BC 5000 to the Christian Era

BC

 Events

5000

On the Iranian plateau, a settlement of hunters, gatherers, and potters is established at Siyalk to the south of present-day Tehran, The settlement is ruled by women who also serve as creators of agriculture and repository of knowledge about edible roots. Women also serve as guardians of the fire. Similar settlements exist at Susa, Tepe Hisar, Tepe Gujan, Zuriyeh, and Hasanlu.

The dead are buried under the floor. Shells from the Persian Gulf indicate familiarity with trade while carved bones, hammered objects, stone tools, knife blades, sickle blades, axes, and scrapers bespeak the existence of a rudimentary civilization. Pottery, although coarse, is painted with primitive designs mimicking everyday objects. A primitive textile industry uses stone spindles. PisÈ housing protects them against the elements.

Between 5000 and 2000 BC, to the northeast of Siyalk, agriculture is modeled on the Siyalk and other Middle Eastern settlements. The people of that region are also involved in raising livestock, a practice that continues to play a major role in the economies of present-day Central Asia.

4000

Wheat and barley are bartered for furs and arrows. Communal labor builds houses, cleans the ground, and provides means for irrigation. Use of the horse facilitates transportation and travel while discovery of precious stones leads to the creation of jewelry. Metal and pottery works of the time display realistic designs of ibexes, birds, and boars on bowls, utensils, and jars. Women command armies. Next-of-kin marriage is practiced.

3000

Cylinder seals are used to identify ownership or mark prices. Pottery, produced on the wheel, carries more sophisticated designs, jewelry is refined. Bricks, made in molds, improve housing.

2000

In present-day Central Asia two-wheel chariots come into use and a combination of tin and copper resulting in the production of bronze contributes to the production of new tools and weapons. # Indo-European Scythian, Mede, and Pars tribes invade the plateau through the Caucasus. The Mede settle the region south of the Caspian, assume leadership, and create an empire; the Pars move south to Parsamush.

1400

The settled Andoronovo culture around Lake Issyk Kul leaves a wealth of bronze tools and pottery. Similarly, the settled Chust culture leaves a wealth of cave and rock drawings.

1000

On the Iranian plateau, the newly arrived Indo-European invaders establish a divine (Ahuric) order comprising the king of kings who occupies the uppermost level of the hierarchy, and a group of lower kings who, in turn, are supported by princes, nobles and free men. Similarly, a hierarchy of priests, landowners, craftsmen, peasants, and slaves appears that caters to the spiritual and material needs of the ruling class.

In Central Asia, the discovery and use of iron for making objects changes the way tools and weapons had been made in the past.

800

Classical Greek civilization is established with the city-states at its center and trade and literary and cultural developments as its auxiliaries. The compilation of the Iliad and the Odyssy remains among the major achievements of that era.

700

Between 700 and 100 BC, nomadic Scythians, an Iranian people, invade the regions in present-day southern Russia and establish trade with Greece. They are the first to establish a pastoral culture and a viable political system.

614

Medean chief, Cyaxeres (Uvkhstra), captures Assyrian capital, Nineveh; Parsamush becomes vassal of the Medes.

600

Between 600 and 100 BC, a people known as the Pazyryk lives in the eastern regions of Central Asia. Their culture is similar to that developed on the Iranian plateau except for a very heavy emphasis on the use of wool in textile production. Like the Scythians, the Pazyryk bury their dead under artificial mounds known as kurgans. The possessions of the deceased, including chariots, horses, and necessary household utensils are buried with the body.

559

Cyrus III the Great declares Anshan independent, captures Ecbatana (Medean capital), and incorporates Lydia and Babylonia into the Achaemenian Empire; Jews return to Jerusalem.

556

Cyrus III captures the Median Empire.

546

Cyrus III captures Lydia.

539

Cyrus III overpowers the Babylonian Empire.

530

Ineffectual Cambyses III takes Egypt but is eliminated by a pretender.

525

Darius I captures Egypt.

522

Darius I overthrows Gaumata and assumes kingship. During his first year, he fights nineteen battles and captures nine kings. Babylonia and Egypt are annexed to Persia.

519

The Temple at Jerusalem is rebuilt at Darius's behest; Xerxes I is born.

506

The sedentary Davan culture in the Ferghana Valley flourishes as a politically independent power at a time when neighboring Sughdiana is dominated by the powerful Achaemenan Empire.

499

Darius crushes a revolt by the Greek cities of Asia Minor.

492

Persian wars against the Athenian States begin; Macedonia becomes a vassal state of Persia.

490

Athenians defeat Darius at Marathon.

486

Darius dies. His son, Xerxes I, accedes to the throne.

Darius is a warrior, an administrator, and a builder. He expands the Persian Empire only after he becomes convinced that he rules over a prosperous people. He administers his satrapies through a network of military generals, governors, secretaries, tax collectors, and spies. His palace at Persepolis still stands.

484

Egypt and Babylonia become integral parts of the Empire of the Medes and the Persians.

480

Xerxes defeats the Spartans at Thermapolae but is defeated at Salamis. The Golden Age or the era of rejoicing after Athenian victory begins in Greece.

