580s BC

Events and trends 589 BC—Apries succeeds Psamtik II as king of Egypt. 589 BC—Nebuchadnezzar I I begins siege of Jerusalem; the opera Nabucco sets the date at 587 BC. 589 BC—Battle of An: Jin defeats Qi; these two Chinese states later agree to an alliance. 587 BC—Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians, ending the Kingdom of Judah. The conquerors destroy the Jewish Temple of Jerusalem and exile some of the land's inhabitants. 586 BC—Death of King Ding of the Zhou Dynasty of China. 28 May 585 BC—A solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Thales, while Alyattes of Lydia fights Cyaxares of Media at the Battle of Halys, leading to a truce. This is a cardinal date from which other dates can be calculated. 585 BC—Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome, defeats the Sabines in war, takes the town of Collatia, and celebrates a triumph for his victories on 13 September. 585/584 BC—Astyages succeeds Cyaxares as King of the Medes. 585 BC—Ji Yi becomes King Jian of the Zhou Dynasty of China. 585 BC—Fall of the Kingdom of Urartu following a Median invasion. (The Scythians ruined the Kingdom of Urartu.) 582 BC—Military clash of the major Classical antiquity powers Egypt and Babylon. 582 BC—Pythian Games reorganised at Delphi. (This is the traditional date.) 582/581 BC—Isthmian Games founded at Corinth. 580 BC—Cambyses I succeeds Cyrus I as king of Anshan and head of the Achaemenid dynasty. (approximate date) c. 580 BC—Gorgon Medusa, detail of sculpture from the west pediment of the Temple of Artemis, Korkyra, is made. It is now at the Archaeological Museum of Corfu. c. 580 BC—Standing Youth (Kouros) is made. It is now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Significant people Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon 585 BC—Birth of Anaximenes of Miletus, Greek philosopher (d. 525 BC) 585 BC—Death of Emperor Jimmu of Japan 580 BC—Death of Cyrus I of Anshan (approximate date)