India from 1800-500BC: Part Two

"Friends, which of these two kings has greater wealth, greater possessions, the greater treasury, the larger realm, the greater stock of riding animals, the greater army, greater power, greater might: King Seniya Bimbisara of Magadha or King Pasenadi of Kosala?" And this discussion came to no conclusion.
Khudakka Nikaya, Udana, Raja Sutta (translated from Pali by Thanissaro Bhikku)

This is the second post on the Vedic Era. Click here for the first post on the Vedas and the early tribal groupings.

Map of India in 600BC showing kingdoms.

The early periods of many tribes and peoples (often associated with the Early Painted Grey Ware culture in archaeology) gave way to the era of the great kingdoms (associated with the Northern Black Polished Ware pottery by archaeologists, who have a knack for finding descriptive but boring names for eras). These kingdoms were known as the Mahajanapadas; around twelve to sixteen great kingdoms (“Maha” in Sanskrit literally means “great”). They were roughly contemporary with the Assyrian Empire and later with the Persian Empire in Mesopotamia and Iran and also with the Zhou Dynasty through its gradual decline into the Warring States. Either as a result of the Battle of the Ten Kings or because of subsequent developments the Purus and the Bharata tribes merged to become the Kuru state; the first of the Great Kingdoms and the battle itself shows that tribal amalgamations were already taking place (9 kings fought under one ruler against the Trtsu). These great amalgamations into the kingdoms may have influenced the writing of the great Indian epic called the Mahabharata.

By the time of the kingdoms emerging fully the Vedas were effectively compiled and our sources for the period come from Buddhist and Jain texts written around 450-100BC. The Sanskrit language was now becoming ancient and only survived among the intellectuals. The common language was one that resembled a now dead language called Pali or less frequently, Magadhi. In practice, while they are treated as different languages Sanskrit and Pali are so closely related that Pali can be thought of as an extension of Sanskrit. The most powerful of the great kingdoms was Magadha and its capital, Pataliputra would be the centre of empires for centuries to come.

But of their cities it is said that the number is so great that it cannot be stated with precision, but that such cities as are situated on the banks of rivers or on the sea-coast are built of wood instead of brick, being meant to last only for a time, so destructive are the heavy rains which pour down, and the rivers also when they overflow their banks and inundate the plains, while those cities which stand on commanding situations and lofty eminences are built of brick and mud; that the greatest city in India is that which is called Palimbothra (Pataliputra)…
Arrian, Indika 10 (probably based on Megasthenes account of India from the 300’s BC)

Black Polished Ware: a pottery type typical of the period

Some of these states might not have strictly been kingdoms. Buddhist texts and later Greek evidence seem to suggest that some of the states may have been ruled by councils of elder statesmen. The evidence is thin but some historians have gone so far as to posit that these states were the earliest republics. Without any knowledge of the constitution of these states this seems to assume a great deal but it is likely that there were aristocracies that ruled some of the states. This would parallel developments in Greece around 800BC onwards.

By about 1000 AD the Vedas were substantially complete but further scriptures were compiled, including poetic compositions known as the Upanishads and the Puranas that functioned as commentaries and extensions to the Vedas. While these writings are vast and hard to sum up in a few words, they appear to be less concerned with the Vedic rituals and incantations of the RigVeda and the AtharvaVeda and more to do with the underlying conceptions of divinity and the Universe.  These texts are part of the great cultural heritage of humanity but they do not generally contain many useful historical references for the period. Their main use for history is to inform us that many thinkers in this age were considering philosophical and religious concepts and that many of these thinkers found the existing religious concepts to be inadequate in their own right. Again, it should be noted as well that these texts are linguistically very ancient, but that they were not written down until substantially later, as at this point there is no clear evidence of writing in India. The Indus Valley Script had died out and it would only be around 300 BC that there is evidence of the newer Kharosthi and Brahmi scripts (although both Kharosthi and Brahmi are almost certainly older than this).

