istoryworld
All Events
The Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh is known in its complete form from texts in the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh
Ashurbanipal commissions a magnificent relief of a lion hunt for his new palace at Nineveh
The Areopagus, named from the hill on Athens where it meets, is the council through which the nobles keep power in their own hands
Hereditary aristocrats hold nearly all political power and own most of the land in Attica
The Babylonians defeat an Egyptian army at Carchemish, but do not press on into Egypt
Nebuchadnezzar comes to the throne of Babylon, beginning a prosperous reign of more than forty years
The choros, originally danced in a circle by temple virgins, is the centrepiece of the developing Greek theatre
An Olmec sculptor creates the piece known today as the Wrestler
Frenzied dances, in honour of the god Dionysus, become part of Greek theatre - deriving probably from the northeast, in Thrace
Isis, who is able to restore her husband Osiris after he has been chopped into pieces, becomes one of the most popular deities in Egypt
Phoenicians sail round the Cape of Good Hope and bring back the surprising news that the sun was seen to the north of them
The swirling decorative arts arts lines of Celtic metalwork at Hallstatt begin a tradition which lives on in illuminated manuscripts and stone Celtic crosses
The poems of the Shi Jing, China's earliest work of literature, are gathered together
The free smallholding peasants of Attica fall increasingly into debt, compelled to pay a sixth of all their produce to a creditor
Hindu hermits live in groups described as ashramas
Solon is elected archon in Athens, immediately cancelling the debts of the peasants of Attica and making it illegal to enslave a debtor
Solon makes every Athenian citizen a member of the ecclesia, responsible for the election of archons, thus laying the first cornerstone of Athenian democracy
After a long siege Jerusalem is taken by Nebuchadnezzar and the city, including Solomon's Temple, is destroyed
The Jews, taken into captivity in Babylon, form the first community of the Diaspora
Thales of Miletus, traditionally the first philosopher, is credited with the prediction of a solar eclipse
The Babylonian king Nebuchadrezzar II begins a siege of Tyre which lasts for thirteen years before the city capitulates
Nebuchadnezzar builds the hanging gardens of Babylon, supposedly to comfort a homesick wife
The synagogue, as a simple place of Jewish worship, develops during the Babylonian captivity
The Iranian prophet Zoroaster teaches that there is one god, Ahura Mazda