479

The remaining Persian army left in Greece is defeated by the Greek army.

470

Socrates is born.

465

Xerxes, whose court is suffused with intrigue, is assassinated by his own uncle. His son, Artaxerxes I, becomes king.

450

Herodotus who travels widely in the world of his time knows of the existence of India but not of China.

431

The Pleponnesian War begins and lasts for 26 years.

429

The last philosopher statesman, Pericles, passes away.

427

Plato is born.

424

Darius II becomes king.

415

The Athenian fleet is destroyed by Syracuse.

404

Artaxerxes II becomes king; the Pleoponnesian war comes to an end.

401

Xenophon leads Greek mercenaries east to help Cyrus against his brother Artaxerxes; but Artaxerxes defeats Cyrus at Cunaxa.

400

Xenophon leads ten thousand Greeks home, safely, from Cunaxa.

399

Socrates is tried and executed; democratic rule is reinstalled in Athens.

384

Aristotle is born.

359

Between 359 and 336 BC, Philip II of Macedonia defeats the Greek city-states.

358

Artaxerxes III becomes king.

347

Palto passes away.

338

Philip of Macedon plans invasion of Persia. Alexander learns the art of war from Phillip II and the finer art of building cultures from Aristotle; Philip II forms the League of Greek States.

336

Philip II is murdered. Alexander III succeeds him to the throne of Macedonia.

335

Aristotle opens the Lyceum.

334

Alexander defeats the Persians at Granicus.

333

Alexander defeats the Persians at Issus.

331

Alexander captures Egypt, defeats the Persians at Gaugamela, and occupies Persepolis.

330

Satrap of Bactria, Bessus, assassinates Darius III at Damghan. Achaemenian Empire ends.

328

Alexander captures Sughdiana and Bactria.

326

Alexander defeats Porus, the king of India, south of Bucephalus.

323

Alexander dies in Babylon. He intended to unite the Greeks and the Persians and inaugurate a new era of trade, enhancement of civilizations, and commonalty of cultures.

322

Aristotle passes away.

312

Selecus I takes Babylon, builds Seleucia.

305

Seleucus Nikator, Alexander's successor in the lands in the east, is defeated by Chandragupta Maurya and cedes extensive territories, including present-day Afghanistan to India.

300

Between 300 and 200 BC, the Scythians are displaced by the Wu-Sun, a people of Turko-Mongol origins.

261

Asoka adopts Buddhism as state religion.

250

Bactria and Parthia declare independence from Seleucid rule.

250

The city of Balkh in present-day Afghanistan becomes the center of the breakaway kingdom of Bactria.

246

Ptolomy III occupies Mesopotamia.

220

Several Seleucid provinces are captured by the Parthians.

217

Antiochus III reestablishes Seleucid rule over Bactria and Parthia.

209

Antiochus III of Seleucia defeats the Parthians and stems the tide of Greco-Bactrian expansion.

200

Epics about India's gods and heroes, the Mahabharata and Ramayana are written.

200

Between 200 and 300 BC, the Wall of China, a fortification of more than 1,000 miles in length, is built to keep foreign invaders in the north from entering China.

197

Romans defeat the Macedonians at Thessaly.

190

Antiochus III is defeated by Rome at Magnesia, Lydia.

175

Antiochus IV becomes king.

171

Mithridates I wins Parthia its independence.

168

Jews rebel against Antiochus IV under Maccabees.

160

The pastoral, nomadic Wu-Sun settle in what is present-day eastern Kazakhstan and eastern Kyrgyzstan.

150

Mithridates I incorporates Media and Mesopotamia into Parthian Empire.

141

Between 150 and 141, Parthians control over Mesopotamia is complete.

139

Parthians capture Demetrius.

138

Mithridates I dies.

135

Nomadic Iranian Saka raid Iranian provinces.

129

The capital city of Ctesiphon is built.

128

Scythians takeover the kingdom of Bactria.

108

The city of Neapolis, the capital of the Scythians, is invaded by the Greeks and burnt down. Scythia, the land of the people known for their reverence of the horse, consumption of kumis, and specific rituals related to the cult of fire is divided among neighboring tribes.

104

The first Chinese attempt to defeat the Davan fails.

101

The second Chinese attempt to defeat the Davan fails.

95

Parthians kill Antiochus VII and install Tigranes as king of Armenia; in the east, Parthia overcomes the Saka, adding some of the Sakian warriors to their own army.

87

The Yueh-Chih force the Scythians to settle in southwestern Afghanistan.

70

Armenia at its peak under Tigranes.

64

Pompey imprisons Tigranes; annexes Syria and Judea to Rome.

56

First split of the Hsiung-nu empire into eastern and western branches.

53

Orodes I becomes Emperor of Iran; Parthians defeat Crasus at Carrhae, capture Syria and Judea and invade Asia Minor. Ventidius restores lost eastern provinces to Rome.

44

Murder of Caesar.

31

The Battle of Actium.

20

On 12 May, Agustus, Rome's first Emperor, regains Armenia and Transcaucasia. Parthians return the Roman standards captured at Carrhae.

2

Phraates, the Parthian king, is poisoned opening the way for the kingship of Phraataces.

0

Christian era begins.