View source for 4th millennium BC

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The '''4th millennium BC''' saw major changes in human culture. It marked the beginning of the [[Bronze Age]] and of [[writing]].

The city states of [[Sumer]] and the kingdom of [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] were started and grew to prominence. [[Agriculture]] spread widely across [[Eurasia]]. [[World population]] in the course of the millennium doubled to approximately from 7 to 14 million people in the area surrounding them.

==Events==
*[[Mesopotamia]] is in the [[Uruk period]], with emerging [[Sumer]]ian hegemony and development of "proto-[[cuneiform]]" [[history of writing|writing]]; [[base-60]] [[mathematics]], [[astronomy]] and [[astrology]], [[legal system|civil law]], complex [[hydrology]], the [[sailboat]], [[potter's wheel]] and [[wheel]]; the [[Chalcolithic]] proceeds into the early [[Bronze Age]].
*c. [[4000 BC]]—First neolithic settlers in the island of [[Santorini|Thera]] ([[Santorini]]), Greece, migrating probably from [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] [[Crete]].
*c. 4000 BC—[[Beaker (archaeology)|Beaker]] from [[Susa]] (modern [[Shush, Iran]]) is made. It is now at [[Musée du Louvre]], Paris.
*c. 4000 BC–[[2000 BC]]—People and animals, a detail of rock-shelter painting in [[Cogul]], [[Lleida]], Spain, are painted. It is now at [[Museo Arqueológico de Barcelona|Museo Arqueológico]], [[Barcelona]].
*c. [[3900 BC]]—[[5.9 kiloyear event]], one of the most intense [[aridification]] events during the [[Holocene]]. It ended the [[Neolithic Subpluvial]] and likely initiated the most recent [[desiccation]] of the [[Sahara]] desert, triggering [[human migration|migration]] to [[river valley]]s, such as from central [[North Africa]] to the [[Nile valley]].
*Babylonian influence predominant in Mediterranean regions of Asia (to 2000 BC)
*In [[Colombia]], circa [[3600 BC]], first rupestrian art [[Chiribiquete]] ([[Caquetá]]).
*[[3600 BC]]—Construction of the [[Ġgantija]] megalithic temple complex on the [[Gozo|Island of Gozo]], [[Malta]]: the world's oldest extant unburied free-standing structures, and the world's oldest religious structures. (See [[Göbekli Tepe]] for older, buried religious structures.)
*[[3600 BC|3600]]–[[3200 BC]]—Construction of the first temple within the [[Mnajdra]] solar temple complex on [[Malta]], containing "furniture" such as stone benches and tables, that set it apart from other European megalith constructions.
*[[3600 BC|3600]]–[[3000 BC]]—Construction of the Ta' Ħaġrat and Kordin III temples on [[Malta]].
*[[3500 BC|3500]] [[Lost wax|Metalcasting]] began in the [[Mohenjodaro]] area.
*c. [[3500 BC]]—Figures of a man and a woman, from [[Cernavodă]], [[Romania]], are made. They are now at [[National Museum of Romanian History|National Historical Museum]], [[Bucharest]].
*[[3500 BC|3500]]–[[3400 BC]]—[[Container|Jar]] with boat designs, from [[Hierakonpolis]] (today in the [[Brooklyn Museum]]) is created. [[Predynastic Egypt]].
*[[3500 BC|3500]]–[[2340 BC]]—First cities developed in Southern [[Mesopotamia]]. Inhabitants migrated from north.
*The [[cuneiform]] script proper emerges from pictographic proto-writing in the later 4th millennium. Mesopotamia's "proto-literate" period spans the 35th to 32nd centuries. The first documents unequivocally written in the Sumerian language date to the 31st century, found at Jemdet Nasr.
*[[3300 BC|3300]]–[[2900 BC]]—Construction of the [[Newgrange]] solar [[observatory]]/passage tomb in Ireland.
* [[3300 BC|3300]]—[[Bronze Age]] starts in [[Indus Valley Civilization|Indus Valley]] ([[Harappa]])
*c. [[3300 BC]]—[[Ötzi the Iceman]] dies near the present-day border between Austria and Italy, only to be discovered in 1991 buried in a [[glacier]] of the [[Ötztal Alps]]. His [[cause of death]] is believed to be [[homicide]].
*[[3200 BC|3250]]–[[3000 BC]]—Construction of three megalithic temples at [[Tarxien]], [[Malta]].
*[[32nd century BC|3200]]–[[2500 BC]]—Construction of the [[Ħaġar Qim]] megalithic temple complex on [[Malta]], featuring both solar and lunar alignments.
*c. [[3150 BC]]—[[Predynastic Egypt|Predynastic]] period ended in [[Ancient Egypt]]. [[Early Dynastic Period of Egypt|Early Dynastic]] ([[Early Dynastic Period of Egypt|Archaic]]) period started (according to French [[Egyptologist]] [[Nicolas Grimal]]). The period includes 1st and 2nd Dynasties.
*c. [[3150 BC]] a lesser [[Tollmann's hypothetical bolide]] event may have occurred.
* August 11, 3114 BC—start date of the [[Mayan calendar]].
*c. 3100 BC—According to the legend, [[Menes]] unifies [[Upper Egypt|Upper]] and [[Lower Egypt]], and a new capital is erected at [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]].
*c. 3100 BC—[[Narmer Palette]]
*c. [[3100 BC|3100]]–[[2600 BC]]—[[Neolithic]] settlement at [[Skara Brae]] in the [[Orkney Islands]], [[Scotland]], is inhabited.
*First to Fourth dynasty of [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]] in [[Mesopotamia]].
*Discovery of [[silver]].
*The beginnings of [[Iberians|Iberian]] civilizations, arrival to the peninsula dating as far back as 4000 BC.
*c. 3000 BC—First [[pottery]] in [[Colombia]] at [[Puerto Hormiga]] ([[Magdalena Department|Magdalena]]), considered one of the first attempts of pottery of the [[New World]]. First settlement at [[Puerto Badel]] ([[Bolívar Department|Bolívar]]).
*Sumerian temple of Janna at Eridu erected.
*Temple at [[Al-Ubaid]] and tome of Mes-Kalam-Dug built near [[Ur]], [[Chaldea]].