Now, there are of a truth three worlds—the world of men, the world of the fathers, and the world of the gods. This world of men is to be obtained by a son only, by no other means; the world of the fathers, by sacrifice; the world of the gods, by knowledge. The world of the gods is verily the best of worlds. Therefore they praise knowledge.
Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad

Indus Valley Civilization pottery showing elephant

The class system of the great kingdoms was solidifying around 1000-500BC and warfare appears to have become purely the domain of the military classes. This meant that other sections of society could be relatively unaffected by wars but also meant increasing specialisation. The chariots of the earlier Vedic era were refined and the quality of the iron weapons increased, much as was the case in China at that period. The elephant was also trained for war. Elephants had been captured since the era of the Indus Valley Civilization but there are no depictions of elephant riders from that time. Elephant warfare was perfected in India during this period. The specialisation of warfare may also have led to developments in religion, as there was now a powerful class that was nevertheless fairly unoccupied during times of peace and was able to cultivate intellectual ideas.

This concern from the warrior class led to reformers who wished to restructure the Vedic practices. Many schools of thought sprang up and there was an intellectual ferment the likes of which has seldom been seen. The two ideas that have most influenced the world from this period are Jainism and Buddhism, associated with the figures of Mahavira and Gautama Buddha respectively. Both lived in or around the 550-450 BC and renounced their upper-class warrior/ruler status to wander the kingdoms of northern India, learning from the various religious and philosophical schools before forming their own ideas, achieving enlightenment and founding their own schools. The two religions are different but there are similarities. Both preach the importance of non-violence and both reject the Vedas as scripture. However, the overall world view of the Vedas and their interpretative texts is pre-supposed by many of their teachings. While both schools were immediately very popular, neither of them were universally acknowledged within India or definitely known of outside of India until later.

This has been only the most cursory of overviews of one of the most tantalising and important periods of human history. We know so little of what we would wish to understand but the nature of the source materials makes a full knowledge of this time impossible. The ideas formed in this time and place changed the world irrevocably. The summary is that by the year 500BC there were major kingdoms in India, with an ancient religion that had its roots at least a thousand years previous but that was being added to and challenged by new intellectual ideas; that there was as yet no writing system for these ideas to be written but that there was a strong oral tradition that supplemented this lack and that the kingdoms had created a durable social system with a strong warrior class that would compare favourably with outside forces. Between the Indus Valley Period and 500BC there is no clear outside mention of India. From 500BC peoples beyond the Himalayas and the Spin Gar mountains begin to feature in Indian history. But that is a matter for another day. If you have the time there are few better ways to improve one’s mind than to study the history of India and this period in particular.

Related Blogs:
Blog on the Indus Valley Civilisation

India from 1800-500BC: Part One

“Indra, bring wealth that gives delight, the victor's ever-conquering wealth,
Most excellent, to be our aid;
By means of which we may repel our foes in battle hand to hand,
By thee assisted with the car.
Aided by thee, the thunder-armed, Indra, may we lift up the bolt,
And conquer all our foes in fight.
With thee, O India, for ally with missile-darting heroes, may
We conquer our embattled foes.
Mighty is Indra, yea supreme; greatness be his, the Thunderer:
Wide as the heaven extends his power”
Rigveda 1. 8

Page from the Atharvaveda

The Indus Valley Civilization went into a decline and gradually disappeared around 1800BC. The reasons for this are unclear as there are no sources or clear indications from archaeology but climate change has been put forward as a possible cause, in this case operating by affecting the water supply. The cities of the Indus were complex entities and if their agricultural surpluses were damaged the fragile social order may have gradually developed into simpler more durable forms that were better able to survive as small village communities. These communities would leave little traces to the spade of the archaeologist.

The next phase of Indian history shows a different face. Here there are texts, but they are difficult to use as explicit history, as they were only committed to writing a millennium or two after their composition. The tribes that occupied northern India left their sacred hymns and ritual texts. The holy nature of these verses and the oral tradition meant that they were not put to writing even after writing had been long established but they are good sources nonetheless. Linguistic analysis has shown that they preserve very ancient forms of the Sanskrit language; forms that are datable using linguistic analysis to at least the mid-2nd millennia BC. Whatever the language of the Indus Valley Civilization may have been, it is unquestionable that these hymns are composed in Sanskrit, an Indo-European language. It is not necessary to postulate an invasion per se, or even a population shift, but a cultural diffusion of language and social norms between the Iranian Plateau/Central Asia and northern India is very likely. These ancient hymns are known as the Vedas.

