For the uninitiated, who had been educated in a Eurocentric tradition, history rested only on the ancient Greeks. We are all familiar with the militaristic ferocity of the Spartans and the atmosphere of open discourse in Athens, believing that the splendor of ancient Greece was a miracle that appeared suddenly.
However, we don't know much about what happened before. As far as we know, civilization is in the pre-embryonic stage, and humanity lives in tribal societies, where power is right and the goal is survival. This could not be further from the truth.
"Destruction" in Thomas Cole's The Course of Empires is a representation of the cities destroyed in the collapse of the Late Bronze Age. Public domain.
1. The Forgotten Age: The Near East in the Late Bronze Age.
A thousand years before the advent of people like Plato and Leonidas, the ancient Mediterranean was a bustling metropolitan ecosystem of different cultures and societies. There were complex alliances that were on par with the 19th-century European powers, and cultural interactions reminiscent of 21st-century globalization. This is a time that is far ahead of its time.
In the south, the New Kingdom of Egypt ruled the Nile. At that time, around 1500 BC, they had been around for two thousand years. In Mesopotamia and Canaan, small city-states vied for influence, while the Assyrian Empire constantly threatened them from behind. In mainland Greece, the Mycenaean civilization flourished with its naval prowess and love for commerce. To the east of them, in Anatolia, there were the Hittites, an early Indo-European group whose fighting power and rapid territorial expansion were feared.
Mysterious Decline:
During the 50 years between 1200-1150 BC, all of these civilizations experienced a mysterious decline. A sudden, drastic drop in activity. Exchanges between cities ceased, and many literary records were destroyed. Urban centers were abandoned, and there was a massive exodus of population. The once mighty city was burned to the ground, and the capital was razed to the ground. To quote Robert Drews:
In the forty or fifty years between the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 12th century, almost all the important cities of the Eastern Mediterranean world were destroyed, and many of them were no longer inhabited"。
It was a catastrophic destruction on a scale never seen before the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. This was followed by a Dark Age that lasted for more than 400 years, until the Greeks began colonizing and the Assyrians re-established their control over the Near East. However, there is hardly any relationship between regions. Any development has been severely localized, and the collapse of the empire seems to mark the end of an era permanently. ”
Late Bronze Age shrine in Mirtu-Pigades, Cyprus. (yak / cc by-sa 3.0)
It was, and still is, an esoteric mystery. Ancient scholars have struggled to understand the nature and causes of this event. The palace-like ruins reveal an unspeakable horror, but due to the lack of evidence, no convincing theory can adequately explain the cause of the collapse. Recent advances in archaeological technology and the excavation of original written materials have shed light on this issue, but accounts may vary widely.
For example, some believe that the eruption of Iceland's Hekla 3 volcano has lowered global temperatures, leading to poor harvests, famine and social collapse, and that banditry and no-ism. It is also argued that the war revolution made the rebellion powerful and weakened the country's military capabilities. However, none of these perspectives seem to be comprehensive. While we can say that famine, disease, or more effective war led to the collapse, why did such a perfect storm occur?
We can attribute it to luck, but this explanation is unsatisfactory and unlikely. On the contrary, I believe that these factors serve to highlight the problem of existing vulnerabilities within political entities. Volcanic eruptions, droughts, and foreign invasions have only accelerated an already shaky balance.
2. Ugarit: New York in the Levant (ancient name for Syria and surrounding areas).
However, it is too early to delve into the theory. Let's reconstruct the world of the Late Bronze Age with limited archaeological evidence.
Ugarit is a city-state located in northern Syria. Located at the crossroads between the Hittite Empire in the north and Egypt in the south, it is a busiest international entrepot. Textual archives attest to commercial transactions in perishable goods such as dyes, bronze, oil, copper, linen, and agricultural products. In particular, Ugarit exported large quantities of goods to Assyria, which was becoming increasingly powerful in the east.
Ugarit also imported large quantities: Mycenaean pottery excavated from the ruins of the palace, bronze ** inscribed by the Egyptian pharaoh Menepta himself, and Cypriot copper. It's rich and prosperous. In the thick alabaster warehouse, there is an urn of precious goods, which are transported by merchants who travel to and from all corners of the known world.
