Did the Bronze Age Really Collapse? Ancient History DOCUMENTARY 

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For advanced literate civilizations like Mycenaeans and Minoans losing completely the ability to write for over 3 centuries, i don't think is just an age of adaptation. Something significantly destructive must had took place which led to this phenomenon. Civilizations won't stop writing out of the blue.

The Bronze Age Collapse is nowadays described by archaeologists and historians, as a "systems collapse". Drought and failed crops caused famine, while the depletion of the tin mines to the east, which is essential to produce bronze (mixed with copper) made bronze, which was the most widely used material of the time (used for making weapons and tools) scarce and expensive. However, the Sea Peoples most certainly existed and caused major catastrophies. Yes they were the result, not the cause of the aformentioned resources crisis, but it was those groups that caused the destruction of most of the major centers around the eastern Mediterranean. The Egyptian records are explicit in this and there is no reason for the Egyptians to have misrepresented something like this. That is not to say that they were a single coordinating group, but there is no reason to rule out the possibility of at least some of those groups working together. And of course there is the archaeological evidence. The Mycenaean palace centers (Mycenae, Pylos etc.) were the first to be destroyed. Possible causes are a combination of at least some of the following: social unrest due to famine, dynastic disputes and even possible discontent from what seems to have been a military defeat by the Hittites in Asia Minor, the sharp rise of slaves that could have revolted, and a possible invasion of northern tribes (Dorians, which however probably occured later), as well as pirates from the west.The Mycenaeans were a sea-faring people and it is natural that many would have fled the catastrophy using their ships and resorted to piracy and looting as a form of sustenance. Shortly afterwards the Hittite capital Hattusa is destroyed and the Hittite kingdom collapses due to invasions from the Kaskians probably. Unrest engulfs Anatolia and in the same way, several coastal peoples flee by means of the sea as well. Raiders from the western Mediterranean could have joined these motley groups of pirates and invaders as well. This explains the fact that several of the names of the sea peoples as reported by the Egyptians:Denien, Sekelesh, Serden, Luka, resemble familiar names such as Danaans (an ealy name of the Greek people), Sicelians, Sardenians, Lycians (in Asia Minor). But what essentialy proves (at least in my eyes) the above, is that the Egyptians mention that after they defeated the Sea peoples, they resettled a group of them into what came to be known later as Palestine. Relatively recent archaological excavations into early Philistine settlements have unearthed structures that are essentially identical to Mycenaean structures (such as what is unmistakeably a 'megaron' palace). It seems that the Philistines were a mixture of these raiders from somewhere in the Aegean or Eastern Med. and local Semitic people, who were the majority in the area of course, thus we see in archaeology a gradual assimilation of Philistine culture with the surrounding Semitic ones, in the following centuries.

No one slowly and gently forgets their own written language, like the Mycenean Greeks did, for centuries. Nor is it fair to say the Hittites gently and gradually collapsed while the Assyrians gently clung on after losing most of their territory. I'm sure Ramses III easily and gently fought a massive battle of the Nile to avert Egypt's destruction by the smooth, gradualistic Sea people. The Iron Age only began because the supply lines of Tin dried up. Very unfair portrayal.

Although I like the video, I do think that there was indeed some sort of a collapse. The idea behind the Bronze Age Collapse as it is proposed is that the interactions between big states as found in the Amarna letters stopped with the Hittite Empire falling, the Myceneans falling and the Middle Assyrian Empire being reduced significantly. Also Egypt being destabilized in such a way that they fell a short time later. The system that existed for a long time had in my opinion indeed collapsed. And yes, this happened over a longer time, it was not a quick fall, but a lot of historical events are being 'prepared' for a longer time. With this I mean that underlying social, economic and political changes that happened overtime are the bases of these major events and most of the time we have no historical record of these underlying changes. I personally subscribe to the system collapse, although it has its flaws. With a major drought occurring for 150 years, people are being pushed out of their infertile lands which creates a ripple effect with some going raiding and trying to settle lands elsewhere (see this in the constant nagging of 'brothers' to each other to return fleeing civilians of their respective kingdoms and the fact that the sea peoples brought their families with them) and the interconnectedness of the empires which made them more vulnerable to changes, I see a reasonable explanation for the collapse. For people who are interested, I thought 1177 BC from Eric Cline was a great book about this topic. Oh and you should have mentioned Ugarit and the raiders on their doorstep in the video, that is just awesome (while also showing the continuing strive around the Bronze Age world since their military might was fighting for the Hittites against invading peoples)

I am so glad that someone used this marvelous “The Age of Empires” cover.

