Editing 3rd millennium BC (section)

==Overview==
{{Bronze Age}}
The [[Bronze Age]] began in the [[Ancient Near East]] roughly between 3000 BC and 2500 BC. The previous millennium had seen the emergence of advanced, urbanized civilizations, new [[bronze]] [[metallurgy]] extending the productivity of agricultural work, and highly developed ways of communication in the form of [[writing]]. In the 3rd millennium BC, the growth of these riches, both intellectually and physically, became a source of contention on a political stage, and rulers sought the accumulation of more wealth and more power. Along with this came the first appearances of monumental architecture, [[imperialism]], organized absolutism and internal revolution.

The civilizations of [[Sumer]] and [[Akkad (city)|Akkad]] in [[Mesopotamia]] became a collection of volatile [[city-state]]s in which warfare was common. Uninterrupted conflicts drained all available resources, energies and populations. In this millennium, larger empires succeeded the last, and conquerors grew in stature until the great [[Sargon of Akkad]] pushed his empire to the whole of [[Mesopotamia]] and beyond. It would not be surpassed in size until [[Assyria]]n times 1,500 years later.

In the [[Old Kingdom]] of [[Egypt]], the [[Egyptian pyramids]] were constructed and would remain the tallest and largest human constructions for thousands of years. Also in Egypt, [[pharaoh]]s began to posture themselves as living [[deity|gods]] made of an essence different from that of other [[human]] beings. In [[Europe]], which was still largely [[neolithic]] during the same period, the builders of [[megalith]]s were constructing giant monuments of their own. In the [[Near East]] and the [[Western world|Occident]] during the 3rd millennium BC, limits were being pushed by architects and rulers.

Towards the close of the millennium, Egypt became the stage of the first popular revolution recorded in history. After lengthy wars, the Sumerians recognized the benefits of unification into a stable form of national government and became a relatively peaceful, well-organized, complex technocratic state called the [[Third Dynasty of Ur|3rd Dynasty of Ur]]. This dynasty was later to become involved with a wave of [[nomad]]ic invaders known as the [[Amorite]]s, who were to play a major role in the region during the following centuries.