What was life like after the Bronze age collapse?

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  • Опубліковано 13 тра 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

КОМЕНТАРІ • 2,4 тис.

  • @WoefulPie
    @WoefulPie 3 роки тому +1237

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

  • @shinsenshogun900
    @shinsenshogun900 3 роки тому +3596

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

    • @oscareliasson5595
      @oscareliasson5595 3 роки тому +331

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

    • @davidegaruti2582
      @davidegaruti2582 3 роки тому +134

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

    • @oscareliasson5595
      @oscareliasson5595 3 роки тому +177

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

    • @davidegaruti2582
      @davidegaruti2582 3 роки тому +87

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

    • @CountingStars333
      @CountingStars333 3 роки тому +9

      @@oscareliasson5595 plumbing? Lol

  • @saredodevil
    @saredodevil 3 роки тому +355

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

    • @gregoryeatroff8608
      @gregoryeatroff8608 3 роки тому +23

      Intriguing, yes. Mysterious... not really.

    • @sirrathersplendid4825
      @sirrathersplendid4825 3 роки тому +11

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

    • @SimuLord
      @SimuLord 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +46

      @@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 3 роки тому +28

      @@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.

  • @AJKecsk
    @AJKecsk 3 роки тому +533

    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 Рік тому +20

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

    • @RealBoiJare
      @RealBoiJare Рік тому +60

      @@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 Рік тому +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 7 місяців тому +16

      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 Місяць тому +1

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

  • @Dell-ol6hb
    @Dell-ol6hb 3 роки тому +1677

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

    • @johntitor1256
      @johntitor1256 3 роки тому +93

      Gotta get that +1 Amenity somehow.

    • @dionysius4353
      @dionysius4353 3 роки тому +60

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

    • @ninja393
      @ninja393 3 роки тому +41

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

    • @CountingStars333
      @CountingStars333 3 роки тому +2

      Asurs..

    • @tsonobi
      @tsonobi 3 роки тому +2

      Basically the Assyrian Joe Exotic of late bronze age

  • @AGS363
    @AGS363 3 роки тому +802

    This is the first UA-cam video with a truly convincing sponsor...

    • @Tomahawks360
      @Tomahawks360 3 роки тому +24

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

    • @borysvengerov3398
      @borysvengerov3398 3 роки тому +10

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

    • @antonteodor6305
      @antonteodor6305 3 роки тому +2

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

    • @mpforeverunlimited
      @mpforeverunlimited 3 роки тому +11

      @@antonteodor6305 i think yours tops it

    • @antonteodor6305
      @antonteodor6305 3 роки тому

      @@mpforeverunlimited lul

  • @DontKnow-hr5my
    @DontKnow-hr5my 3 роки тому +111

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

    • @davidgantenbein9362
      @davidgantenbein9362 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +1

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

    • @KlaussMarcellus
      @KlaussMarcellus 2 роки тому +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 Місяць тому

      Age of empires

  • @diegoochoa572
    @diegoochoa572 3 роки тому +335

    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 Рік тому

      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 8 місяців тому +5

      I dont think its overlooked by anyone who studies history.

    • @jonathandewberry289
      @jonathandewberry289 4 місяці тому

      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 3 місяці тому

      @@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 2 дні тому

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

  • @setflavius8049
    @setflavius8049 3 роки тому +3061

    This would be an amazing RPG setting

    • @Victurio
      @Victurio 3 роки тому +83

      My fisrt Glorantha playthrough is going to be in this scenario

    • @MinesAGuinness
      @MinesAGuinness 3 роки тому +42

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

    • @jerdna021
      @jerdna021 3 роки тому +8

      I was about to say RuneQuest and Glorantha, too!