I can't believe you made this video and didn't talk about tin trade drying up. The levant area had little native tin and had to import it from other areas. The import of tin significantly diminished around that time. If you had no tin, then you had no bronze. If you can't make bronze, then you can't repair or make more bronze tools or weapons. Without those improved implements, you can't support the population that depended on them. This is one of the pillars of the bronze age collapse. Invasion, climate (both drought and earthquakes), and tin shortage. These things combined to cause governments and empires to fall, population decline, and a dearth of the bronze tools. This is the Bronze Age Collapse. Your narrow interpretation of what "collapse" means is the only way this video could be made. You even used the word "collapse" when talking about the fall of the Hittite Empire.

I think it's important not to underplay the traditional narrative if you're going to argue the devil's advocate. For instance, the idea that 'the Sea Peoples' were just localised pirates is a pretty bold claim. Especially given it's widely accepted that one of the groups of Sea Peoples, the Peleset, became the Philistines, and settled in the Near East with a very distinctive and regionally alien material culture. Whether or not these invasions can be blamed for the Bronze Age Collapse or not, they certainly happened in some form. You're on more solid ground arguing for a complex series of interrelated factors initiating the cataclysm. Given the sheer number of historical polities that were wiped off the map however, it's certainly a sharp turning point in history. It feels like a collapse, the collapse of the first, fledgling international trade world. The civilizations that emerged afterwards in the early Iron Age were very different, as you alluded to.

It would be silly to think there was no such thing as collapse, because there was. Greece abandoned the writing system for nearly 400 years, and many palatial centers were, indeed, destroyed, maybe not by raiders, but by the citizens who were tired of their wanax. The Hittite Empire was in decline after 1200 BC and the capital was, not only abandoned, but sacked and burned by the Kaska tribe. Kassite Babylon saw its end when the elamited invaded and burned the whole city. Assyria shrunk in size, yet it survived because of its geographical location, and the egyptians managed to repel the sea people who, most likely, sacked Ugarit. There was a system collapse, many urban centers in Canaan were replaced by hilltop citadels, suggesting something did happen. You see the rise of the Phillistines, Israel greatest threat. Of course, weather conditions were not the best in those days. This is a good video, but in those things I think it failed to deliver.

The bronze age was such a fascinating time period. The book "1177 B.C. : The Year Civilization Collapsed" is a great read for anyone wanting to read further on the subject.

2:40 why is the position of Pi-Ramesses, Memphis, and Ptolemaic off? All three cities were on the Nile river. Egypt also has way too much territory in the west.

Here's one thing I'd enjoy: Having multiple historytube accounts debate on the whole event. Did it really happen? Were the Sea Peoples from Sardinia? If not, then why did so many empires collapse at around the same time? For instance, Historia Civilis claims that the battle tactics of these Sea Peoples (a running horde) was the perfect counter to chariot warfare and that explains why the entire chariot arms race ended after the Collapse.

What about all the fire damage and arrow heads that were found in many cities such as ugarit and hattusa that were all found to have happened over a period of less than 100 or even 50 years for many palace complexes? And the sos messages found in ugarit that spoke of seeing ships and claiming these invaders had already done damage to their lands? I understand it was a combination of many factors but it still seems to me that one of them factors were unknown "sea peoples" invading and burning many of the coastal palaces and cities. There is also archeological evidence of people retreating to higher more defendable and smaller villages that were very hard to access and very easy to defend from lots of people by very few similar to thermopoly but on a smaller scale. I love your channels but this is somewhat of a rare miss. All in all you consistently nail it though so I cant hold this against you guys and thank you for the amazing channels.

