Conventional History Time Line

       This is plainly a work in progress, and I have gone ahead and published it here to illustrate how I am approaching this research, for the sake of those who may choose to use it, and those who may, in the future, contribute to this project.  I will indicate the date of inclusion of certain paragraphs and sections, and attempt to credit the major sources on which I have relied.  Sources and their abbreviations are listed at the bottom of this page.
<= RH, December 15, 2011.>

       I have rather arbitrarily divided the planet into ten geographical regions:
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MEA: Western Asia   : area of modern Caucasia, Turkey, Levant, Arabia, Persia
CAS: Central Asia   : area of modern Siberia, Pakistan, India, Tibet
EAS: East Asia      : area of modern China, Korea, Japan, Indochina, Kamchatka
AFR: Africa         : entire continent from Egypt to Morocco to South Africa
EEU: Eastern Europe : eastern Mediterranean, Germany, Finland, Russia, Black Sea
WEU: Western Europe : western Mediterranean, France, Britain, Scandinavia
NAM: North America  : entire continent from Alaska and Greenland to Panama 
SAM: South America  : entire continent from Colombia to Tierra del Fuego
WPA: Western Pacific: Philippines, Borneo, Indonesia
OCE: Oceania        : Samoa, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica        
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<= RH, December 15, 2011.>

Five Millennia of World History: 3000 BC - 2000 AD  Ascendant Cvilizations
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. 3000 BC -2000 AD  .3000 BC    .2000 BC    .1000 BC       .1 AD    .1000 AD    .
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MEA: Western Asia -- Sumer / Babylonian -----------++ Persian ++--Islam----------
CAS: Central Asia   : ... --Harappa / India -------------------------------------
EAS: East Asia      : -- China / Shang------------------------------(Korea/Japan)
AFR: Africa         : Egypt ----------------------+Persia,Rome++--Islam----------
EEU: Eastern Europe : ........-- Minoan / Greece ----------++Byzantine / Slavic++
WEU: Western Europe : ..................-- Phoenic / Roman--++ Christian ++++++++
NAM: North America  : ..................................------ Maya /Aztec +Chris 
SAM: South America  : ..................-- Moche / Nazca -----------Inca-- +Chris
WPA: Western Pacific: ..................................................intruders
OCE: Oceania        : .....................................................+Chris
.===================.===========.===========.===========.===========.===========.
Hyphens indicate the approximate beginning time and extent of the original civilized consciousness.  Changes in symbols indicate significant changes in political consciousness. Periods indicate lack of information, or the existence of village/nomadic political consciousness.
<= RH, December 15, 2011.>

3500 BC --
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. 3500 - 3000 BC    .3500       .3400       .3300       .3200       .3100       .
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.MEA: Mesopotamia   .---Sumerian / Babylonian-----------------------------------.
.Rest of the World  . . . . Villages and Nomads . ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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     3500 BC: Mesopotamia : Sumerian civilization, the world's first, begins.  It lasts until about 2000 BC.  At some point, the Sumerians divided the hour into 60 minutes and the minute into 60 seconds. <= NNWH: p. 20ff.
<= RH, December 15, 2011.>

3000 BC --
     .
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. 3000 - 2500 BC    .3000       .2900       .2800       .2700       .2600       .
.===================.===========.===========.===========.===========.===========.
.MEA: Mesopotamia   .---Sumeria--------------------------------------------------
.CAS: India         ................................................. Harappa?---
.EAS: China         .           .           .           .           .           .
.AFR: Egypt         .---Old Kingdom----------------------------------------------
. Rest of the world . . . . Villages and Nomads . ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.===================.===========.===========.===========.===========.===========.

     3000 BC: Egypt : Old Kingdom begins about 3000 BC, and lasts until about 2000 BC.  Egyptians divided the year into 365 days. <= NNWH: p. 20ff.
<= RH, December 15, 2011.>
2500 BC --

2000 BC --
     1700 BC: China : Shang Dynasty, the first city based empire, extended over 250,000 square miles.  The Shang were probably the nomadic conquerors of people around the Yellow River who had already been growing rice for over 2,000 years, and millet for 3,000. <= NNWH: p19.

1500 BC --

1000 BC --

500 BC --

0 BC / 1 AD --

500 AD --

1000 AD --

1500 AD --

2000 AD --
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. 3000 - 2500 BC    .3000       .2900       .2800       .2700       .2600       .
.===================.===========.===========.===========.===========.===========.
.MEA: Mesopotamia   .---Sumeria--------------------------------------------------
.CAS: India         ................................................. Harappa?---
.EAS: China         .           .           .           .           .           .
.AFR: Egypt         .---Old Kingdom----------------------------------------------
. Rest of the world . . . . Villages and Nomads . ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.===================.===========.===========.===========.===========.===========.

This is the template that I have devised, and am using:
.===================.===========.===========.===========.===========.===========.
.                   .           .           .           .           .           .
.===================.===========.===========.===========.===========.===========.
.MEA: Mesopotamia   .           .           .           .           .           .
.CAS: India         .           .           .           .           .           .
.EAS: China         .           .           .           .           .           .
.AFR: Egypt         .           .           .           .           .           .
.EEU: Greece        .           .           .           .           .           .
.WEU:               .           .           .           .           .           .
.NAM:               .           .           .           .           .           .
.SAM:               .           .           .           .           .           .
.WPA:               .           .           .           .           .           .
.OCE:               .           .           .           .           .           .
.===================.===========.===========.===========.===========.===========.
<= RH, December 15, 2011.>

Sources:
     NNWH : The No-Nonsense guide to World History, by Chris Brazier. New Internationalist Publications, UK, 2001.

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       If you wish to add input to this timeline, please comment at the Open Input page, introducing yourself and proposing input according to the guidelines you will find there.
Thanks,
Robert Heid