Ancient history is from the period of time when writing and historical records first appear, roughly 5,500 years before the Common Era. For some, the discovery of agriculture, roughly 6,000 BCE is the beginning of ancient history. The most common date for an end of ancient history is A.D. 476 (the fall of the Western Roman Empire), however the exact date is still disputed among various historians.

The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000-5,500 years, with cuneiform possibly being the oldest form of writing. Genetic evidence, however, points to the first appearance of human beings about 150,000 years ago. There is also a growing body of evidence that Homo sapiens first left Africa about 60,000 years ago.

Contents

1 Chronology 1.1 Begining of ancient history 1.2 Important events 1.3 End of ancient history 2 Civilizations 3 See also

Chronology

Begining of ancient history

• 6,000 BCE - invention of agriculture is the earliest given date for the begining of Ancient Era
• 5,500 - oldest historical documents
• 5,000
• 4,000

Important events

BC

• 3300 - Bronze Age begins in the Near East, slowly spreads to the rest of Euroasia
• 2000 - Domestication of the horse

AD

• 313 AD - Edict of Milan declared that the Roman Empire would be neutral with regard to religious worship
• 378- Battle of Adrianople, Roman army is defeated by the Germanic tribes

End of ancient history

The exact date era of ancient history ends is still disputed among historians. Most common dates are:

• 293 - reforms of Roman Emperor Diocletian, the earliest given date for the end of Ancient Era
• 395 - the division of Roman Empire into the Western Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empire
• 476 - the fall of Western Roman Empire. This date is most commonly used to denote the end of Ancient Era
• 529 - closure of Platon Academy in Athens by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I
• 622 - Muhammad escapre from Mecca
• 962 - coronation of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the latest given date for the end of Ancient Era

Civilizations

The most prominent civilisations of the Ancient Era:

• Ancient China
• Ancient Persia
• Ancient Egypt
• Ancient Greece
• Ancient Rome
• Ancient India
• African Ancient Kingdoms: Axumite Kingdom, Kush, etc.
• Assyria
• Babylonia
• Byzantines (Early Eastern Roman Empire, until 476 BC)
• Hellenic civilization (Greeks)
• Hittites
• Indus Valley civilization, unified from 2600 BC - 1900 BC.
• History of ancient Israel and Judah
• Kingdom of Israel
• Kingdom of Judah
• Mesopotamia
• Mitanni
• Native American
• Roman Empire
• Sumeria
• Susa
• Urartu -- Kingdom from 860 BC to 585 BC

See also

• Timeline of trends in music to 1899 and early music
• Ancient philosophy
• Ancient warfare
• Classical Antiquity
• Human evolution
• Late Antiquity

eo:Prahistorio fr:Civilisations disparues hu:Ókori történelem pl:Historia starożytna ru:Древний мир