History maps · empires over time
Borders change as the year ticks: Egypt, Kush and Nubia, Mesopotamia, Persia, Alexander's march, Rome, Hannibal, the Phoenicians and Carthage, Byzantium, the Ottomans, China, India, the caliphates, the Mongols, the Aztec and Inca, and the whole world. Territories from Cliopatria (Seshat Global History Databank, CC BY 4.0), simplified and recoloured; base map Natural Earth (public domain). Make your own with your own data in the Video Studio.
Stone in the Hand: Tools Time-Mapped
3400000 BC – 500 BC · 309 s · 1080p
Lomekwi to the pyramids and the Inca · dates are estimates
Harmand 2015; Semaw 1997; Lepre 2011; Pappu 2011; Brooks 2018; Brown 2012; Waters 2007; Pétrequin 2012; Stocks 2003; Protzen 1993. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Neanderthals, Denisovans and Us
430000 BC – 30000 BC · 150 s · 1080p
about 430,000 – 30,000 years ago · contact zones are model-based
Contact: Denisovan × sapiens (model-based · Contact: Neanderthal × sapiens (model-based · Denisovans (Altai · Denisovans (fossil sites, schematic · Denisovans (inferred from living people's DNA · Early Neanderthal lineage · Early sapiens in the Levant (debated exits · Homo sapiens (Africa · Homo sapiens (Europe & Near East · Homo sapiens (North & East Asia · Homo sapiens (Sahul · Homo sapiens (South & Southeast Asia
Admixture: Green 2010, Reich 2010, Fu 2014, Jacobs 2019, Iasi 2024, Sümer 2025; Denny: Slon 2018. Base map: Natural Earth (PD).
Neanderthals
430000 BC – 38000 BC · 130 s · 1080p
about 430,000 – 40,000 years ago
Early Neanderthal lineage · Last Neanderthals · Neanderthals · Neanderthals (Central Asia & Altai, intermittent
Sites: Arsuaga 2014, Meyer 2016, Prüfer 2014/2017, Mafessoni 2020, Pomeroy 2020, Higham 2014, Finlayson 2006. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Homo sapiens
320000 BC – 700 BC · 169 s · 1080p
about 315,000 years ago to the settling of the Pacific
Early sapiens in the Levant (debated exits · Homo sapiens (Africa · Homo sapiens (Europe & Near East · Homo sapiens (North & East Asia · Homo sapiens (Sahul · Homo sapiens (South & Southeast Asia · Homo sapiens (the Americas
Sites: Hublin/Richter 2017, Vidal 2022, Hershkovitz 2018, Harvati 2019, Clarkson 2017, O'Connell 2018, Hublin 2020, Bennett 2021, Wilmshurst 2011. Base map: Natural Earth (PD).
Denisovans
250000 BC – 30000 BC · 120 s · 1080p
about 250,000 – 30,000 years ago · most of the range is inferred
Denisovans (Altai · Denisovans (fossil sites, schematic · Denisovans (inferred from living people's DNA
Sites: Reich 2010, Douka 2019, Chen 2019, Zhang 2020, Demeter 2022, Fu 2025, Tsutaya 2025; inferred range: Jacobs 2019, Larena 2021. Base map: Natural Earth (PD).
The Haplogroup Journeys
240000 BC – 1500 BC · 126 s · 1080p
Y-DNA and mtDNA together · one current model
Model: YFull; Poznik 2016; Karmin 2015; ISOGG; PhyloTree 17; Behar 2012. Base map: Natural Earth (PD).
