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100-624: The period was ruled by non-native Egyptians and is viewed as one of decline and political instability including division of the state, coinciding with the Late Bronze Age collapse of civilizations in the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean (including the Greek Dark Ages ). The period of the Twenty-first Dynasty is characterized by the country's fracturing kingship. Already during Ramesses XI 's reign,

200-516: A destroyed palace or central structure, a change in location of living quarters and burial sites demonstrates a significant recession. Furthermore, the increase in fortification at this site suggests much fear of the decline in Athens. Vincent Desborough asserts that this is evidence of later migrations away from the city in reaction to its initial decline, although a significant population did remain. It remains possible that this emigration from Athens

300-555: A fortress, after a near defeat at the Battle of Kadesh . During the reign of Merneptah , the Shasu threatened the " Way of Horus " north from Gaza. Evidence shows that Deir Alla ( Succoth ) was destroyed, likely by an earthquake, after the reign of Queen Twosret (r. 1191–1189 BC) though the date of this destruction appears to be much later dating to roughly 1150 BC. There is little evidence that any major city or settlement in

400-595: A greater supply of iron weaponry. This disparity became critical during the Assyrian invasions of Egypt over the period 670–663 BC. Consequently, pharaoh Taharqa 's reign, and that of his successor Tantamani , were filled with constant conflict with the Assyrians. In 664 BC the Assyrians delivered a mortal blow, sacking Thebes and Memphis . Following these events, and starting with Atlanersa , no Kushite ruler would ever rule over Egypt again. Upper Egypt remained for

500-520: A king rejoicing in slaughter. My reign is calmed in peace." With this claim, Ramesses implied that his reign was safe in the wake of the Bronze Age collapse. Egypt's withdrawal from the southern Levant was a protracted process lasting some one hundred years and was most likely a product of the political turmoil in Egypt proper. Many Egyptian garrisons or sites with an "Egyptian governor's residence" in

600-476: A major depopulation. Again, as with many of the sites of destruction in Greece, it is unclear how a lot of this destruction came about. The city of Mycenae for example was initially destroyed in an earthquake in 1250 BC as evidenced by the presence of crushed bodies buried in collapsed buildings. However, the site was rebuilt only to face destruction in 1190 BC as the result of a series of major fires. There

700-529: A particular type of skull-cap crown reminiscent of the shape of Jebel Barkal, which was intended to show how they derived their power from that “Pure Mountain”. The reunited Egyptian empire under the 25th dynasty was as large as it had been since the New Kingdom and ushered in a renaissance. Religion, arts, and architecture were restored to their Old, Middle, and New Kingdom forms. Pharaohs, such as Taharqa , built or restored temples and monuments throughout

800-452: A time under the rule of Taharqa and Tantamani, whilst Lower Egypt was ruled from 664 BC by the nascent 26th Dynasty , client kings established by the Assyrians. In 663 BC, Tantamani launched a full-scale invasion of Lower Egypt, taking Memphis in April of this year, killing Necho I of Sais in the process as Necho had remained loyal to Ashurbanipal. Tantamani barely had the time to receive

900-456: A total of ten complete (or nearly complete) statues in two caches. These statues depicted Taharqa and several of his successors, including Tanwetamani , Senkamanisken, Anlamani , and Aspelta . This discovery was partially accidental, as Reisner had only happened upon the first cache while searching for a prospective dump site. Weeks later, the second cache was found within the nearby Amun temple with several fragments matching the statues in

1000-425: Is a suggestion by Robert Drews that the fires could have been the result of an attack on the site and its palace; however, Eric Cline points out the lack of archaeological evidence for an attack. Thus, while fire was definitely the cause of the destruction, it is unclear what or who caused it. A similar situation occurred Tiryns in 1200 BC, when an earthquake destroyed much of the city including its palace. It

1100-659: Is adjacent to the Jebel Barkal cliff, which has resulted in several rock falls damaging the construction at various points in the third century BC and first century AD. The 18th Dynasty use for this structure is uncertain, though it is known to have functioned as a royal enthronement pavilion during the third century BC. Napata was mentioned in Giuseppe Verdi 's opera Aida (1871) in Act III, when Amonasro uses Aida to learn where Rhadames will lead his army. Napata

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1200-513: Is clear evidence that Ugarit was destroyed in some kind of assault, though the exact assailant is not known. In one residential area called the Ville sud, thirty two arrowheads were found scattered throughout the area while twelve of the arrowheads were found on the streets and in the open spaces. Along with the arrowheads, two lance heads, four javelin heads, five bronze daggers, one bronze sword, and three bronze pieces of armor were scattered throughout

1300-470: Is first concentrated in a centralized bureaucracy before being redistributed according to the sovereign's agenda, a system which primarily benefits the society's elite. This intricate web of dependencies, coupled with the inflexibility of the palace system, exposed these civilizations to the cascading effects of distant disturbances. Many Anatolian sites were destroyed at the Late Bronze Age, and

