When I picked up Eric Cline’s After 1177 B.C., I was prepared for a fascinating read into the mysterious collapse of Bronze Age civilizations. What I didn’t expect was how relevant, even urgent, Cline’s examination of this ancient world would feel in our current age of uncertainty.
A Perfect Storm of Catastrophes
In After 1177 B.C., Eric Cline takes us on a captivating journey through the centuries that followed the collapse of the Late Bronze Age—a period often misunderstood as an ancient ‘Dark Age’. This book is a follow-up to his acclaimed 1177 B.C. (also reviewed by ZME Science), which asked what caused the sudden and simultaneous collapse of several thriving civilizations around the year 1177 B.C. Drought, famine, earthquakes, invasions, and the enigmatic Sea Peoples all played their part in what he describes as a “perfect storm” of disasters.
The Mycenaeans, Hittites, and many others didn’t just falter—they vanished. Egypt became a shadow of its former self and would never again crawl back to its zenith. However, some like the Cypriots and Assyrians did fairly okay after the collapse. Why some cultures perished while others recovered and transformed themselves into something greater than ever before is the big question on Cline’s mind, which he skillfully tries to answer.
Cline, a professor of ancient history and archaeology at George Washington University, has an approach that is both ambitious and thorough. He explores how different societies across the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean responded to the challenges of a world turned upside down.
For instance, the Phoenicians and Israelites emerged as new powers in the region, capitalizing on the opportunities presented by the changing landscape. The Phoenicians, in particular, took control of maritime trade routes and spread an alphabetic system that would form the basis of modern writing systems.
Cline draws on a rich body of evidence, from ancient inscriptions on clay tablets to the latest archaeological findings, to argue that these civilizations were not merely victims of a few external blows. Rather, their interconnectedness—once a source of strength—became their undoing as one disaster after another severed the intricate trade networks and political alliances that had sustained them for centuries.
Lessons for Today’s World
Cline is quick to point out that this is not just a tale of ancient woe. The collapse of these Bronze Age civilizations offers cautionary lessons for our modern world, which is similarly interconnected and vulnerable to a range of crises, from climate change to economic instability. In fact, Cline was inspired to write this book by what he calls a sense of “future déjà vu.” The parallels with our own time are chilling, especially as we grapple with the impacts of climate change, pandemics, and geopolitical tensions.
Cline’s discussion of “antifragility,” a concept popularized by risk analyst Nassim Nicholas Taleb, is particularly intriguing. He highlights how some societies, like the Phoenicians, adapted and even thrived in the face of chaos, while others, such as the Mycenaeans, crumbled. This notion of resilience versus fragility is more relevant than ever as we consider how our own civilization might weather the storms of the future.
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What sets After 1177 B.C. apart is Cline’s ability to illustrate that this period, far from being a “Dark Age,” was in fact a time of significant innovation. The use of iron became more widespread, marking the transition to the Iron Age and revolutionizing everything from agriculture to warfare. The book also details the rise of new political entities, such as the Neo-Hittites and Neo-Assyrians, who adapted to the new world order with remarkable success.
Cline argues persuasively that these few centuries following ‘The Collapse’ were a crucible for change, where the challenges of the time led to the development of new technologies and ideas. The first Olympic Games in 776 B.C., for instance, symbolize the resurgence of Greece and its mighty city-states, which had slowly rebuilt themselves from the remnants of the Mycenaean civilization.
The Archaeologist’s Detective Work
Throughout the book, Cline’s writing is clear, engaging, and sprinkled with wit. He deftly avoids the pitfalls of academic jargon, making the complex history of the Late Bronze Age accessible to the general reader.
But After 1177 B.C. isn’t just a story of doom and gloom. Cline also explores the resilience of the human spirit, and how some societies managed to rise from the ashes of collapse and reinvent themselves in the Iron Age.
After 1177 B.C. is a must-read for anyone interested in ancient history, but it’s also much more than that. It’s a book about resilience in the face of adversity, about how societies can rebuild and reinvent themselves after seemingly insurmountable challenges. With that in mind, Eric Cline offers not just a history of the past but a blueprint for the future, making this a timely and important work.
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