MY NOTE BOOK : ANCIENT & MODERN HISTORY

• Achaemenid Dynasty: a royal house that ruled the Achaemenid Empire, which eventually stretched from Egypt and the Balkans in the west of Central Asia and the Indus Valley in the East. 
• Achaemenid Empire: an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus The Great of the Archaemenid Dynasty in 550 BC> 
• Age of Exploration: 
• 1500 CE - 1700 Ce : explorers like Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Magellan, Zheng He etc.. traveled the world.
• Discovery of new lands.
• Akkadian Empire: an ancient kingdom established around 2334 BCE and the first empire in world history. Centered in ancient Mesopotamia and its territory is primarily lacated within modern-day Iraq and part of Iran, Syria, Turkey and Kuwait. Established by Sargon of Akkad after defeating the Sumerian King Lugal-zage-si.
• Al-Andalus: Muslim of Spain from 711 to 1492. A golden age of science, culture, art, agriculture and architecture. 
• Amorite: an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking Bronze Age people who emerged from western Mesopotamia. Initially appearing in Sumerian records c. 2500 BC, they expanded and ruled most of the Levant and Mesopotamia, and part of Egypt, from the 21st century BC to the start of the 16th century BC. 
• Anatolia: also known as Asia Minor, isa peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. 
• Ancient Civilisation: 
• 3500 BCE - 500 CE 
• Rise of the First Great Civilisations, Mesopotamia, Egypt,Indus Valley and Chinese civilisation. 
• Invention of writing, development of Science and Mathematics. 
• Pyramids, Great wall of Chine etc.
• Ancient Kedah: known historically as Kedah Tua, Kataha or Kadaram, flourished as the oldest recorded civilisation in Southeast Asia. Nestled on the northwest coast of the Malay Peninsula, archaeological discoveries have completely rewritten regional history, revealing that a highly industrialised global trading society existed here as early as the 1st century CE. 
• Ashurbanipal: (668-627 BCE) - Sargonid Dynasty - the greatest king of Assyria, the last great king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, known for his military victories, administrative skills and love for knowledge. 
• Assyria:  a major ancient Mesopotamia civilisation that existed from the 21st to 7th centuries BC, which conquered and administered of West Asia from the Assyrian heartland in Upper Mesopotamia. Wikipedia : Assyria
• Atlantis : Plato wrote of a powerful island civilisation that sank beneath the sea in a single day and night around 9,600 BCE. 
• Austronesian Expansion: The most widespread migration event was the Austronesian expansion, which began around 5,500 BP (3,500 BCE) from Taiwan and coastal southern China. Due to their early invention of ocean-going outrigger boats and voyaging catamarans, Austronesians rapidly colonised Island Southeast Asia, before spreading further into Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Madagascar and the Comoros.
• Austranesian Maritime Trade Network: the first true Maritime Trade in the Indian Ocean, initiated by the Austronesian peoples of Island Southeast Asia. They established trade route with Southern India and Sri Lanka as early as 1500 BCE. 
• Aztec Civilisation : a powerful empire known for its culture, warrior spirit and architectural feast. 
• Babylonian Empire 
• Location - Mesopotamia between Tigris & Euphrates rivers, capital of Babylon.
• Descendants of the Akkandians, shared roots with Sumerian and Assyrians. 
• Hanging Garden of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. 
• Code of Hammurabi - early legal text. 
• Ban Chiang: the earliest known evidence of copper and bronze production in Southeast Asia was found at Ban Chiang in north-east Thailand and among the Phung Nguyen culture of northern Vietnam around 2000 BCE. 
• Bronze Age: a major period in human history characterised by the widespread use of bronze to manufacture tools, weapons and armor. It began in the Middle East around 3300 BCE and advanced across Europe and Asia, lasting until its abrupt conclusion around 1200-600 BCE when societies shifted to iron working. 
• Buni Culture: early independent centre of refined pottery production that has been well documented on the basis of excavated burial gifts, deposited between 400 BCE and 100 CE in coastal north-western of Java, Indonesia. 
