Historical Events BC 30,000–20,000Blade tools of
bone and antler. Bone fragments with markings.
First sculpture: female figurines. Stone spear points. Body ornaments. Ceramic
articles.
Complex burials with grave offerings.
Pictographs appear suggesting
an early form of visual communication. 20,000–10,000Invention of
eyed needle. Tailored skin clothing. Spear–throwing device.
Stone oil lamps.
Cave paintings. Barbed harpoons. Bow and arrows. Early rope.
First settlers
fom Asia in New World. Six–hole flute. 10,000–5000End of Ice Age. Domestication of
sheep and goats.
Cultivation of wheat and barley. Introduction of pottery Mining of copper. ca.5000Linen produced in Middle East. 4241Earliest date in Egyptian calendar.
3760First year of Jewish calendar. ca.3300Wheeled vehicles, plows, sailboats, potter's wheels, and writing paper
appear. ca.3100 Cuneiform writing
developed by Sumerians in Mesopotamia, now Iraq. ca.3000Baked bread, brewed beer, minted coins, and astronomical observations
appear. 2750Epic of Gilgamesh, King of Uruk. 2680Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) begins Great Pyramid at Giza. 2500Papyrus and bows and arrows introduced. 2258End of Old Kingdom in Egypt. ca.2000Bronze Age in Western Europe. ca.1800Stonehenge, England, active as religious center. ca.1750Code of Hammurabi
in Babylon—the first written legal system. ca.1700Phaistos disc found in Crete and still undeciphered. ca.1500Moses receives Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai. ca.1385Pharaoh Ikhnaton attempts to establish a religion with sun god Aton
as supreme god. ca.1350Tutankhamen becomes ruler of Egypt. ca.1200Troy destroyed during Trojan War. Iron comes into use. ca.1075Collapse of Assyria. ca.1002Saul becomes first king of Israel. ca.1000Phoenicians import tin from Cornwall, England. Camels in common use
in Middle East. ca.850Moabite stone of King Mesa written in early Semitic alphabet. ca.700Cypriotic syllabary written with fifty–six signs representing syllables.
