literature began to develop. in North Africa grew In the 8th century BCE,
BCE, Tiglath-Pileser III (r.744– In Egypt, the unrest of the Third powerful. Greece, central Italy was a mosaic
727BCE) recouped Assyria’s losses. Intermediate Period continued. meanwhile, was starting of small states ruled by the
His successor Sargon II (r.722– Since 850BCE, the country had to emerge from the Dark dominant Etruscans – Italy’s
704BCE campaigned in Iran and Age that had followed the first indigenous civilization
Mycenaeans’ downfall. – and Italic tribes such as
City-states or poleis were ,, the Latins, Umbrians, and
forming on the Greek Sabines. Rome is thought
mainland, centred on
hilltop citadels. To to have been founded by
increase their territory, the the Latin chief Romulus
poleis founded colonies in 753BCE. In its early
around the shores of the Aegean. days, the city, built on
Although rivalry between cities seven hills, was ruled by various
was often intense, a distinct peoples, including the Etruscans,
Greek identity and culture Latins, and Sabines.
was emerging. All Greeks were
identified as “Hellenes”. In 776BCE SUCH A
the first pan-Hellenic games were GREAT TASK
held in honour of Zeus at Olympia. IT WAS TO
By the mid-700sBCE the Greeks had
adapted the Phoenician alphabet ,,FOUND THE

Twin discovery ROMAN
This painting by Charles de La Fosse RACE.
depicts the legend of Romulus and
Remus, who were abandoned as Virgil, from Aeneid 1:33
babies and suckled by a she-wolf,
before being rescued by shepherds.

77H6eaBltClaeEOnnFtldiyhicrmeesgrvtpeaepiamraafyteinenfs-orGuhrreelyedecaer,s 77m1omBCvaEeErsaZksheitnoaegusrtnbcteaoZgphLiiontuaunoliypnaegnroigof,d c.7o5fE0NgBuyCbpEitaK, uscoesnnhdqitueaerrrmuilnieegrssitinbtyo747BCE c.7ta2k(2teoBsC7EA0sS5saByrCrgEi)aonn tIhI rone 70m5oBvCeEsAtsosyNriinaenvceahpital

Gc.r7eo7ef5kMBcCeoEdloSitnteairzrrtaatoinfoenan753fBoCrEfToruandditiinogbnyaolfRdRoamotmeuelus c.7I5li0aBdCaEnwHdroiOtmtdeeynrs’dssoewy n Preiliceg.sn7e4br4eIBgIICinEosfTA(itgsolsa7yt2rhi7-aB’sCE) U7r1a4rBtuCEsaaSncadrregsdoancskiItsIediotesffeMmauatssjoarsir 701 BiCnEvAadsseyJruiadnasea
040-041_1000-700BCE.indd 41 26/05/2011 19:06

39

3

THE
CLASSICAL AGE

700–599

This period saw the emergence of complex civilizations.
Communities flourished and trade developed in the fertile
valleys of Egypt, India, western Asia, and China. Europe, and
Central and South America also flourished during this time.

700–676 BCE 675–651 BCE

,,

,,
HE EVERYWHERE
SOUGHT EXCUSES FOR

,,STIRRING UP WAR.
Livy, from Histories book I, xxi, on Tullus Hostilius, third King of Rome

