The end of the Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean: collapse and transformation, continuity and resistance

Extract from T. Bürge and P.M. Fischer (eds) 2023: The Decline of Bronze Age Civilisations in the Mediterranean: Cyprus and Beyond (SIMA 154)

The project The Collapse of Bronze Age Societies in the Eastern Mediterranean focused on
the study of the economic, political and climatological situation on Cyprus from the 13th to
the 12th centuries BC. In the course of our research, it became clear that the complexity and
variety of sources and the ways and methods used to approach them may represent pieces
of an enormous jigsaw puzzle, many of which are yet to be discovered, investigated,
discussed and contextualised. Only a careful connection and interpretation of all those
aspects can enable us to provide a picture of one of the most influential periods in the history
of the Mediterranean, which shaped the societies of this area for centuries to come. Among
the plethora of different approaches, we have focused on five main themes in this volume:


1. Egyptian, Ugaritic and Hittite written sources:what information on the disruptions at the
end of the Late Bronze Age do they present and how can these texts be contextualised?


2. The interpretation of the possible evidence for the destruction, abandonment and
transformation of sites;


3. The study of regional and interregional connections;


4. The importance of economic resources;


5. The contribution of scientific approaches, viz. radiocarbon, climatological studies and
material analyses.