What was life like after the Bronze age collapse?

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  • čas přidán 15. 05. 2024
  • What was life like after the Bronze age collapse?
    This video is sponsored by my Patrons over on Patreon
    / epimetheus1776
    Sources/related reading:
    Collapse of the Bronze Age (Manuel Robbins)
    A history of the Ancient Near East (Wiley Backwell)
    End of the Bronze Age (Robert Drews)
    1177 (Eric Cline)
    Chronicle of the Pharaohs (Perter Clayton)
    Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the ancient near east (Michael Roaf)
    A political history of the Arameans (K lawson Younger)
    Sea Peoples of the Bronze Age Mediterranean (Raffaele D’Amato)
    #history #epimetheus

Komentáře • 2,4K

  • @shinsenshogun900
    @shinsenshogun900 Před 3 lety +3612

    When in doubt, be a mercenary, shepherd, merchant, and garrison-farmer in an societal apocalypse

    • @oscareliasson5595
      @oscareliasson5595 Před 3 lety +332

      In the post apocalyptic wordl, this will be expanded to include carpenters, electricians and plumbing technicians.

    • @davidegaruti2582
      @davidegaruti2582 Před 3 lety +134

      @@oscareliasson5595 monks fared fairly well in the collapse of rome ...

    • @oscareliasson5595
      @oscareliasson5595 Před 3 lety +177

      @@davidegaruti2582 i guess someone has to keep the brewering and fermenting-bizznizz going :)

    • @davidegaruti2582
      @davidegaruti2582 Před 3 lety +87

      @@oscareliasson5595 they also copied the bible and are the reason we are not withing in arabic script ...

    • @CountingStars333
      @CountingStars333 Před 3 lety +9

      @@oscareliasson5595 plumbing? Lol

  • @WoefulPie
    @WoefulPie Před 3 lety +1245

    "Seemed to have failed at living." I concur with your diagnosis, Doc

  • @AJKecsk
    @AJKecsk Před 3 lety +547

    Imagine the shock on the bronze-age people's faces to imagine a world where premium-quality bronze can be had for $2.02 a pound.

    • @FSM1138
      @FSM1138 Před rokem +20

      what's the conversion rate for whatever the hell currency they used to USD I wonder...

    • @RealBoiJare
      @RealBoiJare Před rokem +61

      @@FSM1138 a minimum wage worker today could buy multiple pounds of bronze after an hour of work whereas it would probably take an average person months to earn enough for a pound back then. Just a guess/comparison

    • @scottcantdance804
      @scottcantdance804 Před rokem +12

      @@RealBoiJare given the fact that it can be rapidly mined, smelted, refined, cast and shaped all by machine instead of by hand, and transported by machine, I'm guessing you're right.

    • @GeldUndKokaine-kc1hp
      @GeldUndKokaine-kc1hp Před 7 měsíci +17

      You could simplify the concept to them by saying that a pound of bronze (converted to their own measurement) is priced at or below a loaf of bread

    • @sigurdrobertsson2231
      @sigurdrobertsson2231 Před měsícem +1

      It also holds less value as we don't have as many high skilled blacksmiths capable of working with bronze

  • @saredodevil
    @saredodevil Před 3 lety +366

    collapse of the bronze age has to be the most mysterious and intriguing episode in human history.

    • @gregoryeatroff8608
      @gregoryeatroff8608 Před 3 lety +23

      Intriguing, yes. Mysterious... not really.

    • @sirrathersplendid4825
      @sirrathersplendid4825 Před 3 lety +11

      There are plenty more. But we don’t know about them. LoL.

    • @SimuLord
      @SimuLord Před 3 lety +24

      In 5200, they're going to look back on "the Information Age Collapse, which happened 3,200 years ago and about which we know almost nothing" the way we study the Bronze Age Collapse today.

    • @sirrathersplendid4825
      @sirrathersplendid4825 Před 3 lety +49

      @@SimuLord - The way we store information digitally, and in increasingly obscure formats on ever smaller devices, is not going to help our culture stay preserved.

    • @SimuLord
      @SimuLord Před 3 lety +29

      @@sirrathersplendid4825 Good point, that's going to baffle archaeologists because it'll look like there are minimal written records but our materials science will clearly show we were an advanced civilisation. Even if they figure out how to get some of the electronics working (unlikely since they'll have corroded over millennia), they'd still have to break the encryption to get at the data.

  • @setflavius8049
    @setflavius8049 Před 3 lety +3077

    This would be an amazing RPG setting

    • @Victurio
      @Victurio Před 3 lety +83

      My fisrt Glorantha playthrough is going to be in this scenario

    • @MinesAGuinness
      @MinesAGuinness Před 3 lety +42

      @@Victurio Glorantha? That mention that RuneQuest still is played fills me with joy and happy memories! Thank you, Victor!

    • @jerdna021
      @jerdna021 Před 3 lety +8

      I was about to say RuneQuest and Glorantha, too!

    • @xzGAB
      @xzGAB Před 3 lety +35

      Not possible. Everyone wants full plate armour no matter how inaccurate this is.

    • @diadokhoi5722
      @diadokhoi5722 Před 3 lety +21

      Conan exiles type stuff

  • @Dell-ol6hb
    @Dell-ol6hb Před 3 lety +1683

    Assyrian empire: being torn apart
    Asur bel kala: ok guys let’s make a zoo

    • @johntitor1256
      @johntitor1256 Před 3 lety +93

      Gotta get that +1 Amenity somehow.

    • @dionysius4353
      @dionysius4353 Před 3 lety +60

      It’s like politicians wasting money and race baiting while America decays

    • @ninja393
      @ninja393 Před 3 lety +41

      @@dionysius4353 politicians be like "ok guys lets make a race zoo"

    • @CountingStars333
      @CountingStars333 Před 3 lety +2

      Asurs..

    • @tsonobi
      @tsonobi Před 3 lety +2

      Basically the Assyrian Joe Exotic of late bronze age

  • @DontKnow-hr5my
    @DontKnow-hr5my Před 3 lety +115

    That would be such a cool era for an RPG, the ruins of the Bronze Age Collapse

    • @davidgantenbein9362
      @davidgantenbein9362 Před 3 lety +8

      Isn’t basically anything Conan the Barbarian this? Conan is always about conflict between tribes and city states and mercenaries and short lived kingdoms in hard and barbaric times.

