Something that I was not aware of is that the cataclysm of 1159 BCE focused on Hekla was apparently contemporaneous with destructive earthquakes throughout the Mediterranean basin. If they all happened on the same day, then we are talking about an extraordinary event in world history that is scary.
That they happened close in time is quite apparent, but the lack of recognition of this in the written records of Egypt suggests instead that they happened over a somewhat longer time period. It seems likely though that the initial event was the Hekla event itself, possibly triggered by an event associated with the Mid Atlantic ridge itself. It seems reasonable that a major displacement would have shaken the Mediterranean Basin causing major after shocks for years to come.
This also handily explains the sequential demise of the Sea People maritime culture probably based in Atlantis by Gibraltar as previously posted. The Mycenaean culture was a likely tributary culture paying tribute and relying on Atlantean support for trade and military backup. Once this ended in 1159 BCE, the raison d’être of the palace cultures of Mycenae ended, forcing the abandonment of these structures.
It is reasonable to presume such fortresses existed throughout the Mediterranean but were likely much more modest in most cases. These were trade stations that justified their presence by trade to the local population. Remember that the currency of the Atlantean culture was bronze and that this needed central distribution and far flung shipping. A little bit like the British empire of later days.
In any event, the archeological record shows that major quakes ravaged Anatolia and the Levantine Coast and a lot more besides. It is as if every likely fault let go and knocked down the adjacent cities.
This does not mean that civilization ended however, although the disruption certainly created security problems and let lose barbarian tribes and the like. It is just that our own experience informs us that the survivors can rebuild completely inside of a generation while completely replacing human loses.
What was lost was the maritime sea empire that supplied huge amounts of bronze into this market. Atlantis itself was not rebuilt and its population base on the Atlantic coast was decimated by a collapse of the harvest thanks to Hekla. This is all shown in the tree ring evidence.
Thereafter, the Iron Age emerged in Anatolia under the Hittites and was likely accelerated by this event. Iron had been worked long before this but had not become common place at all.
Once iron took over from bronze as the metal of choice, there existed a huge surplus of bronze in the various state coffers which likely took centuries to dissipate. If you do not believe me, a reading of the building of Solomon’s temple will make the point.
