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Indo-European, Aryan and Slavic Timelines

-100,000-40,000 Neanderthal Man, in Africa and Europe

-23000 Late Paleolithic hunter-gatherer societies first ventured beyond the Arctic Circle in northern Russia and Siberia during the milder interstadial climate phase
-22000 "A single giant freshwater lake covering most of the West Siberian Plain at around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum. Stretching some 1500 km from north to south, and a similar distance east to west at its widest points, at its maximum extent it would have had a surface area at least twice that of the Caspian Sea." "Formed by the damming of the Yenisei and Ob rivers by an eastward lobe of the Ural and Putorana ice sheets, this mega-lake appears, from the available dates, to have reached its maximum extent by around 24,000 years ago, and to have existed in some form up until around 12,000 or 13,000 radiocarbon years ago." "The lake which existed would have covered most of western Siberia, stretching about 1500 km from north to south, with several large islands of higher ground emerging from it."
-12500 to 9000 late glacial tundra period in Scandinavia. Final Upper Paleolithic represented by many sites in western Siberia
-10800 - 10000 Allerød, Norway: Deglaciation of Scandinavia begins and people begin moving north following reindeer
-10000-6,000 Shift from Hunter Gatherer to food producer in some areas (West Asia initially, Egypt by 6,000)
-09000-6800 Mesolithic Hunters of the Inland Boreal Forests; lived along rivers and lake shores of forested flatland that occupied contemporary southern part of the North Sea laid bare by melting ice sheets. Earliest evidence of settlement of Norway

-8500 Ice recedes to Central Scandinavian Peninsula; the ocean broke through and joined the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, creating the Yoldia Sea
-8000 Deglaciation reveals wide peninsula extending northward from European continent to Scandinavia
-7000 Isostatic rebound creates a freshwater lake, the Ancylus Sea, in the area of the present Baltic Sea
-7000 First peoples arrived in the Torne River valley of northern Sweden. (Kiruna Municipality, Lapland, Sweden History)
-7000 Early Neolithic Period in western Siberia; elk hunters and fishers; some pottery in Baikal region and in the Syalakh culture of Yakutia
-7000 Colonization of deglaciated lands by plants and animals: larch, poplar, linden, beech, spruce, primitive grains, elk, reindeer, beaver, aurochs, swine and dogs
-7000-5000 Earliest settlement of south and west coastal areas of Sweden; Mesolithic Coastal Fishers and Hunters of the Atlantic Period; hunting and fishing subsistence lifestyles. Human migration northward via the Danish islands
-6500 Seas rise, cutting Britain off from mainland Europe
-6000 Ancylus Lake is invaded by the ocean and becomes saline, known the Litorina Sea
-5000 Mangoes cultivated in SE Asia
-5000 Domestication of corn in Mexico
-5000-3000 Yangshao culture in China
-4500 Scandinavian Peninsula and the Baltic region has assumed the look it has today, though the land continues to rise in isostatic rebound, changing the shapes of river mouths and shorelines
-4000 to 1500 New Stone Age (Neolithic) in Norway; Livestock. Early agriculture.
-4000 Old Stone Age (Palaeolithic) in Norway: Hunters and fishers. Rock carvings. Milder climate.
-3900 to 2800 Neolithic Forest Farmers, Denmark; swidden agriculture and livestock husbandry; megalithic burials become common; in central Sweden and south Norway the Pitted Ware (hunter-gatherer with some agriculture) culture formed and spread into southern Sweden and parts of Denmark
-3750 First evidence of cotton weaving. Mohenjo-Daro, India.
-3500 birch forests covered most of the Nordkinn Peninsula in northern Fennoscandia. Forest development started as extensive birch forests established between 11,200-10,000 cal BP.
-3500-2500 Longshan culture in China
-3400 First evidence of wheel-made pottery. Sumeria.
-3200 Wheeled transport develops in Mesopotamia.
-3200 Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt
-3200 Lunar calendar in Mesopotamia
-3200 Cuneiform in Sumeria.