A tomb in the courtyard of the royal palace of Ugarit, Syria. (gianfranco gazzetti / gar / cc by-sa 4.0)
Foreign emissaries – especially from their overlord, the Hittite Empire, were also common. A special clay tablet tells the story of a wealthy merchant, Sinaranu"None of his [grain], beer, or (olive) oil could be given to the royal palace. His ship was exempt from Crete when it came. There is not only concrete evidence of regular crossings, but also the development of business ideas such as private property. The economic character of this metropolitan port city has endured in the face of external hardships.
While the Egyptians and the Hittites fought in the largest chariot war of antiquity, the Battle of Qadiz, the Ugarit was business as usual. However, in the five years of 1190-1185 BC, everything collapsed with a bang. The city was razed to the ground, leaving only a piece of rubble. Excavations have uncovered a 2-meter-deep (656 feet). It was more than 650 years before it was inhabited again.
Of course, we can only speculate that something terrible happened, but due to the lack of documentation, we have no way of knowing what exactly happened. Luckily, the then king of Ugarit, Ammurapi, had written a mysterious letter of plea to the king of Cyprus:
"Father, now the enemy ships have arrived. They set fire to my city and did harm to my land. "
The rulers of Kakhmish came to their aid, but they found only one piece of ruin, because they received a private message from the Ugariti
"When your messenger arrives, the army is humiliated and the city is sacked. The grain on our threshing floor was burned and the vineyards were destroyed. Our city was ransacked. May you know May you know!
From Telecazel to Telemegiddo, this ominous story is repeated throughout Canaan.
3. Sea Peoples: Wild hunters of the ancient Mediterranean
Savage"Sea Peoples"The specter of the ransacking of the city wreaks havoc in the coastal city. Since Ramses II, there have been records of seafaring pirates of different races plundering cities along the Nile Delta. Pharaoh Menepta conquered these names"Nine bows"pirates, a northern alien alliance driven by foreign kings and rebellions.
His successor, Ramses III, experienced the last invasion and the most well-documented. He repelled two waves of large-scale attacks in the Nile Delta and Jahi. The depictions on the reliefs of the Temple of Medinet Hab reveal the enormous scale of the Battle of the Delta: piles of maritime peoples writhing in pain after being shot by the Egyptians, who were deliberately exaggerated in size.
The relief of the Morgue of Medinet Habramesses III, depicting the battle of the Delta against the peoples of the sea. Public domain.
The tenacious spirit of this motley army shows their desperation. They tried to flee and resettle, not conquer and expel them. Something must have driven them away, but we don't have definitive evidence of who they are and why they are in such an attack. The city-states of Mycenae and Cyprus were also destroyed. Before they were destroyed, we found an increase in the fortifications of these countries and signs of militarization, with archaeological discoveries of arrow shafts and bronze **. As the disaster approached, these countries were plunged into conflict.
Inland cities have not been spared. The Hittite Empire in Anatolia suffered the most complete defeat. The Hittites suffered the final blow as their capital Hatusa was sacked by a group of people from the Black Sea, Greece, and western Anatolia, plagued by internal rebellions and ongoing wars with the Assyrians. The Assyrian Empire was not directly affected, but the hordes of foreign attacks made them wary of expansion.
After the death of the Assyrian king Aūr-Bēl-Kala, the state remained confined to its original borders. The lack of commerce and the threat of depopulating bandits weakened the Assyrian state, but its institutional superiority helped it weather the crisis.
The crisis is very serious, and it does not seem to be localized. In just a few decades, a mass riot destroyed most of the civilizations of the Near East. Its most obvious features were the violent invasion and internal rebellion of the barbarians. At the same time, society seemed to collapse, the social elite disappeared, and the population was massively reduced.
There are many theories to explain this: for example, the culprits of the cataclysm of the late Bronze Age were the maritime peoples. Climate change could lead to the collapse of late Bronze Age civilizations"...
4. Natural disasters: drought, famine and environmental factors
Other potential factors, such as famine and drought, were also raised. Rhys Carpenter argues that the harsh conditions of northern Europe drove tribes to migrate south – they became maritime peoples. In the case of Greece, he noted that the sudden exodus of Mycenaean Greeks was due to the occupation of their lands by the Landians and Thracians, who were hungry for land. Therefore, environmental factors such as volcanic eruptions or ** can explain the presence of sea people.
