How civilizations end

Invasion or conquest

17 civilizations in this dataset ended primarily this way — separated by as much as 4,533 years and thousands of miles, yet sharing the same underlying cause of collapse.

3,000 BCE 1533 CE

Kingdom of Ebla

3,000 BCE–1,600 BCE

Old Babylonian Empire

1,894 BCE–1,595 BCE

Shang Dynasty

1,600 BCE–1,046 BCE

Neo-Assyrian Empire

911 BCE–609 BCE

Phoenician City-States

1,200 BCE–539 BCE

Elamite Civilization

2,700 BCE–539 BCE

Achaemenid Persian Empire

550 BCE–330 BCE

814 BCE–146 BCE

1,070 BCE–350 CE

27 BCE–476 CE

320 CE–550 CE

224 CE–651 CE

330 CE–1453 CE

900 CE–1470 CE

Aztec (Mexica) Empire

1428 CE–1521 CE

Postclassic Maya (Chichén Itzá era)

900 CE–1524 CE

Inca Empire

1438 CE–1533 CE

Kingdom of Ebla

Northern Syria · 3,000 BCE – 1,600 BCE

Destroyed, likely by Akkadian or later Amorite forces; the city was later resettled and destroyed again.

Old Babylonian Empire

Mesopotamia · 1,894 BCE – 1,595 BCE

Babylon was sacked by Hittite-allied Kassite forces, ending the dynasty.

Shang Dynasty

Yellow River Valley, East Asia · 1,600 BCE – 1,046 BCE

Overthrown by the Zhou at the Battle of Muye, per traditional and archaeological accounts.

Neo-Assyrian Empire

Mesopotamia and the Near East · 911 BCE – 609 BCE

Capital Nineveh was destroyed by a coalition of Babylonians and Medes in 612 BCE.

Phoenician City-States

Levantine coast · 1,200 BCE – 539 BCE

Core cities were absorbed by the Neo-Babylonian and later Persian empires.

Elamite Civilization

Southwestern Iran · 2,700 BCE – 539 BCE

Absorbed into the expanding Achaemenid Persian state after centuries of conflict with Mesopotamian powers.

Achaemenid Persian Empire

Iranian Plateau to the Indus · 550 BCE – 330 BCE

Conquered by Alexander the Great following defeats at Issus and Gaugamela.

Carthaginian Empire

North African coast and western Mediterranean · 814 BCE – 146 BCE

The city was razed by Rome at the end of the Third Punic War in 146 BCE.

Kingdom of Kush

Nubia, Northeast Africa · 1,070 BCE – 350 CE

The capital Meroë declined under pressure from the rising Kingdom of Aksum.

Roman Empire

Mediterranean basin and Western Europe · 27 BCE – 476 CE

The Western half fragmented under repeated incursions; the last emperor was deposed in 476 CE.

Gupta Empire

Northern Indian subcontinent · 320 CE – 550 CE

Weakened by Hephthalite (Hun) invasions and regional fragmentation.

Sassanid Empire

Iranian Plateau and Mesopotamia · 224 CE – 651 CE

Exhausted by decades of war with Byzantium, it fell to the early Islamic conquests.

Byzantine Empire

Eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia · 330 CE – 1453 CE

Constantinople fell to Ottoman forces in 1453 after a prolonged final siege.

Chimú Kingdom

Northern coastal Peru · 900 CE – 1470 CE

Conquered by the expanding Inca Empire under Topa Inca Yupanqui.

Aztec (Mexica) Empire

Central Mexico · 1428 CE – 1521 CE

Conquered by Spanish forces and allied indigenous states, compounded heavily by introduced smallpox.

Postclassic Maya (Chichén Itzá era)

Northern Yucatán · 900 CE – 1524 CE

Final independent Maya polities fell to Spanish conquest in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Inca Empire

Andean South America · 1438 CE – 1533 CE

Collapsed under Spanish conquest, compounded by a civil war and introduced epidemic disease.