-3200-2340 Cities in Mesopotamia
-3200-1600 Indus Valley civilization
-3100 Egyptian hieroglyphic writing
-3000~-2100 pyramids of Old Kingdom
-3000 Silk manufacturing. China.
-3000 New Stone Age begins farming people arrive from Europe.
-3000 First stone circles erected.
-3000 Egyptians develop weaving from plant fibers (flax)
-3000-2000 Anthropomorphic religion in Mesopotamia
-2800 to 0700 Late Neolithic Farmers and Stock Herders; appearance of Corded Ware tradition marked changes in the agricultural societies of Scandinavia; evidence of tokens of manhood; small, dispersed settlements
-2770-2200 Old Kingdom in Egypt
-2650 Construction of first pyramid in Egypt, first monumental columnar forms
-2600 Stonehenge built. Stonehenge oriented to face the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset, while the wooden circle at Durrington Walls faced the midwinter sunrise and midsummer sunset.
-2500 Canaanites live in the city-state of Jericho, a tributary of Egypt
-2500 Basic forms for furniture, wind instruments in Egypt
-2500-2000 Independence Culture I - Peary Land, Northeast Greenland
-2500-1500 Indus Civilization in India
-2334- 2200 Akkadian Empire
-2200-1750 Hsia (Xia) Dynasty in China
-2150 People learn to make bronze weapons and tools
-2100 Minoan worship of the Mother Goddess
-2100 Middle Bronze Age begins
-2100-1600 III Ur, Babylon, Hammurabi Code
-2100-1550 Middle Minoan (Crete)Kingdoms
-2050-1786 Middle Kingdom in Egypt
-2000~ Aryan Achaeans (known later as Mycenaeans) invade Greece, destroy, conquer and overtake locals (whoever those locals were)
-2000 Terra-cotta pottery in Egypt
-2000 Solar Calendar in Egypt
-2000 Potatoes cultivated in Andes
-2000 Minoan worship of the Mother Goddess
-2000 Horse introduced to W. Asia
-2000 Extensive commerce between Egypt and Crete
-2000 "Personal" religion develops in Mesopotamia
-2000-1800 Mathematical advances in Old Babylonia
-2000-1600 Old Babylonian Empire
-2000-1500 Height of Minoan Civilization
-1900 Epic of Gilgamesh in Mesopotamia.
-1800 Egyptian belief in personal immortality
-1800-0500 (1800 to 500 BCE) Bronze Age in Sweden; evidence of trade with Britain and continent; class structure becomes more profound in the southern part of Sweden. Bronze Age in Norway, characterized by agricultural tools, jewellery, glass, weapons and foreign trade.
-1790 Code of Hammurabi
-1750-1100 Shang Dynasty in China
-1700-1500 Evidence of ideographic script in China
-1650~ Hyksos invade Northeast Egypt (Delta area). Hebrews as part of the Hyksos group.
-1650 Trade routes begin to form
-1600~ Mycenaean (Greece mainland, Achaean) culture rivals that of Minoans on Crete.
-1628 Thera (Thira) volcano eruption - Santorini, Greece. Effects in Egypt, China, Exodus records.
-1600~-1400~ Aryan invasions into Harappa Indus Valley from Mitanni direction
-1600 Stonehenge
-1600 Invention of alphabet (consonants only). Syria
-1600 Hittite expansion. Hittite king Mursilis raids Babylon, completing its end.
-1600-1200 Strong Assyria
-1600-1200 Mycenaean civilization on mainland Greece
-1600-1200 Hittite Empire in Asia Minor (Anatolia)
-1580-1090 Temple building in Egypt
-1575-1086 Hyksos invaders defeated. New Kingdom established. Expulsion of the Hyksos, fall of the Hebrews into servitude.
