The oldest known evidence of warfare will be found at Cemetery 117, an ancient burial site near Wadi Halfa, near the northern border of Sudan.

The remains of fifty-nine bodies, as well as numerous other fragmented remains will be discovered here in 1964 by a team led by Fred Wendorf.

Determined to be around 14,340 to 13,140 years old, the remains represent twenty-four females and nineteen males over nineteen years of age, as well as thirteen children ranging in age from infancy to fifteen years old.

Three additional bodies will also be discovered, but their age and sex cannot be determined due to damage and missing pieces.

The site comprises three cemeteries, two of which are called Jebel Sahaba, one on either side of the Nile river and the third cemetery being called Tushka.

About forty percent of the people buried in Jebel Sahaba had died of violent wounds.

Pointed stone projectiles are found in their bodies at places that suggest the bodies had been attacked by spears or arrows.

The wounds are located around the sternum, abdomen, back, and skull (through the lower jaw or neck).

Djer may have pushed Egypt’s boundaries farther south beyond the First Cataract to the Wadi Halfa in present Sudan, where archaeologists will find an inscription of his name (of questioned authenticity, however).

Inscriptions concerning Djer, on ivory and wood, are in a very early form of hieroglyphs, hindering complete translation, but a label at Saqqarah may depict the early Old Kingdom practice of human sacrifice.

An ivory tablet from Abydos mentions that Djer visited Buto and Sais in the Nile Delta.

One of his regnal years on the Cairo Stone was named "Year of smiting the land of Setjet", which often is speculated to be Sinai or beyond.

Similarly to his father Hor-Aha, Djer was buried in Abydos.

Djer's tomb is tomb O of Petrie.

His tomb contains the remains of three hundred retainers who were buried with him.

Several objects were found in and around the tomb of Djer.

Women carrying titles later associated with queens, such as great one of the hetes-scepter and She who sees/carries Horus wee buried in subsidiary tombs near the tomb of Djer in Abydos or attested in Saqqara.

These women are thought to be the wives of Djer and include Nakhtneith (or Nekhetneith), buried in Abydos and known from a stela; Herneith, possibly a wife of Djer, buried in Saqqara; Seshemetka, buried in Abydos next to the king, and said to be a wife of Den in Dodson and Hilton; Penebui, her name and title found on an ivory label from Saqqara, and bsu, known from a label in Saqqara and several stone vessels (reading of name uncertain; name consists of three fish hieroglyphs).

The tomb of Djer is associated with the burials of three hundred and thirty-eight individuals, most likely retainers sacrificed upon the king’s death.

Shimao (石峁): An Upper East Asian Citadel of the Late Neolithic

Rising above the northern edge of the Loess Plateau in today’s Shenmu County, Shaanxi, Shimao was the largest fortified settlement of the Late Neolithic in northern China, active roughly 2300–1800 BCE. At its height, Shimao extended over 400 hectares, dwarfing its contemporaries and anchoring a frontier zone between the agrarian heartlands to the south and the pastoral–foraging cultures of the Ordos and northern steppes. Built of massive stone walls—unusual in Neolithic China—the city’s terraced fortifications, palatial platform, and gates lined with human sacrifices reveal an emerging political order shaped by competition, display, and the orchestration of labor at unprecedented scales.

Shimao’s most remarkable signatures are its jade-rich assemblages and hybrid symbolic program. Jade plaques, blades, scepters, animal ornaments, and inlaid wall mosaics echo Longshan jade traditions yet appear in far greater volume and more northerly style. Thin-walled black pottery and carved motifs show a selective adoption of material traits from the Longshan cultural sphere, which extended through Shandong and northern Henan. At the same time, Shimao’s iconography—especially its stone-carved masks, stepped terraces, and animal–spirit imagery—draws from older northern traditions of the Ordos and steppe worlds. This cultural hybridity positions Shimao as a frontier capital, mediating between millet-farming societies to the south and mobile pastoralists to the north.

Recent findings reveal extensive craft specialization—workshops for jade, stone, bone, and horn, along with evidence of textile production—and an elite compound separated by inner walls. The scale of construction, repeated remodeling, and rich ritual deposits suggest a powerful ruling lineage at Shimao that commanded long-distance trade in jade and other prestige goods. Climate shifts around 2000 BCE, along with emerging Bronze Age powers to the south, likely contributed to its decline, but the site’s influence endured in the cultural memory and political formations of the early northern states.

