Eric Cline and ”After 1177”
Professor Eric Cline of The George Washington University (GWU) in Washington DC is an archaeologist with 20 books to his credit.
With more than 30 seasons of archaeological digs under his belt Professor Cline has appeared in documentaries for the National Geographic Channel, BBC, History Channel, ABC News, The Discovery Channel and PBS. His television appearances include The Countdown to Armageddon (History channel), Is It Real: Atlantis (National Geographic Chanel) and The Truth of Troy (BBC).
In a recorded Skype conversation between America and New Zealand we discussed some of his most recent works including Three Stones, Digging Deeper, 1177 and the new book After 1177.
Eric Cline also appeared on ”Stars of Egyptology” at: https://sharonjanethague.com/stars-of-egyptology-eric-cline/.
A full list of Eric Cline’s books including paperback, hardback, Kindle and audiobooks is available on Amazon. You can press on the photo of 1177 below and go straight to Amazon now!
Have you caught an Eric Cline lecture? Some are on YouTube, including the 3 million plus views for ”1177”! You are welcome to look for it. Here is something for the academics, namely the one given at The Oriental Institute. Enjoy and watch out for the new book in 2023.
Sharon Hague
I had a question which Eric answered. It might be a question some of you have which is why I’ll share it.
Question: You mentioned there was no evidence for a pandemic during the Bronze Age collapse. I wanted to ask about the plague which apparently raged in the Middle East during Akhenaten’s time. There’s always a discussion of it in reference to Year 12 of his reign when ambassadors from the known world visited his city. As you know, it was followed by the demise of several members of his family. Is there not enough strong evidence for a pandemic during the Bronze Age? There’s always mention of it when I study Egyptology and other countries seemed to be affected. I just wondered what you thoughts were on the matter.
Eric’s answer: For sure that is evidence for a pandemic during the Late Bronze Age — it’s just about the exact same time as the plague that wiped out Suppiluliuma’s family up in Hittite Anatolia — but it’s too early to have played a role in the Collapse (at least in my opinion), since it will have taken place more than a century earlier. Still, that plus the evidence for Ramses V having probably died of smallpox ca. 1140 BCE is good evidence that such pandemics were possible, even if we haven’t found the evidence for one during the Collapse itself yet. I added in mentions of the Hittite deaths and of Ramses V in the newly-revised version of the book, but I regret to say that it didn’t occur to me to mention Akhenaten in the same breath. :
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to add them.