Ancient World
Pyramid Texts: The Oldest Religious Writings of Egypt
The first large body of religious texts from Egypt, which shaped later funerary literature such as the Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead.
Era · c. 3000 BC – AD 500
Ancient World
The first cities, empires and written records, from the pyramids of Egypt to Greece and the Roman Empire.
Ancient World
Urukagina's Reforms in Lagash: The First Recorded Reforms
Urukagina's decrees curbed officials' fees and abuses and protected the weak, but Lagash fell to Lugalzagesi of Umma within about a decade.
Ancient World
Sargon of Akkad: Founder of the World's First Empire
Sargon united the city-states of Sumer and Akkad under one king, creating the Akkadian Empire that lasted about 180 years.
Ancient World
Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro: The Famous Indus Bronze Figure
The statuette became one of the most famous works of Indus art and a key example of early lost-wax metal casting.
Ancient World
Enheduanna: Sargon's Daughter and the First Named Author
Enheduanna served as high priestess at Ur and was remembered as the author of hymns that scribes copied for centuries.
Ancient World
Pepi II: The Pharaoh With One of History's Longest Reigns
Pepi II's long reign was followed within a few decades by the end of the Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period.
Ancient World
Victory Stele of Naram-Sin: Akkadian Triumph over the Lullubi
The stele became a defining image of Akkadian kingship; it was carried off to Susa in the 12th century BC and is now in the Louvre.
Ancient World
Lothal: The Indus Valley Port and Its Ancient Dockyard
A small but busy Harappan craft and trading town whose brick basin remains one of the most debated structures of the Indus Valley Civilisation.
Ancient World
First Intermediate Period: Collapse of Egypt's Old Kingdom
Egypt was divided between rival dynasties until the Theban king Mentuhotep II reunited the country and founded the Middle Kingdom.
Ancient World
Collapse of the Akkadian Empire: Drought and the Gutians
The Akkadian state shrank to a small kingdom and disappeared; southern Mesopotamia fragmented until the Third Dynasty of Ur reunited it c. 2112 BC.
Ancient World
Gudea of Lagash: The Sumerian Ruler of the Famous Statues
Gudea rebuilt the Eninnu temple of Ningirsu and left the largest group of statues and the longest literary text surviving from Sumer.
Ancient World
Sumerian King List: Myth and History of Mesopotamian Kings
A literary chronicle of kingship that mixes legend with genuine dynasties and remains a key, if unreliable, source for early Mesopotamian history.