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Era

Ancient world to 500

Wills, successions and estate fights from to 500, newest first.

199 stories3D timeline

How were estates passed on, to 500?

A will can transfer a political base as well as money; the adoption clause was worth more to Octavian than the cash. Each condition in a Roman will was met by a matching legal move, and the money ended where the testators did not intend.

Stories
199
Main regions
Europe, Middle East, East Asia
Main subjects
Greece and Rome, Egypt and Africa, Prehistory
Legal traditions
Roman law, Royal and church law
Updated
30 October 2026

Every story, to 500

  1. 473The Culavamsa says Kassapa walled up his father alive after the king showed him a reservoir as his only treasurebooks.lakdiva.org.lk and 2 more
  2. 450The Lady of Cao was buried with war clubs and a crown, the first Moche woman found with a ruler's emblems, with a teenage girl beside herandina.pe and 3 more
  3. 439Melania the Younger sold estates across the Roman West and freed 8,000 slaves, and a later account says opponents tried to have her estates seizedtertullian.org and 2 more
  4. 425Rome stripped the last patriarch of the house of Hillel, let no son succeed him, and took the patriarch's tax for the imperial treasuryjewishencyclopedia.com and 4 more
  5. 400Archaeologists flew the Ukok princess to Novosibirsk in 1993, the Altai people blamed her removal for an earthquake, and she came home to a museum mausoleum in 2012culturalsurvival.org and 2 more
  6. 314A Sogdian merchant's wife left in Dunhuang wrote that she would rather be a dog's wife than his; her daughter added that the family's debts had made them servantsdepts.washington.edu and 2 more
  7. 300The Markandeya Purana says King Harishchandra gave the whole earth to a Brahmin sage, then sold his wife, his son and himself to pay the feeInternet Archive and 1 more
  8. 267Palmyra's ruler and his heir were murdered in 267, and his widow Zenobia ruled for her own son; one Roman history says she was in on the plotUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  9. 250Looters emptied a Moche tomb at Sipán in 1987, police shot their leader, and the archaeologist called in found the Lord of Sipán untouched below itmotherjones.com and 3 more
  10. 220The Talmud says a dying man left everything to his one true son out of ten, and a rabbi found him by telling the sons to beat their father's gravesefaria.org and 2 more
  11. 211Severus left Rome to two sons, their mother stopped them dividing the empire, and Caracalla had his brother killed in her armsUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  12. 208Cao Cao had his physician Hua Tuo put to death, and Hua Tuo burned his book of methods in prison when the jailer would not take itzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  13. 193The Praetorian Guard sold the Roman Empire to Didius Julianus for 25,000 sesterces a soldier, and he lasted 66 daysUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  14. 193The praetorian guard killed the emperor Pertinax and sold the empire to the highest bidder for 25,000 sesterces a soldierUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  15. 192The Hou Han Shu says Cai Yong begged to be mutilated so he could finish his history, died in prison, and his ransomed daughter rewrote 400 of his 4,000 books from memoryzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  16. 177A father found a treasure in his Athens house and willed every citizen a mina a year; his son paid it by collecting their grandfathers' debtsInternet Archive and 2 more
  17. 177Herodes Atticus paid out his father's legacy to Athens by deducting debts, gave his son only his mother's property, and the Athenians took his body from MarathonInternet Archive and 2 more
  18. 158Apuleius married a rich widow, her family charged him with winning her by magic, and he read her will aloud in court to show her son was the heirProject Gutenberg and 2 more
  19. 136Hadrian forced his 90-year-old brother-in-law and the man's 18-year-old grandson to die, and the old man prayed Hadrian would long for death and not be able to dieUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  20. 132Babatha hid her lawsuits over her son's guardianship and her dead husband's orchards in a cave during the Bar Kokhba revoltcambridge.org and 4 more
  21. 108An orator ruined two brothers' father, made them his heirs, and the fortune passed down a chain of adoptions to Marcus Aurelius's motherProject Gutenberg and 3 more
