7th century BC

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	8th century BC · 7th century BC · 6th century BC
Decades:	690s BC 680s BC 670s BC 660s BC 650s BC 640s BC 630s BC 620s BC 610s BC 600s BC
Categories:	Births – Deaths Establishments – Disestablishments

The 7th century BC started the first day of 700 BC and ended the last day of 601 BC.

The Assyrian Empire continued to dominate the near east during this century, excercising formidable power over neighbours like Babylon and Egypt. In the last two decades of the century, however, the empire began to unravel as numerous enemies made alliances and waged war from all sides. The Assyrians finally left the world stage permanently when their capital Nineveh was destroyed in 612 BC. These events gave rise to the Neo-Babylonian Empire, which would dominate the region for much of the following century.

Events

Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria who created "the first systematically collected library" at Nineveh

A 16th century depiction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, by Martin Heemskerck, with Tower of Babel in the background.

• 700 BC to 600 BC — Baudhayana Sulbasutra, an orally transmitted Vedic Sanskrit text on altar construction, contains the earliest extant verbal statement of the Pythagorean theorem, which was likely known to (but not stated by) Old Babylonians (1800 BC to 1600 BC).
• 700 BC - The Songguk-ri Culture begins in the southern Korean peninsula.
• End of 7th century BC — The Medes from Media (western Iran) and the Scythians from modern Russia and Ukraine invade the northern and eastern parts of Assyria.
• 699 BC — Khallushu succeeds Shuttir-Nakhkhunte as king of the Elamite Empire.
• 697 BC — Death of King Huan of Zhou, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
• 696 BC — King Zhuang of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
• 696 BC — The Cimmerians ravage Phrygia, possible migration of the Armenians.
• 691 BC — King Sennacherib of Assyria defeats king Humban-nimena of Elam in the Battle of Halule.
• 690 BC — Taharqa, a king of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, ascends the throne of Egypt (approximate date)
• 689 BC — King Sennacherib of Assyria sacks Babylon.
• 687 BC — Gyges becomes king of Lydia.
• 687 BC — Hezekiah succeeded by Manasseh as king of Judah.
• 682 BC — Death of King Zhuang of Zhou, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
• 681 BC — King Li of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
• 681 BC — Esarhaddon succeeds Sennacherib as king of Assyria.
• 677 BC — Death of King Li of Zhou, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
• 677 BC — Esarhaddon leads the Assyrian army against rebellious Arab tribes, advances as far as the Brook of Egypt.
• 676 BC — King Hui of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
• 675 BC — Esarhaddon begins the rebuilding of Babylon.
• 674 BC — Esarhaddon puts down a revolt in Ashkelon supported by Taharqa, king of Egypt. In response, the Assyrians invade Egypt, but Taharqa is able to hold the invaders off.
• 673 BC — Tullus Hostilius becomes king of Rome.
• 671 BC — Esarhaddon again invades Egypt, capturing Memphis as well as a number of the royal family.
• 669 BC — Assurbanipal succeeds his father Esarhaddon as king of Assyria.
• 668 BC — Shamash-shum-ukin, son of Esarhaddon, becomes King of Babylon.
• 668 BC — Egypt revolts against Assyria.
• 668 BC — Estimation: Nineveh, capital of Assyria becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Thebes in Egypt.[1]
• 667 BC — Byzantium founded by Megaran colonists under Byzas. (traditional date)
• 664 BC — First naval battle in Greek recorded history, between Corinth and Corcyra.
• 664 BC — Assurbanipal captures and sacks Thebes.
• 664 BC — Psammetichus I succeeds Necho I as king of Lower Egypt.
• 664 BC — Taharqa appoints his nephew Tantamani as his successor of Upper Egypt.
• February 11, 660 BC — Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
• 660 BC — First known use of the Demotic script.
• 660 BC — Psammetichus I drives the Assyrians out of Egypt.
• 650s BC — Occupation begins at Maya site of Piedras Negras.
• 657 BC — Cypselus becomes the first tyrant of Corinth.
• 656 BC — Psammetichus extends his control over all of Egypt. End of Twenty-fifth Dynasty.
• 653 BC — Atta-Khumma-In-Shushinak and Khumbanigash II succeed Shilhak-In-Shushinak and Tempti-Khumma-In-Shushinak as kings of the Elamite Empire.
