Ancient World

Greek Dark Ages

The Greek Dark Ages (c. 1180–800 BC) was a period in Ancient Greece that was characterized by the collapse of Mycenaean civilization, where the palaces and cities of the Mycenaeans were either destroyed, abandoned, or both. This period was part of the Late Bronze Age collapse, which affected much of the Eastern Mediterranean. At around the same time, the Hittite civilization in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) also suffered serious disruption and collapse, with cities such as Troy being destroyed. Moreover, in Egypt, the New Kingdom fell into disarray, leading to the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt. Following this mass destruction, there were fewer, smaller settlements, which suggests widespread famine and depopulation. On the Greek mainland, the Linear B script, used by Mycenaean bureaucrats to write the Greek language, ceased to be used. The later Greek alphabet did not develop until hundreds of years later, in the beginning of the Protohistoric Iron Age, c. 800 BC.

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• ▸Baqirha
• ▸Court uniform and dress in the United Kingdom
• ▸Archaeology

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