New Delhi: The Hittite Empire in central Anatolia became one of the major powers of the Bronze Age before its capital, Hattusa, was abandoned by its rulers around 1200 BCE – ultimately leading to the collapse of the empire. And as it turns out, juniper wood at archeological sites has responded to this mysterious degeneration for over 3,200 years.
in one study published Wednesday in the Journal Nature, researchers found that a series of droughts around 1198 and 1196 BCE may have brought down the empire. The research shows how extreme climate change can push populations beyond their adaptive limits and age-old resilience practices.
The Hittite Empire, centered in semi-arid central Anatolia in present-day Turkey, is recognized as one of the major powers of the eastern Mediterranean and Near East, flourishing between 1650 and 1200 BCE.
According to the study, the kingdom had long proved itself resilient against regular social, political, economic and even environmental challenges such as the threat of drought. However, around or shortly after 1200 BCE, the empire collapsed. This occurred at roughly the same time as the collapse of several other major civilizations, known as the Bronze Age collapse.
The end of the settlement at Hattusa has been a major subject of historical inquiry. For a long time it was believed that the fall of the city was due to a military attack. However, archaeological investigations now indicate that the city was abandoned and evacuated by the imperial administration and was only later burnt down.
The team of archaeologists – including researchers from Cornell University in the United States and the Cyprus Institute in Eglandzia, Cyprus – studied tree rings of contemporary juniper trees in central Anatolia to assess the role of drought in the fall of the Hittite Empire.
Measurements of moisture content from tree rings helped researchers identify an unusually severe, continuous dry period that occurred between 1198 and 1196 BCE.
According to the team, this severe drought led to a prolonged food shortage. The landlocked areas of the core Hittite region depended on regional grain production and animal farming, which are particularly vulnerable to drought.
The study states that these deficiencies could have led to political, economic and social unrest as well as disease outbreaks and eventually led to the collapse of the empire.
Although a 300-year change in dry, cool climate around this period has been associated with the decline of many ancient civilizations in the eastern Mediterranean and Near-East, precise details of the link between climate change and events in human history are lacking. clean.
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drought is not the only reason
For Anatolia, dry years and droughts were a regular feature, and even pairs of dry years occurred at least once in a generation. However, large droughts leading to severe crop failure in consecutive years were very rare, perhaps only once or at most twice a century, the study observed.
Evidence collected by the researchers suggests that a major drought and crop loss in central Anatolia for three consecutive years between 1198 and 1196 BC may have challenged the empire’s existing adaptation and resilience strategies.
This drought event contributed to, but was not the sole cause of, the decline of the empire.
The researchers claimed that climate change, population movements, reconfiguration of trade and political fragmentation played a role in the changes that occurred in the Old World around 1200 BC. The vulnerability of established human systems to unexpected and frequent multi-year extreme events can break down and overwhelm established adaptation and resilience.
These extremes can affect human coping mechanisms and apply both historically and today in the face of current climate change, he said.
In a related comment, Muge Durusu-Tanriovar, a researcher at Temple University in the US who was not part of the study, said the study proves the presence of a major climate event, while also identifying its exact dates. Which was not possible before.
“[The]study is groundbreaking because it finally gives us a solid clue as to why Hattusa was abandoned. Future research may reveal whether the extreme climatic event of 1198-1196 BC was confined to central Anatolia.” was or was a major eastern Mediterranean event that may provide insights beyond the case of the Hittites,” Durusu-Tanriovar said.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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