1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed
Eric H. Cline is a classics and anthropology professor at George Washington University, as well as the director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute. He has dug and surveyed throughout Greece, Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, and Jordan as an active archaeologist. From Eden to Exile: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Bible is one of his many books, as is The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction.
Marauding people known simply as the "Sea Peoples" attacked Egypt in 1177 B.C. The pharaoh's army and navy defeated them, but the victory damaged Egypt so much that it quickly fell into decline, as did the majority of the surrounding civilizations. The Bronze Age civilization world came to a sudden and violent end after decades of brilliance. Over the span of a few decades, kingdoms crumbled like dominoes. There will be no more Minoans or Mycenaeans. There will be no more Trojans, Hittites, or Babylonians. The prosperous economy and cultures of the late second millennium B.C., which spanned Greece, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, vanished, as did writing systems, technology, and massive architecture. However, the Sea Peoples alone could not have inflicted such widespread devastation. What caused that to happen?
Eric Cline tells the compelling story of how the end was brought about by various interconnected failures, ranging from invasion and insurrection to earthquakes, drought, and the closing of international trade routes, in this major new study of the reasons of the "First Dark Ages." He sketches a wide panorama of the Late Bronze Age empires and globalized peoples, bringing to life the lively multicultural world of these great civilizations and demonstrating how their very interconnectedness hastened their cataclysmic collapse and ushered in a dark age that lasted generations.
1177 B.C. is a compelling blend of narrative and cutting-edge scholarship that sheds new light on the complex ties that gave rise to, and ultimately destroyed, the flourishing civilizations of the Late Bronze Age and laid the groundwork for the emergence of classical Greece.
Author: Eric H. Cline
Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0691208018/
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