Topic

Civilizations & archaeology

States, empires, cities, cultures and the archaeology of the ancient world.

Chronyas lists 14,726 events in this topic. These are among the most notable, grouped by era.

Human prehistory

from about 12,000 years ago to 7th millennium BCEConstruction of Göbekli Tepe
c. 9,501 BCEBuilders raise the first monumental temple at Gobekli Tepe
from 10th millennium BCE to 3rd millennium BCENeolithic revolution
from 10th millennium BCE to 3rd millennium BCENeolithic
from 76th century BCE to 25th century BCEChalcolithic
from c. 7,500 BCE to 5,700 BCEConstruction of Çatalhöyük
from c. 7,101 BCE to 5,701 BCECatalhoyuk grows into a large Neolithic town
from c. 7,000 BCE to 2,600 BCEOrigins of Mehrgarh
from 5th millennium BCE to 1st millennium BCEAncient Egypt
34th century BCEWriting is invented in Mesopotamia
from c. 3,300 BCE to 1,100 BCEMinoan civilization
from 4th millennium BCE to 1st millenniumAncient history

Ancient civilizations

from 31st century BCE to 14th century BCEConstruction of Stonehenge
from c. 2,601 BCE to 1,901 BCEThe Indus Valley cities reach maturity
c. 2,560 BCEConstruction of Great Pyramid of Giza
from c. 2,500 BCE to 64 BCEPhoenicia
from c. 2,025 BCE to 609 BCEAssyrian Empire
c. 1,900 BCEConstruction of Karnak Temple Complex
from c. 1,550 BCE to 1,070 BCEEgyptian Empire
from 16th century BCE to 5th century BCEVedic period
from c. 1,400 BCE to 1,301 BCE14th century BC
c. 1,274 BCEConstruction of Abu Simbel
13th century BCEAncient Celts
c. 1,200 BCEIron Age
c. 1,051 BCEThe Phoenician alphabet spreads
from c. 996 BCE to 586 BCEConstruction of Solomon's Temple
10th century BCEFounding of Arezzo
from c. 808 BCE to 167 BCEMacedonia
9th century BCEConstruction of Roman Forum
from 8th century BCE to 3rd centuryClassical antiquity
from c. 771 BCE to 476 BCESpring and Autumn period
c. 754 BCERomulus founds Rome (traditional date)
from c. 753 BCE to 476 CEAncient Rome
c. 700s BCEConstruction of Great Wall of China
7th century BCEConstruction of Hanging Gardens of Babylon
600 BCEFounding of Milan
550 BCEFounding of Verona
from 550 BCE to 330 BCEAchaemenid Empire
from 509 BCE to 27 BCERoman Republic
6th century BCEConstruction of Parthenon
from 476 BCE to 221 BCEWarring States period
from 387 BCE to 529 CEConstruction of Platonic Academy
from 351 BCE to 1494Construction of Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
from 323 BCE to 30 BCEHellenistic period
323 BCEConstruction of Temple of Ephesian Artemis
from 312 BCE to 63 BCESeleucid Empire
from 305 BCE to 30 BCEPtolemaic dynasty
from 279 BCE to 1480Construction of Lighthouse of Alexandria
248 BCEConstruction of Terracotta Army
from 247 BCE to 224 CEParthian Empire
from 206 BCE to 220 CEHan dynasty
3rd century BCEConstruction of Ajanta Caves
200 BCEOrigins of Nazca Lines
from January 27 BCE to January 395 CERoman Empire
19 BCEConstruction of Western Wall
from 18 BCE to 660 CEThree Kingdoms of Korea
80 CEThe Colosseum is inaugurated
81 CEConstruction of Colosseum
117 CEThe Roman Empire reaches its greatest extent
122 CEConstruction of Hadrian's Wall
122 CEConstruction of Hadrian's Wall begins
2nd centuryConstruction of Pantheon
from 220 CE to 280 CEThree Kingdoms
from 224 CE to 651 CESasanian Empire
from 285 CE to 1453Byzantine Empire
from 320 CE to 550 CEGupta Empire
11 May 330 CEConstantine dedicates Constantinople
335 CEConstruction of Church of the Holy Sepulchre
from 375 CE to 568 CEMigration Period
25 March 421 CEFounding of Venice
from 476 CE to 1492Middle Ages
from 476 CE to 900 CEEarly Middle Ages

