Which civilization collapsed first

Kingdoms fell like dominoes over the course of just a few decades. No more Minoans or Mycenaeans. No more Trojans, Hittites, or Babylonians.

The thriving economy and cultures of the late second millennium B. But the Sea Peoples alone could not have caused such widespread breakdown. How did it happen? In this major new account of the causes of this "First Dark Ages," Eric Cline tells the gripping story of how the end was brought about by multiple interconnected failures, ranging from invasion and revolt to earthquakes, drought, and the cutting of international trade routes.

Bringing to life the vibrant multicultural world of these great civilizations, he draws a sweeping panorama of the empires and globalized peoples of the Late Bronze Age and shows that it was their very interdependence that hastened their dramatic collapse and ushered in a dark age that lasted centuries.

A compelling combination of narrative and the latest scholarship, B. Though dispersed, the Maya never disappeared. Millions of their Mayan-speaking descendants continue to inhabit the region to this day. A sculpture, possibly of a priest, from the ancient city of Mohenjo-Daro, now in the Karachi Museum in Pakistan. The Indus began building settlements in present-day India and Pakistan as early as 8, years ago, making them one of the earliest civilizations.

By the third millennium B. Around B. The population abandoned the cities and purportedly migrated to the southeast. Originally, scholars believed that an Aryan invasion from the north brought about the Indus collapse, but that theory is no longer in vogue. Recent research instead suggests that the monsoon cycle essentially stopped for two centuries, making agriculture nearly impossible.

Other factors, such as earthquakes or outbreaks of malaria or cholera, may have also played a role. In the dry Four Corners region of the present-day United States, the Anasazi built spectacular stone dwellings into the sides of cliffs during the 12th and 13th centuries, some of which contained hundreds of rooms.

No other U. Researchers have uncovered signs of massacres and cannibalism, as well as evidence of deforestation, water management problems and a crippling long-term drought that many believe precipitated the slide into violence. Religious and political upheaval, akin to what Europe faced following the Protestant Reformation, may have added to the chaos, which ultimately forced the Anasazi to abandon their homeland by A.

Inland sites such as the palace at Megiddo were burnt to the ground. The impressive ancient cities of Hazor and Lachish were completely destroyed and left abandoned.

A common element of the imploding civilizations in the second millennium BCE is that they were all interconnected.

Most of the copper came from Cyprus; most of the tin came from Afghanistan, as did lapis lazuli. Gold came from Egypt. Both raw materials and finished goods were sold, as well as exchanged at the royal level.

This corroborates with the information from clay tablets found in Afek in Israel, Hattusa in Turkey, Emar in Mesopotamia, and Ugarit in Syria, that record a terrible drought, and the resulting difficulties attributed to it.

Normally if a culture is faced with just one of these tragedies, it can survive it, but what if they all happened at once, or in quick succession? The world of the Mediterranean and the ancient Near East during the Late Bronze Age was obviously not nearly the size of our interconnected world today. He for one sees a clear warning in these events that happened thousands of years ago. Now as then, the world seems to be standing on a precipice.

Even with all of our technological advancements, we are not immune," Cline says. They were also victims, obviously fleeing something; looking for a better home where they could survive. They are more of a symptom than the cause of the collapse, says Cline.

If anything perhaps we should identify with them. The only thing missing from today's scenario are the Sea People -- the mysterious invaders from overseas," he says. Not convinced? Look at the region.