1620s BC

The 1620s BC was a decade lasting from January 1, 1629 BC to December 31, 1620 BC.

Events and trends

• 1627 BC—Beginning of a period of cooling of the world climate lasting several years, recorded in tree-rings all over the world.^[1] Various volcanic eruptions have been suggested for the cause of this climatic event; the Minoan eruption of Thera,^[2] the Avellino eruption of Mount Vesuvius,^[3] or the eruption of Mount Aniakchak.^[4]
• 1625 BC—Samsu-Ditana becomes King of Babylon (middle chronology).
• 1621 BC—Lullaia becomes the King of Assyria.
• 1620 BC—Mursili I becomes King of the Hittite Empire (middle chronology).

Significant people

References

1. LaMarche, Valmore C. Jr.; Hirschboeck, Katherine K. (1984). "Frost rings in trees as records of major volcanic eruptions". Nature. 307 (5947): 121–126. doi:10.1038/307121a0. S2CID 4370382.
2. Baillie, M. G. L.; Munro, M. A. R. (1988). "Irish tree rings, Santorini and volcanic dust veils". Nature. 332 (6162): 344–346. doi:10.1038/332344a0. S2CID 4286911.
3. Vogel; J. S.; et al. (1990). "Vesuvius/Avellino, one possible source of seventeenth century BC climatic disturbances". Nature. 344 (6266): 534–537. doi:10.1038/344534a0. S2CID 4368499.
4. McAneney, J. & Baillie, M.G.L. (2019). "Absolute tree-ring dates for the Late Bronze Age eruptions of Aniakchak and Thera in light of a proposed revision of ice-core chronologies". Antiquity. 93 (367): 99–112. doi:10.15184/aqy.2018.165.