  22. 106Cassius Dio says Dacia's king buried his gold under a diverted river and killed the diggers, and a companion told the Romans where it wasUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  23. 104Pliny says an 80-year-old father disinherited his daughter 11 days after remarrying, and 180 judges in four panels split two against twoattalus.org and 2 more
  24. 100Pliny tells of an Athens house let cheap because of its ghost; the philosopher who took it found a chained skeleton in the yardProject Gutenberg and 2 more
  25. 92Ban Gu died in a magistrate's prison with the Book of Han unfinished, and the emperor ordered his sister Ban Zhao to complete itzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  26. 80Christian tradition says the body of Luke "the beloved physician" was moved from Thebes to Constantinople and Padua, and an emperor took the head to Praguebiblegateway.com and 2 more
  27. 70Rome carried the Temple treasures in triumph, the Vandals took them to Carthage, and Procopius says Justinian sent them to Jerusalem because a Jew warned they brought down every palace that held themsourcebooks.web.fordham.edu and 3 more
  28. 70The Talmud says Kalba Savua disinherited his daughter for marrying the shepherd Akiva, then gave him half his fortunesefaria.org and 3 more
  29. 69A senator was accused of biting the severed head of Galba's heir, and years later he swore on his son's life to get into the heir's widow's willUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 1 more
  30. 66Petronius's will listed Nero's sex partners by name, and Pliny says he smashed a 300,000-sesterce basin to keep it from NeroWikisource (primary text) and 2 more
  31. 65Seneca offered Nero his 300-million-sesterce fortune, was refused, and three years later was ordered to die and denied the tablets to write his willWikisource (primary text) and 4 more
  32. 60King Prasutagus left half his kingdom to Nero to protect his daughters, and Tacitus says Roman officers flogged his widow Boudica and raped his daughtersWikisource (primary text) and 2 more
  33. 54Claudius's will was never read in public, and Nero poisoned Claudius's son Britannicus four months after taking the throneUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  34. 54Pliny says six men owned half of Roman Africa when Nero had them killed, and Suetonius says Nero seized the estates of anyone whose will left him too littleperseus.tufts.edu and 3 more
  35. 41Suetonius says Caligula ignored Tiberius's will, killed his co-heir, and haunted the gardens he inherited until his sisters reburied himUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  36. 40Cleopatra's grandson Ptolemy inherited Mauretania from his father Juba, and Caligula summoned him to Rome and had him killedUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  37. 33Tacitus says Tiberius had Spain's richest man thrown from the Tarpeian Rock and kept his gold and copper mines for himselfUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 3 more
  38. 30Luke's parable of the prodigal son: a younger son took his inheritance while his father lived, spent it, came home, and the elder son objectedbiblegateway.com and 2 more
  39. 30The Gospel of John says soldiers diced for the executed Jesus's seamless robe, and three churches claim to have itbiblegateway.com and 2 more
  40. 29Livia left Galba 50 million sesterces in figures, and her son Tiberius read it as 500,000 and paid nothingUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 3 more
  41. 25Suetonius says Tiberius frightened a man worth 400 million sesterces into suicide to inherit, and Caligula sent poisoned sweets to men who named him heirProject Gutenberg and 5 more
  42. 23The Han shu records that Wang Mang took the throne from a Han child, declared all land the "king's fields", repealed it three years later, and his head was kept for 272 yearszh.wikisource.org and 4 more
  43. 14Augustus's will, read to the Senate by the Vestal Virgins, barred his daughter and granddaughter from his tombUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  44. 1A nomad chief and five women were buried with 20,000 gold objects in Afghanistan; keyholders hid the hoard for 14 years, and in 2021 it went out of sight againNBC News and 3 more
  45. 1On the Xiongnu frontier the great tombs were built for women, each flanked by commoner men in simple graveseuropepmc.org and 2 more
  46. 2 BCEA slave woman sent from Rome persuaded the Parthian king to send his four sons to Rome, then her son killed him and married herWikisource (primary text) and 2 more
  47. 4 BCEHerod the Great executed three sons, changed his will in his last days, and died five days after the last execution; Augustus split his kingdom among the survivorsperseus.tufts.edu and 6 more
