1250s BC

Astronomy

The Babylonians develop an instrument that can determine when a star or planet is due south. See also 2575 bce Construction; 1050 bce Transportation.

The Olmec build one of the first large ceremonial centers in the Americas at a place on the Gulf of Mexico now known as San Lorenzo. It is constructed on a large raised platform, 54 m (150 ft) high, made by pouring many baskets of clay into a frame built with logs. See also 1400 bce Archaeology. See also 800 bce Construction.

Ironworkers are reported in Jaffa (Palestine), suggesting that the Hittite secrets for making iron are leaking out. See also 1286 bce Materials; 1185 bce Materials.

Millennium:	2nd millennium BC
Centuries:	14th century BC – 13th century BC – 12th century BC
Decades:	1280s BC 1270s BC 1260s BC – 1250s BC – 1240s BC 1230s BC 1220s BC
Years:	1259 BC 1258 BC 1257 BC 1256 BC 1255 BC 1254 BC 1253 BC 1252 BC 1251 BC 1250 BC
Categories:	Births – Deaths – Architecture Establishments – Disestablishments

The Lion Gate at Mycenae (full view) – showing the stepped ramp through it

Events and trends

• c. 1259 BC—Ramesses II makes peace agreement with the Hittites (other date is 1263 BC).
• c. 1258 BC—The Exodus as depicted in the Bible.
• September 7, 1251 BC—A solar eclipse on this date might mark the birth of legendary Heracles at Thebes, Greece.
• 1250 BC—Traditional date of the beginning of the Trojan War.
• 1250 BC—Wu Ding emperor of Shang Dynasty to 1192 BC.
• c. 1250 BC—Lion Gate, Mycenae, Greece, are made. Citadel walls are built.

Significant people

• Wu Ding Shang Dynasty emperor

Fiction

• S.M. Stirling's Nantucket series is set in Bronze Age era, circa the 1250s BC.

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