All language subtitles for Ancient Armageddon (2023) [720p] [BluRay] [YTS.MX]

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[narrator] The Eastern
Mediterranean some
3,000 years ago.

The ancient world
is at its peak.

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YTS.MX

Thriving cities
dominate the landscape.

Culture and the arts
are flourishing.

Trade in gold and luxury
items is booming.

We can't even imagine how
much trade, exchange of goods
and ideas was going on.

It was really
a very rich time.

It was really
a very rich time.

[narrator] Then, suddenly,
almost overnight,

this world collapses.

Cities crumble.

Languages die.

Blood and destruction
ravage the landscape.

[Yoram] What happened
at the end of the Bronze Age?

This is one of the greatest
mysteries that continue
to trouble us.

It's one of the most
challenging events
in the history of mankind.

It's one of the most
challenging events
in the history of mankind.

Something catastrophic,
something unimaginable.

It looks like history
switched off the lights.

[narrator] Now
some of the world's
top archaeologists

and historians are
working together

to figure out what happened.

[Aren] The analytic toolbox
that we have in archaeology
nowadays has

revolutionized our
understanding of the past.

[narrator] And they're
uncovering a shocking truth.

We could be facing
a similar fate today.

[Eric] The collapse
of the Bronze Age

and the immediate aftermath

and the immediate aftermath

is far more relevant to today
than many people might think.

[narrator] Over
3,000 years ago,

in the late Bronze Age,

life in the Eastern
Mediterranean was flourishing.

After years of war,
the world was
largely at peace.

And like today, was dominated
by a few superpowers.

And like today, was dominated
by a few superpowers.

In the north, a people
known as the Hittites

had established
a mighty empire

that controlled most
of what's now Turkiye
and northern Syria.

To the west,
in mainland Greece,

the Mycenaean civilization,
home to Agamemnon,

was thriving and had
also spread into Crete.

And in the south,
under the rule
of Ramses the Great,

And in the south,
under the rule
of Ramses the Great,

Egypt's empire stretched
from Sudan up to modern
Israel and beyond.

Ships crisscrossed
the Mediterranean,

linking these wealthy
nations with an extensive
network of trade routes.

[Eric] So, what we have
in the late Bronze Age

is a thriving
internationalized network.

is a thriving
internationalized network.

They are interconnected,

they are globalized,

they are dependent
on each other for goods.

[narrator] But within a period
of little more than 50 years,

this entire world
came crashing down.

Almost every significant
city or palace was burnt
and destroyed.

The vibrant trade links
that connected this world
ceased to exist.

So complete was the collapse
that even the art of writing

which had linked these
centers of civilization,

was also largely forgotten.

One by one, each civilization
was wiped off the map.

Only Egypt survived,

but its empire collapsed
and it was a dim reflection
of its former glory.

The world had entered its
first recorded Dark Age.

No one knows what happened.

Eric Cline is a professor
of ancient history

at the George
Washington University

and he spent years
sifting through the rubble,

trying to piece together
how an entire Age could
collapse so quickly.

At the end of the late
Bronze Age, about 1200 BC,

something
unimaginable happened.

[narrator] He thinks
the place to start unravelling
the mystery is in Greece.

[Eric] This is Mycenae.

It's my favorite site
in the entire world,

and it was one
of the most important sites
in the ancient Bronze Age.

This is where Homer says
that Agamemnon and his
men took off for Troy

to try and rescue Helen
after she had been kidnapped.

Soon after they got
back though, this was
a smoking ruin.

And it's been
ruined until today.

[narrator] The mythical
images of the Mycenaeans
and the Trojan war

[narrator] The mythical
images of the Mycenaeans
and the Trojan war

have been immortalized on
countless Greek vases.

The Mycenaeans were
clearly great warriors.

But they were also
brilliant engineers.

Their architecture is
characterized by massive
stone structures

that the later ancient Greeks
believed must have been built

by the one-eyed
giants Cyclopes.

As only they would have
the strength to move
the blocks into place.

As only they would have
the strength to move
the blocks into place.

This was a society
at the peak of its power.

There were grand palaces,
temples and burial monuments
like the tholos tombs,

the most famous being
the so-called Tomb
of Agamemnon.

And yet despite
the massive walls

and their mighty warriors,

the city of Mycenae
was soon abandoned.

the city of Mycenae
was soon abandoned.

Were the Mycenaeans invaded?

Round about 1250 BC,
they were obviously afraid
of being attacked by someone.

We don't know who.

But they built new defensive
walls around the entire city,

including the famous
Lion Gate.

They also built
this water tunnel

so that they could get
at their water source
from inside the city.

In case of attack,
they can still
get their water.

We don't know who
they're afraid of

we don't know what
they're worried about,

we don't know what
they're worried about,

but they're definitely
worried about something.

And probably rightfully so,

because 50 years later,
the city is destroyed.

[narrator] And it's
not just here.

All the palace complexes
of southern Greece,

including nearby Tiryns,

have layers of ash suggesting
that however well-fortified,

they too were destroyed.

So, if these Mycenaean
cities were overrun,

who might they have
been attacked by?

who might they have
been attacked by?

Even though this all happened
more than 3,000 years ago,

there are clues as
to who the assailants
could have been.

And they can be found
far from Greece...

in Luxor, Egypt.

At Ramses III's
mortuary temple,

there's an extraordinary
series of reliefs
and inscriptions

there's an extraordinary
series of reliefs
and inscriptions

recording some
tumultuous events
that took place here.

Salima Ikram,
Professor of Egyptology

at The American
University in Cairo

has long been fascinated
by these carvings.

They depict Ramses'
conflicts with the mysterious
Sea People,

a group of would-be invaders
coming from the sea.

[Salima] This enormous wall

is covered with these
depictions showing
Ramses fighting against

is covered with these
depictions showing
Ramses fighting against

these terrifying Sea Peoples.

And they're all these
really detailed reliefs

as well as texts talking
about these battles

and the great
Egyptian triumph.

And he says, "No land could
stand before their armies.

They desolated its people,

and its land was like
that which had never
come into being."

[narrator] The date
of these inscriptions
is around 1180 BC,

[narrator] The date
of these inscriptions
is around 1180 BC,

just 20 years after that
key date of 1200 BC.

And according to Ramses,
all the other great powers
fell to the Sea People.

Not only the Mycenaeans
but also the Hittites
in Turkiye and Syria,

and the Canaanites
in Israel and Palestine.

Only he was able
to repel them, he claimed.

[Salima] They were
extraordinarily strong,
devastating people that

[Salima] They were
extraordinarily strong,
devastating people that

pillaged, raped, looted,
and devastated the entire
Eastern Mediterranean.

[narrator] Was Ramses'
declaration that Egypt alone

survived these attacks just
arrogant boasting?

Or was there some
truth to all this
pharaonic propaganda?

Were the other great
Bronze Age powers

all invaded, ransacked
and annihilated

by the enigmatic Sea People?

Nestled in the foothills
of rural Turkiye lie
the ruins of Hattusa,

capital of the mighty
empire of the Hittites.

The Hittites had
grown to match
the Egyptians in power

and had even signed
the world's first peace treaty
with Ramses the Great.

and had even signed
the world's first peace treaty
with Ramses the Great.

But according to the writing
on the temple walls in Egypt,

they too were brought
down by the Sea People.

This would have been
no easy feat.