• Byzantine Empire:330 AD - Constantine found the new capital of the Roman Empire on the existing of the ancient Greek city Byzantium.It was renamed Constantinople and would become the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople is now Istanbul in Turkey. 
• Camelot : the legendary court of King Arthur,  a symbol of justice and chivalry - was it a real place or beautiful legend?
• Carthage: was founded around 814 BC by Phoenician settlers. Ancient Carthage was a city-state that ruled an empire through alliances and trade influence that stretched throughout North Africa dan Modern Spain. 
• Catal Huyuk: a massive Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, Turkey, which flourished around 7000 BC,. 
• Celtiberians: Blend of Celtic and Iberian cultures. Famous for defending Numantia. 
• Celts: Iron Age tribes in the north and center. Fierce and warriors and skilled farmers. 
• Chalcolithic Age: 2000 BCE - 1000 BCE : Copper Stone Age, use of both stone and copper tools, advancement in agriculture and trade. 
• Chaldea: refers to a region probably located in the marshy land of Southern Mesopotamia. 
• Chinese Civilisation : Creators of silk, paper , gunpowder and timeless philosophies. 
• Ciudad Blanca : the "White City" is said to be a hidden civilisation deep in the Honduran jungle, protected by nature itself. 
• Classical Age: 
• 500 BCE - 500 CE - rise of Greek city-states and Roman Empire
• Life, teaching of Buddha and Confucius.
• Spread knowledge, art, literature and philosophy.
• Code of Hammurabi: the first written laws in history. 
• Contemporary Age: 2000 CE - present. Digital revolution and internet, globalisationand modern technology. 
• Copper Age @ Chalcolithic: an archaeological period characterised by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. 
• Ctesiphon: ancient metropolis located on the eastern bank of the Tigris River in modern-day Iraq, roughly 35 km southeast Baghdad. Founded during the 2nd century BCE, it served as the glorious imperial capital of both Parthian and Sasanian Empires for more than 800 years. 
• Cuneiform: a logo-syllabus writing system that was used to write several languages of the ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the 1st century BC. 
• Denisovans: believed to have lived in Asia and Oceania, from 200,000 to 40,000 years ago. But, before they disappeared, scientiests discovered that they may have met with Homo Sapiens. 
• Derinkuyu: The ancient underground city in Turkey discovered in 1963. The city had 9 levels, could accommodate 20,000 people, and included facilities such as stables, wineries , schools and chapels. It was built between 1200 and 1800 BC.
• Dhar Tichitt and Qualata: prominent among the early urban centres, dated to 2000 BC,in present-day Mauritania. 
• Djenne-Djenno: the civilisation of Djenne-Djenno was located in the Niger River Valley in the country of Mali and is considered to be among the oldest Urbanised centres and the best-known archaeology site in sub-Saharan Africa. 
• Dong Son Culture: a Bronze Age material centered on the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam. It is also found in other parts of Southeast Asia and China such as Malaysia, Laos and the Chinese province of Yunnan, Guangxi, Fujian from 1000 BC until 1st century AD. 
• El Mirador: ancient Mayan City, uncovered in Guatemala, contains one of the largest pyramid in the world. The La Danta Temple is about 72 meters, or 236 feet, high from the forest floor. 
• Epic of Gilgamesh: Copies found Ashurbanipal's library helped modern scholars recover one of the world's oldest great epics. A jamor version was found in Neneveh, it is one of humanity's earliest surviving literary masterpieces. 
• Egypt: Ancient Egypt was a long-lived civilisation located in north-eastern Africa. Ancient Egypt developed over at least three and half milennia. 
• Egyptian Hieroglyphs : the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language. Its combines ideographic, logographic, syllabic and laphabetic elements, with more that 1,000 distinct characters.  
• El Dorado: A golden city of unimaginable wealth to exist somewhere in South America. Many expeditions searched, but none ever returned with proof. 
• Funan and Chenla :1st-9th century CE - the earliest recorded Indianised polities located across southern Vietnam and Cambodia, acting as crucial early trade intermediaries. 