There are four groups of them: The Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda. The Rigveda is the oldest, but the others are by any standards extremely ancient. They tell of the ritual practices and world views of the priests of these tribes. Social organisation involved a king (raja) who ruled with the assistance of warriors and priests. Conflicts were not uncommon with other tribes and tribal divisions and social groupings were by no means fixed. The warriors had horses and chariots and fought with iron weapons. There was a pantheon of gods, with Indra as one of the chief gods. Other gods were very significant as well: Soma (god of water/the sacred drink of the priests), Agni (god of fire/messenger), Varuna (heaven), Yama (god of justice/death). While other gods may have been integral to the Vedic society, these are the ones that are often mentioned in the hymns of sacrifice, which are the main sources for the period. The Vedic Period is generally referred to as being between 1500-500BC although these dates are porous. Also, the people mentioned in the Vedas also include the peoples of what is currently Afghanistan so the mountains separating the regions do not appear to have hindered communication. However, the Vedas do not appear to have referred explicitly to any areas in the southern regions of India.

Lord of the clans, giver of bliss, fiend-slayer, mighty o'er the foe,
May Indra, Soma-drinker, go before us, Bull, who brings us peace.
Indra, subdue our enemies, lay low the men who fight with us:
Down into nether darkness send the man who shows us enmity:
Strike down the fiend, strike down the foes, break thou asunder Vritra's jaws.
O Indra, Vritra-slayer, quell the wrath of the assailing foe.
Turn thou the foeman's thought away, his dart who fain would conquer us:
Grant us thy great protection; keep his deadly weapon far away.
Atharvaveda, Hymn 21

Grey Painted Ware: A pottery type typical of the period

It should be noted that the term Vedic is sometimes used in conjunction with mathematics and medicine. The Vedas do not explicitly deal with either of these subjects directly and these names are generally the result of later writers projecting their ideas back to the time of the Vedas. While Indian mathematics made demonstrable leaps forward in the period of the Mahajanapadas and into the Mauryan era these ideas should not be assumed to have been present in the Vedas.

Tribal groupings are difficult to discern as some of the peoples named in the Vedas may not actually be the names of people groups but merely descriptive titles given to “types” of peoples. A good example of this phenomena is in Wales. The word “Welsh” was not originally the name of a people group but was merely the Saxon word for “foreigner” or “stranger”. The Angles and Saxons used these terms to distinguish themselves from the other peoples of the land. In the same manner, tribe names in the Vedas may simply be convenient blanket descriptions of other tribes or peoples without necessarily referring to a specific tribe.

A votive offering of a model chariot from the Oxus river c.500BC
Similar chariots were used in India around this period.

The early composers of the Vedas may have been semi-nomadic but from 1000 BC onwards there is increasing complexity in the tribes. Some of the hymns in the seventh book of the Rigveda mention a battle called the Battle of the Ten Kings, fought between the Purus and the Trtsu or Bharata peoples. The hymns are the only recollection of the battle but the description implies that the tribes were forming large confederations, that they had significant fortresses (presumably implying that they were mainly settled at that point) and that the lesser tribes and kingdoms were being amalgamated into larger entitities.

Fools, in their folly fain to waste her waters, they parted inexhaustible Parusni.
Lord of the Earth, he with his might repressed them: still lay the herd and the affrighted herdsman.
As to their goal they sped to their destruction: they sought Parusni, the swift returned not.
Indra abandoned, to Sudas the manly, the swiftly flying foes, unmanly babblers.
They went like kine unherded from the pasture, each clinging to a friend as chance directed.
...
The King who scattered one-and-twenty people of both Vaikarna tribes through lust of glory-
As the skilled priest clips grass within the chamber, so hath the Hero Indra, wrought their downfall.
Thou, thunder-armed, overwhelmed in the waters famed ancient Kavasa and then the Druhyu.
Others here claiming friendship to their friendship, devoted unto thee, in thee were joyful.
Indra at once with conquering might demolished all their strong places and their seven castles.
The goods of Anu's son he gave to Trtsu. May we in sacrifice conquer scorned Puru.
Rigveda 7. 18

Translations of the Rigveda from the online translations of Ralph T.H. Griffith.

End of Part One. Click here for Part Two of this post.

