The Late Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean (c. 1500–1200 BCE) was marked by an unprecedented level of diplomatic and commercial interdependence among regional powers. Great kingdoms, including New Kingdom Egypt (c. 1550–1077 BCE), the Hittite Empire (c. 1650–1190 BCE), the Kassite rulers of Babylon (c. 1595–1155 BCE), and the Mycenaean palace states (c. 1600–1100 BCE), were linked through maritime routes, overland corridors, and formalized royal correspondence. The Amarna Letters (14th century BCE), exchanged during the reign of Amenhotep III (eign c. 1390–1353 BCE) and Akhenaten (reign c. 1353–1336 BCE), reveal a diplomatic culture grounded in gift exchange, marriage alliances, and negotiated balance-of-power politics.
This interconnected system depended on the circulation of strategic resources, tin for bronze production, copper from Cyprus, grain from the Nile Valley, textiles, luxury goods, and crafted prestige items, alongside the movement of technological knowledge and religious ideas. Levantine port cities functioned as key intermediaries, while Mycenaean traders integrated Aegean networks into broader Near Eastern exchange systems. Yet this dense web of connectivity also generated fragility: by c. 1200 BCE, internal instability, shifting trade patterns, environmental pressures, and external invasions converged in a widespread disruption often termed the Late Bronze Age Collapse.
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APA Style
Netchev, S. (2021, November 19). Map of Trade Networks of the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean: Empires, Merchants, and Maritime Routes of the Ancient World. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14880/map-of-trade-networks-of-the-late-bronze-age-medit/
Chicago Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of Trade Networks of the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean: Empires, Merchants, and Maritime Routes of the Ancient World." World History Encyclopedia, November 19, 2021. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14880/map-of-trade-networks-of-the-late-bronze-age-medit/.
MLA Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of Trade Networks of the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean: Empires, Merchants, and Maritime Routes of the Ancient World." World History Encyclopedia, 19 Nov 2021, https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14880/map-of-trade-networks-of-the-late-bronze-age-medit/.