• Ghost city of Imet: 
• Hidden in the eastern Nile Delta, Known for Temple of Wadjet, tower house and recent rediscovery.
• Reveals daily life in an ancient Egyptian Delta city. 
• Gobekli Tepe: ancient site in Turkey built in 10,000 B.C is twice as old as Stonehenge. The oldest known sphinx was discovered at Gobekli Tepe in Turkey and dated to 9,500 B.C. 
• Gojoseon: Korea's first Kingdom - around 2333 BCE, Dangun Wanggeom founded Gojoseon, the first state of the Korean Peninsula. Overthrown by Han Dynasty of China in 108 BCE. 
• Golconda: a fortified citadel and ruined city located on the western outskirts of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Prataparudra in the 11th century out of mud walls. 
• Greek Civilisation: the foundation of democracy, philosoph, science and the arts. 
• Halaf Culture: a prehistoric period which lasted between about 6100 BC and 5100 BC. The period is a continuous development out of the earlier Pottery Neolithic and is located primarily in the fertile valley of the Khabur River (Nahr al-Khabur), of south-eastern Turkey, Syria and northern Iraq, although Halaf-influenced material is found throughout Greater Mesopotamia. 
• Harrappan Civilisation: (2600-1900 BCE) - one of the world's earliest urban civilisatioin, flourished in the Indus Valley. Famous sites is Mohenjo-daro. 
• Hellenistic Period: covers the time in Greek, Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern History following Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC. 
• Heracleion : an ancient Egyptian city that disappeared beneath the Mediterranean Sea 1,200 years ago, was found in 2000 and has been the focus of underwater excavation ever since. It is believed to have been flooded by an earthquake. 
• Hittites: an Anatolian Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilisation of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Wikipedia: Hittites
• Hoabinhian: a lithic techno-complex of archaeological sites associated with assemblages in Southeast Asia from the late Pleistocene to the Holocene, dated to 10,000 to 2,000 BCE. 
• Homo Erectus : an extinct species of archaic human that lived from roughly 2 million years ago until about 110,000 years ago. It is the longest-surviving human species in history. 
• Homo Sapiens : the species of highly intelligent primates to which all living humans belong. Coined by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, the name reflects our unique cognitive capacities. Developing in Africa roughly 300,000 years ago, Homo Sapiens outlasted all other hominin species species to become the sole surviving branch of the human family tree. 
• Iberians: Early inhabitants of eastern and southern Spain. Skilled traders and builders. 
• Inca Civilisation: Masters of mountain engineering and the Andes. 
• Indus Valley:Bronze age civilisation - in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE.It spanned much of Pakistan, northwestern India and northeast Afghanistan.
• Industrial Revolution:
• 1700 CE - 1900 CE : Machines replaced human labor
• Inventions like steam engine, electricity, telephone etc.
• Mark the beginning of modern industry, technology and urban life. 
• Iram of the Pillars : a magnificent city described in ancient texts as rich beyong belief, lost in the Arabian Desert over 2,000 years ago. 
• Iron Age: (1200 BC - 550 BC) - the final epoch of the ghree historical Metal Ages, after the Copper Age and Bronze Age. Wikipedia : Iron Age
• Jomon Period: In Japanese history, Jomon Period is the time between 14,000 and 300 BC,during which Japan was inhabited by the Jomon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism and cultural complexity. Their ancestors migrated from Northeast Asia, the Korean Peninsula, China and Southeast Asia. 
• Khmer Empire : 802-1431 CE - based in modern-Cambodia, this massive agrarian empire was famous for its advanced water management networks and construction of Angkor Wat, the world's largest religious monument. 
• Kingdom of Aksum: of Aksumite Empire- a kingdom in North East Africa and South Arabia from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, based in what is now Entrea and Northern Ethiopia, and spanning present-day Djibouti, Sudan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.  
• Kingdom of Araba: commonly known as Kingdom of Hatra, was a semi-autonomous ancient Arab Kingdom that flourished during the 2nd century CE. Located between the Roman and the Parthian empires, mostly under Parthian suzerainty, in modern-day northern Iraq. 
