| 668 BC Ashurbanipal King Of Assyria Conquers Egypt- In the later years of the 25th dynasty, the Egyptians opposed the Assyrians in Palestine. This provoked an Assyrian reaction which included the successful invasion of Egypt. In 663 B.C., Psannetucgys --a member of the house of Sais -- drove the Assyrians out of Egypt with the help of Lydian troops to establish the 26th dynasty. This was the last period of independent Egyptian sovereignty until modern times. |
| 660 BC Empire Of Japan Established - According to legend, Jimmu Tenno invaded Japan's main island Honshu. There he established himself as Japan's first emperor. He founded the Yamato family and is believed to be a direct ancestor of Japan's current emperor. |
| 650 - 630 BC Second Messenian War- The Messinians, led by Aristomenes, revolted against Sparta. It took the Spartans twenty years to fully subdue the rebellion. As a result of the difficulties encountered during the rebellion, Sparta reorganized itself into a military state. |
| 650 BC Assyrians Destroy Babylon -An attempted revolt against the Assyrians by the Babylonians resulted in the destruction of Babylon by the Assyrians. |
| 626 BC Nabopolasser Founds Chaldean Empire- The Chaldeans who had dominated Babylonia during the Assyrian period, took control of Babylon and established a new dynasty. The head of the dynasty was Nabopolassar, whose first task was the destruction of the Assyrians. |
| 621 BC Greek Lawgiver Draco -Athens was ruled by an oligarchy whose actions were considered severe and arbitrary. A nobleman, Draco, was appointed to create a code of laws. He produced a constitution for Athenian society with a major focus on crime and punishment. It called for death as punishment for all crimes. It did however, state that the power of the state to carry out the code originated from the people. |
| 612 BC Ninveh Captured Assyrian Empire Ends- Nineveh, the capital of Babylonia, was captured by a coalition of armies. The seizure of Nineveh was followed by the capture of Harran in 610 B.C. This brought to an end the Assyrian Empire. |
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