    • @DontKnow-hr5my
      @DontKnow-hr5my Před 3 lety +1

      @@davidgantenbein9362 Yeah but Conan seems to lack this "post apocalypse" feeling for me

    • @KlaussMarcellus
      @KlaussMarcellus Před 2 lety +6

      And also Conan is a low-fantansy setting in a different universe if i'm not mistaken.
      The only RPG I know that is close to a Bronze Age RPG is Age of Decadence, which is based shortly after the fall of the Roman Empire

    • @alecmorris4979
      @alecmorris4979 Před měsícem

      Age of empires

  • @diegoochoa572
    @diegoochoa572 Před 3 lety +340

    This is awesome! It's sad how easily and quickly this part of history gets overlooked. These periods are rich in history and have so much we could learn from.

    • @Idontwantahandle6669
      @Idontwantahandle6669 Před rokem

      These people are primitive compared to us, there’s nothing to be learned from them, as we were born from them through technological advancement.

    • @helenamcginty4920
      @helenamcginty4920 Před 8 měsíci +5

      I dont think its overlooked by anyone who studies history.

    • @jonathandewberry289
      @jonathandewberry289 Před 4 měsíci

      It's not that anyone wants to 'overlook' but as you saw in the beginning of this, scribes seem to die off for a while. Then again, maybe we never found a lot of their scribblings. Realistically, Historians are looking looking and looking and just can't find enough to look at. From what they have looked at: the lack of records squares with a relatively chaotic period of collapsing societies, marauders and looters, the old torchy-torrchy burn stuff down thing and back to the beginning of this video, it may be that a lot of city people (so, that includes scribes) died off when urban collapse, hygiene and medicine was failing and plagues ripped through dense areas.

    • @InfernosReaper
      @InfernosReaper Před 3 měsíci

      @@helenamcginty4920 It is overlooked or glossed over by many school textbooks, though. They talk about different eras, but not don't really mention much about the falls of those eras. It's "this was a thing that existed and then one day it didn't. Moving on"

    • @GTKJNow
      @GTKJNow Před 4 dny

      Glad he mentioned Israel, but he should of mentioned Queen of Sheba who brought plenty of Gold to honor the Lord of Solomon.

  • @AGS363
    @AGS363 Před 3 lety +802

    This is the first CZcams video with a truly convincing sponsor...

    • @Tomahawks360
      @Tomahawks360 Před 3 lety +24

      Fuck Bronce. I mean, why having 90% cooper when you can have 100% cooper? Let that sink in.

    • @borysvengerov3398
      @borysvengerov3398 Před 3 lety +10

      @@Tomahawks360 that's not even woke, that's COLD-SHOWER-WOKE!

    • @antonteodor6305
      @antonteodor6305 Před 3 lety +2

      @@Tomahawks360 one the most stupidestest comment I ever seen, congratz

    • @mpforeverunlimited
      @mpforeverunlimited Před 3 lety +11

      @@antonteodor6305 i think yours tops it

    • @antonteodor6305
      @antonteodor6305 Před 3 lety

      @@mpforeverunlimited lul

  • @rotopope
    @rotopope Před 3 lety +2430

    Current year seems like a good time to look into becoming a semi-nomadic pastoralist.

    • @angelbear_og
      @angelbear_og Před 3 lety +67

      I, too, was intrigued by that. Or maybe a Merchant. ^_^

    • @shorewall
      @shorewall Před 3 lety +29

      @@angelbear_og I'm on Robinhood. :D

    • @ingold1470
      @ingold1470 Před 3 lety +122

      Were the Euboeans the original doomsday preppers?

    • @TitanV
      @TitanV Před 3 lety +14

      My thoughts exactly.

    • @morganrobinson8042
      @morganrobinson8042 Před 3 lety +31

      The Mongols are doing pretty well for themselves, from what I understand.

  • @AKu-xs5vg
    @AKu-xs5vg Před 3 lety +138

    "Wastelanders" - you can see the effects of this even today. Arabian, and Jordanian peoples have a high rate of lactose tolerance. While the Northerners are mostly intolerant (farmers).
    Living as pastoralists in the harshest desert locales would have necessitated the ability to extract every last calorie, including the +50% locked up in lactose.

    • @andr0meda313
      @andr0meda313 Před 2 lety +7

      Pastoralism ruined the environment. It was single handedly worse than farming. Every pastoralist either lived in a wasteland or flat grassland.

    • @MichaelDavis-mk4me
      @MichaelDavis-mk4me Před 2 lety +40

      @@andr0meda313 I doubt people gave a crap about the environment back then. Staying alive was more of a concern than anything else.

    • @suriaauslander7251
      @suriaauslander7251 Před 2 lety +1

      They didnt even touch arabia and jordan. These “wastelanders” cone from sourthen to eastern syrua. Are you that bad at maps?

  • @ezforsaken
    @ezforsaken Před 3 lety +40

    We never stop one second to think that the gift of knowledge dissapeared from centuries, no reading or writing, no libraries, no scrolls, no history, a dark spot in history.

    • @xBINARYGODx
      @xBINARYGODx Před 3 lety +7

      And it has happened more than once. However, instead of mourning this, think of it as a necessarily evil as specious evolve on planets on their paths to the stars.

  • @PcCAvioN
    @PcCAvioN Před 3 lety +3071

    It's crazy to think that ancient Egypt had it's own Military Industrial Complex. The more things change, the more they stay the same

    • @LuisAldamiz
      @LuisAldamiz Před 3 lety +321

      "Power is in the barrel of a gun". The problem is that any "gun" needs good logistics behind. That's all what society is for power: logistics.

    • @mairidberz1450
      @mairidberz1450 Před 3 lety +61

      @@LuisAldamiz replace gun with spearhead

    • @LuisAldamiz
      @LuisAldamiz Před 3 lety +131

      @@mairidberz1450 - Arrowhead, head-smashing club, kopesh, whatever. What matters is what it means.

