1500s BC (decade)

Events and trends

• 1506 BC — Cecrops, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 50 years. Having survived his own son, he is succeeded by Cranaus.
• c. 1506 BC — Thutmose I starts to rule. Alternatively, a date of c. 1504 BC is a possibility.
• Egypt conquers Nubia and the Levant.
• Earliest remains of domesticated ferrets found.
• c. 1500 BC — Polynesians settle in Fiji,
• c. 1500 BC — Mycenaean civilization starts in Ancient Greece.
• c. 1500 BC — Eleusinian Mysteries start in Ancient Greece.
• c. 1500 BC — Formative/Preclassic period starts in Mesoamerica.
• c. 1500 BC: Many scholars date early parts of the Rig Veda to roughly the 16th century.
• c. 1500 BC: Queen Hatsheput in Egypt.
• c. 1500 BC: The element Mercury has been discovered in Egyptian tombs dating from this decade.
• c. 1500 BC: Settlers from Crete, Greece move to Miletus, Turkey.
• c. 1500 BC: Early traces of Maya civilization developing in Belize.
• c. 1500 BC: The Phoenicians develop an alphabet—see Timeline of communication technology.
• c. 1500 BC: Indo-Aryan migration is often dated to the 17th to 16th centuries.
• 1500 BC–500 BC—Vedas are composed.