Tuesday, July 25, 2023
The Late Bronze Age Collapse
Sometimes while researching something I will come across something else completely that dominates my thinking for days. Lately, that tangential thing has been the simultaneous collapse of several bronze age civilizations in the 12th Century BC-- over 3,000 years ago. It affected a wide swath of cultures from Europe through the Middle East and into Asia, as economies collapsed and some cities were destroyed, including parts of Greek and Egyptian society. While there is wide historical consensus that something bad happened, there is wide debate about what caused it.
Here are some of the major theories:
-- A new military technology might have been developed for which there were few defenses, making warfare much more deadly. This might have been the development of iron weapons or new tactics such as massed infantry.
-- There might have been an environmental shock that sharply limited resources. For example, a volcanic eruption in Iceland might have created a worldwide winter, or a drought or pandemic swept across diverse communities.
-- There might have been a migration to the Mediterranean region by people from outside, bringing disease or other challenges.
It's odd that we know so little about it-- and I wonder how susceptible we are to such an event now.
