Complete Phase 1 Timeline
A master timeline of world history from 300,000 to 600 BCE — human evolution, the Neolithic Revolution, river valley civilizations, and the Bronze Age.
Homo sapiens emerges in Africa
Anatomically modern humans appear, beginning a journey that will lead to the colonization of every continent on Earth.
Cognitive Revolution & Out of Africa migration
Fully modern language and symbolic culture emerge. Homo sapiens begins spreading beyond Africa into Asia and eventually all continents.
Cave art and cultural explosion
Art, music, long-distance trade, and specialized tools proliferate in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Humans reach the Americas
The first people enter the Americas via the Bering land bridge and coastal routes.
Neolithic Revolution begins
Agriculture emerges independently in the Fertile Crescent, China, and Mesoamerica, transforming human society forever.
First permanent settlements
Jericho, Catalhoyuk, and other sites become permanent towns — humanity's first experiment with settled life.
Animals domesticated
Sheep, goats, and later cattle are domesticated, reshaping agriculture, diet, and disease patterns.
First cities in Sumer
Uruk becomes the world's first city. Temple-based economies drive the invention of writing and complex governance.
Writing invented
Cuneiform in Mesopotamia and hieroglyphics in Egypt emerge as the world's first writing systems.
Egypt unified under pharaohs
Upper and Lower Egypt unite under divine kingship, establishing one of history's most enduring civilizations.
Indus Valley Civilization flourishes
Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, and dozens of planned cities emerge — the world's largest Bronze Age civilization by area.
Sargon founds the first empire
Sargon of Akkad conquers Mesopotamia and beyond, creating the world's first empire.
Shang Dynasty in China
Bronze casting, oracle bone divination, and the earliest Chinese writing emerge under the Shang.
Phoenician trade networks expand
Phoenician sailors connect the entire Mediterranean through commerce, carrying goods, ideas, and eventually the alphabet.
Bronze Age Collapse
A cascading catastrophe destroys multiple civilizations across the eastern Mediterranean within a few decades.
Phoenician alphabet invented
A 22-letter writing system that will become the ancestor of nearly every alphabet used today.
Fall of the Assyrian Empire
The ancient Near East's greatest military power is destroyed, closing the final chapter of Phase 1.