Convergent History

Ranking

Shortest-Lived Civilizations and Empires

Some of history's most consequential states burned brightest for the shortest time. Ranked by total years from founding to collapse, ascending.

  1. # Civilization Region Dates Years active
  2. 1 Qin Dynasty Yellow River to Yangtze, East Asia 221 BCE – 206 BCE 15 yrs
  3. 2 Aztec (Mexica) Empire Central Mexico 1428 CE – 1521 CE 93 yrs
  4. 3 Inca Empire Andean South America 1438 CE – 1533 CE 95 yrs
  5. 4 Maurya Empire Indian subcontinent 322 BCE – 185 BCE 137 yrs
  6. 5 Akkadian Empire Mesopotamia 2,334 BCE – 2,154 BCE 180 yrs
  7. 6 Classical Athens Attica, Greece 508 BCE – 322 BCE 186 yrs
  8. 7 Achaemenid Persian Empire Iranian Plateau to the Indus 550 BCE – 330 BCE 220 yrs
  9. 8 Gupta Empire Northern Indian subcontinent 320 CE – 550 CE 230 yrs
  10. 9 Kingdom of Zimbabwe Southern Africa 1220 CE – 1450 CE 230 yrs
  11. 10 Old Babylonian Empire Mesopotamia 1,894 BCE – 1,595 BCE 299 yrs
  12. 11 Neo-Assyrian Empire Mesopotamia and the Near East 911 BCE – 609 BCE 302 yrs
  13. 12 Hittite Empire Anatolia 1,600 BCE – 1,178 BCE 422 yrs
  14. 13 Han Dynasty East Asia 206 BCE – 220 CE 426 yrs
  15. 14 Sassanid Empire Iranian Plateau and Mesopotamia 224 CE – 651 CE 427 yrs
  16. 15 Parthian Empire Iranian Plateau to Mesopotamia 247 BCE – 224 CE 471 yrs
  17. 16 Egyptian New Kingdom Nile Valley and Levant 1,550 BCE – 1,077 BCE 473 yrs
  18. 17 Roman Republic Italian Peninsula, expanding to Mediterranean 509 BCE – 27 BCE 482 yrs
  19. 18 Mycenaean Greece Greek mainland and Aegean 1,600 BCE – 1,100 BCE 500 yrs
  20. 19 Roman Empire Mediterranean basin and Western Europe 27 BCE – 476 CE 503 yrs
  21. 20 Old Kingdom Egypt Nile Valley, North Africa 2,686 BCE – 2,181 BCE 505 yrs
  22. 21 Shang Dynasty Yellow River Valley, East Asia 1,600 BCE – 1,046 BCE 554 yrs
  23. 22 Chimú Kingdom Northern coastal Peru 900 CE – 1470 CE 570 yrs
  24. 23 Postclassic Maya (Chichén Itzá era) Northern Yucatán 900 CE – 1524 CE 624 yrs
  25. 24 Khmer Empire Southeast Asia 802 CE – 1431 CE 629 yrs
  26. 25 Teotihuacan Central Mexico 100 BCE – 550 CE 650 yrs
  27. 26 Classic Maya Civilization Yucatán Peninsula and Central America 250 CE – 900 CE 650 yrs
  28. 27 Phoenician City-States Levantine coast 1,200 BCE – 539 BCE 661 yrs
  29. 28 Carthaginian Empire North African coast and western Mediterranean 814 BCE – 146 BCE 668 yrs
  30. 29 Kingdom of Aksum Horn of Africa 100 CE – 940 CE 840 yrs
  31. 30 Etruscan Civilization Central Italy 900 BCE – 27 BCE 873 yrs
  32. 31 Nazca Culture Southern coast, Peru 100 BCE – 800 CE 900 yrs
  33. 32 Vedic Civilization Northern Indian subcontinent 1,500 BCE – 500 BCE 1,000 yrs
  34. 33 Olmec Civilization Gulf Coast, Mesoamerica 1,500 BCE – 400 BCE 1,100 yrs
  35. 34 Byzantine Empire Eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia 330 CE – 1453 CE 1,123 yrs
  36. 35 Kingdom of Ebla Northern Syria 3,000 BCE – 1,600 BCE 1,400 yrs
  37. 36 Kingdom of Kush Nubia, Northeast Africa 1,070 BCE – 350 CE 1,420 yrs
  38. 37 Minoan Civilization Crete, Aegean Sea 3,000 BCE – 1,100 BCE 1,900 yrs
  39. 38 Indus Valley Civilization Indus River Basin, South Asia 3,300 BCE – 1,300 BCE 2,000 yrs
  40. 39 Elamite Civilization Southwestern Iran 2,700 BCE – 539 BCE 2,161 yrs
  41. 40 Jomon Culture Japanese archipelago 14,000 BCE – 300 BCE 13,700 yrs