    • @Xaiff
      @Xaiff Před 3 lety +12

      @@superm530 but but but.... splitting up is a collapse by definition... and they were split for a long time.... :D

    • @slambrew3849
      @slambrew3849 Před 3 lety +9

      @ilove bigbrother Google “USSR Manchuria”

  • @celebalert5616
    @celebalert5616 Před 3 lety +418

    "What happened after this post-apocalyptic age?"
    *t h i c c Assyria* : allow me to introduce myself

    • @OmegaTrooper
      @OmegaTrooper Před 3 lety +5

      @@superm530 Charlemagne wouldn’t be able to handle the assyrians.

    • @JBGarrison72
      @JBGarrison72 Před 3 lety +3

      Charlemagne WAS Assyrian (...so to speak)

    • @alexanderrahl7034
      @alexanderrahl7034 Před 3 lety +18

      @@OmegaTrooper a Feudal king in medieval Europe Vs. A bronze age superpower?
      I think Charlamagne would win that fight.

    • @tsuxi11
      @tsuxi11 Před 3 lety +2

      @CELEB ALERT! I read your comment like Sympathy for the Devil. I'm a man of wealth and taste
      I've been around for a long, long years
      Stole million man's soul an faith

  • @OrochiCr
    @OrochiCr Před 3 lety +73

    Kudos again to you for the map being present all the time, and I may add that putting mountains and rivers really helps us to understand the relationship between geography and civilization development.
    I can not think of a better way to understand the bronze age collapse than the one you used in this video.

  • @sanghoonlee5171
    @sanghoonlee5171 Před 2 lety +657

    It would really open people's eyes to realize that life SUCKED for 99.9% of the time the human race has existed, and that we are the most fortunate and privileged group of humans ever to have lived.
    Edit: Well, the comments are getting out of control. So here are some stats.
    The human race is 200,000 years old. For the first 199,800 of those years(99.9%), living conditions were almost universally horrible by modern standard. In 1750, the average life expectancy was only 35 and in 1850, barely 40. In 1850, a quarter of newborn babies didn't survive their first year and a full half died before adulthood. At that time, 80% of world population--even in Europe--lived in extreme poverty, which is to say they were always struggling to earn their next meal. In 2020, that number is down to just 10% of the global population. Anesthesia was invented in 1846, meaning that all medical procedures before then were done without pain-numbing. The first antibiotic, penicillin, was discovered less than 100 years ago--before that, you might have lost a finger from a paper cut. And for those of you who say that the climate change will kill us off, may I gently remind you that our ancestors lived through the goddam Ice Age?
    And THAT's what I mean when I say we are the most priviliged humans ever to live.

    • @grillygrilly
      @grillygrilly Před 2 lety +75

      "Noooo but I literally have to go to school!!!"

    • @BirdRaiserE
      @BirdRaiserE Před rokem

      and there will still be more saying how much they wish they could just kill the rich and politicians like the good ol' days, forgetting entirely that the days were in fact not good and that's the only reason they could do it in the first place.

    • @Rg-kp4nw
      @Rg-kp4nw Před rokem +56

      It's all subjective

    • @idontknowhatmynameshouldbe
      @idontknowhatmynameshouldbe Před rokem +22

      Yup I keep seeing people cry about life on tik tok and I’m like try living during the feudal age or Ancient Rome 😂😂

    • @cleoalexandria8435
      @cleoalexandria8435 Před rokem +10

      So now we find pathetic things to complain about all day every day.

  • @arkadeepkundu4729
    @arkadeepkundu4729 Před 3 lety +470

    _Imagine chilling in the bronze age with you fancy trojan pottery & imported Indus valley spices._
    Then the *Boaty Bois™* arrive

    • @VarietyGamerChannel
      @VarietyGamerChannel Před 3 lety +46

      And after that the mountain bois, followed by the wasteland bois.

    • @mateuszslawinski1990
      @mateuszslawinski1990 Před 3 lety +29

      Then they wage war over one city for ten years and after than claim "it was about woman"

    • @gregtroll
      @gregtroll Před 3 lety +12

      And they got their boats stuck sideways

    • @janeappleseed2154
      @janeappleseed2154 Před 3 lety +15

      @@mateuszslawinski1990 Booky Lad: That's a nice war you got going there. Shame if I were to.... Write an epic poem about it.

    • @ccp6696
      @ccp6696 Před 2 lety +1

      this is gold

  • @connorgolden4
    @connorgolden4 Před 3 lety +1882

    I love how the wastelanders viewed the ruins of the old world as something great lol.

    • @LuisAldamiz
      @LuisAldamiz Před 3 lety +361

      They were the first proud archaeologists, although they were awful at keeping record of their fascination.

    • @mairidberz1450
      @mairidberz1450 Před 3 lety +235

      something straight out of a post apocalyptic novel. like a canticle for leibowitz or something

    • @killthecensors58
      @killthecensors58 Před 3 lety +74

      I feel the same way whenever I find a ruin in Civ V

    • @hawkevick9184
      @hawkevick9184 Před 3 lety +25

      Like the covenant.

    • @fatmanyevo6235
      @fatmanyevo6235 Před 3 lety +15

      It was

  • @Priyo866
    @Priyo866 Před 3 lety +8

    It feels like bronze age collapse (and devastation of the earlier 4.2 kiloyear event that destroyed Indus valley, Akkadian empire and nearly everyone else) was the closest humanity has ever gotten to a true apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic horror.
    ...So far.

  • @fatalpenguinful
    @fatalpenguinful Před 3 lety +14

    Does anyone else wonder how life was like during this time, and before the collapse? There's so much we don't know about life and society during this time. So. MUCH. Literally 700+ years before the Roman Republic was born. My mind melts trying to think about it.

    • @seanbeadles7421
      @seanbeadles7421 Před 3 lety +1

      Well, as a student of the past I would like to add something here. Pre-industrial life has been pretty homogenous in agricultural societies in the sorts of activities that had to be done. Maybe their thinking and the details change, but a lot of pre-industrial writings on daily life end up being quite similar in terms of activities with mostly material culture being the difference. Gotta tend your crops and livestock, and a shovel is a shovel regardless if it’s bronze or iron or stone. The way they thought of their lives and how they interacted socially are impossible to know outside of their own words.

  • @NONO-oy1cu
    @NONO-oy1cu Před 3 lety +1396

    Bronze age collapse is definitely the most interesting topic in history.

