End of the Late Bronze Age

Around 1200 BC / 3200 BP, or the Late Bronze Age-Iron Age transition, societies in the Near East appear to have experienced a period of stress and decline. The Hittite empire ended, the territory of the Assyrian kingdom decreased, Egyptian influence in the Levant came to an end, and a considerable number of archaeological sites (e.g. Ugarit, Emar) show destruction levels. While political and social influences should certainly not be discounted, and while it is also clear that several sites continued to exist, it is interesting that there appears to have been an arid period around this time, either as a ‘sudden’ event, or the start of the generally more arid period we are still in today. PhD student Sarah Jones is currently reviewing climatic evidence for the Near East for this time.