The Mediterranean, or Greek, Dark Ages see the near-total collapse of Aegean and Near Eastern civilization, and cultures in other parts of the world experience similar fates, in the centuries between 1200 BCE and 900 BCE.

Western Southeast Europe (2,637 – 910 BCE) Bronze and Early Iron — Cetina Maritime, Vučedol, and Illyrian/Dalmatian Horizons

Geographic and Environmental Context

Western Southeast Europe includes Greece (outside Thrace), Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo, most of Bosnia, southwestern Serbia, most of Croatia, and Slovenia.

• Anchors: Cetina maritime culture (Adriatic), Vučedol (Sirmium–Vukovar), Glasinac (Bosnia), Iapodes/Liburnians (northern Dalmatia/Istria), Pannonian plains.

Climate & Environmental Shifts

• Variable rainfall; river avulsions; good pastures in uplands/forelands.

Subsistence & Settlement

• Vučedol metallurgists (c. 3000–2200 BCE) on Sava–Danube; Cetina seafarers exploited maritime routes; Illyrian tribal formations emerged (Glasinac plateaus).

• Mixed farming, herding, and maritime economies.

Technology & Material Culture

• Bronze swords, sickles, ornaments; Vučedol ceramics; Illyrian helmets and gear late; early iron by 1st millennium BCE.

• Coastal shipbuilding traditions matured.

Movement & Interaction Corridors

• Adriatic cabotage tied Istria–Dalmatia–Ionian; Sava–Drava moved metals and grain; Vardar–Morava linked Aegean/central Balkans.

Cultural & Symbolic Expressions

• Tumuli and warrior graves; hillfort sanctuaries; maritime cults along capes.

Environmental Adaptation & Resilience

• Agro-pastoral and maritime redundancy buffered droughts/floods; hillforts provided refuge.

Greece is home to the first advanced civilizations in Europe and is considered the birthplace of Western civilization, beginning with the Cycladic civilization on the islands of the Aegean Sea at around 3200 BCE, the Minoan civilization in Crete (2700–1500 BCE), and the Mycenaean civilization on the mainland (1900–1100 BCE).

These civilizations posses writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek.

The Mycenaeans gradually absorb the Minoans, but collapse violently around 1200 BCE, during a time of regional upheaval known as the Bronze Age collapse.

This ushers in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent.

Mesopotamian metallurgy advances significantly by 2600 BCE.

Soldering techniques are used to make ornaments found in the royal tombs at Ur, which becomes one of the richest cities in Sumer, and where full-scale bronze metallurgy is practiced by 2500 BCE.

Nobles of Ur’s first dynasty are buried with fabulous treasures, retinues of servants, and ceremonial goods.

The so-called Royal Tombs of Ur, most of which date to about 2600 BCE, reflect the city’s great wealth and unusual funerary customs.

Important persons are buried in these tombs, not only with fabulous treasures of gold, silver, and semiprecious stones, and rich bronze artifacts, but also with their retinues of servants, ceremonial carts and animals, furniture, and utensils.

Lagash is an important Sumerian city in the late third millennium BCE, as indicated by inscriptions found at Telloh.

It is ruled at this time by such independent kings as Ur-Nanshe (twenty-fourth century BCE) and his successors, who are engaged in contests with the Elamites on the east and the kings of "Kiengir" and Kish on the north.

Inscriptions describing the reforms of king Urukagina of Lagash state that he abolished the former custom of polyandry in his country, on pain of the woman taking multiple husbands being stoned with rocks upon which her crime is written.

The name of Userkaf, the founder of the Fifth dynasty, who rules from 2465-2458 BCE, means "his ka is potent."

He constructs a pyramid complex at Saqqarah.

It is believed that he was father of two pharaohs: Sahure and Neferirkare Kakai, who both succeeded him to the throne.

Another less common view, in concordance with a story of the Westcar Papyrus, is that first three rulers of the Fifth dynasty were all brothers, the sons of queen Khentkaus I.

He is given a reign of seven years by both the Turin King List and Manetho; according to Eusebius, Manetho says Userkaf was killed by his bodyguards.

The Middle East (2349–2206 BCE): Akkadian Ascendancy and the Expansion of Empires

Akkadian Political Dominance

From 2349 to 2206 BCE, Mesopotamia witnessed the ascendancy of the Semitic-speaking Akkadians, who began exerting influence over central and northern Mesopotamia around 2400 BCE. This marked a critical power shift from the Sumerian city-states in the lower valley toward the Akkadians, whose political reach expanded rapidly westward into Syria and eastward as far as Susa in present-day Iran.

