C.9000-8000BC Domestication of animals and crops (wheat and barley), the 'Neolithic Revolution', in the Near East; beginning of permanent settlements

c.8500 Jericho founded: firstwalled town in the world

c.7000 Early experiments with copper ores in Anatolia

6500-5500 Qatal Hayuk (Anatolia) flourishes: largest settlement of its day (32 acres)

c.6000 First Near East pottery and woollen textiles (Qatal Hby0k)

c.5500 Colonization of Mesopotamian alluvial plain by groups practising irrigation

c.5500 Agricultural settlements in Egypt

c.4000 Bronze casting begins in Near East; first use of plough

c.3500 Invention of wheel (Mesopotamia) and sail (Egypt)

c.3200 Pictographic writing invented in Sumer

c.3100 King Menes unites Egypt; dynastic period begins

c.3000 Desiccation of Saharan region begins

c.3000 Development of major cities in Sumer

c.2685The'Old Kingdom'(pyramid age) of Egypt begins (to 218OBC)

c.2590 Cheops builds great pyramid at Giza

2371-2230 Sargon I of Agade founds first empire in world history

c.20M Hittites invade Anatolia and found empire (1650)

C.IBW Shamshi-Adad founds Assyrian state

c.1790 Hammurabi founds Babylonian Empire

c.1567 Kamose and Amosis I expel Hyksos invaders and inaugurate Egyptian 'New Kingdom' (to 109OBC)

c.1500 Hittite cuneiform in Anatolia

c.1370 Akhenaten enforces monotheistic sun worship in Egypt

c.1200 Collapse of Hittite Empire

c.1200 Jewish exodus from Egypt and settlement in Palestine

c.1200 Beginning of Jewish religion (worship of Jahweh)

1166 Death of Ramesses 111, last great pharaoh of Egypt

c.1100 Spread of Phoenicians in Mediterranean region (to 70OBC)

c.1100 Phoenicians develop alphabetic script (basis of all modern European scripts)

c.1000 King David unites Israel and Judah

c.900 Foundation of kingdom of Kush (Nubia)

c.840 Rise of Urartu 814 Traditional date for foundation of Phoenician colony at Carthage

c.750 Amos, first great prophet in Israel

721-705 Assyria at height of military power

671 Assyrian conquest of Egypt, introduction of iron-working

c.650 First coins: Lydia (Asia Minor) and Greece (c.600)

612 Sack of Nineveh by Medes and Scythians; collapse of Assyrian power

586 Babylonian captivity of the Jews

558 Zoroaster (Zarathustra) begins his prophetic work

550 Zoroastrianism becomes official religion of Persia

c.550 Cyrus 11 (the Great) of Persia defeats Medes and founds Persian Empire

c.540 Deutero-isaiah, Hebrew prophet, at work during exile in Babylon

521 Persia under Darius I (the Great) rules from the Nile to the Indus

c.520 Darius I completes canal connecting Nile with Red Sea

500-AD200 Period of Nok culture in northern Nigeria

c.500 Iron-making techniques spread to sub-Saharan Africa

c.500 Achaemenid Persians transmit food plants (rice, peach, apricot, etc.) to western Asia

494 Persians suppress Ionian revolt

334 Alexander the Great (of Macedon) invades Asia Minor; conquers Egypt (332), Persia (330) reaches India (329)

323 Death of Alexander: empire divided between Macedon, Egypt, Syria and Pergamum

312/11 Start of Seleucid era; first continuous historical dating-system

304 Ptolemy 1, Macedonian governor of Egypt, founds independent dynasty (to 3OBC)

c.290 Foundation of Alexandrian library

247 Arsaces I founds kingdom of Parthia

149 Third Punic War (149-146): Rome destroys Carthage and founds province of Africa

64 Pompey the Great conquers Syria; end of Seleucid Empire

53 Battle of Carrhae: Parthia defeats Roman invasion

30 Death of Antony and Cleopatra: Egypt becomes Roman province

C.AD3O Jesus of Nazareth, founder of Christianity, crucified in Jerusalem

AD44 Mauretania (Morocco) annexed byrome

AD46-57 Missionary journeys of St Paul

c.AD50 Expansion of kingdom of Axum (Ethiopia) begins

AD70 Romans destroy the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem

100 Camel introduced into Saharan Africa

AD116 Roman Emperor Traian completes conquest of Mesopotamia

132 Jewish rebellion against Rome leads to 'diaspora' (dispersal of Jews)

c.150 Berber and Mandingo tribes begin domination of the Sudan

c.200 Completion of Mishnah (codification of Jewish Law)