  48. 19 BCEVirgil asked for the Aeneid to be burned, and Augustus ordered it publishedlivingpoets.awh.durham.ac.uk and 1 more
  49. 27 BCESepticia married an old man to spite her sons and left them nothing, and Augustus gave them her estateattalus.org and 2 more
  50. 30 BCEMark Antony gave Cleopatra's children kingdoms in 34 BC, and after 30 BC Octavian killed Caesarion and gave the others to his sister to raiseUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 5 more
  51. 30 BCECleopatra filled her tomb with treasure and torchwood so Octavian could not take it from her, and the tomb has never been foundUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  52. 30 BCEPliny says Cleopatra drank one of the two greatest pearls she inherited from eastern kings, and Rome cut the other in half for a statue of VenusUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  53. 30 BCEHorace's Tiresias tells Ulysses to court rich old men's wills, and Petronius's Eumolpus wills his body to be eaten by his heirsProject Gutenberg and 2 more
  54. 41 BCECleopatra's sister Arsinoe IV fought Caesar, walked in chains in his triumph and was killed at a temple on Antony's orders, and the skeleton said to be hers was a boy'sUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 5 more
  55. 43 BCERome's triumvirs ordered the 1,400 richest women to value their property for a war tax, and Hortensia's speech cut the list to 400University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  56. 43 BCEOctavian traded Cicero to Antony for the proscription list, and Antony's wife pierced the dead orator's tongue with her hairpinsUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  57. 43 BCEClodius burned Cicero's house and built a shrine to Liberty on the site, and Cicero's son was consul the year Antony's statues came downUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  58. 44 BCEJulius Caesar's will, opened after his murder, made Octavian his son and gave every Roman 300 sestercesUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 3 more
  59. 48 BCEPompey's son held the sea, feasted Antony aboard his flagship, called it the only family house Antony had left him, and refused to cut the cablesUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  60. 49 BCEA Roman husband's funeral inscription says relatives tried to void his wife's father's will after her parents were murdered, and she stopped themdroitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr and 2 more
  61. 50 BCECato gave his pregnant wife Marcia to the orator Hortensius, and took her back as Hortensius's rich widowUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  62. 51 BCEPtolemy XII's will named Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII joint heirs under Roman protection, and the heirs went to warclassics.mit.edu and 3 more
  63. 55 BCEBerenice IV took her father's throne, had one husband strangled within days, and was executed when Rome restored her father for 10,000 talentsUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  64. 59 BCELiu He was emperor for 27 days, was removed for 1,127 offences, and his gold-filled tomb was found after tomb robbers dug into itzh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  65. 74 BCENicomedes IV left Bithynia to Rome, Mithridates said the queen had borne him a son, and Mithridates invadedUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 4 more
  66. 75 BCEPublius Annius Asellus left everything to his only daughter, and the praetor Verres wrote an edict to take it from hercts.perseids.org and 3 more
  67. 80 BCESulla sent Ptolemy XI to marry Queen Berenice III, he had her killed within three weeks, the Alexandrians killed him, and Rome produced a will leaving Egypt to RomeUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 4 more
  68. 81 BCESulla's freedman bought a murdered man's estate of 6 million sesterces for 2,000, and the son was charged with killing his fatherUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  69. 87 BCEEmperor Wu chose his youngest son as heir and had the boy's mother put to death, according to a supplement to the Shijizh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  70. 91 BCEA Roman soldier came home from war to find that his father, told he was dead, had willed the family estate to othersattalus.org and 2 more
  71. 93 BCEA Roman wrote his will for a son who was never born, and Rome's two leading lawyers fought over whether the words or the intention ruledcts.perseids.org and 3 more
  72. 96 BCEPtolemy VIII willed Cyrene to Rome in 155 BC, and his son Ptolemy Apion's will handed it over in 96 BCigcyr2.unibo.it and 4 more
