Ancient history

Ancient history is a fascinating time period that begins with the start of writing and recorded human history. It lasts until late antiquity, covering about 5,000 years, from around 3000 BC to AD 500.

During ancient history, many great civilizations thrived across different continents. Some well-known cultures include the Sumerian, Egyptian, Chinese, Japanese, and Olmec. Each of these civilizations made amazing artworks, such as the Standard of Ur, the Mask of Tutankhamun, figures from the Terracotta Army, and colossal heads.

The ancient world also saw big changes in the number of people living on Earth. Because of the Neolithic Revolution, the world population grew very fast. In 10,000 BC, there were about 2 million people, but by 3000 BC, this number rose to 45 million. By AD 500, the population had reached around 209 million.

Prehistory

Prehistory is the time before people could write down their stories. We learn about this time mostly through the work of archaeologists, who study old objects and places.

Early humans, called Homo erectus, moved across much of the world a very long time ago. Later, Homo sapiens, who are like us today, appeared much later. Around 50,000 years ago, they left Africa and spread to places like Australia, Europe, Siberia, Japan, and the Americas.

People began to grow food about 9,000 years ago in places like Turkey and the Fertile Crescent. They also started to tame animals such as sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle for food and help with work. Over time, they learned to make tools from metals like copper and bronze, and to create pottery. Writing was a very important invention, and it began in several places including Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, and Mesoamerica.

History by Region

West Asia

The ancient Near East is where civilisation began. It was the first place to farm all year, create writing, invent wheels, and form central governments, laws, and large empires. People also began studying the stars and learning about science and math.

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia has some of the world's earliest civilisations. Farming villages appeared around 8000 BC and grew during the Ubaid period around 6000 BC. Cities began around 4000 BC and became bigger during the Uruk, Jemdet Nasr, and Early Dynastic periods.

Egypt

Ancient Egypt was a long-lasting civilisation in northeastern Africa, centred around the Nile River. It reached its greatest size during the New Kingdom period in the 2nd millennium BC, stretching from the Nile Delta to Jebel Barkal at the Fourth Cataract. The civilisation began around 3100 BC and was known for farming, writing (hieroglyphs), building pyramids, trading, and religion that included mummification.

Africa

Carthage

Carthage was founded around 814 BC by Phoenician settlers. Ancient Carthage was a city-state that ruled an empire through trade and alliances across North Africa and Spain.

Nubia

The Ta-Seti kingdom in Nubia was conquered by Egyptian rulers around 3100 BC, but by 2500 BC the Nubians had created a new kingdom further south, known as the Kingdom of Kush, centred on the upper Nile with a capital at Kerma.

South Asia

The Indus Valley Civilisation developed around 3000 BC in the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra river valleys of northeast Afghanistan, Pakistan, and western India. They made and traded jewelry, figurines, and seals across Mesopotamia, Afghanistan, and Iran.

East Asia

China

The Chinese civilisation in the Yellow River valley is one of the world's earliest. Neolithic cultures like the Longshan and Yangshao from 5000 BC made pottery, farmed millet, and wove hemp and silk. Rice was farmed, and pigs and water buffalo were kept.

Europe

Greece

Greece had advanced civilisations beginning with the Cycladic culture on the Aegean islands around 3200 BC and the Minoan civilisation in Crete (2700–1500 BC). The Minoans built palaces with frescoes and wrote in Linear A script. The Mycenaean civilisation, the first distinctly Greek culture, emerged on the mainland (1600–1100 BC), using Linear B script to write early Greek.

Rome

Ancient Rome began as a small agricultural community on the Italian peninsula in the 8th century BC, influenced by Greece and the Etruscans. Traditionally, Rome started as a monarchy that became a republic. Rome expanded through the Italian peninsula in the 5th to 3rd centuries BC, fighting Carthage in the Punic Wars, which ended with Carthage's destruction in 146 BC.