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| | | | World History timeline |
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| 2781 BC |
| | | Sirius rises in this year on the first day of the first Egyptian month - a rare event which possibly launches the Egyptian calendar system | |
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| c. 2620 BC |
| | | Imhotep creates the first pyramid - the 'step pyramid' at Saqqara - as a tomb for the pharaoh Djoser | |
|  | Saqqara
Fotofile CG
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| c. 2600 BC |
| | | The Canaanites establish themselves in the region around what is now Jerusalem | |
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| c. 2580 BC |
| | | Egypt enters the period known as the Old Kingdom, its first era of monumental architecture | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | At Huaca Prieta, the earliest known farming community in South America, squash, gourds and chili are cultivated | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | The delicate seals of the Indus civilization are in a script as yet undeciphered | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | The first and largest of the three great pyramids at Giza is built for the pharaoh Khufu, later known to the Greeks as Cheops | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | The treasures found in the royal cemetery at Ur include a depiction of soldiers in copper helmets, armed with battleaxes | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | A small neolithic community builds a village at Skara Brae in the Orkneys, of stone houses with built-in stone furniture | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | A superb passage grave is built at Newgrange in Ireland | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | Yarns of spun cotton survive at Mohenjo-daro, one of the two great cities of the Indus civilization | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | Some ninety royal servants, including soldiers, grooms and female musicians, are buried alive in the tomb of a royal couple at Ur | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | A boat of cedar planks, some 44 metres long, is buried at Giza | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation story, spreads in oral form | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | Harappa becomes one of the main cities of the Indus civilization | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | Trade lnks, probably by sea in Phoenician ships from Byblos, are established between Egypt and Phoenicia | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | The largest sculpture of the ancient world, a sphinx with the face of the pharaoh Khufu, is carved in situ at Giza | |
|  | Sphinx
Photograph Josceline Dimbleby
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | The ruling family of Ur plays a board game which appears to be the same as modern backgammon | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | At Stonehenge, constructed and altered over many centuries, the largest stones are put in place | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | To preserve bodies in perpetuity, the Egyptian ruling class develops the elaborate and lengthy process of mummifying an eviscerated corpse | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | It is not known when cats are first domesticated, but from the start of Egyptian civilization they are sacred animals in temples | |
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| c. 2500 BC |
| | | To ensure continued comfort in the afterlife, rich Egyptians have models placed in their tombs of the necessary servants and utensils | |
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| c. 2400 BC |
| | | Clay tablets discovered at Ebla reveal a busy trading economy reinforced by aggressive military policies | |
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| c. 2350 BC |
| | | Sargon conquers the other Mesopotamian states and establishes a dynasty with a new capital at Akkad, close to modern Baghdad | |
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| c. 2200 BC |
| | | A ring of large standing stones is raised in England at Avebury, now a village in Wiltshire | |
|  | Avebury
National Trust
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| c. 2000 BC |
| | | Mentuhotep II wins control of all Egypt, establishing the period known as the Middle Kingdom | |
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| c. 2000 BC |
| | | Bantu-speaking tribes begin to spread through Africa, from their original homelands south of the Sahara | |
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| c. 2000 BC |
| | | Knossos, and other such palaces, are built for dynasties in Minoan Crete | |
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| c. 2000 BC |
| | | The water buffalo, domesticated somewhere in southeast Asia, features on the seals of the Indus civilization | |
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| c. 2000 BC |
| | | Africa south of the equatorial forests is largely inhabited by the Khoisan, of whom the San and the Hottentots are the modern survivors | |
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| c. 2000 BC |
| | | Medicine men in Peru practise trephination, cuttting holes in the skulls of brave or foolhardy patients | |
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| c. 2000 BC |
| | | The cemetery at Los Millares in Spain contains more than 100 beehive tombs | |
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| c. 2000 BC |
| | | The elephant is tamed in the Indus civilization | |
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| c. 2000 BC |
| | | The centre of power in Egypt moves to the interior, with the capital at Thebes rather than Memphis | |
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| c. 2000 BC |
| | | The red jungle fowl is domesticated as poultry in southeast Asia | |
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