17th century BC
Encyclopedia
The 17th century BC is a century
which lasted from 1700 BC to 1601 BC.
Century
A century is one hundred consecutive years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages .-Start and end in the Gregorian Calendar:...
which lasted from 1700 BC to 1601 BC.
Events
- c. 1700 BC: Indus Valley CivilizationIndus Valley CivilizationThe Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that was located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of what is now mainly modern-day Pakistan and northwest India...
comes to an end but is continued by the Cemetery H cultureCemetery H cultureThe Cemetery H culture developed out of the northern part of the Indus Valley Civilization around 1900 BCE, in and around western Punjab region located in present-day India and Pakistan... - 1700 BC: Belu-bani became the King of Assyria.
- c. 1700 BC: MinoanMinoan civilizationThe Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans...
Old Palace period ends and Minoan Second Palace period starts in Ancient GreeceAncient GreeceAncient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. - c. 1700 BC: beginning of the Late MinoanMinoan civilizationThe Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans...
period on CreteCreteCrete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
. - c. 1700 BC: AegeanAegean civilizationAegean civilization is a general term for the Bronze Age civilizations of Greece around the Aegean Sea. There are three distinct but communicating and interacting geographic regions covered by this term: Crete, the Cyclades and the Greek mainland. Crete is associated with the Minoan civilization...
metalworkers are producing decorative objects rivaling those of Ancient Near EastAncient Near EastThe ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia , ancient Egypt, ancient Iran The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia...
jewelers, whose techniques they seem to borrow. - c. 1700 BC: Lila-Ir-Tash started to rule the Elamite Empire.
- c. 1700 BC: Bronze AgeBronze AgeThe Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
starts in ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. - c. 1700 BC: Shang DynastyShang DynastyThe Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...
starts in China. - c. 1700 BC: 1450 BC: Young girl gathering saffron crocus flowers, detail of wall painting, Room 3 of House Xeste 3, Akrotiri (Santorini)Akrotiri (Santorini)Akrotiri is the name of an excavation site of a Minoan Bronze Age settlement on the Greek island of Santorini, associated with the Minoan civilization due to inscriptions in Linear A, and close similarities in artifact and fresco styles. The excavation is named for a modern Greek village situated...
, TheraSantoriniSantorini , officially Thira , is an island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera...
, is made. Second Palace period. It is now kept in Thera Foundation, Petros M. Nomikos, GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. - c. 1698 BC: Lila-Ir-Tash the ruler of the Elamite Empire died. Temti-Agun I started to rule the Elamite Empire.
- 1691 BC: Belu-bani, the King of Assyria died.
- c. 1690 BC: Temti-Agun I, the ruler of the Elamite Empire, died. Tan-Uli started to rule the Elamite Empire.
- 1690 BC: Libaia became the King of Assyria.
- c. 1680 BC: EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
: Start of Sixteenth DynastySixteenth dynasty of EgyptThe sixteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt was a dynasty of pharaohs that ruled in Upper Egypt for 50 years during the Second Intermediate Period The sixteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty XVI) was a dynasty of pharaohs that ruled in Upper Egypt for 50 years during the Second Intermediate...
. - c. 1680 BC: EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
: Development of leavened breadBreadBread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
(date approximate). - c. 1673 BC: Sharma-Adad I became the King of Assyria.
- c. 1661 BC: Iptar-SinIptar-SinIB.TAR.SînmIB.TAR-d30. , was the 51st Assyrian king according to the Assyrian King List.Ḫorsābād King List ii 18. He reigned for 12 years some time during the 17th century BC.-Biography:...
became the King of Assyria. - c. 1655 BC: Tan-Uli, the ruler of the Elamite Empire, died.
- c. 1650 BC: The last species of mammothMammothA mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...
became extinct on Wrangel IslandWrangel IslandWrangel Island is an island in the Arctic Ocean, between the Chukchi Sea and East Siberian Sea. Wrangel Island lies astride the 180° meridian. The International Date Line is displaced eastwards at this latitude to avoid the island as well as the Chukchi Peninsula on the Russian mainland...
. - c. 1650 BC: EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
: Start of the Seventeenth DynastySeventeenth dynasty of EgyptThe Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Second Intermediate Period. The Seventeenth Dynasty dates approximately from 1580 to 1550 BC.-Rulers:...
. - 1649 BC: Bazaia became the King of Assyria.
- c. 1674 BC: EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
: Start of Fifteenth DynastyFifteenth dynasty of EgyptThe Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Second Intermediate Period. The Fifteenth Dynasty dates approximately from 1650 to 1550 BC.-Rulers:...
. - 1633 BC : EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
: End of the Thirteenth DynastyThirteenth dynasty of EgyptThe thirteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties XI, XII and XIV under the group title Middle Kingdom. Other writers separate it from these dynasties and join it to Dynasties XIV through XVII as part of the Second Intermediate Period...
. - 1627 BC: Beginning of a cooling of world climate lasting several years recorded in tree-rings all over the world. It might have been caused by the Minoan eruption of TheraSantoriniSantorini , officially Thira , is an island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera...
or the Avellino eruptionAvellino eruptionThe Avellino eruption of Mount Vesuvius refers to a Plinian-type eruption that occurred in the 2nd millennium BC and is estimated to have had a VEI of 6...
of Mount VesuviusMount VesuviusMount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...
. - 1625 BC: Samsu-DitanaSamsu-DitanaSamsu-Ditana was the King of Babylon, who reigned from 1626 BC to 1595 BC.Samsu-Ditana is the last king of the First Babylonian Dynasty. After the Hittite army under Mursilis I invaded Babylon, he was overthrown....
becomes King of BabylonBabylonBabylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
(middle chronology). - 1621 BC: Lullaia becomes the King of Assyria.