    • @kool9174
      @kool9174 Před 3 lety +55

      You have no idea. They can’t have people figure out that the Bible is actually historically accurate and it is the word of God.
      If something world changing were to happen in our generation and kept it to ourself, 300 years later it will be forgotten.

    • @SuphaNinja
      @SuphaNinja Před 3 lety +214

      @@kool9174 Huh?

    • @somebodyekkee
      @somebodyekkee Před 3 lety +205

      @@kool9174 The Bible is somewhat of a historical textbook but in no way does it prove that God exists XD Nice reach though.

    • @kool9174
      @kool9174 Před 3 lety +28

      @@somebodyekkee My guy you can believe whatever you want to believe.
      We are not getting into a rhetoric debate of whether God is real or not.
      Believe what you believe and be happy, God is real and I’m laughing at you saying he isn’t.

    • @somebodyekkee
      @somebodyekkee Před 3 lety +180

      @@kool9174 It is a rhetorical debate considering you wouldnt have any solid evidence to prove your point anyway. Nice cop out though. I'm laughing at how much you lack critical thinking lol. Boi gtfo of here

  • @SomasAcademy
    @SomasAcademy Před 3 lety +324

    13:52-13:55:
    "Hey gimme your shoes"
    "Okay :("

  • @Biggly_Diggly
    @Biggly_Diggly Před 2 lety +8

    I’ve seen this story told dozens of times but your animated map and voice over really made this a fun watch. Great work.

  • @matheussanthiago9685
    @matheussanthiago9685 Před 3 lety +10

    damn, your raspy voice and somber tone is so great to hear
    it feels like listening the tales of a mysterious traveller on a dark tavern, he might as well have just been an eyewitness of the very histories he tells

  • @OmarSlloum
    @OmarSlloum Před 3 lety +593

    last time I was this early copper was still sold at crappy quality by Ea-Nassir

  • @Artur_M.
    @Artur_M. Před 3 lety +756

    The real-life post-apo setting.

    • @mairidberz1450
      @mairidberz1450 Před 3 lety +37

      there have been 100s

    • @ffxiarcadius
      @ffxiarcadius Před 3 lety +19

      it's coming to America soon
      4-5 years

    • @SmolTerribleTornado
      @SmolTerribleTornado Před 3 lety +15

      Take a look at failed colonies in the american continent before the definitive settlers were able to make homes. It's amazing the amount of post-apocalyptic settings we had in our history, some even pretty recent.

    • @mohammadtausifrafi8277
      @mohammadtausifrafi8277 Před 3 lety +4

      @@mairidberz1450 Any other in such a large scale for the existing collective human civilization?

    • @abelardodelatorresolis3966
      @abelardodelatorresolis3966 Před 3 lety +7

      @@mohammadtausifrafi8277 na, only regional ones. But whenever we hot the collapse point its going to affect all civilisations east and west will come barreling down and depending of the severity, we'll either end up in a regression to the levels of 1700 or 1800, or if everything that could go wrong goes wrong well face the level of civilisations similar to the Sumerian level.

  • @fukingidiot9156
    @fukingidiot9156 Před 3 lety +36

    I only remember my history class briefly mentioning this period of time but it's interesting to hear about all the specific groups and conflicts of that time. You can make a movie out of this

  • @ReidHenderson
    @ReidHenderson Před 3 lety +12

    So one thing I've learned all through out history there have been hillbillies in every mountainous country!

  • @Amir-mq4jy
    @Amir-mq4jy Před 3 lety +1057

    In the next episode, we will explore the most terrifying group of invaders: The Air Peoples

    • @Alaryk111
      @Alaryk111 Před 3 lety +51

      @Hunter Smith Fortunately! Could you imagine what the world would look like if those savages were not defeated? It is said that they were sheaving their heads to better sens other people. Now would they do that if they didn't have malicious intentions? *They wouldn't!* They were closing up to the people to kill them by removing air from their lungs! Would the air monks be nomads if they were peaceful? *They wouldn't!* They had to be nomads constantly fleeing from the wrath of their victims!
      They were not even kind to their own kind! taking away children from their mothers at their infancy! How inhumane is that!?
      They were tattooing their bodies to monger fear in the eyes of their victims! Using flying buffaloes to sneak attack them from the sky.!
      They had "Temples" all over the world that where in fact their basses from where they were terrorizing the common people!
      Thanks Lionturtle armies of brave Firelord Sozin were able to stop this madness!

    • @Ozymandias1
      @Ozymandias1 Před 3 lety +11

      If the Bronze Age Collapse hadn't happened there would probably have been airplanes for a thousand years and spaceflight for centuries.

    • @Alaryk111
      @Alaryk111 Před 3 lety +23

      @@Ozymandias1 Why? BE collapse didn't occure in China and they are not quite a space civilization.

    • @richardwhite6062
      @richardwhite6062 Před 3 lety +8

      @@Alaryk111 false. Definitely had a huge effect on their commerce and society. Especially western china and northern.
      Also not in the path of destruction. so its not really a fair comparison.

    • @Alaryk111
      @Alaryk111 Před 3 lety +1

      @@richardwhite6062 Do you have any evidence for that or have you just made it up?

  • @thenewcaliph766
    @thenewcaliph766 Před 3 lety +195

    A total conversion Mount and Blade mod for this period would be sick, especially for Bannerlord !

    • @davidking6242
      @davidking6242 Před 3 lety +15

      The ancient and late medieval middle East would be perfect settings for mount and blade

    • @thenewcaliph766
      @thenewcaliph766 Před 3 lety +2

      @@davidking6242 Ikr!

    • @yaqo6577
      @yaqo6577 Před 3 lety +6

      Shadows in the Desert for Warband never finished development ufortunately

    • @friedlemons5201
      @friedlemons5201 Před 2 lety +6

      there's one on moddb called Ancestors: 2112 BC but I think it's in beta or something

    • @blazko1908
      @blazko1908 Před 2 lety

      @@friedlemons5201 thank you for this information

  • @jt4369
    @jt4369 Před 10 měsíci +7

    And people think history is boring. No, history is fascinating and as important to study today is it will be again in the future-if we have a future.

