In 1177 B.C., marauding groups known only as the «Sea Peoples» invaded Egypt. The pharaohs army and navy managed to defeat them, but the victory so weakened Egypt that it soon slid into decline, as did most of the surrounding civilizations. After centuries of brilliance, the civilized world of the Bronze Age came to an abrupt and cataclysmic end. Kingdoms fell like dominoes over the course of just a few decades. No more Minoans or Mycenaeans. No more Trojans, Hittites, or Babylonians. The thriving economy and cultures of the late second millennium B.C., which had stretched from Greece to Egypt and Mesopotamia, suddenly ceased to exist, along with writing systems, technology, and monumental architecture. But the Sea Peoples alone could not have caused such widespread breakdown. How did it happen?
In this major new account of the causes of this «First Dark Ages,» Eric Cline tells the gripping story of how the end was brought about by multiple interconnected failures, ranging from invasion and revolt to earthquakes, drought, and the cutting of international trade routes. Bringing to life the vibrant multicultural world of these great civilizations, he draws a sweeping panorama of the empires and globalized peoples of the Late Bronze Age and shows that it was their very interdependence that hastened their dramatic collapse and ushered in a dark age that lasted centuries.

A compelling combination of narrative and the latest scholarship, 1177 B.C. sheds new light on the complex ties that gave rise to, and ultimately destroyed, the flourishing civilizations of the Late Bronze Age--and that set the stage for the emergence of classical Greece.

公元前1177年，被称为 "海族 "的掠夺者入侵了埃及。法老的军队和海军成功地击败了他们，但这次胜利使埃及变得如此虚弱，以至于它很快就陷入了衰退，就像周围的大多数文明一样。在经历了几个世纪的辉煌之后，青铜时代的文明世界来到了一个突然的、灾难性的结局。各个王国在短短几十年间像多米诺骨牌一样倒下。不再有米诺斯人或迈锡尼人。不再有特洛伊人、赫梯人或巴比伦人。公元前二千年晚期繁荣的经济和文化，从希腊延伸到埃及和美索不达米亚，突然就不存在了，还有文字系统、技术和纪念性建筑。但是，仅凭海族不可能造成如此广泛的崩溃。它是如何发生的呢？

在这本关于 "第一个黑暗时代 "起因的重要新书中，埃里克-克莱恩讲述了一个扣人心弦的故事：从入侵和叛乱到地震、干旱和国际贸易路线的切断等多种相互关联的失败是如何造成这一结局的。他将这些伟大文明中充满活力的多元文化世界展现在读者面前，为青铜时代晚期的帝国和全球化民族勾勒出一幅广阔的全景图，并表明正是它们之间的相互依存关系加速了它们的急剧崩溃，迎来了一个持续数个世纪的黑暗时代。

公元前1177年》将叙事和最新的学术研究结合起来，对催生并最终摧毁青铜时代晚期繁荣文明的复杂关系作了新的阐释，并为古典希腊的出现奠定了基础。