The 1st millennium BC, also known as the last millennium BC, was the period of time lasting from the years 1000 BC to 1 BC (10th to 1st centuries BC; in astronomy: JD 1,356,182.5 – 1,721,425.5[1]). It encompasses the Iron Age in the Old World and sees the transition from the Ancient Near East to classical antiquity.

World population roughly doubled over the course of the millennium, from about 100 million to about 200–250 million after the birth of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Julio-Claudian dynasty led by its founder Octavian.[2]

Overview

See also: Ancient history and Human history

The Neo-Assyrian Empire dominates the Near East in the early centuries of the millennium, supplanted by the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century. Ancient Egypt is in decline, and falls to the Achaemenids in 525 BC.

In Greece, Classical Antiquity begins with the colonization of Magna Graecia and peaks with the conquest of the Achaemenids and the subsequent flourishing of Hellenistic civilization (4th to 2nd centuries).

The Roman Republic supplants the Etruscans and then the Carthaginians (5th to 3rd centuries). The close of the millennium sees the rise of the Roman Empire. The early Celtic culture dominate Central Europe while Northern Europe is in the Pre-Roman Iron Age. In East Africa, the Nubian Empire and Aksum arise.

In South Asia, the Vedic civilization gives rise to the Maurya Empire. The Scythians dominate Central Asia. In China, the Zhou dynasty rules the Chinese heartland at the beginning of the millennium. The decline of the Zhou dynasty during Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period sees the rise of such philosophical and spiritual traditions as Confucianism and Taoism. Towards the close of the millennium, the Han dynasty extends Chinese power towards Central Asia, where it borders on Indo-Greek and Iranian states. Japan is in the Yayoi period.

The Olmec civilization declines, and the Maya and Zapotec civilizations emerge in Mesoamerica. The Chavín culture flourishes in Peru.

The first millennium BC is the formative period of the classical world religions, with the development of early Judaism and Zoroastrianism in the Near East, and Vedic religion and Vedanta, Jainism and Buddhism in India. Early literature develops in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Tamil and Chinese. The term Axial Age, coined by Karl Jaspers, is intended to express the crucial importance of the period of c. the 8th to 2nd centuries BC in world history.

World population more than doubled over the course of the millennium, from about an estimated 50–100 million to an estimated 170–300 million. Close to 90% of world population at the end of the first millennium BC lived in the Iron Age civilizations of the Old World (Roman Empire, Parthian Empire, Graeco-Indo-Scythian and Hindu kingdoms, Han China). The population of the Americas was below 20 million, concentrated in Mesoamerica (Epi-Olmec culture); that of Sub-Saharan Africa was likely below 10 million. The population of Oceania was likely less than one million people.[2]

Ancient history

Main article: Ancient history
See also: Iron Age, Classical Antiquity and Axial Age

Timeline

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

See also: Ancient technology

Literature

Main article: Ancient literature
See also: List of languages by first written accounts#First millennium BC
Greco-Roman literature
Main articles: Greek literature and Latin literature

Archaic period

Classical period

Hellenistic to Roman period

Chinese literature
Main article: Chinese literature
Sanskrit literature
Main article: Sanskrit literature
Hebrew
Main articles: Ancient Hebrew writings and Hebrew Bible
Avestan
Other (2nd to 1st century BC)

Archaeology

See also: Iron Age and Pre-Columbian Americas
CultureRegionPeriodNotes
Urnfield cultureEurope, Central1300–750 BCBronze Age Europe
Atlantic Bronze AgeEurope, Western1300–700 BCBronze Age Europe
Painted Grey Ware cultureSouth Asia1200–600 BCBronze Age India, Indo-Aryan migration
Late Nordic Bronze AgeEurope, North1100–550 BCBronze Age Europe
Villanovan cultureEurope, Italy1100–700 BCIron Age Europe
Greek Dark AgesGreece1100–800 BCDorian invasion
Iron Age IINear East1000–586 BCAncient Near East, List of archaeological periods (Levant)
Sa Huỳnh cultureSoutheast Asia, Vietnam1000 BC–AD 200
Woodland periodNorth America1000 BC – AD 1000List of archaeological periods (North America)
Bantu expansionSub-Saharan Africa1000 BC–AD 500
Middle Nok PeriodSub-Saharan Africa, West900–300 BCIron metallurgy in Africa
Novocherkassk cultureEurope, Eastern900–650 BC
Chavín de HuántarSouth America, Peru[7]1200–500 BC
Poverty Point earthworksNorth America, Louisiana1650–700 BC[7]
OlmecsMesoamerica1500–400 BC
Adena cultureNorth America, Ohio1000–200 BC[7]
Liaoning bronze dagger cultureEast Asia800–600 BC
Middle MumunEast Asia, Korea800–300 BC
Etruscan civilizationEurope, Italy800–264 BC
Paracas cultureSouth America, Peru800–100 BC[7]
Hallstatt cultureEurope, Central800 BC–500 BCIron Age Europe, Thraco-Cimmerian, Celts
British Iron AgeEurope, Britain700–50 BCInsular Celts
Zapotec civilizationMesoamerica700 BC – AD 700
Pazyryk cultureCentral Asia600–300 BCScythians, Saka, Pazyryk burials
Aldy-Bel cultureCentral Asia600–300 BCScythians, Saka
La Tène cultureEurope, Central/Western500–50 BCGauls
Pre-Roman Iron AgeEurope, North500–50 BCProto-Germanic
Northern Black Polished WareSouth Asia500–300 BCVedic period
Late MumunEast Asia, Korea550–300 BC
UreweSub-Saharan Africa400 BC–AD 500Iron metallurgy in Africa
Late Nok PeriodSub-Saharan Africa, West300–1 BCIron metallurgy in Africa
Nasca cultureSouth America, Peru100 BC–800 AD[7]
Calima cultureSouth America, Colombia200 BC–400 AD
Hopewell traditionNorth America100 BC–AD 400[8]
TeotihuacanMesoamerica100 BC –AD 550[8]
Ipiutak siteNorth America, Alaska100 BC –AD 800[8]