Archaeologically, there is also scientific evidence for these phenomena. Preliminary reports indicate widespread drought in the Nile, the Middle East and Turkey. At the end of the second millennium BC, the water level of the Dead Sea dropped by 50 meters (16404 feet), which indicates a slow but steady decrease in rain and water supply.
Returning to the microcosm of Ugarit, we can see that near the 13th century, large quantities of grain were shipped to the Hittite. A few years ago, the Hittite queen wrote to the pharaoh of Egypt that he said:"There is no grain in my land"The Late Bronze Age suffered a series of environmental disasters.
Smaller Kadi stone treaty stele found in Boğazkoy, Turkey. Museum of the Ancient Orient, one of the archaeological museums in Istanbul. (iocanus / cc by 3.0)
5. Comprehensive factors: perfect storm
Another possibility is a change in the war. Before that, wars were fought on tanks. The chariot was the exclusive equipment of the nobility, and the whole battle was full of a strong sense of ceremony. In the Battle of Kadi Stone, infantry was an auxiliary support force, not the main fighting force. This made the troops ineffective and slow.
Flexible and mobile troops with technological innovations such as javelins and swords turned out to be superior. Running creeps will deal a devastating blow to the chariot army. Symbolically, this indicates the decline and instability of the ruling class with the democratization of the war.
However, we cannot look at these reasons in isolation. Such a complete collapse would not have been possible if it had only been because of drought or invasion by foreign enemies. Famine and drought are very common, so the State has developed various mechanisms to mitigate their effects. For example, the Egyptians crossed cattle herds and stepped up food production in response to a looming drought.
Probably originated from the peoples of the seaof destruction(In fact, it is a mixture of many ethnic groups from different regions, they are like Viking pirates in later generations, raiding houses and destroying cities along the coast).
The Egyptians, for example, recorded that the sea peoples devastated the Hittite khatte Quod Qode, the Kachemish Arzawa Erathia Alashiya and camped in Amurru. The maritime peoples who invaded Egypt were divided into six major ethnic groups: the Perezantes, the Shekhars, the Shekris, the Danuna, the Wanshes, and the Shirden. The Peresantes were probably the Filix of the Bible.
A flurry of **(There are many from the BC1250-1175 years**).
Climate anomalies for unknown reasons(e.g. an unusual drought that leads to crop failures).
Prolonged famine from multiple causes(Egyptian, Ugarit, and Hittite documents contain material pleading for food support to alleviate famine.)
The famine led to civil strife in some countries(Such as Hazor and other city-states in Canaan).
There may also be plagues, insect plagues and other wars.
It is more likely that the combination of these factors led to the collapse of the Bronze Age. However, this still does not seem to be sufficient. The slow development shown above does not satisfactorily explain the suddenness and severity of the decline.
Map showing the collapse of the Bronze Age (conflict and population movements). (lommes / cc by-sa 4.0)
Now, let's imagine a taut string. All of the above factors contribute to a slow increase in tension. As soon as the tension exceeds a critical value, the strings break suddenly. However, we often overlook the material of the strings. By analogy with the collapse of the Late Bronze Age, we can deduce that the string in that proverb is brittle and inelastic. In other words, the inherent fragility of the country's political structure, combined with the perfect storm of unfortunate events, led to the collapse of the state.
As we have seen in Ugarit, there was a lot of activity in the ancient Near East. In this era of internationalism, diplomatic activity reached its peak. However, the state has failed to spread the risk. The state was extremely centralized, and the top-down system was most evident in the palace economy.
The royal family was in charge of all finances, organizing and distributing wealth according to the king's orders. It's a top-heavy system with little to no security mechanisms. Therefore, the threat to the ruling class means the collapse of the economy. While small merchant states like Ugarite have shifted to a market economy, the economic system of larger countries is still based on the aristocracy.
What's more, the over-reliance of the small coastal Levantine city-states on ** means that they are particularly vulnerable to adverse conditions. This is the reason for the general dilapidation of the richest ** ports in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Aristocratic tendencies were also reflected in other state affairs such as war. Expensive combat vehicles are the way to fight. The social hierarchy was strict, and the samurai elite ruled over the poor peasants. However, constant interference and migration from other city-states made it difficult to ensure political stability.
