Join the Department of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies for a lecture by Professor Eric Cline (George Washington University), bestselling author of 1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed.

Professor Cline's lecture will be on the sequel to that book, which will be available for purchase (along with an author signing) after the event. A talk abstract is available below.

After the lecture, the event will continue with a catered reception at the Marriott Foundation Building. Attendance at the reception is by registration only via this form.

CAMS gratefully acknowledges the funding and co-sponsorship of the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts; the Department of History; the Department of Anthropology; the Jewish Studies program; and the Central Pennsylvania chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America.

Talk abstract:

For more than three hundred years during the Late Bronze Age, from about 1500 BC to 1200 BC, the Mediterranean region played host to a complex international world in which Egyptians, Mycenaeans, Minoans, Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Cypriots, and Canaanites all interacted, creating a cosmopolitan and globalized world-system such as has only rarely been seen before the current day. However, when the end came, the internation network collapsed rapidly, within just a few decades. The centuries following the Late Bronze Age Collapse in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean were a time of catastrophe, but they were also a time of rebirth and resilience. While there are examples of failure to thrive or even to survive in some cases, others managed to adapt and transform. In effect, we have eight case studies of what to do (and what not to do) in the event of a systems collapse, ranging from the Assyrians to the Egyptians to the Mycenaeans and others in between. We will also consider whether there are any relevant lessons to be learned from this dramatic story of resurgence and revival, especially considering what is going on in our world today.