Astronomy

See also: List of solar eclipses in antiquity
Historical solar eclipses
Year (BC)DateEclipse TypeSaros SeriesEclipse MagnitudeGamma

Ecliptic Conjunction

(UT)

Greatest Eclipse

(UT)

Duration (Min & Sec)Description
89921 AprAnnular530.95910.896422:32:1522:21:5600:03:04China's 'Double-Dawn' Eclipse [1] [2]
76315 JunTotal441.05960.271508:11:1308:14:0100:05:00Assyrian Eclipse [3] [4]
6486 AprTotal381.06890.689808:24:0508:31:0300:05:02Archilochus' Eclipse [5] [6]
58528 MayTotal571.07980.320114:25:4114:22:2600:06:04Thales Eclipse (Medes vs. Lydians), firstly recorded in Herodotus History. [7] [8] [9]
55719 MayTotal481.02580.314512:49:0212:52:2600:02:22The Siege of Larisa, firstly recorded by Xenophon. [10]
4802 OctAnnular650.93240.495111:56:5411:51:0100:07:57Xerxes' Eclipse. recorded by Herodotus History. [11]
4313 AugAnnular480.98430.838814:45:3414:54:5200:01:05Peloponnesian War. [12] [13]
42421 MarAnnular420.94300.943307:43:3007:54:2900:04:398th Year of Peloponnesian War. [14]

Centuries and decades

10th century BC990s BC980s BC970s BC960s BC950s BC940s BC930s BC920s BC910s BC900s BC
9th century BC890s BC880s BC870s BC860s BC850s BC840s BC830s BC820s BC810s BC800s BC
8th century BC790s BC780s BC770s BC760s BC750s BC740s BC730s BC720s BC710s BC700s BC
7th century BC690s BC680s BC670s BC660s BC650s BC640s BC630s BC620s BC610s BC600s BC
6th century BC590s BC580s BC570s BC560s BC550s BC540s BC530s BC520s BC510s BC500s BC
5th century BC490s BC480s BC470s BC460s BC450s BC440s BC430s BC420s BC410s BC400s BC
4th century BC390s BC380s BC370s BC360s BC350s BC340s BC330s BC320s BC310s BC300s BC
3rd century BC290s BC280s BC270s BC260s BC250s BC240s BC230s BC220s BC210s BC200s BC
2nd century BC190s BC180s BC170s BC160s BC150s BC140s BC130s BC120s BC110s BC100s BC
1st century BC90s BC80s BC70s BC60s BC50s BC40s BC30s BC20s BC10s BC0s BC

References

  1. ^ "Julian Day Number from Date Calculator". keisan.casio.com
  2. ^ Klein Goldewijk, K., A. Beusen, M. de Vos and G. van Drecht (2011). The HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit database of human induced land use change over the past 12,000 years, Global Ecology and Biogeography20(1): 73–86. doi:10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00587.x (pbl.nl). Goldewijk et al. (2011) estimate 188 million as of AD 1, citing a literature range of 170 million (low) to 300 million (high). Out of the estimated 188M, 116M are estimated for Asia (East, South/Southeast and Central Asia, excluding Western Asia), 44M for Europe and the Near East, 15M for Africa (including Egypt and Roman North Africa), 12M for Mesoamerica and South America. North America and Oceania were at or below one million. Jean-Noël Biraben, "Essai sur l'évolution du nombre des hommes", Population 34-1 (1979), 13–25 (p. 22) estimates c. 100 million at 1200 BC and c. 250 million at AD 1.[15]
  3. ^ "Who Built it First". Ancient Discoveries. A&E Television Networks. 2008. Archived 2009-04-29 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  4. ^ Although disputed, some scholars see the emergence of monotheism proper in the context of the Babylonian exile, during which the Israelites adopted aspects of Babylonian religion, resulting in Second Temple Judaism by 515 BC. No Other Gods: Emergent Monotheism in Israel Also credited with early monotheism is Zoroastrianism, founded at roughly the same time. Zoroastrianism
  5. ^ Temple 1986
  6. ^ Temple 1986, pp. 15
  7. ^ "World Timeline of the Americas 1000 BC – AD 200". The British Museum. 2005. Archived from the original on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
  8. ^ "World Timeline of the Americas 200 BC – AD 600". The British Museum. 2005. Archived from the original on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
  • Temple, Robert (1986). The Genius of China: 3000 years of science, discovery and invention. New York: Simon and Schuster. Based on the works of Joseph Needham
  • Zimmer, Heinrich (1952), "Philosophy of India", Joseph Campbell (ed.), London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd Not in copyright