Bronze age Collapse

Around −1200, much of the eastern Mediterranean entered a period of severe political and economic collapse. Major cities were destroyed or abandoned, long-distance trade networks broke down, the Hittite Empire disappeared, and Egypt faced repeated invasions and internal decline. In Canaan, the weakening of the old Bronze Age city-state system helped create the conditions for the emergence of new Iron Age peoples and kingdoms, including Israel, the Philistines, Aram, Moab, and Edom.