When Bronze Age Worlds Fell
For centuries, the eastern Mediterranean was a busy world of kings, traders, and scribes.[2] Then, between about 1250 and 1150 BCE, cities burned, trade networks snapped, and some writing systems vanished.[7] Scholars still debate the cause, but earthquakes, drought, rebellions, invasions, and the collapse of trade likely all played a role.[7][8]
Time period: The collapse hit the Mediterranean in the 13th–12th centuries BCE, especially c. 1250–1150 BCE.[7]
What happened: Major cities were destroyed, whole civilizations fell, and diplomacy and trade broke apart.[7]
Possible causes: Earthquakes, climate-driven drought and famine, internal rebellion, invasions by the Sea Peoples, and trade-system failure.[7][8]
Aftermath: The region entered an Iron Age in which iron replaced bronze, and later scholars have argued this period was not as “dark” as once believed.[1][7]
Big picture: The late Bronze Age was a connected international system linking Egyptians, Mycenaeans, Hittites, Assyrians, and others.[2]
The Bronze Age lasted roughly from 3300 to 1200 BCE and is remembered for major advances in culture, language, technology, religion, art, architecture, politics, warfare, and trade.[1] By the late Bronze Age, the Mediterranean had become a tightly linked world of several major powers.[2]
The collapse ended one era and helped usher in another, reshaping the ancient Mediterranean for centuries.[1][7] It also shows how climate stress, conflict, and broken trade can combine to bring down complex societies.[7][8]
Learn More: Bronze Age Collapse