Covering the 40th-31st century BCE
c. 3100 BCE, ah what a wonderful year to start this blog with. Of course, history didn’t begin in this year, however, it was the year the earliest proper writing system developed. They named it Cuneiform Script, after the Latin cuneus forma (literally meaning wedge shaped). First emerging in Sumer, Cuneiform was adapted by many of the surrounding civilizations. The script went on to inspire new alphabets, including the Old Persian writing system.
This being said, let's do this in a more linear way!
c. 4600-4400 BCE the Yangshao Culture built a bunch of dwellings around a community center, including a cemetery and a kiln (a kiln is a type of insulated chamber or oven). Pretty impressive, if you ask me.
c. 3600-3200 BCE the Ġgantija Temples, the world's oldest religious buildings, were erected in Xagħra, Gozo (Malta). The exact purpose of this structure is still unknown but animal bones and libation holes in the floors suggest it was used for ritual purposes. c. 3600-3200 BCE was also the same timeframe the people of Malta built the Mnajdra Temples. Consisting of three buildings, the structure seems to have served different purposes. The southern temple's illuminating features during spring and fall suggests it was being used as a solar observatory. Figurines and statues of heavy females points to the worship of a fertility goddess. Follow this link for a great explanation of how this temple was presumably used as a sundial (a device that tells the time of the day, as well as highlights important dates): MNAJDRA'S PREHISTORIC SUNDIAL
c. 3100 BC was also the year Pharaoh Menes unified the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt. Menes is said to be the founder of the first Dynasty, starting a long line of glorious Kings and Queens.
