700 BC world map

Border history

The interactive map lets you inspect named territories in 700 BC and compare them to earlier or later snapshots on the timeline.

Biographical context

This page highlights figures close to 700 BC so readers can move from geography to biography without leaving the Historiqly ecosystem.

Era-based reading

The related chronicles below surface long-form reading connected to the ancient period.

710 BC – 650 BC

Lelantine War

Chalcis and allies vs Eretria and allies

One of the earliest recorded Greek wars, fought between Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine Plain on Euboea. Thucydides called it the only war that divided the entire Greek world before the Peloponnesian War.

Key battles: Battle of the Lelantine Plain (c. 700 BC)

720 BC – 650 BC

Cimmerian & Scythian Invasions

Cimmerians & Scythians vs Phrygia, Lydia & Assyria

Nomadic Cimmerian warriors swept out of the steppes, destroying the kingdom of Phrygia and threatening Lydia and Assyria. The Scythians followed, raiding deep into the Near East — one of the earliest great nomadic invasions from the Eurasian steppe.

Key battles: Destruction of Phrygia (c. 696 BC); Scythian raids into Assyria (c. 670s BC)

743 BC – 668 BC

Messenian Wars

Sparta vs Messenia

Sparta's conquest and subjugation of Messenia created the helot system that defined Spartan society for centuries, turning Sparta into a militarised state.

Key battles: Battle of Ithome (724 BC); Battle of the Great Foss (668 BC)

745 BC – 631 BC

Sargonid Assyrian Conquests

Neo-Assyrian Empire vs Israel, Judah, Babylon, Egypt & Elam

Tiglath-Pileser III more than doubled Assyria's size. Sargon II destroyed the Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC, deporting its population. Esarhaddon conquered Egypt, creating the largest empire the world had yet seen.

Key battles: Fall of Samaria (722 BC); Siege of Lachish (701 BC)

747 BC – 656 BC

Kushite Conquest of Egypt

Kingdom of Kush (Nubia) vs Libyan rulers of Egypt

The Nubian Kingdom of Kush conquered Egypt, establishing the 25th Dynasty. Pharaohs like Piye and Taharqa unified the Nile Valley from Napata to the Mediterranean before Assyrian invasions ended Kushite rule.

Key battles: Piye's Conquest of Egypt (c. 727 BC); Battle of Memphis (727 BC)

771 BC – 476 BC

Spring and Autumn Period Wars

Various Chinese states (Qi, Chu, Jin, Qin, Wu, Yue)

Nearly three centuries of interstate warfare among the fragmented Zhou feudal states. Powerful lords known as the 'Five Hegemons' rose to dominate weaker states, setting the stage for the even bloodier Warring States Period.

Key battles: Battle of Chengpu (632 BC); Battle of Boju (506 BC)

Northern India / Nepal

Buddha

c. 563 BC – c. 483 BC

“All conditioned things are impermanent. Work out your salvation with diligence.”

Founder of Buddhism, philosopher, teacher of the Middle Way and the Four Noble Truths

State of Lu, China

Confucius

551 BC – 479 BC

“Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.”

Founder of Confucianism, the Analects, ritual and moral philosophy, teacher of three thousand

Zhou Kingdom, China

Laozi

c. 6th century BC – Unknown

“The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao.”

Founder of Daoism, author of the Dao De Jing, keeper of the Zhou royal archives

Israel / Judah

King Solomon

c. 990 BC – c. 931 BC

“Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”

Building the First Temple, legendary wisdom, the Judgment of Solomon, trade empire, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes

Israel / Judah

King David

c. 1040 BC – c. 970 BC

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Slaying Goliath, uniting the tribes of Israel, conquering Jerusalem, composing the Psalms

India

Chandragupta Maurya

c. 340 BC – c. 297 BC

Founding the Maurya Empire, unifying India, defeating Seleucus Nicator, Arthashastra statecraft

Built 700 BC · Asia

Great Wall of China

Ancient fortification spanning thousands of miles across northern China

Built 750 BC · Europe

Biskupin

Remarkably preserved Iron Age fortified settlement built on a lake island in Poland, sometimes called the 'Polish Pompeii'

Built 750 BC · Africa

Meroe

Royal city of the Kingdom of Kush with Nubian pyramids

Built 776 BC · Europe

Olympia

Sanctuary of Zeus and birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games in the western Peloponnese, Greece

Built 800 BC · Europe

Butrint

Layered Greco-Roman city in southern Albania inhabited for 2,500 years, with a theater, baptistery, and Venetian fortress

Built 800 BC · Europe

Delphi

Ancient Greek sanctuary and seat of the famous Oracle

Northern India / Nepal · Philosopher

Buddha

The Awakened One

The life of Siddhartha Gautama — a prince who abandoned a palace for a forest, starved himself to the edge of death, and emerged with a diagnosis of human suffering that has shaped the lives of half a billion people.

State of Lu, China · Philosopher

Confucius

The Teacher of Ten Thousand Generations

The fatherless son who became the most influential teacher in human history — how a keeper of granaries from the state of Lu shaped the moral foundations of East Asian civilisation.

Zhou Kingdom, China · Philosopher

Laozi

The Old Master Who Vanished

The enigmatic sage who kept the royal archives of Zhou, wrote the most translated book in Chinese history, and disappeared through a mountain pass on the back of an ox — never to be seen again.

Israel / Judah · Leader

King Solomon

The Wisest King

The son of David who built the Temple, amassed legendary wealth, and wrote the wisdom literature that shaped three civilisations — then watched it all slip away.