"Bronze collapse", or why in the XII century BC. human civilization was thrown back centuries

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Historians and archaeologists know that at the turn of about XIII-XII centuries BC. NS. the progress of the entire human civilization was suddenly not only suspended, but also thrown back several hundred years. Specialists who are engaged in the study of those time eras, gradually summing up all the discoveries, begin to realize the level of development of the then civilizations. With their technologies and achievements that command respect.

What humanity has had and lost

Archaeological finds in North Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, which date back to the 13th-12th centuries BC, indicate that the civilizations that existed at that time were highly developed. So, in Crete, the king lived in a 5-storey palace, which had running water, sewerage, as well as a complex heating system with the help of hearths. In Babylon, in what is now Iraq, flush toilets and wheeled street taxis were common.

Hattusa (present-day Turkey) was the center of the weaving industry at that time. Archaeologists have discovered here many looms of weavers, as well as very large libraries of clay tablets, which were the most complete catalogs of the products of these artisans. In ancient Tiryns and Mycenae (Greece), the city walls erected by builders up to 45 meters thick in some places would be impregnable even for modern missiles and artillery.

In all regions, archaeologists find many other proofs of the then progress of mankind. These are stone temples with a height of 25-30 meters, and buildings of 3 or more levels, which were common for cities of that era, and an irrigation system that was complex in terms of engineering, which provided water not only for irrigation, but also for pools in the houses of wealthy citizens. At some point, all of this was suddenly destroyed and thrown back for centuries.

As a result of an incomprehensible catastrophe in the Mediterranean, it took almost half a century for "dark times" to set in there, Egypt was significantly weakened, the indestructible kingdom of the Hittites fell, and Greece fell back to almost the Stone Age. Trade throughout the region, as well as the number of inhabitants, dropped sharply. And most importantly, all civilizations of that era lost their written language.

What happened at that time on Earth? What caused such a sharp decline in humanity? Historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists have several theories to explain this collapse of the Bronze Age. Moreover, it is possible that these events could even be superimposed on each other.

Is it the fault of the "peoples of the sea"?

One of the most popular theories of what happened to the civilization of the Bronze Age is the sudden massive offensive of the so-called "Sea Peoples". However, this event is interpreted by historians in two ways. Some believe that the civilizations of that time were destroyed by foreign barbarians. While other researchers are inclined to believe that developed states were attacked by their more backward neighboring peoples.

Archaeologists and historians still cannot answer the question of who destroyed Mycenae and Tiryns. Indeed, during several dozen excavations, researchers have not been able to find any artifacts or elements of weapons that would belong to any other people, and not local defenders. However, the hypothesis of a civil war is absolutely untenable due to the almost simultaneous and, most importantly, total destruction of several dozen large cities.

Analyzing these facts, scientists believe that all this was the result of an invasion from outside a certain military coalition. Which numerically significantly outnumbered the population of the entire region, and also did not have any pity and compassion for him and his culture. In those days, only the "peoples of the sea" mentioned in the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic manuscripts could be such an external force. Although scientists still cannot accurately indicate the ethnic origin of these peoples and tribes.

The ancient Egyptians in their records left different names for the "peoples of the sea" - Achaeans, Garamants, Danuns, Luke, Tevkra, Tirsen, Tursha, Phrygians, Philistines, Chakkal, Shakalesh, Sherdans. Researchers believe that all these tribes and peoples came either from Asia Minor (modern Turkey), or from the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula. Some experts believe that these "forced nomads" were participants in the Trojan War, who, after the devastation of their lands, moved in search of a new habitat for life. Together with all his "belongings": families, animals, household property and, of course, weapons.

Ancient bas-reliefs depict this migration of the "peoples of the sea" - many carts with women and children, each of which was pulled by four oxen. Along with this wave moving along the coast, a huge fleet was sailing along the sea. The "Sea Peoples" completely defeated the Hittite armies, wiped out the Syrian coast and managed to reach the borders of Phenicia (present-day Lebanon). Here the invasion was stopped by border fortresses and the armies of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses III.

