Eric Cline on Bronze Age Collapse and Survival Lessons for Today
Classicist Eric Cline discusses the collapse of Bronze Age civilizations and their varied fates in a Big Think interview. He contrasts the interconnected 'ancient G8' of the 14th-13th centuries BC with today's globalization, cautioning against hubris. His book 'After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations' examines how societies coped, adapted, or vanished. Cypriots and Phoenicians thrived, Egyptians muddled through, Mycenaeans and Minoans lost everything, and Hittites self-destructed. Cline advises 'Don't be a Hittite' and urges understanding of antifragility.
Key facts
- Eric Cline is a classicist at George Washington University.
- He describes a late Bronze Age 'ancient G8' of interconnected civilizations.
- His book '1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed' details the collapse.
- His sequel 'After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations' focuses on aftermath.
- Cypriots and Phoenicians adapted and thrived post-collapse.
- Egyptians used a mix of adaptation and coping.
- Mycenaeans and Minoans lost their writing system and rebuilt from scratch.
- Hittites' annihilation was largely self-inflicted, according to Cline.
Entities
Artists
- Eric Cline
Institutions
- Big Think
- George Washington University
Locations
- Greece
- Turkey
- Iraq
- Cyprus
- Egypt
- Canaan
- Mediterranean
- Near East
- Seoul
- South Korea