  73. 130 BCEPtolemy VIII married his sister Cleopatra II and then her daughter, and when his sister held Alexandria against him he sent her their son's head, hands and feetUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  74. 133 BCEKing Attalus III left his kingdom to Rome in his will, and a man claiming to be a royal bastard fought Rome for itUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  75. 133 BCETiberius Gracchus tried to enforce a 500-iugera cap on public land, senators clubbed him to death, and his brother's head was filled with lead for a rewardUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  76. 140 BCEAn iron magnate swore his widowed daughter would get not one coin after she eloped, then gave her 100 servants and a million cash when she sold wine in his townzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  77. 157 BCEEmperor Wen gave his favourite a copper mountain and the right to mint coins; the next emperor took everything, and he died owning nothingzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  78. 175 BCESecond Maccabees says a king's minister came to seize the widows' and orphans' deposits in the Jerusalem Temple; a stele pieced together in 2005 and 2006 names the minister and a royal order on temple fundsbiblegateway.com and 4 more
  79. 176 BCEThe Shiji says a physician with five daughters and no son was sentenced to mutilation, and his youngest daughter's petition ended the punishmentzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  80. 204 BCECourtiers hid Ptolemy IV's death, killed his queen, read out a will naming themselves regents, and the Alexandrian crowd killed them and their familyUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 3 more
  81. 204 BCEFrench soldiers found the Rosetta Stone in 1799, General Menou claimed it as his own, and Britain took it under the 1801 surrenderProject Gutenberg and 3 more
  82. 210 BCEThe Shiji says the First Emperor's chancellor and his seal-keeper forged his last letter, and his eldest son killed himself on the forged orderzh.wikisource.org and 4 more
  83. 235 BCESima Qian writes that a merchant bought a hostage prince the throne of Qin, then drank poison when the new king turned on himzh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  84. 241 BCESpartan king Agis IV gave his estate and 600 talents to a land division, and was strangled with his mother and grandmother before any land was dividedUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  85. 269 BCEArsinoe II married her half-brother Ptolemy Keraunos to protect her sons, he had two of them killed in her arms, and she then married her full brotherUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 3 more
  86. 270 BCEEpicurus willed his Garden to his school for ever, and two centuries later a Roman exile owned the ruins of his house and planned to pull it downWikisource (primary text) and 2 more
  87. 287 BCETheophrastus left the Lyceum garden to ten men in common, Athens briefly banned unlicensed schools on pain of death, and Sulla's army wrecked the siteWikisource (primary text) and 3 more
  88. 318 BCEAthens executed Phocion at about 80, banned his burial in Attica, and Plutarch says his wife buried his bones under her hearthUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 more
  89. 322 BCEAristotle's heirs hid his library in a trench to keep it from the kings of Pergamum, and Sulla carried it to Romeperseus.tufts.edu and 2 more
  90. 323 BCEAlexander the Great left his empire "to the strongest", and his general Ptolemy hijacked his bodyWikisource (primary text) and 3 more
  91. 335 BCEAlexander razed Thebes and sold its people into slavery, but spared the house and descendants of the poet Pindarlivingpoets.awh.durham.ac.uk and 2 more
  92. 343 BCEThe last native pharaoh fled the Persians and never used his sarcophagus, and the British took it from Alexandria in 1801 as the tomb of AlexanderInternet Archive and 2 more
  93. 345 BCEA merchant died owing money on a Black Sea wine voyage, and his brother, a pupil of Isocrates, told the Athenian court he was not the heircases.som.yale.edu and 3 more
  94. 347 BCEPlato's will left two farms and three minae to a boy, the Academy went to his nephew, and the nephew was carried to class paralysed until he took his own lifeWikisource (primary text) and 3 more
  95. 350 BCEClaimants to Hagnias's estate in Athens produced a forged will, lost, and then took the estate by three or four votescts.perseids.org and 2 more
  96. 370 BCEThe freed-slave banker Pasion willed his widow and his bank to his own freed slave Phormio; his son Apollodorus sued and was finedperseus.tufts.edu and 5 more
