Late Bronze Age Collapse

Between roughly 1200-1150 BCE, the Hittite Empire collapsed, Mycenaean Greece fell, Ugarit was destroyed, Egypt declined sharply, and international trade networks that had connected everyone just evaporated. Causes probably include the Sea Peoples, drought, earthquakes, internal rebellions, and trade disruption — but no single explanation covers it all. This is the context for Israel's emergence in Canaan. When the old empires fell, there was room for new peoples to establish themselves.