Related Blogs:
Blog on the Indus Valley Civilisation

Livius

Cushite Relief

It can be difficult to find good resources for history online. There is a lot of misinformation and history is such a large subject that no site is ever fully exhaustive enough to satisfy all questions. Livius.org is a superb site that gives an in-depth treatment of many aspects of the ancient world (focusing mainly on the Classical Era but with much beyond it). They are in the process of updating their site so if you're interested, do knock over and check them out.

Livius.org

Enjoy!

Antiquities in Syria

Remains of a ziggurat in Syria (Mari c. 2000 BC)

I recently came across an article talking about the looting of antiquities in Syria. While this may seem like a minor issue compared to the scale of suffering that the conflict in causing in the region, it is still a serious issue.

Syria has been both the heartland and the cross roads of empires for thousands of years and contains priceless artefacts and historical sites. The cities of Mari and Ebla were already ancient by the time of Hammurabi, the famous Babylonian lawgiver. The city of Ugarit was one of the most powerful of the Bronze Age. Damascus has been one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in the world. Antioch was the main capital of the Seleucid Dynasty of Alexander's successors and was where the word "Christian" was coined. After its time as a wealthy Roman and Byzantine province Syria briefly served as the capital of the Islamic Caliphate before seeing the Seljuk, Crusader and Mamluk kingdoms until its ultimate incorporation into the Ottoman Empire until 1918.

The tells, cities, fortifications and castles of all these ancient cultures remain in Syria and, more importantly, the buried records, both written and archaeological, are crucial to the history of mankind. The looting that is occurring due to the conflict puts all of this at risk. Even if an artefact is not destroyed, the un-scientific removal of the piece from its context destroys the context of the artefact and forever diminishes its worth to history (Indiana Jones is a terrible archaeologist).

A piece of pottery will never have the value of a human life, but the wanton destruction.of knowledge hurts us all nevertheless. I thought that it was worth raising awareness of this.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/1214/492855-syria-unesco/

Vae Victis

Modern Depiction of Brennus

In the year 390 BC the Republic of Rome was about to be destroyed. Their armies had been utterly defeated at Allia by the Gauls, who had risen against them from the north. The city was defenceless and the tribunes, rulers and the people of Rome sought shelter on the highest of the seven hills while the Gauls slaughtered those who remained in the Senate House. The defeated Romans eventually tried to buy off the victorious Gauls with gold. An agreement was reached and the Romans agreed to pay a certain weight of gold in return for their lives. When they came down to meet the Gauls they found that the weights that the Gauls were using to measure were fixed. According to the tale, when the Romans complained that this was unfair one of the Gallic leaders unbuckled his sword and tossed it onto the scales in an ominous gesture whilst allegedly crying “Vae Victis!”, which means, “Woe to the vanquished!”

History is written by the victors. It is one of the few truisms about history that everyone knows. The story of the Gallic leader, Brennus, and his sword is just one of the many examples of this. Throughout history most civilisations and empires that ever existed have been destroyed and all that remain are paltry fragments of writings, occasional footnotes in the writings of other civilisations and the names of the vanquished. Who knows how many have left nothing at all behind them?

And yet I feel that the truism, while containing truth, is not complete. The only historical truism that I have found reliable in every instance is that history is never simple. It is instructive to look at the records of the ancient world. The one book from the Middle Eastern early Iron Age that most people have in their homes is the Bible (well, the early Old Testament sections anyway). Yet this record was not written by the victors by any means. The kingdoms of Judah and Israel were never that strong militarily and much of their historical works were composed after they had lost their independence entirely. If one had to pick a word to describe the Jewish people throughout history, “victors” would probably not be the first one that comes to mind. Yet their records remain after the empires that destroyed their cities have faded from memory.

Many of the most iconic Greek historians wrote after their cities had lost their independence to Rome (Plutarch, Polybius, Arrian etc.) The phenomenon is not confined to the Classical era or Europe. The Mongols under Genghis Khan conquered northern China in a particularly brutal fashion but all but one of the best sources of the conflict are composed in Han Chinese and from a Han Chinese perspective. Even in recent times, with all the censorship abilities available to European imperialists, I suspect that Achebe’s Things Fall Apart will prove a more durable cultural artefact than the records of the British administrators and explorers who conquered the area described in Achebe’s work.

