Ancestors

By approximately 150,000 BCE, humanity had achieved a considerable level of technological sophistication, achieving interstellar travel and colonizing planets along the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Origin and rise
Having evolved and achieved civilization on Earth, then known as "Erde-Tyrene", humanity was still at this point composed of many species of the human genus. Around 150,000 BCE, humanity moved their civilization outward along the Orion Arm, presumably to flee Forerunner control. Later, they made the former Precursor world Charum Hakkor their capital to be close to one of the greatest collections of Precursor structures. They also encountered an ancient being, known as the Timeless One, held prisoner in a stasis capsule, and transported it to Charum Hakkor. Human researchers found a way to communicate with this entity, asking for answers to various scientific or metaphysical questions, but received no useful responses. Humanity also formed an alliance with the San 'Shyuum species in order to gain access to their advanced technology. At their height, humanity's technological advancement, combined with their understanding of Precursor technology, nearly rivaled that of the Forerunners.

War and downfall
This civilization encountered the Flood in approximately 110,000 BCE, and after discovering the parasite's true nature, went to war against it. They also inquired the captive on Charum Hakkor about the Flood; the answers they received were so traumatizing that many committed suicide. Eventually, humanity discovered a "cure" for the Flood: According to the Forerunners, they sacrificed a third of their total population, implanting them with destructive, artificially programmed genes used to target the Flood on a genetic level. In reality, however, the Flood had receded by its own volition after the sacrifice; no cure was ever created or used by humanity.

After losing many planets to the Flood, humanity desperately invaded a minor sector of the Forerunners' ecumene. The Forerunners responded violently to this aggression and waged war with the humans and their San 'Shyuum allies. Stretched thin due to fighting two wars at once, the humans were finally driven to their capital Charum Hakkor. After holding off for fifty years, they were defeated at the hands of the Forerunners, led by the Didact. However, due to humanity's actions, the Flood was driven off the galaxy for nearly ten thousand years.

As punishment for defying the Forerunners, nearly all of humanity was wiped out and the remnants of their civilization and technology dismantled, while humans themselves were subjected to biological reduction. The remnants of the human species were exiled to Earth, where they were overseen by the Librarian; while many Forerunners wanted to see humanity wiped out, the Librarian had always been considered their greatest protector. With the assistance of the Librarian and a geas she had imprinted them with, over twenty of their ancient species made recovery and formed separate populations on Earth, including the k'tamanush, b'ashamanush, hamanush and chamanush. This meddling was noted to have considerably distorted Earth's natural fossil records.

The Forerunner victory proved disastrous for the galaxy, as the humans destroyed all their research data and physical evidence concerning the Flood, including their supposed "cure." Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting speculated it may have been humanity's last act of revenge to leave the Forerunners unprepared to face the incoming threat that led to the firing of the Halo Array.

Partial recovery
Forced to start again, the collective human genus tried in vain to reattain their former glory, with some human communities such as the civilization built around Earth's largest city Marontik establishing wooden cities and steam-powered waterborne vessels nearly nine thousand years later. Most humans, however, lived in Tier 7 tribal communities, such as the one that was encountered by the Forerunners during the construction of the portal to the Ark in eastern Africa.

After the activation of the Halo Array, the human civilization regressed once again, and would remain as Tier 7 hunter-gatherers for nearly a hundred millennia. As of the 26th century, most artifacts and records of this former civilization had been lost to time.

Culture
Little is known about human culture of this time. It is known that humanity believed themselves to be the true inheritors of the Mantle, a notion the Forerunners considered heretical. Regardless of the pressure on their growing populations and the Flood, humans were also said to be particularly cruel toward other species. Chakas, examining the harvested memories of his ancestors imprinted to him as part of a geas, discovered that they believed in "creating many souls," or expanding their population by conquering and claiming other worlds.

The humans, along with their San 'Shyuum allies, favored the domesticated Pheru, originating from the planet Faun Hakkor, as pets. The Pheru would also be the first vectors for the Flood.

Technology
Prior to the dismantling of their civilization, humanity had reached Tier 1 on the Forerunner technological achievement scale, making them nearly technological equals of the Forerunners. On Charum Hakkor, the humans built vast constructs supported by the Precursor structures; cities stretching to orbit along orbital arches, described by Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting as resembling ivy growing on great trees. In addition, they built energy towers and defense platforms operating at geosynchronous orbit and equigravitation, linked by virtually unbreakable Precursor unbending filaments.

Known systems and worlds

 * Unidentified system
 * Charum Hakkor
 * Ben Nauk
 * Faun Hakkor

Trivia
The common term for the different human species, "manush", was derived from the Romani language, in which manush is the word for "human being" or "man". The word itself is one of many derivatives of the Sanskrit word manusia, among the Indo-Aryan languages.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
 * Terminals
 * The Forerunner Saga
 * Halo: Cryptum
 * Halo: Primordium