1400-490: Is highlighted by Robert Drews, who reasons that the destruction was such that Thebes did not resume a significant position in Greece until at least the late 12th century BC. Many other sites offer less conclusive causes; for example it is unclear what happened at Athens, although it is clear that the settlement saw a significant decline during the Bronze Age Collapse. While there is no evidence of remnants of

1500-430: Is likely however that the city continued to be inhabited for some time following the earthquake. As a result, there is a general agreement that earthquakes did not permanently destroy Mycenae or Tiryns because, as is highlighted by Guy Middleton, "Physical destruction then cannot fully explain the collapse". Drews points out that there was continued occupation at these sites, accompanied by attempts to rebuild, demonstrating

1600-555: Is only possible that the palace in Area AA might have been destroyed though this is not certain. While the monumental structures at Hazor were indeed destroyed, this destruction was in the mid-13th century long before the end of the Late Bronze Age began. However, many sites were not burned to the ground around 1200 BC including: Ashkelon, Ashdod, Tell es-Safi, Tel Batash, Tel Burna, Tel Dor, Tel Gerisa, Tell Jemmeh, Khirbet Rabud, Tel Zeror, and Tell Abu Hawam among others. During

1700-472: Is today northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, the fringes of northwestern Iran, and southeastern Turkey. It still retained a stable monarchy, the best army in the world, and an efficient civil administration, enabling it to survive the Bronze Age Collapse intact. Assyrian written records remained numerous and the most consistent in the world during the period, and the Assyrians were still able to mount long range military campaigns in all directions when necessary. From

1800-777: The Akkadian Empire and the Northwest Semitic -speaking Amorites ("Amurru") and the people of Ugarit were prominent among them. Syria during this time was known as "The land of the Amurru". Before and during the Bronze Age Collapse, Syria became a battleground between the Hittites, the Middle Assyrian Empire, the Mitanni and the New Kingdom of Egypt between the 15th and late 13th centuries BC, with

1900-807: The Hittite Empire and eclipsed the Egyptian Empire . At the beginning of the Late Bronze Age collapse, it controlled an empire stretching from the Caucasus Mountains in the north to the Arabian Peninsula in the south, and from Ancient Iran in the east to Cyprus in the west. However, in the 12th century BC, Assyrian satrapies in Anatolia came under attack from the Mushki (who may have been Phrygians ) and those in

2000-682: The Mediterranean and Cyprus . The Arameans and Phrygians were subjugated, and Assyria and its colonies were not threatened by the Sea Peoples who had ravaged Egypt and much of the East Mediterranean, and the Assyrians often conquered as far as Phoenicia and the East Mediterranean . However, after the death of Ashur-bel-kala in 1056, Assyria withdrew to areas close to its natural borders, encompassing what

2100-902: The Sea Peoples and Dorians , the fall of Mycenaean Greece and Kassites in Babylonia , and the carving of the Merneptah Stele —whose inscription included the earliest attested mention of Israel in the southern Levant —as well as the destruction of Ugarit and the Amorite states in the Levant , the fragmentation of the Luwian states of western Anatolia, and a period of chaos in Canaan . The deterioration of these governments interrupted trade routes and led to severely reduced literacy in much of this area. Initially historians believed that in

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2200-520: The Temple of Mut were the most important ones at Napata, located at the foot of Jebel Barkal . After the Achaemenid conquest of Egypt, Napata lost its economic influence. The Napatan region itself was desiccating, leading to less cattle and agriculture. An Achaemenid raid had seriously affected Napata in 591 BC. Finally, Napata was losing its role of economic capital to Meroë. The island of Meroë ,

2300-620: The Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt was losing its grip on the city of Thebes , whose priests were becoming increasingly powerful. After his death, his successor, Smendes I , ruled from the city of Tanis , but was mostly active only in Lower Egypt, which he controlled. Meanwhile, the High Priests of Amun at Thebes ruled Middle and Upper Egypt in all but name. However, this division was less significant than it seems, since both

2400-682: The Twenty-fifth Dynasty and appointed the defeated rulers as his provincial governors. He was succeeded first by his brother, Shabaka , and then by his two sons Shebitku and Taharqa . The reunited Nile valley empire of the 25th Dynasty was as large as it had been since the New Kingdom. Pharaohs of the dynasty, among them Taharqa, built or restored temples and monuments throughout the Nile valley, including at Memphis, Karnak, Kawa, and Jebel Barkal. The 25th Dynasty ended with its rulers retreating to their spiritual homeland at Napata . It

2500-735: The Tyrrhenians or Troas ), and a Canaanite revolt, in the cities of Ashkelon , Yenoam and among the people of Israel . A second attack ( Battle of the Delta and Battle of Djahy ) during the reign of Ramesses III (1186–1155) involved Peleset , Tjeker , Shardana and Denyen . The Nubian War, the First Libyan War, the Northern War and the Second Libyan War were all victories for Ramesses. Due to this, however,