-1560-1087 New Kingdom in Egypt
-1550 Kassites overthrow Babylonians
-1523-1027 Shang dynasty and invention of writing
-1504-1482 Queen Hatshepsut the Great. Palestine part of Egypt
-1500 one Abraham, presumably leads his brethren from Sumer to Canaan and then onto Egypt
-1500 Olmec civilization in Central America
-1500 lima beans successfully cultivated in Peru
-1500 Aryan invaders (future Medes/Persians) linguistically related to Hittites and Mitannians invade and destroy the Indus River Valley civilization.
-1500 "the powerful Andronovo culture appeared on the southern edge of the taiga in search of pastures and were the first horsemen of the Asiatic steppe".
-1500-800 Dark Ages of Greek history
-1500-500 Arrival of the Aryans and development of Vedic society (India)
-1500-1400 Mycenaean dominance on Crete
-1450~-1200 Height of Hittite Empire. Egypt is a major wheat and grains supplier to Hittites. Hittites supply Egypt with iron weapons and technology.
-1446 -434 Old Testament books of the Hebrew Bible
-1412-1375 Amenhotep III, height of New Kingdom. Decadance, fat, and prosperity. Religious revolution under Amenhotep IV (Akhnaton). Nofretete his wife.
-1400 Egypt weakens Aryan Hurrians of Mitanni (Upper Syria), opens a way for Hittites to expand south east.
-1400 Development of alphabet by Phoenicians
-1400 Destruction of Knossos and end of Minoan Civilization
-1400 Canaanites found Urusalim (Jerusalem)
-1400 - 0500 (equiv. to 1,400 to 500 BCE) Sarqaq Culture flourished at Disco Bay, West Greenland
-1375 Naturalistic art in Egypt
-1375 Akhenaton introduces monotheism in Egypt
-1300 Use of Papyrus, pen, and ink for writing in Egypt
-1300 Transparent glass invented in Egypt
-1300 iron age in Palestine
-1300-1100 Increasing use of iron in Western Asia
-1290-1223 Ramses II. Wars with Syria and Hittites. Ramesses II possibly hired "sea peoples" mercenaries for this battles. Victory at Kadesh (Qadesh) on the Orontes River. Temple at Abu Simbel built.
-1275~-1250 Hattusilis III signs a peace treaty and mutual assistance accord with Ramses II
-1250 Trojan War
-1250 the Hebrews move from Egypt to Palestine (Moses)
-1250 Moses unites Hebrews in worship of Yahweh
-1250 Indo-European tribes (Philistines) move to Palestine (named after them) from the Aegean sea
-1250-1220 In the reign of Ramses II Hebrew wanderings, exodus and invasion into Palestine.
-1230 Hebrew leeader Joshua conquers part of Palestine
-1208 King Merneptah of Egypt stops an incursion by the Sea Peoples and Libyans at the Nile Delta.
-1200s Moses leads Hebrews from Egypt to Palestine
-1200 Small Villages are first formed
-1200 Collapse of Mycenaean civilization due to weather change and later repopulation by Dorians.
-1200 Celts inhabit northern France and western Germany
-1200-800 Vedas in India
-1200-600 Phoenician activity. Phoenicians part of "sea peoples" group, or their allies. Colonization of North Africa (Carthago), West Sicily, Sardinia, Southwest Spain
-1200-1176 Height of "Sea Peoples" invasions (due to global weather changes?). Sea Peoples possibly a union of northern mercenaries and local slaves.
-1200-1100 Collapse of Mycenaean civilization in Greece
-1200-1025 Hebrew occupation of Canaan
-1192-1160 Ramses III stops the invaders from the North and West ("Sea Peoples")
-1190~ Fall of Hittite Empire
-1180 The Hittite empire falls (due to global weather changes?).
-1180-1176 The Levant falls (except for the Phoenician cities).
-1176 King Ramses III of Egypt stops the Sea Peoples by land and by sea, allowing them to keep the land they have taken.