So why does the truism fail in these instances when we can see that there is some truth to it. What made these examples different? I think the first and best answer is that certain cultures may be conquered and yet remain culturally distinct because the conquerors may be militarily stronger, but may not have the wealth of knowledge to fully document their victories. The business of documentation is therefore left to their better educated subjects who can then write history as it suits them (as long as it does not blatantly insult the new rulers). Instead of “Vae victis” we should perhaps remember the line from Horace “Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit…” (Captive Greece took captive her wild conqueror). To write history it is better to be culturally dominant than militarily dominant.

The other reason is that the victors do not stay victors for long. Of all the empires that have risen in the past only a tiny fraction remain. So what one empire may try to suppress or distort may be resurrected by their successors. It is perhaps most notable for this, that the Gaul Brennus’ militaristic threat to the Roman state was doubtless spoken in some form of Celtic but is only recorded in Latin, by a Roman. Vae victis indeed.

Roman Forum today

History at risk

Ancient University in Timbuktu

I must apologise for the infrequency of my blog posts of late. Things have been very busy and it may be some time before I can resume writing about the ancient world as normal. I would however like to write a brief blog post highlighting a particular threat facing one of the world's largest repositories of ancient knowledge.

The Malian city of Timbuktu (or Tombouctou depending on your spelling preferences) is an ancient city that flourished as the seat of empires in the Middle Ages and after. It was a centre of trade and learning and tens of thousands of excellently preserved manuscripts remain in the libraries of the city. The writings range over a variety of topics and are an incomparable resource, not just for untangling the history of the region, but for understanding the history of the world at that time, as Timbuktu was a crucial component of the Eurasian trade networks of that era.

Recently, the country of Mali has experienced a secessionist movement in the north. This was composed of two groups, one of which (MNLA) was striving for a primarily secular, Tuareg-led state and the other of which (Ansar Dine) was primarily concerned with establishing a form of sharia law in the region. The two formed an alliance but recently, this alliance has fractured and Ansar Dine now control the major urban centres in the region, including the historic cities of Timbuktu and Gao.

Ansar Dine have since seriously damaged at least one UNESCO World Heritage site in the city and, according to some sources, have decided to destroy the others as well. This is a disgrace and a shame, but ultimately, shrines can be rebuilt. I am more concerned about the fate of the libraries, most of which have not been digitised, and which, if destroyed, are irrevocably lost to the world.

Ansar Dine have not specifically said that they intend to destroy the manuscripts. But the blatant destruction of a heritage site does not speak well for their respect for history. Also, even if they leave the books alone there is still significant danger. Timbuktu will almost definitely become a warzone, as either the Malian army or the MNLA decide to reclaim the city from Ansar Dine. If the city becomes a warzone the books will be at risk of destruction from bombing, artillery, fires and looting. Even the best intentions of Ansar Dine would not be sufficient to protect the books.

I have noticed some people on the Internet using this episode as a way of denigrating Islam as a whole. I would urge those people to re-examine the situation. Many, if not all, of these manuscripts have been written by Muslims and many of them deal with topics such as the Qu'ran, so it would be false to use this situation to somehow imply that Islam is inimical to the study of history or any such conclusion.

Timbuktu Manuscripts

I don't wish to draw attention away from the major human catastrophe in the region, as many thousands of refugees flee the cities, nor do I wish to advocate any particular course of action (certainly not any form of intervention per se) but I do believe that the world needs to know that this drama is unfolding and to use public opinion to persuade all the powers in the region to act in a way that protects human rights and culture.

For up to date information on this issue please keep an eye on world news networks.

Here is a link to a BBC picture gallery on the subject:

Here is a link to an ongoing project to protect and preserve the Timbuktu manuscripts. (their blog is a useful source of information on the subject).

The Collapse of the Bronze Age: Part III

Tiglath-Pileser III

In the east, the troubles appear to have less to do with famines and earthquakes and more to do with human frailties. The difficult times may have prompted the assassination of the powerful Assyrian king, Tukulti-Ninurta I, but assassination was not uncommon. The wars that followed between Assyria and Babylon were pointless and persistent and the collapse of the Kassite Dynasty in Babylon was the perfectly natural result of being under attack from Assyria and Elam. But the fall of the Egyptian and Hittite empires had put events in motion. Free from imperial control the newly independent peoples in Syria and Palestine may have provided inspiration to others, or possibly the migrations of the Sea Peoples, despite probably being small in numbers, may have pushed other tribes further inland.

