| 2980 BC Egypt's Third Dynasty - The Third Dynasty was founded by Pharaoh Djoser. His greatest accomplishment, with the help of his architect Imohotep, was the building of the first pyramids. Imhotep was venerated by later generations of Egyptians not only as an architect, but as a magician, astronomer and the father of medicine. |
| 2900 BC The Great Pyramids Built - The Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza was built around 2900 BC. It took 4,000 stonemasons and as many as 100,000 laborers to build the pyramid. The pyramid rose to a height of over 481 feet. |
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| 2900 BC Egypt's 4th Dynasty - The Fourth Dynasty was founded by the Pharaoh Snefru. He built the Pyramid at Dahshur. Snefru extended the reach of Egypt by developing trading relations with lands as far away as Lebanon. Snefru's son Khufu (in Greek known as Cheops) and his son Khaefre (Chepren) were the builders of the Great Pyramids of Giza. |
| 2900 BC Civilization Begins Around Indus Valley - Indian Civilization began in the Indus Valley. Most of the peoples of the Harappan civilization lived either near or in the city of Harappa or Mohenjo-Daro. The Harappan civilization was a highly urbanized culture. |
| 2700 BC Early Minoan Culture Begins - One of the earliest known civilizations came into existence on the island of Crete - that of the Minoans. By 2700 B.C., the Minoans began to organize themselves into towns and establish a form of government. During this period, the Minoans used iron for the first time. |
| 2350 - 2180 BC Dynasty VI Of Egypt - During the course of the Sixth Dynasty, the powers of the Pharaoh decreased. The growing power of the nobility limited the absolute power of the Egyptian Kings. Piopi and Piopi II were among the longest reigning Pharaohs of Egypt. |
| 2340 BC Sargon King of Akkad- Sargon the Great rose from the service of the King of Kish. Sargon built Akkad as the new seat of government. Sargon accomplished what no Sumerian had done before: he unified all of the Sumerian cities in one centrally organized empire. Sargon also expanded the empire to include Persia and Syria, thus ruling from 'sea to sea'. The Empire was further extended by his sons. Under his grandson Narmsin, the empire reached its zenith. The last of Sargon dynasty, Sharkalisharri, ruled until 2219 B.C., when Akkad fell to the Guti. |
| 2205 - 1767 BC Hsia Dynasty - Civilization in China is said to have begun with the founding of the Hsia dynasty. Knowledge of the Hsia is limited mostly to a list of the seventeen kings of the dynasty. |
| 2150 BC Mentuhotep II Reunifies Egypt - After a period of strife between the nobles and the Kings known as the First Intermediate Period, King Menthuotep reunited the Kingdom under a new dynasty. During this time, the concept of life after death was extended to everyone, not just royalty. |
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