Marauders swept in from the sea, and the cities of the Bronze Age crumbled before them. Why did they fall so quickly? Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/ExtraCredits/
This is why I love listening to music sung in languages I don't speak, and why I typically never look up the lyrics. There's something so satisfying about the potential in a mystery
im from Latakia (the same location of Ugarit) now days in syria, and i live in the Netherlands, i wanted to do a presentation for my class about Ugarit just this week all in Dutch language, and this video came just on time, thank you!!
Ah yes, the seven great disasters of the Bronze Age. Volcanic eruptions, meteor impacts, aliens, Godzilla, Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula and Cthulhu.
After Rameses III, Egypt went through a revolving door of foreign occupiers: Nubians, Libyans, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans as far as the ancient world goes.
Well the Aeneid tell us that Aeneas and the last Trojans sailed around to find a new home. Virgil never made clear if the wandering Trojans were trouble makers or not.
@@edwardr5793 well if you want to get technical, he wrote the empires in the correct order and ended with the Romans, who conquered Egypt around 300 years after Alexander.
Genetic studies of Philistine graves in the Levant showed that they likely had greek origins, or at least what is now greece. So it seems very likely that if the Philistines were part of the sea people, they were still outside invaders.
Fredrik Dunge nope,both dorians and philistines are greek tribes but from different ancestors..dorians were the closest descenants of pelasgians wich were protogreek and philistines were minoan descenats who lived in anatolia..btw illyrians werent dorians
Fredrik Dunge still phillistines were neither dorian or mycenean ..they were minoans so they were cretan greeks so i dont get why you cla8mthey were illyrians :)
Fredrik Dunge just do your fucking research...anyway i dont give a shit if you believe me or not...but just stop commenting because my phone rings like hell and i cant do my job ..just search phillistine anthropoligy study -minoan-cretan-greeks..you probably will find something
Possibly connected to the fallout from the Trojan War (refugees/displaced peoples/toppled regime/failed states) or the Dorian (sp?) invasion of mainland Greece/Mycenae?
This is a really interesting series. I like these more speculative episodes that try to make sense of disparate historical records and present incomplete data for us the audience to ponder. It makes me really eager to see you do other topics about ancient history that're based more on archaeology and theory rather than written accounts. This kind of stuff does a great job of diversifying the format.
"If history teaches us anything it is this : always pay your mercenaries. Oh, and don't invade Russia because that never seems to work." Aye, point one is very accurate. And surprisingly often ignored in history. Concerning point two, that has proven true with most invaders. The Mongols are as usual and exception.
Something I've always wondered about you guys. When Dan says "I think this" or "This is my opinion or what makes sense to me" is that "me" himself, Dan, or is he speaking as the writer, meaning that "Me" refers to James or whoever wrote the episode? Or do you guys all just have an alien hive consciousness that refers to itself in the singular?
James and Dan, have explained this before in a Q&A. The answer is : "a mix of both". Most of the time "me" means the writer (which in EC is usually James, and in this series i believe is Soraya). But Dan also reviews and edit each script before recording, and he would make slight adjustments on format and style to it, and so, it also reflects "his thinking". TL;DR: ME refers to "Character Dan" regardless of who wrote the script.
Well zombies don't need to breathe so it would be possible for them to walk on the ocean floor and emerge on very confused and very terrified civilizations. Also, zombies can't shoot bows and burn cities to the ground, but desperate armies dealing with even the possibility of and outbreak on a city can. ...is it just me or does this seem like a nice setting for a tabletop rpg?
They seem to be referring to the Israelite cities that were built along the Jordan River, away from the Phoenicians and Philistines near the coast. They built those after destroying the Canaanite cities.
This entire series is great, but I kudos to your art team! The visual at 3:24 is * chefs kiss*! Visuals to entertain are cool, but visuals that entertain AND clarify are freaking awesome!
They had to be a bit savage because civilization inventions and achievements were abandoned and there was nothing left in written language. I have read they incorporated into their culture only the basic things they encountered after the invasion. Things that were used on daily basis, for example, better pottery, etc.
Maybe now that they've announced Total War Sagas (which are focused on specific events in history) they might focus one of their standalone games on that period.
That would be fucking sick. I don't like Total War and I would play the shit out of that. Imagine, the sea people invading your country, or maybe you *are* the sea people. Hell yeah!
If only History was taught like that in school, I'd be a lot easier to interest some students. The best History teachers are the ones that know how to tell a story.
This is perhaps the most interesting "Extra Credits" series ever. Because it touches one of the fundamental questions. Why is there no direct line of development in human history? Why didnt they invented the steam engine 2000 years before Christ? Why did they made a downfall so often in such a short timeframe compared with the billion years of time past since the creation of life on this planet?
Because its about context. Technology is only utilised if there is a need for it. And the need arises from complex social structures. Ancient Rome had all the technology to create the steam engine, yet it was a slave based economy, ergo there was simply no need for any form of optimisation or improvement in the realm of "beast of burdens". Development of society is the key if you want to integrate any form of technology. Language, interaction, human relations, politics etc. Humanity was simply not ready.
"Technology is only utilised if there is a need for it." Well, yes. But wasnt there a need for fast transportation during the bronce age? We already had a large trade-network there. And they had a fundamental knowledge of mechanics and physics. And the word "Automobile" is a derivate of the old greek word for an autonomous vehicle... So, why was James Watt in the 19th century the inventor of the steam engine and not Platon?
A complex society is more than just trade. again. the fundamental reason for the lack of innovation during the time is again explained by the slave based economy. There was a status qou and there simply wasn't any demand or need for innovation. Nor was there any middle class to speak off. Where they innovated was engineering and war. The economy more or less looked the same during the empires existence. There are seldom a single explanation for things, and i only offer my view of the situation. But, the advent of industrialisation derived from the need to make the textile industry more efficient. and the industrial economy could only develop after society had developed along with it. Everything form norms to culture, identity and language. And, several powerful european economies we're competing to be number one, and as we know, competition is one of the greatest sources of innovation there is. At the time, Rome stood alone in its section of the world.
TOFKAS01 actually, the auto of automobile is still used in modern greek. We just have the word for moveable, witch makes the words ib greek and englisg fairly similiar.
