The Bronze Age Collapse

Mycenaeans were headquartered on the mainland, 200 miles northwest of Crete. Their script came from Minoan Crete's, suggesting a shared linguistic heritage. Mycenaean palace culture peaked in the 1200s and by the end of this century, the entire ancient Near East was rocked by an event historians call the Bronze Age Collapse. By the 1080s, the Assyrian king was reporting widespread cannibalism. And as Assyria reached its weakest point, Amorite speakers flooded into Mesopotamia.