-1159 Islandic Hekla 3 volcano eruption. Possible cosmic catastrophe (comet/bolide)
-1150-1100 Late Minoan (Crete) Kingdoms
-1125 the Canaanites are definitely defeated by the Hebrews
-1115-1077 Tiglath-Pileser I Great Ruler of Assyria. Crushed a semibarbarous invasion from the northwest, conquested Palestine and Phoenicia.
-1100 Destruction of Mycenae, other Aegean cities
-1100-800 the Dark Age of Greece.
-1100-771 Western Zhou (Chou) Dynasty in China
-1100-250 Zhou (Chou) Dynasty in China
-1050-1000 Beginning of the Iron Age. Unknown forces and invaders ("sea peoples"?) bring an end to all that prosperity in existing major powers of the day
-1025 the Hebrew king Saul defeats the Philistines and unifies Israel with capital in Jerusalem
-1025-933 Unified Hebrew monarchy, Saul, David, and Solomon
-1020~ Saul, first king of Israel. United Monarchy 1020-921
-1000 Rise of caste system in India
-1000 David succeeds Saul
-0961 David's son Solomon succeeds David
-0933-722 Kingdom of Israel
-0933-586 Kingdom of Judah
-0930 Solomon builds a temple in Jerusalem for the Jews
-0922 Solomon dies and his kingdom splits into Israel to the north and Judea to the south
-0900 Shalmaneser III expands Assyrian Empire
-0858-824 Shalmaneser III of Assyria, crushes Damascus, Syria, and Israel.
-0858-612 Assyrian Empire
-0800~ Greeks start coloniing, expand and invade West Asia Minor, Black Sea, Italy, Sicily, North Africa, compete with Phoenicians
-0800 Beginning of city-states in Greece
-0800-600 Upanishads in India
-0771-0250 Eastern Zhou (Chou)
-0753 Rome founded
-0753-509 Roman Monarchy
-0750~ Hesiod a poet from Boeotia Greece ("Works and Days")
-0750 the Scythians (or Sakas), a pastoral nomadic Indo-European group, settle between the Don and the Carpathians
-0750 The Iliad and The Odyssey
-0750 The Greek poet Homer mentions the Cimmerians as a people on the edge of the known world, near the entrance to the Underworld. Skilled horsemen and archers, they engage in conflicts with Assyrian and Urartian armies and bury their chieftains in kurgans, often with horses and weapons.<RU>
-0750 Iron Age begins iron replaces bronze as most useful metal. Population about 150,000.
-0750-612 Height of Assyrian Empire
-0750-600 Greek overseas expansion
-0750-600 Concentration of landed wealth in Greece
-0750-550 Hebrew prophetic revolution
-0750-400 Astronomical observation and record-keeping by New Babylonians
-0722 Sargon II of Assyria conquers Israel and forcefully relocates Jews (Jewish diaspora)
-0705-681 Height of Assyrian Empire under Sennacherib
-0700 Scandinavian artisans create masterly bronze objects. A graceful curve of tubing characterizes the lur, a trumpetlike musical instrument that may serve ritual or military purposes. A similar shape occurs in a pair of horned helmets found in Viksø, Denmark.<RU>
-0700 Lands north of Black Sea settled by Scythians from central Asia (mixed horde of people whose ruling element was Iranian); looking for grass for the horses and cattle on which they depended
-0700 Earliest Greek settlement in Egypt's Nile delta
-0674 the Scythian king Partatua marries an Assyrian princess
-0665 Assyrian Empire includes Urartu, Babylonia, East Turkey, Palestine, Egypt
-0653 the Scythians invade the Median empire
-0650 Shift from cavalry to infantry in Greece
-0650-550 Egyptian renaissance under the 26th Dynasty from Sais
-0650-500 Doric architectural style
-0626 the Medes defeat the Scythians
-0626-539 Chaldea or Neo-Babylonia
-0625 Zoroaster formulates religion in Persia
-0612 Assyrian capital Nineveh falls to the conspiracy of the two vassal kings united - Babylonians (king Nabopolassar) and Medes (king Cyaxares)
-0612-539 New Babylonian Empire
-0612-330 Empire of the Medes and Persians. Aryan Medes living south of the Caspian Sea. Aryan Persians living south of Medes.
