7th century BC

The 7th century BC began the first day of

The Neo-Assyrian Empire continued to dominate the Near East during this century, exercising formidable power over neighbors like Babylon and Egypt. In the last two decades of the century, however, the empire began to unravel as numerous enemies made alliances and waged war from all sides. The Assyrians finally left the world stage permanently when their capital Nineveh was destroyed in 612 BC. These events gave rise to the Neo-Babylonian Empire, which would dominate the region for much of the following century.

The Zhou dynasty continues in China and the Late Period begins in Egypt with the Twenty-sixth Dynasty starting with the coronation of Psamtik I.

In

• Elamite Empire
  .
• 697 BC: Death of King Huan of Zhou, king of the Zhou dynasty of China
  .
• 696 BC: King Zhuang of Zhou becomes king of the Zhou dynasty of China
  .
• 696 BC: The Cimmerians ravage Phrygia, possible migration of the Armenians
  .
• Elam in the Battle of Halule
  .
• 690 BC: Taharqa, a king of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, ascends the throne of Egypt
  (approximate date).
• D'mt in Ethiopia
  appears in the inscriptional record and mentions the king of Saba', Karib'il Watar.
• c. 690 BC-
  The British Museum, London
  .

• 689 BC: King Sennacherib of Assyria sacks Babylon
  .
• 687 BC: Gyges becomes king of Lydia
  .
• 687 BC: Hezekiah succeeded by Manasseh as king of Judah
  .
• 682 BC: Death of King Zhuang of Zhou, king of the Zhou dynasty of China
  .
• 681 BC: King Xi of Zhou becomes king of the Zhou dynasty of China
  .
• 681 BC: Esarhaddon succeeds Sennacherib as king of Assyria
  .

• 678 BC: Phraortes becomes king of the Medes
• 677 BC: Death of King Xi of Zhou, king of the Zhou dynasty of China.
• Arab tribes, advances as far as the Brook of Egypt
  .
• 676 BC: King Hui of Zhou becomes king of the Zhou dynasty of China.
• 675 BC: Esarhaddon begins the rebuilding of Babylon.
• Assyrians invade Egypt, but Taharqa
  is able to hold the invaders off.
• 673 BC: Tullus Hostilius becomes king of Rome.
• 671 BC: Esarhaddon again invades Egypt, capturing Memphis as well as a number of the royal family.

• Assurbanipal succeeds his father Esarhaddon as king of Assyria
  .
• battle of Hysiae
  .
• Shamash-shum-ukin, son of Esarhaddon, becomes King of Babylon
  .
• 668 BC: Egypt revolts against Assyria.
• 668 BC: Nineveh, capital of Assyria becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Thebes in Egypt.^[1]
• 667 BC: Byzantium founded by Megaran colonists under Byzas. (traditional date)
• Corcyra
  .
• Assurbanipal captures and sacks Thebes, Egypt
  .
• Psammetichus I succeeds Necho I as king of Lower Egypt
  .
• 664 BC: Taharqa appoints his nephew Tantamani as his successor of Upper Egypt.
• February 11, 660 BC—Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
• 660 BC: First known use of the Demotic script.
• Psammetichus I drives the Assyrians out of Egypt
  .
• 660 BC: Estimated date of the impact that created the Kaali crater

• The Spartan Creed by Ancient Greek poet Tyrtaeus
• Piedras Negras, Guatemala
  .
• 657 BC: Cypselus becomes the first tyrant of Corinth.
• Psammetichus extends his control over all of Egypt. End of Twenty-fifth Dynasty
  .
• Elamite Empire
  .
• 653 BC: Atlanersa becomes ruler of the Napatan kingdom of Kush after the collapse of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt.
• Shamash-shum-ukin against the Assyrians
  .
• Persia
  .
• 651 BC: King Xiang of Zhou becomes king of the Zhou dynasty of China.
• Clazomenae
  .
• European continent
  .

• 640s BC: Assyrian king Ashurbanipal founds library, which included our earliest complete copy of the Epic of Gilgamesh.
• Elamite Empire
  .
• Shamash-shum-ukin is crushed by the Assyrians
  .
• 648 BC: Pankration becomes an event at the Ancient Olympic Games.
• April 6, 648 BC: Earliest Greek-chronicled solar eclipse.^[2]
• Assurbanipal of Assyria sacks Susa
  .
• 642 BC: Ancus Marcius becomes king of Rome (traditional date).
• c.641 BC: Josiah becomes king of Judah.
• Khumma-Khaldash III, annexes Elam, and lays waste the country.^[3]

• Acropolis
  in a failed attempt to become king.
• 632 BC: In the Battle of Chengpu, the Chinese kingdom of Jin and her allies defeat the kingdom of Chu and her allies.
• 631 BC: Founding of Cyrene, a Greek colony in Libya (North Africa) (approximate date).
• Sadyates becomes king of Lydia
  .

• Assur-etel-ilani
  (approximate date).
• 626 BC: Nabopolassar revolts against Assyria, founds the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
• Babylonians assert their independence from Assyria and attack Nineveh
  (approximate date).
• Assur-etel-ilani as king of Assyria
  (approximate date).
• Deuteronomy found in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Hebrew prophet Ezekiel
  said to be born this year.

• Alyattes becomes king of Lydia
  .
• 619 BC: Death of King Xiang of Zhou, king of the Zhou dynasty of China.
• 618 BC: King Qing of Zhou becomes king of the Zhou dynasty of China.
• 616 BC: Lucius Tarquinius Priscus becomes king of Rome.
• Babylonians
  .
• 613 BC: Death of King Qing of Zhou, king of the Zhou dynasty of China.
• 612 BC: King Kuang of Zhou becomes king of the Zhou dynasty of China.
• Sin-shar-ishkun of Assyria
  is killed in the sack.
• 612 BC: Ashur-uballit II attempts to keep the Assyrian empire alive by establishing himself as king at Harran.
• 612 BC: Babylon, capital of Babylonia becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Nineveh, capital of Assyria.^[1]
• Psammetichus I as king of Egypt
  .

• 609 BC: King Josiah of Judah dies in the Battle of Megiddo against Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt, who is on his way north to aid the rump Assyrian state of Ashur-uballit II.
• Assyrian army of Ashur-uballit II and capture Harran. Ashur-uballit, the last Assyrian
  king, disappears from history.
• King of Judah, but is quickly deposed by Necho, who installs Jehoahaz's brother Jehoiakim
  in his place.
• 607 BC: Death of King Kuang of Zhou, king of the Zhou dynasty of China.
• 606 BC: King Ding of Zhou becomes king of the Zhou dynasty of China.
• Babylonians pursue the Egyptians through Syria and Palestine
  .
• 605 BC: Nebuchadnezzar II succeeds his father Nabopolassar as King of Babylon.
• 601 BC: An alliance of Medes (from western Iran) and Scythians (who originated from the Eurasian Steppe) invade the northern and eastern parts of Assyria.
• 600 BC: Foundation of Capua.
• Kamboja
• 600 BC: Foundation of Milan by Celts (approximate date).
• Phoceans
  (traditional date).
• 600 BC: Smyrna sacked and destroyed.
• 600 BC: Nebuchadnezzar builds the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

• First metal coins used by the Lydians of western Anatolia. Until c. 525 BC, coins bore an image on one side only.
• Asia Minor
  .
• Iron allegedly discovered in China
  .
• 7th century BC –
  Banditaccia, Cerveteri
  is made.