I begin to understand why my feed is filled with Bronze Age Collapse videos! As history experts you are well aware that time is a great circle, or as I think of it, a spiral. We are getting to this point in the cycle again, on several levels, and you are helping me to understand it. I hope others with more decision-making capability than I have are also coming to realize it, and that we as a planet find ways to alter the cycle a little bit.
yes indus civilization is one of the most developed bronze age civilization and may be you don't know there are many excavation going on and in latest discovery is Rakhigarhi, the biggest Harappan or indus site or settlement . www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/rakhigarhi-the-biggest-harappan-site/article5840414.ece but most of peoples approach towards indus is just negative or idiotic they just saying indus just trading with middle eastern civilization they not involve in politics or other......crap . my question is when your title is bronze age they automatically cover all prominent civilization and indus also mysteriously doomed in same period . there are too much biases .
Great video!!! I started to watch this channel about 2 weeks ago and I am in love. I find this subject specially interesting and so I am really liking this bronze age collapse videos. I hope you keep up the great work, you are spreading a lot of knowledge to a lot of people! have a great day!!
I love the recruiting poster at 1:53. It might have been nice to see a "Your Empire needs YOU!" Like the old Kitchener/Uncle Sam poster from WWI featuring a scowling Rameses III.
I think this has been the series I have liked most so far, I had no idea about the bronze age collapse since I began watching this. Very interesting stuff
Such a cool/weird style you've got! Big words, archaic language, and a funny, cartoonish voice coupled with strong intonation and emotion. It's just... totally f******g awesome!
A lot of articles and historians point to a common event in this period, that if not the main cause, one of: -droughts in many wells -a change in temperatures -erosion of the fertility of the farmlands -volcanic eruptions (hence myths like atlantis, that probably derived from the minoans) These made the gains from farming smaller and despair grew, forcing each nation to resort to war or rebellions. Lots of collapsed walls also indicate a succession of earth quakes during these times, which would not only kill many and destroy buildings, but would cause panic amongst the religious folk that believed that this was a punishment laid down by the gods!
I love you guys so much. I have my kids watch these episodes, and it is a great bonding experience for us. That said a lot of that of that has to do with the narration, and the tone of the videos. I have noticed that the older videos are far better designed for sharing with my kids. The newer videos are a little less suitable for a elementary kids.
You said the lessons of history are "pay your mercenaries" and "don't invade Russia," but after watching the rest of the video it seems like a more important lesson might be something along the lines of "try to avoid climate change."
People like stability. Climate change is like throwing a wrench into a finely tuned system and noone knows what the results will be. Sure enough, humanity carried on... and built better societies.... but for once can we do it properly without a few centuries of suffering in between?
climate change wasn't all bad, sometimes it made the climate better. its also likely a major factor in the development of agriculture in the middle east.
My pet theory is the key to the fall was destruction of Minoan Crete. With its thalassocracy - rule of the sea - broken, Sea People were free to roam the Mediterranean, while at same time bringing seaborne trade to complete halt. And as you have already mentioned, trade was crucial to the bronze production itself...
Bryce 0905 I think Egypt was the longest surviving bronze age civilization but due to their God King system Ramses death would have hit hard since I believe he had the longest resign of the pharaohs dying at the age of 82.
Well I mean you could argue the Greeks survived right? The Mycenaeans are sometimes called Greeks, the same name in the same place doesn't necessarily mean they "survived". And even if they weren't future rulers of Egypt claiming they came from the old pre-collapse rulers was a winning strategy for legitimacy points.
Greoge 13 Ueath like the Neo empires that rose after the collapse. Like Neo-assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, and at one point Neo-Hittite. If I'm remembering right ,Egypt didn't collapse into total anarchy but instead lost a lot of territory and would just change dynasty and never recovered from the collapse.
The universe can be considered another level of sea; it's huge, and largely unexplored, has many interesting environments and perhaps many forms of life that we're currently unaware of.
Hi I put a comment in the discussion area of your main page, but there doesn't seem to be much action there, so I'm going to put it here too. I just discovered Extra Credits a little while ago, and I've already watched many hours of extra history episodes. I really am enjoying them. I would love to see an episode about Charles Drew, who developed the technique of blood transfusion and saved millions of lives. Thanks for all the hard work you put into these videos :)
On occasion I'll hear people postulate that religion (specifically the "Christian Dark Ages") are the entire reason that progress has been stifled. It's as if people believe that, without any religion, we would be colonizing planets by now. Although I'm not trying to argue that religion as a whole is entirely innocent in creating problems throughout society, seeing the Bronze Age Collapse and how it led to what essentially was a large scale halt in technological improvement across nations seems to indicate that, despite what some people say, there have been other factors that contribute to decline in sophistication of people groups outside of "Christian ignorance".
@@glacierlegion9439 oh and one more thing, a lot of the advances made by Islamic scholars were made either out of a classical Islamic belief that exploring and understanding the world was the truest form of loving God, or out a practical need to follow their religious beliefs (ie where do you face yourself to pray towards Meca, how do you follow Islamic inheritance laws as outlined in the Quran. How do you make cool artwork that doesn’t feature animals, etc etc)
I remember listening to a scholarly talk on this subject, and I remember that message in a "kiln." I can't remember if it was originally thought to have been in a kiln but later determined to have been in an overturned basket, or vice versa.
The fact that we don't know how entire civilizations ended is highly disturbing to me. I badly want to see a movie, game, or tv show set in that time now.
"Cities were destroyed and not rebuilt and, after many centuries, reappeared on top of high mountains or hidden in gorges". This story is simply fascinating!!!
"If history teaches us anything it is this : always pay your mercenaries. Oh, and maybe don't invade Russia because that never seems to work." Well said.
From what I understand the Bronze Age was a house of cards waiting to collapse. It was too complex for its own good and one flaw crushed the whole system. With that complexity in mind, how long until the Glass Age Collapse?
Joseph Sosa Common misconception: the law of entropy says everything will always get more disordered forever. While it does seem clear from history that all civilizations collapse eventually. It also seems clear that some knowledge and skill transcends each civilizational collapse, and offers its shoulders for the next civilization to stand on. None of that is in defiance of entropy. While it might appear to be an increase in the ordering of human societies, it is only made possible by the existence of the laws of entropy, which ensure that progress and collapse are both, in their own ways, equally eternal. The laws of entropy merely guarantee that, in the next era of history, there will be rubble for us to build on, and tools in the rubble for us to build with. You can call it hubris for people to live their daily lives with no thought for the rubble to come. I'd call it a crime against our children not to put as many tools in the rubble as possible.