-0600 The "Animal Style" in Scythian art develops. The art of the Scythians, who migrate from lands in the Altai mountains to the Black Sea region, features the fauna of their homeland the leopard, deer, and eagle. Animals leaping, running, and blending into each other indicate an interest in motion, continuity, and transformation. Some of the best-known works are gold hammered over a carved matrix.<RU>
-0600 Thales of Miletus
-0600 Invention of coinage by Lydians
-0600 Greeks from the city of Miletus on the Ionian coast of modern Turkey colonize the northern Black Sea coast and establish long-lived, cosmopolitan cities such as Panticapaeum, Olbia, and Pontic Chersonesus.<RU>
-0600 Fall of Assyria, Growth of New Babylon (Chaldean) Empire under Nebuchadnezzar
-0600 Deuteronomic code
-0600 - 100 BCE: Independence Culture II flourished in Peary Land, Northeast Greenland
-0600-400 The peoples of the Baltic create a special type of urn for cremation burial. Nicknamed "face urns," these pear-shaped vessels have modeled human faces and incised decorations that seem to represent personal equipment-such as weapons or combs-or imitate the designs on richly patterned garments.<RU>
-0594 Reforms of Solon in Athens
-0587 Nebuchadnezzar II conquers Judea (southern kingdom of the Hebrews), destroys Jerusalem and deports thousands of Jews (second Jewish diaspora) to Babylonia
-0586 Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem
-0585 Palestine is a part of Assyria (Babylonian Empire)
-0585 Celebrated eclipse of the Sun
-0570~ Height of Etruscan power in North-Western and Central Italy
-0563-483 Life of Gautama, the Buddha
-0555-539 King Nabonidus of the Chaldean Empire supports Cyrus, King of Persia against ruling Medes.
-0551-479 Confucius
-0550~ Persians rule Egypt
-0550~ Fall of Babylon to Cyrus of Persia
-0550 the Bible is composed
-0550 Laozi
-0550 Cyrus the Great deposes king Astyages, the son of Cyaxares of Medes, and annexes Medes to Persia.
-0549-0330 Achaemenid Dynasty in Persia
-0548-546 Cyrus takes over western Asia Minor
-0540-468 Life of Mahavira, founder of Jainism in India
-0539 King Cyrus takes over Babylon from Nabonidus
-0539 Cyrus takes over Babylon
-0539 Conquest of Babylon by Persians
-0538 Cyrus of Persia secures Babylon and frees the Jews
-0530 Pythagoras
-0529-522 Cambyses, son of Cyrus invades and annexes Egypt.
-0525 Cambyses, the Persian ruler, conquers Egypt
-0525-456 Aeschylus
-0522 a certain noble Darius overthrows Cambyses.
-0521-486 Darius the Great, ruler of Persia, invades Macedonia, Scythia north of the Danube, Thrace, Bactria, India.
-0515 the Jews rebuild the temple of Jerusalem
-0514 the Persian kind Darius invades Scythia
-0513 Persian conquest of northwestern India and Indus Valley
-0509 Roman Republic
-0508 Reforms of Cleisthenes in Athens
-0500 The Celtic people arrive from Central Europe. The Celts were farmers and lived in small village groups in the centre of their arable fields. They were also warlike people. The Celts fought against the people of Britain and other Celtic tribes.
