Hosting costs for the History Files website have been increased
by an eye-watering 40% in 2025. This non-profit site is
only able to keep going with your help. Please make a
donation to keep it online. Thank you!
Towards the end of the thirteenth century BC, the international
system in the
Near East
began to break down. Communications between the many smaller states,
especially in Syria
and Canaan, and the
kings of
Babylonia,
Egypt,
Elam, the
Hittites,
Mitanni and
the
Assyrians, gradually broke down as events overwhelmed many of
them.
Then climate-induced drought and a loss of crops did more damage in
the thirteenth century BC. Food supplies dwindled and the number
of raids by habiru
and other groups of peoples who had also banded together greatly
increased until, by about 1200 BC, this flood turned into a tidal
wave which destroyed the Hittites and many Anatolian and Syrian
cities and states. A dark age descended on the eastern
Mediterranean region.
The Troad or Troas
was the peninsula region at the far north-western corner of
Anatolia, formed by the territory to the north of the island of
Lesbos, eastwards to Mount Ida, and then roughly in a direct line
north to the Dardanelles where it meets the Sea of Marmara,
opposite the shores of
Thrace.
Mysia
was also part of the region while the principle city in this part
of Anatolia, Troy, was
nearby, and Dardania
could also be included within the Troad, along with its native
population of Teucri.
Wilusa in the thirteenth
century was a member of the Assuwa (or Assua), a confederacy of local
minor states which probably included the states of the Troad and which
had traditionally been allied to the Hittites (see feature link). The
Cilician city of
Lyrnessos (or Lyrnessus) was located in the Troad, to the
south-east of Mount Ida.
According to legend, Achilles of
Phthia
made a 'great foray' to the south of Mount Ida where he attacked
twenty-four cities, including Lyrnessos. This he sacked, killing the
king, Mynes. Homer relates that Achilles took the late king's wife,
Briseis, as his concubine, only for Agamemnon of
Mycenae to take her for himself when he had to hand back his own
concubine to her father. This began a feud between the two which was
only ended by the death of Patroclus outside the walls of Troy.
Principal author(s):Page created:Page last updated:
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from The
Philistines and Other 'Sea Peoples' in Text and Archaeology, Ann E
Killebrew (Society of Biblical Literature Archaeology and Biblical Studies,
2013), from The Histories, Herodotus (Penguin, 1996), from The
Iliad, Homer (Translated by E V Rieu, Penguin Books, 1963), from The
Kingdom of the Hittites, Trevor Bryce (1998), from The Hittites,
O R Gurney (1991), from Trojans and Their Neighbours: An Introduction
(Ancient Peoples), Trevor Bryce (2005), from the Argonautica,
Apollonius Rhodius (3rd century BC Greek epic poem), and from External
Links: the
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, William Smith (Ed, 1854), and
DNA clue to origins of early Greek civilisation (BBC News), and
Geography, Strabo (H C Hamilton & W Falconer, London, 1903,
Perseus Online Edition), and
The Greeks really do have near-mythical origins, ancient DNA reveals
(Science).)
The states or tribes which inhabit the
Troad around this time are
remembered in Greek stories which include The Iliad, covering the
events of the Trojan War. Such stories probably remember key
figures in the war with units being provided by various groups or cities
which have a connection with the Troad.
Troy's various regional allies at the time of the
Trojan War are shown here, many of which are only
mentioned in later works by Homer, Herodotus, and
other Greek chroniclers (click or tap on map to
view full sized)
The death of Mynes at the hands of Achilles of
Phthia
and the sacking of the city knocks Lyrnessos out of the war so
that it is not able to send a force to support its ally,
Troy, when the fighting
moves onto its doorstep. As well as killing Mynes, Achilles also kills
three brothers of his wife, Briseis, and then takes her as his
prize.
Increasing drought in the Near East has already resulted in famine
and the subsequent movement of peoples who are in search of new food
supplies. Collectively known by chroniclers as the
Sea Peoples, various
groups are raiding the Mediterranean coastline, attacking kingdoms and
destroying cities and, in some cases, even settling in the conquered
areas.
The Trojan War feeds into this ongoing chain of calamity and destruction.
With Trojan refugees fleeing in all directions, and even the victorious
Mycenaeans
being pushed out of their territory by migrating Dorians, both peoples
probably add to the pressure on the states of the eastern
Mediterranean.
This illustration is another artist's impression of an
unspecified version of Troy, although it is believed to
be based on the city which existed around the time of
the Trojan War, shortly before its defeat and
destruction
The age of the migratory Sea Peoples can only be said to be over by
around 1100 BC, as the turmoil and chaos (such as during Egypt's
'Third
Intermediate Period' or in
Syria)
gives way to an already-active dark age and a gradual rebuilding of
civilisation. During this period, Anatolia's coastline largely becomes
a possession of various Greek states and cities.
