Eannatum of Lagash, grandson of Ur-Nanshe, creates one of the first historically known empires, albeit a short-lived one.

Eannatum annexes practically all of Sumer, including Kish, Uruk (controlled by Enshakushanna, who is on the King List), Ur, Nippur, Akshak (controlled by Zuzu), and Larsa, and reduces to tributary status the city-state of Umma, arch-rival of Lagash, making every person pay a certain amount of grain into the treasury of the goddess Nina and the god Ingurisa.

In addition, his realm extends to parts of Elam, including the city Az on the Persian Gulf.

He allegedly smites Subartu or Shubur, and demands tribute as far as Mari.

Parts of his empire are often in revolt, however.

During Eannatum’s reign, many temples and palaces are built, especially in Lagash.

The city of Nina, probably a precursor of Nineveh, is rebuilt, with many canals and reservoirs being excavated.

Eannatum is notable for the policy of having deliberately introduced the use of "terror" as a matter of policy—his stele of the vultures has been found, showing violent treatment of enemies.

The full stele, carved of limestone and approximately five feet eleven inches (one point eight meters) high, is set up around 2600–2500 BCE as a monument of the victory of Eannatum over Enakalle of Umma.

Found in fragments in Ngirsu, (modern Telloh) Iraq, in 1881, the stele is now in the Louvre.

Eannatum’s empire collapses shortly after his death.

Enmebaragesi, king of Kish, is the oldest Mesopotamian ruler from whom there are authentic inscriptions.

These are vase fragments, one of them found in the temple oval of Khafajah (Khafaji).

In the Sumerian king list, Enmebaragesi is listed as the penultimate king of the First dynasty of Kish; a Sumerian poem, “Gilgamesh and Aga of Kish,” describes the siege of Uruk by Aga, son of Enmebaragesi.

The discovery of the original vase inscriptions was of great significance because it enabled scholars to ask with somewhat more justification whether Gilgamesh, the heroic figure of Mesopotamia who has entered world literature, was actually a historical personage.

The indirect synchronism notwithstanding, the possibility exists that even remote antiquity knew its “Ninus” and its “Semiramis,” figures onto which a rapidly fading historical memory projected all manner of deeds and adventures.

Thus, though the historical tradition of the early second millennium believes Gilgamesh to have been the builder of the oldest city wall of Uruk, such may not have been the case.

The palace archives of Shuruppak (modern Tall Fa'rah, one hundred and twenty-five miles southeast of Baghdad), dating presumably from shortly after 2600, contain a long list of divinities, including Gilgamesh and his father Lugalbanda.

More recent tradition, on the other hand, knows Gilgamesh as judge of the nether world.

However that may be, an armed conflict between two Mesopotamian cities such as Uruk and Kish would hardly have been unusual in a country whose energies were consumed, almost without interruption from 2500 to 1500 BCE, by clashes between various separatist forces.

The great “empires,” after all, formed the exception, not the rule.

The successor of Khafra (Chephren) is Menkaura (or Men-Kau-Re; Mycerinus in Latin; Mykerinos in Greek), the pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty (around 2620 BCE–2480 BCE) who orders the construction of the third and smallest of the Pyramids of Giza.

His main queen is Khamerernebty II.

Some authors date his rule between 2532 BCE–2504 BCE or twenty-eight years but the Turin King List data of eighteen years for him is regarded as being closer to the truth since several of his statues were unfinished upon his death (suggesting a much shorter reign) while his pyramid is the smallest of all the three royal pyramids at Giza.

His name means "Last long (Men) the vital forces (Kau) of Ra."

Menkaura, according to Herodotus, is the son of Khufu (Greek Cheops), and alleviated the suffering his father's reign had caused the inhabitants of ancient Egypt.

Herodotus adds that he suffered much misfortune: his only daughter died before him, whose corpse was interred in a wooden bull (which Herodotus claims survived to his lifetime); and that the oracle at Buto predicted he would only rule six years, but through his shrewdness, Menkaura was able to rule a total of twelve years and foil the prophecy (Herodotus, Histories, 2.129-133).

Other conflicting sources state that Menkaura was not the son of Khufu, but of Khafra, who in turn is the son of Khufu.

Shepseskaf breaks with tradition and builds his tomb as a great mastaba at Saqqara, now known as Mastabat Fara'un.

He is usually considered, and may actually have been, the last Egyptian Pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty.

That is, if he was not succeeded by a certain Djedefptah, as recorded in Egyptian literature and indirectly, by the Turin Canon, which has an unnamed pharaoh after Shepseskaf who ruled for about two years.

