TimeMaps

As far as later history was concerned, the most important thing happening in the world at this time was the rise of the first civilization, in the Middle East. Cities, writing, organized states - all these were appearing in the land of Mesopotamia.

A thousand or so miles away, the foundations for the civilization of Ancient Egypt were also being laid, in the Nile Valley.

In the northern Indian sub-continent, villages were getting larger, soon towns would appear, and then the great cities of the Indus Valley civilization.

Another notable development was the domesticating of the horse at around this time, on the steppes north of the Black Sea.

In the Middle East, the civilizations of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia are flourishing, with sophisticated writing systems, bronze technologies and highly developed public administrations.

Another civilization which is now at its height is the Indus Valley civilization in the Indian sub-continent.

In the Yellow Valley of northern China, the foundations are being laid for the emergent Chinese civilization.

On the islands and coasts of southern China the ancestors of the Malays and Polynesians are starting their great migration down into South East Asian waters, from where, in due course, they will travel eastwards as far as Hawaii, and westwards as far as Madagascar.

In the steppes north of the Black Sea, horses have been harnessed to the first carts. These will soon develop into the battle-winning chariot.

A number of the greatst civilizations of the Ancient World now jostle each other in the Middle East - including those of Egypt, Assyria, the Hittites and Babylon.

The Chinese civilization has emerged into the ligth of history under the Shang dynasty. It has already developed superb bronze-making techniques.

The first European civlizations, the Minoan in Crete and the Mycenean in Greece, are thriving.

In the Indian sub-continent, catastrophe has overtaken the Indus Valley civilization, which has vanished.

Indo-European tribes are spreading across Central Asia, and into central Europe in the west and northern India in the east.

The heartleands of ancient civilization in the Middle East are under threat from invasion - all the major Bronze-Age powers have been effected, including Egypt, Assyria, Babylon; and some, such as Mycene and the Hittite empire, have vanished altogether.

At the same time, future progress is being assured by the development of the alphabet, by spread of iron-using technology, and the rise of the first great monotheistic religion of world history.

The camel is domesticated about now, making trans-desert trade possible.

In southern Arabia, a new civilization has appeared, based on great irrigation systems which bring the land alive.

Thousands of miles away, the first civilization of the New World has appeared, in modern-day Mexico.

At around this time, many of the classical civilizations of the ancient world enter their period of greatness: the Greek, Chinese and Indian civilizations all experience a burst of creativity, each producing thinkers who will profoundly shape the future development of world history.

The same is true for the much smaller, but equally influential, Jewish society in the Middle East, in whcih the great themes of justice and mercy are being worked out in the context of a monotheistic religion.

The Celts are now coming to dominate western Europe, populating it with their hill forts and warlike chieftainships.

Civilization is penetrating inner Africa from the north via the kingdom of Nubia, becoming more "African" as it travels.

The Olmec civilization of Mexico experiences mysterious happenings, with the ritual burial of great sculptures accompanying the destruction of cities.