When is 2000 bce

For the purposes of Pleiades, this period is said to begin in the year and end in the year 30 before the birth of Christ. For the purposes of Pleiades, this period is said to begin in the year 30 before the birth of Christ and to end in the year after the birth of Christ. First century of the common era AD 1 - AD The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization. Oxford University Press. For the purposes of Pleiades, this period is said to begin in the year and to end in the year after the birth of Christ.

Sharing and remixing permitted under terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3. Any community growing and storing grain, surrounded by other groups dependent on gathering food, has a new and urgent need for protection from its neighbours. The tower at Jericho is the world's earliest surviving fortification. As temperatures warm, the sea level rises, submerging the Bering land bridge and isolating the Siberian immigrants as the aboriginal Americans.

The Neolithic period New Stone Age includes any settled human community still using exclusively stone tools. Neolithic communities in eastern Anatolia make implements of hammered copper - the first tentative step out of the Stone Age.

Barley is cultivated in the Middle East. Catal Huyuk, in Anatolia, is the most extensive surviving example of a neolithic town. The neolithic town of Catal Huyuk has rectangular rooms with windows, a design with lasting appeal. The neolithic town of Khirokitia in Cyprus has a paved public street with lanes leading off to courtyards of round tent-like houses. Pottery fragments of this date survive in the neolithic site of Catal Huyuk.

Fragments of cloth, woven in Catal Huyuk, survive because they are carbonized in a fire. The Sahara, damp enough for the hippopotamus, supports neolithic communities until it begins to dry up in about BC.

The first evidence of a loom comes from this period in Egypt, but some simple method of holding the warp must be as old as weaving. Go to weaving in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. Oxen are the first draught animals, in use at this time in the Middle East and in Europe.

In Mesopotamia, and on the grass steppes of southern Russia, oxen are used to pull heavy loads on sledges. A simple hand-held plough is in use in Egypt and Mesopotamia, at least years before a heavier version is pulled by oxen. Beer is brewed in Mesopotamia, where barley is an indigenous crop.

Taro, probably the earliest plant cultivated in Papua New Guinea, has an edible root that needs to be mashed by pestle and mortar. Grapes are cultivated in the region of the Caspian see, where the grape vine Vitis vinifera is indigenous. Copper is extracted from ore by smelting at various sites in Iran. Olives are cultivated in Crete and will provide, in the form of olive oil, one of the main staples of Mediterranean trade. Go to olive in Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World 1 ed. A neolithic herdsman dies near the Brenner Pass and is perfectly preserved in ice - to become, in , by far the earliest human to be glimpsed in his everyday life, clothed and with implements.

Sumer develops as the first centre of Mesopotamian civilization. The llama and the alpaca, two south American members of the camel family, are domesticated. Go to llama in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. Wheels are in use on carts, particularly where wood is easily available and the ground rough - as in the forests of Europe. Go to Ark of the Covenant in World Encyclopedia 1 ed.

Ramses II, perhaps the greatest of Egypt's pharaohs, begins a reign of sixty-six years. An indecisive battle between the Hittites and the Egyptians, at Kadesh, stabilizes the frontier between the two empires. Moses is with the Hebrew tribes in Sinai, after the exodus from Egypt.

Not for the first time, the city of Troy is destroyed - on this occasion probably by Mycenaean Greeks. Go to Yahweh in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. Ramses II creates a spectacular temple in his own honour at Abu Simbel. Mycenae and other states of the Peloponnese are overwhelmed by invading Dorian Greeks.

The Phoenicians develop the war galley, with a sharp battering ram in the bow. Go to galley in The Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance 1 ed.

Phoenician sailors use the pole star for navigational purposes. Go to Pole Star in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. Athens, not reached by the invading Dorians, becomes a surviving outpost of Mycenaean civilization.

Samson is one of many Hebrew chieftains fighting the Philistines for possession of Canaan. The Zhou defeat the Shang, and establish a new dynasty with a capital at Ch'ang-an now Xi'an. Saul, anointed king of Israel by Samuel, establishes himself at Gibeah, just north of Jerusalem. Go to Saul in A Dictionary of the Bible 2 ed.

The Jews write down the Torah, the earliest part of the text subsequently known to Christians as the Old Testament. Go to Torah in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. Petra acquires importance and wealth from its position on caravan routes from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.

The Israelites, settled in Canaan, become the first people in history to decide that their god is the only god. The abacus is used as an everyday method of calculation by Phoenicians and Babylonians. By now the mammoth, the giant bison and the horse are all extinct in America, partly because of the warming climate and partly because of the success of humans with spears. The Israelites are defeated by the Philistines on Mount Gilboa, with Saul and three of his sons dying during or after the battle.

Go to Saul in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. Massive stone heads carved by the Olmecs provide a dramatic beginning to the story of American sculpture. The nomadic fighters of the steppes, nimble on horseback and shooting arrows as they go, pioneer the techniques of cavalry warfare. Tyre and Sidon have by now replaced Byblos as the dominant cities within Phoenicia.

The Olmecs raise large clay platforms, probably with temples at the top, beginning the long American tradition of sacred pyramids. Iron reheated with carbon is found to be much harder, being transformed into steel.

Burial mounds feature in the Ohio valley, built first in the Adena culture and then by Hopewell tribes. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single entry from a reference work in OR for personal use for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice.