Charles as soon as we get hit by a Coronal Mass Ejection and have all electronics unusable, we will be fucked. Hopefully only for a decade before we reestablish our electronic systems but in that time anyone could start an old-school invasion and alter the political landscape
GelidGanef All it's going to take is a drought in the U.S of a similar scale to the dust bowl which effects California, Texas, and the Great Plains. This would destroy food production and would lead to a rise in food prices, rationing, and eventually, out of desperation, riots and looting. The government would try to crack down on this which would make the U.S appear weak and on the verge of collapse, not to mention that this is happening in other countries too, so the U.S dollar would collapse dragging the world economy down with it. Which would lead to destruction across the world due to riots and revolution coupled with invasions by foreign powers attempting to secure food resources.
Obviously you don't realize the ridiculous amount of food the U.S. produces, how much is in storage, how much good food is thrown away, and how many farmers the government pays not to farm. The U.S. exports more food than any other country.
"Never invade Russia" is an incomplete rule. The full version would be "never invade Russia shortly before winter". Or you can do it like Polish did and simply rush for the capitol and take their leader in chains to your seat of power.
And make sure russia is in Interregnum, thats how the poles did it. The thing is they only stayed for like two years, and apparently(as far as i know) never actually took the Kremlin.
@@drFocak As far as I remember from the history lessons, the reason that Poles didn't maintained the power in Russia was the religion. It was super likely that a king of Poland was able to put his son on the Russian throne, but that would only be possible if he converted his faith, which was a bit out of question in Poland.
Well except that is exactly what Napoleon did. Contrary to popular belief, he invaded Russia in the summer and made a beeline for their capital expecting to force them to surrender by winter where he and his troops would then take shelter in Moscow. It backfired when the Russians decided to burn their capital, flee into Siberia, and torch the entire path from Moscow back to the rest of Europe. It takes a long time to march 600,000 soldiers to Moscow. Ironically, perhaps had he invaded in the winter, he would not have had to spend a harrowing retreat from Russia in the winter.
Poland didn't really invade Russia. They joined one of the factions in the Russian civil war ("Smuta") and were kind of "invited" to Moscow by their puppet faction. They weren't in position to actually hold Russia by force, so they left when the original deal to put a Polish prince on the Russian throne collapsed due to religious differences. That's not really comparable to the Mongol conquest of Russia.
Great video! Just letting you know--that tablet in Ugarit was not in a kiln but an overturned basket with many other tablets and was fired [most likely dropped during whatever sudden incident caused collapse] --this is only important because we actually don't even know that its from the bronze age attack that you discuss as Ugarit had been besieged 30 years prior. Love your videos, keep it up!
I read an article by Eric Cline regarding 0:45 and it appears that the kiln would actually be a basked that would have fallen upside down with the tablet in it.
The Xia dynasty is said to have collapsed around 1500 BC, contemporary with the eruption of Santorini, and the records tell that drought, bizarre weather patterns, and an unending winter were the causes of the rebellion of vassal lords which are said to have toppled the dynasty. This correlation points for me to the possibility that the Xia may have been real, or at least a folk memory of a great early kingdom which collapsed alongside many others of its time all over the world.
Never invade Russia? Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth kinda managed to do that, but Zygmunt III Waza refused to let his son Władysław change religion from Catholic to Orthodox, which was a must for his son to become a tsar. (Zygmunt III Waza could create an alliance with Sweden in a personal union, but he was dethroned, because he was Catholic and Sweden - protestant).
Czitus The Zep Oh yes, I would love to see the Polish-Muscovite war (1605-1618) covered by Extra Credits. Preferably from the perspective of hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski, Polish commander who was against this war in the first place, but kept doing his job the best he could. Seriously, the guy absolutely smashed overwhelmingly stronger Russian and Swedish forces at Klushino in 1610, conquered Moscow (sending the freaking Tsar as a trophy back to Poland), and then sat with the Russian boyars like "Hey guys! I never wanted to fight and occupy you. Can we find some solution, that will bring lasting pace?". Only to wach his plan of compromise falling apart, due to Polish king being a moron. Still Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth temporary regained much of the territories lost by Grand Duchy of Lithuania to Moscow during previous century, so this war was a limited Polish-Lithuanian success in the end. Ofcourse there is also this whole insane story of how this war started, with some rogue Polish noblemen acting on their own in support of false pretenders to the Russian throne.
1:25 I can't help but wonder what word was used for souls in that original document. Given that hearths are mentioned separately it weren't Jb. My best guess would be Ba as the very fact that they were recorded preserved their Ren.
Hey; Thanks, Extra Credits, for pointing me in a few right directions for some research. Now all I have to do is learn all about Bronze Age Anatolia during the time that the Middle Helladic was declining Greece. Yeay, History! :D
The sea people Ramses III is talking about, are the Phoenicians (the world for sea-people is literally, "Phoenicians"). Note that this is the Ramses III almost 700 years AFTER the Bronze Age Collapse of the Middle Kingdom.
FYI about the Russia comment a lot of people have invaded Russia and won. Eg the Polish-Muscovite war, WW1 Germany, and the Mongols to name a few and all won winter campaigns. It's only because an French megalomaniac and Nazi Cosplaying as him failed so bad that we have this myth. By the Way the Nazis began on June 22 and Napoleon on July 24th in the middle of summer.
This is probably my favourite Extra History so far, I love the sense of mystery and the questions it raises. Kind of worrying too. As they say; those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it...
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Marauders swept in from the sea, and the cities of the Bronze Age crumbled before them. Why did they fall so quickly?
Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/ExtraCredits/
Extra Credits I wish this was a more Requet series maybe 2 times a week but I know it's hard to do all these drawing and other creation stuff
Well if you remember, tin (one of the major ingedients of bronze) is really rare. Maybe tin supplies got so low that they couldn't make bronze?
it was Walpole!
Channel 8844 but couldn't they have traded with the other nations? Like the assyrians
Max Glaak all of Assyrian's tin came from elsewhere.
