View source for 23rd century BC

{{Centurybox|-23}}
The '''23rd century BC''' was a [[century]] which lasted from the year 2300 BC to 2201 BC.

==Events==
[[Image:PepiIIPyramid.jpg|thumb|250px|Ruins of the pyramid complex of Pepi II, possibly the longest reigning monarch in recorded history]]

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*[[24th century BC|2334 BC]] – 2279 BC: ([[short chronology]]) [[Sargon of Akkad]]'s conquest of [[Mesopotamia]].
*c. 2300 BC: [[Indus Valley Civilization]] (Harappan) flourishing in modern-day eastern [[Pakistan]] - western [[India]].
*c. 2300 BC: Metals start to be used in [[Northern Europe]].
*c. 2300 BC: [[Unetice culture]] emerges in the modern day [[Czech Republic]].
*c. 2300 BC: Canal [[Bahr Yusuf]] (current name) is created when the waterway from the [[Nile]] to the natural lake (now [[Lake Moeris]]) is widened and deepened to create a canal.
*c. 2300 BC – 2200 BC: "Head of a man from [[Nineveh]]" (modern [[Kuyunjik]], [[Iraq]]) is made. It is now in [[Iraq Museum]], [[Baghdad]].
*c. 2300 BC – [[2184 BC]]: Disk of [[Enheduanna]], from [[Ur]], (modern [[Muqaiyir]], [[Iraq]]) is made. It is now in [[University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology]], [[University of Pennsylvania]], [[Philadelphia]].
*c. 2288 BC: "Queen [[Ankhesenpepi II|Merye-ankhnes]] and her son Pepy II" is sculpted,  [[Sixth dynasty of Egypt]].  The alabaster statuette is now at The [[Brooklyn Museum of Art]], [[New York City|New York]].
*c. 2285 BC: [[Enheduanna]], high priestess of the moon god [[Sin (mythology)|Nanna]] in [[Ur]], was born.
*c. 2278 BC: [[Pharaoh]] [[Pepi II]] starts to rule (probably).
*c. 2254 BC – 2218 BC: Stela of [[Naram-Sin of Akkad|Naram-Sin]], probably from [[Sippar]], discovered in [[Susa]] (modern [[Shush, Iran|Shush]], [[Iran]]), is made. It is now in [[Musée du Louvre]], [[Paris]].
*c. 2250 BC: The beginning of the [[Meghalayan|Meghalayan Stage]], the last of the three stages of the [[Holocene]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stratigraphy.org/index.php/ics-news-and-meetings/120-ics-chart-containing-the-quaternary-gssps-and-new-stages-v-2018-07-is-now-released|title=ICS chart containing the Quaternary and Cambrian GSSPs and new stages (v 2018/07) is now released!|accessdate=February 1, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://earthsky.org/earth/new-name-present-times-era-meghalayan|title=Welcome to the Meghalayan age|last=Conners|first=Deanna|date=September 18, 2018|accessdate=February 1, 2019}}</ref>
*c. 2250 BC: Earliest evidence of maize cultivation in [[Central America]].
*c. 2240 BC: [[Akkad (city)|Akkad]], capital of the [[Akkadian Empire]], becomes the largest city in the world, surpassing [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]], capital of [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm|title=Largest Cities Through History|last=Rosenberg|first=Matt T|accessdate=2009-11-11}}</ref>
*c. 2220 BC: [[Scord of Brouster]] farmstead established in [[Shetland]], [[Scotland]]
*c. 2220 BC: [[Mount Edgecumbe (Alaska)]] volcano erupts near present-day [[Sitka, Alaska]].
*c. 2215 BC: A [[Guti (Mesopotamia)|Guti]] army swept down from the [[Zagros Mountains]] and defeated the demoralized [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadian]] army. They took [[Agade]], the capital of [[Akkad (city)|Akkad]], and destroyed it thoroughly.
*c. July 2215 BC: [[Comet Hale-Bopp]] visits the inner solar system and would not return until the year AD 1997.

==Significant persons==
[[File:Sargon_of_Akkad.jpg|thumb|right|Sargon of Akkad]]
* [[Sargon of Akkad]], founder of the [[Akkadian Empire]] and the earliest empire builder in recorded history
*[[2279 BC]]—Death of [[Sargon I]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Decades and years}} 
{{Centuries}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:23rd Century Bc}}
[[Category:23rd century BC| ]]
[[Category:3rd millennium BC|-7]]
[[Category:Centuries|-77]]