Under the leadership of Sargon of Akkad (r. approximately 2334–2279 BCE), the first great empire-builder in recorded history, Akkadian forces penetrated deep into Egypt and possibly Ethiopia. Sargon's reign saw a significant separation between religious and secular authority, with the establishment of a conscripted army, allowing him to mobilize large labor forces for ambitious irrigation and infrastructure projects. Akkadian military power was further enhanced by the introduction of the composite bow, a weapon superior to previous designs.

Ebla: Center of Commerce and Literacy

During this age, Ebla reached the peak of its economic and cultural influence. Located in northern Syria, Ebla thrived as a central hub in an extensive trade network spanning Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Cyprus, and Persia. The discovery of approximately eighteen hundred clay tablets and numerous fragments in the palace archives at Ebla revealed intricate details of the city’s administration, commerce, and diplomatic activities. These tablets, written primarily in the Eblaite language using Sumerian cuneiform script, represent one of the most significant linguistic discoveries of the period. Eblaite was initially identified as proto-Canaanite but later recognized as a unique early Semitic language.

The Ebla tablets contain references to notable locations such as Canaan, Ugarit, and Lebanon, indicating the city's extensive interactions with other civilizations. Ebla maintained an intense commercial rivalry with Mari, leading to protracted conflicts that lasted nearly a century. Despite political turmoil, Ebla remained a vital educational center, pioneering important linguistic innovations that promoted literacy and administrative efficiency across the region.

Cultural and Artistic Achievements

Mesopotamian culture during the Akkadian period produced notable artistic and technological achievements. Scribes refined cuneiform writing, transitioning toward a more streamlined and efficient phonetic system. This era also saw the creation of important narrative reliefs and monumental stelae commemorating imperial triumphs. A prominent example includes the bronze bust from Nineveh, possibly depicting Sargon or his grandson Naram-Sin, who also significantly expanded Akkadian territory.

Regional Instability and Climatic Crisis

The early twenty-third century BCE was marked by geological and climatic disruptions, including severe earthquakes and volcanic activity. This period coincided with a prolonged drought lasting nearly three centuries, profoundly affecting regional stability and contributing to the weakening and eventual collapse of established city-states and empires, including Akkad and Ebla.

Rise of the Hurrians and Hattians

Amid this period of upheaval, non-Semitic Hurrians began migrating from the Caucasus region into northern Mesopotamia and the Zagros foothills, gradually establishing themselves around key sites such as Urkesh and Nuzi. Hurrian political entities allied with Akkadian rulers, notably Naram-Sin, gaining significant regional influence.

In Anatolia, the indigenous non-Indo-European speaking Hattians organized into feudal city-states and small theocratic kingdoms, forming alliances and conflicts with Mesopotamian rulers. The oldest reference to "Land of the Hatti" appears in Mesopotamian records of Sargon’s time, highlighting the region's emerging importance.

Emergence of Major Trade Centers

Commerce flourished across the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean regions. Cities like Dilmun (modern Bahrain) emerged as vital commercial entrepôts, facilitating trade between Mesopotamia and distant markets. Extensive archaeological finds in Dilmun, such as burial mounds dating to this period, underscore the significance of trade-based prosperity in these coastal communities.

Urban and Military Innovations

Significant urban fortifications appeared, exemplified by Gilgamesh's legendary city wall around Uruk, underscoring heightened concerns over security amid increasing regional conflicts. Military advancements, such as the disciplined infantry formations depicted on the Stele of the Vultures, provided further evidence of a rapidly evolving martial culture across Mesopotamia.

Babylon and New Settlements

The earliest known references to Babylon appeared during this era, attributed to Sargon, who purportedly founded or significantly developed the city near the Euphrates River. This development foreshadowed Babylon's future prominence as a political and cultural powerhouse.

Elamite Resurgence

In southwestern Iran, the city-state of Susa, temporarily under Akkadian administration, regained autonomy under governor Kutik-Inshushinak around 2240 BCE. His rebellion led to a revival of Elamite culture, turning Susa into an influential literary and administrative center once again.

The age 2349–2206 BCE thus represented a dynamic period characterized by the rise and consolidation of empires, significant cultural exchanges, extensive economic networks, and crucial innovations in military, urban, and linguistic practices, laying important foundations for subsequent historical developments.