View source for 17th century BC

{{Short description|One hundred years, from 1700 BC to 1601 BC}}
{{redirect|1600s BC|the decade|1600s BC (decade)}}
{{Centurybox|-17}}
The '''17th century BC''' was the [[century]] that lasted from 1700 BC to 1601 BC.
[[File:Nebra Scheibe.jpg|thumb|200px|right|[[Nebra sky disk]], central Europe 1600 BC. The inlaid gold depicted the crescent moon and the [[Pleiades]] star cluster in a specific arrangement forming the earliest known depiction of celestial phenomena.]]

==Events==
[[Image:Santorini ASTER.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Satellite image of Thera, centre location of the [[Minoan eruption]], one possible source of 17th century BC climatic disturbances ]]
*c. [[1700 BC]]: [[Indus Valley civilisation]] comes to an end but is continued by the [[Cemetery H culture]].
*[[1700 BC]]: [[Belu-bani]] became the [[King of Assyria]].
*c. 1700 BC: [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] Old Palace period ends and Minoan Second Palace period starts in [[Ancient Greece]].
*c. 1700 BC: beginning of the Late [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] period on [[Crete]].
*c. 1700 BC: [[Aegean civilization|Aegean]] metalworkers are producing decorative objects rivaling those of [[Ancient Near East]] jewelers, whose techniques they seem to borrow.
*c. [[1700 BC]]: Lila-Ir-Tash started to rule the [[Elamite Empire]].
*c. 1700 BC: [[1450 BC]]: Young girl gathering saffron crocus flowers, detail of wall painting, Room 3 of House Xeste 3, [[Akrotiri (prehistoric city)]], [[Santorini|Thera]], is made. Second Palace period. It is now kept in Thera Foundation, Petros M. Nomikos, [[Greece]].
*c. 1700 BC: [[Bronze Age]] starts in [[China]].
*c. [[1698 BC]]: Lila-Ir-Tash the ruler of the [[Elamite Empire]] died. Temti-Agun I started to rule the [[Elamite Empire]].
*[[1691 BC]]: [[Belu-bani]], the [[King of Assyria]] died.
*c. [[1690 BC]]: Temti-Agun I, the ruler of the [[Elamite Empire]], died. Tan-Uli started to rule the [[Elamite Empire]].
*[[1690 BC]]: Libaia became the [[King of Assyria]].
*c. [[1680 BC]]: [[Egypt]]: Development of leavened [[bread]] (date approximate).
*c. [[1670 BC|1673 BC]]: [[Sharma-Adad I]] became the [[King of Assyria]].
*c. [[1660 BC|1661 BC]]: [[Iptar-Sin]] became the [[King of Assyria]].
*c. [[1655 BC]]: Tan-Uli, the ruler of the [[Elamite Empire]], died.
*c. [[1650 BC]]: Collapse of the [[Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt|14th Dynasty of Egypt]].
*c. [[1650 BC]]: Conquest of [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]] by the [[Hyksos]] and collapse of the [[Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt|13th Dynasty of Egypt]].
*c. [[1650 BC]]: Start of the [[Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt|15th]] (Hyksos) and [[Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt|16th]] Dynasties of Egypt.
*c. [[1650 BC]]: Possibly, start of the [[Abydos Dynasty]] in Upper Egypt.
*c. [[1646 BC]] or earlier: [[Jie of Xia]] is overthrown by [[Tang of Shang]] (ca. 1675-1646 BC) in the [[Battle of Mingtiao]].
*[[1640 BC|1649 BC]]: Bazaia became the [[King of Assyria]].
* 1633 BC – May 2 – [[Lunar eclipse|Lunar]] [[Saros cycle|Saros]] 34 begins.<ref>{{Cite web|title=NASA - Catalog of Lunar Eclipses in Saros 34|url=https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEsaros/LEsaros034.html|access-date=2021-05-01|website=eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref>
*[[1627 BC]]: Beginning of a cooling of world climate lasting several years recorded in [[growth ring|tree-rings]] all over the world.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=LaMarche, Valmore C. Jr.  |author2=Hirschboeck, Katherine K.|year=1984|title=Frost rings in trees as records of major volcanic eruptions|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=307|pages=121–126|doi=10.1038/307121a0|issue=5947|bibcode=1984Natur.307..121L |s2cid=4370382 }}</ref> It may have been caused by one, or more, volcanic eruptions e.g. the [[Minoan eruption]] of [[Santorini|Thera]],<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Baillie, M. G. L.  |author2=Munro, M. A. R.|year=1988|title=Irish tree rings, Santorini and volcanic dust veils|journal=Nature|volume=332|pages=344–346|doi= 10.1038/332344a0|issue=6162|bibcode=1988Natur.332..344B |s2cid=4286911 }}</ref> the [[Avellino eruption]] of [[Mount Vesuvius]],<ref>{{cite journal|author =Vogel, J. S.|year=1990|title=Vesuvius/Avellino, one possible source of seventeenth century BC climatic disturbances|journal=Nature|volume=344|pages=534–537|doi=10.1038/344534a0|issue=6266|bibcode=1990Natur.344..534V |s2cid=4368499 |display-authors=etal}}</ref> and/or the eruption of [[Mount Aniakchak]] in [[Alaska]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McAneney |first1=Jonny |last2=Baillie |first2=Mike | year=2019 | title=Absolute tree-ring dates for the Late Bronze Age eruptions of Aniakchak and Thera in light of a proposed revision of ice-core chronologies |journal=Antiquity |volume=93 | issue=367| doi=10.15184/aqy.2018.165 |pages=99–112 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
*[[1620 BC|1625 BC]]: [[Samsu-Ditana]] becomes King of [[Babylon]] ([[middle chronology]]).
*[[1620 BC|1621 BC]]: Lullaia becomes the [[King of Assyria]].
*[[1620 BC]]: [[Mursili I]] becomes King of the [[Hittite Empire]] ([[middle chronology]]).
*[[1610 BC|1615 BC]]: [[Shu-Ninua]] became the [[King of Assyria]].
*c. [[1600 BC]]: [[Tang of Shang]] established the [[Shang dynasty]].

==Deaths==
* [[1684 BC]] – [[Heremon]], [[Irish legend]]

==Extinctions==
* The last known population of [[woolly mammoth]], preserved on [[Wrangel Island]], becomes extinct.<ref name="stuart2002">{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/S0277-3791(02)00026-4|title=The latest woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius Blumenbach) in Europe and Asia: A review of the current evidence|journal=Quaternary Science Reviews|volume=21|issue=14–15|pages=1559|year=2002|last1=Stuart|first1=Anthony J|last2=Sulerzhitsky|first2=Leopold D|last3=Orlova|first3=Lyobov A|last4=Kuzmin|first4=Yaroslav V|last5=Lister|first5=Adrian M|bibcode=2002QSRv...21.1559S |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/13491/files/PAL_E271.pdf }}</ref>

==Sovereign states==
See: [[List of sovereign states in the 17th century BC]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Decades and years}} 
{{Centuries}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:17th century BC| ]]
[[Category:2nd millennium BC|-3]]
[[Category:Centuries|-83]]