  97. 376 BCEDemosthenes's guardians handed back the house, 14 slaves and 30 minae of a 14-talent estate, and he sued them at 20University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 3 more
  98. 376 BCEA 96-year-old Athenian moved into his brothel, tried to make a former prostitute's son his heir, and lay dead for two days while his house was emptiedperseus.tufts.edu and 3 more
  99. 400 BCEThe Mahabharata says the blind elder brother lost the throne, and his cousin staked the kingdom, his brothers, himself and his wife at diceWikisource (primary text) and 4 more
  100. 400 BCEThe Mahabharata says Bhishma gave up the Kuru throne and vowed never to marry so his father could wed, and the line ran out of heirsWikisource (primary text) and 2 more
  101. 400 BCEThe Mahabharata says King Yayati passed over four sons who refused to take his old age, and made the youngest his heirWikisource (primary text) and 2 more
  102. 401 BCECyrus the Younger's mother argued he was born to a reigning king; his elder brother got the throne, killed him at Cunaxa and cut off his head and handperseus.tufts.edu and 4 more
  103. 404 BCEAthens's Thirty Tyrants arrested rich foreign residents for their money, took Polemarchus's 700 shields and 120 slaves, and made him drink hemlockperseus.tufts.edu and 6 more
  104. 406 BCECicero says Sophocles' son sued to take his estate on the ground that he was senile, and Sophocles read his new play to the courtlivingpoets.awh.durham.ac.uk and 3 more
  105. 413 BCENicias rented 1,000 slaves into Athens's silver mines, Syracuse executed him, the Thirty killed his son, and his nephew went to court to keep the family landperseus.tufts.edu and 5 more
  106. 415 BCEAthens condemned Alcibiades, auctioned his property item by item on marble slabs, ordered priests to curse him, then gave the property backperseus.tufts.edu and 5 more
  107. 456 BCELegend: Aeschylus died at Gela in 456 or 455 BC when an eagle dropped a tortoise on his headperseus.tufts.edu and 2 more
  108. 459 BCEAthens condemned Themistocles for treason, Persia gave him three cities, and his relatives buried his bones in Attica in secretProject Gutenberg and 2 more
  109. 474 BCEThe Book of Esther says the king hanged Haman on his own gallows and gave his house to Queen Esther the same daysefaria.org and 4 more
  110. 480 BCEThe Pali canon says eight peoples demanded the Buddha's ashes; one share, found in 1898, was pulled from auction in 2025accesstoinsight.org and 2 more
  111. 480 BCEThe Vix grave held the largest metal vessel of the ancient world, buried with a woman, and some scholars questioned whether the body was a woman'smusee-vix.fr and 2 more
  112. 486 BCEDarius passed over his eldest son for Xerxes, grandson of Cyrus, on an argument supplied by an exiled Spartan kingWikisource (primary text) and 2 more
  113. 490 BCEPythagoras's daughter Damo would not sell his writings for any price, and Plato is said to have paid 100 minae for Pythagorean booksWikisource (primary text) and 2 more
  114. 508 BCEA Babylonian business house split its father's estate on one clay tablet, and its records stop when Babylon revolted against Xerxesnabucco.acdh.oeaw.ac.at and 2 more
  115. 522 BCECambyses killed his brother Bardiya in secret; a man ruled Persia under the dead brother's name until Darius killed him and took the throneperseus.tufts.edu and 7 more
  116. 525 BCEA boy king of Sidon cursed anyone who moved his coffin; in 1855 it was dug up, fought over and shipped to the LouvreGoogle Books and 3 more
  117. 530 BCEDNA showed the Celtic prince of Hochdorf was the uncle of the prince of Asperg, through his sister, and power passed down the mother's lineeuropepmc.org and 3 more
  118. 530 BCEAlexander found Cyrus the Great's tomb robbed and the body thrown out, and tortured its hereditary guards, who named no oneWikisource (primary text) and 2 more
  119. 539 BCEBabylon took the Temple vessels; Daniel says Belshazzar drank from them the night he was killed, and Ezra says Cyrus returned 5,400mechon-mamre.org and 4 more
  120. 543 BCEZheng's minister was killed in the sheep market, his rivals died on the days his ghost named, and Zichan gave his son office to stop the hauntingzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  121. 583 BCEThe Zuo zhuan and the Shiji give two accounts of how Jin destroyed the Zhao clan and gave its lands back to the one surviving boyzh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  122. 587 BCEHerodotus says Periander killed his wife, lost his heir over it, and stripped the women of Corinth to get her ghost to say where a deposit wasProject Gutenberg and 2 more
