Editing 20th century BC

{{Short description|One hundred years, from 2000 BC to 1901 BC}}
{{Redirect|2000 B.C.|the music album|2000 B.C. (Before Can-I-Bus)}}
{{Centurybox|-20}}
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2024}}

The '''20th century BC''' was a [[century]] that lasted from the year 2000 BC to 1901 BC.

==The period of the 2nd Millennium BC==

[[File:World in 2000 BC.svg|thumb|centre|550px|Map of the world in 2000 BC.]]

==Events==
[[Image:AmenemhetIPyramid.jpg|thumb|400px|The pyramid ruin of [[Amenemhat I|Amenemhet I]] at [[Lisht]]. He was the founder of the [[Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt]]]]
<!-- Note that per WP:DATE, years before 1700 BC should link to the relevant century. Thus wikifying any of these years will redirect to this page. Only wikify links to other centuries. -->
* c. 2000 BC:
** [[Farmer]]s and [[herding|herders]] traveled south from [[Ethiopia]] and settled in [[Kenya]].
** Dawn of the [[Capacha]] Culture in modern-day [[Colima]], [[Mexico]].
** Humans settle in [[Matanchén]], modern day [[Nayarit]], [[Mexico]]
** Arrival of the ancestors of the [[Latins (Italic tribe)|Latins]] in [[Italy]].
** Town of [[Mantua]] was founded.
** First of the [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] palaces on [[Crete]]. Site of palace complex [[Knossos]] started to become occupied.
** [[Bronze Age]] began in north [[History of China#Bronze Age|Ancient China]].
** Middle [[Jōmon period]] ended in [[Japan]].
** Decline of [[Harappan civilization]] began.
** The [[Harappa]] Torso was sculpted by a member of the [[Indus Valley culture]].<ref>The Harappa Torso is now kept at the [[National Museum]] in [[New Delhi]], India.</ref>
** Vessel, from [[Asahi Mound]], [[Toyama Prefecture]], was made. Jōmon period. It is now kept at [[Collection of Tokyo University]].
** [[Dogū]], from [[Kurokoma]], [[Yamanashi Prefecture]], was made. Jōmon period. It is now kept at [[Tokyo National Museum]].
** [[Stonehenge]] construction largely completed.
** Dawn of the [[Lal-lo and Gattaran Shell Middens]] pilings in the [[Philippines]].
** [[domestication of the horse|Horses were tamed]] and used for transport.
** The last [[woolly mammoth]] goes extinct on [[Wrangel island]].
* c. 2000 BC – [[1900 BC]]: the "Priest-king torso" was sculpted at [[Mohenjo-Daro]], part of the [[Indus Valley civilization]].<ref>The "Priest-king torso" is now kept at the [[National Museum of Pakistan]], in [[Karachi]].</ref>
* c. 1995 BC: [[Pharaoh]] [[Mentuhotep II]], [[Eleventh dynasty of Egypt]] dies.
* c. 1995 BC: [[Egypt]]: Pharaoh [[Mentuhotep IV]] died. End of [[Eleventh dynasty of Egypt|Eleventh Dynasty]]. Pharaoh [[Amenemhat I]] started to rule. Start of [[Twelfth dynasty of Egypt|Twelfth Dynasty]].
* c. 1985 BC: Political authority became less centralized in [[Ancient Egypt]].
* c. 1985 BC – [[18th century BC|1795]] BC: 
** Rock-cut tombs at [[Beni Hasan]] were made. [[Twelfth dynasty of Egypt|Twelfth Dynasty]].
** "[[William the Faience Hippopotamus|Hippopotamus]]", from the tomb of [[Senbi]] (governor) (Tomb B.3) at [[Meir, Egypt|Meir]] was made. [[Twelfth dynasty of Egypt|Twelfth Dynasty]]. It is now in the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], [[New York City|New York]].
*1974 BC: [[Erishum I]] became the thirty-third ruler of [[Assyria]].
*1953 BC: [[Senusret I]] launches a military campaign against Lower [[Nubia]] and conquers the region down to the [[Second Cataract]].
*February 27, 1953 BC: A very close alignment of the [[naked-eye planets]] took place in which these planets are together in a span of 4.3 degrees.
*March 5, 1953 BC: A computer calculated alignment of the [[naked-eye planets]] took place in a new moon, and in spring season, and is believed by researchers from NASA,  to be the starting event for the Chinese calendar, as they followed descriptions from a 1st Century B.C. Chinese passage "Hong Fan Zhuan" by 'Liu Xiang', to search for this astronomical event being described to have happened about 2000 BC at Pegasus constellation (Yingshi).
*c. 1942 BC: The so-called king of Leubingen (today part of [[Sömmerda]]) was buried in a large barrow within a {{convert|66|ft|m|adj=mid|-wide}} stone cairn inside a ring ditch.
*1932 BC: [[Amorite]] conquest of [[Ur]].
*c. 1928 BC – 1895 BC: "Harvest scene", tempera facsimile by [[N. de Garis Davies|Nina de Garis Davies]] of wall painting in the tomb of [[Khnumhotep II]], [[Beni Hasan]]. [[Twelfth dynasty of Egypt|Twelfth Dynasty]].
*c. 1920 BC: [[List of landslides#Prehistoric landslides|Jishi Gorge flood]]. It may have sparked the beginning of the [[Dynasties in Chinese history|first Chinese dynasty]] ([[Xia dynasty|Xia]], [[Erlitou culture]]) <ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.science.org/content/article/massive-flood-may-have-led-chinas-earliest-empire | title=Massive flood may have led to China's earliest empire| date=2016-08-04}}</ref>
*1913 BC – 1903 BC: [[Egypt]]ian-[[Nubia]]n war.
*c. 1900 BC: [[Shalim-ahum]] and his son [[Ilu-shuma]] began to rule the city of [[Assur]] at around this time.

==Inventions, discoveries, introductions==
* c. 2000 BC: [[Glass]] appears.
* 2000 BC: In the [[Old Assyrian Empire]], the [[Sumerian cuneiform]] had evolved into [[Old Assyrian language|Old Assyrian cuneiform]], with many modifications to Sumerian orthography. 
* c. 1900 BC: [[History of chocolate|Cacao]] is domesticated by the [[Mokaya]] in [[Guatemala]].<ref name="sciencenow">{{cite news | url = https://www.science.org/content/article/earliest-evidence-chocolate-north-america | first = Traci | last = Watson | title = Earliest Evidence of Chocolate in North America | date = 22 January 2013 | work = Science | access-date = 3 March 2014}}</ref>

==Sovereign states==
{{Main|List of sovereign states in the 20th century BC}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Decades and years}}
{{Centuries}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:20th Century Bc}}
[[Category:20th century BC| ]]
[[Category:2nd millennium BC|-0]]
[[Category:Centuries|-80]]