A Timeline of World Civilizations for Mythology

Mythology seeks to explain the world and thus reflects the culture, events, and history of the societies that create the stories handed down as myths. Egypt’s Nile River and its cycle of overflowing its banks leaving fertile ground as it receded became the basis for Egyptian religion that demanded that the people help the gods prevent anything from interfering with the cycle.

Myths form around the founding of cities, including Athens and Rome — about 10,000 to 2,500 years ago, respectively — and the founding of civilizations, including the creation myths passed down in virtually every culture.

Chinese and Native American myths account for astrological occurrences as well as for more earth-bound events such as the Toltec invasion of the Mexican city of Teotihuacan in 900 CE. The myth of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, grew from this victory.

Famous poems, such as Beowulf and the Saga of the Volsungs are combinations of history and legend. The stories of the mythical Br’er Rabbit, who won every encounter despite his subservient position, inspired hope in African-American slaves in the Civil War era.

And don’t assume that all the myths are hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. The mythical city of Brigadoon, a Scottish village that appears once every hundred years was essentially the invention of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe who wrote a play in 1947.

The following table offers historical highlights from 3,000 years before the common era to the eve of the 20th century.

BCE		CE
3300-1900	Beginning of Sumerian Civilization	31 BCE-476 CE	Roman Empire
2550-2150	Old Kingdom, Egypt	150 -750	Teotihuacan: Central America
1980-1640	Middle Kingdom, Egypt	27-30	Jesus of Nazareth preaches reforms in Palestine and is executed by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate.
1792-1750	Hammurabi’s reign, height of Babylonian Empire	35-62	Paul, a Diaspora Jew, founds a series of churches in Syria, Asia Minor, and Greece. Christianity separates from Judaism.
1600-1100	Greek Bronze Age	400-499	Historical King Arthur might have lived
1540-1070	New Kingdom, Egypt	250-900	Maya: Central America
1500-400	Olmec; Central America	570–632	The Prophet Mohammed writes the Qur’an and founds the religion of Islam.
1500	Aryans invade India; start of Vedic Age	632–750	Islam spreads to the Near East, North Africa, Spain, and France.
1250	Moses leads Israelite slaves from Egypt, establishes worship of Yahweh at Mt. Sinai (formerly sacred to the moon god Sin)	700-1000	Age of Vikings
1200-1000	Earliest Hindu Literature, the Rigveda	900-1180	Toltec: Central America
1100	Trojan War	1000-1300	Apache and Navajo Indians move to Southwestern United States
800-700	Age of Homer	1250	End of Anasazi culture, North America
776	First Olympic Games in Greece, in honor of Zeus	1325-1521	Aztec empire: Central America
753	Founding of Rome	1438-1532	Inca empire: South America
600-400	Age of Athenian Democracy	1492	Christopher Columbus lands in North America
599-500	Lao-Tzu, founder of Taoism, active in China	1600-1700	North American Plains Indians incorporate horses
551-479	Confucius	1800-1899	North American Indians in United States mostly displaced by Europeans
563	Birth of Gautama (founder of Buddhism)
540	Birth of Vardhamana (founder of Jainism)
509-31	Roman Republic
365-323	Alexander the Great

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