  • @SMGJohn
    @SMGJohn Před rokem +11

    Kind of crazy that an apocalyptic event like this could also affect us, just to make a computer chip required an immense complex network of advanced manufactory and mining to accomplish it.
    People seem to underestimate just how fine tuned our society is and how interconnected it is worldwide economically.

    • @LuvBorderCollies
      @LuvBorderCollies Před 3 měsíci

      We got a tiny taste of the chaos and uncertainty in 2020 which we are still dealing with the after effects. Digging into history its apparent every era has chaos of some magnitude. Even under the Peace of Rome there wasn't much peace.

    • @SMGJohn
      @SMGJohn Před 3 měsíci +1

      @@LuvBorderCollies
      2020 was hardly a dent, WW2 would probably be the closest we ever come to anything like a true apocalypse.
      It was so bad that even in South America they felt it economically.

  • @AsiniusNaso
    @AsiniusNaso Před 3 lety +683

    I would love to see a total war game set in this period. Maybe a scenario dlc for Troy.

    • @afz902k
      @afz902k Před 3 lety +35

      Would be awesome. I loved Troy for being set in the bronze age. We need more of this stuff for sure

    • @hotsan2776
      @hotsan2776 Před 3 lety +5

      Total War Saga: Troy

    • @leandroingrassia
      @leandroingrassia Před 3 lety +9

      It should be the other way round.

    • @d0gl0gic80
      @d0gl0gic80 Před 3 lety +36

      Anything would be better than another Warhammer game

    • @crystllclr3743
      @crystllclr3743 Před 3 lety +1

      They did lol

  • @madderhat5852
    @madderhat5852 Před 3 lety +183

    Ok, ok, I confess. I was the one who collapsed the Bronze Age. It started with an argument that got out of hand during a game of Jenga.

  • @reahanallaway5683
    @reahanallaway5683 Před 11 měsíci +4

    "Seems to have failed at living" is now my favourite way of saying "died".

  • @jamoonji5163
    @jamoonji5163 Před 3 lety +12

    Now I know what Werner Herzog with a North American english accent sounds like narrating the Bronze Age collapse.

  • @umbra6771
    @umbra6771 Před 3 lety +382

    Long ago the bronze Age empires lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the sea people attacked.

  • @thedoruk6324
    @thedoruk6324 Před 3 lety +298

    Man These Original Bronze Age civilazations have had so much potential I wish alternatehistory producers actually looked into these instead of using same cliche tropes

    • @yaralikatil
      @yaralikatil Před 3 lety +4

      Sana nasıl ulaşabilirim,uzun zamandır yorumlarını görüyorum hepsi üste çıkıyor bilgili bir üniversiteli olduğunu düşünüyorum 🤨

    • @connorgolden4
      @connorgolden4 Před 3 lety +68

      From what i can see I think it just comes down to there being more (often reliable) information in later eras. We just know more about say the ancient Greeks and Romans or the medieval French and Eastern Romans than we do about Mycenaean Greece or the Hittites.

    • @thedoruk6324
      @thedoruk6324 Před 3 lety +1

      @@yaralikatil DecimatingDarkDeceit on Reddit
      Grisador on Deviantart

    • @thedoruk6324
      @thedoruk6324 Před 3 lety +2

      @@connorgolden4 Thanks!

    • @thedoruk6324
      @thedoruk6324 Před 3 lety

      @@yaralikatil kendimi Doxx lamak olur o biraz :/
      Link veremiyorum instagramı veririm ama CZcams ta yorum linklerini siliyor istersen Gmail den konuşalım yada youtube tan devam

  • @DarthWillSmith
    @DarthWillSmith Před 3 lety +3

    16:16 The Shoshenq Redemption

  • @rexmundi3108
    @rexmundi3108 Před 3 lety +2

    Just discovered this channel and I have to say, I'm impressed. I'm not sure if I've seen such a well told overview of this period. New subscriber for sure.

  • @PSIRockOmega
    @PSIRockOmega Před 3 lety +407

    Thinking about it, it's kind of amazing that collapses like this don't happen more often.

    • @fidalf99
      @fidalf99 Před 3 lety +148

      Many claim we are right now running on borrowed time. And I have to admit, it really seems like we are.

    • @ingold1470
      @ingold1470 Před 3 lety +238

      I've heard one history buff explain that it was because Bronze Age "civilisation" primarily existed for the benefit of the kings and their courts, but the benefits of later civilisations were more widespread, so more people would have a strong interest in preserving it. So if a solar flare knocked us back into the 18th century priority #1 of the survivors once they'd secured their footing would be to rebuild the infrastructure so they could have running water and electricity again, but a bronze age goat herder wouldn't care much if his warlord could read or not.

    • @oreroundpvp896
      @oreroundpvp896 Před 3 lety +74

      @@ingold1470 Good point, I never thought about it like that. As long as knowledge survives in the form of books or people who can teach then its unlikely there could be as severe of a collapse as there has been in history. Although maybe this is hubris. I think the scariest thing is that if for some reason there were large scale power outages for a significant period of time then industrial farming would collapse and billions would starve.

    • @lovelyhomeboy2782
      @lovelyhomeboy2782 Před 3 lety +17

      @@Zeerich-yx9po not really a collapse of this level we would need to lose alot of knowledge which would take alot of time

    • @daemondost7168
      @daemondost7168 Před 3 lety +4

      @@fidalf99 lol chill

  • @nature337
    @nature337 Před 3 lety +189

    This would be an amazing setting for anything from a D&D campaign to a TV series. The adventures of a scribe, a butcher, and a priest as they try to survive in their ruined homelands, dodging bandits and raiders.

  • @AJaxdoesgaming
    @AJaxdoesgaming Před 3 lety +13

    Pretty sure I lived with a guy who called himself "The Viceroy of Kush"

  • @ThreeNinjaDucks
    @ThreeNinjaDucks Před 3 lety +14

    Me learning from history to figure out what I should do in the next 20 years

  • @hhhieronymusbotch
    @hhhieronymusbotch Před 3 lety +227

    This adaptation of Dune went in a very different direction.

    • @klausbrinck2137
      @klausbrinck2137 Před 3 lety +8

      The downfall of the family of the Atreides (Agamemnon) came cause of the bronze age collapse... "Nostoi/Homecomers" is a series about the fates of the victoriously homecoming greek hero-kings (after Troy). Some are (deservedly) killed by their wifes (Agamemnon/Mycenae, Oidomeneas/Crete), others are ridiculed by their own subjects upon arrival, and hunted out of the town, I guess total dissorder followed...