• Kingdom of Kush:also known as the Kushite Empire, was an ancient Kingdom in Nubia, centered along the Nile Valley in what is now northern Sudan and Southern Egypt. 
• Kitezh: A Russian legend tells of a holy city that vanished beneath a lake to protect itself from invaders - and still appears to those who are pure of heart. 
• Kun-lun po: Austronesian ships, recorded in Han and Tang dynasty indicate that the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims to South Asia booked passage with the Austronesian ships, that traded in the Chinese port city of Guangzhou. The Austronesians were already sailing as far as East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula even during the earlier period. 
• Lapita Culture: the name given to a Neolithic Austronesian people and their distinct material culture, who settled Island Melanesia via a seaborne migration at around 1600 to 500 BCE. 
• Majapahit Empire: 1293-1527 CE - the final great Hindu-Buddhist empire, HQ in Java, which held nominal authority over a vast territory spanning modern Indonesia, Malaysia and the southern Philippines. 
• Malacca Empire & Sultanate: 1400 - 1511 CE - a powerful, wealthy maritime empire that established the "Golden Age" of Malay culture, trade and political identity. Centered in Modern-day Melaka in Malaysia, it dominated the strategic Straits of Malacca - the primary global maritime chokepoint linking India and the Middle East with China. 
• Maritime Silk Road:  or Maritime Silk Route - the maritime section of the historic Silk Road that connected Southeast Asia, East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian Peninsula,eastern Africa and Europe. It began by the 2nd century BCE and flourished until 15th century CE. Maritime Silk Route was primarily established and operated by Austronesian sailors in Southeast Asi and by Persian and Arab traders in the Arabian Sea. 
• Maya Civilisation: advanced in astronomy, writing and calendar systems.
• Medes: an Iron Age Iranian people who spoke the Median Language, inhabited an area know as Media between western and northern Iran. 
• Medieval Age: 
• 500 CE - 1500 CE - rise and fall of kingdoms and empires.
• Spread of Islam and Christianity
• Crusades in Europe
• Construction of Castle and Cathedrals.
• Mesolithic Age :(10,000 BCE - 6000 BCE) -  the Old world archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic (Middle of Stone Age). Alternative names is Epipaleolithic. 
• Mesopotamia: First Civilisation in the world - a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris-Euphrates river system. It corresponds roughly to the territory of modern Iraq. 
• Mitanni: (1550-1260 BC) - a Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and southeast Anatolia (modern day Turkey). 
• Modern Age: 
• 1900 CE - 2000 CE : Two World Wars
• Formation of United Nations
• Mohenjo Daro : one of the most famous cities of the ancient world. Built around 2600-1900 BC in the Indus Valley, located in Sindh, Pakistan. Known for planned streets and advanced drainage.
• Monte Alban: one of the first major cities in Mesoamerica, which today is known as the Mexican state of Oaxaca. 
• Nan Mandol: an ancient, abandoned megalithic city located off the eastern shore of Pohnpei Island, Federated States of Micronesia. Built primarily between 1200 and 1500 CE, the site served as the political and ceremonial capital of the Saudeleur Dynasty and is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 
• Neo-Assyrian: the 4th and penultimate state of ancient Assyrian history.  Beginning with accession of Adad-niran II in 911 BCE. 
• Neolithic: or New Stone Age, an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Asia, Europe and Africa (10,000 BC - 2,000 BC). Wikipedia : Neolithic.
• Nineveh: ancient Near Eastern city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq.The largest city on the Neo-Assyrian Empire. 
• Nok Culture: appeared in Nigeria around 1000 BC and mysteriously vanished around 200 AD. 
• Nubis: the Ta- Seti kingdom in Nubia to the south of Egypt was conquered by Egyptian rulers around 3100 BC,but by 2500 BC the Nubian had created a new kingdom known as Kingdom of Kush. 