• 652 BC — Babylonia rises in revolt under Shamash-shuma-ukin against the Assyrians.
• 651 BC — King Xiang of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
• 650 BC — The town of Abdera in Thrace is founded by colonists from Clazomenae.
• 650 BC — A climate change affects all the Bronze Age cultures in Europe with colder and wetter climate, and tribes from the Scandinavian Nordic Bronze Age cultures are pushed downwards into the European continent.
• 640s BC — Assyrian king Ashurbanipal founds library, which includes our earliest complete copy of the Epic of Gilgamesh.
• 649 BC — Indabigash succeeds Tammaritu as a king of the Elamite Empire.
• 649 BC — Babylonian revolt under Shamash-shuma-ukin is crushed by the Assyrians.
• 648 BC — Pankration becomes an event at the Ancient Olympic Games.
• April 6, 648 BC — Earliest Greek-chronicled solar eclipse.
• 647 BC — King Assurbanipal of Assyria sacks Susa.
• 642 BC — Ancus Marcius becomes king of Rome (traditional date).
• 640 BC — Great victory of Assyria over Elamite Empire.
• 632 BC — Cylon, Athenian noble, seizes the Acropolis in a failed attempt to become king.
• 632 BC — In the Battle of Chengpu, the Chinese kingdom of Jin and her allies defeat the kingdom of Chu and her allies.
• 631 BC — Founding of Cyrene, a Greek colony in Libya (North Africa) (approximate date).
• 631 BC — Sadyates becomes king of Lydia.
• 627 BC — Death of Assurbanipal, king of Assyria; he is succeeded by Assur-etel-ilani (approximate date).
• 626 BC — Nabopolassar revolts against Assyria, founds the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
• 625 BC — Medes and Babylonians assert their independence from Assyria and attack Nineveh (approximate date).
• 623 BC — Sin-shar-ishkun succeeds his brother Assur-etel-ilani as king of Assyria (approximate date).
• 622 BC or 621 BC — Text of Deuteronomy found in the Temple in Jerusalem.
• 619 BC — Alyattes becomes king of Lydia.
• 619 BC — Death of King Xiang of Zhou, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
• 618 BC — King Qing of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
• 616 BC — Lucius Tarquinius Priscus becomes king of Rome.
• 614 BC — Sack of Asshur by the Medes and Babylonians.
• 613 BC — Death of King Qing of Zhou, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
• 612 BC — King Kuang of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
• 612 BC — An alliance of Medes, Babylonians and Susianians besiege and conquer Nineveh. King Sin-shar-ishkun of Assyria is killed in the sack.
• 612 BC — Ashur-uballit II attempts to keep the Assyrian empire alive by establishing himself as king at Harran.
• 612 BC — Estimation: Babylon, capital of Babylonia becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Nineveh, capital of Assyria.[2]
• 610 BC — Necho II succeeds Psammetichus I as king of Egypt.
• 609 BC — King Josiah of Judah dies in the Battle of Megiddo against Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt, who is on his way north to aid the rump Assyrian state of Ashur-uballit II.
• 609 BC — The Babylonians defeat the Assyrian army of Ashur-uballit II and capture Harran. Ashur-uballit, the last Assyrian king, disappears from history.
• 609 BC — Jehoahaz succeeds his father Josiah as King of Judah, but is quickly deposed by Necho, who installs Jehoahaz's brother Jehoiakim in his place.
• 607 BC — Death of King Kuang of Zhou, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
• 606 BC — King Ding of Zhou becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
• 605 BC — Battle of Carchemish: Crown Prince Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon defeats the army of Necho II of Egypt, securing the Babylonian conquest of Assyria. The Babylonians pursue through Syria and Palestine.
• 605 BC — Nebuchadrezzar II succeeds his father Nabopolassar as King of Babylon.
• 600 BC — Foundation of Capua.
• 600 BC — India — Age of the Mahajanapadas — 16 great kingdoms rule India — Kasi, Kosala, Anga, Magadha, Vajji (or Vriji), Malla, Chedi, Vatsa (or Vamsa), Kuru, Panchala, Machcha (or Matsya), Surasena, Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara, Kamboja
• 600 BC — Foundation of Milan by Celts (approximate date).
• 600 BC — Foundation of Marseille by Phoceans (traditional date).
• 600 BC — Smyrna sacked and destroyed.
• 600 BC — Nebuchadrezzar builds the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
• 600 BC — (LDS) Lehi leads his family and some friends on pilgrimage from Jerusalem to the Americas.
• Scythians arrived in Asia.

