The Bronze Age Collapse (approximately 1200 B.C.E.)

Just casually thinkin bout the end of the world. No, no reason, why?

Sources:
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Music:
"Mell's Parade," by Broke For Free
"Sad Cyclops," by Podington Bear
"Infados," by Kevin MacLeod
"Heliograph," by Chris Zabriskie
"Deluge," by Cellophane Sam

[hyperion]

"We have a drought, an earthquake and we still have to pay extra! What next? We get invaded?"- Some Bronze Age dude, probably

[rageraptor]

“The sea peoples” sounds like such a vague and terrifying name for peoples that don’t even have much history to them.

[ThePointlessBox_]

>''History is written by the victors''
>be sea peoples
>arrive and cause the fall of the bronze age
>dont write anything down
>leave

[Svorkar]

A lot of people have pointed out that it is unlikely that a composite bow could shoot through 3 inches of metal but I didn't see anyone dig into the sources so I'll comment on what I've found. I'm guessing that particular part of the video was sources from "The end of the Bronze Age : changes in warfare and the catastrophe ca. 1200 B.C." (mentioned in description, I found a copy on Internet archive) pg. 120-121. The exact passage reads as follows:

"The pharaohs themselves took pride in their skill as chariot archers. Amenhotep II boasted of the rapidity, range, and accuracy of his shooting, claiming that from a speeding chariot he had hit four targets, set thirty-four feet apart with such force that the arrows went clean through each target's three inches of copper."

This passage is apparently from a stele (Ancient Near Eastern Texts (ANET) pg. 244), and the thickness given in this translation is "of one palm in their thickness", which the annotation says is "a litde [little?] less than 3 inches".

Regardless, it seems that this is a boast from a specific pharaoh, rather than some sort of historical fact or mixing up units, so probably not an accurate account of a bronze age era's composite bow's potential.

[gauntlettcf]

When you're Sardinian, and the last time your people were relevant in any meaningful way was when they were part of the sea people coalition which kinda caused a halt in the advancing of human civilizations

[andrasbeke]

Easily the most shocking part of this video is how much bigger the Bronze Age world was than I thought. I think the regular belief is that it centers mostly around the Near East and Eastern Mediterranean. But now you're telling me they were trading from Britain to Afghanistan? That is just mind blowing.

[IndorilTheGreat]

"Human civilization did an oopsie" is the perfect summary for a lot of human history, to be honest.

[elbmw]

Good factual presentation, well done. Just to explain something, the King of Ugarit referred to the King of Cyprus (Alashiya) as "Father" which means he was considered less than equal and the King of Ugarit had to prostrate himself in front of superior Kings, such as Cyprus and Egypt. In contrast, the Kings of Cyprus referred to the Kings of Egypt as 'brother', which meant they were equals and did not need to prostrate themselves nor pay tribute.

[medexmewada]

When Bill Wurtz said about tin: "idk, my dealer won't tell me where he gets it..."

I didn't know he was being serious.

[procionemannaro]

"we need to talk about bronze age warfare"
* battle music starts *

[johnjdevlin]

Clear and concise yet thorough examination of one of history's most troubling ages. Excellent narration and illustrations. Glad I discovered this channel. Well done!

[mktwatcher]

Excellent comprehensive summary of the "Collapse of Bronze Age". You covered many more possible reasons other than just Sea Peoples even though they were probable the main reason. Your summary is the only one I've seen thus far that mentions the 5 decade flurry of earthquakes.
Plus you did all of this with a very economical use of time. Thank you for your quality video.

[avalle]

That final battle in the Nile was probably one of the most epic battles in history.

An apocaliptic clash for survival of their world.

[bmar]

I am now ending all messages with "May you know it." May you know it.

[End-Result]

I've watched loads of history content on youtube, this has to be one of the best summaries of the topic - and of ancient history in general - I've ever seen.

[tomislavpetrov]

Mycenaean Greece (1350 BC - 1200 BC),
Hittite Empire with capital Hattusa on Kızılırmak River (1, 355 km) (1650 BC – 1180 BC),
New Kingdom of Egypt with capital Memphis on Nile River (6, 650 km) (1213 BC – 1069 BC),
Middle Assyrian Empire with capital Ashur on Tigris River (1, 950 km) (1207 BC –912 BC), and
Babylonia with the capital Babylon on the lower Euphrates River (3, 596 km) (1894 BC–539 BC).

[James_Wisniewski]

The Bronze Age civilizations can't collapse until someone asks if it's okay with Tribune Aquila.

[MrEggsauce]

"....what brought them here is a question we'll get into later"
*slams fist on table* Bibilus is involved in this somehow! I know it!

[tmb]

This is my favourite ever historia civilis video. Lovingly presenting such haunting words from thousands of years ago has always stuck with me

[qmwlryn]

This was a very clear explanation of a hugely important historical event I did not know about, until I watched a very good and long video on the subject, about two years ago .