Medieval world

537 CEConstruction of Hagia Sophia
593 CEConstruction of Itsukushima Shrine
from 618 CE to 907 CETang dynasty
622 CEConstruction of Prophet's Mosque
637 CEConstruction of Potala Palace
670 CEConstruction of Kairouan
691 CEConstruction of Dome of the Rock
706 CEConstruction of Umayyad Mosque
710 CEConstruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque
from 750 CE to 1258Abbasid Caliphate
778 CEConstruction of Kiyomizu-dera
from 794 CE to 1185Heian period
8th centuryConstruction of Borobudur Temple
from 800 CE to 1258Islamic Golden Age
9th centuryConstruction of Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
802 CEConstruction of Angkor Wat
850 CEConstruction of Prambanan Temple
9th centuryConstruction of Prague Castle
from 2 February 962 CE to 6 August 1806Holy Roman Empire
990 CEConstruction of Château de Montsoreau
from 11th century to 18th centuryHouse of Habsburg
1031Construction of Krak des Chevaliers
1066Construction of Tower of London
1070Construction of Windsor Castle
11th centuryRise of House of Hohenzollern
from c. 1113 to 1150Suryavarman II builds Angkor Wat
from 1126 to 1485House of Plantagenet
1193Origins of Chernobyl
1194Construction of Minaret of Jam
from 1206 to 1368Mongol Empire
1220Construction of Notre-Dame de Chartres
1239Construction of Alhambra
1270Rise of House of Valois
from 1271 to 1368Yuan dynasty
1272Rise of House of Bourbon
8 September 1296Construction of Florence Cathedral
from 29 July 1299 to 17 November 1922Ottoman Empire
1342Construction of Palace of Westminster
1346Construction of Himeji Castle
from 1368 to 1644Ming dynasty
from 1370 to 1789Construction of Bastille
1371Rise of House of Stuart
1373Construction of Leaning Tower of Pisa
1386Construction of Heidelberg University
1386Construction of Milan Cathedral
1417Construction of Tiananmen Square
1420Construction of Kremlin
from 1438 to 1533Inca Empire
1460Construction of Topkapı Palace
1473Construction of Sistine Chapel
from 22 August 1485 to 24 March 1603House of Tudor
1492European colonization of the Americas

Early modern world

from 15th century to 18th centuryAge of Discovery
c. 1500Modern period
from 15th century to 18th centuryEarly modern period
from 1501 to 1736Safavid dynasty
from 1520 to 1600Mannerism
from 1525 to 1947Prussia
from 1526 to 1857Mughal Empire
from 1543 to 1687Scientific Revolution
from 11 June 1569 to 24 October 1795Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
from c. 1583 to 1997British Empire
from 16th century to 18th centuryBaroque
from 1603 to 1868Edo period
from 1613 to 1762House of Romanov
from 1616 to 1912Qing dynasty
1623Founding of Barbados
June 1644The Manchus take Beijing and found Qing rule
from 22 October 1721 to 1 September 1917Russian Empire
1748Excavations begin at Pompeii

Industrial era

from 1760 to 1820Industrial Revolution
from 1785 to 1925Qajar dynasty
from 2 September 1793 to 28 July 1794Reign of Terror
15 July 1799The Rosetta Stone is found
from 18 May 1804 to 7 July 1815First French Empire
from 11 August 1804 to 8 June 1867Austrian Empire
from 1815 to 1871Unification of Italy
16 March 1815Founding of Kingdom of the Netherlands
27 September 1822Champollion deciphers the hieroglyphs
1831Discovery of Lewis chessmen
from 1837 to 1901Victorian era
3 May 1841Founding of New Zealand
from 1858 to 1947British Raj
from 1 March 1867 to 28 October 1918Austria–Hungary
from 23 October 1868 to 30 July 1912Meiji era
from 1 January 1871 to 9 November 1918German Empire
October 1871Schliemann begins digging at Hisarlik
1879Altamira cave paintings are discovered
1899Oracle bones reveal early Chinese writing
17 December 1907Founding of Bhutan
7 August 1908Discovery of Venus of Willendorf
24 July 1911Hiram Bingham reaches Machu Picchu

Modern era

17 July 1917Rise of House of Windsor
from 25 October 1917 to 25 December 1991Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
from 28 October 1918 to 31 December 1992Czechoslovakia
from 9 November 1918 to 1 January 1933Weimar Republic
from 11 November 1918 to 11 September 1939Interwar period
from 1 December 1918 to 27 April 1992Yugoslavia
4 November 1922Howard Carter finds the tomb of Tutankhamun
from 30 December 1922 to 26 December 1991Soviet Union
from 12 December 1925 to 1 April 1979Pahlavi dynasty
from 29 October 1929 to 1 January 1941Great Depression
23 September 1932Founding of Saudi Arabia
from 15 March 1933 to 23 May 1945Nazi Germany
1939The Sutton Hoo ship burial is excavated

Contemporary world

1945Discovery of Nag Hammadi library
1947The Dead Sea Scrolls are found
from 23 May 1949 to 3 October 1990West Germany
from 7 October 1949 to 3 October 1990East Germany
from 15 December 1954 to 10 October 2010Netherlands Antilles
1962Founding of Jamaica
1966Founding of Lesotho
27 February 1967Founding of Saint Kitts and Nevis
1 March 1967Founding of Saint Lucia
6 September 1968Founding of Eswatini
4 February 1970Origins of Pripyat
10 July 1973Founding of The Bahamas
1974Founding of Grenada
March 1974The Terracotta Army is discovered
1975Founding of Papua New Guinea
1978Founding of Solomon Islands
1 October 1978Founding of Tuvalu
1979Founding of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
21 September 1981Founding of Belize
1 November 1981Founding of Antigua and Barbuda
from 2 September 1991 to 1 January 2023Republic of Artsakh
19 September 1991Otzi the Iceman is found
from 2003 to 2006Serbia and Montenegro

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