    • @pineapplethief4418
      @pineapplethief4418 Před 3 lety +5

      Reminded me more of the Dark Sun setting tbh

    • @ravensthatflywiththenightm7319
      @ravensthatflywiththenightm7319 Před 3 lety +3

      Still a better Dune adaptation than that SyFy nonsense.

    • @gabrielnoronha2759
      @gabrielnoronha2759 Před 3 lety +1

      Also looks like The Foundation setting

    • @pineapplethief4418
      @pineapplethief4418 Před 3 lety +2

      @@gabrielnoronha2759 Yes, absolutely! I'm reading second novel right now. The whole series is quite... unique. I'm curious how they adapted it to tv series, gonna check that one out when it's out

  • @SacredCowStockyards
    @SacredCowStockyards Před 3 lety +72

    17:00 introducing BRONZE! made with special ingredient tin, from the faraway lands of tin land!
    (Idk, my dealer won't tell me where he gets it.)

    • @dlwatib
      @dlwatib Před 3 lety +14

      It's on the map where it says "Here be dragons".

    • @drew_mb
      @drew_mb Před 3 lety +2

      That's great! My metal is so lame and lumpy.

    • @Mikebumpful
      @Mikebumpful Před 3 lety +6

      Gotta wonder how they found that mixing a semi-soft metal with an even softer (and rare and expensive) one could make a strong metal in the first place!

  • @ThxCoreHunter
    @ThxCoreHunter Před měsícem +18

    Lebron's Age

  • @michael7324
    @michael7324 Před 2 lety +1

    I read a lot about the bronze age collapse. And the roll of the sea peoples. This was a great video about what happened AFTER. Thank you for sharing. Well done.

  • @giuliogiuliani4054
    @giuliogiuliani4054 Před 3 lety +73

    the warhammer references on chaos and sickness are not lost. good job

    • @ThatOneGuy-iv9sn
      @ThatOneGuy-iv9sn Před 3 lety +4

      Well korne is just awakening at that time

    • @jacklang3314
      @jacklang3314 Před 2 lety +1

      The Assyrian's also worshiped a god known as Nergal, who was closely related to war, disease and the underworld.

  • @longyu9336
    @longyu9336 Před 3 lety +196

    0:28 The Shang dynasty is certainly a meme dynasty. Most of the sites and kings mentioned by ancient historians were backed by archaeological findings btw.
    The last king built a large pond filled with booze and on the shores he had an entire "forest" full of meats hung on racks. He would capture thousands of other people from neighboring states and sacrifice them en masse, sometimes by tying them to a large bronze "cannon" filled with burning coal, glowing hot red.
    When a small rebel army of a few thousands faced the 200 000 strong (allegedly) slave army, the slaves rebelled too and the king burned himself with his palace.
    Unlike the bronze age collapse the next few years under the new king were considered the best years and every later royal line would try to emulate it.

    • @johnrockwell5834
      @johnrockwell5834 Před 3 lety +46

      Those Kings really love to go yolo don't they.

    • @ANTSEMUT1
      @ANTSEMUT1 Před 3 lety +34

      Lead and arsenic poisoning will do that to you.

    • @Xaiff
      @Xaiff Před 3 lety +31

      @@ANTSEMUT1 Ah yes... the elixir of immortality

    • @ANTSEMUT1
      @ANTSEMUT1 Před 3 lety +31

      @ilove bigbrother going crazy from lead and arsenic poisoning leeching out of the bronze vessels they drank alcohol out of sped up that process for the Shang Dynasty. It is also hypothesised that something similar happened to the elite of the Roman empire, who ate food cooked in pots that had lead in it and had spring water piped through piping made out of lead.

    • @ANTSEMUT1
      @ANTSEMUT1 Před 3 lety +8

      @@Xaiff wasn't that from the Qin Dynasty's imperial Alchemist feeding the emperor concoction made from cinnabar (mercury ore)? I'm was referring to the Shang Dynasty and those things leeching out of their bronze drinking vessels.

  • @fpvillegas9488
    @fpvillegas9488 Před 3 lety +3

    Wow, excellent video! Very clear and sufficiently detailed. Nice graphics too. Thanks.

  • @Ranstone
    @Ranstone Před 4 měsíci +6

    This feels like a spoiler alert for the 2020's -2030's.

  • @no1uknow32
    @no1uknow32 Před 3 lety +335

    This is the best explanation i've found of this period. I've always been confused by the various invasions of the mountian peoples and always wondered where the Arameans came from and why. This video really describes it all quite well!

  • @jeffreypeterson1364
    @jeffreypeterson1364 Před 3 lety +37

    2:22 "Failed at living." Never heard it phrased that way before, but it is very explanative

  • @tinglesrosyrupeeland
    @tinglesrosyrupeeland Před 5 měsíci

    I really love your calm measured tone in narration, very soothing

  • @NotAnnaJones
    @NotAnnaJones Před 3 lety +1

    This is a great video!!! I love your animation style and your voice over work it perfect!! This is my new favorite ASMR history channel to relax to. Keep it up! ❤️

  • @stevengreen9536
    @stevengreen9536 Před 3 lety +51

    Barbarians: At last the land will be ours!!!
    Assyria: So anyway we got reorganized around a new leader and started conquering.

  • @lynette8299
    @lynette8299 Před 3 lety +210

    Assirians: I fear no wave of mountains invaders but that thing...
    *Arameans*
    It scares me

    • @youtoob4life
      @youtoob4life Před 3 lety +15

      Nah. As he stated, the Assyrians were already worn down and stretched thin. Just because they eventually lost to them, doesn't mean they feared them.

    • @LordVader1094
      @LordVader1094 Před 3 lety

      Nice profile picture. Where's it from?