==Significant persons==
* [[Ötzi the Iceman]] lived c. [[34th century BC|3300 BC]].
* Predynastic [[pharaoh]]s, [[Tiu (pharaoh)|Tiu]], [[Thesh]], [[Hsekiu]], [[Wazner]]
* [[Early Dynastic Period]] pharaohs, [[Ro (pharaoh)|Ro]], [[King Scorpion|Serket]], [[Narmer]]

==Inventions, discoveries, introductions==
[[image:Sumerian 26th c Adab.jpg|thumb|170px|Sumerian Cuneiform Script]]

*c. [[4000 BC]]—[[potter's wheel]] in [[Sumer]].<ref>Federico Lara Peinado, Universidad Complutense de Madrid: "La Civilización Sumeria". ''Historia'' 16, 1999.</ref>
*4000 BC—[[Susa]] is a center of [[pottery]] production.
*c. 4000 BC—Horses are domesticated in [[Ukraine]].
*[[3500 BC]]—[[2340 BC]]; [[Sumer]]: wheeled carts, [[potter's wheel]], [[White Temple ziggurat]], bronze tools and weapons.
*c. [[3250 BC]]—potter's wheel appears in [[Ancient Near East]].
*[[3000 BC]]—[[Tin]] is in use in Mesopotamia soon after this time.<ref name="Roberts, J 1994">Roberts, J: ''History of the World''. Penguin, 1994.</ref>{{page needed|date=March 2016}}
*Beginnings of [[urbanisation]] in [[Mesopotamia]] in [[Sumer]] and [[Egypt]].
*First [[writing]]s in the cities of [[Uruk]] and [[Susa]] ([[cuneiform (script)|cuneiform]] writings). [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|Hieroglyph]]s in [[Egypt]].
*[[Kurgan culture]] of what is now [[Southern Federal District|Southern Russia]] and [[Ukraine]]; possibly the first [[domestication of the horse]].
*[[Sail]]s used in the [[Nile]].
*Construction in England of the [[Sweet Track]], the World's first known engineered roadway.
*[[Drainage]] and [[Sewage collection and disposal]] created in the [[Indus Valley civilization]].
*[[Dam]]s, [[canal]]s, [[stone sculpture]]s using [[inclined plane]] and [[lever]] in [[Sumer]].
*[[Copper]] was in use, both as tools and weapons.
*[[Bronze]] was in use, specifically by the [[Maykop culture]].
*[[Mastaba]]s, the predecessors of the [[Egyptian pyramids]].
*The earliest phase of the [[Stonehenge]] monument (a circular earth bank and ditch) dates to c. [[3100 BC]].
*The [[Céide Fields]] in Ireland, arguably the oldest field system in world, are developed.
*Sumerian writing, done on clay tablets, shows about 2,000 pictographic signs.
*White painted [[pottery]] in Egypt and southeastern Europe.
*[[Harp]]s and [[flute]]s played in Egypt.
*Copper alloys used by Egyptians and Sumerians; smelting of gold and silver known.
*[[Lyre]]s and double clarinets ([[arghul]], [[mijwiz]]) played in Egypt.
*Earliest known [[numeral system|numerals]] in Egypt.
*[[Linen]] is produced in the Middle East.

==Religion==
* Sri [[Krishna]] and [[Mahabharata]].<ref name="Raman">See horoscope number 1 in {{ cite book | title = Notable Horoscopes | author = Dr. B. V. Raman | isbn = 81-208-0901-7 | year = 1991 | publisher = Motilal Banarsidass | location = Delhi, India }}</ref><ref name="ArunKBansal">Arun K. Bansal's research published in ''Outlook India'', September 13, 2004. {{cite web| title = Krishna (b. July 21, 3228 BC)| url = http://www.hvk.org/articles/0904/29.html| access-date = January 27, 2013| archive-date = April 26, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090426075606/http://www.hvk.org/articles/0904/29.html| url-status = dead}}</ref>
* [[Adam]], [[Cain]], [[Enoch]], [[Methuselah]], and [[Noah]].<ref>''Annals of the World'', as well as the above <!-- What? -->sources</ref><ref>IVP New Bible Commentary page 22 states the events of [[Genesis]] 1–11 took place before 2000 BC</ref>

==Calendars and chronology==
*The [[Maya calendar]] dates the [[creation myth|creation]] of the Earth to August 11 or August 13, 3114 BC (establishing that date as day zero of the [[Maya calendar|Long Count]] 13.0.0.0.0).
*According to calculations of [[Aryabhata]] (6th century), the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] [[Kali Yuga]] began at midnight (00:00) on 18 February 3102 BC. Consequently, Aryabhata dates the events of the [[Mahabharata]] to around 3137 BC.
*7 October 3761 BC—[[epoch (reference date)|Epoch]] of the [[Hebrew Calendar]] (introduced in the 12th century).
*3929 BC—Date of creation according to [[John Lightfoot]] based on the Old Testament of the Bible, and often associated with the [[Ussher chronology#Lightfoot's Creation|Ussher chronology]].
*1 January 4000 BC — [[epoch (reference date)|Epoch]] of the [[Freemasonry|Masonic]] calendar's [[Anno Mundi#Other computations|Anno Lucis]] era.

==References==
<references/>

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