  123. 594 BCEPlutarch says Solon's friends borrowed to buy estates before his debt cancellation, and Solon cleared his name by writing off five talents owed to himUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 3 more
  124. 660 BCEThe Kojiki says the Sun Goddess sent her grandson to rule Japan with a mirror, a jewel and a sword, and the law still passes them with the throneWikisource (primary text) and 6 more
  125. 681 BCESennacherib named his younger son Esarhaddon heir; his elder sons killed him, and Esarhaddon then bound the empire by oath to his own chosen heiroracc.museum.upenn.edu and 5 more
  126. 687 BCEThe Bible says King Hezekiah showed Babylon's envoys his treasury, and Isaiah told him his heirs would lose it; Babylonian tablets record rations for a captive king of Judahbiblegateway.com and 2 more
  127. 690 BCEThe Han Feizi says two kings cut off Bian He's feet for calling a stone jade, and the Shiji says Qin later offered 15 cities for the disczh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  128. 750 BCEGeoffrey of Monmouth says King Leir split Britain between two flattering daughters, who took all of it and cut his household from 60 knights to oneyorku.ca and 4 more
  129. 750 BCEThe Ramayana says a queen used two old promises to disinherit the heir, and his brother ruled for 14 years in the name of his sandalsvalmikiramayan.net and 3 more
  130. 750 BCEGenesis says Jacob bought Esau's birthright for a bowl of stew and took his blind father's blessing in disguisemechon-mamre.org and 5 more
  131. 750 BCEGenesis says Abraham paid 400 shekels for a family tomb at Hebron; the Talmud says Esau blocked Jacob's burial there and was killed at the cavemechon-mamre.org and 4 more
  132. 750 BCEGenesis says the dying Jacob took the firstborn's double share from Reuben and gave it to Joseph's sons, putting the younger firstmechon-mamre.org and 4 more
  133. 753 BCELivy says Amulius broke his father's will, took the throne of Alba Longa, and made his niece a Vestal virgin so his brother would have no heirsperseus.tufts.edu and 3 more
  134. 814 BCEKing Pygmalion of Tyre killed his sister's husband for his buried gold, and she sailed away with it after dumping sacks of sand into the seatertullian.org and 2 more
  135. 860 BCEKings says Naboth refused to sell King Ahab "the inheritance of my fathers," and Queen Jezebel had him and his sons killed for itmechon-mamre.org and 2 more
  136. 950 BCEThe Kebra Nagast says Menelik I, son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, took the Ark to Aksum and that only his male line may rule EthiopiaInternet Archive and 8 more
  137. 970 BCEKings says Solomon's mother and the prophet Nathan had the dying David name Solomon over his elder brother Adonijah, who was later executedmechon-mamre.org and 2 more
  138. 1000 BCEThe Abd el-Rassul brothers sold royal mummies from a hidden tomb for a decade, until the eldest confessed in 1881newlinesmag.com and 4 more
  139. 1090 BCEThe Adoption Papyrus says an Egyptian stable master adopted his wife as his daughter to keep his estate from his siblings, and the widow freed and adopted their slave's childrenmediterraneoantico.it and 2 more
  140. 1100 BCEJudges says Gilead's sons drove their half-brother Jephthah out of the inheritance, then made him their chief, and his vow cost him his only daughtermechon-mamre.org and 2 more
  141. 1100 BCEThe tribe of Dan lost the coastal land the lot gave it, stole a household's gods and priest, and burned the town of Laish to take a new inheritancesefaria.org and 5 more
  142. 1110 BCEEight thieves confessed to stripping the gold from the mummies of king Sobekemsaf and queen Nubkhas, and an inquiry under Ramesses IX recorded itInternet Archive and 5 more
  143. 1144 BCENaunakhte of Deir el-Medina cut the children who did not support her out of her willcambridge.org and 5 more
  144. 1147 BCEAn Egyptian papyrus says the gods argued for 80 years over whether the dead king Osiris's throne went to his son Horus or his brother Sethriull.ull.es and 3 more
  145. 1157 BCEQueen Tiye plotted to put her son Pentawere on the throne of Ramesses III, and a 2012 CT scan found the king's throat had been cutInternet Archive and 5 more
  146. 1180 BCEThe Odyssey says 108 suitors ate through Odysseus's estate while he was away, and planned to kill his son and divide his propertyProject Gutenberg and 2 more
  147. 1192 BCEChancellor Bay put a boy king on the throne and was given a tomb among the kings, and a potsherd records that the king had him killedifao.egnet.net and 2 more
