500s BC

Biology

The Greek Pythagorean physician Alcmaeon of Croton [b. Croton (Crotone, Italy) c. 535 bce], pursuing anatomical research, concludes that humans are fundamentally different from animals. See also 350 bce Biology.

Navigator Hanno of Carthage [b. Tunisia, c. 530 bce], after his voyage down the African coast, describes the gorilla.

Greek traveler and historian Hecataeus of Miletus (Turkey) [b. Miletus, c. 550 bce, d. c. 476 bce] develops a map of the world showing Europe and Asia as half disks surrounded by ocean. See also 550 bce Communication; 380 bce Communication.

Greek theaters begin to be constructed with the wave nature of sound in mind. Among other uses of acoustic principles, open vases are placed around the theaters as resonators to enhance sound levels. See also 520 bce Physics.

Zapotecs near what is Oaxaca, Mexico, begin to erect stone pyramids, notably at Monte Albán, 500 m (1300 ft) above the surrounding countryside. See also 800 bce Construction.

An early ceremonial center, known today as Kaminaljuyú, featuring several hundred earthen mounds and serving partly as a burial ground, is built by the Maya (near Guatemala City, Guatemala). It will be later (c. 300 ce to 600 ce) rebuilt along the lines of Teotihuacán. See also 300 bce Mathematics.

North American natives in what is now the Midwest and Southeast of the United States build giant earthen mounds that raise temples high and are also used as burial places. See also 800 bce Construction.

The Chinese recognize the water cycle, which is the path water takes from clouds to precipitation to rivers and the ocean and back to clouds again. In the West, its existence is first demonstrated in the late 1600s by Edmond Halley. See also 585 bce Physics; 350 bce Earth science. (See biography.)

Chinese farmers use practices, such as planting crops in rows, hoeing weeds, and applying manure, that will not be used in the West until the 18th century.

Steel is made in India. See also 400 ce Materials.

Ironworking is common throughout the area that today is Germany and Scandinavia. See also 700 bce Materials; 450 bce Materials.

Well before this time the Persians develop composite bows made from animal tendons and horn instead of from wood. Such bows do not deteriorate in hot weather and can be left strung for long periods of time without losing elasticity. See also 3500 bce Tools.

Alcmaeon of Croton is the first person to dissect human cadavers for scientific purposes. He notes the optic nerve and the eustachian tubes, differentiates veins from arteries, and recognizes the brain as the seat of the intellect. See also 600 bce Medicine & health.

Romans develop the first safety pins, but the idea is lost with the fall of the Roman Empire and not revived until re-invented in 19th-century America. See also 1849 Tools.

The early Iron Age, from 1100 to 500 bce, sees the invention of lathes, saws, pegs, shears, scythes, iron axes, picks, and shovels. Particularly good evidence for the presence of the lathe is a bas-relief of Darius I at Persepolis showing him on a throne that has legs and rungs that have been clearly turned on a lathe.

Stonemasons' tools, mostly punches and chisels, are being made from iron, as are the saws and chisels of woodworkers.

Darius, the Persian king, has the canal of Pharaoh Necho from the Nile to the Red Sea completed, effectively linking the Mediterranean with the Indian Ocean. The canal is 145 km (90 mi) long and 45 m (150 ft) wide. Eventually, like most ancient canals, it gradually fills and falls into disuse, although it is reopened about 285 bce by Ptolemy II. Some authorities say that Darius stopped short of making the actual connection for fear that the higher level Red Sea would cause the Mediterranean to rise. See also 600 bce Transportation; 280 bce Transportation.

A picture on the wall of an Etruscan tomb is the earliest known depiction of a two-masted sailing vessel. The foremast carries a smaller sail than the mainmast and slants forward over the bows. See also 3000 bce Transportation; 1 ce Transportation.

600s BC · 500s BC · 400s BC
Decades of the 500s BC:
590s BC · 580s BC · 570s BC · 560s BC · 550s BC · 540s BC · 530s BC · 520s BC · 510s BC · 509–500 BC

500s BC may refer to:

• The period from 599 BC to 500 BC, almost synonymous with the 6th century BC
• 509–500 BC, rarely

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