By 1300 BCE the eastern Mediterranean was one system: tin from one end, copper from the other, grain, glass, amber and royal daughters moving between kings who called each other “brother.” Between about 1200 and 1150 BCE most of it broke. Load the stresses historians actually argue about, decide how tightly coupled the network is, and run the century — then try to bring the system down with any single cause on its own.
Load the stresses
high
Nothing has happened yetSwitch on one stress and run the century. Then add a second.
What actually survived the wreckage
The palaces monopolised writing, metal and long-distance trade. When they fell, the things that were cheap and portable spread instead. Tap one to follow where it went.
The eastern Mediterranean system
intactstraineddestroyed
0
centres destroyed
0
strained
0
trade links dead
The Uluburun ship went down off Turkey around 1320 BCE carrying ten tonnes of Cypriot copper, a tonne of tin, Canaanite jars, Baltic amber, African ebony and ostrich eggshells. That single wreck is the system in one hull.