33rd Century BCE

The 33rd century BCE is a span of one hundred years beginning in 3300 BCE and ending in 3201 BCE. It belongs to the earliest periods of written human history, since writing itself originated around this era.

This period marks the transition between prehistory — the era before writing — and recorded history. In places where urban societies took root, particularly in Mesopotamia and the Nile valley, there emerged systems of administration, accounting, and record-keeping.

Mesopotamia

In the East, notably in what is now southern Iraq, city-states of Sumer flourished. Uruk was among the largest cities of the time. A wedge-shaped script, known as cuneiform, was pressed into moist clay for writing. These marks originated largely as commercial records and inventories — for instance, accounts of barley, sheep, and textiles.

The Nile Valley

Egypt in this period is known as the Late Pre-Dynastic era (Naqada III). Local administrations emerged and consolidated, enabling the northern and southern regions to come under a single government. At the same time, hieroglyphic writing developed, initially used to record the names of rulers and accounts of wealth.

Elsewhere in the World

Europe held agricultural societies using stone and early bronze tools. In Asia, settlements along the Indus River continued the developments that preceded the Harappan civilization. In East Asia and the Americas, societies remained based on farming and herding, not yet possessing writing systems.