Glory of the European Bronze Age

A survey of the European Bronze Age between 1700 B.C to 1200 B.C.

Although the theme of the book is about the unique features of the Bronze Age in general, particularly its lack of introspection and self-righteousness, its primary emphasis will be on a discussion of the European Bronze Age, and in particular, the history of the Aegean Bronze Age. The main reason for this is that the European Bronze Age is of greater significance to the future of the people living in Europe and North America than is the Bronze Age of the Near East, Anatolia, Syria or Egypt, etc. This means, of course, that our literary resources are very limited since outside of the Aegean the European Bronze Age remained voiceless. And even what little has been passed on to us is quite paltry compared to the Bronze Age in Asia. Nevertheless, this is the region which we shall be concentrating on, comparing the challenges these societies faced and how they did their best to deal with them; the inspiration and assistance they received from the far more advanced Eastern civilizations; and their constructive interaction with these civilizations to the benefit of both parties. In my previous book, From Canaanites to Israelites, I undertook an extensive discussion of the Near East Bronze Age but gave only a relatively brief account of the Aegean Bronze Age and said nothing at all about the rest of Europe-something I intend to correct with this book. As in my previous book, I will be focused primarily on the Late Bronze Age (i.e., 1700 to 1100 BC). Along with those chapters dealing with Mycenae, Crete, and Cyprus, I will attempt to give a general account of the Bronze Age in the rest of Europe, with only brief mentions of Mycenae, Crete, and Cyprus when appropriate.