Significant persons

• Hezekiah of the Kingdom of Judah (reigned 715–687 BC)
• Sennacherib, king of Assyria and conqueror of Babylon (705–681 BC)
• Gyges of Lydia (reigned 687–652 BC)
• Manasseh of Judah (reigned 687–643 BC)
• Esarhaddon, king of Assyria and conqueror of Egypt (reigned 681–669 BC)
• Archilochus of Thasos, poet (c. 680 BC–645 BC). He is born on the island of Paros
• 673 BC — Death of Numa Pompilius, second of the Kings of Rome, successor to Romulus
• 670 BC — Death of Mettius Fufetius, Latin king of Alba Longa
• 664 BC — Death of Necho I, king of Egypt
• 663 BC — Death of Taharqa, king of Egypt
• 653 BC — Death of Tantamani, last king of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt
• 652 BC — Death of King Hui of Zhou, king of the Zhou Dynasty of China
• 652 BC — First recorded mention of King Kuras of Parsumas, possibly the same as King Cyrus I of Anshan, head of the Achaemenid dynasty
• 645 BC — Death of Guan Zhong, Prime Minister of the Chinese state of Qi
• Josiah of the Kingdom of Judah (reigned 641 BC–609 BC)
• Stesichorus of Sicily, lyric poet (c. 640 BC–555 BC)
• Solon of Athens, one of the Seven Sages of Greece (638 BC–558 BC)
• Thales of Miletus, Greek mathematician (635 BC–543 BC)
• 610 BC — Death of Psammetichus I, king of Egypt
• 610 BC — Birth of Anaximander, Greek philosopher
• Sappho of Lesbos, Ancient Greek poet

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

• The Chinese invent Printing.
• First metal coins used by Lydians of western Anatolia. Until c. 525 BC coins bore an image on one side only.
• Iron allegedly discovered in China.

Decades and years

[[::Decades|Decades]] and [[::Years|Years]]

7th century BC

[[::9th century BC|9th century BC]] ←[[::8th century BC|8th century BC]] ← ↔ →[[::6th century BC|6th century BC]]→[[::5th century BC|5th century BC]]

[[::709–700 BC|709–700 BC ]]	[[::709 BC|709 BC ]]	[[::708 BC|708 BC ]]	[[::707 BC|707 BC ]]	[[::706 BC|706 BC ]]	[[::705 BC|705 BC ]]	[[::704 BC|704 BC ]]	[[::703 BC|703 BC ]]	[[::702 BC|702 BC ]]	[[::701 BC|701 BC ]]	[[::700 BC|700 BC ]]
[[::690s BC|690s BC ]]	[[::699 BC|699 BC ]]	[[::698 BC|698 BC ]]	[[::697 BC|697 BC ]]	[[::696 BC|696 BC ]]	[[::695 BC|695 BC ]]	[[::694 BC|694 BC ]]	[[::693 BC|693 BC ]]	[[::692 BC|692 BC ]]	[[::691 BC|691 BC ]]	[[::690 BC|690 BC ]]
[[::680s BC|680s BC ]]	[[::689 BC|689 BC ]]	[[::688 BC|688 BC ]]	[[::687 BC|687 BC ]]	[[::686 BC|686 BC ]]	[[::685 BC|685 BC ]]	[[::684 BC|684 BC ]]	[[::683 BC|683 BC ]]	[[::682 BC|682 BC ]]	[[::681 BC|681 BC ]]	[[::680 BC|680 BC ]]
[[::670s BC|670s BC ]]	[[::679 BC|679 BC ]]	[[::678 BC|678 BC ]]	[[::677 BC|677 BC ]]	[[::676 BC|676 BC ]]	[[::675 BC|675 BC ]]	[[::674 BC|674 BC ]]	[[::673 BC|673 BC ]]	[[::672 BC|672 BC ]]	[[::671 BC|671 BC ]]	[[::670 BC|670 BC ]]
[[::660s BC|660s BC ]]	[[::669 BC|669 BC ]]	[[::668 BC|668 BC ]]	[[::667 BC|667 BC ]]	[[::666 BC|666 BC ]]	[[::665 BC|665 BC ]]	[[::664 BC|664 BC ]]	[[::663 BC|663 BC ]]	[[::662 BC|662 BC ]]	[[::661 BC|661 BC ]]	[[::660 BC|660 BC ]]
[[::650s BC|650s BC ]]	[[::659 BC|659 BC ]]	[[::658 BC|658 BC ]]	[[::657 BC|657 BC ]]	[[::656 BC|656 BC ]]	[[::655 BC|655 BC ]]	[[::654 BC|654 BC ]]	[[::653 BC|653 BC ]]	[[::652 BC|652 BC ]]	[[::651 BC|651 BC ]]	[[::650 BC|650 BC ]]
[[::640s BC|640s BC ]]	[[::649 BC|649 BC ]]	[[::648 BC|648 BC ]]	[[::647 BC|647 BC ]]	[[::646 BC|646 BC ]]	[[::645 BC|645 BC ]]	[[::644 BC|644 BC ]]	[[::643 BC|643 BC ]]	[[::642 BC|642 BC ]]	[[::641 BC|641 BC ]]	[[::640 BC|640 BC ]]
[[::630s BC|630s BC ]]	[[::639 BC|639 BC ]]	[[::638 BC|638 BC ]]	[[::637 BC|637 BC ]]	[[::636 BC|636 BC ]]	[[::635 BC|635 BC ]]	[[::634 BC|634 BC ]]	[[::633 BC|633 BC ]]	[[::632 BC|632 BC ]]	[[::631 BC|631 BC ]]	[[::630 BC|630 BC ]]
[[::620s BC|620s BC ]]	[[::629 BC|629 BC ]]	[[::628 BC|628 BC ]]	[[::627 BC|627 BC ]]	[[::626 BC|626 BC ]]	[[::625 BC|625 BC ]]	[[::624 BC|624 BC ]]	[[::623 BC|623 BC ]]	[[::622 BC|622 BC ]]	[[::621 BC|621 BC ]]	[[::620 BC|620 BC ]]
[[::610s BC|610s BC ]]	[[::619 BC|619 BC ]]	[[::618 BC|618 BC ]]	[[::617 BC|617 BC ]]	[[::616 BC|616 BC ]]	[[::615 BC|615 BC ]]	[[::614 BC|614 BC ]]	[[::613 BC|613 BC ]]	[[::612 BC|612 BC ]]	[[::611 BC|611 BC ]]	[[::610 BC|610 BC ]]
[[::609–600 BC|609–600 BC ]]	[[::609 BC|609 BC ]]	[[::608 BC|608 BC ]]	[[::607 BC|607 BC ]]	[[::606 BC|606 BC ]]	[[::605 BC|605 BC ]]	[[::604 BC|604 BC ]]	[[::603 BC|603 BC ]]	[[::602 BC|602 BC ]]	[[::601 BC|601 BC ]]	[[::600 BC|600 BC ]]
[[::590s BC|590s BC ]]	[[::599 BC|599 BC ]]	[[::598 BC|598 BC ]]	[[::597 BC|597 BC ]]	[[::596 BC|596 BC ]]	[[::595 BC|595 BC ]]	[[::594 BC|594 BC ]]	[[::593 BC|593 BC ]]	[[::592 BC|592 BC ]]	[[::591 BC|591 BC ]]	[[::590 BC|590 BC ]]