7THE Pyramids from the cemetery at Nuri, Sudan, which was the burial site of the
NUMBER Napatan and Meroitic kings from around 650BCE.
OF
IN CHINA, THE CITY OF LUOYANG KINGS IT TOOK A CONCERTED CAMPAIGN ,,TAHARQA THE GODLESS
HAD FALLEN TO THE SHEN in OF ROME BY ASHURBANIPAL (r.668–627BCE)
771BCE, and the Western Zhou in 664–663BCE to defeat the CAME OUT TO TAKE
capital was transferred east to In Italy, the city-state of Rome Egyptians who had rebelled EGYPT.
Chengzhou. From there, the was beginning to acquire an urban against Assyrian rule, and to
Eastern Zhou dynasty presided heart, and the first forum was push Assyrian control as far south
over the fragmentation of China constructed. The second king of
into as many as 148 states. From Rome, Numa Pompilius (r.716– as Thebes (modern Luxor). This Ashurbanipal's account of the conquest of Egypt, 664 BCE
around 700BCE the Zhou were 674BCE) is believed to have was not the last rebellion against
ruled by puppet-emperors, while established the main Roman
real power lay with the ba (“senior priesthoods and a calendar. the Assyrians – only ten years
one”) among nearby states.
Under Qi Huan Gong (r.685– In the Near East, the Assyrians later, the vassal king of Saïs, The new ruler, Cypselus (reign assisted Psammetichus I of
643BCE) the state of Qi had continued their expansion, Psammetichus I (r.664–610BCE), c.657–627BCE) relied on force of Egypt in his revolt against the
supremacy. After Huan Gong’s confronting Egypt, whose
death the competition for power intermittent support for rebels revolted against his Assyrian personality rather than divine Assyrians. He also adopted an
between his five sons weakened against Assyrian rule in Syria had
Qi, and Jin Wen Gong (r.685– long been a source of tension. In masters, driving them out and sanction, and established a aggressive stance towards his
643BCE), the ruler of Jin, rose to 671BCE, the Assyrian ruler
become ba. By the end of the Esarhaddon invaded, capturing founding the 26th Dynasty, under dynasty under whom Corinth neighbours, the Ionian Greeks of
century, power in China alternated the Egyptian royal capital of
between the states of Qi, Jin, Memphis. However, Assyrian which Egypt’s independence was enjoyed a seven-decade period Miletus and Smyrna.
Qin, and Chu. control over Egypt was weak,
and the Nubian pharaoh Taharqa restored. After the final collapse of dominance, creating colonies According to Japanese tradition,
Nubian Pharoah drove the invaders out.
Taharqa ruled Egypt for 19 years of Assyrian power, in 609BCE, throughout the western the first emperor, Jimmu Tenno,
before an Assyrian invasion forced The Etruscans expanded
him to return to Nubia in 671 BCE. southwards from modern Egypt was able to establish a Mediterranean. a descendant of the sun goddess
Tuscany and Umbria around
700BCE. Their language remains foothold in Palestine under On the fringes of the Greek Amaterasu, ascended to the
undeciphered, but lavish tombs
indicate a rich material culture. Pharaoh Necho II (610–595BCE). world, in western Asia Minor, the throne in 660BCE. The stories
During their expansion, the
Etruscans founded cities such In Greece, the rise to pre- kingdom of Lydia was increasing of his migration from southern
as Capua, but came into conflict
with Greek colonies and with eminence of a number of city in power under Gyges (685– Honshu eastwards to establish
Rome. Although more powerful
at first, the Etruscans were states began, notably Athens, 647BCE), its first great king. He his kingdom near Nara are
politically disunited, and a long
series of wars with the Romans Sparta, and Corinth. In Corinth, a allied with Ashurbanipal of legendary, but may echo real
turned against them.
new type of ruler, the “tyrant”, Assyria to see off a joint threat events of the Japanese Yayoi

emerged with the overthrow of to their two lands by Cimmerian period after 100BCE, when tribal

the Bacchiadae kings in 658BCE. raiders in 668–665BCE, but then chieftains began to consolidate

their territories.

ASHURBANIPAL (r.668–627 BCE) The third king of Rome, Tullus

Hostilius (r.673–642BCE) was

Ashurbanipal initially shared more martially inclined than his

rule over Assyria with his precedessor Numa Pompilius, and

brother, Shamash-shuma-ukin. 30,000
After defeating his brother’s
revolt in 648BCE he greatly
expanded the Assyrian domains.
As well as annexing Egypt, he

attacked Elam, sacking its THE NUMBER OF
capital, Susa, in 647BCE. His CLAY TABLETS
latter years saw none of the UNCOVERED IN
military successes of his early ASHURBANIPAL’S
reign. At his death a dispute LIBRARY
between his two sons further
weakened the Assyrian Empire.

c.7S0ce0yssBtthaeCwEbitatleNlniessoshtmmebpreeanengdrtsiismncteotaponnpetehnset 70A0sbBsuCypEtruitSathedebnonenwsraiencethgaueerrrnseisbvJoetoolrftuAssaslyerm7ia0,bt0eouBgpCinEpseArtdoOeflnhoaioucVruiasllthlueiryne 68T9aPBhChafEoaruqNrdonayuandbbhaiienasocgtnfoytEmkhgieneygs2p5t,th 67b4eBcCoEmTeusliuthsirHdoksitnilgiuosf Rome 67c0otBmhCrEeosGntyeogoetfhsLeydia 66k8ineBgxCMpEAeeAAslmssshssupTyyrahrrbhiiiaasaan,nnrrkigepao-aevflresortamnbmliesnhtining E6g6yipn3tdtBheCteEpheAEensg2sdy6ypetrtnhiarcdeneygsnfaruaoinnsmtsdyer 66r0ebcBoaCGErttdrEleeeaedrbklneiceatiwsvttyae-lesntates

c.700inBsCcErEipatErilotirenusssticnan Abrecghicna.s7ic0inP0eGBrCriEeoedce dest6ro8ky9ineBgdC,EbSByeaAnbsnysalycorhniaenrib 681 BACEssSyernianaaanscdbsheEaecssroirimnbhaaeotdsfeddrounler 6E71saBrCthhE aeAdsEdsgoyynrpiatcinaapnkMticunaergpmeistpahl is c.67in0tBrCoEduIrcoend-winotorkEinggypTta6h6a9rBqCaErPehoacMcroeuamphiepshis 663ThBeCEbeAessmsipnyrirEigeagrnerysepaatts;ecatshchtekeesixrittesnt c.660 BCEofiJfrimJsatmpeamun,ptiehsreboorrn 65c2aBspCaiEtcakCLlyeiSmddaiambrndyeitrshiaens

44

42

650–601 BCE

A lion frieze from the Processional Way in Babylon, which was built around 600BCE and ran
through the heart of the city to the Ishtar Gate.

