Johannes Gutenberg is closer to the Charter of the United Nations than to Thebes.

How did these surviving forms of writing fit across deep time?

A Theban funerary manuscript, Gutenberg’s printing work and the United Nations Charter are selected orientation points, not a claim that one caused the next.

c. 1250 BC to 24 Oct 1945: about 3,194 years. This is the span the dated records below cover.

The game places Thebes at 3200 BC, the date its record gives for the city. This explanation starts later, with a manuscript made at Thebes in about 1250 BC, because it follows surviving writing rather than the city itself.

Years before AD 1 are marked BC. There was no year zero: 1 BC was followed by AD 1, and every span on this site is counted that way.

1. 1393 to 1403 Gutenberg is born in Mainz

   Later archival evidence narrows Gutenberg’s birth to a ten-year range.

   Estimated date: 1393 to 1403. The archive says his birth date is unknown and derives this range from later records.

   Source: Göttingen State and University Library

2. 1454 to 1455 The Gutenberg Bible is printed

   Gutenberg and Johannes Fust produce a large-format typographic Bible in Mainz.

   Estimated date: 1454 to 1455. The Library of Congress dates production to 1454 or 1455.

   Source: Library of Congress

3. 12 Mar 1455 A letter reports the new Bibles

   A dated letter reports that Bible sections were being shown and buyers had been found.

   Source: Library of Congress

4. 25 Apr 1945 The San Francisco conference opens

   Delegates of 50 nations begin work on the Charter and the court statute.

   Source: United Nations

5. 25 Jun 1945 Delegates adopt the Charter

   Delegates unanimously adopt the Charter before its signing the next day.

   Source: United Nations

6. 26 Jun 1945 Representatives sign the Charter

   Representatives sign the negotiated text in San Francisco.

   Source: United Nations Treaty Collection

Endpoint sources: British Museum; United Nations Treaty Collection