[[::Centuries|Centuries]] and [[::Millennia|Millennia]]

Millennium	Century
Before Christ / Before Common Era (BC/BCE)
[[::4th millennium BC|4th]]:	[[::40th century BC|40th]]	[[::39th century BC|39th]]	[[::38th century BC|38th]]	[[::37th century BC|37th]]	[[::36th century BC|36th]]	[[::35th century BC|35th]]	[[::34th century BC|34th]]	[[::33rd century BC|33rd]]	[[::32nd century BC|32nd]]	[[::31st century BC|31st]]
[[::3rd millennium BC|3rd]]:	[[::30th century BC|30th]]	[[::29th century BC|29th]]	[[::28th century BC|28th]]	[[::27th century BC|27th]]	[[::26th century BC|26th]]	[[::25th century BC|25th]]	[[::24th century BC|24th]]	[[::23rd century BC|23rd]]	[[::22nd century BC|22nd]]	[[::21st century BC|21st]]
[[::2nd millennium BC|2nd]]:	[[::20th century BC|20th]]	[[::19th century BC|19th]]	[[::18th century BC|18th]]	[[::17th century BC|17th]]	[[::16th century BC|16th]]	[[::15th century BC|15th]]	[[::14th century BC|14th]]	[[::13th century BC|13th]]	[[::12th century BC|12th]]	[[::11th century BC|11th]]
[[::1st millennium BC|1st]]:	[[::10th century BC|10th]]	[[::9th century BC|9th]]	[[::8th century BC|8th]]	[[::7th century BC|7th]]	[[::6th century BC|6th]]	[[::5th century BC|5th]]	[[::4th century BC|4th]]	[[::3rd century BC|3rd]]	[[::2nd century BC|2nd]]	[[::1st century BC|1st]]
Anno Domini / Common Era (AD/CE)
[[::1st millennium|1st]]:	[[::1st century|1st]]	[[::2nd century|2nd]]	[[::3rd century|3rd]]	[[::4th century|4th]]	[[::5th century|5th]]	[[::6th century|6th]]	[[::7th century|7th]]	[[::8th century|8th]]	[[::9th century|9th]]	[[::10th century|10th]]
[[::2nd millennium|2nd]]:	[[::11th century|11th]]	[[::12th century|12th]]	[[::13th century|13th]]	[[::14th century|14th]]	[[::15th century|15th]]	[[::16th century|16th]]	[[::17th century|17th]]	[[::18th century|18th]]	[[::19th century|19th]]	[[::20th century|20th]]
[[::3rd millennium|3rd]]:	[[::21st century|21st]]	[[::22nd century|22nd]]	[[::23rd century|23rd]]	[[::24th century|24th]]	[[::25th century|25th]]	[[::26th century|26th]]	[[::27th century|27th]]	[[::28th century|28th]]	[[::29th century|29th]]	[[::30th century|30th]]
[[::4th millennium|4th]]:	[[::31st century|31st]]