3rd millennium BC

Millennia:
Centuries:
Overview map of the world at the end of the 3rd millennium BC, color coded by cultural stage.
  hunter-gatherers
  nomadic pastoralists
  simple farming societies
  complex farming societies (Near East, Europe, China, Andes
  state societies (Fertile Crescent, Crete, Indus, Norte Chico)
The red outline indicates the extent of the Bronze Age at the time.

The 3rd millennium BC spanned the years 3000 through 2001 BC. This period of time corresponds to the Early to Middle Bronze Age, characterized by the early empires in the Ancient Near East. In Ancient Egypt, the Early Dynastic Period is followed by the Old Kingdom. In Mesopotamia, the Early Dynastic Period is followed by the Akkadian Empire.

World population growth relaxes after the burst due to the Neolithic Revolution. World population is largely stable, at roughly 60 million, with a slow overall growth rate at roughly 0.03% p.a.[1]

Overview

The Bronze Age occurred roughly between 3000 BC and 2500 BC. The previous millennium had seen the emergence of advanced, urbanized civilizations, new bronze metallurgy extending the productivity of agricultural work, and highly developed ways of communication in the form of writing. In the 3rd millennium BC, the growth of these riches, both intellectually and physically, became a source of contention on a political stage, and rulers sought the accumulation of more wealth and more power. Along with this came the first appearances of mega architecture, imperialism, organized absolutism and internal revolution.

The civilizations of Sumer and Akkad in Mesopotamia became a collection of volatile city-states in which warfare was common. Uninterrupted conflicts drained all available resources, energies and populations. In this millennium, larger empires succeeded the last, and conquerors grew in stature until the great Sargon of Akkad pushed his empire to the whole of Mesopotamia and beyond. It would not be surpassed in size until Assyrian times 1,500 years later.

In the Old Kingdom of Egypt, the Egyptian pyramids were constructed and would remain the tallest and largest human constructions for thousands of years. Also in Egypt, pharaohs began to posture themselves as living gods made of an essence different from that of other human beings. Even in Europe, which was still largely neolithic during the same period, the builders of megaliths were constructing giant monuments of their own. In the Near East and the Occident during the 3rd millennium BC, limits were being pushed by architects and rulers.

Towards the close of the millennium, Egypt became the stage of the first popular revolution recorded in history. After lengthy wars, the Sumerians recognized the benefits of unification into a stable form of national government and became a relatively peaceful, well-organized, complex technocratic state called the 3rd dynasty of Ur. This dynasty was later to become involved with a wave of nomadic invaders known as the Amorites, who were to play a major role in the region during the following centuries.

Cultures

Minoan Snake Goddess.
Near East
Europe
South Asia
East and Southeast Asia
Americas
Sub-Saharan Africa

Events

A model of the prehistoric town of Los Millares, with its walls.

Certain 4th millennium BC events were precursors to the 3rd millennium BC:

The 3rd millennium BC included the following key events:

Significant people


Inventions, discoveries, introductions

Great Pyramid of Giza, Kheops.
The Medicine Wheel in Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming, United States.

Cultural landmarks

Stonehenge.

Centuries

References

  1. ↑ Jean-Noël Biraben, "Essai sur l'évolution du nombre des hommes", Population 34-1 (1979), 13-25, estimates 40 million at 5000 BC and 100 million at 1600 BC, for an average growth rate of 0.027% p.a. over the Chalcolithic to Middle Bronze Age.
  2. ↑ "The Bronze Age on the Greek Mainland: Early Bronze Age – Early Helladic I". Athens: Foundation of the Hellenic World. 1999–2000.
  3. ↑ Eckholm, Erik (10 November 2000). "In China, Ancient History Kindles Modern Doubts". The New York Times.
  4. ↑ Scarre, Chris (1993). Smithsonian Timelines of the Ancient World. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-56458-305-5. Both the dromedary (the one-humped camel of Arabia) and the Bactrian camel (the two-humped camel of Central Asia) had been domesticated since before 2000 BC.
  5. ↑ Bulliet, Richard W. (1990) [1975]. The Camel and the Wheel. Morningside Book Series. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-231-07235-9. As has already been mentioned, this type of utilization [camels pulling wagons] goes back to the earliest known period of two-humped camel domestication in the third millennium BC.
  6. ↑ Rudgley, Richard (2000) [1999]. Lost Civilisations of the Stone Age. New York: Touchstone (Simon and Schuster). p. 138. ISBN 978-0-684-85580-6.
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