This might just have become my favourite historical period. It's so mysteriously interesting
The grand question of “wha happen?” And we shall likely never know for sure
This is why I love listening to music sung in languages I don't speak, and why I typically never look up the lyrics. There's something so satisfying about the potential in a mystery
"waves of sea people"
I *sea* what you did there.
boooooooo
@@azelfdaboi5265 BROTHA TAIWAN ! ! ! ! ! Any cheap and good GPU card available?
.
From ye most south eastern freind
@@bringsik100 I should have some *looks in bag* Yea I have a few, only 25¥ per GPU card
Water you talking about?
ba dum tssss
The stone message in the beggining reminded me of the final message of the dwarves found in Moria by the fellowship. Erie stuff
im from Latakia (the same location of Ugarit) now days in syria, and i live in the Netherlands, i wanted to do a presentation for my class about Ugarit just this week all in Dutch language, and this video came just on time, thank you!!
Masha Bitar dude can u show me ur presentation
Everyone else: “Don’t invade Russia in the winter.”
Mongolia: “Hold my beer.”
Mongolia: hold my fermented horse milk.
Finnaly they lost.
Cue mongoltage
Russia didn’t really...
Exist at that time
@@karsentube13yt well at least they won against the winter and kievan rus
Ah yes, the seven great disasters of the Bronze Age. Volcanic eruptions, meteor impacts, aliens, Godzilla, Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula and Cthulhu.
Beriorn But the seven great disasters can't get in the way of a good crusade.
Beriorn and the russians
5:52 Wind Waker???????????????????????????????????????
Miguel Abiog *the whole world crumbles under brimstone and Eldritch horror* "FOR THE HOLY LAND!"
Miguel Abiog: The crusades took place to stop the Muslim hoards.
Egypteans, Assyrians, Hittites, Mycenaeans. Long ago the four Nations lived in Peace. Then everything changed, when the Sea People attacked.
Funny, i'd just like to add in that these civilazations were in constant warfare with eachother.
ZiggyWSB for the myceaneans the mountain people attacked
Dimos Tychalas the dorian greeks;)
Hudson Huynh I know, right. He should have made a joke about that.
:D
Time Traveling Vikings
Sea Mongol
Aliens bruh
Atlantians
Walpol
Manbearpig
The Sea Peoples have always been one of my favorite civilizations in the ancient world. Thanks for giving them their place in history.
They weren't "a civilization" though. It's a vague demonym for various unknown peoples coming from the sea.
After Rameses III, Egypt went through a revolving door of foreign occupiers: Nubians, Libyans, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans as far as the ancient world goes.
Romans don't even breath till King Leonidas of Sparta die to Xerxes I
go drunk you're home
Well the Aeneid tell us that Aeneas and the last Trojans sailed around to find a new home. Virgil never made clear if the wandering Trojans were trouble makers or not.
@@michellejewell9859 and none tell about the iliad and the odissey. Um no really both and Aeneas was after of Bronze age collapse stuff, -.-
@@edwardr5793 well if you want to get technical, he wrote the empires in the correct order and ended with the Romans, who conquered Egypt around 300 years after Alexander.
@@edwardr5793 bull. Leonidas was around in the 400 bc. Rome started in 753 bc
When you don't find enough luxury resources to manage your population growth in Civ 5...
I didn’t know what luxury resources are so I sold em
@@meh9114 XD
Or humankind, got a few games where a new luxury saved a vital city from revolt
This's why I love this show. I never Heard of this in my history class.
It's almost like I'm Learning the history of a fantasy world.
Genetic studies of Philistine graves in the Levant showed that they likely had greek origins, or at least what is now greece. So it seems very likely that if the Philistines were part of the sea people, they were still outside invaders.
Fredrik Dunge nope,both dorians and philistines are greek tribes but from different ancestors..dorians were the closest descenants of pelasgians wich were protogreek and philistines were minoan descenats who lived in anatolia..btw illyrians werent dorians
Fredrik Dunge still phillistines were neither dorian or mycenean ..they were minoans so they were cretan greeks so i dont get why you cla8mthey were illyrians :)
Fredrik Dunge just do your fucking research...anyway i dont give a shit if you believe me or not...but just stop commenting because my phone rings like hell and i cant do my job ..just search phillistine anthropoligy study -minoan-cretan-greeks..you probably will find something
no you are liar
Possibly connected to the fallout from the Trojan War (refugees/displaced peoples/toppled regime/failed states) or the Dorian (sp?) invasion of mainland Greece/Mycenae?
Hmm
Nordic Bronze Age happened too
But didn't "collapse"
Similar duration
Nice boats
Battle axes
Hmm
Nordic Sea Peoples?
Vikings were known to raid the Mediterranean sometimes
4:47 Their ability to date things improved. They intermarried with locals and blended into the local scenery.
When times get tough, the tough get going - and by going, I mean raiding and pillaging.
There were no "Nordic people" back then or the Vikings.... your confusion a millenium span
@@takiranayaki7870 of course there were nordic people in the north LMAO
now, if this people did go to the mediterranean is not likely
This is a really interesting series. I like these more speculative episodes that try to make sense of disparate historical records and present incomplete data for us the audience to ponder. It makes me really eager to see you do other topics about ancient history that're based more on archaeology and theory rather than written accounts. This kind of stuff does a great job of diversifying the format.
"And maybe don't invade Russia, because it never seems to work."
Yeah tell that to the Mongols.
The Mongols didn't invade Russia, they invaded what was going to be Russia a few centuries later. At that time Russia didn't exist.
Well the Mongols also invaded Afghanistan and won.
Matthew Hemmings the polish king in the 1640s captured Moscow when it was united
Matthew Hemmings Germany WW1 knocked Russia out of the war
It should have been "Don't invade Russia in Winter"
"If history teaches us anything it is this : always pay your mercenaries. Oh, and don't invade Russia because that never seems to work."
Aye, point one is very accurate. And surprisingly often ignored in history.
Concerning point two, that has proven true with most invaders. The Mongols are as usual and exception.
Russia is actually not terribly hard to invade, the question is whether the Russians have the will to fight.
QuakeRiley But you still need enourmous supply, wich Hitler or even worse, Napoleon didn't have.
