| 4.4 mya | Earliest evidence of pre-human hominid species |
4-2 mya | Hominid species-(australopithecus afarensis) in Ethiopia |
| 1.8 mya | Nutcracker Man discovered in Tanzania by Mary Leakey |
| 1.8 mya | Homo habilis or tool-making man |
| 1.7 mya | Homo erectus or erect man |
| ~1 mya | Homo erectus begins to migrate to Europe and Asia |
| 100,000-40,000 | Neanderthal Man, in Africa and Europe |
| 100,000+ | Homo sapiens, or wise man |
| 10,000-6,000 | Shift from Hunter Gatherer to food producer in some areas (West Asia initially, Egypt by 6,000) |
| 3200 | Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt |
| 3100 | Egyptian hieroglyphic writing |
| 3000 | Egyptians develop weaving from plant fibers (flax) |
| 2770-2200 | Old Kingdom in Egypt |
| 2650 | Construction of first pyramid in Egypt, first monumental columnar forms |
| ~2500 | Basic forms for furniture, wind instruments in Egypt |
| ~2000 | Solar Calendar in Egypt |
| ~2000 | Terra-cotta pottery in Egypt |
| 2050-1786 | Middle Kingdom in Egypt |
| 1800 | Egyptian belief in personal immortality |
| 1560-1087 | New Kingdom in Egypt |
| ~1580-1090 | Temple building in Egypt |
| ~1375 | Akhenaton introduces monotheism in Egypt |
| ~1375 | Naturalistic art in Egypt |
| ~1300 | Transparent glass invented in Egypt |
| ~1300 | Use of Papyrus, pen, and ink for writing in Egypt |
| ~1300-1100 | Increasing use of iron in Western Asia |
| c.700 | Earliest Greek settlement in Egypt's Nile delta |
| 525 | Cambyses, the Persian ruler, conquers Egypt |
| 334-323 | Conquests of Alexander the Great |
| 323 | Death of Alexander, division of his empire |
| 264-146 | Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage |
| c.200 | Use of iron in Sub-saharan Africa |
| 146 | Destruction of Carthage by Rome |
| 47 | Fire destroys the great library at Alexandria |
| 61 | Treaty of Samos between Rome and Kush |
| c.200-900 | Expansion of Bantu speakers in Africa |
| c.200 | Camels first used for trans-Saharan transport |
| c.250 | Kingdom of Axum (Ethiopia) controls Red Sea trade |
| c.251-356 | Anthony of Egypt reputed father of hermit monasticism |
| c.300 | Kingdom of Axum (Ethiopia) accepts Christianity |
| c.340 | Pachomius draws up code of monastic behavior in Luxor, Egypt |
| c.450 | Rise of Ghana in West Africa |
| c.600-1500 | Extensive slave trade from sub-Saharan Africa to Mediterranean |
| 636-651 | Muslims conquer Syria, Persia and Egypt |
| 641 | Muslim conquest of Egypt |
| c.1000-1500 | Consolidation of states |
| c.1100-1500 | Bantu, Arab, and Indian cultures blend in Swahili civilization along eastern coast |
| c.1100-1897 | Kingdom of Benin |
| c.1224 | Decline of the Kingdom of Ghana |
| 1270-1478 | Imperial revival in Ethiopia |
| c.1300-1500 | Mali empire in middle Niger region |
| c.1325 | Ibn Battuta, famous North African traveler, begins 29-year, 75,000 mile world tour |
| c.1330 | University of Tmbuktu |
| c.1493-1582 | Expansion of Songhay |
| c.1591 | Decline of Songhay afer defeat by Moroccans |