The Hittites were
skilled warriors

and Hattusa was remarkable
for its strategic location
and well-fortified defenses.

The city walls were
over five miles in length

The city walls were
over five miles in length

and more than 30 feet high.

Archaeologist Christoph
Bachhuber has studied

the Hittites
for much of his life.

But he is as puzzled as
everyone else as to how
such a towering power

could have been brought down
by some invaders from the sea.

[Christoph] Hattusa was
very much like a castle.

A very heavily fortified

and very heavily defended, um,

edifice on top
of the mountain.

edifice on top
of the mountain.

Uh, seemingly
impenetrable up here.

If we look at the scale
of these walls,

and sort of appreciate
where we are

in the-- in relation
to the rest of the landscape,

um, we are looking down
for 20 or 30 miles
in every direction.

[narrator] Little remains
today but Hattusa

was an impressive
and unusual city,
built on a series of terraces.

Within the city walls,
the mud brick buildings
were monumental

Within the city walls,
the mud brick buildings
were monumental

and almost exclusively
state focused.

[Christoph] Our best estimate
for the population of Hattusa
is about 15,000.

But the vast majority
would have lived
outside of the walls.

Hattusa, the city,
was really built for a very
small number of people.

The royal family, of course,
living in the palace,

and the priests and attendants
of-- of all the temples.

[narrator] But in the end,

[narrator] But in the end,

their gods and their
fortifications didn't
protect them.

This great city was destroyed.

Andreas Schachner is
directing excavations
at the palace of Hattusa.

And everywhere they dig,
they find evidence
of burnt mud bricks,

dating to the end
of the Bronze Age.

Wow. These are most probably
Hittite burnt mud bricks.

Wow. These are most probably
Hittite burnt mud bricks.

These are the bricks,
the reddish ones.

And here, for example,
is one fallen down and here,

for example,
also one clearly visible.

Wow, that's really great.
Mama mia.

Whoo! Wow.

[narrator] The palace
seems to have been
razed to the ground.

But how could such
a well-fortified city,
150 miles from the sea,

But how could such
a well-fortified city,
150 miles from the sea,

have been overcome by
assailants arriving by boat?

Is there something
we still don't know?

Almost everything we've
learnt about the Hittites

comes from another
discovery made back
when excavations began.

Thousands of clay tablets
were found in a single
room in 1907.

Legal texts, um,
religious texts,

Legal texts, um,
religious texts,

political correspondence,

texts recording their deeds
and their achievements.

The latest evidence
for writing,
any Hittite writing,

dates to around 1200 BC.

After that,
the Hittites fall silent.

[narrator] Hattusa was ruined.

And the Hittites vanished
from history around that
same date of 1200 BC.

About that, it seems,
Ramses was right.

About that, it seems,
Ramses was right.

But could the Sea People
truly be responsible

or is there more
to this story?

Sadly, the Hattusa
tablets tell us nothing
about what happened here.

But if there was diplomatic
correspondence between
other Bronze Age cities...

might their letters
reveal more?

A cache of desperate
tablets written during
a city's dying days

A cache of desperate
tablets written during
a city's dying days

could hold some answers.

Could there be clues as to who
caused the collapse of all
the Bronze Age cities

in the diplomatic letters they
were writing to each other?

There is one other
great city where

many of their written
documents have also survived.

Ugarit, in what is now Syria,

was one of the most
important ancient ports

with trade links crisscrossing
the known world.

It was a busy
and prosperous metropolis.

But it too was destroyed
at much the same time.

Archaeologists have found
the remains of a port

with streets lined
with two-story houses.

And a city surrounded
by walls with several temples
and other public buildings.

The western edge was
occupied by a large palace,

and among the rubble,
they found hundreds
of cuneiform tablets.

and among the rubble,
they found hundreds
of cuneiform tablets.

These cover almost all
aspects of the life of Ugarit
leading up to 1200 BC,

the date everything stopped,

including explicit
written testimony
about the destruction.

Yoram Cohen is an expert
in Bronze Age literature.

[Yoram] We have this
fascinating letter
which was sent

[Yoram] We have this
fascinating letter
which was sent

by the king of Ugarit

to the king of Cyprus,

of Alashiya,
and he says as follows.

"My cities were burnt.
They did evil things
in my country.

The seven ships of the enemy
that came have inflicted

much damage upon me
and my household."

[narrator] The king is
desperate to save
himself and his people.

But unfortunately,
his cry for help seems
to have come too late.

But unfortunately,
his cry for help seems
to have come too late.

[Yoram] The situation
in Ugarit was
certainly desperate.

And this we know
from the following
correspondence.

"When your messenger arrived,
the army was humiliated
and the city was sacked.

Our food in the threshing
floors was burnt

and the vineyards
were also destroyed.

Our city is sacked.

May you know about it.
You must know about it!"

[narrator] This city was
destroyed by invaders
from the sea.

[narrator] This city was
destroyed by invaders
from the sea.

And it seems it was
not the only one.

In addition to Ugarit,
Hattusa and Mycenae

archaeological evidence
suggests that

almost every significant
city in the Eastern
Mediterranean world

was violently
attacked and burnt

before being abandoned
within a short period
around 1200 BC.

But the cities have left
no answers as to who
the Sea People were

where they came from,

or how they were able
to attack powerful empires

that were miles
away from the sea.

Is there a clue in the fact
that they all fell together,

one after another,
like dominoes?

Perhaps their strong
connections made
them vulnerable.

Evidence of the close
links that existed
between the states

can be found across
the Eastern Mediterranean.

Here in Egypt, tomb paintings
show men wearing
Aegean style kilts

offering tributes
to the pharaoh.

Would the destruction
of only one or two places
in this extensive network

immediately affect the others
as happens today

immediately affect the others
as happens today

when supply chains
begin to fail or stock
markets crash?

[Christoph] Once the same
people who'd have invested
in these networks,

once these networks
began to unravel,

once they, um,
began to dissolve

we can imagine the same
people being left exposed.

They had become dependent,
perhaps over dependent

on the benefits of these
long-distance networks.

I think that this would
have had dire consequences

for all the rulers
of the Eastern Mediterranean.

for all the rulers
of the Eastern Mediterranean.

[narrator] It's possible that
the close links between them,

the very thing that had
propelled their network
up to its great heights,

may ultimately have
led to their demise.

Was the trade between
the cities essential
for their survival?

Just before the collapse,

trade around
the Mediterranean
was thriving.

This is vividly illustrated
in the remains
of an ancient shipwreck,

known as the Uluburun.

Discovered off the coast
of Turkiye

this ship is thought
to have been heading
for Rhodes or Crete.

And the luxury items contained
in its cargo illuminate
the interconnected world

the Bronze Age
people inhabited.

These are high-value,
uh, very elaborate,
um, luxury goods.

These are high-value,
uh, very elaborate,
um, luxury goods.

Gold jewelry, um,
gold chalices,

faience rhytons,

rhytons are a type
of drinking vessel.

You get a sense now
of the decadence
of this time period

and of the palatial elites who
inhabited these palaces

and who were delivering these
types of objects across
the Eastern Mediterranean.

[narrator] They were exporting
luxury goods to each other

and importing raw materials
from distant lands.

Glass ingots,

Glass ingots,

ostrich eggs,

amber,

and unworked elephant
and hippopotamus tusks.

Some city or some one

lost a fortune
when this ship went down.

