We are in the year 3000 BC Until then, all human beings on Earth had lived in prehistory, but then two different peoples invented some rare symbols to represent their languages: writing. In Sumeria, cuneiform writing was created and hieroglyphic writing in Egypt. Thanks to this, humans were able to begin to register facts, customs, wars and kings. Here begins the History. More specifically the Ancient History. Throughout the video will appear, at the top, links to the episodes of the channel that deal with more detail the period you are talking about. It is said that the first great civilization was Sumer, a set of city-states scattered across the southern part of Mesopotamia, between the fertile Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The most famous were Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Isin, Nippur, Kish, Babylon ... They were dedicated to agriculture especially, but also to the metallurgy of copper and bronze, to the manufacture of the first beers, to foreign trade ... and of course, to war. The first recorded war in history seems to have been a small conflict between the cities of Lagash and Umma in the year 2525 BC Even so, these cities prospered. However, from the year 2250 BC Sargon of Akkad arrived, who first managed to gain control of the city of Kish and then, with a small army, conquered all of Sumeria, creating the Akkadian Empire. At the same time, cities were built in Egypt along the entire Nile River. It is believed that its first major urban center was in Hierakonpolis, and one of its kings, Menes, or Narmer, managed to unify the Lower and Upper Egypt creating the 1st Dynasty of pharaohs. The kingdom was so extensive that it had to be divided into Nomos, or provinces, governed by Nomarcas. The capital was Memphis, a city located between the two regions, the north and the south. During these years the pharaohs, after palming it, were mummified and buried in mastabas, rectangular little tombs. However, a Pharaoh of the Third Dynasty, Zoser, decided to superimpose several mastabas and with it the first Egyptian pyramid, the Step Pyramid of Saqqara, was created. Seneferu or Snofru tried to raise several, but two went to hell, the Layered Pyramid first and then the Meidum Pyramid. The Red Pyramid finally worked out well for her, but she became tiny when her son Keops came to power. This one constructed, around the year 2550 aC, the Great Pyramid of Giza, of 150 meters of height and composed by more than 2 million blocks of rock. Kephren built the middle pyramid, as well as the Sphinx of Giza, and Mykerin the smallest pyramid. You could tell that the rock was starting to get scarce. In addition, after the long reign of Pepi II there were many problems of succession and bad harvests, and some nomarcas were made with the power of their respective provinces going completely from what they said the pharaohs. This period of fragmentation was the 1st Egyptian intermediate period. In the year 2154 BC the Acadian Empire disappeared due to the pressures of other external peoples, such as the Gutis, nomadic savages of the Zagros Mountains who did not stop ambushing the Akkadians. These Gutis dominated a lot of territory, but different cities of southern Sumeria resisted. Kings like Gudea de Lágash and Utu-Hegal de Urúk stand out. One of his generals, Ur-Nammu, snatched control of Ur from the gutis and became king, beginning in 2112 BC with the Third Dynasty of Ur, the peak of Sumerian times. The great ziggurats, or Sumerian temples, were erected during these years, and codes of laws such as Ur-Nammu were also created. But with the arrival of more nomadic people this calm went to hell. The Amorites began to take control of some cities, such as Ur in 2004 BC From this date a chaos of milk began and the cities of Isin and Larsa were for decades giving of milks for the dominion of the territory. When the pharaoh Mentuhotep II reunited again that hyperfragmented Egypt, the Egyptian Middle Kingdom began. Prosperity returned, although for a short time. The pharaohs of this era managed to take control of the great gold mines of Nubia, a Sudanese kingdom located to the south. Cocodrilópolis, the capital of the region of El Fayum, stood out for becoming during the reign of Amenemhat III in the granary of the empire, and there developed agricultural techniques never before seen. While the cities of Larsa and Isin were still at war, the Amorites had succeeded in taking a small city called Babylon, and in 1793 BC their king Hammurabi conquered all of Mesopotamia in the Paleo-Babylonian Empire. This type is famous for the Hammurabi Code, which unified all existing laws in the different cities of the region. By 1600 BC Babylon was not at its best. Hititas, mitanos and assirios had created own kingdoms by the zone, and began to attack it. During the following thousand years there were several dynasties of which there is hardly any information because many records were lost. And while these fainted in chaos, the Assyrians, with capital in Assur, were gaining power and more power. Soon they would become great conquerors. Egypt fragmented again around 1750 BC, starting a second intermediate period. During these years of chaos came, possibly from Canaan, a people called Hicsos, who ended up conquering all of Egypt under Dynasty 15, and put their capital in Avaris. After a century of domination, the Egyptians led by Amosis I managed to kick them and create the New Egyptian Kingdom around 1550 BC A time of great splendor was approaching. The pharaoh Tutmosis I conquered all the territory of Levante and part of Nubia, put to Tebas, the present Luxor, like capital of the kingdom, and also traditionally thinks that he was the first one to be buried in the Valley of the Kings. The fashion of the pyramids had passed, and now there were hypogea, that is, underground chambers. Also at this time the Egyptians created great temples dedicated to their gods: Horus, Seth, Osiris, Isis, Amón-Ra ... As for example the Temple of Karnak, located opposite Thebes. Here are several pharaohs that are worth noting. Pharaoh Hatshepsut built his funeral temple at Deir el-Bahari, designed by his architect Senenmut, who became the queen's right hand. Pharaoh Amenhotep III was very strong, and during his reign the enormous Temple of Luxor was completed. His son Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti bundled her up pretty blunt by banning most of the gods and imposing the worship of the god Aten. Of course, when he palmed or god kept his roll and everything returned more or less normal. It is said that his son was Tutankhamun, famous