Gale - Science and Its Times Vol 01 (2000 BC to AD 699).pdf

part of the great powers; namely their dependence
on mercenaries. The Egyptians and Hittites
resolved their differences and signed a
peace treaty in c. 1268 B.C. and the political situation
in the Near East was apparently stable.
However, the lengthy reign of Ramses II (c.
1290-1224 B.C.) led to a succession crisis, political
confusion, and economic exhaustion which
weakened Egypt and left her vulnerable to attack.
Toward the end of the thirteenth century
B.C., the Hittites also suffered from internal political
problems that drained central authority and
provided vassals with an excuse to rebel.
The Aegean Islands and Greek mainland
also experienced prosperity and economic
growth in the thirteenth century B.C. The Mycenaeans
(named by scholars after the city of Mycenae)
controlled Greece and the Aegean from separate
city-states whose power depended on a
strong warrior class. Each city was autonomous,
ruled by a king, and protected by heavy fortifications.
Exactly how much contact the Mycenaeans
had with the Hittites, Egyptians, or Levantine
trading ports is not known, but later Greek tradition
dates the famed Trojan War to the end of the
thirteenth century B.C., and there is evidence of
trade and possible Mycenaean colonization in
Anatolia and the Levant. The Mycenaeans fought
each other frequently, and inevitably this constant
warring took its toll. Starting in c. 1250
B.C., the Mycenaean economy suffered a period
of decline which weakened the city-states and
left them susceptible to outside threats.
Eventually, general economic decline and
bad environmental conditions (drought) throughout
the eastern Mediterranean made it impossible
for the great powers to function effectively
against increasingly active pirates and land
raiders. Just what started the deadly attacks of
these raiders remains subject to debate, but the
devastation they caused is certain.
Impact
In the fifth year of the reign of the Egyptian
pharaoh Merneptah (c. 1224-1214 B.C.), Egypt
was attacked by the Libyans and a coalition of
“Sea Peoples” including the Ekwesh, Shekelesh,
Sherden, Lukka, and Teresh, all apparently originating
in coastal Anatolia. This was not intended
to be a simple raid to gain booty, but was a concerted
effort to invade Egypt for the purpose of
settling there. Merneptah managed to fight off
the invasion but the worst was yet to come.
About 30 years later, the pharaoh Ramses III (c.
1194-1162 B.C.) confronted a large invading
army of “Sea Peoples.” According to Ramses,
. . . as for the foreign countries, they made
a conspiracy in their lands. All at once the
lands were on the move, scattered in war.
No country could stand before their arms:
Hatti (the Hittites), Kode, Carchemish,
Arzawa, and Alashiya (Cyprus). They
were cut off. A camp was set up in one
place in Amor (Amurru, i.e. northern
Syria). They desolated its people, and its
land like that which has never come into
being. (cf. A. Kuhrt, The Ancient Near
East c. 3000-330 B.C., vol. II. London:
Routledge, 1995, p. 387)
This inscription provides our only written
description of these events. According to the
Egyptians, the Hittite Empire, the cities of the
Levant, and Cyprus had already succumbed to
the invaders who then swept down the coast to
invade Egypt. In fact, excavations in the cities of
the Hittite Empire, northern Syria, and the Levant
have shown massive destruction levels. The
Hittite civilization, which had thrived in Anatolia
for nearly 1,000 years, was so utterly destroyed
that it was completely forgotten until its
rediscovery in modern times. The Levantine
cities of Emar and Ugarit were devastated and
never reoccupied, as were several sites in Palestine.
In Egypt, Ramses III and his army fought a
desperate battle against the combined forces of
the Peleset, the Tjerkru, the Shekelesh, the
Da’anu, and the Washosh. The Egyptians prevailed
but lost their holdings in Syria-Palestine
and much of their land to the south of Egypt in
Nubia as a result. Although Egypt managed to
repel the invaders, the Twentieth Dynasty effectively
represents the end of the New Kingdom
and in some ways, the end of pharaonic Egypt.
Never again would Egypt attain such high political
and cultural levels; never again would Egypt
lead the international order.
While the eastern Mediterranean succumbed
to the invasions of the “Sea Peoples,”
Mycenaean Greece suffered total destruction as
well. Just who was responsible for destroying
the Mycenaeans is debated, but many scholars
attribute their extinction to an invasion of new
people, the Dorians, from the north. The devastation
was so complete that many cities
ceased to exist and the society sank into illiteracy,
having lost the ability to write in the Linear
B script used by the Mycenaeans. Greece had
entered a “dark age” so severe it would last for
about 400 years.
Exploration
& Discovery
2000 B.C.
to A.D. 699
S C I E N C E A N D I T S T I M E S V O L U M E 1
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