-0500 Scandinavian metalsmiths begin to work in iron. Unlike tin and copper (the components of bronze), iron is readily available in bogs and lakes, and does not need to be mined or imported.<RU>
-0500 Royal Road of Persians
-0500 Orphic and Eleusinian mystery cults
-0500 Iron plow in China
-0500 Introduction of iron into southern Scandinavia; evidence of contact with Celtic La Tène culture
-0500 Establishment of Roman Republic
-0500 Darius I, the Great
-0500 Crop cultivation in rows in China
-0500 Celts settle in the British islands
-0500-432 Phidias
-0500-400 Ionic architectural style
-0496-406 Sophocles
-0490 Battle at Marathon
-0490-479 Greco-Persian War
-0490-420 Protagoras
-0487-429 Perfection of Athenian democracy
-0485-425 Herodotus of Asia Minor ("Chronicle of the Persian Wars")
-0484-420 Herodotus
-0480 the great Greece invasion of Xerxes
-0480-406 Euripides
-0478-404 Delian League
-0471-400 Thucydides
-0469-399 Socrates
-0460 The Parthenon
-0460-403 Thucydides of Athens
-0460-362 Democritus
-0460-0377 Hippocrates
-0450 Law of the Twelve Tables, Rome
-0450 Hebrew Song of Songs
-0450-400 The Sophists
-0448-380 Aristophanes
-0434-355 Xenophon of Athens, student of Socrates ("Anabasis")
-0431-404 Peloponnesian War
-0429-347 Plato
-0400~ Artaxerxes III, Darius III, defeated by Alexander, the Greek
-0400 Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu)
-0400 Trace harness in China
-0400 Herodotus describes the Scythians: "The Scythians had entered Asia in pursuit of the Cimmerians whom they had expelled from Europe. . ." (Herodotus 84). "During the twenty-eight years of Scythian supremacy in Asia, violence and neglect of law led to absolute chaos. Apart from tribute arbitrarily imposed and forcibly extracted, they behaved like mere robbers, riding up and down the country and seizing peoples property" (Herodotus 85).
-0400 Coinage in China
-0400 Celts use iron
-0400 Celts invade Northern Italy
-0400 Book of Job
-0400 -70 Hebrew prophetic revolution
-0400-300 Corinthian style architecture
-0400-200 Mahabharata and Ramayana reach final form in India
-0399 Socrates condemned by the Athenian democratic assembly.
-0390 0322 Plato and Aristotle
-0384-322 Aristotle
-0373-288 Mencius
-0370-310 Praxiteles
-0360 king Atheas unites all Scythian tribes and expands their territory to the border with Macedonia
-0359-336 Philip II of Macedonia
-0350 The Scythians, ever present on the periphery of Greek and Near Eastern centers, absorb much from these cultures' artistic vocabulary. A series of magnificent gold sheathings for scabbards and quivers show the influence of Greek figural styles, yet the scenes depicted are hard to explain as illustrations of Greek myth. According to recent research, the pieces may be the work of artisans using Greek conventions to illustrate Scythian sagas.<RU>
-0342-270 Epicurus
-0341-338 Roman expansion in Italy
-0339 Atheas of Scythia is killed in the war against Philip of Macedonia
-0338 Macedonian conquest of Greece
-0334-323 Conquests of Alexander the Great
-0333-331 Alexander takes over Palestine and Egypt from Persians.
-0332 Palestine is invaded by Alexander the Great
-0332 Alexander the Great liberates Palestine as part of the Persian Empire. Palestine ruled by Ptolemies of Egypt
-0331 the Battle at Gaugamela
-0330 Alexander the Great destroys the Persian Empire, takes over Egypt
-0330 Alexander the Great defeats the last Achaemenid, Darius III, in Mesopotamia
-0323 Death of Alexander, division of his empire
-0323 death of Alexander the Great
-0323 Alexander dies and his empire splits, with Palestine being controlled by the Ptolemaics (Alexandria)
-0323-285 Euclid
-0322-183 Maurya dynasty in India
-0320-250 Zeno the Stoic
-0312-239 Seleucid Dynasty in Persia
-0310 Simon the Just is high priest of the temple
-0310-230 Aristarchus
-0305-030 Egypt under the Ptolemies. Under Cleopatra VII Egypt becomes a Roman province.
