Thinking About Chronology By fergleforg Period: 3500 BCE to 3000 Egyptian Beginnings Period: 3000 BCE to 1800 BCE Norte Chico's urban emersion Period: 2200 BCE to 2000 BCE Early Chinese Civilization Period: 2200 BCE to 2000 BCE Indus Valley beginnings Period: 2070 BCE to 1600 BCE Xia Dynasty Reign 1698 BCE Indus and Oxus Valley Abandonment Period: 1600 BCE to 1046 BCE Shang Dynasty Reign 1200 BCE Beginnings of Olmec Civilization Period: 1046 BCE to 770 BCE Zhou Dynasty Reign 900 BCE First Written Language in Mesoamerica in Olmec Period: 760 BCE to 600 BCE Kush conquest of Egypt 500 BCE Persian Empire Established Period: 3500 to 3000 BCE Sumerian Civilization Encompassed the several competing city-states in the cradle of Middle Eastern Civilization. Gave rise to what is believed to be the earliest written language. Later absorbed by larger Mesopotamian empires.