But the impact
would've gone far beyond
the cargo's monetary value

because this value
was also carrying
an enormous shipment

of the most important
raw materials of all.

The metals
needed to make bronze.

The metals
needed to make bronze.

[man] The cargo
of the Uluburun ship

included 11 tons of bronze.

That is a lot of bronze

that would've furnished
an entire city or perhaps
even an army

so this a... an enormous

shipment of metal.

This would've been a tragic,
uh, event,

and it would've had
enormous consequences

socially, politically,
economically, of course.

[narrator] Bronze was
something they all relied on

[narrator] Bronze was
something they all relied on

and would've been
the main driver
of all economic activity

during the Bronze Age.

We might compare it
to fossil fuels today.

Losing the Uluburun ship
would've been a great loss,

but imagine if we were talking
not about one ship

but all the ships.

If trade collapsed

and the city
suddenly had no bronze

would they have been
able to survive?

How long would we last today

if we had no oil or gas?

Trade networks
in the Bronze Age

had developed as a result
of the need
for this crucial metal.

[Eric] Bronze was the metal

whether it was for tools
or for weapons or whatever.

And so, you know, it gave
the name to this period.

It's incredibly important.
But to make bronze

you need tin
and you need copper.

10% tin to 90% copper
and you've got yourself

10% tin to 90% copper
and you've got yourself

some bronze.

If you don't have tin
you can use arsenic.

But I don't recommend that.
You'll be dead pretty soon.

[narrator] Here at
Butser Ancient Farm in the UK

metalworking expert
Fergus Milton demonstrates
how it would've been made.

And why for Bronze Age cities

regular supplies of both
copper and tin were essential.

[Fergus] So here are
pieces of copper metal.

[Fergus] So here are
pieces of copper metal.

Different shapes of copper.

And we'll pack them all
into the crucible.

Which we're
then going to heat.

And here's some tin metal.

We'll heat and then combine

to make bronze.

[narrator] Copper was
relatively easy to find.

Cyprus had it in abundance

and became a major source.

But tin was a rare metal

But tin was a rare metal

and it was transported from
the limits of the known world.

The trade route stretched
all over the Mediterranean
and beyond.

Some tin came from
Cornwall in Britain.

Some from Spain and Sardinia.

And some
from southeastern Turkey.

But the vast majority
came from Afghanistan.

The elites of
this wider region

had become dependent on
the production, exchange and
consumption of bronze.

The Hittite king
who lived in this palace,
for example,

would've been heavily invested
in his networks ensuring

regular bronze supplies
for his armies

for farming,
for this, sort of,

basic m... machinery
of these economies.

[narrator] By this time,
they had mastered

the relatively simple
technology for making bronze.

All they needed
were animal skin bellows
and an open furnace.

With these
Fergus is able to reach
the temperature required,

around 1600 degrees Fahrenheit

to combine the tin and copper.

He then pours this
molten alloy into a mold.

So we've
broken open the mold now,

and we've got
a beautiful bronze axe,

and we've got
a beautiful bronze axe,

using the copper and the tin.

A lot of work

but a beautiful item
that will last
for thousands of years.

[narrator] But to make
their tools and weapons
they needed their supplies.

Without these,

Bronze Age civilizations
would've found it impossible
to continue.

Might the difficulty
of obtaining the raw materials
for bronze

even point to an answer
as to who the Sea People were?

even point to an answer
as to who the Sea People were?

Could they be the inventors
of a new super metal?

Some historians have suggested
that around 1200 BC,

certain people,
perhaps tribes from the north

mastered the technology needed

to produce iron.

While it's difficult to obtain
the materials for bronze,

iron ore is found everywhere.

And any tribe
that succeeded in making iron

would've been able to create
stronger, sharper
and more durable weapons,

allowing them to sweep south

leaving much of
the Bronze Age world in ruins.

The production of iron,
however, is significantly
more complex than bronze.

It requires
much higher temperatures.

Over 2700 degrees Fahrenheit

and the invention
of special furnaces.

and the invention
of special furnaces.

[woman exhales]

[blows]

[narrator] Could the tribes
who first managed to make iron

be the Sea People?

This suggestion seems
a convincing possibility,

but is there any evidence?

Are there any signs
of iron weapons left behind
in the ruins?

Are there any signs
of iron weapons left behind
in the ruins?

Kostas Paschalidis,

curator of antiquities
at the Archaeological Museum
in Athens

thinks not.

This is completely wrong

when it comes to

the late Bronze Age,
the eastern Mediterranean.

The end of it
was not the result

of, uh, a technology...

um, of a...
of a superior technology

of... of fighting, of warfare.

It has nothing
to do with that.

It has nothing
to do with that.

The archaeological narrative
is based on facts.

On finds,
on what we have in the ground.

The material culture.

Therefore, talking about
what we have found,

we don't see any iron artifact

at least for 100 years
after the Collapse.

[narrator] Whoever
the attackers were

they too,
were using bronze weapons.

[Eric] There's no way that

new iron weapons contributed
to the collapse of
the Bronze Age civilization.

In fact, it's much more likely
that it was
the other way around.

In fact, it's much more likely
that it was
the other way around.

It's been suggested that,

perhaps, it was
part of the collapse and

the supply chain issues,

that people
couldn't get tin anymore.

Or maybe even
copper was a little hard
to get a hold of.

In which case,
they did turn to iron
as a substitute.

[narrator] The Sea People
were not tribes from the north

or anywhere else

armed with a new super weapon.

So, we are still left
with the big question,

So, we are still left
with the big question,

who were the Sea People?

And might they be
only part of the answer

as to what happened
at the end of the Bronze Age?

As it turns out,

solving the mystery begins
high in the mountains
of Crete.

The Sea People
were not the creators
of iron super weapons,

but a very different clue
as to who they might have been

and what role they played
in bringing down the
greatest empires of the day

comes from
the Greek island of Crete.

Archaeologist
Krzysztof Nowicki,

Archaeologist
Krzysztof Nowicki,

has spent the last few decades
searching the island
for Bronze Age sites.

And he's had to go high
into the mountains
to find them.

One of his
most spectacular discoveries,

is the almost inaccessible

Katalimata.

To come here,
to these natural terraces

hanging on the cliff

requires very
tiring climbing the street

and then,
one must find the right place

and then,
one must find the right place

where from the street
to move to the cliff.

[narrator] Anyone trying
to access the site

then faces
a treacherous traverse

along a narrow ledge,

and a difficult climb
up the steep cliff face.

[Krzysztof]
So, it's just tiring.

It is dangerous.

It is, uh, I will say
a very uncomfortable way
to get here.

[narrator] Despite
it's perilous location

he estimates
that there were once
ten to twelve houses here.

Which means, that unbelievably

about 50 to 70 people
were living on this
small clifftop.

[Krzysztof] To live here,
to build houses here,

to have your families here

means that
you had to be terrified,
really terrified.

Once you are here,

you feel really secure,
you feel safe.

[narrator] So when
were these people here?

And what were they afraid of?

Among the ruins of the houses

Krzysztof has found
fragments of jars

used for storing essentials
such as water and grain.

All of which would have
had to be carried up
from the lowlands.

Crucially, they also allow him
to date the time
of this occupation.

The 1200 BC.

[Krzysztof] These people
are scared of other people.

