The 1200s BC is a decade which lasted from 1209 BC to 1200 BC.

Events and trends

* 1207 BC **Pharaoh Merneptah claims a victory over the

Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

. ** October 30 – Earliest known dateable

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

. * 1206 BC: Approximate starting date of Bronze age collapse, a period of migration, unrest and destruction in the eastern

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

. *

1204 BC The 1200s BC is a decade which lasted from 1209 BC to 1200 BC. Events and trends * 1207 BC **Pharaoh Merneptah claims a victory over the Israelites. ** October 30 – Earliest known dateable solar eclipse. * 1206 BC: Approximate starting da ...

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describe ...

, legendary King of Athens, is deposed after a reign of 30 years and succeeded by Menestheus, great-grandson of Erichthonius II of Athens and second cousin of

' father Aegeus. Menestheus is reportedly assisted by Castor and Polydeuces of

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

, who want to reclaim their sister

Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...

from her first husband

seeks refuge in Skyros, whose

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Lycomedes is an old friend and ally. Lycomedes, however, considers his visitor a threat to the throne and proceeds to

assassinate Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

him. (Other accounts place these events a decade earlier. See

1210s BC The 1210s BC is a decade A decade () is a period of ten years. Decades may describe any ten-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years. Usage Any period of ten years is a "decade". For exampl ...

.) *c. 1200 BC: Start of Pan-

Illyrians The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo ...

*c. 1200 BC: Collapse of Hittite power in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

with the destruction of their capital Hattusa. *c. 1200 BC: The

Israelite highland settlement Israelite highland settlement refers to an ancient Israelite settlement in the highlands north of Jerusalem discovered in archaeological field surveys conducted in Israel since the 1970s. These surveys found a large increase in the settled popula ...

takes place, with a notable increase in the settled population in the hills north of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

during this time. *c. 1200 BC: Massive migrations of people around the Mediterranean and the Middle-East. See Sea People for more information. *c. 1200 BC:

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

nomads and

Chaldeans Chaldean (also Chaldaean or Chaldee) may refer to: Language * an old name for the Aramaic language, particularly Biblical Aramaic * Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, a modern Aramaic language * Chaldean script, a variant of the Syriac alphabet Places * C ...

become a big threat to the former Babylonian and Assyrian Empire. *c. 1200 BC: Migration and expansion of Dorian Greeks. Destruction of Mycenaean city

Pylos Pylos (, ; el, Πύλος), historically also known as Navarino, is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is th ...

. *c. 1200 BC: Final destruction of the major Mycenian city excavated at

Iklaina Iklaina ( el, Ίκλαινα) is a historic village in the municipal unit of Pylos, Messenia, Greece. The settlement, which is situated in low hills approximately northeast of Pylos, stands upon the remains of a Late Bronze Age (ca. 1600-1100 BC) ...

. *c. 1200 BC: The Cimmerians start settling the steppes of southern

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

? (Undocumented conjecture). *c. 1200 BC: The proto-Scythian Srubna (Timber-grave) culture expands from the lower

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...

region to cover the whole of the North

Pontic Pontic, from the Greek ''pontos'' (, ), or "sea", may refer to: The Black Sea Places * The Pontic colonies, on its northern shores * Pontus (region), a region on its southern shores * The Pontic–Caspian steppe, steppelands stretching from n ...

area. *c. 1200 BC: Olmec culture starts and thrives in

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

. *c. 1200 BC: San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán starts to flourish. *c. 1200 BC: Ancestral Puebloan civilization in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. (approximate date) *c. 1200 BC: Possible battle in the

Tollense The Tollense (, from Slavic ''dolenica'' "lowland, (flat) valley") is a river in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in northeastern Germany, right tributary of the Peene. It has a total length of 95.8 km. The upper course begins near a small lake nam ...

River Valley of northern Germany. *c. 1200 BC: The

Yajurveda The ''Yajurveda'' ( sa, यजुर्वेद, ', from ' meaning "worship", and ''veda'' meaning "knowledge") is the Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in ''The Blackwell C ...

is composed.

Literature

*''

Tale of Two Brothers The "Tale of Two Brothers" is an ancient Egyptian story that dates from the reign of Seti II, who ruled from 1200 to 1194 BC during the 19th Dynasty of the New Kingdom. The story is preserved on the Papyrus D'Orbiney, which is currently held in t ...

'' from the Egyptian

Papyrus D’Orbiney The "Tale of Two Brothers" is an ancient Egyptian story that dates from the reign of Seti II, who ruled from 1200 to 1194 BC during the 19th Dynasty of the New Kingdom. The story is preserved on the Papyrus D'Orbiney, which is currently held in t ...

by the scribe Ennana. Miriam Lichtheim, ''Ancient Egyptian Literature'', vol.2, 1980, p.203

References

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