31st century BC
The 31st century BC was a century which lasted from the year 3100 BC to 3001 BC.Events
- c. 3090 BC: Narmer unifies Upper and Lower Egypt into one country; he rules this new country from Memphis.
- c. 3100 BC: The Anu Ziggurat White Temple is built in Uruk
- c. 3100 BC: Predynastic period ends in Ancient Egypt.
- c. 3100 BC: Early Dynastic period starts in Ancient Egypt.
- c. 3100 BC: The first temple of Tarxien is in use by the Neolithic inhabitants of Malta.
- c. 3100 BC: First stage in the construction of Stonehenge.
- c. 3100 BC – 2600 BC: Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, Scotland is inhabited.
- c. 3100 BC: The first known human writing system, the cuneiform script, is developed in Sumer.
- c. 3051 BC: The oldest currently living organism, a Great Basin bristlecone pine, undergoes germination in the White Mountains of California. It is still alive at the present day.
Significant people
- Scorpion II, presumably the last pre-dynastic pharaoh of ancient Upper Egypt
- Narmer, founder of the first dynasty of Egypt
- Neithhotep, wife of Narmer and possibly the earliest woman known by name
- Hor-Aha, the second pharaoh of the First dynasty of Egypt
- Djer, the third pharaoh of the First dynasty of Egypt
- Ötzi, the oldest natural mummy ever found in Europe, lived around this time.
Inventions, discoveries, introductions
- Drainage and sewage system in the Indus Valley
- Dams, canals, stone sculptures using inclined plane and lever in Sumer and the Tigris-Euphrates Valley
- Copper was in use, both as tools and weapons
- Senet is one of the oldest known board games in the world.
- c. 3100 BC – Invention of writing in Mesopotamia and Egypt
- The Sydney rock engravings date to around 3000 BC.
