istoryworld
All Events
Upper and Lower Egypt are unified into a single kingdom, inaugurating the first Egyptian dynasty
The Egyptians paint murals on the walls of tombs, designed to help the occupants in the next world
Writing is developed, at Sumer, as cuneiform script on clay tablets
The Egyptian hieroglyphic script develops at much the same time as the Sumerian cuneiform
The invention of writing marks the transition, in academic terms, from prehistory to history
The pharaoh Narmer celebrates a victory with a sculpted relief showing his personal dominance over the enemy
An easily portable writing surface is developed, from the papyrus plant of the Nile
The lever is in use in both Mesopotamia and Egypt
The llama and the alpaca, two south American members of the camel family, are domesticated
The sculptors of the Cyclades produce stylized and formal figures, mainly female, in white marble
Wheels are in use on carts, particularly where wood is easily available and the ground rough - as in the forests of Europe
Slavery arrives as part of the package of civlization, along with armies, public works and social hierarchies
Complex societies, with sophisticated temple architecture, develop at sites such as Aspero and Caral in the Norte Chico region of Peru
On the steppes of central Asia tribesmen tame, breed and eventually ride horses
Oxen are given the heavy work of pulling the plough, previously done by men
Potters in Mesopotamia turn their pots on wheels
The people known as Phoenicians are in the region of modern Lebanon from around this date
Semitic tribes move up from the Arabian peninsula, through Sinai into Palestine and Syria
The language of a single tribe in eastern Europe, as recently as 3000 BC, is the ancestor of all modern Indo-European languages
The ass, until now roaming wild from northeast Africa to Mesopotamia, is domesticated in Egypt
The earliest known currency, consisting of gold bars, is in use in Egypt and Mespotamia
Numbers are written in Egyptian records using the decimal system, on the same principle as that used much later in Rome
The world's earliest known board game, senet, is played in Egypt
The Chinese discover that the cocoon of a certain worm can be unwound, spun as thread and then woven - thus creating silk
Objects are cast in bronze, at Ur in Mesopotamia - introducing what is later called the Bronze Age
