ABSTRACT

Around 1200 bc the entire Near East was faced with a drastic political and social upheaval. The concert of powers and their satellite states were overthrown. The Hittite empire disappeared, though a few Neo-Hittite city states arose in northern Syria and southern Asia Minor. Empires come and go throughout history, but a disruption involving so many states all at the same time is surprising. Assyria and Babylonia were confronted with invasions of Aramaic and Chaldean tribes from the steppes and deserts between Palestine and Mesopotamia, which they had great difficulty repelling. The twelfth century is a great turning point in history in another respect, too: it marks the beginning of the Iron Age. Iron had been known throughout the entire second millennium, in particular in Asia Minor, but the products that were made from this metal, such as knives, were then considered luxury goods.