1500s BC

Astronomy

Thutmose III erects in Heliopolis the so-called Cleopatra's Needle. Its shadow is used to calculate time, season, and solstices. See also 1450 bce Construction.

One of the first alphabets is developed in Ugarit (Syria) by stripping down Mesopotamian cuneiform characters to only 30 signs. Each sign stands for a different sound. Elsewhere in the Middle East scribes develop alphabets using symbols that are easier to write on papyrus than the wedge-shaped letters of cuneiform script. See also 1800 bce Communication; 1000 bce Communication.

One of the earliest monumental building sites in the Americas, known as El Paraíso or Chuquitanta (coastal Peru), consists of 13 or 14 collapsed platforms about 2 km (1.25 mi) from the Pacific. It is made from about 90,000 metric tons (100,000 short tons) of quarried rock thought to have been part of temples before their collapse. One platform measures about 50 m (160 ft) on each side.

Bone inscriptions in China refer to the brewing of beer. Liquor is distilled in parts of Asia. See also 6000 bce Food & agriculture.

The first professional millers appear about this time in Egypt. Previously all grain was ground on hand mills of various design at home. See also 6000 bce Food & agriculture; 1100 bce Tools.

The soybean is cultivated in Manchuria.

The Sumerians invent the single-tube seed drill. See also 2000 bce Food & agriculture; 100 ce Food & agriculture.

The dingo, a semidomesticated dog, arrives in Australia from Indonesia. See also 8400 bce Food & agriculture.

The beam press, which uses a lever action to press the liquid from substances such as olives and grapes, is invented in the Aegean region. See also 3000 bce Food & agriculture.

Glass begins to be shaped while in its hot plastic state. Previously, glass had been worked after it cooled, as if it were a rock. See also 1600 bce Materials.

Artisans in the Near East develop the art of lost-wax casting in which a wax "positive" is encased in a clay "negative." When hot metal is poured into the clay outer coat, the wax melts and runs out, being replaced by the metal. By using a wax covering over a "positive" core which is then coated with a "negative" of clay, the need for expensive metal is minimized. The core can be removed, resulting in a hollow metal casting.

Beads of Egyptian faïence are found all over Europe as a result of a thriving trade network that imports the beads from manufacturing centers in the Near East. See also 3000 bce Materials.

Iron smelting -- that is, producing the metal from its ore -- begins a period of improvement, mainly in the Mitanni kingdom in Armenia and under the people who later conquer the Mitanni, the Hittites. The main secret of the Mitanni process is further heating and hammering, a technique not needed for bronze but absolutely necessary for iron. See also 2200 bce Materials; 1400 bce Materials.

From the archaeological record, bone tools, such as needles, awls, and reamers, which had been common in Tasmania 3500 years earlier, have by now vanished completely after a long decline in use. See also 19,000 bce Materials.

The earliest known fragment of a sundial dates from this time in Egypt. See also 700 bce Tools.

The Chinese make a treadle-operated loom. See also 2000 bce Tools.

Light carts with two spoked wheels are used in warfare. See also 1600 bce Transportation; 1300 bce Transportation.

1600s BC · 1500s BC · 1400s BC
Decades of the 1500s BC:
1590s BC · 1580s BC · 1570s BC · 1560s BC · 1550s BC · 1540s BC · 1530s BC · 1520s BC · 1510s BC · 1509–1500 BC

1500s BC may refer to:

• The period from 1599 BC to 1500 BC, almost synonymous with the 16th century BC
• 1509–1500 BC, rarely

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