- 1620 BC: Mursili IMursili IMursili I was a king of the Hittites ca. 1556–1526 BC , and was likely a grandson of his predecessor, Hattusili I. His sister was Harapšili.- Biography :...
becomes King of the Hittite Empire (middle chronology). - 1615 BC: Shu-Ninua became the King of Assyria.
- 1601 BC: Sharma-Adad II became the King of Assyria.
- c. 1600 BC: EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
: End of Fourteenth DynastyFourteenth dynasty of EgyptThe Eleventh , Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Middle Kingdom, though this dynasty overlaps partially with either the Thirteenth Dynasty or the Fifteenth Dynasty, during the Second Intermediate Period.It is associated with the...
. - c. 1600 BC: The creation of one of the oldest surviving astronomical documents, a copy of which was found in the Babylonian library of AshurbanipalAshurbanipalAshurbanipal |Ashur]] is creator of an heir"; 685 BC – c. 627 BC), also spelled Assurbanipal or Ashshurbanipal, was an Assyrian king, the son of Esarhaddon and the last great king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire...
: a 21-year record of the appearances of VenusVenusVenus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
(which the early Babylonians called Nindaranna): Venus tablet of AmmisaduqaVenus tablet of AmmisaduqaThe Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa refers to the record of astronomical observations of Venus, as preserved in numerous cuneiform tablets dating from the first millennium BCE. It is believed that this astronomical record was first compiled during the reign of King Ammisaduqa , the fourth ruler after...
. - c. 1600 BC: The end of the Indus Valley civilizationIndus Valley CivilizationThe Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that was located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of what is now mainly modern-day Pakistan and northwest India...
. - c. 1600 BC: The overthrow of the ruling AmoriteAmoriteAmorite refers to an ancient Semitic people who occupied large parts of Mesopotamia from the 21st Century BC...
dynasty in AleppoAleppoAleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
, SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. - c. 1600 BC: The date of the earliest discovered rubberRubberNatural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
balls. - c. 1600 BC: EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
conquered by AsiaAsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n tribes known as the HyksosHyksosThe Hyksos were an Asiatic people who took over the eastern Nile Delta during the twelfth dynasty, initiating the Second Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt....
—see History of ancient Israel and JudahHistory of ancient Israel and JudahIsrael and Judah were related Iron Age kingdoms of ancient Palestine. The earliest known reference to the name Israel in archaeological records is in the Merneptah stele, an Egyptian record of c. 1209 BCE. By the 9th century BCE the Kingdom of Israel had emerged as an important local power before...
. - c. 1600 BC: Early MycenaeMycenaeMycenae is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 11 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north...
an culture: weapons, Cyclopaean walls, and chariots. - c. 1600 BC: Jie of XiaJie of XiaKing Jie was the 17th and last ruler of the Xia dynasty of China. He is traditionally regarded as a tyrant and oppressor who brought about the collapse of a dynasty. Around 1600 BCE Jie was defeated by Shang Tang, bringing an end to the Xia Dynasty, that lasted about 500 years, and a rise to the...
is overthrown by Tang of ShangTang of ShangKing Cheng Tang of Shang was the first ruling king of the Shang dynasty in Chinese history. He overthrew Jie, the last ruler of the Xia dynasty.-Early life:...
in the Battle of MingtiaoBattle of MingtiaoThe Battle of Mingtiao was a battle between the Xia Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty. This semi-mythological battle resulted in a Shang victory which created the circumstances for the elevation of the Duke of Shang to the throne of China.-Background:... - c. 1600 BC: Unetice cultureUnetice cultureUnetice; or more properly Únětice culture ; is the name given to an early Bronze Age culture, preceded by the Beaker culture and followed by the Tumulus culture. It was named after finds at site in Únětice, northwest of Prague. It is focused around the Czech Republic, southern and central Germany,...
ends in Czech RepublicCzech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, eastern EuropeEastern EuropeEastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"... - Development of the windmillWindmillA windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
in Persia.
Significant persons
- Jie, The last ruler of Xia DynastyXia DynastyThe Xia Dynasty is the first dynasty in China to be described in ancient historical chronicles such as Bamboo Annals, Classic of History and Records of the Grand Historian. The Xia Dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors gave his throne to him...
, ruled China for 52 years until 1600 BC according to the Xia Shang Zhou Chronology ProjectXia Shang Zhou Chronology ProjectThe Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project was a multi-disciplinary project commissioned by the People's Republic of China in 1996 to determine with accuracy the location and time frame of the Xia Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty...
.
Deaths
- 1686 BC—HammurabiHammurabiHammurabi Hammurabi Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite ʻAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer", from ʻAmmu, "paternal kinsman", and Rāpi, "healer"; (died c...
(short chronology) - 1684 BC—Heremon, Irish legend
Extinctions
- The last known population of woolly mammothWoolly mammothThe woolly mammoth , also called the tundra mammoth, is a species of mammoth. This animal is known from bones and frozen carcasses from northern North America and northern Eurasia with the best preserved carcasses in Siberia...
, preserved on Wrangel IslandWrangel IslandWrangel Island is an island in the Arctic Ocean, between the Chukchi Sea and East Siberian Sea. Wrangel Island lies astride the 180° meridian. The International Date Line is displaced eastwards at this latitude to avoid the island as well as the Chukchi Peninsula on the Russian mainland...
, goes extinct.