660s BC

This article concerns the period 669 BC – 660 BC.

Events

• 669 BC: Taharqa, king of Kush, invades and reconquers Egypt from the Assyrian Empire.
• 669 BC: Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, dies in Harran on his way to recover Egypt.
• 668 BC: Ashurbanipal, son of Esarhaddon, starts to rule Assyria.
• 668 BC: Shamash-shum-ukin, son of Esarhaddon, becomes King of Babylon.
• 668 BC: Nineveh, capital of Assyria becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Thebes in Egypt (estimation).
• 667 BC: Traditional date of the founding of Byzantium by Megaran colonists under Byzas.
• 666 BC: Ashurbanipal sends a small Assyrian army corps to Egypt which recovers Lower Egypt from Taharqa's forces.
• 664 BC: First naval battle in Greek recorded history, between Corinth and Corcyra.
• 664 BC: Tantamani succeeds his uncle Taharqa as king of Kush. He invades Egypt to try to take it back.
• 664 BC: Necho I, puppet Pharaoh of Egypt, is killed by invading Kushite forces under Tantamani.
• 664–663 BC: There was an extreme solar particle event comparable with the 774–775 carbon-14 spike. The estimated strength of the event is about 2 orders of magnitude stronger than anything that has been recorded instrumentally since the beginning of the Space Age.
• 663 BC: Assyrian army captures and sacks Thebes, Egypt, ending the Nubian period in Egypt.
• 660 BC: Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu on 11 February.
• 660 BC: First known use of the Demotic script.
• 660 BC: Mythical founding of the Japanese royal family.