Book Review - After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations by Eric H. Cline
Book Review - After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations by Eric H. Cline
Review
Author: Petros Koutoupis
The period immediately following the Late Bronze Age Collapse is often believed to have been a time of turmoil. A complete systems collapse where entire civilizations were erased from the global map. The Mycenaean Greeks, gone. Same thing goes for the Hittites and Ugarit. Egypt was weakened to the point where it would never retain its former glory. Trade routes were believed to have been completely severed to and from the Aegean. This period in history has been coined a Dark Age but was it truly a Dark Age or is that just a modern invention?
But all wasn’t as dark as it seemed. In fact, it was the exact opposite. This was a time of rebirth. A time where new nations were born: from the ashes of Mycenaean Greece came the Greeks; in Anatolia, Neo-Hittite states arose; further East, Neo-Assyria campaigned Westward; in the land of Canaan, we have the Phoenicians, Philistines, Israelites, and more. It was a time that marked new beginnings.
In his latest publication, After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations, Dr. Eric H. Cline gathers the latest research and studies of the ancient Eastern Mediterranean to showcase that the very Early Iron Age was not the step back into a more primitive period as early scholars have proposed.
Dr. Cline is an author, historian, archaeologist, and professor of history and archaeology at The George Washington University in Washington D.C., while also holding many other prestigious and related titles.
After 1177 B.C. is his official sequel to 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed. And much like its predecessor, Cline not only relies on the archaeological data but also looks to other disciplines which include geological and climate changes impacting local regions and pushing societies to the point of either adapting or disappearing. It is a story of both survival and resiliency.
One thing that truly stands out with this book is that it adopts a writing style that is both easy to follow and in turn, makes for a good story to tell. Cline writes for a general audience and provides just enough data to support his narrative. The research is all there and very well done but the reader is not consumed by it while reading through the pages. All sources are cited and for those who wish to go on the same journey that Cline did are able to do so by following his citations.
Coming back to the writing style, unlike 1177 B.C. which follows a chronological outline, Dr. Eric Cline takes a slightly different approach by focusing on the nations themselves. In doing so, he limits or reduces the potential for confusion but continues to draw connections between these nations when and where necessary. I felt that this was a smart move on his part and it made his telling of the Iron Age, all the way to 776 BCE (the founding year of the ancient Olympic Games in Greece), read fluidly.
This was a perfect sequel to the first. If you enjoyed the first publication in the series, then you will definitely enjoy After 1177 B.C. I recommend it to anyone interested in early Iron Age history of the Eastern Mediterranean.
You can purchase a copy of After 1177 B.C. on Amazon.