    • @xzGAB
      @xzGAB 3 роки тому +35

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

    • @diadokhoi5722
      @diadokhoi5722 3 роки тому +20

      Conan exiles type stuff

  • @celebalert5616
    @celebalert5616 3 роки тому +417

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

    • @OmegaTrooper
      @OmegaTrooper 3 роки тому +5

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

    • @JBGarrison72
      @JBGarrison72 3 роки тому +3

      Charlemagne WAS Assyrian (...so to speak)

    • @alexanderrahl7034
      @alexanderrahl7034 3 роки тому +18

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

    • @tsuxi11
      @tsuxi11 3 роки тому +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

  • @AKu-xs5vg
    @AKu-xs5vg 3 роки тому +135

    "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 2 роки тому +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 2 роки тому +39

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

    • @suriaauslander7251
      @suriaauslander7251 2 роки тому +1

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

  • @sanghoonlee5171
    @sanghoonlee5171 2 роки тому +652

    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 2 роки тому +74

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

    • @BirdRaiserE
      @BirdRaiserE Рік тому

      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 Рік тому +56

      It's all subjective

    • @idontknowhatmynameshouldbe
      @idontknowhatmynameshouldbe Рік тому +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 Рік тому +10

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

  • @rotopope
    @rotopope 3 роки тому +2424

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

    • @angelbear_og
      @angelbear_og 3 роки тому +67

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

    • @shorewall
      @shorewall 3 роки тому +29

      @@angelbear_og I'm on Robinhood. :D

    • @ingold1470
      @ingold1470 3 роки тому +122

      Were the Euboeans the original doomsday preppers?

    • @TitanV
      @TitanV 3 роки тому +14

      My thoughts exactly.

    • @morganrobinson8042
      @morganrobinson8042 3 роки тому +31

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

  • @NONO-oy1cu
    @NONO-oy1cu 3 роки тому +1395

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

    • @kool9174
      @kool9174 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +214

      @@kool9174 Huh?

    • @somebodyekkee
      @somebodyekkee 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +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

  • @OrochiCr
    @OrochiCr 3 роки тому +72

    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.

  • @Biggly_Diggly
    @Biggly_Diggly 2 роки тому +7

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

  • @arkadeepkundu4729
    @arkadeepkundu4729 3 роки тому +470

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

    • @VarietyGamerChannel
      @VarietyGamerChannel 3 роки тому +46

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

    • @mateuszslawinski1990
      @mateuszslawinski1990 3 роки тому +29

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

    • @gregtroll
      @gregtroll 3 роки тому +12

      And they got their boats stuck sideways

    • @janeappleseed2154
      @janeappleseed2154 3 роки тому +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 2 роки тому +1

      this is gold

  • @SomasAcademy
    @SomasAcademy 3 роки тому +323

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

  • @matheussanthiago9685
    @matheussanthiago9685 3 роки тому +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

  • @ThxCoreHunter
    @ThxCoreHunter Місяць тому +17

    Lebron's Age

  • @Artur_M.
    @Artur_M. 3 роки тому +754

    The real-life post-apo setting.

    • @mairidberz1450
      @mairidberz1450 3 роки тому +37

      there have been 100s

    • @ffxiarcadius
      @ffxiarcadius 3 роки тому +19

      it's coming to America soon
      4-5 years

    • @SmolTerribleTornado
      @SmolTerribleTornado 3 роки тому +14

      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 3 роки тому +4

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

    • @abelardodelatorresolis3966
      @abelardodelatorresolis3966 3 роки тому +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.

  • @PcCAvioN
    @PcCAvioN 3 роки тому +3066

    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 3 роки тому +319

      "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 3 роки тому +59

      @@LuisAldamiz replace gun with spearhead

    • @LuisAldamiz
      @LuisAldamiz 3 роки тому +129

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

    • @Xaiff
      @Xaiff 3 роки тому +12

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

    • @slambrew3849
      @slambrew3849 3 роки тому +9

      @ilove bigbrother Google “USSR Manchuria”

  • @rexmundi3108
    @rexmundi3108 3 роки тому +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.

  • @ezforsaken
    @ezforsaken 3 роки тому +39

    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 3 роки тому +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.

  • @connorgolden4
    @connorgolden4 3 роки тому +1880

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

    • @LuisAldamiz
      @LuisAldamiz 3 роки тому +361

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

    • @mairidberz1450
      @mairidberz1450 3 роки тому +235

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

    • @killthecensors58
      @killthecensors58 3 роки тому +74

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

    • @hawkevick9184
      @hawkevick9184 3 роки тому +25

      Like the covenant.

