Civilisations that Collapsed
Towards the end of the Bronze Age, traditionally dated at 1200 BC, the civilisations that had emerged over the previous millennia in the Middle East collapsed.
This series of articles questions whether the disappearance of those civilisations was as a result of a 'collapse' or whether there was a long, slow disintegration over a period of some 435 years.
We shall also be looking at the processes and events that contributed to the eventual demise of the Bronze Age civilisations and dig deep into some of the historical dogma that has emerged since the 19th century AD when the concept of a collapse first emerged.
1: Did the Bronze Age Civilisations Collapse?
Did the Bronze Age civilisations in the Middle East collapse in 1200 BC or was it a long slow disintegration spread over...
Read the article »2: The Rise of Empires and Trading Networks
When considering the collapse of the Bronze Age civilisations in the Near East, historians tend to neglect the role of a...
Read the article »3: The First Global Trading Network c 2000 - 1700 BC
The first era of globalisation during the Middle Bronze Age (2000–1700 BC). We look at the extensive Old Assyrian trad...
Read the article »4: Late Bronze Age Civilisations
The Bronze Age civilisations of the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean started to emerge about 1750 BC. Most reached ...
Read the article »5: Managing Vassal States during the Bronze Age
The Late Bronze Age Middle East was dominated by a handful of powerful kingdoms stretching from Anatolia through Mesopot...
Read the article »6: Diplomacy between Bronze Age Empires
As city-states gave way to empires, it became necessary for rulers to be able to communicate with each other. Diplomacy ...
Read the article »7: The Bronze Age Great Powers Club
From the Amarna letters, written between 1360 and 1332 BC, we can deduce that the purpose of the Great Powers Club, eve...
Read the article »8: When Diplomacy Ends, War Begins
We have looked at how diplomacy in the Middle East developed during the Bronze Age in the article, 'Diplomacy between Br...
Read the article »9: Climate Change and the Bronze Age collapse
This article looks at the 3.2k-year BP event, a significant period of drought around 1200 BC, and its impact on the Bron...
Read the article »10: Bronze Age Mercenaries - The Habiru
Mercenaries in the Middle East are nothing new. The Habiru were renowned for their ferocity and for fighting for the hig...
Read the article »11: The Trojan War and the Battle of Troy
Did the Trojan War happen? If so, when did the Trojan War occur? Was the Trojan War and the battle of Troy just one elem...
Read the article »12: The Bronze Age Sea Peoples
The Bronze Age sea peoples who ravaged the Middle East during the late Bronze Age were an enigma to the powers that rule...
Read the article »13: Beginning of the End 1400 - 1387 BC
In this article we look at the history of the bronze age civilisations in the Middle East from the beginning of the 14th...
Read the article »14: Marriages and Alliances 1387 - 1360 BC
In less than a quarter of a century, the Hittite Empire almost disappears and Egypt forms an alliance with the rebel Arz...
Read the article »15: The Collapse of the Kingdom of Mitanni
The Kingdom of Mitanni was the first of the bronze age civilisations to disintegrate from being a member of the 'Great P...
Read the article »16: The Collapse of the Hittite Empire
The story of the demise of the Hittite New Kingdom (1400-1200 BC), also known as the Hittite Empire, really starts with ...
Read the article »17: The Fall of Bronze Age Trading Networks
To what extent were trade routes disrupted during the collapse of the Bronze Age civilisations in the Middle East and wh...
Read the article »18: The Transition from Bronze to Iron
The Iron Age in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean didn't begin with a discovery, but with a waste product. The c...
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