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