The earliest evidence of wheeled vehicles appears around the mid-4th millennium BCE in Mesopotamia, the northern Caucasus and Central Europe.
Approximate date.
The Sumerians of Mesopotamia develop cuneiform, one of humanity's earliest writing systems, first used for economic record-keeping.
Sargon of Akkad conquers the Sumerian city-states, creating the first known multi-ethnic empire in Mesopotamia.
Great palaces such as Knossos are built on Crete, marking the height of the Bronze Age Minoan civilization.
King Hammurabi of Babylon issues one of the oldest and most complete written legal codes known.
Mycenaean civilization, the first advanced civilization of mainland Greece, develops fortified palace centres and Linear B writing.
Ramesses II's Egyptian army fights the Hittites near Kadesh in Syria, one of the largest chariot battles of antiquity.