Why did the Bronze Age civilization collapse?

1one web

Around twelve hundred B C, Greek palaces, Hittite cities, Egypt and the copper towns of Cyprus all lived off one trade web. Within a few generations, much of it was burned, empty or starving.

2not just raiders

The old answer is the Sea Peoples. Raiders were real: Ugarit's last king wrote that enemy ships had come while his troops were away. But they struck states already weak.

3hungry palaces

Tree rings from Turkey show a severe dry spell around eleven ninety-eight B C, and other records hint at a drier, shakier climate. Palaces lived on stored grain, so bad harvests hit hard.

4dominoes

Then came dominoes. Bronze needs copper and tin hauled over huge distances. When routes failed, hunger, broken trade and war fed each other, and no palace could rescue another.

5who fell

Not everything fell the same way. Hattusa was abandoned and Greece's palaces vanished, but Egypt limped on, and Assyria and the Phoenician cities bent without breaking.

6the whole idea

Historians still argue over the exact mix of causes. What most stress is the pattern: a tightly linked world spreads every shock, so it can fail together.