  148. 1200 BCEJoseph made Israel swear to carry his bones out of Egypt; Exodus says Moses took them, and his reputed tomb in Nablus was smashed in 2022mechon-mamre.org and 5 more
  149. 1200 BCEFu Hao led the Shang king's armies, the oracle said her childbirth was "not good" because she had a girl, and hers is the only Shang royal tomb found intactenglish.henan.gov.cn and 2 more
  150. 1213 BCERamesses II outlived his first three crown princes, his thirteenth son succeeded him, and his sons' tomb KV5 has more than 130 roomskirkusreviews.com and 4 more
  151. 1250 BCEThe plays say Oedipus's sons agreed to rule Thebes in alternate years, then killed each other, and the new king forbade burial of one of themclassics.mit.edu and 2 more
  152. 1250 BCEA king of Ugarit divorced his Hittite-born queen, made their son choose between his mother and the throne, then had her killedlockwoodonlinejournals.com and 3 more
  153. 1250 BCETheseus forgot to change his black sail, his father Aegeus threw himself down from the Acropolis, and Theseus became king of AthensUniversity of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 3 more
  154. 1261 BCEMes sued to recover land granted to his ancestor Neshi under Ahmose I, after a court ruled against his mother on a false registerInternet Archive and 1 more
  155. 1279 BCESeti I's empty sarcophagus was sold to the architect John Soane in 1824, and Soane obtained an Act of Parliament so his son could not inherit itUK Parliament, Hansard and 5 more
  156. 1291 BCEA mummy sold in Luxor around 1860 spent over a century in a Niagara Falls curiosity museum before it was identified as Ramesses I and sent homearchive.archaeology.org and 4 more
  157. 1319 BCEAy had himself painted burying Tutankhamun and took the throne, and Horemheb then erased Ay and dated his own reign from Amenhotep IIIworldhistory.org and 3 more
  158. 1323 BCEDNA tests in 2010 found that Tutankhamun's parents were brother and sister, and that the two stillborn girls buried in his tomb were his daughtersjamanetwork.com and 3 more
  159. 1323 BCEHoward Carter's team cut Tutankhamun's body apart to free it from his coffin in 1925, and Carter's published account left it outtutankhamun.griffith.ox.ac.uk and 4 more
  160. 1327 BCEThe Deeds of Suppiluliuma say a widowed Egyptian queen asked the Hittite king for a son to marry, and the prince Zannanza died on the wayworldhistory.org and 5 more
  161. 1336 BCEA king's coffin in tomb KV55 had its gold face hacked off and its names cut out, and the gold from its base turned up in a Munich museumarchive.archaeology.org and 3 more
  162. 1340 BCEThe Nefertiti bust left Egypt in 1913 listed as a plaster princess, and Berlin has kept it through a century of Egyptian demandspreussischer-kulturbesitz.de and 2 more
  163. 1353 BCEAmenhotep III promised the king of Mittani solid-gold statues for his daughter, and after Amenhotep died his son sent gold-plated woodrepository.bilkent.edu.tr and 3 more
  164. 1370 BCEThe Egtved girl was buried at 16 to 18 with a child's cremated bones, and scientists still disagree on whether she came from Germany or from Egtvedeuropepmc.org and 4 more
  165. 1400 BCEGenesis says Rachel stole her father's household gods as Jacob fled, and Jacob unknowingly swore death on the thiefmechon-mamre.org and 4 more
  166. 1400 BCEThe Book of Joshua says Achan hid silver and gold from Jericho in his tent, and Israel stoned him in the Valley of Achor with his sons and daughters presentbiblegateway.com and 2 more
  167. 1450 BCENuzi law kept land inside the family, so the landowner Tehip-tilla had himself adopted by seller after sellerInternet Archive and 3 more
  168. 1458 BCEHatshepsut took the throne from her stepson Thutmose III, who had her statues smashed and her images erased two decades after her deathworldhistory.org and 3 more
  169. 1500 BCEAfter four reigns of Hittite princes killing each other, King Telipinu wrote the order of succession into law and spared the men who had plotted against himInternet Archive and 2 more
  170. 1550 BCEDNA showed a woman in Mycenae's royal Grave Circle B was buried beside her brother, by right of birth, not as a wifemanchester.ac.uk and 2 more
  171. 1555 BCEKing Seqenenre Tao died with his hands tied and his skull broken by Hyksos weapons, and his sons finished his warfrontiersin.org and 3 more
  172. 1600 BCETreasure hunters sold the Nebra sky disc for 32,000 marks, and the museum director who posed as a buyer had the dealers arrested in a Basel hotelarchive.archaeology.org and 2 more
  173. 1650 BCEA woman in a silver diadem was buried under the council hall of La Almoloya, and most of the grave's wealth was hers, not the man's buried with herthe-past.com and 2 more