And we have to understand that
the conflict between people

And we have to understand that
the conflict between people

uh, that that is something
written in the human history.

One group of people is hiding,

is trying to, uh,
save their life

against other group of people

who want to rob them,

who want to kidnap them,
who want to kill them.

[narrator] Over 30 other
refuge sites have now
been found in Crete,

including the
much bigger village

including the
much bigger village

of Karfi.

[Krzysztof] We are, uh,
here on the altitude
of 1,140 meters.

And we don't know any village

situated so high.

About 120 houses, 150...

Altogether 600 to 1000 people
we can estimate

living in this village.

[narrator] It is clear that
at the end of the Bronze Age

a large number of
the native population of Crete

a large number of
the native population of Crete

had fled to almost
inaccessible communities
on the mountaintops.

But it's the layout of Karfi

that gives us
our biggest clue.

Whoever these attackers were

they were not
their immediate neighbors.

[Krzysztof] These were
not internal conflicts. Why?

Because many of these sites
are defensible
only on one side.

The side which is from
the direction of the sea.

The side which is from
the direction of the sea.

And they are
very easily accessible
from the interior.

[narrator]
Yet evidence suggests

the invaders may not
have been coming
from too far away.

[Krzysztof] I think these were
just the local people.

Uh, local Aegean, Anatolian,
Italian people

who were involved
in sea activity.

Many of them
were probably warriors

who were also very active

on the islands,
on the coastal areas.

on the islands,
on the coastal areas.

They found out
that they were unemployed.

So, they had to take
the action in their hands.

Then they were,
you know, the pirates.

They simply moved
to other kind of activity.

[narrator] So,
is this the answer?

Were the Sea People actually
just out of work warriors

who had resorted to piracy as
their city-states collapsed?

It's hard to believe
that a desperate group
of sea raiders or pirates

would be capable of reaping
so much destruction
across the Mediterranean.

That entire civilizations
vanished without a trace.

Yet another indication

that there has to be more
to this story.

Time to look again
at the original source

for the narrative
about the Sea People.

for the narrative
about the Sea People.

Ramses the third's
mortuary temple.

Could the enemy
depicted in these engravings

be the same attackers
that we find in Crete?

If we make
the effort to interpret
these weathered reliefs

we can meet these invaders
face-to-face.

What's great is you can see
that there's a huge variety
of people,

because you get these ones
with these amazing headdresses

coming out and others

sort of, horns coming out
of their headdress.

But just by the physiognomy,
by their faces,

But just by the physiognomy,
by their faces,

by their hairstyles,
by their clothing

you can tell that
this is a real
ragtag group of people

who have come together
to fight against the Egyptians

and of course, also, the rest
of the Mediterranean world.

[narrator] The Sea People
do indeed appear to have been
a desperate group.

But what is most intriguing

is that when you look closely

they are not always depicted
as an army
of terrifying raiders.

[Salima] There are
some reliefs here

that might give us
a different idea.

And that is because
we've got images

of these people
coming in oxcarts

with women
and children and goods.

[narrator] It seems
these people were arriving
not only to attack

but to settle.

In another part of the temple

it's been revealed that
the Egyptians do actually name
some of them.

it's been revealed that
the Egyptians do actually name
some of them.

We have the Shekelesh,
the Sherden,

the Tetnu and a few others.

So, the Egyptians
really did document
who their enemies were.

[narrator] Historians
have been able to identify
some of these tribes

but tracing
their geographic origins
has proved more difficult

until now.

Pioneering DNA analysis

is finally revealing
some answers.

is finally revealing
some answers.

[indistinct chatter]

[narrator]
New DNA work in Israel
is finally allowing us

to determine where, at least
some of the Sea People
were coming from.

Aren Maeir is directing
the work at Tell es-Safi

where it is recorded
that the Philistines had come
from the sea and settled.

[Aren] The Philistines
are one of the so-called
Sea Peoples.

[Aren] The Philistines
are one of the so-called
Sea Peoples.

The Philistines
were seen as a...

a rather monolithic culture.

Probably, originally,
from somewhere in
Bronze Age Greece

in the Mycenaean culture

who migrated
either by ship or by land,

destroyed the Canaanite cities

and founded new cities
and a new culture

which was, for the most part,
a Mycenaean culture.

[narrator] But recent advances
in DNA analysis

have allowed scientists
to extract and analyze DNA

from ancient skeletons
found in a number
of Canaanite sites.

from ancient skeletons
found in a number
of Canaanite sites.

And the results are providing
a more nuanced picture

of what happened.

[Aren] The, uh, DNA studies
show that the Philistines
were not from one place.

and also, they seem to have,
uh, integrated

with the local people.

So, it was a mixed...

Uh, it's... you can call it
a entangled culture or

if you want,
a Mediterranean salad.

Uh, not a Greek salad,
a Mediterranean salad.

Uh, and all this came together
to form this new culture

Uh, and all this came together
to form this new culture

that we call
the Philistine culture.

[narrator] The Sea People
seemed to have come from
a number of different places.

And they
weren't always hostile.

Some were raiders,

some were settlers.

Is it possible the Sea People
were a result
of the Bronze Age Collapse

rather than the cause?

For the archaeologists it
was back to
square one

as they try to explain
what might have happened

to cause the collapse
of all these civilizations

within a few decades.

The Sea People
had perhaps diverted attention
from the true culprit.

And were actually the victims
of some kind of disaster,

fleeing to find new homelands.

But if so...

What were they escaping?

What were they escaping?

Some of the possibilities
are famine,

drought, climate change,

disease, earthquakes,

volcanoes,

or could it have been
all of those things?

[narrator] Maybe
the answer was always
right in front of us.

In the writings
of those who lived

far closer in time
to the events in question.

So we do have some mentions
from ancient authors
like Herodotus

and Aristotle

and Aristotle

that there
may have been climate change
about this time.

Uh, Herodotus
actually mentions

a drought in Lydia
that may have had the

Etruscans moving
over to Italy.

But that means
that they were aware

that something might
have happened back then.

[narrator]
Both writers talk about

how devastating droughts
can lead to famine,

social and
political disruption

and eventually,
the fall of civilizations.

So could climate change
be the answer?

So could climate change
be the answer?

The widespread
failure of crops

would explain the collapse
of thriving communities,

and could have led
to mass migration.

The Sea People might have
been starving families

fleeing across
the Mediterranean.

But is there any way
to know for sure?

When you look closely
at the surviving texts

in the years around 1200 BC,

you discover
that at that time

as well as the Sea People,

there was another
common preoccupation

across the Eastern
Mediterranean empires.

The need for grain.

[Salima] Here,
in Karnak Temple,

King Merneptah,

who was the son
of Ramses II

took a whole wall to record
his battle triumphs,

and part of his reign.

and part of his reign.

And he writes,

um, "It is in order to vivify
the Hittite lands

that I had ships of grain
sent to them.

Behold, the gods love me,

which is why
they have given me
such nourishment."

[narrator] He is boasting
about sending relief aid
to the Hittites.

And they were not
the only ones

pleading for his help.

[Yoram] For many years,

scholars really didn't know
what happened

at the end
of the late Bronze Age.

at the end
of the late Bronze Age.

There were many suggestions,
but not one clear answer.

Now, we have that answer

in the letter
which was recently published.

"In the land of Ugarit,
there is severe hunger.

May my Lord..."

That is so say,
the Egyptian pharaoh.

