2nd millennium BC.html
 
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The 2nd millennium BC marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age.

Its first half is dominated by the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and Babylonia. The alphabet develops. Indo-Iranian migration onto the Iranian plateau and onto the Indian subcontinent propagates the use of the chariot. Chariot warfare and population movements lead to violent changes at the center of the millennium, and a new order emerges with Greek dominance of the Aegean and the rise of the Hittite Empire. The end of the millennium sees the transition to the Iron Age. World population begins to rise steadily, reaching some 50 million towards the 1000 BC.

Contents

Overview

Bronze Age
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↑ Neolithic

Near East (3300-1200 BC)

Caucasus, Anatolia, Aegean, Levant, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Elam, Sistan
Bronze Age collapse

India (3000-1200 BC)

Europe (2300-600 BC)

Beaker culture
Unetice culture
Urnfield culture
Hallstatt culture
Atlantic Bronze Age
Bronze Age Britain
Nordic Bronze Age

China (2000-700 BC)

Korea (800-400 BC)

arsenical bronze
writing, literature
sword, chariot
↓Iron age

Middle Bronze Age

Spending much of their energies in trying to recuperate from the anarchic situation that was at the turn of the millennium, the most powerful civilizations of the time, Egypt and Mesopotamia, turned their attention to more modest goals. The Pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and their contemporary Kings of Babylon, of Amorite origin, brought good governance without much tyranny, and favoured elegant art and architecture. Farther east, the Indus Valley civilization was in a period of decline, possibly as a result of intense, ruinous flooding.

Egypt and Babylonia's military tactics were still based on foot soldiers transporting their equipment on donkeys. Combined with a weak economy and difficulty in maintaining order, this was a fragile situation that crumbled under the pressure of external forces they could not oppose.

Unrest of the 16th century

About a century before the middle of the millennium, bands of Indo-European invaders came from the Central Asia plains and swept through the Near East. They were riding fast two-wheeled chariots powered by horses, a system of weaponry developed earlier within the context of plains warfare. This tool of war was unknown among the classical oriental civilizations. Egypt and Babylonia's foot soldiers were unable to defend against the invaders: In 1630 BC, the Hyksos swept into the Nile Delta, and in 1595 BC, the Hittites swept into Mesopotamia.

Late Bronze Age

The peoples in place were quick to adapt to the new tactics, and a new international situation resulted from the change. Though during most of the second half of the 2nd millennium BC several regional powers competed relentlessly for hegemony, many developments occurred: there was new emphasis on grandiose architecture, new clothing fashions, vivid diplomatic correspondence on clay tablets, renewed economic exchanges, and the New Kingdom of Egypt played the role of the main superpower. Among the great states of the time, only Babylon refrained from taking part in battles, mainly due to its new position as the world's religious and intellectual capital.

The Bronze Age civilization at its final period of time, displayed all its characteristic social traits: low level of urbanization, small cities centered around temples or royal palaces, strict separation of classes between an illiterate mass of peasants and craftsmen, and a powerful military elite, knowledge of writing and education reserved to a tiny minority of scribes, and pronounced aristocratic life.

Near the end of the 2nd millennium BC, new waves of barbarians, this time riding on horseback, wholly destroyed the Bronze Age world, and were to be followed by waves of social changes that marked the beginning of different times. Also contributing to the changes were the Sea Peoples, ship-faring raiders of the Mediterranean Sea.

Events

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

Cultures

Significant people

Biblical

Fiction

Centuries and Decades

20th century BC 1990s BC 1980s BC 1970s BC 1960s BC 1950s BC 1940s BC 1930s BC 1920s BC 1910s BC 1900s BC
19th century BC 1890s BC 1880s BC 1870s BC 1860s BC 1850s BC 1840s BC 1830s BC 1820s BC 1810s BC 1800s BC
18th century BC 1790s BC 1780s BC 1770s BC 1760s BC 1750s BC 1740s BC 1730s BC 1720s BC 1710s BC 1700s BC
17th century BC 1690s BC 1680s BC 1670s BC 1660s BC 1650s BC 1640s BC 1630s BC 1620s BC 1610s BC 1600s BC
16th century BC 1590s BC 1580s BC 1570s BC 1560s BC 1550s BC 1540s BC 1530s BC 1520s BC 1510s BC 1500s BC
15th century BC 1490s BC 1480s BC 1470s BC 1460s BC 1450s BC 1440s BC 1430s BC 1420s BC 1410s BC 1400s BC
14th century BC 1390s BC 1380s BC 1370s BC 1360s BC 1350s BC 1340s BC 1330s BC 1320s BC 1310s BC 1300s BC
13th century BC 1290s BC 1280s BC 1270s BC 1260s BC 1250s BC 1240s BC 1230s BC 1220s BC 1210s BC 1200s BC
12th century BC 1190s BC 1180s BC 1170s BC 1160s BC 1150s BC 1140s BC 1130s BC 1120s BC 1110s BC 1100s BC
11th century BC 1090s BC 1080s BC 1070s BC 1060s BC 1050s BC 1040s BC 1030s BC 1020s BC 1010s BC 1000s BC

See also

Holocene epoch
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↑ Pleistocene
Holocene
Preboreal (10 ka – 9 ka),
Boreal (9 ka – 8 ka),
Atlantic (8 ka – 5 ka),
Subboreal (5 ka – 2.5 ka)
Subatlantic (2.5 ka – present)


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