[dsc]

“When Julian Jaynes . . . speculates that until late in the twentieth millennium B.C. men had no consciousness but were automatically obeying the voices of the gods, we are astounded but compelled to follow this remarkable thesis.” — John Updike — Review

20th millennium? 20,000 BC?

[SonOfDarkSkies]

Best I can tell, that's a printing error. Here's the accurate quote.

‘When Julian Jaynes...speculates that until late in the second millennium B.C. men had no consciousness but were automatically obeying the voices of gods, we are astounded but compelled to follow this remarkable thesis through all the corroborative evidence...
-John Updike, The New Yorker

In the book, which I have read over and over again and am still studying (and highly recommend), Jaynes points to a period around 3,000 years ago.