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The Bronze Age began around 3000 BC and ended circa 1200 BC. The major powers of this age include the Egyptians, Minoans, Hittites, Assyrians, and Babylonians. These civilizations would ultimately fall with catastrophic events resulting in the first recorded Dark Age.

Bronze Age Civilization Collapse - 1200 BC The Bronze Age began around 3000 BC and ended circa 1200 BC. The major powers of this age include the Egyptians, Minoans, Hittites, Assyrians, and Babylonians. These civilizations would ultimately fall with catastrophic events resulting in the first recorded Dark Age. The ending of the Bronze Age and the subsequent Dark Age that followed is a catastrophic event that is still not completely understood. How could the major powers of the age fall so quickly? What do we know about the world during this time and what caused this catastrophe? Life in the Bronze Age Late Bronze Age - 1200 BC A type of globalization was in place, as all of the major powers were interconnected. Trade networks exchanged glass, ivory, copper, tin, bronze, perfume, and pottery. Bronze could be seen as the equivalent of our Modern economy's crude oil. It was used for axes, knives, plows, and wheel mechanisms. Bronze is made of 90% copper and 10% tin. Afghanistan served as the primary source for tin. This was transported over 1000 miles to the west. The island of Cyprus was the primary source of copper, and is where we get our English word for this element. The Minoan civilization, based in Knossos on the island of Crete, was responsible for the majority of bronze smelting. Bronze was then exported to the rest of the region. Akkadian, the primary language of the Babylonians, is somewhat of a common language for the entire region. Mycenae Lion Gate, c. 1250 BC Life was very good in the 13th and 14th centuries BC. Harvests are recorded as being unusually robust as a result of higher than average rainfall. This combined with an already dynamic and interconnected economy created an explosion of peace and prosperity for generations. It is speculated that perhaps this made the culture soft in some way. The people may have grown to think that their civilization could never face any real adversity. Chariots Assyrian War Chariot, 7th century BC The chariot was a technological development of the early second millennium BC. They were made of light hardwoods with a woven leather platform on which the driver could stand. The entire vehicle weighed less than 40 lbs (18 kilograms). The wheels were the main technological development. They were made with spokes, and weighed one tenth as much as the solid wheels used in the third millennium BC. Such a light vehicle could begin to use horses as a draft animal. Whereas an ox cart could travel two miles in an hour, a horse drawn chariot could travel ten. Chariot groups were the most powerful military unit by 1600 BC. During a typical battle in the late Bronze Age, chariot numbers ranged from a few hundred to a few thousand. A chariot group could be quickly sent just about anywhere, as they moved faster than any other military unit. This made quelling rebellions quick and effective. Chariots would attack by traveling laterally in front of an opposing enemy. They would fire arrows from compound bows as they were moving. This was a highly skilled maneuver that also made them difficult to counterattack. This served as the primary purpose for chariots, a platform for archers. The Collapse Sites Destroyed c. 1200 BC Source: Biblical Archaeological Society Something horrifying and catastrophic begins to happen around 1200 BC. There is no one thing that the collapse of Bronze Age civilization can be blamed on. Drought, foreign invasions, and even earthquakes all seem to occur around the same time. There is a layer of ash and general destruction in the archaeological record around major urban centers. It seems people attempted to rebuild these cities, only to see them destroyed again. This went on for about 50 years. Earthquakes Plate Tectonics for Anatolia and the Aegean Source: Amos Nur and Eric Cline Shifting geologic plates do not necessarily release all of their energy at once. The stored energy can in fact be released in a series of earthquakes spread over many years. Available geophysical and archaeological evidence suggests that the 50 year period of destruction in antiquity could have been the result of such a series of related earthquakes. The associated map shows the locations of geologic fault lines. These correspond with Modern records of earthquakes, and also with the archaeological record of destroyed cities for the period around 1200 BC. Structures in the Bronze Age were far more vulnerable to earthquake damage compared to our Modern buildings. The intensity of a series of earthquakes would not have been enough to destroy Bronze Age civilization, but it certainly could have contributed to it. Invasion Northern Wall of Ramesses III Mortuary It appears that raiders from Europe began attacking the centers of civilization during the 13th century BC. The first Sardinians in Egypt ravaged the delta in 1279. They were defeated by Ramesses the Great. They had come "in their warships from the midst of the sea, and none were able to stand before them." These raids go o...