PHRYGIA URARTU THE ASSYRIANS HAD FINALLY to them and the Scythian King 600BCE. New cities were in the 8th century BCE. The
LYDIA MEDES CONQUERED BABYLON in 691BCE, Bartatua was even sufficiently established as far west as Spain, hereditary monarchy was
Carchemish Harran Khorsabad partially destroying the city. influential to be given an Assyrian and around the Black Sea coast. replaced by nine “archons”,
Cyprus Reconstruction work began under princess as his wife. The alliance chosen annually. Shortly after a
Nineveh Ashur Esarhaddon (680–669BCE), and by with Assyria survived into the In Greece itself, the city-state of damaging popular uprising by
ASSYRIA 652BCE Babylon had recovered its reign of his son Madyes, but Sparta was establishing its Cylon in 632BCE, Athens received
Medite importance and became the around 615BCE the Scythians dominance in the Peloponnese. A its first law code, drafted by Draco
SeJarreParnHuesOaanETleNyrmIeCIISAARMADEMaLmONascDSuEYsRSEIBARBaNTbAyBloUYnLruOkNIAELUArM centre for a major revolt led by switched sides and played a key defeat by the city-state of Argos, in 621BCE. The Draconian law
EGYPT JUDAH Shamash-shuma-ukin against his role in Assyria’s destruction. in 669BCE, was followed by was later known for the severity of
younger brother Ashurbanipal. It Their Median subjects soon turned military reforms and victory the punishments it prescribed.
MOAB took four years of war to on them and around 590BCE the against the Messenians (660–
suppress the Babylonians and Scythians retreated north. 650BCE). By 600BCE, Sparta had To the south of Egypt the state
Memphis their Elamite allies, and the conquered almost all the of Napata became a power of the
fighting drained Assyria’s ability to In the Greek world, there was a southern Peloponnese and first order, conquering Egypt
The Assyrian Empire hold on to its empire. By 630BCE, growing movement to establish established a stratified social under Piankhy (751–716BCE) and
From its core around Assur and Assyria had lost Egypt and colonies in the Mediterranean. system. controlling it under after the death
Nineveh, the Assyrian empire grew to Palestine, and in 626BCE the Among the earliest were in Italy, of Taharqa (690–664BCE).
encompass Babylonia, Media, Elam, Babylonians regained their including Syracuse, founded Sparta’s future rival, Athens,
Urartu, Syria, and Egypt. independence. By 616BCE around 733BCE. In North Africa, gradually united the area stylized
Babylon was strong enough to Greek settlers founded Cyrene (in surrounding Attica under its rule body
led the war against neighbouring invade Assyria, aided by the Libya) in about 630BCE, and
Alba Longa, which ultimately led Medes (whose base was in Massilia (Marseilles) around Scythian stag
to that city’s destruction and the northwestern Iran). In 612BCE The flowing lines and realistic
deportation of its population to the Babylonians, Medes, depiction of the stag’s muscled
Rome, in the first major Roman and Scythians sacked flanks in this late 7th century shield
expansion. The fourth king, the Assyrian capital of ornament are typical of the art
Ancus Marcius (641–617BCE), Nineveh. The of the Scythians.
expanded Roman territory towards Assyrian empire
the coast, and founded Rome’s crumbled.
great port of Ostia at the mouth of A remnant of the
the Tiber. His successor, Assyrian army
Tarquinius Priscus (616–578BCE) regrouped and
was the fifth king of Rome and one established a small
of the city’s greatest kings. He kingdom around Harran,
came from an Etruscan but by 609BCE this, too,
background, a sign of the high had fallen.
level of Etruscan influence over
the early city of Rome. Tarquinius The Scythians
Priscus won a series of victories formed part of a
over the Sabines, the Latins, culture of nomadic
and the Etruscans, who all horsemen which held
competed with Rome for a large territory on the
dominance over central Italy. He is steppes north of the
also said to have established the Caucasus from around
public games in Rome. 800BCE. In 652BCE they
forced the Medes to submit

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45

43

600–551 BCE 550–501 BCE

A medieval view of the city of Jerusalem, which was captured by the Babylonians in 597BCE. It was taken again, Central Asia became a stronghold of Buddhist beliefs. These cave paintings
and largely destroyed, 10 years later. After both sieges many of its inhabitants were deported to Babylon. at Dunhuang in China illustrate a variety of Buddhist parables.