    • @megakedar
      @megakedar Před 2 lety +1

      Assur-bel-kala's reign was not quite as grim and dire as this video makes it out to be, as all the Assyrian holdings west of the Euphrates weren't lost until the reign of Ashur-Rabi II, almost a century later (1013-972 BCE). Two towns near modern-day Til Barsip near the Syrian-Turkish border are specifically attested.
      That would roughly put the geographical span of the Assyrian empire up until the 10th century BCE as between Nineveh and Carchemish (modern day Mosul to Karkamis, or about 500km. Despite fraying at the edges, Assyria was still a large and powerful territory, and the frequent diplomatic interactions it had with Egypt and Babylonia does suggest that it was still able to impose some kind of order in the region.
      The Assyrian retreat to the heartland was really only for like half a century before Ashur-dan II (934-912 BCE) launched his campaigns of expansion to set up the neo-Assyrian period.

  • @chrish9698
    @chrish9698 Před rokem +3

    Very well researched, highly informative and wonderfully presented. Excellent video!

  • @Kagemusha08
    @Kagemusha08 Před 3 lety +1

    Awesome vid as always! This may be my favorite historical youtuber.

  • @shorewall
    @shorewall Před 3 lety +50

    I once heard a theory that the Phoenicians may have been involved with the Sea Peoples, or at least convinced them to leave them alone, since the Sea Peoples had naval transportation, and many cities of Phoenicia did alright through the Collapse.

    • @shedar7387
      @shedar7387 Před 3 lety +19

      This may also explain why Phoenicians were so advanced at see navigation despite having a geographic position who doesn't really need to cross the see

    • @Evansdrad8515
      @Evansdrad8515 Před 3 lety +17

      There is genetic evidence that modern Lebanese (being Phoenician genetically just not culturally) has DNA from the Sea peoples who seem to of come from southern Europe and occasionally north Africa

    • @HITBnn
      @HITBnn Před 10 měsíci

      Phoenicians appeared like 1000 years after sea peoples. Sea peoples were south European

  • @thatcoolasiankidjake
    @thatcoolasiankidjake Před 3 lety +58

    2000 years later...
    A many, many, thanks to the merchant's guild. You're all truly welcome!

  • @troglodyte4207
    @troglodyte4207 Před 3 lety +4

    Mmmm, loving them sneaky lil warhammer references, the Nurgle tri-lobe on the sickness appeals to the grandfather

  • @clanwaddell5628
    @clanwaddell5628 Před 2 lety +9

    I just found your channel, I want to say thank you for chronicling what is a very difficult subject area. Isis wiped out so many ancient temples in this area. When you read the Old Testament, this whole time period is chronicled, and the same names of tribes you are dictating is written down in that book. I am truly enthralled with this era of history. Persian, Israelite, Assyrian, Babylonian, Minoan, Canaanite, Philistine, so many advanced civilizations came and went in this small swath of land between the Mediterranean sea and Asia

  • @_-.-_-_.._--.-_-_----_-.--_._-

    Bronze Age Collapse: *exists"
    Proto-Greece: *chillin*

    • @TheBacknblack92
      @TheBacknblack92 Před 3 lety +11

      Greece and Anatolia actually got it worse than everyone else. That's why there's so little information about what happened afterwards over there. Written language took so long to return that it is just a blank spot. The longest lasting greek work from this time period were the iliad and odyssey, which were passed on orally for hundreds of years.

  • @g3th_
    @g3th_ Před 3 lety +168

    Insane quality on this one. Glad to see how you're always looking for ways to improve on your content, this was a sucess for sure. I'll never stop being curious about the Bronze Age collapse, and this particular topic was very interesting to me since I've always found it hardest to imagine what life was for people in this era. This was very illustrative, so thanks a lot and keep it up!

  • @nintalespaw
    @nintalespaw Před 3 lety +11

    Got recommended this video, god I love when the algorithm actually finds me something worthwhile. Really good work.

    • @ArnoBach
      @ArnoBach Před 3 měsíci

      Please do not take God's name as a profanity. Thank you.

  • @cadensauerbrey9005
    @cadensauerbrey9005 Před 11 měsíci

    I am new to the channel, and I love your ad reads. The sarcastic spoofing is what this world needs.

  • @cyberzangoose16
    @cyberzangoose16 Před 3 lety +31

    Your channel is so criminally underrated

  • @admiralmudkip9836
    @admiralmudkip9836 Před 3 lety +42

    Assyria's comeback is the middle east equivalent of what people think is going to happen when they play as Byzantium in EU4

    • @Andrewza1
      @Andrewza1 Před 3 lety

      I restored the roman empire by playing Greece in HOI4

    • @yohopirate
      @yohopirate Před 2 lety

      I use Naples for that

  • @Sanguivore
    @Sanguivore Před 3 lety +3

    This is undoubtedly one of the coolest videos I’ve ever seen on CZcams.

  • @Jinx_Skeel
    @Jinx_Skeel Před 2 lety +1

    you really got me when you talked about the sponsorship of the video, strike of genius, truly apreciated

  • @Maynard0504
    @Maynard0504 Před 3 lety +31

    You've outdone yourself. I'm really loving the egypt segment.

  • @AngryHistorian87
    @AngryHistorian87 Před 3 lety +287

    I'm a simple man: I see a new Epimetheus video, I click to watch.

    • @frankincensemerchant1284
      @frankincensemerchant1284 Před 3 lety +7

      Same the way he condenses vast amounts of information into a short video is remarkable to say the least.

    • @tomasramirez4985
      @tomasramirez4985 Před 3 lety +4

      What Epimetheus doesn't tell you is the following:
      Many of these "pseudo historians" leave big parts of history behind. For example, the invaders were called sea people because they came from the Mediterranean. How? By boat, obviously. Who had the biggest navy of the time? The Phoenicians, as they controlled the cedar forests of what today we know as Lebanon, and they controlled practically all the Mediterranean sea trade. What happened to Phoenicia during this time? NOTHING. Phoenicia was completely unharmed by the Sea People. Why? Most likely the sea people were employed by them.
      Why "historians" never point this out?.... What are they trying to hide?....
      Plus, Egypt employed the "sea people" as mercenaries, way before the Bronze Age collapse. They were pals. Why didn't Egypt fell then, when there were sea people living in Egypt for several decades? Because they were clearly working together. The Egyptians even recored that they employed them as mercenaries, they were even personal guards of the Pharaoh!!.. The problems in Egypt were later caused by famine and droughts, not by the "sea people's attacks".