    • @fatmanyevo6235
      @fatmanyevo6235 3 роки тому +15

      It was

  • @OmarSlloum
    @OmarSlloum 3 роки тому +590

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

  • @fpvillegas9488
    @fpvillegas9488 3 роки тому +3

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

  • @fukingidiot9156
    @fukingidiot9156 3 роки тому +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

  • @thenewcaliph766
    @thenewcaliph766 3 роки тому +194

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

    • @davidking6242
      @davidking6242 3 роки тому +15

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

    • @thenewcaliph766
      @thenewcaliph766 3 роки тому +2

      @@davidking6242 Ikr!

    • @yaqo6577
      @yaqo6577 3 роки тому +6

      Shadows in the Desert for Warband never finished development ufortunately

    • @friedlemons5201
      @friedlemons5201 2 роки тому +6

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

    • @blazko1908
      @blazko1908 2 роки тому

      @@friedlemons5201 thank you for this information

  • @Amir-mq4jy
    @Amir-mq4jy 3 роки тому +1055

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

    • @Alaryk111
      @Alaryk111 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +23

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

    • @richardwhite6062
      @richardwhite6062 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +1

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

  • @Ranstone
    @Ranstone 4 місяці тому +6

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

  • @fatalpenguinful
    @fatalpenguinful 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +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.

  • @AsiniusNaso
    @AsiniusNaso 3 роки тому +683

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

    • @afz902k
      @afz902k 3 роки тому +35

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

    • @hotsan2776
      @hotsan2776 3 роки тому +5

      Total War Saga: Troy

    • @leandroingrassia
      @leandroingrassia 3 роки тому +9

      It should be the other way round.

    • @d0gl0gic80
      @d0gl0gic80 3 роки тому +36

      Anything would be better than another Warhammer game

    • @crystllclr3743
      @crystllclr3743 3 роки тому +1

      They did lol

  • @giuliogiuliani4054
    @giuliogiuliani4054 3 роки тому +73

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

    • @ThatOneGuy-iv9sn
      @ThatOneGuy-iv9sn 3 роки тому +4

      Well korne is just awakening at that time

    • @jacklang3314
      @jacklang3314 2 роки тому +1

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

  • @kylemackinnon5696
    @kylemackinnon5696 Рік тому +4

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

  • @NotAnnaJones
    @NotAnnaJones 3 роки тому +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! ❤️

  • @SacredCowStockyards
    @SacredCowStockyards 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +14

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

    • @drew_mb
      @drew_mb 3 роки тому +2

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

    • @Mikebumpful
      @Mikebumpful 3 роки тому +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!

  • @madderhat5852
    @madderhat5852 3 роки тому +182

    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.

  • @chrish9698
    @chrish9698 Рік тому +3

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

  • @michael7324
    @michael7324 2 роки тому +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.

  • @hhhieronymusbotch
    @hhhieronymusbotch 3 роки тому +227

    This adaptation of Dune went in a very different direction.

    • @klausbrinck2137
      @klausbrinck2137 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +5

      Reminded me more of the Dark Sun setting tbh

    • @ravensthatflywiththenightm7319
      @ravensthatflywiththenightm7319 3 роки тому +3

      Still a better Dune adaptation than that SyFy nonsense.

    • @gabrielnoronha2759
      @gabrielnoronha2759 3 роки тому +1

      Also looks like The Foundation setting

    • @pineapplethief4418
      @pineapplethief4418 3 роки тому +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

  • @thedoruk6324
    @thedoruk6324 3 роки тому +297

    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 3 роки тому +4

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

    • @connorgolden4
      @connorgolden4 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +1

      @@yaralikatil DecimatingDarkDeceit on Reddit
      Grisador on Deviantart

    • @thedoruk6324
      @thedoruk6324 3 роки тому +2

      @@connorgolden4 Thanks!

    • @thedoruk6324
      @thedoruk6324 3 роки тому

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

  • @AJaxdoesgaming
    @AJaxdoesgaming 3 роки тому +13

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

  • @reahanallaway5683
    @reahanallaway5683 11 місяців тому +4

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

  • @no1uknow32
    @no1uknow32 3 роки тому +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!