Alexander Koza and i think that swedish king who wasted the opportunity to invade moscow
which one?
what we should really learn is "Capture Moscow as soon as possible"
Something I've always wondered about you guys. When Dan says "I think this" or "This is my opinion or what makes sense to me" is that "me" himself, Dan, or is he speaking as the writer, meaning that "Me" refers to James or whoever wrote the episode? Or do you guys all just have an alien hive consciousness that refers to itself in the singular?
That's the writer of the episode. If Dan needs to break the fourth wall, then he'll reference James by name.
James and Dan, have explained this before in a Q&A.
The answer is : "a mix of both". Most of the time "me" means the writer (which in EC is usually James, and in this series i believe is Soraya).
But Dan also reviews and edit each script before recording, and he would make slight adjustments on format and style to it, and so, it also reflects "his thinking".
TL;DR: ME refers to "Character Dan" regardless of who wrote the script.
Yes
PCspray Nah, I go with alien hive mind. Sounds reasonable to me.
lol
This is probably my favorite video of all time. Just so many concepts and mysteries are applied to what is going on here!
I'd love a Game of Thrones style show imagining any of these versions of Bronze Age collapse. I bet there were crazy machinations going on!
"...appearing on mountaintops or secluded regions ..."
Zombie apocalypse. Done.
Zombies don't sail. They also don't besiege towns with bows and arrows nor do they burn any towns down to the ground.
Casper Kersten Sure they do. If they're the Army of Darkness.
Depends on the zombie fiction we're talking about. Some zombies are very skillful.
Well zombies don't need to breathe so it would be possible for them to walk on the ocean floor and emerge on very confused and very terrified civilizations.
Also, zombies can't shoot bows and burn cities to the ground, but desperate armies dealing with even the possibility of and outbreak on a city can.
...is it just me or does this seem like a nice setting for a tabletop rpg?
They seem to be referring to the Israelite cities that were built along the Jordan River, away from the Phoenicians and Philistines near the coast. They built those after destroying the Canaanite cities.
Finally... the Sea Men!
You're a bad person, and you should feel bad.
...pation!
PHRASING!
Ace132 On a small loan of a million shekels!
OCEAN MAN
This entire series is great, but I kudos to your art team! The visual at 3:24 is * chefs kiss*! Visuals to entertain are cool, but visuals that entertain AND clarify are freaking awesome!
"So who were these sea people?"
Atlanteans?
Yo momma
@@takiranayaki7870"Yo mama"
Makes more sense lmao
Vikins
I think Greek like people around the western Mediterranean
They had to be a bit savage because civilization inventions and achievements were abandoned and there was nothing left in written language. I have read they incorporated into their culture only the basic things they encountered after the invasion. Things that were used on daily basis, for example, better pottery, etc.
We really need a Total War game about the Bronze Age Collapse!
I don't understand why they haven't made one already
Theres a mod that does the Bronze Age for Rome II, but its only custom battle
there's a documentary series that was made using a modded version of Rome 1 and 1 episode was about Egypt vs the Hittites
Maybe now that they've announced Total War Sagas (which are focused on specific events in history) they might focus one of their standalone games on that period.
That would be fucking sick. I don't like Total War and I would play the shit out of that. Imagine, the sea people invading your country, or maybe you *are* the sea people. Hell yeah!
If only History was taught like that in school, I'd be a lot easier to interest some students. The best History teachers are the ones that know how to tell a story.
Middle school and high school is alright, but elementary sucks
This is perhaps the most interesting "Extra Credits" series ever. Because it touches one of the fundamental questions. Why is there no direct line of development in human history? Why didnt they invented the steam engine 2000 years before Christ? Why did they made a downfall so often in such a short timeframe compared with the billion years of time past since the creation of life on this planet?
Because its about context. Technology is only utilised if there is a need for it. And the need arises from complex social structures. Ancient Rome had all the technology to create the steam engine, yet it was a slave based economy, ergo there was simply no need for any form of optimisation or improvement in the realm of "beast of burdens". Development of society is the key if you want to integrate any form of technology. Language, interaction, human relations, politics etc. Humanity was simply not ready.
"Technology is only utilised if there is a need for it."
Well, yes. But wasnt there a need for fast transportation during the bronce age? We already had a large trade-network there. And they had a fundamental knowledge of mechanics and physics. And the word "Automobile" is a derivate of the old greek word for an autonomous vehicle... So, why was James Watt in the 19th century the inventor of the steam engine and not Platon?
A complex society is more than just trade. again. the fundamental reason for the lack of innovation during the time is again explained by the slave based economy. There was a status qou and there simply wasn't any demand or need for innovation. Nor was there any middle class to speak off.
Where they innovated was engineering and war. The economy more or less looked the same during the empires existence.
There are seldom a single explanation for things, and i only offer my view of the situation. But, the advent of industrialisation derived from the need to make the textile industry more efficient. and the industrial economy could only develop after society had developed along with it. Everything form norms to culture, identity and language. And, several powerful european economies we're competing to be number one, and as we know, competition is one of the greatest sources of innovation there is.
At the time, Rome stood alone in its section of the world.
TOFKAS01 actually, the auto of automobile is still used in modern greek. We just have the word for moveable, witch makes the words ib greek and englisg fairly similiar.
Because it's an exponential growth. THe more pieces of hte puzzle that is the universe we have the easier it's see which ones we're missing.
I begin to understand why my feed is filled with Bronze Age Collapse videos! As history experts you are well aware that time is a great circle, or as I think of it, a spiral. We are getting to this point in the cycle again, on several levels, and you are helping me to understand it. I hope others with more decision-making capability than I have are also coming to realize it, and that we as a planet find ways to alter the cycle a little bit.
The indus people had a mysterious event make their civilisation collapse too. You should do a series on them.
yes indus civilization is one of the most developed bronze age civilization and may be you don't know there are many excavation going on and in latest discovery is Rakhigarhi, the biggest Harappan or indus site or settlement .
www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/rakhigarhi-the-biggest-harappan-site/article5840414.ece
but most of peoples approach towards indus is just negative or idiotic they just saying indus just trading with middle eastern civilization they not involve in politics or other......crap . my question is when your title is bronze age they automatically cover all prominent civilization and indus also mysteriously doomed in same period .
there are too much biases .
