590s BC

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Sappho and Alcaeus of Mytilene, by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1881).

Events and trends

• 599 BC—Vardhamana Mahavira, last Tirthankara of Jainism, is born.
• 598 BC—Jehoiachin succeeds Jehoiakim as King of Judah.
• March 16, 597 BC—Babylonians capture Jerusalem following a siege, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king.
• 597 BC—Exile of prominent Jews (including Ezekiel) to Babylonia
• 595 BC—Psamtik II succeeds Necho II as king of Egypt.
• 595 BC—in Zhou Dynasty China, the State of Jin was defeated by the State of Chu in the Battle of Bi.
• 594 BC—The leaders of Athens, facing an economic crisis and popular discontent, appointed the poet–statesman Solon eponymous archon to institute democratic reforms and revive the city's constitution, extending citizenship to males of many classes.
• 593 BC—Exile of Sappho and Alcaeus (Alkaios) of Mytilene in Sicily.
• 592 BC—An Egyptian army sacks Napata, compelling the Cushite court to move to a more secure location at Meroe near the sixth cataract of the Nile. (Early history of Sudan)

Significant people

• Nephi, son of Lehi being in the wilderness and sailing to the Americas according to the Book of Mormon.

Births

• Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism,(599–527)