The New York State Archaeological Association Finger Lakes Chapter October meeting.
Please join the members and friends of the Finger Lakes Chapter of the New York State Archaeological Association (NYSAA) for an exciting lecture by Karel Van Lerberghe on Tuesday, October 5 at 7:30 pm in CNS 208.
NYSAA meetings are held the first Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm in CNS208, the Ithaca College Performance-based Physics Teaching Laboratory. All people with an interest in archaeology are welcome!
Title:
Chaos, Drought and Famine and the Invasion of Foreigners at the end of the Late Bronze Age: The Collapse of the Great Empires and the Beginning of the 'Dark Ages' in the Near East (ca 1200 BCE)
During the Late Bronze Age the Eastern Mediterranean was at the center of the most advanced civilizations of the world. The Egyptian, Babylonian and Hittite empires extended over a vast area. The decline and collapse of these civilizations happened suddenly around 1200 BCE. Research by the University of Leuven at the site of Gibala (Syria), the southernmost harbor of the Ugaritic empire, combining data from palynology, geology, archeology and history, shows that these events may be linked to climate-induced environmental changes. Such natural disasters, periods of droughts and famine, happened more often in the Near East. They may have been at the basis of the decline of Hammurabi's empire many centuries earlier. Under his son, Samsuiluna, the entire South of Iraq was abandoned, including the religious capital Nippur and people resettled in the North of Babylonia. What happened with this religious capital is described in detail in the cuneiform tablets housed at Cornell University.
Karel Van Lerberghe is a professor at the University of Leuven (Belgium) and a specialist in Near Eastern archaeology, the study of cuneiform tablets, and ancient episodes of climate change.
Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Scott Stull, by email at sstull@ithaca.edu or by phone at 274-1383. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.
