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BC/BCE

Early Recordkeeping

15,000 B.C.

Lascaux cave drawings (BS)

8000 B.C.

Use of clay tokens for accounting. (BS)

7000 B.C.

Saharan Rock Art. (TJ)

37th Century B.C./BCE

3650

hieroglyphic writing system created by the Egyptians. (TJ)

36th Century B.C./BCE

3500

Cuneiform writing system created by the Sumerians. (BS)

27th Century B.C./BCE

2600

circa - Pyramid texts written on late fifth dynasty pyramid. These texts are the oldest religious writings in the world. (TJ)

26th Century B.C./BCE

2500

to circa 2200 - Earliest surviving papyrus roll from Egypt. (BS)

25th Century B.C./BCE

2400

Archives of Ebla (present-day Tell Mardikh) ultimately containing more than 15,000 clay tablets. (CO)

22st Century B.C./BCE

2100

circa. The archives of Ur in Mesopotamia, birthplace of Abraham, are established. (RJ)

20th Century B.C./BCE

1900

circa. Earliest Semetic alphabetic script found in Egypt. (BS)

17th Century B.C./BCE

1650

Ancient Egyptian scribe Ahmose copies from older ancient Egyptian work (unknown work) a mathematical problem that shows evidence of early use of Pi. (TJ)

16th Century B.C./BCE

1500

to roughly 1100 B.C. - Linear B script used by Mycenaeans for palace records. (BS)

15th Century B.C./BCE

1400

Oldest surviving record of Chinese writing (on bone). (BS)

14th Century B.C./BCE

1300

Ramses II, pharaoh of Egypt, has an archives of 20,000 papyrus rolls. (RJ)

1300

King Nestor at Pylos (Greece) has a palace archives containing Linear B rolls. (RJ)

12th Century B.C./BCE

1100

Phoenicians develop the alphabet. (BS)

 

11th Century B.C./BCE

1077

Assyrian archive at Ashur contains legal collection called Middle Assyrian Laws. (RJ)

10th Century B.C./BCE

950

Leather used for scrolls. (BS)

8th Century B.C./BCE

750

circa-Phoenician alphabet adopted by the Greeks. (BS)

700 to 300

Nubians from the Merotic civilization develop a written script. (TJ)

700 to 500 B.C.

Writing used mostly for private inscriptions, laws, and religion in Greece. (BS)

7th Century B.C./BCE

621

Drakon publishes first Athenian laws in writing. (BS)

6th Century B.C./BCE

550

First record keepers (secretaries) attested in Athens. (BS)

520

Oldest known Greek correspondence. (BS)

516

Hebrews return to Jerusalem and prophet Nehemiah re-establishes the archives in the Temple. (RJ)

515

Book of Ezra written after the Jews Babylonia captivity. Chapter 6 of this biblical text records the finding of the Decree of Cyrus in the archives at Achmetha (Hamadan). (RJ)

5th Century B.C./BCE

460

circa - Flood of Athenian stone documents coincides with time of radical democracy. (BS)

409-405

Metroon in Athens established as state archives building. (BS)

4th Century B.C./BCE

308

To circa 240 - Ptolemy II Philadelphus completes construction of the Library at Alexandria. (RJ)

2nd Century B.C./BCE

197

King Eumenes II of Pergamum in Asia Minor establishes the Persian Archives, later stolen by Marc Antony and transferred to the Library at Alexandria. (RJ)

196

Rosetta Stone created with Greek & Egyptian demotic and hieroglyphic. (BS)

170-168

Pergamum relied on parchment (supply of papyrus from Egypt cut off). (BS)

150

circa - Rome used parchment as a writing material. (BS)

1st Century B.C./BCE

78

Quintas Lutatius Catulus builds the Tabularum in the vicinity of the Temple of Saturn on the Capitoline Hill, centralizing the state archives of Rome. (RJ)

 

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