Old Kingdom Egypt Nile Valley, North Africa 2,686 BCE – 2,181 BCE Independent
Akkadian Empire Mesopotamia 2,334 BCE – 2,154 BCE Post-contact
Old Babylonian Empire Mesopotamia 1,894 BCE – 1,595 BCE Independent
Shang Dynasty Yellow River Valley, East Asia 1,600 BCE – 1,046 BCE Independent
Egyptian New Kingdom Nile Valley and Levant 1,550 BCE – 1,077 BCE Post-contact
Olmec Civilization Gulf Coast, Mesoamerica 1,500 BCE – 400 BCE Independent
Vedic Civilization Northern Indian subcontinent 1,500 BCE – 500 BCE Independent
Phoenician City-States Levantine coast 1,200 BCE – 539 BCE Post-contact
Neo-Assyrian Empire Mesopotamia and the Near East 911 BCE – 609 BCE Post-contact
Etruscan Civilization Central Italy 900 BCE – 27 BCE Independent
Achaemenid Persian Empire Iranian Plateau to the Indus 550 BCE – 330 BCE Post-contact
Classical Athens Attica, Greece 508 BCE – 322 BCE Post-contact
Parthian Empire Iranian Plateau to Mesopotamia 247 BCE – 224 CE Independent
Qin Dynasty Yellow River to Yangtze, East Asia 221 BCE – 206 BCE Independent
Han Dynasty East Asia 206 BCE – 220 CE Post-contact
Nazca Culture Southern coast, Peru 100 BCE – 800 CE Independent
Teotihuacan Central Mexico 100 BCE – 550 CE Independent
Roman Empire Mediterranean basin and Western Europe 27 BCE – 476 CE Post-contact
Sassanid Empire Iranian Plateau and Mesopotamia 224 CE – 651 CE Post-contact
Classic Maya Civilization Yucatán Peninsula and Central America 250 CE – 900 CE Post-contact
Gupta Empire Northern Indian subcontinent 320 CE – 550 CE Independent
Byzantine Empire Eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia 330 CE – 1453 CE Post-contact
Khmer Empire Southeast Asia 802 CE – 1431 CE Independent
Postclassic Maya (Chichén Itzá era) Northern Yucatán 900 CE – 1524 CE Post-contact
Aztec (Mexica) Empire Central Mexico 1428 CE – 1521 CE Independent
Inca Empire Andean South America 1438 CE – 1533 CE Independent