"May my Lord save
the land of Ugarit.

And may the King give grain
to save my life,

to save the citizens
of the land of Ugarit."

[narrator] People in Ugarit
were clearly suffering, too.

[narrator] People in Ugarit
were clearly suffering, too.

And another letter
refers to a famine

ravaging the city
of nearby Emar
in inland Syria

at the time
that it was laid waste.

in 1185 B.C.

[Yoram] The sender writes
to one of his family members

telling him how desperate
the situation was

at that time.

"There is famine
in our house.

We will all die of hunger.

If you do not
quickly arrive here,

If you do not
quickly arrive here,

we ourselves will die
of hunger.

You will not see a living soul
from your land."

[narrator]
One thing is evident
from all this correspondence.

There appears to have been
a major famine

in the Mediterranean
around 1200 B.C.

But drought and famine
were not unique

to the final years
of the Bronze Age.

Is there evidence
that this drought was worse

than any other before?

A great deal of research
has been done

in the last few years.

And the findings
are astounding.

Deep in the heart
of Jerusalem

lies a cavern
more than 200 yards across,

lies a cavern
more than 200 yards across,

known as Atara Cave.

Those that venture down there

are rewarded
with an amazing view

of stalactites
and other cave formations.

Yoav Negev,

head of the Israeli
caving association

is fascinated
by these formations.

Not only for their beauty,

but also their importance
as a source of information.

but also their importance
as a source of information.

[camera shutter clicks]

[camera shutter clicks]

Stalagmites are made
of calcite

that is, uh,

deposited by, uh, water
dripping from the ceiling.

[narrator] When it rains,

water enters the cave

and dissolves the limestone
surrounding it,

resulting in the deposition
of calcite on the cave floor.

This process forms layers
in the stalagmite,

This process forms layers
in the stalagmite,

with each layer
representing a different
time period.

This stalagmite is--
is cut in the middle

So we can...

open it and see...

uh, what is it made it of.

And what we can see here
is-- pretty heavy.

That-- these are like
the growth rings

of the stalagmite.

The center of the stalagmite,

is the beginning
of when this stalagmite was,

uh, a baby stalagmite.

The youngest part
of the stalagmite,

is actually the--
the external part.

[narrator] By analyzing
the isotopic composition

and thickness
of these growth rings,

scientists can determine

how much rain fell
during that time period.

A large ring, for example,

would indicate a period
of high precipitation.

In this way,

teams across the Eastern
Mediterranean,

have managed to put together
a 150,000 year record
of rainfall.

And the results
are illuminating.

And the results
are illuminating.

Those isotopes show that
in that period

between the late Bronze Age

and the beginning
the of Iron Age,

there was no growth
in the stalagmite.

From that we can understand,

this period
was a drought period.

[narrator] It's apparent
that at the end of Bronze Age,

around 1200 B.C.,

and in the years afterwards,

annual precipitation
was exceptionally low.

Could it be they were caught
in the grip of a mega-drought?

Could it be they were caught
in the grip of a mega-drought?

A force of nature
beyond their control.

[narrator]
Stalagmites in Israel

indicate that annual rainfall
at the end of Bronze Age

was exceptionally low.

And this work is backed up
by studies on mud cores

undertaken by research teams

all over
the Eastern Mediterranean.

These cores reveal the levels
of pollen in the air

at the time
the mud was laid down.

at the time
the mud was laid down.

So researchers
can re-construct

past vegetation
and climatic conditions.

In Israel,

archaeobotanist Dafna Langgut
has been studying some cores

taken from beneath
the Sea of Galilee
and the Dead Sea.

Which suggests
there was a dramatic fall
in crop cultivation

at just this time.

[Dafna] We were able to count
for each sample

[Dafna] We were able to count
for each sample

hundreds of pollen grains.

What is unique about pollen,

that each plant produce
its own unique pollen form,

so it sounds like
it's identical,

its fingerprint.

And in addition,

pollen is the most durable
organic substance in nature.

So it can preserved
for hundreds of thousands
of years.

[narrator]
By measuring the quantity

of the radioactive isotope
Carbon-14 in the sediment,

of the radioactive isotope
Carbon-14 in the sediment,

they are able to date
each sample

and determine the types
of vegetation

that existed
during a particular period.

And what they identified
in the late Bronze Age

were low percentages
of tree pollen

such as oaks, pistachio,
and olives

together with high ratios
of herbs and small shrubs.

This means that at that time,

drier climate conditions
existed in that area.

drier climate conditions
existed in that area.

[Dafna]
Based on the pollen's images,

we were able to reveal
that this...

very dry conditions
lasted for about 150 years

starting at 1250 B.C.

It is situation
that is difficult to handle.

[narrator]
It would undoubtedly
have had a devastating effect

on the population
of the region.

Intrigued by all these
new discoveries,

archaeologist
Israel Finkelstein

began studying the cattle
that were present in this area

as well as the crops
that were growing
in that period.

This is Megiddo.

A critical junction
of trading routes
in the Bronze Age.

And in 1200 B.C.,

this whole area
known as Canaan,

was part
of the Egyptian empire.

Remarkably,
it seems that the Egyptians

were introducing
new farming methods here

to cope with the drought.

When Israel examined
the cattle bones
discovered on site,

he observed that
not only was there an increase

in the number of cows
in this period,

but that they were reaching
old age before dying.

So the meaning is that
they kept the animals

for a long time

And usually the meaning,
uh, uh,

of this is that they used
these animals to plow.

of this is that they used
these animals to plow.

So this, uh, is important.

It's not only animals
for consumption.

These cows were being used
to plow crops

rather than for meat.

What's more,

he also noticed an increase
in the number of sickle blades

used for cutting crops.

There is also growth
in sickle blades,

uh, hinting that
there is an expansion
of agriculture.

And especially expansion
of cereal agriculture.

And especially expansion
of cereal agriculture.

I was thinking
about dry farming.

That is to say mainly, uh,
wheat and barley.

[narrator] Dry farming
relies on natural rainfall
to water crops.

And both wheat and barley
can survive

with little or no irrigation.

So it seems
the Egyptians in charge here

were increasing the production
of these grains

in order to try to cope
with the crisis.

And there was something else
interesting about the cattle.

And there was something else
interesting about the cattle.

[Israel] We carried out
ancient DNA study,

and we noticed that
there is something peculiar.

First of all,
of introduction of cattle

probably from Egypt,
the zebu.

And secondly,

breeding of the local cattle
with the zebu.

And the zebu cattle
is a strong animal

which is more resilient
to extreme climate,

which is more resilient
to extreme climate,

to extreme conditions.

And we think that
this was done on purpose

in the late [indistinct].

[narrator]
So they were also breeding
heartier cows.

If they had the time
to do that,

it suggests this
must have been
a very long drought.

What we might now call
"climate change."

What's extraordinary is that

What's extraordinary is that

it seems that the Egyptians
may have been trying
to increase grain production

around the more fertile parts
of their empire.

Because
they were also experiencing
drought at home.

Often referred to
as "the bread basket
of the ancient world",

Egypt was known
for its regular and reliable
flooding of the Nile.

But new research
conducted in the Nile valley,

suggests that Egypt too
was suffering.

suggests that Egypt too
was suffering.

Research scientist
Nick Marriner and his team

have been working
across all the countries
affected by the drought.

Including Egypt.

