1200 BCE
The Late Bronze Age Collapse began to unfold across the eastern Mediterranean, bringing about the destruction or decline of nearly every major civilization in the region, including the Mycenaean kingdoms, the Hittite Empire, and numerous Levantine city-states.
Conflict & Collapse
- A cascading series of destructions swept across the eastern Mediterranean as major palace centers in Greece, Anatolia, and the Levant were burned, abandoned, or severely diminished within a few decades.
- The Hittite Empire collapsed as its capital Hattusa was destroyed and abandoned, ending centuries of Hittite dominance in Anatolia and northern Syria.
- Mycenaean palatial civilization in Greece disintegrated, with major centers at Mycenae, Tiryns, and Pylos destroyed or abandoned, ushering in a period of decline later termed the Greek Dark Ages.
- Egyptian records from the reign of Ramesses III described invasions by the Sea Peoples, a confederation of maritime raiders whose origins remain debated among historians.
Civilization & Governance
- The city of Ugarit on the Syrian coast was destroyed and never reoccupied, with clay tablets found in its ruins containing some of the last correspondence of a civilization desperately seeking military aid.
- Egypt survived the Bronze Age Collapse but emerged weakened, losing its territorial holdings in the Levant and entering a long period of gradual decline.
Climate & Environment
- Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was approximately 280 parts per million, as later confirmed by ice core analysis.
- Paleoclimate evidence suggests that prolonged drought conditions in the eastern Mediterranean may have contributed to the agricultural failures and social instability underlying the collapse.
- The world population was approximately 80 million.