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2,000 - 1,500 BC
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Abraham(Abram son of Terah, descendent of Shem also
Ibrahim, ancestor of Arabs through Ishmael) lived in Ur on the
Tigris. Crete was the centre of the Minoan civilisation - 8,000 live
in the capital, Cnossos. Myceans come to Greece from the north.
Aryans from Russia and Turkistan invade India over the Hindu Kush.
Stonehenge in England built.
Ice cream in China (2,000BC) - a soft milk and rice
concoction. Period of Hsia Dynasty (2000-1520 BC) |
|
1991 - 1786 BC |
Kingdom in Egypt (XII Dynasty) |
|
1786 - 1552 BC |
Second Intermediate Period in Egypt (XIII - XVII Dynasty) |
|
1552 - 1069 BC |
New Kingdom Period in Egypt (XVIII - XX Dynasty) |
|
1520 - 1030 BC |
Shang Dynasty in China encourages food preparation and
service is ritualised. |
|
1500 BC |
Aryans invade India |
|
1262 BC |
The Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt. |
|
1200 BC |
Trojan Wars. Break-up of Empire of Crete. First swords
made from iron in Egypt. |
|
1180 BC |
Troy falls to the Acheans. Phoenicians are the
world’s great traders. |
|
1069 - 525 BC |
Third Kingdom in Egypt (XXI - XXVI Dynasty) |
|
1000 BC |
Phoenicians invent the phonetic alphabet. Winemaking
arrives in Italy, Sicily and North Africa.
Beginning of Jewish religion. Rye and oats in Northern
Europe. Rig Veda written in India |
|
950 BC |
The Queen of Sheba visits King Solomon in order to
promote the spice trade. |
|
814 BC |
Phoenicians colonize Carthage. |
|
800 BC |
Rome founded. |
|
800 - 400 BC |
The Upanishads form basis of Indian religion |
|
776 BC |
First Olympiad held. |
|
753 BC |
Romulus founds Rome according to legend |
|
750 BC |
Homer produces his epic Iliad and Odyssey. |
|
700 BC |
Wheaten bread a luxury in Athens - the poor live on
cake, breads and mashes. |
|
609 - 593 BC |
Phoenicians circumnavigate Africa in the reign of
Pharoah Necho. |
|
600 BC |
Darius of Persia invades the Punjab. First Emperor of
Japan Jimmu Tenno |
|
563 B.C. |
Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) born in Northern India |
|
551 B.C. |
Birth of K’ung-Fu-tzu (Confucius) |
|
546 BC |
Cyrus of Persia conquers Ionian Greece, then Athens
beat him at Marathon. |
|
540 B.C. |
Mahavira born who founded Jainism in India |
|
539 BC |
Cyrus of Persia takes Babylon. |
|
525 - 332 BC |
Later Period in Egypt (XXVII - XXXI Dynasty) |
|
510 BC |
Romans expel last Etruscan King. |
|
500 - 600 BC |
Traditional time of Prophet Zoroaster but probably
nearer 1500 B.C. |
|
500 BC |
Fine food common in Greece and the first cookery book
is produced by Hesiod of the Epicurians. Winemaking spreads to France
- Marseilles the oldest region, followed by Languedoc in 200BC. |
|
489 BC |
Death of Buddha |
|
479 BC |
Death of Confucius |
|
480 BC |
Xerxes tries again and fails. Carthage is invaded by
the Greeks at the same time and are beaten, as were the Etruscans.
The Greeks have developed an after-dinner wine game called Kottabos. |
|
469 - 399 BC |
Sokrates. |
|
450 BC |
Herodotus writes his ‘History’ in which he
tells how the Arabians cover themselves in animal hides in order to
gather cassia from shallow lake-lands, infested by giant bat-like
creatures and that cinnamon is obtained by tricking large birds which
make their nests on mountain precipes. |
|
448 BC |
Athens defeated in the Nile Delta. |
|
447 BC |
Parthenon built under Pheidias. |
|
429 - 347 BC |
Plato. |
|
415 BC |
Athens tries to invade Sicily and Greater Greece
(Southern Italy). |
|
405 BC |
Sparta crushes Athens with the help of Persian finance. |
|
400 BC |
Hippocrates, the Father of Modern Medicine. Leavened
bread introduced. |
|
384 - 322 BC |
Aristotle. |
|
359 BC |
Philip becomes King of Macedonia. |
|
356 BC - 323 BC |
Alexander the Great founds Alexandria in Egypt, which
becomes the main spice trading centre of the known world. |
|
350 BC |
Greeks and Romans are now regular spice users, growing
caraway, cardamom, anise, mustard and fennel and importing pepper,
cassia, cinnamon and ginger along the Old Silk Road between India and
the Mediterranean |
|
341 - 270 BC |
Epicurius, founder of Epicureanism for qualified
hedonism and peace, and was a great influence later on Christians. |
|
336 - 328 BC |
Alexander brings rice to Europe. |
|
332 - 30 BC |
Ptolemaic Period in Egypt |
|
331 BC |
Alexander the Great builds Alexandria. Ruled by
Cleopatra 47-30 BC and destroyed by an earthquake in 335 AD. |
|
300 BC |
End of the Kushans from China in India. Rice
cultivation in Japan. Meze invented in Greece. |
|
287-213 BC |
Archimedes of Syracuse. |
|
286 BC |
Rice introduced to Greece from India |
|
269-232 BC |
Ashoka the first Buddhist King comes to power in India
- the son of the first great power there, Chandragupta. |
|
264 BC |
Rome starts her conquests. |
|
228 - 210 BC |
Great Wall of China built |
|
217 BC |
Hannibal is served raw, cured ham in Parma on his way
to fight the Romans. |
|
206 BC |
Stir-frying appears during the Han Dynasty. |
|
202 BC |
Hannibal of Carthage defeated. Greeks taken as slaves
into Italian kitchens. |
|
200 BC |
Pyramids in Mexico built at Teotihuacan. |
|
150 BC |
Euthydemus writes ‘On Vegetables’. |
|
146 BC |
Romans sack Corinth and control Greece until 395 AD.
Greek cooks come to Rome - most breads originate from Greeks. |
|
110 BC |
Oysters are cultivated near Naples. Fine food in
Italy. Favourite sauce is garum, made with fish, salt, dill, rue and mint. |
|
100 BC |
Pepper reaches Rome. |
|
55 BC |
Julius Caesar invades Britain |
|
44 BC |
Julius Caesar murdered. |
|
6 BC |
Communication by mule-track meant that Chinese silk
and Greek bronze found together in tomb in Stuttgart. |
|
5 BC |
Greek cookery schools and dining clubs appear as Greek
cooks become more in demand. |
|
4 BC |
Archestratus writes ‘Life of Luxury’. |
|
0 AD |
Jesus born leading to start of Christianity |