• Paleolithic : 2.5 million years ago to 10,000 BCE - or Old Stone Age - period of human prehistoric technology, extending from the earliest known use of stone toold by Hominins, c. 3.3 million years ago, to the end of the Pleistocene. 
• Parthia: was an Iranian civilisation situated in the northeastern part of modern Iran. The Parthian Empire was led by the Arsacid Dynasty. 
• Persian Civilisation: an Iranian ethnic group indigenous to the Iranian plateau in West Asia that comprise the majority of the population of modern-day Iran. A vast empire that championed tolerance, culture an innovation. 
• Pharos of Alexandria: first lighthouse in the world. 
• Phoenician: an ancient Semitic people who inhabited city-states in Canaan along the Levantine Coast of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily in present-day Lebanon. Pioneers of trade, writing and navigation. 
• Prehistoric Age: 2.5 million ago - 2500 BCE >  the period before written history. Most of the knowledge of that period comes from the work of archaeologists. Early humans appeared and development of basic tools. Humans learned to survive in nature and formed the first communities. 
• Ptolemaic Kingdom: an ancient Greek polity based in Egypt durign the Hellenistic period. Founded in 305 BC by the Macedonian General Ptolemy I Soter, a companion of Alexander The Great. 
• Reconquista: Christian kingdoms advanced southward for centuries to reclaim their lands. 
• Roman Civilisation : Masters of engineering, law, architecture and building an empire. 
• Sa Huynh Culture: between 1000 BCE and 100 CE, the culture that flourished along the south-central coast of Vietnam. 
• Sasanian Empire: an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651 AD. 
• Seleucid Empire: in West Asia during the Hellenistic Period, founded in 312 BC by the Macedonians general Seleucus I Nicator. 
• Seuthopolis: ancient city found at the bottom of a lake in Bulgaria. Founded in 323 B.C. the city was discovered and studied between 1948 and 1954. 
• Srivijayan Empire: 7th-13th Century CE - centred in Sumatra, Indonesia this powerhouse controlled vital global maritime bottlenecks like the Straits of Malacca to monopolise trade between India and Chine. 
• Stone Age: prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended between 4000 BC and 2000 BC. Wikipedia: Stone Age
• Sumerian City-States: (3000-2334 BCE) - Southern Mesopotamia, where cities such as Umma, Uruk, Ur, Lagash and Kish competed for land and influence. It is independent city-states, each with its own ruler, patron god, temples and surrounding farmland. 
• Temple of Solomon : Sacred center of Israel, built by Solomon, the first temple in Jurusalem. It was destroyed by the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar II in 586 BC. Built specifically to house the Ark of Covenant, which contained the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. 
• Ubaid Period: (6500-3800 BC) - a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. The name derives from Tell al-Ubaid where the earliest large excavation of Ubaid Period material was conducted initially by Henry Hall in 1919, Leonard Woolley in 1922-1923 and later by Pinhas Delougaz in 1937. Excavations continue to the present day. 
• Uruk: one of the world's first Great Cities in Southern Mesopotamia (4000-3100 BCE). The first true city, early cuneiform writing. 
• Vilarinho Da Furna: ancient city in Portugas that lies underwater, but when dry period arrive, the water drops enough for it to be seen. The town, which is 2,000 years old, was destroyed in 1967 when an electric company built a dam. 
• Visigoths : German kingdom from the 5th to 8th century. Unified much of Spain and adopted Christianity. 
• Zakynthos: ancient masonry off the coast of Zakynthos, the Greek Island was discovered in 2013 by snorkelers. The lost city of Zakynthos was not created by humans, but by the methane-eating microbes. 
• Zapotec Civilisation: (700 BC - 1521 AD) - an indigenous pre-Columbian civilisation that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca in Mesoamerica. 
• Zerzura: a lost oasis in the Sahara Desert, mentioned in ancient maps and caravan tales, but never found. 

Reference:

1. History: Ancient History
2. Wikipedia : Ancient History

Updated:

Hj Zulheimy Maamor

16 July 2026: 11.45 p.m