2600-611: The 'Sea Peoples', but this is simply another way of saying that we do not know." Several settlements on Cyprus were abandoned at the end of the LC IIC or during the first half of the 12th century BC without destruction such as Pyla Kokkinokremmos , Toumba tou Skourou, Alassa, and Maroni-Vournes. In a trend which appears to go against much of the Eastern Mediterranean at this time, several areas of Cyprus, Kition and Paphos, appear to have flourished after 1200 BC during

2700-564: The 12th century BC, but they too were overcome by their Assyrian neighbors. The modern term "Syria" is a later Indo-European corruption of "Assyria", which only became formally applied to the Levant during the Seleucid Empire (323–150 BC) (see Etymology of Syria ). Levantine sites previously showed evidence of trade links with Mesopotamia ( Sumer , Akkad , Assyria and Babylonia ), Anatolia (Hattia, Hurria, Luwia and later

2800-549: The 12th century BC, the incoming Northwest Semitic -speaking Arameans came to demographic prominence in Syria, the region outside of the Canaanite-speaking Phoenician coastal areas eventually came to speak Aramaic and the region came to be known as Aramea and Eber Nari . The Babylonians belatedly attempted to gain a foothold in the region during their brief revival under Nebuchadnezzar I in

2900-463: The 15th century BC after his conquest of Kush. Because Egyptians believed that the inundation of the Nile equated Creation, Napata's location as the southernmost point in the empire led it to become an important religious centre and settlement. In the Early 18th Dynasty, Jebel Barkal , a lone sandstone butte, became a focus of Egyptian cultic religion as the residence of their state god Amun of Karnak. In

3000-432: The 60 "destructions" 31, or 52%, are false destructions. The complete list of false destructions includes other notable sites such as: Lefkandi, Orchomenos, Athens, Knossos, Alassa, Carchemish, Aleppo, Alalakh, Hama, Qatna, Kadesh, Tell Tweini, Byblos, Tyre, Sidon, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beth-Shean, Tell Dier Alla, and many more. Ann Killebrew has shown that cities such as Jerusalem were large and important walled settlements in

3100-531: The Assyrians destroying the Hurri-Mitanni empire and annexing much of the Hittite empire. The Egyptian empire had withdrawn from the region after failing to overcome the Hittites and being fearful of the ever-growing Assyrian might, leaving much of the region under Assyrian control until the late 11th century BC. Later the coastal regions came under attack from the Sea Peoples . During this period, from

Third Intermediate Period of Egypt - Misplaced Pages Continue

3200-583: The Bronze Age Collapse, Chaldeans also) spread unchecked into Babylonia from the Levant, and the power of its weak kings barely extended beyond the city limits of Babylon. Babylon was sacked by the Elamites under Shutruk-Nahhunte (c. 1185–1155 BC), and lost control of the Diyala River valley to Assyria. Ancient Syria had been initially dominated by a number of indigenous Semitic -speaking peoples. The East Semitic -speaking polities of Ebla and

3300-569: The Bronze Age collapse, the Egyptian Empire of the New Kingdom era receded considerably in territorial and economic strength during the mid-twelfth century (during the reign of Ramesses VI , 1145 to 1137). Previously, the Merneptah Stele ( c.  1200 ) spoke of attacks (Libyan War) from Putrians (from modern Libya ), with associated people of Ekwesh , Shekelesh , Lukka , Shardana and Teresh (possibly an Egyptian name for

3400-562: The Caucasus Mountains. Initially, the Assyrian Empire maintained a presence in the area. However, it gradually withdrew from much of the region for a time in the second half of the 11th century. During the reign of the Hittite king Tudḫaliya IV (reigned c. 1237–1209 BC), the island was briefly invaded by the Hittites, either to secure the copper resource or as a way of preventing piracy . Shortly afterwards,

3500-587: The Divine Augustus"), Augustus claims that "a penetration was made as far as the town of Napata, which is next to Meroe. After the Roman attack, Napata was restored by King Natakamani , who renovated the temple of Amun and constructed a palace. Later, the site was abandoned, its buildings plundered and destroyed. There is circumstantial evidence that this may have been the result of religious changes. The American archaeologist George A. Reisner discovered

3600-513: The Hittites), Egypt and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age. Evidence at Ugarit shows that the destruction there occurred after the reign of Merneptah (r. 1213–1203 BC) and even the fall of Chancellor Bay (d. 1192 BC). The last Bronze Age king of Ugarit, Ammurapi , was a contemporary of the last-known Hittite king, Suppiluliuma II . The exact dates of his reign are unknown. A letter by

3700-677: The Kushite king Taharqa convinced some rulers of Lower Egypt to break with Assyrians. However, Assurbanipal overpowered the coalition. He appointed Necho I , ruler of Memphis and Saïs . Necho was the first king of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (664–525 BC) of Egypt, which is also known as the "Saïte Dynasty". In 664 BC, the Assyrians struck the final blow, sacking Thebes and Memphis. The same year, Taharqa died. The new Kushite king, Tantamani (664–653 BC), killed Necho I that same year when he tried to invade Lower Egypt. However, Tantamani