HAVING HELPED DESTROY THE Under the last Median king, The powerful city-state of Athens CYRUS, RULER OF THE SMALL Darius the Great
ASSYRIAN EMPIRE, Nabopolassar Astyages (r.584–549BCE), Median experienced reforms under Solon KINGDOM OF PERSIS (also called King Darius is shown enthroned and
(r.626–605BCE , first king of the armies campaigned in Azerbaijan about 600BCE, notably a law code Pars) in the west of Persia (Iran), bearing symbols of power in this
neo-Babylonian dynasty, and controlled land as far west as that protected the property rights revolted against his Median frieze. His son Xerxes succeeded him.
embellished the city of Babylon. Lydia (Turkey). But by the 550sBCE, of the poor, forbade debt-slavery, overlords in 559BCE. By 550BCE
His son Nebuchadnezzar (r.605– Media was under pressure from and moderated the more extreme he had conquered the Median Cambyses died in 522 BCE and
562BCE) defeated the Egyptians in the Babylonians to the south and parts of the Draconian laws capital of Ecbatana and after the brief rebellion of Bardiya,
605BCE, repaired Babylon’s main the new power of Persia. (see 650-601). Around 560BCE, overthrown their ruler, King who was either the younger
ziggurat, and ordered the building Pisistratus seized power and began Astyages. Afraid of the increasing brother of Cambyses or someone
of the famous “Hanging Gardens”. The kingdom of Judah had long to rule as a tyrant (dictator). Driven power of Persia, the Lydians impersonating him, Darius, a
The last neo-Babylonian king, acted as a block to Assyrian and out once, he returned in 547BCE under King Croesus opposed Persian noble, took over as king.
Nabonidus (r.556–539BCE), moved Babylonian expansion to the west. and established a stable regime. Cyrus, but he struck west and Widespread revolts broke out,
his royal court to the Arabian In 597BCE, Nebuchadnezzar took in 547BCE, on the River Halys, including in Media, but Darius put
oasis of Tema, but discontent Jerusalem and deposed King The Greek city of Miletus saw the defeated the Lydian army and
rose among the Babylonians Jehoiakim. The king they installed beginnings of philosophical annexed western Asia Minor.
during his reign. in his place, Zedekiah, turned thought from about 600BCE.
against the Babylonians, and in Thales (born c.624BCE) tried In 539BCE Cyrus captured
The Medes of northwest Persia 587BCE there was another siege. to understand the basic nature Babylon, acquiring most of
(Iran), consolidated their kingdom Much of the city was burnt, the of the universe and thought its Mesopotamia and making the
under Cyaxares (r.624–585BCE) Jewish Temple destroyed, and fundamental element was water. Persian Empire the greatest in
and took part in the destruction many of its inhabitants deported the Middle East. Cyrus died in
of the Assyrian Empire in 612BCE. to a life of exile in Babylon. 530BCE while fighting in what
is today Turkmenistan, and was
succeeded by his son Cambyses.

In 526BCE Cambyses sent his
armies south into Egypt. The
Pharaoh Amasis had just died and
his successor Psammetichus III

,, ,,I HAVE FOUGHT 19

BATTLES IN ONE YEAR…
I HAVE WON THEM.

The Behistun inscription of Darius

Lawgiver and reformer was not well established. them all down. He then expanded
This image shows the Greek statesmen and lawgiver Solon teaching. His Cambyses defeated the Egyptian the Persian Empire
reforms began to undermine the power of the aristocracy in Athens. army at Pelusium in 525BCE and by annexing lands in central Asia
then captured the royal capital and on the borders of India from
at Memphis. He installed himself 519 to 515BCE. In India, the
as the pharaoh and then subdued political power had coalesced
south Egypt. Persian rule in around the Mahajapanadas, a
Egypt lasted until 402BCE. group of around 16 powerful

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44

,, ,,EVEN DEATH IS NOT

TO BE FEARED BY ONE
WHO HAS LIVED WISELY

Gautama Siddharta (Buddha), 563–483 BCE

482 Roman aristocrats led by Lucius consuls were elected by the material life. He is known as the Spring and Autumn period. From
Junius Brutus and Lucius popular assembly each year. Buddha (which means the the age of 15 he devoted himself
THE NUMBER Tarquinius Collatinus (the king’s “awakened one” in Sanskrit) and to scholarship, and the political
OF YEARS OF cousin) won over the army and Some time around 530BCE, his followers, who became known philosophy he developed reflects
THE ROMAN barred the gates of the city to Gautama Siddharta, a Hindu as Buddhists, spread his ideas the turbulent times. He taught
REPUBLIC the king, who was deposed. prince of Kapilvastu (now in throughout South Asia and, in the that the righteous man (or junzi)
The coup leaders then Nepal), had a religious revelation late 3rd century CE into China and must have regard to others and
kingdoms. Of these, Magadha established a republic in which and rejected his noble upbringing thence to Korea, Japan, and inflict no unnecessary harm.
was the most important state. supreme authority was held by to embark on a quest for Southeast Asia. His philosophy, as developed
Afterwards, Darius subdued most two magistrates called consuls. “enlightenment”. Six years later by his disciples, taught respect for
of the Greek city-states of Ionia, The power of the consuls was he received it and began to preach Confucius (or Kong Fuzi) was elders and became a cornerstone
before he crossed into Europe in limited by the fact that new a way of moderate asceticism to born around 551BCE, in a period of of the later imperial system.
513 BCE to conquer Thrace. gain release from the suffering of political instability during China’s
CYRUS THE GREAT
In Italy, Servius Tullius (r.578– (r.559–539 BCE) Persian elite
534), the sixth king of Rome and These archers from the palace of Darius at Susa were the elite of the Persian army, which
said to be a former slave, had Little is known about the included representatives from provinces as far off as Ethiopia and Afghanistan.
succeeded Tarquinius Priscus in early life of Cyrus. He was
578BCE. During his reign he the ruler of the kingdom of
implemented important reforms, Pars when he led a revolt
fixing the formal boundaries of against his Median overlord
the city by dividing the Romans Astyages. By defeating
into four “tribes”, a system that Astyages, Cyrus became king
would be extended as Roman of the Medes. He then
territory grew, and also into continued to expand Persian
classes that were graded by influence with the conquest
wealth. The population was of Lydia. Cyrus adapted local
divided by what equipment they ideas about kingship to cast
could afford and what role they himself as an ideal ruler in
played in the Roman army. The the cities he conquered.
wealthiest class fought as cavalry, Cyrus died in 539BCE.
the higher classes as heavy
infantry, and the poor as light
auxiliary troops.The votes of the
richer classes carried much
greater weight in the popular
assembly. The last king of Rome,
Tarquinius Superbus (r.534–
509BCE) was an Etruscan.
Concerned at the growing
tyranny of his rule, a group of

