To navigate the timeline, click and drag it with your mouse, or click on the timeline overview on the bottom.
3500 BCE
3000 BCE
2500 BCE
2000 BCE
1500 BCE
1000 BCE
500 BCE
0 CE
500 CE
1000 CE
3200 BCE: First instance of written language in Sumerian.
2500 BCE: Beginning of literature in Sumerian.
2285 BCE - 2250 BCE: Life of Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon of Akkad, and world's first author known by name.
2150 BCE - 1400 BCE: The tales of Gilgamesh written which inform The Epic of Gilgamesh
2000 BCE - 1650 BCE: Cretan Hieroglyphic script is in use.
1900 BCE - 1600 BCE: Composition of The Descent of Inanna.
1850 BCE - 1450 BCE: The Linear A script of the Minoan civilization is in use.
1640 BCE - 1700 BCE: Written form of the Atrahasis Myth of the Great Flood.
1600 BCE - 1046 BCE: Writing develops in China during the Shang Dynasty.
1600 BCE - 1000 BCE: Jiaguwen Script develops in China.
1600 BCE: Canaanite alphabet.
1500 BCE - 500 BCE: The Vedic Period in India after a greater migration of the Indo-Aryans from Central Asia
1500 BCE - 1100 BCE: The Rig Veda written, mentioning the god Rudra (Shiva) and goddess Tara (among others) for the first time.
1500 BCE - 1200 BCE: The Linear B script of the Mycenaean civilization is in use.
1400 BCE: Ugaritic alphabet of 30 letters is invented.
1100 BCE: Phoenician alphabet.
1000 BCE - 700 BCE: Dazhuan Script develops in China.
1000 BCE: Death of Ahiram (or Ahirom) of Byblos, whose sarcophagus bears the oldest inscription of the Phoenician alphabet.
800 BCE: Earliest examples of Greek alphabetic script.
700 BCE: Xiaozhuan Script develops in China.
647 BCE - 629 BCE: Extensive collection of clay tablets acquired known as Ashurbanipal's Library at Nineveh.
500 BCE: Lishu "Clerky Script" develops in China.
196 BCE: The Rosetta Stone was made, a stela carrying a priestly decree from the reign of Ptolemy V in three languages: Egyptian hieroglyphs, demotic and Greek script.
23 CE - 79 CE: Life of Pliny the Elder.
350 CE - 950 CE: Estimated use of the Ogham in Ireland and southwestern England.
626 CE - 649 CE: Woodblock printing process develops under reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty.
1234 CE: Movable metal type printing is invented in Goryeo, Korea.