That is prety amazing! Thanks for the link.
most welcome . i am glad you mention indus {tiny number of peoples mentioned indus}:)
4:13
unless you are, wait for it... the mongols *rolls the mongoltage
This guy gets it.
And Germany in the First World War
Germany used the russians against themselves so i think they should be disqualified.
It should have been "Don't invade Russia in Winter"
Dang it, you beat me to it.
This very hypothetical series is totally my favorite so far. Keep up the amazing job guys!
4:14 *queue the mongoltage*
I ain't afraid of no Mongols!
ah i see you are a man of culture aswell
Roberts Walpole+ Famous last words, of many great medieval empires.
Great video!!!
I started to watch this channel about 2 weeks ago and I am in love.
I find this subject specially interesting and so I am really liking this bronze age collapse videos.
I hope you keep up the great work, you are spreading a lot of knowledge to a lot of people!
have a great day!!
I love the recruiting poster at 1:53. It might have been nice to see a "Your Empire needs YOU!"
Like the old Kitchener/Uncle Sam poster from WWI featuring a scowling Rameses III.
Now the Phoenicians can get down to business!
Austin Leeds i love you now
Carthage should have won.
To defeat the huns
I'm telling you we need a Extra history on extra credits
Yoshi's Wooly World Battle of the Dans Season 2
With Extra Warpole
UltimateBloxxer no we need to see it animated
I would watch the fuck out of that
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - the most famous of which is "never get involved in a land war in Asia."
Steven Huxley I know these references.
I think this has been the series I have liked most so far, I had no idea about the bronze age collapse since I began watching this. Very interesting stuff
Such a cool/weird style you've got! Big words, archaic language, and a funny, cartoonish voice coupled with strong intonation and emotion. It's just... totally f******g awesome!
A lot of articles and historians point to a common event in this period, that if not the main cause, one of:
-droughts in many wells
-a change in temperatures
-erosion of the fertility of the farmlands
-volcanic eruptions (hence myths like atlantis, that probably derived from the minoans)
These made the gains from farming smaller and despair grew, forcing each nation to resort to war or rebellions.
Lots of collapsed walls also indicate a succession of earth quakes during these times, which would not only kill many and destroy buildings, but would cause panic amongst the religious folk that believed that this was a punishment laid down by the gods!
damn, Seamen always penetrate the eggs of civilization
Zerpderp0 Was that REALLY needed? I vote yes...
Fox D yes
Zerpderp0 i
Guess I'll laugh
"And them the sea people (fire nation ) attacked "
Al Sarmiento you mean teh azteks?
This is one of my favorite topics you guys have covered. Seriously, loving it.
I love you guys so much. I have my kids watch these episodes, and it is a great bonding experience for us.
That said a lot of that of that has to do with the narration, and the tone of the videos. I have noticed that the older videos are far better designed for sharing with my kids. The newer videos are a little less suitable for a elementary kids.
The more "personal" Extra Histories we had so far were all really exciting and cool, but this more "broad" series is my favorite so far.
You said the lessons of history are "pay your mercenaries" and "don't invade Russia," but after watching the rest of the video it seems like a more important lesson might be something along the lines of "try to avoid climate change."
XD
People like stability. Climate change is like throwing a wrench into a finely tuned system and noone knows what the results will be.
Sure enough, humanity carried on... and built better societies.... but for once can we do it properly without a few centuries of suffering in between?
or avoid people coming from the sea murdering your people and pillaging your cities.
Actually on the point of "pay your mercenaries" Sun Tzu had a better idea "After your mercenaries have done their job,kill them".
climate change wasn't all bad, sometimes it made the climate better. its also likely a major factor in the development of agriculture in the middle east.
Everything changed when the Sea people attacked...
My pet theory is the key to the fall was destruction of Minoan Crete. With its thalassocracy - rule of the sea - broken, Sea People were free to roam the Mediterranean, while at same time bringing seaborne trade to complete halt. And as you have already mentioned, trade was crucial to the bronze production itself...
"We willl build a sea-wall to keep sea-people out!"
Bronze Age Collapse
B.A.C
Back
Back to the future
*W A L P O L E*
Nobody Important Now the phonecians can get down to business
Quite the leap of logic there. ;)
Nobody Important where that delorian
Gotta back back to the past Samurai Walpole!
I am annoyed how much that made me laugh.
...Why is Dracula listed under natural disasters? XD
I mean, Cthulu...Ok, sure. But DRACULA?!
To be fair, Dracula actually existed in history.
vlad the impaler.
Killed by the muslims the ottoman empire
The Crimson Fucker is as much of a force of nature as
POPO.
@@Burn_Angel pray tell how a dude is a natural disaster
I thought Egypt managed to survive the sea people but collapsed later due to Ramses dieing soon after?
This is similar to what I've heard. Ramses did manage to fend them off, but the damage from the conflict resulted in a systemic collapse of Egypt.
Bryce 0905 I think Egypt was the longest surviving bronze age civilization but due to their God King system Ramses death would have hit hard since I believe he had the longest resign of the pharaohs dying at the age of 82.
Well I mean you could argue the Greeks survived right? The Mycenaeans are sometimes called Greeks, the same name in the same place doesn't necessarily mean they "survived". And even if they weren't future rulers of Egypt claiming they came from the old pre-collapse rulers was a winning strategy for legitimacy points.
Greoge 13 Ueath like the Neo empires that rose after the collapse. Like Neo-assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, and at one point Neo-Hittite. If I'm remembering right ,Egypt didn't collapse into total anarchy but instead lost a lot of territory and would just change dynasty and never recovered from the collapse.
I suppose I see your point thats just what I heard sorry.
Wow! This explanation about the drought is so logical. I'd totally accept that claim! I love this channel!
Waiting for the portuguese subtitle! Thank you guys, this is one of the best channels ever!!!
1:10 according to history channel, it was aliens, not sea people
lol kidding
alien sea people
Cthullu
Alien Sea Walpoles
The universe can be considered another level of sea; it's huge, and largely unexplored, has many interesting environments and perhaps many forms of life that we're currently unaware of.
@@wendychavez5348 But we know more about the space that surround our planet than the bottom of the oceans...