Y-DNA Haplogroup Journeys
240000 BC – 1500 BC · 156 s · 1080p
one current model · ages approximate (YFull, Poznik 2016, Karmin 2015)
Model: YFull tree (ages rounded); Poznik et al. 2016 Nat Genet 48:593; Karmin et al. 2015 Genome Res 25:459; ISOGG 2019–2020. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
mtDNA Haplogroup Journeys
200000 BC – 2500 BC · 146 s · 1080p
one current model · ages approximate (PhyloTree 17, Behar 2012)
Model: PhyloTree Build 17 (van Oven & Kayser 2009); Behar et al. 2012 AJHG 90:675 (ages rounded, Soares et al. 2009 rate). Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
The Point: Arrowheads and the Bow
75000 BC – 2000 BC · 244 s · 1080p
~71,000 years ago to the Iron Age · dates are estimates
Lombard 2011; Brown 2012; Metz 2023; Scerri 2013; Waters 2007; Wierer 2018; Blitz 1988. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Dogs: Time-Mapped
32000 BC – 600 BC · 214 s · 1080p
from wolf to every continent · dates are estimates
Bergström 2020; Frantz 2016; Perri 2019/2021; Janssens 2018; Balme 2018; Leathlobhair 2018. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Cannabis: Time-Mapped
13000 BC – 150 BC · 246 s · 1080p
from East Asia across the world · dates are estimates
Ren 2021; Long 2017; Ren 2019; Russo 2008; Arie 2020; Herodotus 4.73–75; Duvall 2019. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Tongues of the World: Language Families
10500 BC – 400 BC · 244 s · 1080p
how the big families spread · homelands are models; competing models shown
Haak 2015; Heggarty 2023; Zhang 2019; Gray 2009; Grollemund 2015; Bouckaert 2018; Kolipakam 2018; Grünthal 2022. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Indo-European: Branch by Branch
8500 BC – 1300 BC · 242 s · 1080p
attested texts are record · homelands and routes are models
Haak 2015; Anthony 2007; Heggarty 2023; Kloekhorst 2019; Ventris & Chadwick 1953. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Semitic and Afroasiatic Tongues
3900 BC – AD 750 · 230 s · 1080p
c. 3750 BC – AD 711 · inscriptions are record
Kitchen 2009; Huehnergard 2011; Rollston 2010; Pardee 2012; Macdonald 2000. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
The Horse: Time-Mapped
3700 BC – 1900 · 205 s · 1080p
c. 3500 BC – AD 1900 · DOM2 and the return to the Americas
Librado 2021; Gaunitz 2018; Outram 2009; Taylor 2023. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
The Wheel: Time-Mapped
3700 BC – 1600 BC · 151 s · 1080p
c. 3500 – 1700 BC · invented once or many times? (debated)
Anthony 2007; Bakker et al. 1999; Velušček 2009; Mischka 2011. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Mesopotamia
3400 BC – 500 BC · 106 s · 1080p
3400 – 500 BC · Sumer, Akkad, Babylon and Assyria
Achaemenid Empire · Akkadian Empire · Assyria · Babylonia · Elam · Gutian Dynasty · Hittites · Kingdom of Urartu · Median Kingdom · Mitanni · Neo-Assyrian Empire · Neo-Babylonian Empire
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Writing Systems: Time-Mapped
3400 BC – AD 1 · 214 s · 1080p
c. 3300 BC onward · where writing began and how the alphabet travelled
Nissen 1993; Dreyer 1998; Parpola 1994; Goldwasser 2010; Keightley 1978; Naveh 1982; Saturno 2006; Salomon 1998. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Egypt through the ages
3000 BC – 30 BC · 96 s · 1080p
3000 – 30 BC · kingdoms, dynasties and foreign rulers of the Nile
Achaemenid Empire · Assyrian Egypt · Early Dynastic Period of Egypt · Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt · Kingdom of Kush · Lower Egypt · Middle Kingdom of Egypt · Neo-Assyrian Empire · New Kingdom of Egypt · Old Kingdom of Egypt · Ptolemaic Kingdom · Roman Republic
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
The world's empires
3000 BC – 1900 · 126 s · 1080p
3000 BC – AD 1900 · five thousand years of states
Abbasid Caliphate · Abbasid Caliphate/Buyid Dynasty · Achaean League · Achaemenid Empire · Adal Sultanate · Aetolian League · Afsharid Iran · Aghlabid Dynasty · Ahi Republic · Ahmadnagar Sultanate · Akkadian Empire · Alans
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
The Spoked Wheel: Time-Mapped
2200 BC – 1100 BC · 125 s · 1080p
c. 2000 – 1200 BC
Anthony 2007; Lindner 2020; Littauer & Crouwel 1979; Shaughnessy 1988. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
The dynasties of China
1600 BC – 1911 · 126 s · 1080p
1600 BC – AD 1911 · Shang to Qing
Great Jin · Han Dynasty · Ming Dynasty · Mongol Empire · Northern Song · Qin · Qing Dynasty · Shang Dynasty · Southern Song · Sui Dynasty · Tang Dynasty · Western Jin
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Kush and Nubia
1500 BC – AD 600 · 96 s · 1080p
1500 BC – AD 600 · the kingdoms of the upper Nile
Alodia · Assyrian Egypt · Eastern Roman Empire · Kingdom of Axum · Kingdom of Kush · Makuria · New Kingdom of Egypt · Nobatia · Ptolemaic Kingdom · Roman Empire · Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt · Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Phoenicians and Carthage
1150 BC – 146 BC · 86 s · 1080p
