Climate Context

Lake bottom Core sample data from the Sea of Galilee showing the droughts
Lake bottom Core sample data from the Sea of Galilee. In historical times it shows two major droughts. The 50 year long Great Drought of 1180 to 1140 BCE (Iron Age 1 period) which ended the Bronze Age (called the "Late Bronze Climate Crisis" in the chart) and the 10-year long Elijah drought of 850 BCE. The yellow gives the tree pollen level while the green gives the non-tree pollen level. Minor droughts are indicated anytime the curves turn downward. (Langut and Finkelsein 2013)

Droughts Defined the Archaeological Periods in the Levant

(August 9, 2022) Like most regions of the earth, correlating the archaeology of the southern levant with carbon 14 dating and absolute dating has been undergoing some debate. The best correlation with linguistics is the chronology proposed by Amihai Mazar in 2014. This chronology is reproduced below: 

References

Langut, D. Finkelsein, I, Litt, T. (2013) Climate and the Late Bronze Collapse: New Evidence from the Levant. Tel Aviv 40:149-175. Online at https://www.academia.edu/6053886/Climate_and_the_Late_Bronze_Collapse_New_Evidence_from_the_Southern_Levant
Mazar, Amihai (2005) The Debate over the Chronology of the Iron Age in the Southern Levant: its History, the Current Situation and a Suggested Resolution. pp. 15-30 in: T. Levy and T. Higham (editors), The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating - Archaeology, Text and Science. London. Online at: https://www.academia.edu/2632501/The_Debate_over_the_Chronology_of_the_Iron_Age_in_the_Southern_Levant_its_History_the_Current_Situation_and_a_Suggested_Resolution_2005
This tree ring sample from a slow growing drought resistant juniper tree from Anatolia shows the years 1198 to 1196 BCE were the most extreme drought years in a 50 year dry period. The Hittite Empire is postulated to have collapsed near the end of these three years with the voluntary abandonment of its capital and major cities. (Nutt, Feb 2023)

Tree Ring Data Where Available Provides Higher Climate Resolution

The juniper trees found in the tomb were  Juniperus  excelsa and Juniperus foetidissima.


References

Manning, S.W., Kocik, C., Lorentzen, B. et al. (2023) Severe multi-year drought coincident with Hittite collapse around 1198–1196 bc. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05693-y

Nutt, David (Feb 8, 2023) Rare drought coincided with Hittite Empire collapse. Online at: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/02/rare-drought-coincided-hittite-empire-collapse

Severe droughts seem to occur at a rate of 3 per every 100 years yet only multi-year droughts over a wide area lead to social instability due to lack of food. Three instances of the driest 6.25% of years occurring consecutively in Anatolia exist. Only the Bronze Age Collapse drought covered enough territory to be history changing. This data was assembled from tree rings and isotope ratios within those wood samples. (Manning and all, 2023)

  1. 1494–1492 BCE 
  2. 1198–1196 BCE (Bronze Age Collapse shown with gray bar)
  3. 871–869 BCE

Midas Mound at Gordion, Turkey

Midas Mound at Gordion is a human-made 53-meter-tall structure located west of Ankara, Turkey. The mound contains a wooden structure believed to be a burial chamber for a relative of King Midas, possibly his father.  (Nutt, Feb 2023)

Wood Source Inside Midas Mound

Wooden structure inside Midas Mound and source of the Juniper tree ring data.  (Nutt, Feb 2023)