The 530s BC

539 BCE4 entries

• September 25–28? – Battle of Opis: Troops of the Persian Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great decisively defeat those of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
• October 29 – Fall of Babylon: Achaemenid troops under Gobryas enter Babylon unopposed. Cyrus enters the city, incorporating the Neo-Babylonian Empire into the Achaemenid Empire and turning the latter into the largest in the history of the world up until that point.

538 BCE2 entries

• The Babylonian captivity of the Jews in Babylon ends when Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, allows them to return to Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua the High Priest; possible start of construction of the Second Temple.

537 BCE2 entries

• The Jews lay the foundations for the Second Temple.

536 BCE2 entries

• Phrynaeus is appointed archon of Athens.

535 BCE3 entries

• The Sungai Batu Civilization in Malaysia begins.
• Phocaean Greek colonists clash with Carthaginian and Etruscan ships in the Battle of Alalia (near Corsica).

534 BCE4 entries

• Lucius Tarquinius Superbus becomes the seventh king of Rome, after murdering his predecessor Servius Tullius.
• The Etruscan founded the city of Felsina, that later will become the modern city of Bologna.
• Competitions for tragedy are instituted at the City Dionysia festival in Athens.

532 BCE2 entries

• Pythagoras arrives in the Greek colony of Croton (modern-day Crotone) in Magna Graecia and founds the philosophical school of Pythagoreanism (approximate date).

531 BCE1 entries

530 BCE14 entries

• Kroisos Kouros, from a cemetery at Anavysos near Athens, is made. It is now at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens (approximate date).
• Cyrus II is killed in battle against unknown tribes and succeeded by Cambyses II.
• Ennigaldi-Nanna's Museum at Ur is established, the earliest known public museum with the oldest known museum labels (approximate date).