1150 – 146 BC · a sea of trading cities
Achaemenid Empire · Carthage · Neo-Assyrian Empire · Neo-Babylonian Empire · Phoenicia · Phoenician Colonies · Ptolemaic Kingdom · Roman Republic
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
The Phoenician Colonies & Carthage
1100 BC – 29 BC · 468 s · 1080p
c. 1000 – 29 BC · the sea road from Tyre to the Atlantic, and the city that ruled it
Carthage · Phoenician Empire · Roman Republic
▶ Watch the film, with every stop and its credits
Stops (19)
- Tyre · c. 1000 BC
- Kition · late 9th century BC
- Kommos · c. 800 BC
- Carthage · traditionally 814 BC
- Gades · c. 800 BC (tradition: 1104 BC)
- Nora · 9th–8th century BC
- Utica · 8th century BC (tradition: older than Carthage)
- Lixus · 8th century BC
- Motya · late 8th century BC
- Ebusus · 7th century BC (tradition: 654 BC)
- Mogador · 7th–6th century BC
- Carthage rises · 6th century BC
- Himera · 480 BC
- Tanit and Baal Hammon · 5th–2nd century BC
- Motya falls · 397 BC
- The cothon · 3rd–2nd century BC
- The Punic Wars · 264–146 BC
- Carthage destroyed · 146 BC
- Roman Carthage · 44–29 BC
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
The Persian empires
700 BC – AD 651 · 106 s · 1080p
700 BC – AD 651 · Medes, Achaemenids, Parthians, Sasanians
Achaemenid Empire · Eastern Roman Empire · Kushan Empire · Macedonian Empire · Median Kingdom · Neo-Babylonian Empire · Parthian Empire · Roman Empire · Sasanian Empire · Seleucid Empire
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Empires of India
600 BC – 1858 · 116 s · 1080p
600 BC – AD 1858 · Maurya, Gupta, Chola, Vijayanagara, Mughal
Ahmadnagar Sultanate · Bahmani Sultanate · Berar Sultanate · Bidar Sultanate · Bijapur Sultanate · Carnatic Sultanate · Chola Empire · Early Cholas · Golconda Sultanate · Gupta Empire · Janapada of Anga · Janapada of Avanti
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Rome, from city to empire
500 BC – AD 476 · 106 s · 1080p
500 BC – AD 476 · the Republic, the Empire, and the split
Carthage · Eastern Roman Empire · Parthian Empire · Ptolemaic Kingdom · Roman Empire · Roman Republic · Sasanian Empire · Seleucid Empire · Western Roman Empire
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Alexander's march
336 BC – 280 BC · 81 s · 1080p
336 – 280 BC · from Pella to the Indus, and the kingdoms that split his empire
Achaemenid Empire · Antigonid Dynasty · Carthage · Macedonian Empire · Maurya Empire · Ptolemaic Kingdom · Seleucid Empire
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Hannibal's war
219 BC – 201 BC · 66 s · 1080p
219 – 201 BC · across the Alps and back to Africa
Carthage · Roman Republic
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Hannibal: Across the Map
219 BC – 201 BC · 466 s · 1080p
219 – 201 BC · from New Carthage over the Alps, and back to Africa
Carthage · Roman Republic
▶ Watch the film, with every stop and its credits
Stops (16)
- New Carthage · spring 219 BC
- Saguntum · 219 BC · an eight-month siege
- Across the Ebro · summer 218 BC
- The Rhône · September 218 BC
- The Alps · October 218 BC
- The Ticinus · November 218 BC
- The Trebia · December 218 BC
- Lake Trasimene · June 217 BC
- Fabius' delay · 217 BC
- Cannae · 2 August 216 BC
- Capua · 216 BC
- Tarentum · 212 BC
- Hannibal at the gates · 211 BC
- Bruttium · 207–203 BC
- Zama · October 202 BC
- The peace of 201 BC · 201 BC
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
Byzantium
AD 395 – 1453 · 106 s · 1080p
AD 395 – 1453 · the eastern Roman empire to the fall of Constantinople
Abbasid Caliphate · Byzantine Empire · Eastern Roman Empire · Fatimid Caliphate · First Bulgarian Empire · Great Seljuk Empire · Old Great Bulgaria · Ottoman Empire · Rashidun Caliphate · Sasanian Empire · Second Bulgarian Empire · Umayyad Caliphate
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
The caliphates
AD 632 – 1258 · 96 s · 1080p
AD 632 – 1258 · from Medina to Córdoba and Baghdad
Abbasid Caliphate · Almohad Caliphate · Byzantine Empire · Caliphate of Córdoba · Fatimid Caliphate · Rashidun Caliphate · Sasanian Empire · Umayyad Caliphate
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
The Aztec and the Inca
1150 – 1572 · 76 s · 1080p
AD 1150 – 1572 · empires of the Americas before and at the conquest
Aztec Triple Alliance · Chimu Empire · Inca Empire · Itza Mayans · Later Mayan City-States
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
The Mongol Empire
1206 – 1400 · 86 s · 1080p
AD 1206 – 1400 · the largest land empire and its khanates
Chagatai Khanate · Golden Horde · Great Jin · Ilkhanate · Mongol Empire · Southern Song · Yuan Dynasty
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).
The Ottoman Empire
1299 – 1922 · 106 s · 1080p
1299 – 1922 · from an Anatolian beylik to three continents
Byzantine Empire · Habsburg Monarchy · House of Habsburg · Mamluk Sultanate · Ottoman Empire · Pro-Habsburg Spain · Safavid Dynasty
Territories: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) — simplified and recoloured. Base map: Natural Earth (public domain).