3800-462: The Kushite kings ruled Upper Egypt for approximately one century and the whole of Egypt for approximately 57 years, from 721 to 664 BC. They constitute the Twenty-fifth Dynasty in Manetho's Aegyptiaca . Furthermore, these Kushite kings were supported by Amun clergy at Thebes and believed their power was claimed through Amun of Jebel Barkal and Amun of Karnak. They are depicted in art as having worn

3900-579: The Kushites to regain autonomy as they became increasingly estranged from Theban clergy. They founded the Kingdom of Kush , which was centered at Napata. A stela erected in Napata in the eighth century presents a Kushite king (whose title has been hammered out) as the only ruler legitimated by the god Amun, appointing the kinglets and Libyan chiefs who shared Egypt at that time and derived their legitimacy from

4000-694: The LC IIIA rather than experiencing any sort of downturn. Destruction was heaviest at palaces and fortified sites, and none of the Mycenaean palaces of the Late Bronze Age survived (with the possible exception of the Cyclopean fortifications on the Acropolis of Athens ). Thebes was one of the earliest examples of this, having its palace sacked repeatedly between 1300 and 1200 BC and eventually completely destroyed by fire. The extent of this destruction

4100-515: The Land of Hatti, and all my ships are in the Land of Lukka ? ... Thus, the country is abandoned to itself. May my father know it: the seven ships of the enemy that came here inflicted much damage upon us. Eshuwara, the senior governor of Cyprus, responded in letter RS 20.18: As for the matter concerning those enemies: (it was) the people from your country (and) your own ships (who) did this! And (it was)

Third Intermediate Period of Egypt - Misplaced Pages Continue

4200-439: The Late Bronze Age ( c.  1550 –1200 BC). Prominent societies (Egyptians, Hittites, Mesopotamians, and Mycenaeans) exhibited monumental architecture, advanced metallurgy, and literacy. Flourishing trade in copper, timber, pottery, and agricultural goods, as well as diplomatic ties progressively deepened their interdependence. Geopolitical powers of the time relied on variations of the palace economy system, in which wealth

4300-482: The Late Bronze Age collapse to 1200 BC. In an 1817 history of Ancient Greece, Heeren stated that the first period of Greek prehistory ended around this time, based on a dating of the fall of Troy to 1190 BC. In 1826, he dated the end of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt to around the same time. Additional events that have been dated to the first half of the 12th century BC include invasions by

4400-426: The Levant from Arameans, but Tiglath-Pileser I (reigned 1114–1076 BC) was able to defeat and repel these attacks, conquering the attackers. The Middle Assyrian Empire survived intact throughout much of this period, with Assyria dominating and often ruling Babylonia directly, and controlling southeastern and southwestern Anatolia , northwestern Iran and much of northern and central Syria and Canaan , as far as

4500-647: The Nile, including at Memphis , Karnak , Kawa , Jebel Barkal, and elsewhere. Pharaoh Taharqa's reign and that of his eventual successor, his cousin Tantamani , were filled with constant conflict with the Neo-Assyrian Empire . Around 670 BC, emperor Esarhaddon (681–669 BC) conquered Lower Egypt, but allowed local kingdoms there to exist in order to enlist them as his allies against the Kushite rulers of Upper Egypt , who had been accepted with reluctance. When King Ashurbanipal succeeded Esarhaddon ,

4600-623: The Twenty-second Dynasty controlling Lower Egypt by 818 BC while Takelot II and his son Osorkon (the future Osorkon III ) ruled Middle and Upper Egypt. In Thebes, a civil war engulfed the city, pitting the forces of Pedubast I , who had proclaimed himself pharaoh, against the existing line of Takelot II /Osorkon B. The two factions squabbled continuously and the conflict was only resolved in Year 39 of Shoshenq III when Osorkon B comprehensively defeated his enemies. He proceeded to found

4700-547: The Upper Egyptian Libyan Twenty-third Dynasty of Osorkon III – Takelot III – Rudamun , but this kingdom quickly fragmented after Rudamun's death, with the rise of local city states under kings such as Peftjaubast of Herakleopolis , Nimlot of Hermopolis , and Ini at Thebes. The Nubian kingdom to the south took full advantage of this division and the ensuing political instability. Prior to Piye 's Year 20 campaign into Egypt,

4800-443: The area appears to have undergone extreme political decentralization. For much of the Late Bronze Age, Anatolia had been dominated by the Hittite Empire , but by 1200 BC, the state was already fragmenting under the strain of famine, plague, and civil war. The Hittite capital of Hattusa was burned at an unknown date in this general period, though it may in fact have been abandoned at that point. Karaoğlan, near present-day Ankara ,

4900-647: The better-known Archaic Age . The Hittite Empire spanning Anatolia and the Levant collapsed, while states such as the Middle Assyrian Empire in Mesopotamia and the New Kingdom of Egypt survived in weakened forms. Other cultures such as the Phoenicians enjoyed increased autonomy and power with the waning military presence of Egypt and Assyria in West Asia . Competing theories of