Maybe they came from *Atlantis* .
Everybody please watch Nadia and the secret of Blue Water!
which is probably the Biblical city of Tarshish according to some historians and archaeologist.
Maybe the stories of Atlantis came from speculation on where the Sea People came from!
Probably Tarshish.
I think the Sea Peoples could have been the Nuragic civilization from modern day Sardinia.
I love you guys
You make history fun and now you have one more new subscriber
Hi I put a comment in the discussion area of your main page, but there doesn't seem to be much action there, so I'm going to put it here too. I just discovered Extra Credits a little while ago, and I've already watched many hours of extra history episodes. I really am enjoying them. I would love to see an episode about Charles Drew, who developed the technique of blood transfusion and saved millions of lives. Thanks for all the hard work you put into these videos :)
Another great video for getting students to see inter-relationships and think deep about causation :)
History also teaches us to never let some petty reason get in the wat of a good and jolly crusade!
4:15 unless you are... wait for it... THE MONGOLS.
Or the poles
On occasion I'll hear people postulate that religion (specifically the "Christian Dark Ages") are the entire reason that progress has been stifled. It's as if people believe that, without any religion, we would be colonizing planets by now. Although I'm not trying to argue that religion as a whole is entirely innocent in creating problems throughout society, seeing the Bronze Age Collapse and how it led to what essentially was a large scale halt in technological improvement across nations seems to indicate that, despite what some people say, there have been other factors that contribute to decline in sophistication of people groups outside of "Christian ignorance".
During the Bronze Age religion was a good thing. However during the Classical age we would be better off without religion.
@@glacierlegion9439 oh and one more thing, a lot of the advances made by Islamic scholars were made either out of a classical Islamic belief that exploring and understanding the world was the truest form of loving God, or out a practical need to follow their religious beliefs (ie where do you face yourself to pray towards Meca, how do you follow Islamic inheritance laws as outlined in the Quran. How do you make cool artwork that doesn’t feature animals, etc etc)
I love this, there are lessons here that the modern world should DAMN WELL LEARN!!!
I remember listening to a scholarly talk on this subject, and I remember that message in a "kiln." I can't remember if it was originally thought to have been in a kiln but later determined to have been in an overturned basket, or vice versa.
I guess something went Ugawrong.
knives4cash pls kill me
The fact that we don't know how entire civilizations ended is highly disturbing to me. I badly want to see a movie, game, or tv show set in that time now.
The Egyptian pharoah said that their belongings were dumped into the sea...
And you said there were some iron artifacts found during the collapse...
these new videos are often the main highlight of most of my Saturdays
"Cities were destroyed and not rebuilt and, after many centuries, reappeared on top of high mountains or hidden in gorges". This story is simply fascinating!!!
The Mayans had one dry year and that finished them off if I remember right, they never returned to their cities.
Proving again that history is written by the winner
Mayan Remnants existed until the Spanish conquest. Granted they are a small shadow of their former selves
Not sure about that.
What I know is that the spanish had nothing to do with them, as they vanished hundreds of years before their arrival.
@@Burn_Angel
The Mayans controlled one city when Cortez invaded
"If history teaches us anything it is this : always pay your mercenaries. Oh, and maybe don't invade Russia because that never seems to work."
Well said.
Mongolia would like to know ur location
5:18 "So what does that leave us?"
ATLANTIS
at 4:17 he forgot a few:
DON'T KILL A MONGOL ENVOY,
DON'T STAND IN DIOGENES'S SUNLIGHT
AND DON'T FORGET TO CONSULT THE SACRED CHICKENS BOFORE BATTLE!
From what I have read, this is an excellent summary
From what I understand the Bronze Age was a house of cards waiting to collapse. It was too complex for its own good and one flaw crushed the whole system. With that complexity in mind, how long until the Glass Age Collapse?
Joseph Sosa
Common misconception: the law of entropy says everything will always get more disordered forever.
While it does seem clear from history that all civilizations collapse eventually. It also seems clear that some knowledge and skill transcends each civilizational collapse, and offers its shoulders for the next civilization to stand on. None of that is in defiance of entropy. While it might appear to be an increase in the ordering of human societies, it is only made possible by the existence of the laws of entropy, which ensure that progress and collapse are both, in their own ways, equally eternal. The laws of entropy merely guarantee that, in the next era of history, there will be rubble for us to build on, and tools in the rubble for us to build with. You can call it hubris for people to live their daily lives with no thought for the rubble to come. I'd call it a crime against our children not to put as many tools in the rubble as possible.
Charles as soon as we get hit by a Coronal Mass Ejection and have all electronics unusable, we will be fucked. Hopefully only for a decade before we reestablish our electronic systems but in that time anyone could start an old-school invasion and alter the political landscape
GelidGanef All it's going to take is a drought in the U.S of a similar scale to the dust bowl which effects California, Texas, and the Great Plains. This would destroy food production and would lead to a rise in food prices, rationing, and eventually, out of desperation, riots and looting. The government would try to crack down on this which would make the U.S appear weak and on the verge of collapse, not to mention that this is happening in other countries too, so the U.S dollar would collapse dragging the world economy down with it. Which would lead to destruction across the world due to riots and revolution coupled with invasions by foreign powers attempting to secure food resources.
Ordinary Tree Yeah
Obviously you don't realize the ridiculous amount of food the U.S. produces, how much is in storage, how much good food is thrown away, and how many farmers the government pays not to farm. The U.S. exports more food than any other country.
"Never invade Russia" is an incomplete rule. The full version would be "never invade Russia shortly before winter". Or you can do it like Polish did and simply rush for the capitol and take their leader in chains to your seat of power.
And make sure russia is in Interregnum, thats how the poles did it. The thing is they only stayed for like two years, and apparently(as far as i know) never actually took the Kremlin.
@@drFocak As far as I remember from the history lessons, the reason that Poles didn't maintained the power in Russia was the religion. It was super likely that a king of Poland was able to put his son on the Russian throne, but that would only be possible if he converted his faith, which was a bit out of question in Poland.
