After 1177 BC: The Survival of Civilizations
Eric H. Cline, George Washington University
AIA National Lecture

In the years after 1177 BCE, many of the Late Bronze Age civilizations of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean lay in ruins, undone by invasion, revolt, natural disasters, famine, and the demise of international trade. An interconnected world that had boasted major empires and societies, relative peace, robust commerce, and monumental architecture had been lost.
“After 1177 BC,” based on Prof. Cline’s new book, traces the compelling story of what happened during the next four centuries across the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean world. It is a story of resilience, transformation, and success, as well as failures, in an age of chaos and reconfiguration. Those societies that failed to adjust disappeared from the world stage, while others transformed themselves, resulting in a new world order that included Israelites, Philistines, Phoenicians, NeoHittites, NeoAssyrians, NeoBabylonians, and world changing innovations such as the use of iron and standardization of the alphabet. It is now clear that this period, far from being the First Dark Age, was a new age with new inventions, new opportunities, and lessons for us today.

This lecture is sponsored by the American Institute for Archaeology
Lecture begins at the 10:30 mark.