Devastating 'World War ZERO' destroyed ancient civilisations and plunged Europe into a dark age

mirror.co.uk ^ | 11:44, 13 MAY 2016 | JASPER HAMILL

[Trumpinator]

Devastating 'World War ZERO' destroyed ancient Mediterranean civilisations and plunged Europe into a dark age

11:41, 13 MAY 2016 UPDATED 11:44, 13 MAY 2016 BY JASPER HAMILL

Controversial theory finally identifies mysterious 'Sea Peoples' blamed for cataclysmic series of events which changed the course of history

It was a disaster which destroyed the ancient world's greatest civilisations and plunged Europe into a dark age that lasted centuries.

Now one archaeologist think he's worked out who's to blame for sparking an event he calls "World War Zero", but which most academics refer to as the The Late Bronze Age Collapse .

At some point between 1200 and 1150 BC, the advanced civilisations in the Mediterranean suddenly collapsed after a little understood group of vicious barbarians dubbed "The Sea Peoples" swept across the region.

We know about these savage invaders due to ancient Egyptian inscriptions which describe a mass movement of people so brutal that "no land could stand before their arms".

But despite years of study, no academic has been able to fully prove their true identity or explain what really happened in "the crisis years".

Eberhard Zangger, head of an organisation called Luwian Studies , has now stepped in to offer his own explanation for the cause of this ancient cataclysm.

On a new website set up to publicise his theories, his organisation said that previous explanations for the invasion of the Sea People "have failed".

Zangger's zinger of an idea hinges around the claim that a lost civilisation called the Luwians from Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey, may have caused the disaster, which was the result of three great conflicts.

[DesertRhino]

Weren’t those lyrics the topic of a congressional committee investigation?

[musicman]

BFLR

[goodwithagun]

I’m having a strange Jack Daniels craving.

[JoeProBono]

[applpie]

Not the bible. It actually agrees with ancient man beginning in middle east e.g., sumer. Between 6-7000 years ago. The age of the earth and universe vary among old and young earth scientists.

[Verginius Rufus]

Paul is quoting from Epimenides of Crete (lived about 600 B.C.) who called the Cretans liars for saying that Zeus died...apparently a local Cretan god which died had been equated with the Olympian god Zeus.

If Epimenides was a Cretan and he said that Cretans are always liars, was Epimenides telling the truth when he said that?

[Yashcheritsiy]

Collapse of Bronze Age civilisation?

Trump’s fault.

[Verginius Rufus]

The only writing found at Troy (predating the classical Greek and Roman periods of habitation there) is a single seal in Luwian, but it dates from some decades after the likely date of the Trojan War. It’s possible that Luwian was the language spoken in Troy before the Trojan War, but that is uncertain—the language spoken there at the time the seal was made may have been different, and it could be that Luwian was used for interstate communications by people speaking different local languages.

[Yashcheritsiy]

You’ve...you’ve...you’ve disproved Christianity in one fell swoop!!!!

Oh no!!!!

[Verginius Rufus]

Collapse of Bronze Age civilization?

Trump's fault.

Just another attempt to shift the blame from George W. Bush. It won't work.

[Verginius Rufus]

The volcanic explosion that blew most of Santorini (Thera) into the atmosphere happened several centuries before the collapse of the Bronze Age civilizations.

[OKSooner]

But it WAS aliens. Or if not aliens it was Martians.

[Trumpinator]

I had always assumed that since iron/”near steel” weapons were tougher and stayed sharper than bronze and an iron sword or axe can easily defeat the bronze weapon, armies so equipped won easily.

I saw a demonstration of iron vs bronze and not much of a difference - it is not like the iron weapon destroyed the bronze weapon and Greek armor was made of bronze well into Roman empire times.

The real reason the bronze age armies may have lost against iron equipped armies is that bronze was expensive and thus it limited how many troops a nation can have.

Iron being cheap could allow small nations to supply troops to create armies that could have as many if not more more troops than the established bronze empires. It was a case of mass production.

[Trumpinator]

First I am hearing that Paul was quoting Epimenides of Crete.

[Verginius Rufus]

I think there is an ancient commentator who identifies the source of the quotation.

I have a Greek New Testament (published by the United Bible Societies) which has a note to Titus 1.12: "Epimenides, de Oraculis."

I also have a King James Study Bible which has a note: "A prophet of their own refers to the Cretan poet Epimenides (born c. 600 B.C.), whom Paul quotes merely to prove a point."

[Trumpinator]

Interesting Paul would call a poet a prophet. I have never heard this before or if I did I forgot. I usually find such asides more interesting than the main points.

[Trumpinator]

http://christiansincrete.org/news/to-an-unknown-god/

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Vikings.

[Verginius Rufus]

The word Paul uses, prophetes, has a history in Greek, being used of one who speaks for a god and interprets his will, such as the priestess of Apollo at Delphi (although in her case a different form is used, prophetis, the feminine). So Paul was not necessarily equating such a person in the Greek tradition with one of the Hebrew prophets...but it is to his advantage to speak respectfully of Epimenides so that his quotation carries more weight.

[Night Hides Not]

The volcanic explosion that blew most of Santorini (Thera) into the atmosphere happened several centuries before the collapse of the Bronze Age civilizations.

News travelled at a much slower pace back then...

O/T, I had the chance to visit the Temple of Knossos many moons ago. Very impressive.