  174. 1750 BCEGenesis says Sarah demanded that Hagar's son "shall not be heir with my son," and Abraham sent mother and child into the desertavalon.law.yale.edu and 3 more
  175. 1750 BCEGenesis says the Philistines filled Abraham's wells with earth after he died, and Isaac dug them out and gave them back his father's namesbiblegateway.com and 2 more
  176. 1800 BCEAround 1800 BC an Egyptian priest left everything to his wife and named a guardian for his son, in one of the oldest wills knowncollections.ucl.ac.uk and 3 more
  177. 1800 BCEAt Mokrin a rich mother's teenage son was buried with nothing, and a poor mother's son was buried with an axeresearchconnect.stonybrook.edu and 1 more
  178. 1962 BCEAmenemhat I was attacked by his own guards after supper, and his son raced back from a war in Libya to take the thronemaat.sofiatopia.org and 3 more
  179. 2000 BCEBronze Age farmsteads in Germany's Lech valley kept a rich core family and poor unrelated dependants side by side for 700 yearsJournal article (DOI) and 1 more
  180. 2180 BCEHerodotus says Queen Nitocris drowned the men who killed her brother the king at a banquet, and a modern scholar argues she never existedProject Gutenberg and 2 more
  181. 2300 BCEA man from the Alps was buried near Stonehenge with Britain's oldest gold; the younger man beside him shared a rare foot bone, but DNA rules out father and sonwessexarch.co.uk and 2 more
  182. 2550 BCEQueen Puabi of Ur was buried in gold, and the attendants Woolley said drank poison were killed with blows to the headalmanac.upenn.edu and 4 more
  183. 2580 BCEThe hidden tomb of Khufu's mother Hetepheres held her organs in a sealed chest, but her sealed sarcophagus was empty when it was opened in 1927giza.fas.harvard.edu and 2 more
  184. 2600 BCEAt Eulau a mother, father and two sons killed in a raid were buried facing each other, the oldest family proven by DNAbristol.ac.uk and 2 more
  185. 2776 BCEFifteen members of one family were killed with blows to the head at Koszyce, and the fathers who were missing from the grave appear to have buried themeuropepmc.org and 2 more
  186. 2950 BCEMerneith ruled for her young son Den, was buried at Abydos in a king's tomb ringed by servants' graves, and later king lists left her outpenn.museum and 3 more
  187. 3000 BCEThe man buried in the inner chamber of Newgrange was the son of a brother and sister or a parent and childeuropepmc.org and 2 more
  188. 3300 BCETwo hikers found Ötzi in 1991, a survey put him 92 metres inside Italy, and the finders fought South Tyrol in court until 2010 over the rewardarchive.archaeology.org and 5 more
  189. 3700 BCEAncient DNA from a Cotswold tomb shows five generations of one man's family, buried by father's line, with his sons by four women in separate halvesebi.ac.uk and 1 more
  190. 4340 BCEAt Varna on the Black Sea, one old man was buried with a third of all the gold in a 6,000-year-old cemetery, and the richest graves held no bodiesjournals.uni-lj.si and 2 more
  191. 4500 BCEOne founding father's bones were carried to Gurgy and reburied, and his descendants over seven generations lie around him, with almost no adult daughterseuropepmc.org and 2 more
  192. 5950 BCEÇatalhöyük buried its dead under the house floor along the mother's line, and baby girls got five times the grave gifts of boyshaber.metu.edu.tr and 2 more
  193. 6800 BCEThe infant buried with the shaman of Bad Dürrenberg was not her son but a descendant four or five generations down, added to her grave decades lateridw-online.de and 2 more
  194. 7000 BCEScientists and five tribes fought for 20 years over a skeleton about 9,000 years old, a court gave it to the scientists, and Congress gave it to the tribeslaw.resource.org and 2 more
  195. 8600 BCENevada held Spirit Cave Man for decades against his tribe, a judge called it arbitrary, and the tribe agreed to DNA to prove he was theirsscientificamerican.com and 2 more
  196. 10700 BCEConstruction workers found the Clovis child on the Anzick family ranch in 1968, the family's geneticist sequenced him, and six tribes reburied him in 2014pure.psu.edu and 2 more
  197. 16700 BCEThe Red Lady of El Mirón was buried behind an engraved rock, then her skull and long bones were taken away and the rest re-painted redarchaeology.org and 2 more
  198. 32000 BCETwo disabled boys at Sungir were buried head to head with 10,000 ivory beads, and DNA showed they were not brotherscam.ac.uk and 3 more
  199. 40000 BCEMungo Man and Mungo Lady, Australia's oldest known people, came home after decades in Canberra, and their reburial split the three nations who own themSmithsonian Magazine and 3 more