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Sign in to annotate. Delete Cancel Save. Cancel Save. Publisher: HistoryWorld. See this event in other timelines: Prehistory Politics Dynasties and royalty Africa North Africa Egypt The Egyptians paint murals on the walls of tombs, designed to help the occupants in the next world Go to Egyptian art in World Encyclopedia 1 ed.

See this event in other timelines: Prehistory Africa North Africa Egypt The invention of writing marks the transition, in academic terms, from prehistory to history Go to writing in A Dictionary of World History 2 ed. See this event in other timelines: Arts Sculpture Europe Greece Wheels are in use on carts, particularly where wood is easily available and the ground rough - as in the forests of Europe Go to wheel in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology 2 ed.

See this event in other timelines: Neolithic Social and domestic Technology Inventions and discoveries Society Slavery arrives as part of the package of civilization, along with armies, public works and social hierarchies Go to slavery in A Dictionary of World History 2 ed.

See this event in other timelines: Social and domestic Europe Society The ass, until now roaming wild from northeast Africa to Mesopotamia, is domesticated in Egypt Go to ass in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. The Chinese discover that the cocoon of a certain worm can be unwound, spun as thread and then woven - thus creating silk Go to silk in World Encyclopedia 1 ed.

Sirius rises in this year on the first day of the first Egyptian month - a rare event which possibly launches the Egyptian calendar system Go to Sothic cycle in A Dictionary of Astronomy 2 rev ed. Imhotep creates the first pyramid - the 'step pyramid' at Saqqara - as a tomb for the pharaoh Djoser Go to Imhotep fl. The Canaanites migrate into the region which will become known by their name, establishing themselves around what is now Jerusalem Go to Canaanites in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology 2 ed.

See this event in other timelines: Neolithic South America The treasures found in the royal cemetery at Ur include a depiction of soldiers in copper helmets, armed with battleaxes Go to Ur in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. See this event in other timelines: Science Social and domestic Technology Inventions and discoveries Asia South Asia India the subcontinent Pakistan Society Some ninety royal servants, including soldiers, grooms and female musicians, are buried alive in the tomb of a royal couple at Ur Go to Ur, Iraq in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology 2 ed.

See this event in other timelines: Religion British Isles Europe Britain To preserve bodies in perpetuity, the Egyptian ruling class develops the elaborate and lengthy process of mummifying an eviscerated corpse Go to mummification in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology 2 ed. See this event in other timelines: Religion Africa North Africa Egypt To ensure continued comfort in the afterlife, rich Egyptians have models placed in their tombs of the necessary servants and utensils Go to shabti in The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 2 ed.

Clay tablets discovered at Ebla reveal a busy trading economy reinforced by aggressive military policies Go to Ebla in The Oxford Classical Dictionary 3 rev ed. Sargon conquers the other Mesopotamian states and establishes a dynasty with a new capital at Akkad, close to modern Baghdad Go to Sargon in The Oxford Companion to World Mythology 1 ed. See this event in other timelines: Politics Dynasties and royalty Africa North Africa Egypt Bantu-speaking tribes begin to spread through Africa, from their original homelands south of the Sahara Go to Bantu in World Encyclopedia 1 ed.

See this event in other timelines: Architecture Science Europe Greece The water buffalo, domesticated somewhere in southeast Asia, features on the seals of the Indus civilization Go to Indus civilization in A Dictionary of World History 2 ed. See this event in other timelines: Europe Greece The Beaker people arrive in Britain, bringing several desirable commodities - including horses, alcohol and bronze Go to Beaker culture in World Encyclopedia 1 ed.

The Neolithic era ends at different times in different places, applying even today to any remote tribe still using stone tools Go to Neolithic in The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 2 ed. Wrestlers are painted on the walls of an Egyptian tomb, performing most of the holds and falls still in use today See this event in other timelines: Arts Painting Sports and games Africa North Africa Egypt Society.

Babylonia or Babylon is a tiny region, about 50 miles across, when Amorites establish there the first Babylonian dynasty Go to Babylon in A Dictionary of World History 2 ed. See this event in other timelines: Assyria and Babylon Commerce and industry Mesopotamia Asia West Asia Iraq Society The Babylonians introduce an important step in the story of arithmetic - the concept of place value in numbers Go to place value notation in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics 4 ed.

A bull-fighting fresco in the palace of Knossos is linked with the island's cult of the bull Go to Knossos culture in A Dictionary of World History 2 ed.

Egyptian tombs include paintings of a kind to help the occupants in the next world, whether in the Book of the Dead or on the walls Go to Egyptian Book of the Dead in The Oxford Companion to the Book 1 ed. Babylon is destroyed by the Hittites, invaders from Anatolia, but re-establishes itself in subsequent centuries Go to Babylon in A Dictionary of World History 2 ed. The eruption of a volcano, on the island of Thera, entombs and preserves houses with frescoes in the Minoan city of Akrotiri Go to Thera in The Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture 1 ed.

See this event in other timelines: Europe Greece The camel, in both its single-humped and double-humped varieties, is domesticated in north Africa and Asia Go to Camels in The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium 1 ed.

See this event in other timelines: Social and domestic Society The Chinese develop a form of scroll, made of strips of bamboo threaded together and rolled up like a wooden blind Go to scroll binding, East Asia in The Oxford Companion to the Book 1 ed.