    • @frankincensemerchant1284
      @frankincensemerchant1284 Před 3 lety +3

      @@tomasramirez4985 I am well aware that large chunks are left out ofc. If one wants the full picture thee are plenty of Academic documentaries and podcasts too look at.

    • @tomasramirez4985
      @tomasramirez4985 Před 3 lety +4

      @@frankincensemerchant1284 Really? Not even a small mention to the Phoenicians who, together with Egypt, were the only unharmed survivors of the Bronze Age collapse? You gotta be joking. Plus, the fact that the Phoenicians were the maritime power of the times, and the Bronze Age collapse involved the "sea people".... For Christ sake!

    • @minisaiju7699
      @minisaiju7699 Před 3 lety +3

      You have to click the video to watch

  • @austinfigard-vara9335
    @austinfigard-vara9335 Před rokem +6

    Pretty crazy that I stumbled upon this video because I've been learning about this all semester. Video is great! Only thing that I would have maybe added would be that the region of Canaan was indeed its own entity, albeit through a collection of warring city-states, but I can understand why it was simplified through Egypt and the Hittites, given that they relied on them for the most part. One other thing would be the Amarna Letters, which were excellent indicators of what relations amongst the ruling elite of these kingdoms looked like. Otherwise, not too shabby at all!

  • @bg1052
    @bg1052 Před 2 lety +9

    Kinda makes you wonder what the world would be like if the bronze age collapse never occurred, or was less severe.

  • @cirobarachiel7696
    @cirobarachiel7696 Před 3 lety +48

    "With the fall of Assyria and the destruction of the Assyrian aristocracy, the Arameans virtually took over Mesopotamia"
    - Carl Kraeling

    • @chadthunderstorm8148
      @chadthunderstorm8148 Před 3 lety +7

      Well... linguistically yeah but not culturally since the arameans themselves got civilized from nations like Assyria and Babylonia.

    • @cirobarachiel7696
      @cirobarachiel7696 Před 3 lety +3

      @@chadthunderstorm8148 Arameans became the majority in mesopotamia intermixed both Assyrians and Babylonians.

  • @mopspear
    @mopspear Před 3 lety +53

    Your art is improving by a lot!

  • @presidentofthegalaxy3642
    @presidentofthegalaxy3642 Před 2 lety +3

    Like the sneaking in of the Chaos symbols on the faces at 0:50.

  • @brianfoley4328
    @brianfoley4328 Před 2 lety +1

    This was so good I subscribed....I've been reading Christopher Starr's texts on the Ancient World and this brought together so many elements...really well done. Thank You.

  • @connorgolden4
    @connorgolden4 Před 3 lety +44

    Always happy to see an update from Epimetheus.

  • @patavinity1262
    @patavinity1262 Před 3 lety +11

    13:52
    Aramean chieftain: "I want your boots"

  • @shanpatrickbaker988
    @shanpatrickbaker988 Před 3 lety +3

    Well done, this was an enjoyable watch.

  • @Stunrickrollownage
    @Stunrickrollownage Před rokem +1

    Truly amazing content don’t stop!!

  • @frederickstabell3796
    @frederickstabell3796 Před 3 lety +12

    When he said his sponsor was Bronze I was expecting an Ea-Nasir reference, and then again when he listed merchants as likely survivors

  • @joshuapilling3641
    @joshuapilling3641 Před 3 lety +21

    Love how you changed the narration style, feels much more cinematic.

  • @larryroyovitz7829
    @larryroyovitz7829 Před 3 měsíci +3

    "Failed at living" that's my new favorite line.

  • @DanMcLeodNeptuneUK
    @DanMcLeodNeptuneUK Před 3 lety

    What an amazing video on an under appreciated era of history! Subbed!!

  • @philipbrody4723
    @philipbrody4723 Před 3 lety +36

    Really enjoying all the Bronze Age videos!

  • @ChIGuY-town22_
    @ChIGuY-town22_ Před 3 lety +27

    Hell yeah man I'm excited, your videos rock. As a Assyrian this made me chuckle...now I'm off to buy bronze.

  • @kylemackinnon5696
    @kylemackinnon5696 Před rokem +4

    "Scribes seemed to have failed at living" i spit out my coffee lmao

  • @One_Call_System
    @One_Call_System Před 2 lety +1

    Awesome!!! Glad I found your channel. Time to deep dive!

  • @justinrhodes1745
    @justinrhodes1745 Před 3 lety +25

    i love the art style

    • @EpimetheusHistory
      @EpimetheusHistory  Před 3 lety +14

      Thanks Justin!

    • @justinrhodes1745
      @justinrhodes1745 Před 3 lety +6

      @@EpimetheusHistory Earlier today I discovered the Paleolithic Continuity Theory on wikipedia. It's quite divisive in the academic community and essentially completely contradicts PIE theories. Check it out, its a great read and maybe a good topic for a future video!

    • @EpimetheusHistory
      @EpimetheusHistory  Před 3 lety +6

      Sounds interesting

  • @angelbear_og
    @angelbear_og Před 3 lety +36

    Remember the Ahlamu!
    Haha. But seriously, we should all be taking notes right now.

  • @infamousgamer767
    @infamousgamer767 Před 2 lety +12

    "viceroy of kush" might be the coolest title I've ever heard

  • @duhsbo
    @duhsbo Před 11 měsíci

    What a great find. It helps a lot the fact that you illustrate everything

  • @edgregory1
    @edgregory1 Před 3 lety +13

    While traveling the silk road merchants swallowed gold to retrieve later if their bellies weren't sliced by bandits.

  • @TitanV
    @TitanV Před 3 lety +6

    Cup of coffee and a new video from my Bronze Age guy Epimetheus - that's what I call a perfect afternoon break.

  • @philRminiatures
    @philRminiatures Před 3 lety +1

    Bronze age collapse, fascinating subject...And, as usual, a wonderful and informative video with fantastic animations...Thanks!

  • @Bramble451
    @Bramble451 Před rokem +3

    I can't believe I missed this for a whole year. Oh well. I'd just like to say that I consider this the best researched "end of the Bronze Age" video I've seen to date. While I may not agree with everything here, I understand where the differences come from, and know that these differences are totally legit to have because the underlying data is so difficult to interpret. And I like the jokes. Kudos!