Editing 2nd millennium BC (section)

===Middle Bronze Age===
Spending much of their energies in trying to recuperate from the chaotic situation that existed at the turn of the millennium, the most powerful civilizations of the time, [[History of ancient Egypt|Egypt]] and [[Mesopotamia]], turned their attention to more modest goals. The [[List of pharaohs|Pharaoh]]s of the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt]] and their contemporary [[List of kings of Babylon|Kings of Babylon]], of [[Amorite]] origin, brought governance that was largely popular and approved of among their subjects, and favoured elegant art and architecture. Farther east, the [[Indus Valley civilization]] was in a period of decline, possibly as a result of intense, ruinous flooding.

Egypt and Babylonia's military tactics were still based on foot soldiers transporting their equipment on [[donkey]]s. Combined with a weak economy and difficulty in maintaining order, this was a fragile situation that crumbled under the pressure of external forces they could not oppose.

==== Unrest of the 16th century ====
About a century before the middle of the millennium, bands of [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]] invaders came from the [[Central Asia]]n plains and swept through [[Western Asia]] and [[Northeast Africa]]. They were riding fast two-wheeled [[chariot]]s powered by [[horse]]s, a system of weaponry developed earlier in the context of plains warfare. This tool of war was unknown among the classical civilizations. Egypt and Babylonia's foot soldiers were unable to defend against the invaders: in [[1630 BC]], the [[Hyksos]] swept into the [[Nile Delta]], and in [[1595 BC]], the [[Hittites]] swept into [[Mesopotamia]].