We're using an auger
to take, uh, a core

to study the evolution

of the Nile's ancient
environments

and its waterscapes.

[narrator] They can analyze
the pollen and other finds
in the layers of sediment.

[narrator] They can analyze
the pollen and other finds
in the layers of sediment.

Such as fossils
or fresh water shells

to understand
how the climate varied
in ancient times.

So we can use this core
to go back thousands of years

to see what was happening, uh,
during the Bronze Age.

What the climate was like,

what human societies
were doing, uh, in this area

and how they were affected
by climate change.

[narrator]
Their results suggest that

not only was Egypt suffering
from drought at this time,

not only was Egypt suffering
from drought at this time,

but that it lasted even longer
than proposed

by the researchers in Israel.

We have evidence for, uh,
significant decline

in our levels.

And our discharge is spanning
more than 6,500 kilometers

from the sources of the Nile
at Lake Victoria

right down to the Nile delta.

This period lasted for around,
uh, 300 years.

[narrator] This drop
in the Nile

appears to have started
during the reign
of Ramses III.

The pharaoh who fought
the sea people.

This is an exceptionally, uh,
long period of drought

that we could, uh,
describe as being
a mega-drought.

And would've
significantly affected, uh,
Bronze Age societies.

[narrator] A drought
lasting a year or two,

or even ten years,

doesn't necessarily mean
that a society will fall.

But a mega-drought
lasting more than a 100 years,

simply does not allow
the inhabitants any relief.

simply does not allow
the inhabitants any relief.

When the drought finally ends,

some of the affected societies
may have survived.

But others
may no longer exist,

despite all their efforts
to deal with it.

A remarkable story
seems to be coming together.

A huge devastating drought

caused many different people
to take to the sea

caused many different people
to take to the sea

in search of new lands.

Sometimes destroying
the cities

of the existing inhabitants.

The result
was a widespread collapse.

But the drought lasted
300 years.

Was there a specific event
that occurred suddenly
around 1200 B.C.

that lead to the chaos
at that time?

It seems
there could still be
a missing piece of the puzzle.

Some sudden terrifying event

Some sudden terrifying event

that caused people to flee
for their lives.

[narrator] If a sudden event
was the catalyst

for the collapse
of the Bronze Age,

then one possibility
is a volcanic eruption.

[distant explosion]

[narrator] The Mediterranean
has many volcanoes.

And the eruption
of the island Santorini
in 1640 B.C.,

is known to have caused
an earlier decline

in the Minoan civilization.

Yet there is nothing
to suggest

that Santorini exploded again.

But recently,

archaeologists in Egypt
stumbled on some
stunning new evidence

for one more factor

in the events that overcame
the people of the Bronze Age.

Until a few years ago,

the famous Colossi of Memnon
were all that remained

the famous Colossi of Memnon
were all that remained

of the largest temple
ever built in ancient Egypt.

The Mortuary Temple
of Amenhotep III.

[Hourig] When we came here,

we thought
it was a large field.

It was indeed a large field

preceded by these two
colossal statues.

Nobody,

or except
very specialized people

knew that beyond the Memnon,

there was a vast
and they were the ruins
of a very, very large temple.

there was a vast
and they were the ruins
of a very, very large temple.

[narrator] This temple
known as Kom el-Hetan,

was the pinnacle
of construction

in Egypt's new kingdom.

But at some point in history,

the building
was completely destroyed
by an earthquake.

All except the famous colossi
of Amenhotep III,

which had once flanked
the main gate.

Over the last few decades,

Over the last few decades,

archaeologist
Hourig Sourouzian

has been attempting
to resurrect this temple,

excavating and re-erecting
whatever stonework is left.

[men speaking other language]

[narrator]
It has been a Herculean task.

-[man speaking other language]
-[all chanting]

[men speaking other language]

[all cheering]

[narrator] In the process
of all the re-construction,

Hourig has been working
with a team

from the Armenian institute
of geological sciences

to try to establish
when exactly

this destructive earthquake
occurred.

Leading the team,
is Ara Avagyan.

He has found clear evidence
of a massive earthquake

throughout the site.

When we have earthquake,

we have a passing wave.

It likes wave in the water.

What we see here,

What we see here,

all this block,

tiled few degree
to the south, like this.

Here.

We see all this block
tilted few degree...

to the north, like this.

And you see
this row of blocks?

Again, they're tilted
to the south.

So we have
some kind of wave here.

And in some places,

we have a manmade mortar
folded like this.

we have a manmade mortar
folded like this.

Exactly the same...

wave, you see?

The wave like this.

Like this.

So...

such a deformation

can be explained
only by earthquake.

[narrator] To try to pin point
the date of the earthquake,

Ara has been looking
for evidence of liquefaction.

Ara has been looking
for evidence of liquefaction.

This can occur
when soil is shaken
in a large earthquake

and begins to behave
like a liquid,

leading to extensive damage
to any structures built there.

So here we have
a very beautiful manifestation
of liquefaction.

We have a--
a thin archaeological layer.

And after the earthquake
happened,

we have like plume injection
of sandy layer.

we have like plume injection
of sandy layer.

Okay?

It destroyed
archaeological layer.

You see some fraction
of archaeological layer here.

[narrator] The team
found several examples
of this liquefaction layer.

Evidence
of a massive earthquake.

And in these layers,

they found shards
of pottery.

It is pottery, it is pottery,

it is pottery, it is pottery,
it is pottery.

This, this.

[narrator] Radio carbon dating
of the pottery

[narrator] Radio carbon dating
of the pottery

indicated that
this destruction occurred
around 1200 B.C.

But the date was vague.

The style of the pottery
itself however,

was more precise.

So this is, uh,

one of the pots we found
under the, uh, fallen colossi.

And, uh, these are,
uh, shards.

This pot, we showed it
to a specialist in pottery,

who said the 1200 B.C.,

within a few years.

[narrator]
A massive earthquake
seems to have happened

in 1200 B.C.

And shortly afterwards,

Ramses III
was fighting the sea people.

Could there be a link?

Was this earthquake
the trigger for the events
which followed,

and the widespread collapse
of the known world?

and the widespread collapse
of the known world?

If so,

it was important to know

exactly how widespread
the earthquake was.

To determine the extent,

Hourig and Ara traveled
throughout Egypt,

looking for evidence
of earthquakes

and attempting to date them.

The damage
in a funerary chapel

at Gebel el-Silsila
is particularly striking.

at Gebel el-Silsila
is particularly striking.

Here, a statue
of three seated figures

has been split

with a separation
of three feet

between its two halves.

We are in the middle

of, uh, open crack.

[gasps] This is where
three person seated, uh,

near each other,
and now they are split.

near each other,
and now they are split.

It is fantastic to see

these statues split
in two parts.

And displaced
during this shock.

I can be sure
that it is earthquake.

[narrator] Based on
the direction of the cracks,

Ara and Hourig
think this could have

been the same earthquake
that shattered Kom el-Hettan.

Might its effects have been
felt even further afield.

They travel to Abu Simbel
in the south to investigate.

Commissioned by Ramses II,

this iconic rock-cut temple
is considered to be

one of the most impressive
remaining examples

of ancient Egyptian
architecture and engineering.

Although this entire temple
was raised

when the Aswan Dam was built,

it was preserved
exactly as it was.

it was preserved
exactly as it was.

Complete with any damage.