The Middle Assyrian Empire (it's questionable if this period can be called an empire or not but that is a different debate) didn't expand during the Bronze Age Collapse, it expanded with the decline of the Mitanni earlier. Assyria retracted during the Bronze Age Collapse, and much of the early conquests during the Neo-Assyrian period during the Iron Age were often framed as retaking old Assyrian lands that had been lost. And it is still fair to call it the Bronze Age Collapse. The international system of the Late Bronze Age certainly collapse, the Hittites as a state cease to exist, and much of Anatolia entered a dark age so to say where there was no writing. In Greece as well writing stops until they adopt an alphabet again from the Pheoncians during the Iron Age (or maybe the Phrygians). In addition to Assyria retracting, Egypt did as well. It was a combination of factors that compounded and reinforced each other that lead to the Bronze Age collapse. Drought and famine, natural disasters, the Sea Raiders, all played a role in the collapse of the systems that supported the Late Bronze Age.

That map of the Bronze Age powers is quite cursed... So many cities are misplaced...

The Age of Empires thumbnail is lovely.

Hi, I do not know where did you find that theory but it contradicts to known historic and archeology data. ALL cities in Canaan were destroyed or abandoned, and the population left. For ~100 years, this quite important terrirory remained practically uninhabited. And so on and on. The pure facts of collapse are established quite reliably. The collapse reasons are not known.

Shang dynasty, India subcontinents also fell near these times. The nomadic groups did better than sedentary people during the bronze age collapse period. One must review global correlation with causation.

This is an ok discussion on the the Bronze Age collapse, but it is so hurried and you make it seem like things weren't that bad. Entire regions of the Bronze Age Levant and Greece lost basic record keeping and seemingly literacy collapsed. This video is too generalized.

One way to make a career as a historian ist to "question the narrative". Eventually it will be "questioning the narrative" to argue that the term "collapse" is entirely warranted (and that the dark ages were, in fact, quite dark).

My favorite topic 😍 Watching, it will be great as always ❤❤❤

Okay but it's still bizarre that multiple civilisations just crumbled or had gone through major shakeups _in the same time period._ Some warp heckery was afoot.

Love the Age of Empires-style Greek broad swordsman drawn in this video!

I guess it depends on how we define "collapse". There certaintly was a decline or stagnation for most of civilisations at the time. Civilisations come and go all the time, but the fact that it happened for many civilisations at the same time makes it deserving of being called a "collapse" in my book.

Long ago, the bronze civilizations lived in harmony, but everything changed when the sea people attacked

Amazing video as always K&G but just a small note here. Your maps need to coordinate with the time period and should not include anachronistic elements. For example since we are talking about the Bronze Age ( ca 1300 BC ) you shouldn’t include cities that ere founded later such as Byzantium (659 BC ) or Ptolemais ( founded by the Ptolemaic dynasty in the 3rd century BC ) . Keep up with your standing work 💪💪

Yes obviously - lots of kingdoms disappeared in a short period of time. Was it entirely due to the "sea peoples" likely no - the invasions of the sea peoples was likely a result of the climatic changes at the time that led ot the collapse, was it a complete collapse, no the Assyrians and the Egyptians survivied it but it did destroy the system that had existed before and as systems reformed it would not be the same...

I'm not saying it was aliens...

I found the ending vague, especially in comparison to the animation of trade routes earlier. I would have liked to see a map of what cities and trade networks survived, and perhaps what differentiated the survivors. Also, how crucial to the re-emergence of empires was iron? What determined the length of the interregnum between the bronze and iron ages? Couldn't empires have been re-established based on the old trading networks once the Sea Peoples got tired of raiding? Or did the climate need to shift back?

Thanks for this video, this is a topic really fascinating and gives you a glimpse into the posibilities of what could had happen, amazing work!

13:30 is this an Age of Empires 1 reference?