  • @umbra6771
    @umbra6771 3 роки тому +381

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

    • @sophiawilson8696
      @sophiawilson8696 3 роки тому +10

      It was not only the Sea People.

    • @ddwkc
      @ddwkc 3 роки тому +13

      More like don't show weakness or we chariot you to death type of harmony.

    • @jurikurthambarskjelfir3533
      @jurikurthambarskjelfir3533 3 роки тому +12

      @@sophiawilson8696 The sons of the Skyfather too.

    • @alwaysangry2232
      @alwaysangry2232 2 роки тому +7

      was no longer the "age of empires"

    • @dylanroemmele906
      @dylanroemmele906 2 роки тому +17

      Assyrians: We lived in harmony?

  • @Kagemusha08
    @Kagemusha08 3 роки тому +1

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

  • @jamoonji5163
    @jamoonji5163 3 роки тому +12

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

  • @PSIRockOmega
    @PSIRockOmega 3 роки тому +407

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

    • @fidalf99
      @fidalf99 3 роки тому +148

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

    • @ingold1470
      @ingold1470 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +4

      @@fidalf99 lol chill

  • @nature337
    @nature337 3 роки тому +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.

  • @Sanguivore
    @Sanguivore 3 роки тому +3

    This is undoubtedly one of the coolest videos I’ve ever seen on UA-cam.

  • @ReidHenderson
    @ReidHenderson 3 роки тому +12

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

  • @stevengreen9536
    @stevengreen9536 3 роки тому +51

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

  • @jeffreypeterson1364
    @jeffreypeterson1364 3 роки тому +37

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

  • @stonehorsegaming
    @stonehorsegaming 3 роки тому +5

    Tell me more about this Bronze, it sounds like it might catch on 😉
    Great video, always found this region and period of history absolutely fascinating, guess I should subscribe.

  • @ThreeNinjaDucks
    @ThreeNinjaDucks 3 роки тому +14

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

  • @longyu9336
    @longyu9336 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +46

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

    • @ANTSEMUT1
      @ANTSEMUT1 3 роки тому +34

      Lead and arsenic poisoning will do that to you.

    • @Xaiff
      @Xaiff 3 роки тому +31

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

    • @ANTSEMUT1
      @ANTSEMUT1 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +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.

  • @shorewall
    @shorewall 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +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 10 місяців тому

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

  • @austinfigard-vara9335
    @austinfigard-vara9335 Рік тому +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!

  • @Priyo866
    @Priyo866 3 роки тому +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.

  • @_-.-_-_.._--.-_-_----_-.--_._-
    @_-.-_-_.._--.-_-_----_-.--_._- 3 роки тому +9

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

    • @TheBacknblack92
      @TheBacknblack92 3 роки тому +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.

  • @cyberzangoose16
    @cyberzangoose16 3 роки тому +31

    Your channel is so criminally underrated

  • @cadensauerbrey9005
    @cadensauerbrey9005 11 місяців тому

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

  • @tinglesrosyrupeeland
    @tinglesrosyrupeeland 5 місяців тому

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

  • @g3th_
    @g3th_ 3 роки тому +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!

  • @Maynard0504
    @Maynard0504 3 роки тому +31

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

  • @shanpatrickbaker988
    @shanpatrickbaker988 3 роки тому +3

    Well done, this was an enjoyable watch.

  • @clanwaddell5628
    @clanwaddell5628 2 роки тому +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

  • @mopspear
    @mopspear 3 роки тому +53

    Your art is improving by a lot!

  • @connorgolden4
    @connorgolden4 3 роки тому +44

    Always happy to see an update from Epimetheus.

  • @argonianbum
    @argonianbum Рік тому +5

    I love the artwork that you use for these :O

  • @One_Call_System
    @One_Call_System 2 роки тому +1

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

  • @lynette8299
    @lynette8299 3 роки тому +210

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

    • @youtoob4life
      @youtoob4life 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому

      Nice profile picture. Where's it from?

    • @megakedar
      @megakedar 2 роки тому +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.

  • @thatcoolasiankidjake
    @thatcoolasiankidjake 3 роки тому +58

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

  • @Jinx_Skeel
    @Jinx_Skeel 2 роки тому +1

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

  • @brianfoley4328
    @brianfoley4328 Рік тому +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.

