Bronze Age Collapse
Violent, sudden and culturally disruptive phenomena, expressed by the collapse of economies, societies, factors of influence and stability in the Aegean, Anatolia and Levant territories, which were replaced after a hiatus by the isolated village cultures of the Dark Age period of history was defined by historians as Bronze Age Collapse.
The Bronze Age collapse may be seen in the context of a technological history that saw the slow, comparatively continuous spread of iron-working technology in the region, beginning with precocious iron-working in what is now Romania in the 13th and 12th centuries [1] . The cultural collapse of the Mycenaean kingdoms, the Hittite Empire in Anatolia and Syria, and the Egyptian Empire in Syria and Palestine, bringing the scission of long-distance trade contacts and sudden eclipse of literacy, occurred between 1206 and 1150 BCE. In the first phase of this period, almost every city between Troy and Gaza was violently destroyed, and often left unoccupied thereafter .
The gradual end of the Dark Age that ensued saw the rise of settled Neo-Hittite Aramaean kingdoms of the mid-10th century BCE, and the rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
By c. 1190 BCE, the Philistines arrived and mingled with the local population, losing their separate identity over several generations [2] . Though the Biblical tradition holds that the Israelites arrived in Canaan from Egypt, archaeology provides strong evidence that they emerged from among the local population existent there at the time; these events are generally dated to between the 13th and 12th centuries BCE.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the late 13th, the 12th and the early 11th centuries BCE witnessed the foundation of perhaps hundreds of insignificant, unprotected village settlements, many in the mountains of Palestine. From around the 11th century BCE, there was a reduction in the number of villages, though this was counterbalanced by the rise of certain settlements to the status of fortified townships.
Developments in Canaan between 1250 and 900 BCE have been the focus of debate between those who accept the Hebrew Bible (OT) version on the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes, and those who reject it. Niels Peter Lemche, of the Copenhagen School of Biblical Studies, submits that the picture of ancient Israel “is contrary to any image of ancient Palestinian society that can be established on the basis of ancient sources from Palestine or referring to Palestine and that there is no way this image in the Bible can be reconciled with the historical past of the region.” [3]
Others point to David’s Palace [4] the sacrificial site at Shechem [5] and the Merneptah Stele [6] and Mesha Stele [7] among others, as providing some archaeological evidence of a nation that bears a resemblance to the Biblical Israel
We’ll make our best to told the story from our point of view, engaging all the new evidences available, without prejudice, objectively as possible.
NOTES:
[1] See A. Stoia and the other essays in M.L. Stig Sørensen and R. Thomas, eds., The Bronze Age—Iron Age Transition in Europe (Oxford) 1989, and T.H. Wertime and J.D. Muhly, The Coming of the Age of Iron (New Haven) 1980.
[2] Carl S. Ehrlich “Philistines” The Oxford Guide to People and Places of the Bible. Ed. Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.
[3] Niels Peter Lemche. On the Problems of Reconstructing Pre-Hellenistic Israelite (Palestinian) History. Journal of Hebrew Scriptures.
[4] Eilat Mazar: Uncovering King David’s Palace
[5] Matthew Sturgis, It ain’t necessarily so, ISBN 0-7472-4510-X
[6] Stager, Lawrence E., “Forging an Identity: The Emergence of Ancient Israel” in Michael Coogan ed. The Oxford History of the Biblical World, Oxford University Press, 2001. p.92
[7] Baruch Margalit, “Studies in NWSemitic Inscriptions”, Ugarit-Forschungen 26, p. 275
Anatolia and Mesopotamia in the Late Bronze Age a Short Preview [8]
The Hittites at the Beginning of the Late Bronze. The Indo-European group known as the Hittites established themselves within the curve of the Halys River in central Anatolia during the late third and second millennia. From their capital at Hattusas in the northern central steppes, they created a strong kingdom that, by the end of the Middle Bronze Age, was capable of projecting its power beyond Anatolia. The Hittite king Hattusilis I moved into north Syria, destroying Alalakh and attacking Aleppo, the capital of Yamhad, the regions major power. His successor, Mursilis I, was able to destroy Aleppo, thus ending the kingdom of Yamhad. More impressive is Mursilis’ feat of moving an army down the Euphrates to sack the city of Babylon in about 1595 BCE. The latter feat ended the dynasty of the Amorites in Babylon. Unfortunately for the Hittites, the assassination of Mursilis was followed by continual internal struggles and the Anatolian nation temporarily receded from the spotlight by about 1500 BCE. [9]
The Kassites. The Late Bronze periods in Mesopotamia saw little activity with a direct impact on the biblical story. The Hittite raid on Babylon in 1595 BCE had ended the old Amorite Dynasty. By the mid fifteenth century, the Kassites consolidated their rule over the city, which continued for another 250 years. Though the Kassites were of non-Semitic origin and newcomers to Mesopotamia, they thoroughly adopted Babylonian culture and played a major role in the compiling and editing of Mesopotamian literature. In this, they have an indirect, but significant, impact on archaeology’s contribution to biblical studies. The Kassites of Babylon were not militarily active, and political initiative during this period passed to the Egyptians and Hittites in the west and to the Hurrians and, later, Assyria in the north. Jumping, for a moment, to the end of the period, Kassite power waned in the late thirteenth century in the face of Assyrian and Elamite attacks. The latter group carried away two of Babylon’s most famous monuments: the Stele of Naram-Sin and the stele bearing the Law Code of Hammurabi. These objects were found in excavations of Susa in Persia.
Mitanni. With the decline of Babylonian military interests in northern Mesopotamia, Hurrian elements took advantage of the opportunity to fill the vacuum. The Hurrians, like the Kassites, originated from the mountains north and east of Mesopotamia. In the Late Bronze period, the Hurrians became quite numerous and could be found over a wide geographical area. The biblical Horites may be Hurrian elements resident in Canaan. Politically, the Hurrians were dominated in the Late Bronze by nobles of a chariot-owning warrior class—with many Indo-Aryan features—called maryannu. The initial establishment of a number of Hurrian power centers was followed by their consolidation into a Hurrian kingdom called Mitanni. The capital was located at Wasukanni, which has not been positively identified. Mitanni rapidly expanded at the beginning of the Late Bronze to become the most powerful state in western Mesopotamia and North Syria. Thus, it came into contact and conflict with other nations which were expanding during this period. While Mitanni enjoyed initial success against the Hittites of Anatolia, she met a more formidable foe in Egypt.
NOTES:
[8] ON CHRONOLOGIES: The precise dates of the Egyptian Dynasties and of individual reigns are still the subject of much scholarly debate. The readers should therefore be aware that the dates shown for the dynasties and individual reigns throughout this book may sometimes differ to the dates that are used in other publications. Every attempt has been made to ensure the accuracy of the above list, however chronologies do differ slightly from source to source, particularly regarding the Intermediate Periods. Recent literature, both scholarly and fringe has suggested alternative changes in the chronology of Ancient Egypt, many of which are currently unacceptable to most academics and scholars. Our dates are based on what is called today “Conventional (Low) Chronology”, founded on Shaw, Ian., The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2000. & Kitchen Kenneth A., The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100–650 BCE). 3rd ed. Warminster: Aris & Phillips Limited 1996.
[9] J. G. Macqueen, The Hittites and Their Contemporaries in Asia Minor, rev. ed. (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1986), 44.