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Era 3 of 12 · from about 3500 to 1200 BC

River civilisations

Between 5500 and 3200 years ago, along great rivers such as the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Nile, the Indus and the Yellow River, the first civilisations were born. Irrigated fields produced plenty of food, and villages grew into cities with temples, palaces and markets. To keep accounts and remember laws, people invented writing. Kings and pharaohs ruled whole nations and had enormous monuments built, such as the pyramids. With this age, history in the proper sense begins, because at last we have written records.

In Italian schools it is usually studied in primary year 4

Go to the 25 events Quiz on this era Printable worksheet
Illustration of the era River civilisations
Illustration created with AI for Storiascopio

The 25 events, in time order

  1. daily lifeThe first Sumerian citiesabout 4000 BC
  2. science and technologyCuneiform writingabout 3200 BC
  3. science and technologyEgyptian hieroglyphsabout 3200 BC
  4. politicsThe unification of Egyptabout 3100 BC
  5. daily lifeUruk, the great cityabout 3000 BC
  6. science and technologyThe Egyptian calendarabout 2800 BC
  7. artThe Step Pyramid of Djoserabout 2650 BC
  8. artThe Standard of Urabout 2600 BC
  9. daily lifeEgyptian mummificationabout 2600 BC
  10. artThe Great Pyramid of Gizaabout 2560 BC
  11. daily lifeThe cities of the Indus Valleyabout 2500 BC
  12. science and technologyThe drains and baths of Mohenjo-daroabout 2450 BC
  13. politicsSargon and the Akkadian Empireabout 2334 BC
  14. daily lifeTrade between the Indus and Mesopotamiaabout 2300 BC
  15. artThe Epic of Gilgameshabout 2100 BC
  16. artThe Ziggurat of Urabout 2100 BC
  17. science and technologyBabylonian mathematicsabout 1800 BC
  18. politicsThe Code of Hammurabiabout 1754 BC
  19. science and technologyWar chariotsabout 1700 BC
  20. politicsThe Shang dynastyabout 1600–1046 BC
  21. peopleHatshepsut, the woman pharaohabout 1479–1458 BC
  22. peopleThe reign of Akhenatenabout 1353–1336 BC
  23. peopleThe reign of Ramesses IIabout 1279–1213 BC
  24. science and technologyWriting on oracle bonesabout 1250 BC
  25. politicsThe Bronze Age collapseabout 1200 BC
The first Sumerian cities: Uruk and Eridu, Mesopotamia (now Iraq)Cuneiform writing: Uruk, Mesopotamia (now Iraq)Egyptian hieroglyphs: Abydos, EgyptThe unification of Egypt: Hierakonpolis, Nile Valley (Egypt)Uruk, the great city: Uruk, Mesopotamia (now Iraq)The Egyptian calendar: Memphis, EgyptThe Step Pyramid of Djoser: Saqqara, near Memphis (Egypt)The Standard of Ur: Ur, Mesopotamia (now Iraq)Egyptian mummification: Giza, EgyptThe Great Pyramid of Giza: Giza, EgyptThe cities of the Indus Valley: Harappa and Mohenjo-daro (now Pakistan)The drains and baths of Mohenjo-daro: Mohenjo-daro, Indus Valley (now Pakistan)Sargon and the Akkadian Empire: Akkad, central Mesopotamia (now Iraq)Trade between the Indus and Mesopotamia: Dilmun (now Bahrain), in the Persian GulfThe Epic of Gilgamesh: Nippur and Ur, Mesopotamia (now Iraq)The Ziggurat of Ur: Ur, Mesopotamia (now Iraq)Babylonian mathematics: Larsa, Mesopotamia (now Iraq)The Code of Hammurabi: Babylon, Mesopotamia (now Iraq)War chariots: Syria and Anatolia (Near East)The Shang dynasty: Anyang, Yellow River valley (China)Hatshepsut, the woman pharaoh: Deir el-Bahari, near Luxor (Egypt)The reign of Akhenaten: Amarna, EgyptThe reign of Ramesses II: Abu Simbel, Nubia (Egypt)Writing on oracle bones: Anyang, ChinaThe Bronze Age collapse: Eastern Mediterranean (Ugarit, now Syria)
Map of the events: River civilisations

Did you know?

  • Sumerian pupils went to a school called the ‘tablet house’, and on some tablets you can still read their exercises, full of mistakes.
  • The 60 minutes in an hour and the 60 seconds in a minute come to us from the Babylonians, who counted in groups of sixty.
  • The pyramid workers were given bread and beer every day: in ancient Egypt beer, which was only slightly alcoholic, was an everyday drink.

Test yourself

Ten questions on the era: multiple choice, before or after, put in order, match.

Quiz: River civilisations
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Who's behind this

Ciro Simone Irmici

I'm Ciro Simone Irmici and I build free websites for learning and playing. I built Storiascopio with artificial intelligence and I check every card and every source myself. I'm not a historian: if you find a mistake or would like one more event for your class, write to me.

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