224 Foundation of Sasanian dynasty in Persia

c.250 Kingdom of Axum (Ethiopia) gains control of Red Sea trade

276 Crucifixion of Mani (born 215), founder of Manichaean sect

325 Axum destroys kingdom of Meroe (Kush)

426 Augustine of Hippo completes City of6od

429 Vandal kingdom in North Africa

531 Accession of Chosroes I (died 579): Sasanian Empire at its greatest extent

611 Persian armies capture Antioch and Jerusalem and overrun Asia Minor (to 626)

622 Hegira of Mohammed; beginning of Islamic calendar

625 Mohammed begins his prophetic mission

632 Death of Mohammed: Arab expansion begins

636 Arabs overrun Syria

637 Arabs overrun Iraq

641 Arabs conquer Egypt and begin conquest of North Africa

c.690 Arabic replaces Greek and Persian as language of Umayyad administration

692 Completion of Dome of Rock in Jerusalem, first great monument of Islamic architecture

c.700 Rise of empire of Ghana

718 Arab siege of Constantinople repulsed

750 Abbasid caliphate established

760 Arabs adopt Indian numerals and develop algebra and trigonometry

809 Death of caliph Harun al-Rashid

935 Text of Koran finalized

936 Caliphs of Baghdad lose effective power

969 Fatimids conquer Egypt and found Cairo

c.1000 First Iron Age settlement at Zimbabwe (Rhodesia)

1020 Death of Firdausi, writer of Persian national epic, The Shahnama

1037 Death of Avicenna, Persian philosopher

1055 Seljuk Turks take Baghdad

1056 Almoravids conquer North Africa and southern Spain

1071 Battle of Manzikert: defeat of Byzantium by Seljuk Turks

1076 Almoravids destroy kingdom of Ghana

1096 First Crusade: Franks invade Anatolia and Syria, and found crusader states

c.1100 Omar Khayyam composes Rubaiyyat

1111 Death of al-Ghazali, Muslim theologian

1135 Almohads dominant in northwestern Africa and Muslim Spain

c.1150 Beginnings of Yoruba city states (Nigeria)

1171 Saladin defeats Fatimids and conquers Egypt

1188 Saladin destroys Frankish crusader kingdoms

c.1200 Rise of empire of Mali in west Africa

c.1200 Emergence of Hausa city states (Nigeria)

1228 Hafsid dynasty established at Tunis

1258 Mongols sack Baghdad; end of Abbasid caliphate

1299 Ottoman Turks begin expansion in Anatolia

c.1300 Kanuri Empire (West Africa) moves capital from Kanem to Borno

c.1300 Emergence of empire of Benin (Nigeria)

1377 Death of Ibn Battuta (born 1309), Arab geographer and traveller

1392 Death of Hafiz, Persian lyric poet

1402 Battle of Ankara: Timur defeats Ottomans in Anatolia

1406 Death of Ibn Khaidun, Muslim historian

1415 Portuguese capture Ceuta: beginning of Portugal's African empire

1430 Construction of great stone enclosure at Zimbabwe (Rhodesia)

1434 Portuguese explore south of Cape Bojador

c.1450 Apogee of Songhay Empire; university at Timbuktu

1492 Spaniards begin conquest of North African coast

1505 Portuguese establish trading posts in east Africa

c.1510 African slaves to America

1546 Destruction of Mali Empire by Songhay

1571 Portuguese create colony in Angola

1578 Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir: Moroccans destroy Portuguese power in north-western Africa

