Convergent History

Ranking

Civilizations Ranked by Earliest Founding Date

A straightforward chronological ranking — useful as a reference, and as the basis every overlap and convergence page on this site is built from.

  1. # Civilization Region Dates Start year
  2. 1 Jomon Culture Japanese archipelago 14,000 BCE – 300 BCE 14,000 BCE
  3. 2 Indus Valley Civilization Indus River Basin, South Asia 3,300 BCE – 1,300 BCE 3,300 BCE
  4. 3 Minoan Civilization Crete, Aegean Sea 3,000 BCE – 1,100 BCE 3,000 BCE
  5. 4 Kingdom of Ebla Northern Syria 3,000 BCE – 1,600 BCE 3,000 BCE
  6. 5 Elamite Civilization Southwestern Iran 2,700 BCE – 539 BCE 2,700 BCE
  7. 6 Old Kingdom Egypt Nile Valley, North Africa 2,686 BCE – 2,181 BCE 2,686 BCE
  8. 7 Akkadian Empire Mesopotamia 2,334 BCE – 2,154 BCE 2,334 BCE
  9. 8 Old Babylonian Empire Mesopotamia 1,894 BCE – 1,595 BCE 1,894 BCE
  10. 9 Mycenaean Greece Greek mainland and Aegean 1,600 BCE – 1,100 BCE 1,600 BCE
  11. 10 Hittite Empire Anatolia 1,600 BCE – 1,178 BCE 1,600 BCE
  12. 11 Shang Dynasty Yellow River Valley, East Asia 1,600 BCE – 1,046 BCE 1,600 BCE
  13. 12 Egyptian New Kingdom Nile Valley and Levant 1,550 BCE – 1,077 BCE 1,550 BCE
  14. 13 Olmec Civilization Gulf Coast, Mesoamerica 1,500 BCE – 400 BCE 1,500 BCE
  15. 14 Vedic Civilization Northern Indian subcontinent 1,500 BCE – 500 BCE 1,500 BCE
  16. 15 Phoenician City-States Levantine coast 1,200 BCE – 539 BCE 1,200 BCE
  17. 16 Kingdom of Kush Nubia, Northeast Africa 1,070 BCE – 350 CE 1,070 BCE
  18. 17 Neo-Assyrian Empire Mesopotamia and the Near East 911 BCE – 609 BCE 911 BCE
  19. 18 Etruscan Civilization Central Italy 900 BCE – 27 BCE 900 BCE
  20. 19 Carthaginian Empire North African coast and western Mediterranean 814 BCE – 146 BCE 814 BCE
  21. 20 Achaemenid Persian Empire Iranian Plateau to the Indus 550 BCE – 330 BCE 550 BCE
  22. 21 Roman Republic Italian Peninsula, expanding to Mediterranean 509 BCE – 27 BCE 509 BCE
  23. 22 Classical Athens Attica, Greece 508 BCE – 322 BCE 508 BCE
  24. 23 Maurya Empire Indian subcontinent 322 BCE – 185 BCE 322 BCE
  25. 24 Parthian Empire Iranian Plateau to Mesopotamia 247 BCE – 224 CE 247 BCE
  26. 25 Qin Dynasty Yellow River to Yangtze, East Asia 221 BCE – 206 BCE 221 BCE
  27. 26 Han Dynasty East Asia 206 BCE – 220 CE 206 BCE
  28. 27 Nazca Culture Southern coast, Peru 100 BCE – 800 CE 100 BCE
  29. 28 Teotihuacan Central Mexico 100 BCE – 550 CE 100 BCE
  30. 29 Roman Empire Mediterranean basin and Western Europe 27 BCE – 476 CE 27 BCE
  31. 30 Kingdom of Aksum Horn of Africa 100 CE – 940 CE 100 CE
  32. 31 Sassanid Empire Iranian Plateau and Mesopotamia 224 CE – 651 CE 224 CE
  33. 32 Classic Maya Civilization Yucatán Peninsula and Central America 250 CE – 900 CE 250 CE
  34. 33 Gupta Empire Northern Indian subcontinent 320 CE – 550 CE 320 CE
  35. 34 Byzantine Empire Eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia 330 CE – 1453 CE 330 CE
  36. 35 Khmer Empire Southeast Asia 802 CE – 1431 CE 802 CE
  37. 36 Postclassic Maya (Chichén Itzá era) Northern Yucatán 900 CE – 1524 CE 900 CE
  38. 37 Chimú Kingdom Northern coastal Peru 900 CE – 1470 CE 900 CE
  39. 38 Kingdom of Zimbabwe Southern Africa 1220 CE – 1450 CE 1220 CE
  40. 39 Aztec (Mexica) Empire Central Mexico 1428 CE – 1521 CE 1428 CE
  41. 40 Inca Empire Andean South America 1438 CE – 1533 CE 1438 CE