5000-454: The cause of the Late Bronze Age collapse have been proposed since the 19th century, with most involving the violent destruction of cities and towns. These include climate change , volcanic eruptions, droughts, disease, invasions by the Sea Peoples or migrations of the Dorians , economic disruptions due to increased ironworking , and changes in military technology and strategy that brought

5100-434: The continuation of Tiryns as a settlement. Demand suggests instead that the cause could again be environmental, particularly the lack of homegrown food and the important role of palaces in managing and storing food imports, implying that their destruction only stood to exacerbate the more crucial factor of food shortage. The importance of trade as a factor is supported by Spyros Iakovidis  [ el ] , who points out

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5200-634: The country during his 54-year reign from the city of Sais beginning the Late Period of ancient Egypt . The historiography of this period is disputed for a variety of reasons. Firstly, there is a dispute about the utility of a very artificial term that covers an extremely long and complicated period of Egyptian history. The Third Intermediate Period includes long periods of stability as well as chronic instability and civil conflict: its very name rather clouds this fact. Secondly, there are significant problems of chronology stemming from several areas, there are

5300-432: The decline of chariot warfare. Following the collapse, gradual changes in metallurgic technology led to the subsequent Iron Age across Europe , Asia, and Africa during the 1st millennium BC. Scholarship in the late 20th and early 21st century has articulated views of the collapse as being more limited in scale and scope than previously thought. The German historian Arnold Hermann Ludwig Heeren first dated

5400-483: The difficulties in dating that are common to all of Egyptian chronology and are compounded by synchronisms with Biblical archaeology that also contain heavily disputed dates. Peter James , along with several other academics, argued contra Kitchen that the period lasted less than 200 years, starting later than 850 BC but ending at the conventional date, as the five dynasties had many years of overlap. Some theorists such as David Rohl have controversial theories about

5500-527: The economy of Egypt fell into decline and state treasuries were nearly bankrupt. By defeating the Sea People, Libyans , and Nubians , the territory around Egypt was safe during the collapse of the Bronze Age, but military campaigns in Asia depleted the economy. With his victory over the Sea People, Ramesses III stated, "My sword is great and mighty like that of Montu. No land can stand fast before my arms. I am

5600-429: The end of the Late Bronze Age. He has also demonstrated that trade with Egypt continued after 1200 BC. Archaeometallurgical studies performed by various teams have also shown that trade in tin, a non-local metal necessary to make bronze, did not stop or decrease after 1200 BC, even though the closest sources of the metal were modern Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, or perhaps even Cornwall, England. Lead from Sardinia

5700-526: The end of the Late Bronze Age. No evidence of destruction has been found at Hama, Qatna, Kadesh, Alalakh, and Aleppo, while for Tell Sukas, archaeologists only found some minor burning on some floors likely indicating that the town was not burned to the ground around 1200 BC. Napata 18°32′N 31°50′E  /  18.53°N 31.84°E  / 18.53; 31.84 Napata / ˈ n æ p ə t ə / ( Old Egyptian Npt , Npy ; Meroitic Napa ; Ancient Greek : Νάπατα and Ναπάται )

5800-480: The establishment of Archaic Greece . Other cities, such as Athens , continued to be occupied, but with a more local sphere of influence, limited evidence of trade and an impoverished culture, from which it took centuries to recover. These sites in Greece show evidence of the collapse: Iolkos – Knossos – Kydonia – Lefkandi – Menelaion – Mycenae – Nichoria – Pylos – Teichos Dymaion  [ el ] – Tiryns – Thebes, Greece While it survived

5900-541: The family relationships of the dynasties comprising the period. Late Bronze Age collapse The Late Bronze Age collapse was a period of societal collapse in the Mediterranean basin during the 12th century BC. It is thought to have affected much of the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East , in particular Egypt , Anatolia , the Aegean , eastern Libya , and the Balkans . The collapse

6000-433: The first cache. Along with the statue fragments, ash was found in the second cache which suggested to Reisner that the sculptures had been purposefully destroyed. Due to the close proximity, the statues from the caches are thought to have once been displayed in the Amun temple. The earliest known standing structure at Jebel Barkal is the Enthronement Pavilion, which has been dated to the reign of Thutmose IV . This structure

6100-507: The first phase of this period, almost every city between Pylos and Gaza was violently destroyed, and many were abandoned, including Hattusa , Mycenae , and Ugarit, with Robert Drews claiming that, "Within a period of forty to fifty years at the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of the twelfth century, almost every significant city in the eastern Mediterranean world was destroyed, many of them never to be occupied again." However more recent research has shown that Drews overestimated

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6200-542: The future Divine Adoratrice of Amun , thereby also submitting the priesthood of Amun and effectively uniting Egypt. Tantamani's successor Atlanersa was in no position to attempt a reconquest of Egypt as Psamtik also secured the southern border at Elephantine and may even have sent a military campaign to Napata . Concurrently, Psamtik managed to free himself from the Assyrian vassalage while remaining on good terms with Ashurbanipal, possibly owing to an ongoing rebellion in Babylon. By doing so, he brought increased stability to