And it doesn't take them long
to find a suspicious crack.

It is a new-formed crack.

-Mmm-hmm.
-A crack formed

-after carving this wall.
-Yes.

And, uh, because we have
a small step,

-a small shift...
-[Ara] Yes.

The blocks are shifted
with respect to each other.

And such it is,

in geology,
we call also, faults.

in geology,
we call also, faults.

-It's a micro fault.
-Yeah.

We have a shift here.

We can't expect this

-without checking.
-[Ara] I see.

-Clear demonstration, yeah.
-Yes. Yeah.

[narrator] They find similar
cracks throughout the temple.

The earthquake even seems
to have brought down

the upper half
of one of the seeded colossi

of Ramses II.

It is obvious
that the monument,

-it's by earthquake.
-Yes.

[Hourig] There is earthquake
input of this collapse.

[Hourig] There is earthquake
input of this collapse.

-[Ara] Mmm-hmm.
-[Hourig] It is shown.

Maybe this earthquake
and earthquake

that we discovered in the site
of, uh, Kom el-Hettan,

it's, uh, it's same,
it is probable.

[narrator] So far,
from Abu Simbel to Saqqara,

the length of Egypt,

they have found evidence
of a massive earthquake.

Or perhaps a series
of earthquakes

Or perhaps a series
of earthquakes

at much the same time.

Egypt, it seems,
was flattened in 1200 B.C.

So could these earthquakes

have been even more
widespread beyond Egypt?

Could they have caused
so much destruction,

the Bronze Age
civilizations collapsed?

[narrator] Could earthquakes
have caused destruction

beyond Egypt so great,

they heralded the end
of the Bronze Age?

In Mycenae, excavators have
now found evidence

that earthquakes contributed
to the destruction.

Collapsed buildings.
Even crushed bodies.

The end of this doorway
was found

on the skeleton of the woman
who was killed

when the house collapsed
around her.

when the house collapsed
around her.

In fact,
these photographs show

that she was struck by a rock
that shattered her skull.

She was pretty much
killed instantly.

She's not the only body
that we have here.

There's another house
a couple hundred meters away,

where an entire family
was crushed

when their house
came down around them.

So, in addition
to everything else

that might have happened,

invaders, famine, drought,

we have to factor in
earthquakes as well.

[narrator] And bodies
have also been found

[narrator] And bodies
have also been found

by excavators
at other Greek sites.

Anthropologist,
Maria-Eleni Chovalopoulou,

has been studying some
of the remains.

[Maria-Eleni] In the last
few decades,

several anthropologists

unearthed at least
16 skeletons

who they believe died
from earthquakes

that took place in Greece

around 1200 B.C.

Here, we have an example
of a skeleton

who was found at Cadmea.

who was found at Cadmea.

Belonged to a young woman,

and she was believed
to have died

during an earthquake
that took place at that time.

She had several injuries
to her skull,

but this one over here
that you can see,

in the middle
of her cranial wall,

is believed to have been
the fatal one.

[narrator] This fracture
is thought to have been caused

by a falling roof beam.

[Maria-Eleni] Here,
we have another skeleton

that belongs
to a young woman as well.

We're not sure whether she

died during an earthquake
or not,

but she also had injuries
to her skull,

and a very similar fracture

and a very similar fracture

in the middle
of the cranial wall as well.

[narrator] There can
be no doubt

that Greece suffered
from earthquakes

around this time.

And Eric believes
that in some cases,

they may have been responsible

for the destruction
of entire cities.

Including the site of Tiryns.

[Eric] I think was destroyed
by an earthquake.

At the end of the late
Bronze Age, 1200 B.C.,

life essentially
comes to an end,

life essentially
comes to an end,

there are some survivors

there are people living
in the lower city,

but for all intents
and purposes,

life comes to an end here.

[narrator] Eric thinks
it would have been possible

for a storm of earthquakes

over a period of 50 years.

From about 1225 to 1175 B.C.

To cause such
devastating destruction

To cause such
devastating destruction

across the Eastern
Mediterranean,

that society would have found
it very difficult to recover.

[Eric] There are
some things that are known

as earthquake sequences,

or earthquake storms.

And this is simply,
when you have an earthquake,

and it doesn't
release the pressure,

all of the pressure
in the fault zone,

you'll have another earthquake
soon thereafter.

Maybe days, maybe weeks,
maybe a year.

But there will be
another earthquake.

And if that earthquake

does not release
the rest of the pressure,

you'll have
another earthquake.

you'll have
another earthquake.

And another, and another.

In fact, usually,

we need to unzip
the fault line, as we say,

and that can take
up to 50 years

and a number of earthquakes.

And then the sequence
starts all over again.

[narrator] The Mediterranean
is full of fault zones.

As the recent earthquakes

in Turkey and Syria
have shown.

And the Bronze Age world

may well have been
a victim of this unzipping.

[Eric] If we take a look
at the map here,

there are active fault zones
everywhere.

We've got one coming down
the side of Greece and Crete,

coming around the Cyprus.

There's another one that goes
across the top of Turkey,

it's The North Anatolian
fault line.

And of course, we got the
Dead Sea Fault that comes up,

forming the Dead Sea
and the Lake Tiberias.

Now, if we superimpose a map

of all the sites
that are destroyed

at the end
of the late Bronze Age,

we can see that many of them

we can see that many of them

are right next
to an active fault zone.

So, we have here, I think,

between about 1225
to 1175 B.C.,

we have an earthquake storm

in the Aegean
and the Eastern Mediterranean.

And that may, um, tell us

why a lot of these sites
are destroyed.

[narrator] Such an
earthquake storm

would undoubtedly
have devastated many cities,

and left others
vulnerable to attack.

Across ancient sites
in the Eastern Mediterranean,

Across ancient sites
in the Eastern Mediterranean,

what is clearly
earthquake damage is visible.

Coming in the middle
of a devastating drought,

it's easy to see
how this earthquake storm

could have triggered
the widespread collapse

of the whole interconnected
system of the Bronze Age.

Causing people,
the sea people,

to set out in their thousands

in search of new homes.

So, was the earthquake storm
the final link

in a disastrous
chain of events

that led to the collapse
of the Bronze Age world?

Even today, earthquakes
are frequently followed

by the spread of disease,

as water supplies and drains
are destroyed.

as water supplies and drains
are destroyed.

And disease may well have
been an additional factor

in the disruption.

[Salima] When there are these
collapses of civilization,

it is more than possible

that disease
plays a role in it.

Sometimes, it is sort of,
the catalyst.

But more often than not,

when there are
so many things going on,

particularly problems
in terms of food,

you have populations
that are more vulnerable

to any kind of disease
that might be around.

to any kind of disease
that might be around.

And so, you will have
the young and very old

dying off,
as well as this affecting

other members of society.

[narrator] The Covid-19
pandemic has shown us

just how devastating
its effects can be,

and how vulnerable we are
in an interconnected world.

Just as they were then.

Diseases are often
hard to identify

in the archaeological record.

in the archaeological record.

But research suggests
that at least 10

could have been implicated
in the Bronze Age collapse.

Including smallpox,
typhoid and malaria.

This is the tomb of Ramses V,

and his death reveals
that smallpox was in Egypt

shortly after these events.

King Ramses V
had little pustules

all over his face,
we know from his mummy.

And then,
when we carried out tests,

And then,
when we carried out tests,

we found out he actually
died of smallpox.

