c. 2,400 BCE
Science
Mesopotamia
The abacus
Counting boards with positional columns speed arithmetic for scribes.
Why it mattered
The first calculating device, in use for four millennia.
Bronze Age
2,400 BCE
2 recorded milestones at this point in the record.
c. 2,400 BCE
Society
Mesopotamia
Urukagina's reforms
The ruler of Lagash issued measures against corrupt officials and debt seizure.
Why it mattered
One of the earliest recorded attempts to limit the abuse of power by law.
Sign in to amend this page or add a milestone — every edit is signed and kept in the record.
Nearby in the record
c. 2,800 BCEMedicine
Ebers and Edwin Smith surgical practice
Egypt
c. 2,700 BCETransportation
Sewn-plank seagoing ships
Egypt
c. 2,600 BCETechnology
The Great Pyramid engineering
Egypt
c. 2,600 BCESociety
Standardised weights of the Indus
South Asia
c. 2,500 BCEMedicine
Indus urban sanitation
Indus Valley
c. 2,500 BCECommunication
Cuneiform accounting and schools
Mesopotamia