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Bimt5o4bri0suBalCerEaMKsaitnaggratdsha 5J3e8rBeuCxsEilaCeldeyrmJuesawtnooscdrcinpeuetpBuriarmenbsiythlsoonme534 BCETaRrcoqomumiene’issulstaoSsttu5hpk3eei0notrBhgbnCr,uEcosCanmyerpuasigMisnakasigsllaaeigdnesttae 521 BCEDAafrteiuPrsecIrivsciiolamwn eathsrr,too5n2eb0SuBuiClpdEeiTnragbruqthsueibneCiiugansipnRistooml e 515 BrCoEyDaSalurrsieuaEss,liatdbhmeueniitlfcedoerscmaatpeirtal 4 7e5x1pA0etlBhCPeEinsAsilscwtmritaahtSeihdpoesanlrifpdtraosfnrmokming es5tag0bo7lviBseChrEneCsmledeiensmtthionecnSAreuatshptieec5nr0bs4usBCtErRiTeoasmrqtoeu,irnbeiutuatskfaeils

45

swept-forward snake-haired
cheek piece Medusa figure

Medusa antefix

DATE UNKNOWN

This terracotta antefix
– an ornament placed at
the cornice of buildings
or at roof eaves – is in
the form of Medusa,
the mythical creature
whose gaze turned
people to stone.

leaf-shaped blade

Corinthian helmet Spearhead
600–500 BCE 600–400 BCE
The Corinthian helmet, made Greek hoplites (armed
from a single bronze sheet, was infantry soldiers) carried
the most common type in Greece, a large thrusting spear,
from around 750–300 BCE. of which this is the tip.

ANCIENT GREECE Aphrodite,
the goddess
FROM THE FUNCTIONAL TO THE DECORATIVE, THE GREEKS PRODUCED ART OF GREAT BEAUTY of love

While the Greeks created magnificent monumental art, smaller fastening Bronze mirror
items such as jewellery, musical instruments, weaponry, and chain 490–460 BCE
vases show the Greek love of intricate forms and decorative This mirror is richly
adornment throughout all periods of their history. adorned with an image
of Aphrodite flanked
Greek art underwent a series of phases that were reflected in all aspects by cupids.
of artistic production, but particularly on vases. In the Geometric phase
(c.850–700 BCE), decoration was mainly composed of geometric forms, Gold earrings
replaced in the Orientalizing phase (c.700–600 BCE) with floral and 420–400 BCE
animal themes, followed by the more naturalistic representations These delicate gold filigree
of the Classical phase (from 600 BCE). earrings depict boats containing
sirens, mythical creatures
silver mouthpiece Bronze cymbals Mirror lid and fibula whose beautiful voices lured
500–400 BCE 420–400 BCE unwary seafarers to their doom.
Greek cymbals are bell- or This silver fibula (brooch) and
cup-shaped, and are often chain may have fastened together Gold brooch
a cloak. The ornate mirror-back 650–600 BCE
depicted on vases being shows Aphrodite with the This hawk-shaped brooch dates
held by fauns or satyrs, half-goat god Pan. from a period in which Oriental
or by women in (and particularly Egyptian)
Bacchanalian revels. finger hole influences were strong in Greece.

cup-shaped form

Aulos
400 BCE
This wind instrument was
originally a double one (one
wooden pipe has been lost),
played through a reed.

48 2169//0055//22001111 1140::3432

46

004488--004499__CCoollll__AAnncciieenntt__GGrreeeeccee22..iinndddd 4488

Ostrakon retrograde
c.475–470 BCE (right-to-left)
In Athens, influential politicians could be
ostracized (exiled) by public vote. The name inscription
of the politician each voter wished to be
banished was inscribed on a piece of pottery. Discus
600–500 BCE
Boeotian horse and rider figurine Boeotian figurine This fine bronze discus belonged
550 BCE 400–200 BCE to an athlete called Exoidas. After
The depiction of this horse and This terracotta figurine of a he won a victory in a sporting contest
rider has an archaic feel about it, woman holding a jar comes using it, he dedicated the discus
in contrast to the production of from Boeotia, where a tradition to the gods Castor and Pollux.
Boeotian terracotta workshops of such sculptures began as
over 200 years later (see right). early as the 8th century BCE. Attic askos
425–400 BCE
lotus and The askos was a type of vessel for
honeysuckle pouring liquids such as oil, shaped
in the form of a traditional wine sack.
pattern The design is in the red-figure style
that became popular around 530 BCE.

