Discoveries

March 02, 2023

Lessons To Learn

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Thousands of years ago, the Hittite civilization was one of the ancient world’s superpowers.

The Late Bronze Age empire spanned from modern-day Turkey to parts of Syria and Iraq, with historians noting that it was ancient Egypt’s main geopolitical rival before it fell into decline after five centuries of dominance.

Now, a new study suggests that it wasn’t wars that brought this mighty empire down but a climate crisis, Sky News reported.

To arrive at this conclusion, scientists analyzed juniper trees alive at the time, focusing on the tree rings which show the plants’ age and the weather they experienced during their lifetimes.

The results showed three straight years of severe drought: In 1198, 1197 and 1196 BCE, all of which coincided with the period of the empire’s collapse.

Researchers explained that the droughts led to “near-crop failure for three consecutive years.” They noted that even though the Hittites would have had food stores, they would have only been able to survive for a year.

“This would have led to a collapse of the tax base, mass desertion of the large Hittite military and likely a mass movement of people seeking survival,” added co-author Brita Lorentzen.

But while the Hittites had none of our modern infrastructure and technology, the authors warned that the empire’s fate could provide a lesson for today’s climate crisis.

“The climate changes that are likely to occur for us in the next century will be much more severe than those the Hittites experienced,” said Jed Sparks, a co-author. “And it begs the questions: What is our resilience? How much can we withstand?”

This story originally appeared in the March 02, 2023 newsletter, A Dragon in the Shadows.