520s BC
This article concerns the period 529 BC – 520 BC.Events
- 529 BC—The Chinese state of Zhoulai is conquered by Wu.
- 528 BC—Gautama Buddha attains Enlightenment, and begins his ministry.
- 527 BC—Peisistratos a tyrant of Athens dies: his son Hippias inherits his power.
- 526 BC—Psammetichus III succeeds Amasis II as king of Egypt.
- 526 BC—King Liao of Wu ascends to power in the State of Wu in China during the Zhou Dynasty.
- 525 BC—Cambyses II, ruler of Persia, conquers Egypt, defeating Psammetichus III. This is considered the end of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, and the start of the Persian Twenty-seventh Dynasty.
- c. 525 BC—Coins start to have an image on two sides.
- 522 BC—Bardiya succeeds Cambyses II as ruler of Persia.
- 522 BC—Babylon rebels against Persian rule.
- 522 BC—Darius I succeeds Bardiya as ruler of Persia. He is the son of a government official.
- 521 BC—The Babylonian rebellion against Persian rule is suppressed.
- 520 BC—Dao becomes King of the Zhou dynasty of China but dies before the end of the year.
- 520 BC—Cleomenes I succeeds Anaxandridas as king of Sparta.
- c. 520 BC—Darius I decrees that work on Jerusalem resume as per the decree of Cyrus the Great.
- c. 520 BC—Kore, from Chios, is made. It is now at Acropolis Museum, Athens.
- c. 520 BC—Sarcophagus, from Cerveteri is made. It is now at National Etruscan Museum, Rome.
- 520 BC–510 BC—The Priam Painter makes "Women at a Fountain House", black-figure decoration on a hydria. It is now at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Births
- 521 BC—Leonidas I. King of Sparta
- 525 BC—Aeschylus, author of Greek tragedies
- 522 BC—Pindar, Greek poet
- 520 BC—Panini, Hindu Indian grammarian
Deaths
- July, 529 BC—Cyrus the Great, ruler of ancient Persia
- 528 BC—Anaximenes of Miletus, Greek philosopher
- 527 BC—Peisistratos, Athenian tyrant
- 525 BC—Psammetichus III, the last Pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt
- 522 BC—Cambyses II, ruler of ancient Persia
- 522 BC — Polycrates, tyrant of Samos
- September, 522 BC—Bardiya, ruler of ancient Persia