Attic skyphos Apulian pyxis
525–500 BCE 500–400 BCE
This drinking vessel shows a A pyxis was often used for storing
couple at their wedding standing small items of jewellery and
in a chariot. The vase is painted cosmetics. This south-Italian example
in the black-figure style. is decorated with geometrical shapes.

checker-board
pattern

hero Hercules carrying double band cylindrical
Erymanthean boar of meanders neck
lotus bud
pattern top of foot and Epichysis
lower base 375–340 BCE
Athenian amphora The long-spouted epichysis was a vessel
540–530 BCE painted black used for pouring wine. This south-Italian
An amphora was a type of vessel used vase has its base decorated with a pattern
for storing wine. This one is decorated Attic lekythos of white chevrons.
using the black-figure technique, which 480–470 BCE
pre-dates the red-figure method. Greek vases were often painted with 49
mythological scenes. This black-
004488--004499__CCoollll__AAnncciieenntt__GGrreeeeccee22..iinndddd 4499 figure vase shows the goddess 47
Athena beating a giant to his knees.
2169//0055//22001111 1140::34

500–491 BCE 490–476 BCE
,,
THIS IS GOOD NEWS … IF THE
PERSIANS HIDE THE SUN, WE SHALL

,,DO BATTLE IN THE SHADE.

Herodotus, ancient Greek historian, quoting words attributed to Dieneces, a Spartan, on being told that the Persian
archers shot so many arrows they would conceal the Sun; from Histories

This 19th-century painting shows the Spartan king Leonidas I (centre, facing) and his men at the Battle of
Thermopylae in 480BCE. Thermopylae became a byword for heroic defiance against overwhelming odds.

THE KINGDOM OF MAGADHA manoeuvres to weaken each before seizing Eretria, which had
emerged as an important state in other, periodically interrupted aided the Ionians in 499 BCE.
northern India under the rule of by outbreaks of war. Although the Athenians appealed
Bimbisara (r.543–491BCE), friend to Sparta for aid, the only help
and protector of Gautama Buddha In 490 BCE, Darius I (548–486 BCE) they received came from Plataea,
(c.563–c.486BCE), who founded of Persia decided to take revenge which sent 1,000 reinforcements.
Buddhism (see 550–501 BCE). on the mainland Greeks for their The Athenians opted to march
Bimbisara’s son Ajatashastru support of the Ionian revolt. out to meet the Persians rather
(r.491–461BCE) strengthened the Darius despatched a huge naval than wait for a siege, on the
royal capital at Rajagirha and built expedition under Artaphernes advice of their general, Miltiades
a centre at Pataligrama on the and Datis, which sailed from (550–489 BCE). In 490 BCE at
Ganges, which later became Cilicia, landing first at Naxos
Plebeians withdraw from Rome Pataliputra, the Mauryan royal
The departure of the plebeians (on the left in this engraving) threatened to capital By conquering Kosala Persian winged-lion rhyton
split Rome irreparably, so the patricians (right) ceded some political power. and Kashi, and annexing the Vrijji The Persian Empire enjoyed
confederacy, Ajatashastru turned vast wealth, as illustrated by
THE GREEK CITY STATES OF IONIA uprising against the Persians. Magadha into the dominant everyday items such as this
in western Anatolia had been Sparta rejected his pleas, but only power on the Ganges Plain. golden drinking vessel. They
subjects of the Persian Empire Athens and Eretria sent forces. A directed huge resources towards
since Cyrus conquered Lydia, their failed attack on Sardis led the In China, the political system of the conquest of Greece.
previous overlord, in 547BCE (see Athenian forces to return home. the Spring and Autumn period
550–501BCE). In 499BCE, The Ionians gradually lost ground evolved into the Warring States
Aristagoras, the ruler of Miletus, to a Persian land offensive from period (481–221BCE), in which
set out to mainland Greece to 497BCE. The fall of Miletus to the seven main states engaged in
recruit allies for a planned Persians that year and the death a constant round of diplomatic
of Aristagoras undermined Ionian
600 unity and, after a great naval 7
defeat at the Battle of Lade in
PERSIA 494BCE, the revolt fell apart. THE NUMBER
OF WARRING
353 In Italy, the young Roman STATES
IONIA Republic was rocked by social
dissent in 494BCE when the animals were
The Battle of Lade plebeians (the lower social often the
The Ionian Greek navy fought hard at groups) withdrew from Rome en
Lade, but the pre-arranged defection masse in protest at their inspiration for a
of the Samians to the Persians led to treatment by the patricians (the rhyton’s shape
its utter defeat. higher social groups); they
threatened to set up an alternative
state. They were persuaded back
only by official recognition of their
own representatives (tribunes).