  • @philipbrody4723
    @philipbrody4723 3 роки тому +36

    Really enjoying all the Bronze Age videos!

  • @joshuapilling3641
    @joshuapilling3641 3 роки тому +21

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

  • @yonathanrakau1783
    @yonathanrakau1783 3 роки тому +1

    Wow i had always wondered about this for years its interesting finally someone make a video about this. Bronze age collapse info is just so rare

  • @Stunrickrollownage
    @Stunrickrollownage Рік тому +1

    Truly amazing content don’t stop!!

  • @ChIGuY-town22_
    @ChIGuY-town22_ 3 роки тому +27

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

    • @Vitorruy1
      @Vitorruy1 3 роки тому +1

      Do you still live in Syria?

    • @kiwuuspurr1927
      @kiwuuspurr1927 2 роки тому +1

      how tf are you assyrian, they didnt all die out or get assimilated??

    • @shahriarghasemianbamy1156
      @shahriarghasemianbamy1156 2 роки тому

      @@kiwuuspurr1927 Search assyrian people on wikipedia

  • @justinrhodes1745
    @justinrhodes1745 3 роки тому +25

    i love the art style

    • @EpimetheusHistory
      @EpimetheusHistory  3 роки тому +14

      Thanks Justin!

    • @justinrhodes1745
      @justinrhodes1745 3 роки тому +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  3 роки тому +6

      Sounds interesting

  • @DanMcLeodNeptuneUK
    @DanMcLeodNeptuneUK 3 роки тому

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

  • @FilthyVirus
    @FilthyVirus Рік тому +1

    I just discovered this channel and I have to say, wow, what a great source and form of information. Thank you!

    • @EpimetheusHistory
      @EpimetheusHistory  11 місяців тому

      Welcome aboard :) Always happy to see new people finding the channel

  • @admiralmudkip9836
    @admiralmudkip9836 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому

      I restored the roman empire by playing Greece in HOI4

    • @yohopirate
      @yohopirate 2 роки тому

      I use Naples for that

  • @AngryHistorian87
    @AngryHistorian87 3 роки тому +287

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

    • @frankincensemerchant1284
      @frankincensemerchant1284 3 роки тому +7

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

    • @tomasramirez4985
      @tomasramirez4985 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +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 3 роки тому +3

      You have to click the video to watch

  • @Bramble451
    @Bramble451 Рік тому +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!

  • @nintalespaw
    @nintalespaw 3 роки тому +11

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

    • @ArnoBach
      @ArnoBach 3 місяці тому

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

  • @patavinity1262
    @patavinity1262 3 роки тому +11

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

  • @frederickstabell3796
    @frederickstabell3796 3 роки тому +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

  • @larryroyovitz7829
    @larryroyovitz7829 2 місяці тому +3

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

  • @nickmccoy85
    @nickmccoy85 3 роки тому +5

    I've only just found the channel, but you had me at "butcher, baker, and chariot maker..." Haha

  • @cirobarachiel7696
    @cirobarachiel7696 3 роки тому +48

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

    • @chadthunderstorm8148
      @chadthunderstorm8148 3 роки тому +7

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

    • @cirobarachiel7696
      @cirobarachiel7696 3 роки тому +3

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

  • @TitanV
    @TitanV 3 роки тому +6

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

  • @duhsbo
    @duhsbo 11 місяців тому

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

  • @tylorfox783
    @tylorfox783 3 роки тому +2

    Okay. I was enjoying the presentation, but as soon as you mentioned your sponsor and it was freakin bronze, I laughed loud enough to wake my dog up. You got a sub today, and we’ll earned.

  • @angelbear_og
    @angelbear_og 3 роки тому +36

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

  • @miketacos9034
    @miketacos9034 3 роки тому +5

    Yooo I'm covering this in class today, thank you Epimetheus!!!

  • @jt4369
    @jt4369 10 місяців тому +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.

  • @anglosaxaphone672
    @anglosaxaphone672 Рік тому +1

    this is such a funny and interesting video, great work Epimethius!