"…The people ate one another's flesh to save their lives. Like a flood's ravaging water the Aramean rulers became strong, plundered the crops of Assyria, conquered and took many fortified cities of Assyria." 
Inscription by Tigleth-Pileser I describing the attacks of the Arameans. 

When Assyria next has a strong military commander (Tiglath-Pileser I in the year 1114BC) the Babylonian threat has passed but a new people, the Arameans, inhabit Syria. Tiglath-Pileser reported that he devastated them in retaliation for their attacks on Assyria but the Arameans were to be a threat for several hundred years and it was not until around 732BC during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III that the Arameans were finally crushed by Assyria.

After the chaos surrounding the end of the Bronze Age, the old empires had either fallen, gone into terminal decline or been locked in perpetual conflict. This allowed the areas at the edges of civilisation to gain their independence and for new ideas, cultures and peoples to thrive. While the stability of the Bronze Age was sometimes viewed as golden the new cultures of the Iron Age would go on to irrevocably shape the world as we know it. In the temporary absence of the great empires political entities such as the Greek city states or the Israelite kingdoms were able to flourish and create cultural legacies that last to this day.

Temple at Delphi: a centre of later Greek civilisation 

Hundreds of years later, as Greece emerged from the "Dark Ages" after the Bronze Age Collapse, the poet Hesiod immortalised the traditions surrounding the events of times past by describing two ages that had preceded his own. I believe that these two ages reflect a cultural memory of the old Mycenaean empire and the overall structure of the Bronze Age and Hesiod’s writing sums up the fear and the splendour that was associated with this memory in later times, as well as the wish that such splendour would have a form of immortality and never truly pass away. I conclude the post by quoting Hesiod in full and leaving the reader with a speculative timeline for the events mentioned above.

"Great was their strength and unconquerable the arms which grew from their shoulders on their strong limbs.  Their armour was of bronze, and their houses of bronze, and of bronze were their implements: there was no black iron.  These were destroyed by their own hands and passed to the dank house of chill Hades, and left no name: terrible though they were, black Death seized them, and they left the bright light of the sun.

But when earth had covered this generation also, Zeus, the son of Cronos, made yet another, the fourth, upon the fruitful earth, which was nobler and more righteous, a god-like race of heroes who are called demi-gods, the race before our own, throughout the boundless earth.  Grim war and dread battle destroyed a part of them, some in the land of Cadmus at seven-gated Thebes when they fought for the flocks of Oedipus, and some, when it had brought them in ships over the great sea gulf to Troy for rich-haired Helen's sake: there death's end enshrouded a part of them.  But to the others father Zeus, the son of Cronos, gave a living and an abode apart from men, and made them dwell at the ends of earth.  And they live untouched by sorrow in the islands of the blessed along the shore of deep swirling ocean, happy heroes for whom the grain-giving earth bears honey-sweet fruit flourishing thrice a year, far from the deathless gods, and Cronos rules over them for the father of men and gods released him from his bonds.  And these last equally have honour and glory.

And again far-seeing Zeus made yet another generation, the fifth, of men who are upon the bounteous earth. Thereafter, would that I were not among the men of the fifth generation, but either had died before or been born afterwards.  For now truly is a race of iron, and men never rest from labour and sorrow by day, and from perishing by night; and the gods shall lay sore trouble upon them." 

Hesiod, Works and Days

Relief of Sea Peoples at Medinet Habu

Speculative timeline of events

1208BC: Simultaneous attack on Egypt by Nubians and Libyans with Sea Peoples allies

1207BC: Assassination of Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I

c.1200BC: Destruction of Mycenaean citadels at Tiryns, Mycenae and Pylos

c.1200BC: Destruction of Hittite capital of Hattusa

c.1200BC: Destruction of citadel at Troy

c.1192BC: Destruction of Ugarit

c.1178BC: Battle of the Delta: Ramesses III defeats Sea Peoples invasion of Egypt

c.1158BC: Sack of Babylon by Elamite king Shutruk-Nakhunte and end of Kassite Dynasty


Related Blog Posts:
Collapse of the Bronze Age: Part I
Collapse of the Bronze Age: Part II
Collapse of the Bronze Age: Part III
The Late Bronze Age in the Middle East
The Early Iron Age and the Death of Kings: I