c.5b0ut0ihldeBiCnPEgeDrPaseriairunsseRpIoobyleaigsliRancnso.d5ared0Ga0crABehCfaerEtsicILrSaoa,onktuehwtsehoerrNeakogsiknitogAcnusoilatfuAarcnfer.d5itflch0aoe0;uPBirnCuisErhaTenhsaesMcoahmapbohsaer4da9titan4h laeBIennCaptdEdrdliieWasbbutietonhiaecdnsrresaoawfitnitaohRlneooopmffleethbes c.4m9ha0rawBivnCeeeEssrCtaHacilroaetandhsnaftoagoriinfsdiAasofnawriidncattohe 48r6ePvBoCeElrtsEaiaggnyapirntuisaletns48(b5.hB5iC5sE0sD)oaannriXduesisrIxsoeufscPceeresdieaddbieys 48b3eoBgnCinnEtehAMtwoetohbspueiurnlnvoitleicdaLrenaaemsudflrisneiueoemsft tahte
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050-051_500-451BCE.indd
50 03/05/11 3:16 PM

48

475–451 BCE

Marathon, the Greek hoplite THRACE THE ATHENIANS ENJOYED EARLY
(heavy infantry) formation SUCCESS under the direction of
advanced head-on against a far MACEDONIA Black Sea Cimon (510–450BCE), wresting
Eion on the Strymon river (in
more numerous Persian force to Pella Byzantium Anatolia) from the Persians in
win an unlikely victory. 476BCE and then attacking
THESSALY Abydus MYSIA Carystos on Euboea (which had
Chastened, the Persian submitted to the Persians) in
expeditionary force withdrew from Larissa Aegean 470BCE. An attempt by the island
Greece after Marathon, but in of Naxos to leave the Delian
481BCE Xerxes I (519–465BCE) Artemisium 480 Sea LY D I A Anatolia League around the same time led
despatched another huge Persian Thermopylae 480 Marathon 490 to an Athenian expeditionary force
army, which crossed over the Athens Sardis 498 that powerfully suppressed the
Hellespont (near modern-day Plataea 479 Ephesus breakaway movement. In 469BCE,
Salamis 480 Mycale 479 Athenian forces won a great
Miletus 494 victory over the Persians at the
Peloponnese IONIA River Eurymedon on the south
Sparta coast of Anatolia, establishing
GREECE Athenian supremacy in the Aegean.

Istanbul) and proceeded south The Greco– Mediterranean Rhodes KEY Pericles (c.495–429BCE), the Athenian treasury at Delos
towards Athens. Many northern Sea Athenian statesman largely All members of the Delian League
Greek states chose to submit, Annexed by Persia responsible for making Athens had to deposit funds at treasuries on
but Athens and Sparta patched Persian wars Crete CyprPuesrsian campaigns the political and cultural focus of Delos, but the contribution of Athens
together a league of southern Although the Greece, tried but failed to was the most important.
states. In 480BCE, a heroic defence Persians possessed against Greece prosecute Cimon in 463BCE, on a
of the pass at Thermopylae by vastly superior numbers, the KEY 490–479BCE charge of having neglected a and by 462BCE their last stronghold
the Spartan king Leonidas I, Greek forces were motivated chance to conquer Macedonia. at Ithome had been reduced. Soon
to win crucial land and sea Annexed by Persia Greek victory From this manoeuvre, Pericles’ after, open conflict broke out
engagements. vision and ideas of expansion for between Sparta and Athens and
Persian campaigns Persian victory Athens were already evident. their respective allies. The First
against Greece When the leading figure among Peloponnesian War was
490–479BCE Indecisive battles the democrats, Ephialtes, was inconclusive. It ended in 451BCE
assassinated in 461BCE, Pericles, with a five-year truce, extended in
in which he and all his 10,000 Greek victory his protégé, swiftly took his place. 446BCE to a Thirty Years Peace
between the two sides.
soldiers died, bought time for the victories followed in June 479BCE, PersAiafntevrictthoreyinitial defeats of the Periodically, the Persians had
tried to bribe the Spartans into Meanwhile, the western part of
Athenians to evacuate. The on land at Plataea in Boeotia and IndPeecrissiivaenbsatitnle4s80–479BCE, Athens diversionary attacks on Athens but the Greek world was becoming
initially to little effect. In 464BCE, a increasingly important, marked by
Persians burnt the city, but soon at sea at Mycale off the Ionian sought to formalize the league of revolt of the Messenian Helots the rise of the Sicilian city-state of
(unfree men) in the western Syracuse. Under a series of able
after, under the command of coast. The Greeks then took the anti-Persian allies. A treasury Peloponnese further distracted rulers (tyrants) that began with
the Spartans from any attempt to Gelon (r.485–478BCE) and his
Themistocles (see panel below), offensive, and during 478–477BCE was set up on the island of Delos stem the rising power of the brother Hieron (r.478–467BCE),
Delian League. The Messenians Syracusan forces subdued the
the Athenian fleet inflicted a won a string of victories in Ionia in around 477 BCE. The league’s received little outside assistance, neighbouring city of Acragas and
expanded territory around Catana.
serious defeat on Xerxes’s naval and Cyprus, which reversed most funds were to be deposited here Although Hieron’s younger
brother Thrasybulus was driven
force at Salamis. Further Greek of the Persians’ gains. and regular meetings were to take out in 466BCE, the Syracusans
retained their dominant position
THEMISTOCLES (c.524–460 BCE) place. But this Delian League in Sicily beyond the 450sBCE.
soon became little more than an

Athenian empire, and Sparta and

A clever politician and strategist, its allies refused to take part.

