Summary of After 1177 B.C. by Eric H. Cline: The Survival of Civilizations

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Summary of After 1177 B.C. by Eric H. Cline: The Survival of Civilizations

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After 1177 B.C. is a sequel to Eric Cline's 1177 B.C., detailing the aftermath of the collapse of the Late Bronze Age civilizations in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. The book explores the resilience, transformation, and success of these societies in an age of chaos and reconfiguration. It highlights the collapse of powerful civilizations, leading to the emergence of new world orders and innovations like the use of iron and the alphabet. The book offers lessons for today's world about why some societies survive massive shocks while others do not, and why this period was a new age with new inventions and opportunities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookRix
• Release date: Apr 20, 2024
• ISBN: 9783755475491

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PROLOGUE

Welcome to the Iron Age

The Mycenaean civilization was quickly put out of business by the fierce Dorian warriors after 1200 BC. Early archaeologists and historians in modern Greece embraced the concept of a Dorian invasion, which brought new types of pins, brooches, burials, pottery, and iron swords. This story became part of the established account in textbooks on ancient Greece and still figures prominently in various compilations. However, it probably never happened. The existence of a Dorian invasion was questioned as long as 1966, and it continues to be questioned today.

None of the evidence mentioned above requires the arrival of a new people to explain its existence. Some innovations, such as Naue II swords and violin-bow fibulae, are now known to have already begun in the Bronze Age. Other innovations, such as mastering the technology of ironmaking, only came about after the destruction of the palaces. Mycenaean-style pottery continued for another century and a half after things began collapsing until the middle of the eleventh century BC.

There is also significant evidence of continuity during this period, despite the sudden and total failure of the political and economic systems that had been in place on mainland Greece during the Bronze Age. Archaeological surveys have indicated a dramatic drop in population on mainland Greece immediately after the Collapse. Some survivors simply moved to new areas in Greece or even further away, migrating east to areas such as Cyprus or Canaan or west to Italy, Sardinia, or Sicily.

The Bronze Age Collapse, often referred to as the first dark age, may not have been the most accurate description of life in the region after the Dorian invasion. Scholars have long considered this period as an age of total illiteracy, poverty, poor communications, and isolation. However, archaeologist Willie Coulson argued that there is no universal definition for a dark age, and that it was a state of stagnation or decline. A dark age can be defined as a time during which a civilization undergoes a decline, with criteria such as the collapse of the central administrative organization, disappearance of the traditional elite class, breakdown of the centralized economy, settlement shift, population decline, loss of writing, and pause in monumental architecture construction.

Joseph Tainter explains that a systematic collapse of a civilization or society often leads to a decline in artistic and literary features, economic activity, and population levels. The Greek poet Hesiod lamented his existence during this period, leading to the moniker Iron Age for this period. The question remains whether this was a dark age or if it should be seen as something else, considering the individuals who made up those societies.

The Year of the Hyenas, When Men Starved

In 1155 BC, Pharaoh Ramses III of Egypt was assassinated by a knife to his throat. The Harem Conspiracy, now known as the Harem Conspiracy, was a sordid harem conspiracy set in motion by one of his wives, Tiye, and a lesser son named Pentawere. The details of the four trials of the accused conspirators were