-0301 Ptolemy I settles Jews in Alexandria
-0300~ Zeno the Stoic of Athens
-0300 Wrought iron in China
-0300 Seleucus I founds Antioch and attracts Jews in his new capital granting them equal rights with the Greek citizens
-0300 Late in century pressure from Persian Empire, Celtic advances from the east, and Sarmatian advances from the east fatally weaken Scythian empire; Sarmatians advanced swiftly "overwhelming their foes with their heavy calvary, the likes of which the West had never seen".
-0300 Emergence of Mithraism
-0300 Celts settle in Ireland
-0300-700 Teotihuacán culture in Mexico
-0300-237 Xunzi (Hsün-tzu)
-0300-100 Hellenistic international trade
-0287-212 Archimedes
-0287-212 Archimedes of Syracuse Sicily
-0279 Celts raid Delphi in Greece
-0276-195 Eratosthenes
-0273-232 Reign of Emperor Ashoka in India
-0264-241 First Punic War against Carthage, Messina, Syracuse
-0264-146 Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage
-0261 Ashoka conquers Kalinga, leading to spread of Buddhism in India
-0260 the Old Testament is translated from Hebrew into Greek by scholars of Alexandria (the "Septuagint")
-0250-50 Oriental mystery cults in Rome
-0250-208 Han Fei-tzu and Li Ssu--development of Legalism in China
-0250-100 Growth of slavery, decline of small farmer in Rome
-0247 BC- 226 AC Parthian Dynasty in Persia
-0225 the Celts in the west and the Sarmatians in the east destroy the Scythian kingdom
-0221-206 Unification of China under Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty
-0221-206 Standardization of weights and measures, coinage, writing system under Legalist regime
-0221-206 Destruction of Confucian literature under Legalist regime
-0220-150 Herophilus
-0206 -220 Han Dynasty in China
-0205-118 Polybius
-0200 Use of the seed drill in China
-0200 Use of iron in Sub-saharan Africa
-0200 The Skeptics
-0200 Palestine ruled by Seleucids of Syria
-0200 Mao-tun unites the Huns (Xiongnu, Hsiung-nu) in Central Asia around Lake Bajkal and southeastern Mongolia, with capital in Longcheng (near Ulan Bator)
-0198 the Seleucids (Antiochus III) seize Palestine from the Ptolemaics
-0198 Onias III becomes high priest of Jerusalem
-0196 the ascetic Jewish sect of the Essenes lives in a monastery at Qumran
-0190 the Hasidic party opposes the Hellenization of the Hebrew religion
-0183-145 Greek Invasion of India
-0179-104 Dong Zhongsho (Tung Chung-shu)
-0176 the Hsiung-nu attack eastern China (the Tocharians)
-0175-164 Antiochus IV of Syria introduces a religious revolution to the Jews. They (Maccabees) don't like it.
-0170 the Jews of Jerusalem rebel against the Seleucid emperor Antiochus IV
-0170 Onias III is assasinated and the Hasidic party loses to the Hellenists, who gain the office of high priest
-0168 the Seleucid emperor Antiochus IV outlaws Judaism and mandates the worship of Greek deities
-0168 Romans fight a preventive war against Perseus at Pydna. Macedonia liberated by Romans.
-0167 Mattathias and his son Judas Maccabean lead a revolt of Judea against the Seleucids and the Maccabeans (or Hasmoneans) are granted relative independence
-0161 Judas dies and is succeeded by his brother Jonathan
-0152 Jonathan Maccabean is appointed both high priest and ruler of Judea
-0148 Macedonia converted into a Roman province. Greece proper (Achaea) became a Roman province, as well. Official unit as of the Emperor Augustus.
