Editing 2nd millennium BC (section)

{{short description|Millennium between 2000 BC and 1001 BC}}
{{Millenniumbox|-2}}
<imagemap>File:2nd millennium BC montage.jpg|thumb|400x400px|From top left clockwise: [[Hammurabi]], Babylonian king, best known for his [[Code of Hammurabi|code of laws]]; The gold [[Mask of Tutankhamun|funerary mask]] of [[Tutankhamun]] has become a symbol of ancient Egyptian civilization and its enduring legacy; [[Nebra sky disc]] is considered the oldest concrete representation of astronomical phenomena, such as the sun, moon, and stars; [[Mask of Agamemnon]]; Hieroglyphs from the tomb of [[Seti I]]; The Lion Gate of [[Hattusa]] is a testament to the architectural and artistic skills of the [[Hittites]] (Background: [[Bull-Leaping Fresco]] ca. 1450-1400 BC).
rect 23 27 345 383 [[Hammurabi]]
rect 433 16 775 443 [[Tutankhamun]]
rect 869 18 1264 338 [[Nebra sky disc]]
rect 103 408 375 680 [[Mask of Agamemnon]]
rect 466 470 833 705 [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]
rect 870 392 1262 656 [[Hittites]]

rect 1 1 1279 719 [[Minoan civilization]]
</imagemap>
The '''2nd millennium BC''' spanned the years 2000 BC to 1001 BC. 
In the [[Ancient Near East]], it marks the transition from the Middle to the Late [[Bronze Age]].
The Ancient Near Eastern cultures are well within the historical era:
The first half of the millennium is dominated by the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt]] and [[Babylonia]]. The [[Middle Bronze Age alphabets|alphabet]] develops. 
At the center of the millennium, a new order emerges with [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean Greek]] dominance of the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] and the rise of the [[Hittite Empire]]. The end of the millennium sees the [[Bronze Age collapse]] and the transition to the [[Iron Age]].

Other regions of the world are still in the prehistoric period. In Europe, the [[Beaker culture]] introduces the [[Bronze Age Europe|Bronze Age]], presumably associated with [[Indo-European expansion]]. The [[Indo-Iranians|Indo-Iranian]] expansion reaches the [[Iranian plateau]] and onto the [[Indian subcontinent]] ([[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic India]]), propagating the use of the [[chariot]]. [[Mesoamerican chronology|Mesoamerica]] enters the Pre-Classic ([[Olmec]]) period. North America is in the late [[Archaic Period (Americas)|Archaic stage]]. In Maritime Southeast Asia, the [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] expansion reaches [[Micronesia]]. In [[Sub-Saharan Africa]], the [[Bantu expansion]] begins.

[[World population estimates|World population]] rose steadily, possibly surpassing the 100 million mark for the first time.<ref name=HYDE2011>Klein Goldewijk, K., A. Beusen, M. de Vos and G. van Drecht (2011). The HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit database of human induced land use change over the past 12,000 years, Global Ecology and Biogeography20(1): 73–86. {{doi|10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00587.x}} ([http://themasites.pbl.nl/tridion/en/themasites/hyde/download/index-2.html pbl.nl]).
Jean-Noël Biraben, "Essai sur l'évolution du nombre des hommes", ''Population'' 34-1 (1979), 13–25  (p. 22) estimates c. 80 million in 2000 BC and c. 100 million at 1200 BC.</ref>