List of sovereign states in the 21st century BC

The development of states—large-scale, populous, politically centralized, and socially stratified polities/societies governed by powerful rulers—marks one of the major milestones in the evolution of human societies. Archaeologists often distinguish between primary (or pristine) states and secondary states. Primary states evolved independently through largely internal developmental processes rather than through the influence of any other pre-existing state. The earliest known primary states appeared in Mesopatamia ca. 3700 B.C., in Egypt ca. 3300 B.C., in the Indus Valley ca. 2500 B.C., India ca 1700 B. C.,and in China ca. 1600 B.C. As they interacted with their less developed neighbors through trade, warfare, migration, and more generalized ideological influences, the primary states directly or indirectly fostered the emergence of secondary states in surrounding areas, for example, the Hittites in Anatolia, the Minoan and Mycenaean states of the Aegean, or the Nubian kingdoms in the Sudan. Professor Gil Stein at the University of Chicago Oriental Institute states The excavations and archaeological surveys of the last few decades have vastly increased both the quantity and quality of what we know about ancient states and urbanism. Archaeologists have broadened the scope of their research beyond the traditional focus on rulers and urban elites. Current research now aims at understanding the role of urban commoners, craft specialists, and village-based farmers in the overall organization of ancient states and societies. Given the immense geographical scope encompassed by the term “the Ancient World,^[1]

. This is a list of cultures, civilizations and sovereign states that existed between 2100 BC to 2001 BC.

Sovereign states

See also

• List of Bronze Age states
• List of Classical Age states
• List of Iron Age states
• List of states during Antiquity

References

Centuries and millennia