-0146 Destruction of Carthage by Rome
-0146-60 Introduction of Greek philosophy to Rome
-0145-86 Sima Qian (Ssu-ma Ch'ien)
-0143 Jonathan is murdered and is succeeded by his brother Simon
-0141-87 Emperor Han Wudi (Wu Ti) in China
-0140 Han emperor Wu-ti conducts campaigns against the Hsiung-nu
-0140 First Chinese ambassadors to India
-0135 Simon dies and is succeeded by John Hycarnus I, who conquers Samaria and Idumea, whose inhabitants are forced to convert to Judaism
-0133 Tiberius Gracchus of Rome
-0133-121 Reforms of the Gracchi brothers in Rome
-0130 Defeat of the Seleucids by the Parthians, resulting in the independence of Edessa
-0125-0100 Neighboring Germanic tribes, the Cimbri and the Teutones, migrate south from northern Jutland. After several clashes with the Roman army, they are decisively defeated by the army of the popular Roman general Marius. The Romans will villify the Teutones and Cimbri, viewing them as archetypal northern savages.<RU>
-0121 China defeats the Hsiung-nu
-0111 Chinese expansion to S. China Sea and Vietnam
-0106 Inauguration of the Silk Road
-0106-43 Cicero
-0104 the Pharisees (who adopt the orthodox views of the Maccabeans) and the Sadducees (who adopt the Hellenists views of the Seleucids) fight for control of the temple and of the state
-0104 John Hyrcanus dies after greatly expanding the borders of Judea and is succeeded by Alexander Jannaeus
-0100 the Dead Sea Scrolls are composed
-0100 Sarmatians gain complete control of the steppe
-0100 Invention of the Rudder in China
-0100 Beginning of Japanese state
-0100 Alans, last Samartian tribe to arrive, controlled steppe from the Don to the Volga and southwards over the valley of the Kuban; the Scythians moved north and pressed the Slavs north into what is now Russia
-0098-55 Lucretius
-0078 Alexander Jannaeus dies after expanding the Maccabean kingdom to the whole of Palestine
-0070 Julius Caesar establishes the north-western border at the Rhein
-0070-19 Virgil
-0065-8 Horace
-0064 the Book of Henoch is completed
-0063 Roman leader Pompeus captures Jerusalem and occupies Palestine
-0059 -17 Livy
-0058 Julius Caesar conquers the French Celts (or Gauls)
-0055 Julius Caesar heads first Roman Invasion but later withdraws
-0053 Battle of Carrhae between Rome and Persia (first battle between the two, won by Persia)
-0051 the Hsiung-nu split into two hordes, with the eastern (southern) horde subject to China
-0050 the western Huns expand to the Volga
-0050 Antipater the Idumaean helps Caesar during the civil war and is therefore granted Roman citizenship and de facto rule of Jerusalem
-0047 Fire destroys the great library at Alexandria
-0046-44 Dictatorship of Caesar in Rome
-0044 Caesar is assassinated
-0043 Antipater is murdered
-0043 -17 Ovid
-0040 Antigonus, a Maccabean, seizes power in Jerusalem
-0038 Herod, Antipater's son, marries Mariam Maccabean
-0037 Antigonus is beheaded and Herod, Antipater's son, is appointed by the Romans as king of Judea
-0030 the Sanhedrin is recognized as the supreme court of justice for the Jews
-0030 Romans rule Egypt
-0029 Herod murders his wife Mariam, after killing her father and brother
-0027 Caesar Augustus becomes first Roman Emperor, as Roman Senate becomes ineffective because of family and tribal rivalries, combined with inertia.
-0027 -14 Principate of Augustus Caesar in Rome
-0020 Treaty between Rome and Persia fixes boundary between the two empires along the Euphrates
-0020 Herod rebuilds the temple of Jerusalem
-0012 Octavian (Augustus) becomes emperor of Rome (the "anointed")
-0006 Jesus is born in Betlehem
-0006 Herod murders his own sons
-0004 Herod dies and his sons split the reign

From Shakuntala, Part II.

..."Fear not," the Prince replied; "I come!" and sprang across the burning bushes, where he saw a snake, a king of serpents, lying curled in a great ring...

Here's another premonition of future struggles: Sakoontala reveals that Anasuya, a pointed blade of Kusa grass has pricked her foot, and her bark-mantle is caught in the branch of a Kuruvaka Bush. She asks the King if he could be so good as to wait for her until she's disentangled the Kuruvaka Bush.