1177 BC, Eric H. Cline, 2024 -- Princeton Press

See Turning Points In Ancient History, a book series. Link here.

I would have expected more books; there are only four right now. Two by Eric H. Cline. One by Colin Elliott; and, one by Anthony A. Barrett. Both of Cline's books are titled 1177 BC with different subtitles -- one dealing with the collapse itself, and the other about the civilizations that survived.

Summary:

• collapse of Egypt due to invasion of Sea Peoples;
• Egypt first attacked by Sea Peoples in 1207 BC: probably six to seven groups of people
• a second time, 1177 but Egypt repelled them
• for Egypt, it was a Pyrrhic victory; Egypt never recovered
• end of the Late Bronze Age: all combatants, both sides, had bronze weapons; no iron weapons yet.
• but not only Egypt collapsed but entire region
• did not recover for centuries
• often called the "First Dark Age"

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The Book Page

First, in passing, the Bronze Age, link here.

• material culture
• Bronze Age: third phase (Europe, Asia, the Middle East)
• follows the Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) and the Neolithic (New Stone Age)
• first period in which metal was used
• Greece/China: began before 3000 BCE
• Britain: 1900 BCE
• beginning of the period sometimes called Chalcolithic (copper-stone) Age
• use of copper known in eastern Anatolia (Turkey) by 6500 BCE)
• by 3500 BCE: copper tools / weapons --> urbanization of Mesoptomia
• by 3000 BCE: use of copper throughout the Middle East, Mediterranean and entering the European Neolithic cultures
• early copper phase is commonly thought of as part of the Bronze Age (copper + tin)
• 1500 BCE: bronze common, invention of the wheel; ox-drawn plow
• 1000 BCE: ability to heat and forge another metal, iron --> end of Bronze Age and beginning of Iron Age

Now, comes two books about 1177 BC, the fall of Egypt, and end of civilization, by Erick H. Cline, Princeton University Press.

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The Sea People

Toward the end of the Bronze Age, "Sea People" invaded eastern Anatolia (Turkey), particularly 1200 BCE (note date of Trojan War)

Trojan War: ends the Bronze Age.

Sea People ended the Hittite Empire.

The Hittite Empire, a dominant force in the Near East between the 15th and 13th centuries (1400 - 1200) BC, emerged in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) and expanded into northern Syria, rivaling the Egyptian and Babylonian empires.

Egyptians waged two wars against the Sea Peoples:

• 1236 - 1223 BCE, King Merneptah; and,
• 1198- 1166 BCE, Ramses III, 

That is the subject of 1177 B.C. by Eric H. Cline.

Tentative identifications of the Sea Peoples listed in Egyptian documents:

• Ekwesh
• Bronze Age Greeks (Achaeans; Ahhiyawa in Hittite texts)
• think Trojan War
  
• Teresh, Tyrrhenians:
• sailors and pirates from Anatolia; ancestors of the Etruscans
• Luka
• a coastal people of western Anatolia; classical Lyci on wouthwest corner of Anatolia
• Sherden
• probably Sardinians (Sardinians, not sardines)
  
• Shekelesh
• probably identical to the Sicilian tribe, the Siculi
• Peleset
• Philistines, who perhaps came from Crete and were the only major tribe of teh Sea Peopls to settle permanently in Palestine

This becomes part of Sophia's "15-minute binder."