The Ancient Near East and Bronze Age world covers the roughly two thousand years, from about 3200 to 1200 BCE, in which the first cities, states, writing systems and empires arose in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Levant, Anatolia and the eastern Mediterranean. It takes its name from bronze, an alloy of copper and tin that was the era's dominant material for tools and weapons, and whose trade networks linked civilizations from Britain to Afghanistan. Sumerian city states, Egypt under the pharaohs, the Hittite empire in Anatolia, Babylon under Hammurabi, and Mycenaean Greece all flourished within this period, developing law codes, monumental architecture, organized religion and long distance diplomacy conducted partly in cuneiform, a shared diplomatic script. The era ends with the Bronze Age Collapse, a still debated wave of destructions, migrations and state failures around 1200 to 1150 BCE that brought down or badly weakened almost every major power of the eastern Mediterranean within a few decades.
Facts
Disputed
Start YearMarked conventionally by the earliest Sumerian cuneiform writing, around 3200 BCE, the same regional boundary that closes prehistory. Historians disagree on whether the boundary belongs at the invention of writing or at the emergence of the first true cities somewhat earlier. End YearThe Bronze Age Collapse unfolded over decades rather than a single year, roughly 1200 to 1150 BCE, and its causes, including drought, invasion by the so called Sea Peoples, internal revolt and the breakdown of trade networks, remain actively debated among historians and archaeologists. Geographic ScopeCentered on Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Levant, Anatolia and the eastern Mediterranean, including Mycenaean Greece. The periodization does not describe East Asia, South Asia or the Americas, each of which had its own, differently timed Bronze Age or none at all; China's Bronze Age, for instance, is conventionally dated centuries later and organized around the Shang and early Zhou dynasties rather than this era's own boundary events. 1 The Ancient Near East and Bronze Age World
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Connections
Includes
Source The Cambridge Ancient History
Source Code of Hammurabi, Wikipedia
Source Wikipedia: Code of Ur-Nammu
Source Ipuwer Papyrus, Wikipedia
Source Wikipedia: Karnak King List
Source Merneptah Stele - Wikipedia
Source Wikipedia: Palermo Stone
Source Wikipedia: Prisse Papyrus
Source Wikipedia: Shang dynasty
Source The Cambridge Ancient History
Placed in its broad period by the atlas SubLabel and dated range
Source The Cambridge Ancient History
Placed in its broad period by the atlas SubLabel and dated range
Placed in its broad period by the atlas SubLabel and dated range
Placed in its broad period by the atlas SubLabel and dated range
Placed in its broad period by the atlas SubLabel and dated range
Placed in its broad period by the atlas SubLabel and dated range
Placed in its broad period by the atlas SubLabel and dated range
Source Turin King List (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Victory Stele of Naram-Sin
Source Wikipedia: Weld-Blundell Prism
Source Wikipedia: Xia dynasty
Preceded By
Why this is disputed. Chalcolithic to Bronze Age transition is dated differently by region
Succeeded By
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Arabian Horse, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Bactrian Camel, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Cacao, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Chicken, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Coconut, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Domestic Pigeon, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Duck, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Garlic, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Karakul Sheep, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Lima Bean, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Oil Palm, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Pearl Millet, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Pomegranate, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Rouen Duck, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Rye, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Safflower, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Shetland Pony, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Silkworm, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Sunflower, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Sweet Potato, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Ulluco, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Water Buffalo, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Watermelon, era of origin for there.
- Also in Agriculture and Farming Atlas: Western Honey Bee, era of origin for there.
- Also in Architecture and Design Atlas: Column, era of origin for there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Africa, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Anatolia, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Asia, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: East Asia, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Europe, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Mesopotamia, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: South Asia, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: The Levant, found in there.
- Also in Home, Crafts and Hobbies Atlas: Billhook, era of origin for there.
- Also in Home, Crafts and Hobbies Atlas: Mattock, era of origin for there.
Sources
1. The Cambridge Ancient History
Cambridge University PressVol. I-II, The Ancient Near East
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Wikipedia
WikipediaSucceeded By: The Iron Age, Iron Age, succession from the Bronze AgeQuote, Succeeded By: The Iron Age, Iron Age, succession from the Bronze Age
The Iron Age (c. 1200 BC - c. 550 BC) is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Copper Age and Bronze Age.