We have several tests
that talk about

how he was not buried
immediately upon his death,

but, in fact, 16 months later.

And this is a very odd thing,
because generally,

within 70 days of your death,

you are supposed to be buried.

We also know
that several tombs

were being cut
for other relatives,

suggesting that everyone died
at the same time unexpectedly.

suggesting that everyone died
at the same time unexpectedly.

And also, the workers
who had cut these tombs

were given
a whole month's lead

at the expense of the state.

Which has led
some scholars to think

that maybe this was the
first example of quarantine.

[narrator] It's sounds
suspiciously

like they were facing
a widespread epidemic.

Smallpox doesn't just appear
as a single case.

And if the pharaoh
and his family had it,

we can assume it was sweeping
through the population,

we can assume it was sweeping
through the population,

rich and poor alike.

Without vaccines
or antibiotics,

the spread
of infectious diseases

would have been disastrous.

According to experts,

there is nothing
like a severe plague

to deliver a fatal blow
to an empire.

It seems an answer as to
why the Bronze Age collapsed

is finally emerging
from the shadows.

[narrator] Do we at last have
the answer to what happened

to end the Bronze Age
civilization so abruptly?

All these
interconnected societies

were first laid low
by a period of megadrought

that caused widespread famine
and migration of people.

And were then finished off
by an earthquake storm,

followed by an epidemic
of infectious disease.

followed by an epidemic
of infectious disease.

Faced with such a series
of disasters,

the leaders of the day
would have been unable

to provide
for their populations,

and social
and political collapse

might easily have ensued.

The sea people may not,
in fact, have been

the only ones
attacking cities.

[Eric] In the last days
of Mycenae, about 1200 B.C.,

the city is destroyed.

Who did it? Big question.

Who did it? Big question.

Is it invaders from outside?

Is it an internal uprising?

You have the king at the top,

and then you have
a stratified society

taking advantage
of the lower classes.

Are the 99 percent rising up
against the one percent?

[narrator] It's possible that
Mycenae's eventual destruction

was not the result
of an external invasion,

but rather caused
by internal conflicts

within the city.

This political collapse

This political collapse

could also explain the riddle
of what happened at Hattusa,

and other cities too.

[Christoph] Local resentment,
I think,

would have been
a large factor in this.

Now, we can imagine, you're
toiling away in the fields,

you're sending your
agricultural production

to the palace,

you are not invited
or included

to any of the fun
and festivity.

Even if it is religious
in nature,

uh, within the walls
of Hattusa.

So, there would have been
a real social divide

between the has and have-nots.

Ripe for some sort
of uprising.

Ripe for some sort
of uprising.

[narrator] An internal
rebellion may well have been

the knockout blow responsible

for the Hittite state
collapsing,

and vanishing from history.

And though Egypt survived,

evidence of political
and social unrest

can even be found here.

Following Ramses III's victory
over the sea people,

we find the first labor strike
in recorded history.

we find the first labor strike
in recorded history.

[Salima] The reign
of Ramses III

was not just marked

by the chaos
with the sea peoples,

but, in fact,
it was when we had

the first sit-in strike
in history,

when all of the workers
who were working

in the Valley of the Kings
had not been paid by the king.

So they put down their tools,

marched off, and had a sit-in
at the temple.

And they kept doing this
until they finally got paid.

[narrator] This near-complete
social and political collapse

would likely have increased
the flood of different people

would likely have increased
the flood of different people

who were forced to flee

in search
of somewhere new to live.

[Eric] Each group may have
been moving
or leaving

or invading
for a different reason.

Some may have been invaders.

Some may have been migrants,
some may have been refugees.

[narrator] As these victims
of a string of disasters

crossed the Mediterranean,

they were seen
as invading sea people.

they were seen
as invading sea people.

But it's clear that at least

some of them
were not warriors,

they were families.

Refugees seeking
a better life in a new land.

[Eric] I would say

that the equivalent
in the modern era

would be the refugees fleeing
the civil war in Syria,

and moving over
to Greece and such.

After years of research,
theories and mystery,

After years of research,
theories and mystery,

we finally appear
to have a solution

as to what caused the collapse
of the great civilizations

of the Bronze Age.

But it's perhaps wrong
to think of the answer

as a string of disasters,

one thing after another.

I think that's too simple,

it's too simplistic.

Life, as we know it,
is much more messy.

And so, I don't think I see
this as a linear progression,

I see it more as overlapping.

I see it more as overlapping.

I think it's just
this whole smorgasbord

if you will, of, um,
catastrophic events.

What I see this as,
is a perfect storm.

It is a perfect storm

of catastrophes,
of calamities.

And that's what leads
to the collapse.

[narrator] Perhaps
the inhabitants

could have survived
one disaster,

such as an earthquake
or a drought.

But they could not endure
the combined effects

But they could not endure
the combined effects

of multiple catastrophes
all occurring together.

Climate change
causing drought and famine,

earthquakes and disease,

migrations and war,

internal rebellions,

and the collapse
of their supply chains.

It was all too much
to bear at once,

and led to the interconnected
civilizations

collapsing like dominos.

What followed has been
called a dark age.

For a while,
diplomatic and trade relations

were nearly non-existent.

And art, architecture,
and general quality of life,

all suffered in comparison
with the Bronze Age.

But of course, it wasn't
the end of everything.

In fact, it was the catalyst
for a new age.

An age in which
iron replaced bronze

as the metal of choice.

as the metal of choice.

It was a period
of transformation
and development,

which, in time, gave rise

to the civilizations
we know today.

1200 B.C. was undoubtedly
a pivotal point in history.

[Eric] The thing
that has me worried

and losing sleep at night

is a lot of the factors
that I see that contributed

to the collapse
of the late Bronze Age,

are around again today.

are around again today.

You can just
tick off the boxes, you know.

Climate change, yes.
Earthquakes, yes.

Invaders, yes. Drought,
famine, migration,

I mean, they're all there.

We are, I think,
ripe for a catastrophe.

Right, especially today,
we've got, you know,

Covid's been rampaging
around the world,

we've got supply chain issues,

I mean, every time
I turn on the news,

I'm like, it's deja vu
all over again.

This is the late
Bronze Age collapse.

[narrator] Perhaps the past
is more relevant

[narrator] Perhaps the past
is more relevant

than we might like to think.

[Israel] Climate was a prime
mover in the process.

Climate was the centerpiece
in the whole thing.

Of course, it brought about
other processes.

People moving,
destruction of cities,

collapse of empires,
and so on.

But the beginning
was the climate.

[Salima] History is
very cyclical,

so maybe we will wind up

repeating what happened
at the end of the Bronze Age.

repeating what happened
at the end of the Bronze Age.

Or maybe we can
do something to stop it.

I think, instead
of just talking about

doing things
about climate change,

if we actually do it,
then we might stand a chance.

[Eric] Most societies
in the history of humankind

have collapsed.

And it would be
hubristic to think

that we're not going to.

I definitely think it's not
a matter of if we collapse,

but when we collapse.

And when we do that,
what are we prepared to do?

Either to try and stop it
before it happens

Either to try and stop it
before it happens

or afterward.

How are we going
to be resilient?

How are we going
to get back up?

[narrator] Uncovering
the story

of the Bronze Age collapse

has shown how the survival
of any civilization

may mean learning
to deal with the threats

before it's too late.