The Late Bronze Age Crisis
摘要
This chapter discusses the 3.2 ka event and how it affected civilizations around the Mediterranean basin. The chapter elucidates the causes of the Late Bronze Age collapse and narrates the stories of some of the civilizations that suffered this lamentable fate. These include a discussion of the story of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete. The chapter talks about the rise of this society, its contributions, its collapse, and evidence on the climatic causes of such a destiny. The chapter also covers the story of the Mycenaean civilization in the Peloponnese of Greece. The chapter highlights the greatest achievements of such an economy, and the studies that provide evidence for the contribution of climate change to its final demise. This is followed by the story of another victim of climate change in Anatolia, the Hittite civilization. The chapter recounts the story of the Hittites from the onset and the culpability of climate change to their dramatic end. The story of Canaan in the Levant and its final collapse is also covered in this chapter, along with a discussion of how climate change dealt a last blow to Babylon.