6300-406: The generals' discretion. In 750 BC, Napata was a developed city, while Egypt was still suffering political instability. Kashta , whose name is Egyptian for "the Kushite", profited from it, and attacked Upper Egypt. His policy was pursued by his successors Piye , and Shabaka (721–707 BC), who eventually brought the whole Nile Valley under Kushitic control in the second year of his reign. Overall,

6400-410: The houses and streets suggesting a fight took place in this residential neighborhood. An additional twenty-five arrowheads were also recovered scattered around the city centre, all of which suggests the city was burnt by an assault not by an earthquake. At the city of Emar, on the Euphrates, at some time between 1187 and 1175 only the monumental and religious structures were targeted for destruction while

6500-412: The houses appear to have been emptied, abandoned and were not destroyed with the monumental structures which suggests that the city was burned by attackers even though no weapons were recovered. While certain cities such as Ugarit and Emar were destroyed at the end of the Late Bronze Age, there are several others which were not destroyed even though they erroneously appear on most maps of destruction from

6600-419: The island was reconquered by his son Suppiluliuma II around 1200 BC. There is little evidence of destruction on the island of Cyprus in the years surrounding 1200 BC which marks the separation between the Late Cypriot II (LCII) from the LCIII period. The city of Kition is commonly cited as destroyed at the end of the LC IIC, but the excavator, Vassos Karageorghis, made it expressly clear that it

6700-535: The king is preserved on one of the clay tablets found baked in the conflagration of the destruction of the city. Ammurapi stresses the seriousness of the crisis faced by many Levantine states due to attacks. In response to a plea for assistance from the king of Alasiya , Ammurapi highlights the desperate situation Ugarit faced in letter RS 18.147: My father, behold, the enemy's ships came (here); my cities(?) were burned, and they did evil things in my country. Does not my father know that all my troops and chariots(?) are in

6800-453: The lack of evidence for violent or sudden decline in Mycenae. Pylos offers some more clues to its destruction, as the intensive and extensive destruction by fire around 1180 BC reflects the violent destruction of the city. There is some evidence of Pylos expecting a seaborne attack, with tablets at Pylos discussing "Watchers guarding the coast". Eric Cline rebuts the idea that this is evidence of an attack by Sea People, pointing out that

6900-407: The late 10th century BC, Assyria once more asserted itself internationally, and the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to be the largest the world had yet seen. The situation in Babylonia was very different. After the Assyrian withdrawal, it was still subject to periodic Assyrian (and Elamite ) subjugation, and new groups of Semitic speakers such as the Arameans and Suteans (and in the period after

7000-404: The main Kushite cult centre of Amun . It was the sometime capital of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and, after its fall in 663 BC, of the Kingdom of Kush . In 593 BC, it was sacked by the Egyptians and the Kushite capital was relocated to Meroë . Even after this move, Napata continued to be the kingdom's primary religious centre. The city was sacked a second time by the Romans in 23 BC but

7100-528: The number of cities that were destroyed and referenced destructions that never happened. According to Millek, If one goes through archaeological literature from the past 150 years, there are 148 sites with 153 destruction events ascribed to the end of the Late Bronze Age ca. 1200 BC. However, of these, 94, or 61%, have either been misdated, assumed based on little evidence, or simply never happened at all. For Drews's map, and his subsequent discussion of some other sites which he believed were destroyed ca. 1200 BC, of

7200-493: The original. The destruction levels of Ugarit contained Late Helladic IIIB ware, but no LH IIIC (see Mycenaean Greece ). Therefore, the date of the destruction is important for the dating of the LH IIIC phase. Since an Egyptian sword bearing the name of Pharaoh Merneptah was found in the destruction levels, 1190 BC was taken as the date for the beginning of the LH IIIC. A cuneiform tablet found in 1986 shows that Ugarit

7300-678: The peninsula formed by the Nile and the Atbarah River , was an area rich in iron, which was becoming an essential source of wealth. Meroe eventually became the capital of the Kingdom of Kush, leading to the abandonment of Napata. In 23 BC, the Governor of Roman Egypt Gaius Petronius invaded Kush with 10,000 men after an initial attack by the queen of Meroë, reaching Napata. In the Res Gestae Divi Augusti ("Deeds of

7400-409: The people from your country (who) committed these transgression(s) ... I am writing to inform you and protect you. Be aware! The ruler of Carchemish sent troops to assist Ugarit, but Ugarit was sacked. Letter RS 19.011 (KTU 2.61) sent from Ugarit following the destruction said: To Ž(?)rdn, my lord, say: thy messenger arrived. The degraded one trembles, and the low one is torn to pieces. Our food in

7500-610: The pre-Israelite Middle Bronze IIB and the Israelite Iron Age IIC period ( c.  1800–1550 and c.  720–586 BC), but that during the intervening Late Bronze (LB) and Iron Age I and IIA/B Ages sites like Jerusalem were small, relatively insignificant, and unfortified. Some recent writing argues that although some collapses may have happened in this period, these may not have been widespread. Advanced civilizations with extensive trade networks and complex sociopolitical institutions characterized

