15th century BC

The 15th century BC is a century which lasted from 1500 BC to 1401 BC.

"1400s BC" redirects here. For the decade, see 1400s BC (decade).

Millennium:	2nd millennium BC
Centuries:	16th century BC 15th century BC 14th century BC
Timelines:	16th century BC 15th century BC 14th century BC
State leaders:	16th century BC 15th century BC 14th century BC
Decades:	1490s BC 1480s BC 1470s BC 1460s BC 1450s BC 1440s BC 1430s BC 1420s BC 1410s BC 1400s BC
Categories:	Births – Deaths Establishments – Disestablishments

Events

Statue of Thutmosis III at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

• 1504 BC – 1492 BC: Egypt conquers Nubia and the Levant.[1]
• 1500 BC – 1400 BC: The Battle of the Ten Kings took place around this time.
• 1500 BC: Coalescence of a number of cultural traits including undecorated pottery, megalithic burials, and millet-bean-rice agriculture indicate the beginning of the Mumun Pottery Period in the Korean peninsula.[2]
• c. 1490 BC: Cranaus, legendary King of Athens, is deposed after a reign of 10 years by his son-in-law Amphictyon of Thessaly, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha.
• 1487 BC: Amphictyon, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha and legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 10 years and is succeeded by Erichthonius I of Athens, a grandson of Cranaus.
• c. 1480 BC: Queen Hatshepsut succeeded by her stepson and nephew Thutmosis III. Period of greatest Egyptian expansion (4th Nile cataract to the Euphrates).
• c. 1469 BC: In the Battle of Megiddo, Egypt defeats Canaan (Low Chronology).[3]
• c. 1460 BC: The Kassites overrun Babylonia and found a dynasty there that lasts for 576 years and nine months.
• 1437 BC: Legendary King Erichthonius I of Athens dies after a reign of 50 years and is succeeded by his son Pandion I.
• 1430 BC – 1160 BC: Hittite New Kingdom established.
• 1430 BC – 1178 BC: Beginning of Hittite empire.
• c. 1420 BC: Crete conquered by Mycenae—start of the Mycenaean period. First Linear B tablets.
• 1400 BC: In Crete the use of bronze helmets (discovery at Knossos).[4]
• 1400 BC: Palace of Minos destroyed by fire.[5]
• c. 1400 BC: Linear A reaches its peak of popularity.
• c. 1400 BC: The height of the Canaanite town of Ugarit. Royal Palace of Ugarit is built.
• Myceneans conquers Greece and border of Anatolia.
• The Tumulus culture flourishes.
• Earliest traces of Olmec civilization.[6]

Significant people

• Hatshepsut of Egypt, female Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty (1498 BC–1483 BC)
• Thutmose III of Egypt, Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty (1479 BC–1425 BC)
• Amenhotep II, Pharaoh of Egypt (1427 BC–1401 BC)

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

• The Shang Dynasty Chinese capital city at Ao had massive defensive walls of 20 metres (66 ft) in width at the base and enclosed an area of some 2,100 square yards (1,800 m²).

Sovereign states

See: List of sovereign states in the 15th century BC.

Decades and years

References

1. The Encyclopedia of Ancient Civilizations of the Near East and Mediterranean. Sharpe Reference. 1997. ISBN 978-1-56324-799-6.
2. Bale, Martin T. (2001). "Archaeology of Early Agriculture in Korea: An Update on Recent Developments". Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association. 21 (5): 77–84.
3. Meistrich, Ira (12 June 2006). "Military History: The Birthplace of War". The Quarterly Journal of Military History (Spring 2005). Retrieved 16 February 2018.
4. Hencken, Hugh (1965). "ARCHEOLOGY: Early Greek Armour and Weapons from the End of the Bronze Age to 600 B.C. ANTHONY SNODGRASS". American Anthropologist. 67 (4): 1054–1055. doi:10.1525/aa.1965.67.4.02a00450. ISSN 1548-1433.
5. Sacks, David; Murray, Oswyn (1995). A Dictionary of the Ancient Greek World. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-511206-1.
6. Diehl, Richard A. (2004). The Olmecs : America's First Civilization. London: Thames and Hudson. pp. 9–25. ISBN 0500285039.