Introduction:
Eric H Cline’s 1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed is a book that caught my attention when I chanced upon a powerpoint lecture that he gave at NCAS. I have always been fascinated by the rise and fall of civilizations in the Middle East and their interplay. This seemed to be an episode that was pivotal and uncanny. An unknown group of people coming down from dark corners of the unexplored world to wreak havoc and cause the permanent weakening of the great powers overwhelmed me personally. My curiosity had been aroused to an extent where I decided that I did not want to miss this book.
Background:
The book starts by giving a detailed background of the ancient Middle East (Near East) during the time period 1800 BC to 1200 BC. The civilised world is quite old by then; the pyramids have existed for more than a millenium, Hammurabi’s code has been written and the Akkadian empire has risen and fallen leaving behind a language that is the lingua franca of the known world. The ebb and flow of history brings to the fore several key powers during this time period and the book delves into great depths about all of them. The most important of them being the Egyptians, the Hittites (in central Anatolia), the Mittani (South East Anatolia and Northern Syria), the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Canannites (in the Levantine coast) and the Minoans who later become subsumed by the Mycenaeans.
Image Source: Ancient History Encylopedia; The Mittani (South Eastern Anatolia) were destroyed by Assyria & Hitties by 1200 BC & Cannanites (Levantine coast) are not shown in the map since they are ruled by Egyptians & Hittites at this time.
How the powers coexisted:
These powers fiercely competed with each other, built alliances, married into families, sponsored rebellions in rival states and conducted robust trade. These tales are wonderfully reconstructed in this book and there is great emphasis on the fact that the world at this point was a very interconnected ‘complex system’. There was robust trade being conducted via sea throughout the eastern Mediterranean and also through land based caravans that passed through the deserts of the ancient Middle East. Being the bronze age, valuable commodities such as copper from Cyprus and tin from Bactria were valued for their strategic purpose and were traded in the hundreds of tons.
The book provides a fascinating window into the discovery of these secrets through the eyes of archeologists and textual sources. Several stories that have been recovered from clay tablets are retold and a fascinating picture of diplomatic correspondences and daily life is rebuilt in the pages. The hard work, adventurous spirit and commitment of several archeologists in the 19th and 20th century are recounted in great detail. New possibilities and interpretations of old tales such as the Trojan war also emerge while recounting the history of the Hittites and the Greeks.
What happened in 1177 BC?
The collapse in 1177 BC, as obvious from the title, is a topic that the book delves into in great detail towards the end. This book is an attempt to lay out a thesis that is different in substance from the earlier understanding of the events in 1177 BC. The most widely known imagery so far is of the emergence of a strange horde, the ‘Sea Peoples’, who invaded the established civilizations during this time. They landed from the sea and conducted surprise raids; leaving many powers destroyed and others (such as Egypt and Assyria) permanently weakened. This book gives an alternative perspective. These civilizations were quite weak by the 1200s from repeated disasters including earthquake storms, sustained droughts & famine, trade collapse and internal rebellions. The author ultimately touches upon the idea of a systemic collapse which was driven by a multiplier effect from the previously mentioned factors. The idea is that the reasons for the collapse was far less linear and more messy; with the system of these civilizations becoming so complex (not unlike the stock market) that they were susceptible to catastrophes which in many ways might have been inevitable.
Sites destroyed around 1200 BC (lectures of Gregory Mumford, 2018)
Summary
In a nutshell, 1177 BC is a fascinating tale of the ancient Middle East and the end of the Bronze age civilizations of the second millennium BC. The book can be quite daunting for a casual reader as the details that are delved into are deep and may seem unnecessary. The audience for the book includes academicians and hence is written by recounting historical facts and figures in great detail. Descriptions of the powers, their interaction and the complex world that they inhabited is described in depth while the collapse is described only towards the end. This book can be taken as an opportunity to tour the ancient Middle East during the first millennium and not just for the tale of the collapse.
I strongly recommend the Audiobook available on Audible since the author has read it out himself.
About Adithya
Adithya is a Mechanical Engineering graduate from IIT Madras. He is based out of Chennai and is currently engaged in the pursuit of building his own startup. He’s an amateur historian with a keen interest in strategy & warfare, history of the Steppe and ancient civilizations.