7600-491: The previous Nubian ruler – Kashta – had already extended his kingdom's influence into Thebes when he compelled Shepenupet, the serving Divine Adoratice of Amun and Takelot III's sister, to adopt his own daughter Amenirdis, to be her successor. Then, 20 years later, around 732 BC his successor, Piye , marched north and defeated the combined might of several native Egyptian rulers: Peftjaubast, Osorkon IV of Tanis, Iuput II of Leontopolis and Tefnakht of Sais. Piye established

7700-503: The priests and pharaohs came from the same family. The country was firmly reunited by the Twenty-second Dynasty founded by Shoshenq I in 945 BC (or 943 BC), who descended from Meshwesh immigrants, originally from ancient Libya . This brought stability to the country for well over a century, but after the reign of Osorkon II , particularly, the country had effectively split into two states, with Shoshenq III of

7800-669: The reign of Ramesses III, Philistines were allowed to resettle the coastal strip from Gaza to Joppa, Denyen (possibly the tribe of Dan in the Bible, or more likely the people of Adana, also known as Danuna, part of the Hittite Empire) settled from Joppa to Acre , and Tjekker in Acre. The sites quickly achieved independence, as the Tale of Wenamun shows. Despite many theories which claim that trade relations broke down after 1200 in

7900-594: The shadow of Jebel Barkal, a religious centre called Karnak was erected and the settlement that followed in the area became known as Napata. In 1075 BC, the High Priest of Amun at Thebes , capital of Egypt, became powerful enough to limit the power of Pharaoh Smendes of the post-Ramesside Twenty-first Dynasty over Upper Egypt . This was the beginning of the Third Intermediate Period (1075–664 BC). The fragmentation of power in Egypt allowed

8000-484: The site of Sinda as it is not clear if it was destroyed since only some ash was found but no other evidence that the city was destroyed like fallen walls or burnt rubble. The only settlement on Cyprus that has clear evidence it was destroyed around 1200 BC was Maa Palaeokastro , which was likely destroyed by some sort of attack, though the excavators were not sure who attacked it, saying, "We might suggest that [the attackers] were 'pirates', 'adventurers' or remnants of

8100-563: The southern Levant was destroyed around 1200 BC. At Lachish , the Fosse Temple III was ritually terminated while a house in Area S appears to have burned in a house fire as the most severe evidence of burning was next to two ovens while no other part of the city had evidence of burning. After this though the city was rebuilt in a grander fashion than before. For Megiddo, most parts of the city did not have any signs of damage and it

8200-418: The southern Levant were abandoned without destruction including Dier el-Balah, Ashkelon, Tel Mor, Tell el-Far'ah (South), Tel Gerisa, Tell Jemmeh, Tel Masos , and Qubur el-Walaydah. Not all Egyptian sites in the southern Levant were abandoned without destruction. The Egyptian garrison at Aphek was destroyed, likely in an act of warfare at the end of the 13th century. The Egyptian gate complex uncovered at Jaffa

8300-666: The southern Levant, there is ample evidence that trade with other regions continued after the end of the Late Bronze Age in the Southern Levant. Archaeologist Jesse Millek has shown that while the common assumption is that trade in Cypriot and Mycenaean pottery ended around 1200 BC, trade in Cypriot pottery actually largely came to an end at 1300 BC, while for Mycenaean pottery, this trade ended at 1250 BC, and destruction around 1200 BC could not have affected either pattern of international trade since it ended before

8400-453: The sphere of influence of Assyria and from about 700 BC the question became when, not if, there would be war between the two states as Esarhaddon had realised that a conquest of Lower Egypt was necessary to protect Assyrian interests in the Levant. Despite Egypt's size and wealth, Assyria had a greater supply of timber, while Egypt had a chronic shortage, allowing Assyria to produce more charcoal needed for iron-smelting and thus giving Assyria

8500-563: The submission of some Delta kinglets and expel the remaining Assyrians that a large army led by Ashurbanipal and Necho's son Psamtik I came back. Tantamani was defeated north of Memphis and Thebes was thoroughly sacked shortly after. The Kushite king withdrew to Nubia while the Assyrian influence in Upper Egypt quickly waned. Permanently weakened by the sack, Thebes peacefully submitted itself to Psamtik's fleet in 656 BC. To affirm his authority, Psamtik placed his daughter in position to be

8600-496: The tablet does not say what is being watched for or why. Cline does not see naval attacks as playing a role in Pylos's decline. Demand, however, argues that, regardless of what the threat from the sea was, it likely played a role in the decline, at least in hindering trade and perhaps vital food imports. The Bronze Age collapse marked the start of what has been called the Greek Dark Ages , which lasted roughly 400 years and ended with

8700-419: The threshing floors is sacked and the vineyards are also destroyed. Our city is sacked, and may you know it! This quote is frequently interpreted as "the degraded one", referring to the army being humiliated, destroyed, or both. The letter is also quoted with the final statement "Mayst thou know it"/"May you know it" repeated twice for effect in several later sources, while no such repetition appears to occur in