Well except that is exactly what Napoleon did. Contrary to popular belief, he invaded Russia in the summer and made a beeline for their capital expecting to force them to surrender by winter where he and his troops would then take shelter in Moscow. It backfired when the Russians decided to burn their capital, flee into Siberia, and torch the entire path from Moscow back to the rest of Europe. It takes a long time to march 600,000 soldiers to Moscow. Ironically, perhaps had he invaded in the winter, he would not have had to spend a harrowing retreat from Russia in the winter.
Poland didn't really invade Russia. They joined one of the factions in the Russian civil war ("Smuta") and were kind of "invited" to Moscow by their puppet faction. They weren't in position to actually hold Russia by force, so they left when the original deal to put a Polish prince on the Russian throne collapsed due to religious differences. That's not really comparable to the Mongol conquest of Russia.
Eh, taking Moscow doesn’t matter. Russia is to large.
0:25 Whoa... I got some flashbacks to Breath of the Wild there.
I have been watching a lot of Extra Credits' videos and this is the best one yet.
4:08
Don't forget, "Never get involved in a land war in Asia." and "Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!"
How fast did Sicilians surrender in World War 2 to Allies? A week? Two days? An hour?
"The Sea people attacked. Something must have displaced them..."
Me : "The White Walkers ?"
I'll just be leaving now...
"Maybe don't invade Russia."
You had me laughing. Haha.
Considering that Philistines literally means invaders in Hebrew, I'd say there is a strong possibility of them being sea people..
Atlantis
Dudes, thank you soooo much, your work is invaluable. Much love.
Great video! Just letting you know--that tablet in Ugarit was not in a kiln but an overturned basket with many other tablets and was fired [most likely dropped during whatever sudden incident caused collapse] --this is only important because we actually don't even know that its from the bronze age attack that you discuss as Ugarit had been besieged 30 years prior. Love your videos, keep it up!
BLUE LIVES MATTER
@@SR-wm1kr Edgy.
Ian Stettner COPS ARE POEPLE TOO COMMIE
"Never invade Russia"
In the corner, Genghis Khan is laughing. (?)
Genghis Khan: noobs!
im going to start a new game of civ 5 what civ shall i pick
Assyria
Canada
There actually is a Sea peoples mod on the workshop: steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=497220625&searchtext=
byzantium
Delete civ 5, install EU 4, thank me later.
4:14 Unless you are the Mongols.
Sorry, thought I was watching Crash Course for a moment.
Or the poles
Lerzid Marino or the WALpoles...
I read an article by Eric Cline regarding 0:45 and it appears that the kiln would actually be a basked that would have fallen upside down with the tablet in it.
The Xia dynasty is said to have collapsed around 1500 BC, contemporary with the eruption of Santorini, and the records tell that drought, bizarre weather patterns, and an unending winter were the causes of the rebellion of vassal lords which are said to have toppled the dynasty.
This correlation points for me to the possibility that the Xia may have been real, or at least a folk memory of a great early kingdom which collapsed alongside many others of its time all over the world.
Never invade Russia? Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth kinda managed to do that, but Zygmunt III Waza refused to let his son Władysław change religion from Catholic to Orthodox, which was a must for his son to become a tsar. (Zygmunt III Waza could create an alliance with Sweden in a personal union, but he was dethroned, because he was Catholic and Sweden - protestant).
Władysław? baby don't hurt me~
Czitus The Zep Oh yes, I would love to see the Polish-Muscovite war (1605-1618) covered by Extra Credits. Preferably from the perspective of hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski, Polish commander who was against this war in the first place, but kept doing his job the best he could.
Seriously, the guy absolutely smashed overwhelmingly stronger Russian and Swedish forces at Klushino in 1610, conquered Moscow (sending the freaking Tsar as a trophy back to Poland), and then sat with the Russian boyars like "Hey guys! I never wanted to fight and occupy you. Can we find some solution, that will bring lasting pace?".
Only to wach his plan of compromise falling apart, due to Polish king being a moron.
Still Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth temporary regained much of the territories lost by Grand Duchy of Lithuania to Moscow during previous century, so this war was a limited Polish-Lithuanian success in the end.
Ofcourse there is also this whole insane story of how this war started, with some rogue Polish noblemen acting on their own in support of false pretenders to the Russian throne.
I see what you did there :p
Leo Gille XDDDD
There are basically TWO instances of 'don't invade Russia' (Napoleon and Hitler).
There about 200 instances of 'by all means but please be gentle'.
I think the Sea Peoples could have been the Nuragic civilization from modern day Sardinia.
Why they invade? When they can trade sardines or mackerel for wealth?
Should have loaded a save back when everything was plentiful and planned for the long term.
Bro they were noobs and never saved.
1:25
I can't help but wonder what word was used for souls in that original document. Given that hearths are mentioned separately it weren't Jb. My best guess would be Ba as the very fact that they were recorded preserved their Ren.
Hey; Thanks, Extra Credits, for pointing me in a few right directions for some research.
Now all I have to do is learn all about Bronze Age Anatolia during the time that the Middle Helladic was declining Greece.
Yeay, History! :D
The sea people are the White Walkers
Y Me
very few cultures welcome refugees, even fewer where the economy is based on subsistance agriculture
'hey refugee, sell me your kids for this half a rotten dog' some welcome that was.
The sea people Ramses III is talking about, are the Phoenicians (the world for sea-people is literally, "Phoenicians"). Note that this is the Ramses III almost 700 years AFTER the Bronze Age Collapse of the Middle Kingdom.
jo1italianstyle no they were the greyjoys
Or it was the khaleesi
Bloody hipster Vikings...
Technically they are Vikings because the word simply means "raider".
Of course not, they're hipsters!
Always showing up a fortenight late with a Starbucks Barrel! Oi!
raiding civilizations before it was cool
Bloody punk rockers
FYI about the Russia comment a lot of people have invaded Russia and won. Eg the Polish-Muscovite war, WW1 Germany, and the Mongols to name a few and all won winter campaigns. It's only because an French megalomaniac and Nazi Cosplaying as him failed so bad that we have this myth. By the Way the Nazis began on June 22 and Napoleon on July 24th in the middle of summer.
By the Way this show is something I really look forward to every week this is just a miner note.
This is probably my favourite Extra History so far, I love the sense of mystery and the questions it raises. Kind of worrying too. As they say; those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it...
The kiln of 0:33 is now thought to be an overturned basket that burned in the rebellion - the tablet wasn't fired for transport.