But for the ruler of Egypt, this war against the barbarians was by no means an easy walk. Pharaoh's troops fought both on land and at sea. The losses of the Egyptians were more than significant. Despite the fact that the armies of Ramses III emerged victorious from that war, Egypt had to make significant concessions for the defeated. For example, allow them to settle right on the then borders of the kingdom.

Unknown military technology

At the junction of the XIII-XII centuries BC. NS. there was a real evolution in metalworking - casting rapidly began to replace forging. People have learned to make new types of weapons. Moreover, thanks to the same casting, this production has become simpler, and at the same time, large-scale.

In foundries, bronze (and a little later, metal) heads for arrows, darts and spears were massively made. This, in turn, provoked the appearance of massive infantry troops. If earlier the chariots of aristocrats reigned completely on the battlefield, which could trample enemies with horses, or cut them with sickles attached to wheels, now the infantry has become a real "queen of the fields."

The poor peasants or commoners on foot, at a distance, first poured rain on the chariots from darts or arrows, and later closed themselves off from the pressure of horses behind a palisade of long spears. So there was a turning point in the conduct of hostilities. And in this way the Hittite kingdom, famous for its invincible chariots of war, was destroyed on the battlefield.

World trade decline

Any global conflicts lead to the fact that all trade ties, fine-tuned for decades, collapse at one moment. This, according to many researchers, could become a key factor in the “crisis of the Bronze Age”. The accompanying materials for the production of bright fabrics - dyes - remained far from the masters themselves. The merchant fleets were burned by the conquerors, the caravans were plundered and destroyed.

The once omnipotent Babylon retains control only over territories when an arrow is shot from a bow from its walls and towers. No one needs any more clay tablets with inscriptions on them that account for goods that no one else brings from anywhere else. Writing is forgotten because of its practical uselessness.

Many of the handicrafts that were key exports are declining. After a couple of generations, knives made of “volcanic glass” - obsidian - are returning to everyday life. No one can fix a broken water wheel in an irrigation system. The ability to read inscriptions on clay tablets from the entire population of the Earth remains with only a few hundred priests.

Is it all the fault of natural disasters?

The Mediterranean, like the Middle East, are highly seismically active regions of the planet. It is quite possible that a series of natural disasters occurred in the Bronze Age, which became the cause of subsequent global changes in human society. A seven-point earthquake with an epicenter in the Mediterranean Sea in those years could have caused a tsunami that could destroy merchant fleets and destroy many clay buildings of that era.

Such destruction was recorded at the excavations of the ancient city-state of Ugarit on the territory of modern Syria. According to hypotheses, such a natural disaster could well be described in the Bible both as a Flood, and as the passage of the Jews along the bottom of the Red Sea after its waters parted for the "chosen people."

Another reason for the mass migration of the population with the invasion of neighboring states in the Bronze Age could be drought. This theory is supported by both modern climatologists and ancient Greek parchments. They, among other things, speak of a severe drought that occurred in the region after the end of the Trojan War and lasted for several years. This reason could become a key one at the beginning of the migration of the "peoples of the sea" and the simultaneous weakening of the forces of their opponents.

Or maybe all together?

Most scholars suggest that the collapse of the Bronze Age was a complex phenomenon. And, therefore, it would hardly be correct to describe it with any one reason. It is quite possible that they all happened one after another in a short period of time - 30-50 years. Tsunamis and earthquakes could well have destroyed trade, and an unprecedented prolonged drought could push the tribes to move to more livable lands.

As a result, large cities and trade centers lost their strength and significance. Recently powerful, but now weakened states fell under the onslaught of well-armed armies of numerical barbarian infantrymen. And since in that era all culture and civilization was concentrated in large centers - city-states, then after their fall there was no one to restore them. The village "dark inhabitants" could not do this.

The result of the millennial development and evolution of human civilization to the Bronze Age was its complete fall in some 50-70 years. Technology and skills have been lost for centuries. And by no means all of them were subsequently restored or recreated anew.

If you believe the theory that there have been several such collapses in the history of mankind, and they have the property of cyclicality - where are the guarantees that modern civilization is not on the verge of one of them. Or maybe she even raised her leg to take this step into the "far back."