|
3100–2700
|
Proto-Elamite cuneiform
|
|
3000–2300
|
Sumerian civilization
|
|
2800
|
Sumerian is first written down (not technically as cuneiform)
|
|
2600
|
Possible date for Gilgamesh as king of Uruk
|
|
2600
|
Sumerian is written using a true cuneiform script
|
|
2500–2000
|
Old Akkadian cuneiform
|
|
2300
|
Elamite cuneiform begins
|
|
2300
|
Akkadian Empire begins under King Sargon
|
|
2200
|
Akkadian Empire collapses
|
|
2000
|
Sumerian ceases as an everyday language
|
|
2000–1600
|
Old Babylonian cuneiform
|
|
2000–1500
|
Old Assyrian cuneiform
|
|
1792–1750
|
Hammurabi is king of Babylon
|
|
1600–1000
|
Middle Babylonian cuneiform
|
|
1500–1000
|
Middle Assyrian cuneiform
|
|
1400
|
Babylonian cuneiform becomes the lingua franca
|
|
1235
|
Assyria sacks Babylon
|
|
1115–1077
|
Tiglath-Pileser I is king of Assyria: first use of clay prisms
|
|
1000–600
|
Neo-Assyrian cuneiform
|
|
1000–600
|
Neo-Babylonian cuneiform
|
|
930
|
Neo-Assyrian Empire begins
|
|
883–859
|
Ashurnasirpal II is king of Assyria and builds a palace at Nimrud
|
|
878
|
Nimrud becomes the capital city of Assyria (moved from Ashur)
|
|
858–824
|
Shalmaneser III is king of Assyria and builds a new palace at Nimrud
|
|
825
|
The Black Obelisk is erected at Nimrud by Shalmaneser III
|
|
800
|
Aramaic language and script begin to spread in Mesopotamia and Persia
|
|
753
|
Mythical foundation of Rome
|
|
713
|
Sargon II of Assyria founds Khorsabad as his capital city (moved from Nimrud)
|
|
704–681
|
Sennacherib is king of Assyria and moves the capital from Khorsabad to Nineveh
|
|
668–627
|
Ashurbanipal is king of Assyria
|
|
612
|
Nineveh is sacked: collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire
|
|
605–562
|
Nebuchadnezzar II is king of Babylon
|
|
600 BC–AD75
|
Late Babylonian cuneiform
|
|
559–530
|
Cyrus the Great is king of Persia and founder of the Achaemenid dynasty
|
|
555–539
|
Nabonidus is king of Babylon
|
|
530–522
|
Cambyses II is king of Persia
|
|
522–486
|
Darius the Great is king of Persia
|
|
520
|
The Bisitun monument is started and Old Persian cuneiform is invented
|
|
486–465
|
Xerxes I is king of Persia
|
|
401
|
Cyrus the Younger is killed at the battle of Cunaxa
|
|
336–331
|
Darius III is king of Persia
|
|
333
|
Alexander the Great of Macedonia defeats Darius III at the battle of Issus
|
|
331
|
Persepolis is destroyed by Alexander the Great
|
|
330
|
Babylon is taken by Alexander the Great
|
|
330
|
Darius III is murdered: end of the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire, which now comes under Macedonian Greek control
|
|
323
|
Alexander the Great dies at Babylon
|
|
238
|
The Parthians (nomads from central Asia) begin to take over the former Persian Empire
|
|
141
|
Seleucia on the Tigris is taken by the Parthians
|
Dates AD
|
75
|
The last known use of cuneiform (at Babylon)
|
|
224
|
Sasanians conquer the Parthian Empire
|
|
240
|
Shapur I becomes the second ruler of the Sasanian Empire
|
|
260
|
The Roman emperor Valerian is captured by the Sasanians
|
|
594–628
|
Khusro II is ruler of the Sasanian Empire
|
|
651
|
The Sasanian Empire falls to the Arabs
|
|
762
|
Baghdad is founded by al-Mansur
|
|
1258
|
Baghdad falls to the Mongols
|
|
1299
|
Beginning of the Ottoman Empire
|
|
1588–1629
|
Shah Abbas I is ruler of Persia
|
|
1600
|
The East India Company is formed
|
|
1602
|
Cuneiform is observed for the first time at Persepolis
|
|
1623
|
Shah Abbas I of Persia captures Baghdad
|
|
1638
|
Baghdad is taken by Murad IV of the Ottoman Empire
|
|
1661
|
Bombay is ceded to Britain by Portugal
|
|
1722
|
Afghans besiege Isfahan
|
|
1789
|
Tehran becomes the capital of Persia
|
|
1792
|
Edward Hincks is born
|
|
1798–1834
|
Fath Ali is Shah of
|
