26th century BC

Events

• c. 2900 BC – 2334 BC: Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period continue.
• c. 2600 BC: The Indus Valley Civilisation rises to become a powerful civilization.
• c. 2600 BC: Pre-Palace Period, phase I, in Crete
• c. 2613 BC: Pharaoh Sneferu references a ship by name for first time in recorded history.
• c. 2600 BC – 2500 BC: Wild horses still provide hunting feasts in Denmark.
• c. 2600 BC – 1900 BC: Large water tank, possibly a public or ritual bathing area, Mohenjo-daro, Indus Valley Civilisation, is made.
• c. 2589 BC: Pharaoh Khufu starts to rule.
• c. 2578 BC: Khufu dies.
• c. 2575 BC: Old Kingdom of Egypt; Fourth Dynasty of Egypt; Sneferu is Pharaoh.
• c. 2570 BC: Khafra started to rule in Ancient Egypt.
• c. 2566 BC: Pharaoh Khufu dies.
• c. 2560 BC: Estimated date of completion of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
• c. 2558 BC: Pharaoh Khafra starts to rule.
• c. 2550 BC: Egyptian rulers contact Western Desert oases, such as Dakhla Oasis.
• c. 2550 BC: About this time, Mesannepada is king of Ur who founds the First Dynasty of Ur and overthrows the last king of Uruk, as well as Mesilim of Kish.
• c. 2550 BC – 2400 BC: Great Lyre with bull's head, from the tomb of King Meskalamdug, Ur is made. It is now kept at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia.
• c. 2544 BC: Pharaoh Khafra dies.
• c. 2533 BC: Pharaoh Menkaure starts to rule.
• c. 2532 BC: Pharaoh Khafra dies.
• c. 2532 BC: Pharaoh Menkaure starts to rule.
• c. 2515 BC: Menkaure died.
• c. 2510 BC – 2460 BC: Ti watching a hippopotamus hunt, tomb of Ti, Saqqara, Fifth Dynasty of Egypt, is made. Discovered by French archaeologist Auguste Mariette in 1865.
• c. 2503 BC: Pharaoh Menkaure dies.
• c. 2500 BC: The legendary line of Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors of China is founded by the Yellow Emperor.
• c. 2500 BC: the construction of the stone circle at Stonehenge begins and continues for the next five hundred years.
• c. 2500 BC: "Menkaure and a Queen, perhaps his wife, Queen Khamerernebty II" sculpture, later found at Giza. Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. It is now at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

  Cultures

• Butmir culture existed in Butmir, near Ilidža, Bosnia and Herzegovina, dating from the Neolithic. It is characterized by its unique pottery, and is one of the best researched European cultures from 2600-2400 BC
• c. 2600 BC: The cities of Assur, Nineveh, Gasur and Arbela together with a number of other Assyrian towns and cities, existed since at least before the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, although they appear to have been Sumerian-ruled administrative centres at this time, rather than independent states.

  Significant people

• c. 2601 BC–2578 BC—reign of Pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt
• 2575 BC—Pharaoh Sneferu of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt.
• 2528 BC—Djedefre is Pharaoh.
• 2520 BC—Khafra is Pharaoh.

  Deaths

• Khufu dies

  Inventions, discoveries, introductions

• Petroglyph at Rødøy in Norway show the use of skis
• Bactrian camel and dromedary are domesticated
• The pyramids are built

  Decades and years