points by db48x 6 hours ago

Yes, that’s the exaggerated tale that everyone knows.

In “Destruction and Its Impact on Ancient Societies at the End of the Bronze Age” <https://www.lockwoodpress.com/product-page/the-fall-of-the-b...> Jesse Millek examines 153 sites claimed to have been destroyed and found that 61% never happened, happened during a different time period, or had a different cause.

Even without buying the whole book you can download the appendix where he summarizes the results. A few notable entries:

Shiqmona: The possibly destroyed public building dates to the fourteenth century BCE. No end of the Late Branze Age destruction was uncovered.

Tell Irbid: C14 dates derived from short-lived samples places the destruction event between 1395–1260 BCE.

Krisa: There is only a statement that the site was destroyed with no published evidence of destruction in any structure.

Iria: Some burnt material in a pit was assumed to be a destruction. There was no damage visible to the buildings.

Athens: The Houses on the North slope were not houses at all. It was refuse that was dumped on the stairs.

Ayios Stephanos: Burning was uncovered in one room from Trench Beta 11. No other damage was recorded.

Amman Airport Structure: Evidence of burning in Room VII can be attributed to the hearth in that room.

Pefkakia: Adrimi-Sismani repeatedly cited a destruction, even though the excavators clearly stated the site was abandoned.

Tell el-‘Ajjul: Bell simply placed it on a map as destroyed with no citations. There was no settlement ca. 1200 BCE.