Themistocles persuaded the

Athenians to use the wealth of a ,,

silver mine discovered at ,,THE GREAT
Laurium in 483/2BCE to double
their fleet. However, after the STRUGGLE
naval victory at Salamis, he HAS COME.
became the object of increasing
jealousy from political rivals. In

about 470BCE Themistocles was Herodotus, ancient Greek historian,
ostracized from Athens (exiled quoting Pausanias, the Spartan
by public vote). commander, before the Battle of
Plataea in 479 BCE; from Histories

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050-051_500-451BCE.indd 51
49

450–431 BCE 430–404 BCE

In the late 5th century, the Mexican city of Monte Albán began to build its public
buildings – the ancestors of its later magnificent pyramids, shown here.

IN THE ROMAN REPUBLIC, the two villages. Monte Albán’s centre ATHENS AND SPARTA HAD FOUGHT ,, THE EMPIRE YOU POSSESS
social classes – the patricians and housed large-scale public EACH OTHER BEFORE (see 451BCE). IS BY NOW LIKE A TYRANNY
the plebeians (see 500–491BCE) – buildings – including truncated The Athenian Empire had the
were still divided. The two sides pyramids, great plazas, and naval advantage as it included ,,– PERHAPS WRONG TO
came to an agreement in 451BCE, ballgame courts – as well as most of the island and coastal
appointing a group of ten men elaborate burial tombs. Within states around the northern and ACQUIRE IT, BUT CERTAINLY
(the decemviri) to govern Rome 150 years, the population of eastern shores of the Aegean Sea. DANGEROUS TO LET IT GO.
outside the normal constitution. Monte Albán would swell to Meanwhile, the city-state of Sparta
In 449BCE, the decemviri produced around 17,000, making it the led an alliance of independent Thucydides, ancient Greek historian, relating a speech by Pericles to the
the Laws of the Twelve Tables, largest city in Mesoamerica. states from the Peloponnese and Athenians; from History of the Peloponnesian War, II.63
which formed the basis of all central Greece, as well as Corinth,
Roman law codes. Zapotec figure from Monte Albán and had the strongest army. hostilities in 430BCE began three force at Pylos southwest of
This elaborate ceramic deity is Despite the Thirty Years Peace of years earlier, when Athens had Sparta. Yet neither side could land
Around 450BCE in Central typical of the production of Monte 446BCE, tensions remained high intervened on behalf of Corcyra a fatal blow and in 421BCE they
Europe, a new Celtic culture Albán, which became Mexico’s between Athens and Sparta. The in a dispute with Corinth; the agreed the Peace of Nicias, which
emerged called La Tène, which premier site in the 5th centuryBCE. events that led to renewed Spartans took it as a sign that was supposed to last for 50 years.
Athens had breached the peace.
12supplanted the earlier dominant An attack by Thebes, a Spartan The truce soon began to unravel.
THE NUMBER ally, on Plataea, which supported Corinth refused to recognize its
OF TABLES OF Athens, was similarly taken by authority, a pro-war leadership
ROMAN LAW the Athenians to indicate Sparta emerged in Sparta, and a complex
was fixed on war. Athens, led by set of political manoeuvres by
Pericles, achieved early success in Alcibiades (450–404BCE), the
the Peloponnesian War (431– newly dominant politician in
404BCE). In 426BCE, the Athenians Athens, led to the renewal of the
invaded the Peloponnese, and war in 419BCE. The following year,
the following year landed a large Sparta’s allies won a key victory
at Mantinea. Athens struck back

Halstatt culture. Ruled over by a SOCRATES (469–399 BCE)
warrior aristocracy that buried its
dead with swords, spears, and One of the greatest Greek
funerary chariots, La Tène had philosophers, Socrates served
important centres in Bohemia (in on the Athenian Council in
what is now the Czech Republic) 406BCE, but his challenges to
and around the Marne and conventional morality at a time
Moselle rivers (in modern France). of political uncertainty gained
him powerful enemies. He
In Oaxaca on Mexico’s Pacific refused to mount a conventional
Coast, a new centre arose shortly defence against charges of
before 450BCE at Monte Albán. corrupting the Athenian youth
This proto-city, on a hill top above and was sentenced to die by
the Oaxaca Valley, drew people drinking the poison hemlock.
from the surrounding agricultural

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50 25/05/2011 16:52