8800-525: Was a city of ancient Kush at the fourth cataract of the Nile founded by the Egyptian Amun cult for Egyptian pilgrims given by its, as suggested, Egyptian name. It is located approximately 1.5 kilometers from the east side of the river at the site of modern Karima, Sudan . Napata was the southernmost permanent settlement in the New Kingdom of Egypt (16th–11th centuries BC) and home to Jebel Barkal ,

8900-578: Was burned and the corpses left unburied. Many Anatolian sites have destruction layers dating to this general period. Some of them such as Troy were immediately rebuilt, while others such as Kaymakçı were abandoned. This period appears to have also been a time of migration. For instance, some evidence that the Phrygians arrived in Anatolia during this period, possibly through the Bosporus or over

9000-405: Was destroyed after the death of Merneptah. It is generally agreed that Ugarit had already been destroyed by the eighth year of Ramesses III , 1178 BC. Letters on clay tablets that were baked in the conflagration caused by the destruction of the city speak of attack from the sea, and a letter from Alashiya ( Cyprus ) speaks of cities already being destroyed by attackers who came by sea. There

9100-490: Was destroyed at the end of the 12th century between 1134 and 1115 based on C14 dates, while Beth-Shean was partially though not completely destroyed, possibly by an earthquake, in the mid-12th century. Egyptian evidence shows that from the reign of Horemheb (ruled either 1319 or 1306 to 1292 BC), wandering Shasu were more problematic than the earlier Apiru . Ramesses II (r. 1279–1213 BC) campaigned against them, pursuing them as far as Moab , where he established

9200-466: Was essentially based on gold, with 26th dynasty Egypt an important economic ally. Napatan architecture , paintings, writing script, and other artistic and cultural forms were in Kush style. Egyptian burial customs were practised, including the resurrection of pyramid building. Also, several ancient Egyptian deities were worshipped. The most important god was Amun , a Theban deity. The Temple of Amun and

9300-529: Was not destroyed stating, "At Kition, major rebuilding was carried out in both excavated Areas I and II, but there is no evidence of violent destruction; on the contrary, we observe a cultural continuity." Jesse Millek has demonstrated that while it is possible that the city of Enkomi was destroyed, the archaeological evidence is not clear. Of the two buildings dating to the end of the LC IIC excavated at Enkomi, both had limited evidence of burning and most rooms were without any kind of damage. The same can be said for

9400-493: Was not flight from violence. Nancy Demand posits that environmental changes could have played an important role in the collapse of Athens. In particular Demand notes the presence of "enclosed and protected means of access to water sources at Athens" as evidence of persistent droughts in the region that could have resulted in a fragile reliance on imports. Up to 90% of small sites in the Peloponnese were abandoned, suggesting

9500-473: Was rebuilt and continued as an important centre of the Amun cult. The terms "Napata" or "Napatan period" can also refer to the Kushite polity from its rise around 750 BC until 270 BC, when Napata finally lost its symbolic significance as the location of royal burials to Meroë. The subsequent period of Kushite history is called Meroitic down to the collapse of the kingdom. Napata was founded by Thutmose III in

9600-541: Was still being imported to the southern Levant after 1200 BC during the early Iron Age. These sites in the Southern Levant show evidence of the collapse: Akko – Ashdod – Ashkelon – Beth Shemesh – Bethel – Deir 'Alla (Sukkot) – Tel Lachish – Tel Hazor – Tel Megiddo The Middle Assyrian Empire (1392–1056 BC) had destroyed the Hurrian-Mitanni Empire, annexed much of

9700-466: Was sudden, violent, and culturally disruptive for many Bronze Age civilizations, creating a sharp material decline for the region's previously existing powers. The palace economy of Mycenaean Greece , the Aegean region , and Anatolia that characterized the Late Bronze Age disintegrated, transforming into the small isolated village cultures of the Greek Dark Ages , which lasted from c.  1100 to c.  750 BC , and were followed by

9800-483: Was there (at El-Kurru and Nuri ) that all 25th dynasty pharaohs are buried under the first pyramids that the Nile valley had seen since the Middle Kingdom . The Napatan dynasty continued to rule the Kushite state, which flourished in Napata and Meroë until at least the second century AD. Napata remained the centre of the Kingdom of Kush for another two generations, from the 650s to 590 BC. Its economy

9900-476: Was there (at El-Kurru and Nuri) that all 25th Dynasty pharaohs were buried under the first pyramids to be constructed in the Nile valley in hundreds of years. The Napatan dynasty led to the Kingdom of Kush , which flourished in Napata and Meroe until at least the 2nd century AD. The international prestige of Egypt had declined considerably by this time. The country's international allies had fallen firmly into

10000-412: Was unable to defeat the Assyrians, who backed Necho's son, Psamtik I . Tantamani eventually abandoned his attempt to conquer Lower Egypt and retreated to Napata. However, his authority over Upper Egypt was acknowledged until 656 BC, when Psamtik I dispatched a naval fleet to Upper Egypt and succeeded in placing all of Egypt under his control. The 25th dynasty ended with its rulers retreating to Napata. It

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