for being one of the few pharaohs of Egypt with his tomb intact, but he did not do much. The Kingdom of Hatti of the Hittites got it sacked thanks to iron and the creation of chariots pulled by horses, a revolution at the time. His greatest monarch was Supiluliuma I, who won great victories against his neighbors, and Mitanni ended up as his vassal. His grandson Muwatali II fought against Egypt in Batalla de Qadesh, that was in tables. In Assyria, King Shalmaneser I reduced Mitani to ashes, and his son Tukulti-Ninurta I managed to subdue the tribes of the Zagros Mountains and made Babylon vassal, although the situation did not last long. In the year 1279 BC, during the 19 th Dynasty, the most famous pharaoh who had Egypt came to the throne: Ramses II. The new capital was Pi-Ramses, and in those years culture, arts and sciences flourished. Among its most pro constructions is Abu Simbel, a group of temples built on the border with Nubia. Year 1200 BC The Peoples of the Sea arrive, a kind of pirates of rather mysterious origin. It is thought that they may have been Mycenaeans fleeing from the Dorians, people from Western Europe or rock from North Africa ... it is not well known. The only certain thing is that they came with their ships to Egypt and Mesopotamia and destroyed many cities. For example, the Hittites disappeared under their swords, and when Fucking the commercial routes, the Bronze Crisis occurred, where this important metal was scarce. Although iron was already used by some people, it began to become fashionable. This knowledge was first in the hands of the Hittites, but then the Assyrians gave him good cane, and thanks to it the Kingdom of Assyria achieved a great superiority over the rest. Among his kings stand several. Asurnasirpal II, who raised many huge temples, such as Kalakh, in the current Nimrud. Tiglath-Pileser III, conqueror of the Kingdom of Israel and of Babylon. And also highlights Sennacherib, famous for having built the city of Nineveh and also for destroying the city of Babylon around 689 BC after the murder of his son, who was the governor. In the area of Levante, called Canaan and inhabited by the Canaanites, there was a group of Semitic people known as Israelites, who according to their stories, descended from one Abraham. His grandson Jacob, or Israel, had 12 children from whom the 12 tribes of Israel came. But the Egyptians ended up using them as slaves until Moses rescued them and helped them return to their Promised Land. According to the Bible, around 1030 BC Saul was elected first monarch of the Kingdom of Israel. His successor was David, who expanded the kingdom and capitalized Jerusalem. To the north of the Canaan region appeared the Phoenician people, specialists in the art of navigation and trade in the Mediterranean. They founded several coastal city-states, such as Sidon, Tire or Byblos, named after the Greeks for being the place where they bought papyri. But what they were most known for was their famous purple dye, which they extracted from molluscs. Around 950 BC the king of Tire was Hiram I, and his city was made of gold when he provided tons of wood to the king of Israel Solomon to build the Temple of Jerusalem consecrated to Yahweh. Shortly after his boats would found a colony in North Africa, in the current Tunisia: Carthage. Undoubtedly, the greatest achievement of these Phoenicians was the creation of the Phoenician alphabet, the basis for the vast majority of current alphabets: Greek, Latin, Aramaic, Hebrew, Arabic, Cyrillic ... After the death of Solomon, the internal struggles divided the kingdom of Israel in two, being the Kingdom of Judah, to the south, the kingdom that still struggled to maintain its Jewish traditions as opposed to northern paganism. By the year 712 BC the Assyrian Sargon II conquered the northern kingdom and deported his entire population. Judah survived, but do not think it lasted long either. Around 1070 BC, Egypt entered its third intermediate period. This time it was divided because Libyan priests and generals rebelled against Pharaoh's power. After decades of fighting, everyone ended up so weakened that the Nubian kings of Kush decided to reclaim the Pharaonic throne. Dynasty 25 is called the Kushite dynasty or the black pharaohs, which lasted 80 years, until Assyria came from Asurbanipal and threw them all out. This Assyrian monarch was very famous for his love of reading, and created in Nineveh the first great library in the world. In 616 BC the city of Babylon regained its independence from the decaying Assyria from the Chaldean king Nabopolassar. This type was allied with Eastern tribes called the Medes, ruled by the caudillo Ciaxares de Media, and together they managed to destroy Assyria in 609 BC With Nabopolassar begins the Neo-Babylonian Empire, whose most famous king was Nebuchadnezzar II. Thanks to his constructive zeal the city of Babylon was incredible. He raised the Gate of Ishtar, the mythical entrance to the city; the Etemenanki, or great ziggurat to the god Marduk, and it is said that he also created the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, although it is the only wonder of the ancient world from which no trace has been left, and many question its existence. Nebuchadnezzar II also conquered Jerusalem in 587 BC and the famous Banishment to Babylon took place, where thousands of Jews were deported to this Chaldean city. It is thought that, in order not to lose their traditions, some of these Jews began to put in writing all their beliefs, giving rise to the Old Testament. Half a century later, they would be freed by the Persian Cyrus the Great, a guy who had rebelled against the Medes and who set out to conquer all of Mesopotamia. The new capital would be Pasargada. Divided the territory into satrapies and imposed taxes that were not very abusive, increased security in cities and roads and there was a relative peace that caused many people to love the East Cyrus. But his son, Cambyses II, was the opposite. I wanted blood, I wanted to conquer, and went to Egypt. Pharaoh Psamtic III could not do anything against these Persians by throwing cats at him during the Battle of Pelusio in 525 BC, and Egypt became a satrapy of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Well, the cat is a myth more than anything else, but it is funny, because it was a sacred animal for the Egyptians. Although Egypt had some moments of independence, the thing remained more or less the same until 332 BC, when a Macedonian arrived who managed to defeat the Persian power and liberate Egypt from its domination: Alexander the Great.