At some point one of the videos in this channel had to be bad, I guess... I won't go over the maps, which are a bit questionable, especially the appearance of lydia and with those borders, together with the hittite empire... but more importantly, the bronze age collapse has plenty of areas that can be speculated upon, but not the fact that is was an actual collapse. Contrary to what the video says, we do have the evidence. Cities razed or abandoned, the hittite empire falling, the lack of written material in areas that previously had plenty of it, and many other things all occurring in the span of a few decades in different regions. A combination of things turned greece and anatolia upside down and affected the nearby regions too, all in the span of a generation or two. It's clearly not a simple "invasion", but it still was a radical change.

Nice Age of Empires 1 reference with the thumbnail! 🙂👍

im obsessed with the bronze age collapse. is there a playlist for this?

Glad to see you doing some more Bonze Age stuff, that's a fascinating time period.

As usual, it wasn’t just one thing. It was a perfect storm that spent nearly a century brewing.

I love you guys dearly but this was an utterly unconvincing presentation and it did not address any of the strongest evidence suggesting total catastrophic collapse, especially in the case of the Mycaneans

Thank you for this episode, iv resently got to this point in my studies, it's like you red my mind, or recently saw iv been listening to certain videos in my sleep 😂 thank you. 🙏

Great as always! you never stop learning watching Kings and Generals

I love your channel! It's great material for history enthusiasts. I was delighted when you used aloud for your video on languages. I thought I'd finally be able to share your content with my father, who speaks only Portuguese. Is there a reason for you not using aloud in other videos? I'm sure you'd have a big audience here in Brazil.

Great job, I have been sub for some time now, very good inded

intelligent and carefully researched analysis - thank you

3:40 On the map Halicarnassus is shown in place of Attaleia.

When I see maps like in this video I start to cringe out and call for Inquisition to burn that map author on the stake, preferably with Greek Fire. Love Kings and Generals as an old subscriber since this channel was small, but that maps sometimes... I just want to blind myself out like in the good byzantine fashion of old.

this is my all time fav topic. thank you.

"we stopped using palaces" while life continues as usual in the archeological record makes me believe it's more a leadership/elite crisis not a societal collapse from below.

I've been waiting for this for so long

I thought it was the late bronze age eruption of Santorini, leading to earthquakes and climate change in greece, turning the warlike Mycenaean into the sea people who disrupted the trade networks and resulting in many city states that rely on trade to fail and its people to adapt a more sustenance based economy and not international trade.

I'm sorry but the images mostly depict Classical Greece and not the Bronze Age. I know we now tend to question everything and "deconstruct" every concept, but an utter loss of economic, political and literary consistency, whether local or widespread, is a collapse. Even if not total, and even if we see eventual recovery in some areas, decline of major languages and written culture is what we would normally consider a collapse. And what happened during the Bronze Age Collapse in the Eastern Mediterranean, in a matter of sheer scale, barely has happened anywhere else except for the collapse of indigenous cultures in America during the first two centuries after the arrival of Columbus.

Is that thumbnail a reference to the game cover for age of empires 1?! Ah man I remember that game so fondly...

I dont really agree with the conclusion of this video but the fact that someone wants to discuss the topic and has the guts to go against tranditional narrative is usually positive imho. So good job on the video and keep up the good work. Ancient history is where i personally want this channel to go so :thumbs up:

Great video! It's a topic that bears watching.

I would enjoy more future videos on the various cultures of this time period. Thank you for another interesting video here too! I do enjoy the ancient history vids. Stay well out there everybody, and God bless you, friends. ✝️ :)

Iron Age collapse is like this phrase “ if my neighbor losses there job it’s a recession, if I lose my job it’s a depression” hitites we’re in collapse and other powerful nation took a hit but we’re able to pull thru

Good videos!!!

Very nice artwork here!

Very informative documentary.

That Age Of Empires thumbnail brings back so many memories.

Love Your vids !

Great video 👌👏👏

Excellent vid

Sweet! Great subject.

This episode has the BEST segue to the sponsor ad...like EVER. It has beaten the ads for NordVPN and Manscaped (which used to be my number 1 & 2 respectively)...kudos K&G team!!

Great. As always...