Djedefptah is a shadowy figure whose existence is questionable.

Manetho, however, lists a king Tamphthis (probably a corrupted form of ptah-djedef), and notes that he reigned for nine years.

Very little else is known about him; he may have been a son of Shepseskaf.

The third and smallest of the three large Giza pyramids, that of Menkaure, is completed by 2494 BCE, at which point the Fifth Dynasty succeeds the Fourth.

Internal organs of the dead begin to be placed in Canopic jars under Egypt’s Fourth dynasty.

Egyptian armies have begun to raid Canaan and southern Nubia by the time the Fourth dynasty ends between 2498 and 2494.

The aboriginal populations of Southeast Asia are generally considered to have been members of the Negrito and broadly defined Austro-Melanesian groups, and may have arrived as part of the hypothesized Great Coastal Migration from Africa via coastal India.

These groups today make up only a small minority of the Southeast Asian population.

Evidence suggests that the earliest non-aboriginal Southeast Asians came from southern China and were Austronesian speakers.

Contemporary research by anthropologists, linguists (Blust, Reid, Ross, Pawley), and archaeologists (Bellwood) suggests that the inhabitants of Maritime Southeast Asia migrated from southern China to islands of the Philippines around 2500 BCE and later spread to present Malaysia and Indonesia.

Maritime East Asia (2493–2350 BCE): Late Longshan Expansion and Early Urbanization

Between 2493 BCE and 2350 BCE, Maritime East Asia—comprising lower Primorsky Krai, the Korean Peninsula, the Japanese Archipelago below northern Hokkaido, Taiwan, and southern, central, and northeastern China—continues to witness significant social and cultural developments, especially during the Late Longshan period in China. This era is characterized by increased geographic diversification, the expansion of agricultural practices, early urban settlement formation, and regional interactions that lay critical foundations for the evolution of more complex societies in subsequent periods.

Regional Expansion of Late Longshan Culture

During this era, the Longshan civilization expands notably into a wide variety of geographic regions across China, encompassing numerous distinctive sub-periods. One such prominent regional variant is the Shaanxi Longshan, flourishing notably along the middle reaches of the Jing River and Wei River valleys. This region later gains historical prominence through its strategic location near routes such as the emerging North Silk Road, underscoring the long-term significance of early settlement patterns established during this era.

These diverse regional manifestations of Longshan culture demonstrate increased cultural complexity and indicate extensive intra-regional interactions, setting an enduring pattern for subsequent Chinese historical developments.

Rise of Urbanization and Fortified Settlements

The Late Longshan period marks a decisive shift towards urbanization and increased social complexity. Permanent settlements begin exhibiting characteristics of early cities, including substantial defensive structures such as rammed-earth walls and moats. Notably, the archaeological site of Taosi (in modern-day Shanxi Province) emerges as the largest walled settlement of this period, reflecting growing population density, specialized labor, and social stratification.

Expansion and Consolidation of Rice Cultivation

Agricultural practices, particularly rice cultivation, become firmly established and expand widely across the Yangzi River basin and beyond, securing the foundation for sustainable population growth and stable economic systems. The enhanced agricultural productivity supports growing populations, facilitating further social complexity and specialization of labor, critical for urban growth and technological innovation in subsequent periods.

Legacy of the Era: Foundations for Complexity

Thus, between 2493 BCE and 2350 BCE, Maritime East Asia experiences critical developments characterized by increased regional diversification within the Longshan cultural framework, expansion of fortified urban settlements such as Taosi, and widespread agricultural consolidation. These transformative processes lay essential foundations for the subsequent emergence of more sophisticated social structures, advanced agricultural economies, and urban civilizations that define later historical trajectories in Lower East Asia.

The cultures that are to dominate this epoch lay the foundations of their success through the nexus of government, military, infrastructure, and commerce.

Notable examples include the Longshan civilization in China, the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley, the city-states of Sumer, the commercial ports of the Canaanites, the Old Kingdom of Egypt, the Crete-based Minoan civilization of the Aegean, and the Norte Chico civilization in Peru.

A variety of geographic regions of China are involved among the various sub-periods of the Longshan civilization, particularly for the Late Longshan period.

For example, the middle reaches of the Jing River and Wei River evince settlement known as the Shaanxi Longshan.

The We'i River valley will participate in key historic events in China as the North Silk Road develops in this same area.

Life during the Longshan culture marks a transition to the establishment of cities, as rammed earth walls and moats began to appear; the site at Taosi is the largest walled Longshan settlement, by which time rice cultivation is clearly established.