1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed: Revised and Updated (Turning Points in Ancient History Book 6)

In 1177 B.C., groups known as the "Sea Peoples" invaded Egypt. Though the pharaoh's forces defeated them, the victory weakened Egypt significantly, and most surrounding civilizations entered decline. Within decades, the Bronze Age civilized world collapsed. The Minoans, Mycenaeans, Trojans, Hittites, and Babylonians disappeared. Writing systems, technology, and monumental architecture vanished across the region stretching from Greece to Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Sea Peoples alone could not have caused such widespread destruction. Eric Cline examines multiple interconnected causes of this collapse, including invasion, revolt, earthquakes, drought, and disrupted international trade routes. He describes the vibrant multicultural world of the Late Bronze Age and explains how the civilizations' interdependence ultimately hastened their dramatic fall and initiated a dark age lasting centuries. Cline combines narrative with recent scholarship to illuminate the complex relationships that both sustained and destroyed the Late Bronze Age civilizations, setting the stage for classical Greece's emergence.