In conclusion, the social arrangements of late Bronze Age societies were intricate and the roles were highly specialized, but this system was difficult to sustain for long due to a lack of organizational capacity. The Hittite Empire was fragmented, with inter-city rivalries among its nobility and vassals, while New Kingdom Egypt was plagued by a series of court intrigues, most notably King Ramses III"Harem conspiracy"Medium quilt**.
As Sandal and Klein say, Egypt emerged"Dominoes"with"Multiplier"Effect. Not only is the internal structure fragile, but the external relationship also makes the entire ecosystem vulnerable to shocks.
The collapse of the Cypriots and Mycenaeans, who provided fuel and copper, meant a serious shortage of such strategic imports. A ripple at any one node ripples through the entire national network.
The collapse of society will only lead to an influx of refugees who, along with the maritime peoples, will attack the remaining stable countries in search of a brighter life. This forced countries such as Assyria and Egypt to pay more attention to military spending, greatly increasing the chances that peasants would rebel due to the burden of war. The non-** state triggers a negative feedback loop, which leads to widespread crashes that escalate rapidly. Bad weather and war innovations have only accelerated the consequences.
6. The legacy of the collapse of the Bronze Age
Compared to other collapses in history, the collapse of the Bronze Age appears particularly significant and spectacular. It has left a millennium-long void in places like Anatolia. If the collapse hadn't happened, who knows how history would have changed?
Collapse of the Late Bronze AgeThe event has had a profound impact on many cultures and technologies. During this period, many cultural and technological innovations and developments were severely restricted, and many achievements gradually disappeared or were forgotten. For example, the linear writing of the Minoan civilization, the three-dimensional writing of the Assyrian civilization, etc., the disappearance of these cultures and technologies has led to the lag and interruption of human civilization in some fields, and it will take a long time to recover.
Human impact on the environment has intensified. The collapse events of the Late Bronze Age led to the disintegration and disappearance of many civilizations, while the environmental impact of these civilizations persisted and intensified. For example, after the Assyrian Empire conquered Babylon, it cut down vast areas of forest, leading to problems such as soil erosion and drought. At the same time, a large number of wars and activities have also accelerated the exploitation and consumption of natural resources by human beings, which has further worsened environmental problems.
However, the complexity of various factors reminds us that any social collapse involves an intricate conspiracy. The Rapa Nui people on Easter Island are facing extinction not only due to rapid deforestation, but also to alien slave raids and unsustainable farming practices. Of course, Easter Island's spending a lot of energy on building the Moai statue in its final days didn't help.
Three thousand years have passed since the Late Bronze Age. However, its striking resemblance to our world today reminds us of the importance of understanding why and how the Bronze Age came to such an extreme end. With global uncertainty increasing, from inter-state conflicts in Eastern Europe to the Cold War between major powers, it's not hard to imagine how quickly a globalized society can be**. Reorienting our perspective through the lens of history allows us to make more informed decisions in the present.
Editor:Late Bronze CollapseIt was the latest time that the original civilization could not be resurrected and ended on a large scale, and many people emphasized the catastrophic and global nature of the complete destruction of civilization, including the Olmec civilization of Mesoamerica and the Shang dynasty of the Zhou dynasty. However, it is interesting that Westerners seem to rarely agree with the things of the "Yin and Zhou System Theory", emphasizing that although the Western Zhou bronzes are now regressing and the recovery rate is slow, the civilization has continued, and that the Zhou Shang Dynasty is at most similar to the events of the Hyksos subduing Egypt and replacing the Middle Kingdom to establish the 15th-16th dynasties, and cannot be compared with the Dorian invasion of Greece and the like. (In fact, if the ancient Egyptian language and religion continue to this day, then there is no problem with the Republic of Egypt claiming to be the 50th and 60th dynasties, anyway, the Egyptians themselves think that it will continue for 5,500 years without interruption, but if we agree with the Yin-Zhou dividing line, then the time is only half that of Egypt).
Title image: Thomas Cole's The Progress of the Empire"Destruction"。Represents a city destroyed during the collapse of the Late Bronze Age. Public domain Public domain.
References. The Collapse of Civilization - The Eastern Mediterranean World in 1177 BC