I agree with your assessment the "sea peoples" did not cause what we term the "Bronze Age Collapse". That said, the video is vague and unconvincing. IMO, the primary reason was environmental and it was widespread enough to near-simultaneously affect the entire Mediterranean and Mesopotamian regions. Lastly: I love ancient history. Whether I agree with the material or not, your videos on that period are why I subscribe to this channel.

I like that the Hoplite art from the thumbnail was taken from the cover art of Age of Empires 1. Nice little reference 👍🏻

Kings and Generals always trying to catch me on the next one, but I keep running

Love the channel, can I just point out one quick grammar correction: If you say "with whom" you don't need to add the "with" at the end of the clause. I.e. "With whom they interacted" not "with whom they interacted with". It's like nails on a chalkboard every time I hear it.

Eric Cline has a very entertaining lecture on the collapse of the bronze Age

That’s what I love about history, we are always discovering new information that constantly keeps shaping history keeping the great never ending story going. Thanks kings for keeping the story told. 👍

Poor Elam, no one ever talks about Elam.

The idea about cities still having people when some participated in the raids is a quite simplified. Many of those places did continue, but also grew much much smaller, signifying a large population drop

Didn’t mention the earth cooling due to volcanic activity. Didn’t mention trade of tin broken. ‘You need tin to make bronze-you need bronze to till areas of farmland’. Which are the reasons for Bronze Age collapse

Loving the video thumbnail being a call-back to Age of Empires!

How was this released two days ago. Also, incredible animations.

I like that Age of Empires hoplite at the front of the thumbnail there.

I don't think that there's a better, complete history channel like this one on RU-vid. I truly appreciate that you take your time to talk about diverse issues, or subjects.

All you blessed souls that are a team that makes these montages happens . Your efforts are appreciated. Blessings be upon you in real life . Your word and world wide effort is and has been appreciated. Sorrow is not be ignored but even in our modern age it's just a little bit of history repeating. Anyhow have a nice day and most importantly stay free

Good Video.

Interesting!

Very good work and amazing storytelling, but as a Greek i grew learning that for centuries after Mycenaean collapse we have not a single evidence of writing or skill pottery, actually pottery found after Mycenaean collapse is described as pre-archaic based of the artisan skills, like they tried to create something that they found and copy it rather as a skill passed on

I just wonder what if our society just collapse in such a manner that we might not even get a chance of understanding what actually happened. People in our time always boast about our technology but how many times has it occurred when people were utmost prepared but still lost everything.

Thanks!

I'm usually pretty forgiving of the maps, and usually they are pretty good, but I have to say this time, they are pretty awful. Pretty much not a single city is in the correct location - sometimes far from it, as in the case of all those Egyptian cities well away from the Nile and way out in the Libyan desert. To say nothing of completely anachronistic cities like Byzantium, Ptolemais, and Cairo (!).

That Greek warrior from the Age of Empires box art

Age of Empires reference in the thumbnail, nice!

Thank you , K&G . 🐺

I very much enjoyed this video off the back of many standard bronze age collapse videos and the hypothesis you put forward here and I am inclined to agree with, I think the Odyssey provides circumstantial evidence to the raids of cities etc - Ithaca is described as a standard sedentary Greek society primarily based on agriculture that finds it totally acceptable, indeed admirable, to supplement its economy with piracy.

Did you think you could use the Age of Empires cover art and nobody would notice 😉

I like videos like this that stimulate such interesting comments.

Excellent documentary, K & G! You've outdone yourself once again in making a difficult scholarly debate insightful through an interesting nuanced video.

I saw that AOE reference, K & G!

3:41 wait...Byzantium (and possibly Halicarnassus and Ephesus) shouldnt exist during the bronze age...

This was a fun video

Fantastic video keep it up your doing amazing job

Plz do a video on Indus valley civilizations and how was life there and what happened to them.

These videos are great, but could you PLEASE start listing sources in the description? Some of us want to read more!

Microsoft and ensemble studios need to come after y’all for drawing that guy like that!

I was wondering if the dates are to close to when Thera massively erupted. It destroyed most of the island, it had to be big. So I wonder if it started the downhill spire, that devastated all the Mediterranean.

As an aged Bronze boy myself, this video really means alot to me