Eric H. Cline
Archaeologist; author of 1177 B.C.
- Position
- Professor of Classics and Anthropology, George Washington University
- Field
- Bronze Age Mediterranean archaeology
- Books
- 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (2014, rev. 2021); After 1177 B.C. (2024)
- Excavations
- Megiddo; Tel Kabri, Israel
The George Washington University archaeologist whose book 1177 B.C. made the Late Bronze Age collapse a popular topic.
What is Eric H. Cline known for?
Eric H. Cline is an American archaeologist and ancient historian, professor of Classics and Anthropology at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and director of its Capitol Archaeological Institute. He has taken part in more than 30 seasons of fieldwork, including ten at Megiddo (biblical Armageddon) and the excavations at Tel Kabri in Israel, where his team found what they describe as the Near East's oldest wine cellar.
His book 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (2014, revised 2021) made the end of the Late Bronze Age widely known. He argues that the collapse of the linked Egyptian, Hittite, Mycenaean, Cypriot and Levantine world around 1200 to 1150 BCE was not caused by one event, such as the Sea Peoples, but by a 'perfect storm' of drought, earthquakes, famine, migration, rebellion and broken trade, each worsening the others. A sequel, After 1177 B.C., looks at how societies survived.
His book 1177 B.C. is cited as the work that made the Bronze Age collapse debate widely known.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holeBronze Age collapse
Sources
- Wikipedia, 'Eric H. Cline'Reference
- George Washington University, Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, 'Eric H. Cline'Reference
- Archaeological Institute of America, 'Eric Cline' (lecturer profile)Reference
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