1591 Battle of Tondibi: Moroccans destroy Songhay kingdom

c.1600 Oyo Empire at height of power

1628 Portuguese destroy Mwenemutapa Empire

1652 Foundation of Cape Colony by Dutch

1659 French found trading stations on Senegal coast

1662 Battle of Ambuila: destruction of Kongo kingdom by Portuguese

c.1700 Rise of Asante power (Gold Coast)

c.1730 Revival of ancient empire of Borno (central Sudan)

1798 Napoleon attacks Egypt

1804 Fulanis conquer Hausa

1806 Cape Colony passes under British control

1807 Slave trade abolished within British Empire

1811 Mohammed Ali takes control in Egypt

1818 Shaka forms Zulu kingdom in SE Africa

1822 Liberia founded as colony for freed slaves

1830 French begin conquest of Algeria

1935 'Great Trek' of Boer colonists from Cape, leading to foundation of Republic of Natal (1839), Orange Free State (1848) and Transvaal (1849)

1853 Livingstone's explorations begin

1860 French expansion in West Africa from Senegal

1869 Suez Canal opens

1875 Disraeli buys Suez Canal Company shares to ensure British control of sea route to India

1881 French occupy Tunisia

1882 Revolt in Egypt leading to British occupation

1884 Germany acquires SW Africa, Togoland, Cameroons

1885 King of Belgium acquires Congo

1886 Germany and Britain partition East Africa

1886 Gold discovered in Transvaal; foundation of Johannesburg

1889 British South Africa company formed by Cecil Rhodes, begins colonization of Rhodesia (1890)

1896 Battle of Adowa: Italians defeated by Ethiopians

1898 Fashoda crisis between Britain and France

1899 Boer War begins

1900 Copper-mining begins in Katanga

1908 Belgian state takes over Congo from King Leopold

1910 Formation of Union of South Africa

1911 Italy conquers Libya

1914 Britain proclaims protectorate over Egypt

1914-15 French and British conquer German colonies except German East Africa

1919 Nationalist revolt in Egypt

1921 Battle of Anual: Spanish army defeated by Moroccans

1926 Revolt of Abd-el Krim crushed in Morocco

1934 Italian suppression of Senussi resistance in Libya

1935 Italy invades Ethiopia

1936 Anglo-Egyptian alliance; British garrison in Suez Canal Zone

1940-1 Italians expelled from Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia

1941 Germans conquer Cyrenaica and advance into Egypt (1942)

1942 Battle of el-Alamein; German defeat and retreat 1942 Anglo-American landings in Morocco and Algeria

1949 Apartheid programme inaugurated in S Africa

1952 Beginning of Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya

1952 Military revolt in Egypt, proclamation of republic (1953)

1954 Beginnings of nationalist revolt in Algeria

1956 Suez crisis: Anglo-French invasion of Canal Zone

1957 Beginning of decolonization in sub-Saharan Africa: Gold Coast (Ghana) becomes independent

1960 'Africa's year'; many states become independent; outbreak of civil war in Belgian Congo

1961 South Africa becomes independent republic

1962 Algeria becomes independent

1965 Rhodesia declares itself independent of Britain

1967 Civil war in Nigeria (secession of Biafra) (to 1970)

1974 Emperor Haile Selasse deposed by Marxist Junta in Ethiopia

1975 Portugal grants independence to Mozambique and Angola

1976 Morocco and Mauritania partition Spanish Sahara

1976 Establishment of Transkei, first Bantustan in S. Africa

1979 Tanzanian forces invade Uganda, and expel President Amin

1980 Black majority rule established in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia)

1981 President Sadat of Egypt assassinated

1984 Famine in Ethiopia; continuing war against secession

1986 Widespread communal violence in S. Africa

1966 US bomb Libya in retaliation for terrorist actions

1990 S. Africa, Mandela released

1991 Mengistu overthrown in Ethiopia

1991 S. African prime minister De Klerk starts dismantling Apartheid

1994 Ethnic unrest leads to widespread massacres in Rwanda

1994 Free general elections held in S. Africa; Nelson Mandela declared Pr i