Wikipedia: Shang dynasty
WikipediaIncludes: Shang dynasty, lead paragraph and infobox, existence datesQuote, Includes: Shang dynasty, lead paragraph and infobox, existence dates
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the 2nd millennium
Wikipedia: Xia dynasty
WikipediaIncludes: Xia dynasty, lead paragraph and infobox, existence datesQuote, Includes: Xia dynasty, lead paragraph and infobox, existence dates
The Xia dynasty (, ; ) is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. Some scholars, especially Western historians and Sinologists,
Merneptah Stele - Wikipedia
Includes: Merneptah Stele, lead paragraph and infobox, dateQuote, Includes: Merneptah Stele, lead paragraph and infobox, date
Infobox date: c. 1208 BCE
Wikipedia: Palermo Stone
Includes: Palermo Stone, lead paragraph and infobox, dateQuote, Includes: Palermo Stone, lead paragraph and infobox, date
Infobox date: circa 2450 BC
Ipuwer Papyrus, Wikipedia
Includes: Ipuwer Papyrus, lead paragraph and infobox, dateQuote, Includes: Ipuwer Papyrus, lead paragraph and infobox, date
Infobox date: circa 1250 BCE
Code of Hammurabi, Wikipedia
Includes: Code of Hammurabi, lead paragraph and infobox, dateQuote, Includes: Code of Hammurabi, lead paragraph and infobox, date
Infobox date: c. 1753 BC; time interval--1753 ago
Wikipedia: Code of Ur-Nammu
WikipediaIncludes: Code of Ur-Nammu, lead paragraph and infobox, dateQuote, Includes: Code of Ur-Nammu, lead paragraph and infobox, date
Infobox date: c. 2100 BC
Turin King List (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIncludes: Turin King List, lead paragraph and infobox, dateQuote, Includes: Turin King List, lead paragraph and infobox, date
Infobox date: circa 1245 BC
Wikipedia: Weld-Blundell Prism
Includes: Weld-Blundell Prism, lead paragraph and infobox, dateQuote, Includes: Weld-Blundell Prism, lead paragraph and infobox, date
Infobox date: c. 1800 BC
Wikipedia: Victory Stele of Naram-Sin
Includes: Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, lead paragraph and infobox, dateQuote, Includes: Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, lead paragraph and infobox, date
Infobox date: circa 2250 BC in Sippar
Wikipedia: Prisse Papyrus
Includes: Prisse Papyrus, lead paragraph and infobox, dateQuote, Includes: Prisse Papyrus, lead paragraph and infobox, date
Infobox date: c. 2000 BC
Wikipedia: Karnak King List
Includes: Karnak King List, lead paragraph and infobox, dateQuote, Includes: Karnak King List, lead paragraph and infobox, date
Infobox date: circa 1450 BC
Dissenting Readings (2 dissenting readings)
End Year
Eric Cline's 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (2014) argues that treating circa 1200 BCE as a single dateable endpoint overstates the precision of the evidence. Cline holds that no single cause, including the Sea Peoples invasions traditionally credited with ending the Bronze Age world, explains the collapse, but rather a cascading systems failure across decades: earthquakes, drought, famine, internal revolt and the severing of the interdependent trade networks that had sustained Egypt, the Hittites, Mycenae, Cyprus and the Levantine states together. On this reading, the Bronze Age world did not end in a year so much as unravel over a generation.
A dissenting reading, from Eric Cline and the systems-collapse schoolEric H. Cline, 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Cline, 2014), Princeton University Press, 2014
Description
Historian Robert Drews argues the Bronze Age Collapse is best explained by a revolution in warfare rather than a multi-causal combination of factors: the sudden, widespread adoption of massed infantry using new weapons and armor overwhelmed the chariot-based militaries of the palace states, a single dominant mechanism rather than the climate-and-systems-collapse synthesis (associated with Eric Cline and others) that the entity description above summarizes as the current near-consensus.
A dissenting reading, from Robert DrewsWikipedia: Late Bronze Age Collapse, Wikipedia
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