Section 3: Prominent Bronze Age Powers

In section 1, I provided examples of themes influenced by an Aegean-influenced campaign. I based these potential campaigns off of background information about mythology and history paired with a significant amount of research from multiple angles and sources. In the course of this research I uncovered just the tip of the iceberg I wanted to find, but I did pick up good information about multiple countries in the Bronze Age world that might make good models for countries in a Bronze Age campaign.

The Hittite Empire
Based in Central Anatolia, the Hittites were an almost 'American' people, with a multiracial, multilingual kingdom ruled by a dynasty bearing Indo-European influence yet over a mostly native Anatolian populace. Notable about the Hittites was their compensatory justice system, which is passably analyzed in Trevor Bryce's Life and Society in the Hittite World. This empire grew increasingly powerful towards the end of the Bronze Age, challenging Egypt and pushing them back from the Euphrates. Bryce writes that the Hittite dynasties then founded in the newly conquered Syrian territories continued the mid-700s BCE.
The Hittite dynasty saw a fascinating share of intrigues and dramas relating to succession, including usurpation of the throne. However, nearly all records try to keep the Kings faceless and in good standing: Hittite Kings sometimes butchered each other to take the throne but never criticized the royal policies of predecessors.
The Hittites had a large force of charioteers who rode in a somewhat heavier chariot than the standard Egyptian design. Bryce observed in Life and Society that charioteers would have been by nature professional, full-time soldiers, and furthermore that the Hittite kingdom probably had a full-time infantry cohort as well, to defend the kingdom.
The Hittite kingdom did also use a feudal system to help manage the kingdom, with land being granted in exchange for loyalty. However, the Hittite king was almost always very strong and firmly in command of the direction of the Kingdom.
The Mycenaean Greeks
invaded Greece ca. 2000 or earlier. They were a culturally and technologically homogenous confederation of independent city-states ruled by kings in their palaces. Borrowing from earlier Minoan design, the Mycenaean palace was the center of commerce, record-keeping, etc., as well as the seat of political power. Religious activity may also have been centered in the palace. The Mycenaeans were in this way both extremely centralized and decentralized: many small local capitals with complete dominance over small kingdoms makes the Mycenaean government an interesting contrast the the ultra-centralized Hittite and Egyptian empires. The various nations, as well as the islands in the Aegean (and eventually Rhodes, Crete, and much of Cyprus) all shared virtually identical pottery with little local styling for much of their history, which indicates an extremely integrated and intraconnected economy between the varied peoples. As the Mycenaean civilization disintegrated, localization of styles appeared, showing that at least part of the collapse of their people was a loss of economic and physical interconnection.
Known for their prowess in warfare, Mycenaean Greece was a center for the production of weapons. Ships carrying copper from Cyprus and elsewhere have been found, bound for ports in the Aegean. Similarly, ships leaving Greece and Crete often carry large amounts of well-crafted bronze swords.
For most of the Bronze Age, the Mycenaeans were part of the pan-European heroic tradition, a common tendency to fight in disorganized, loose groups of individuals, not a common corps of troops. However, they were active raiders and warriors in spite of this.
The Greeks valued the sword above other weapons, and pictures typically show agile, unarmored swordsmen defeating a various enemies: armored spearmen, beasts, etc., A favorite tactic was the downward thrust at the neck, depicted on pottery in The Ancient World at War and identifiable in the early fight scenes of the (generally inaccurate) film Troy
Towards the end of the Bronze age, the Mycenaeans showed an awareness of a need for group-based war. At this time, bronze armor similar to the later Greek armors would be developed, and groups are depicted fighting in hoplite style.
Assyrians, Mesopotamians, and allies
Iraq is known as the cradle of civilization for a reason. Mesopotamia is widely accepted as the site of the first cities and nations of the world. The Epic of Gilgamesh dates from a very old legend about a king of Uruk, a Mesopotamian city-state, and his beloved friend. Various city-states would rise over their peers only to fall again to other influences: the Assyrians had multiple periods of ascendency and decline, with one such rising period helping weaken the Hittite and Egyptian kingdoms to the point of conquest. The Babylonians, Sumerians, and others also had moments of glory and power. The above information is based on background knowledge, not research.
Egypt
Egyptian history is divided (somewhat arbitrarily) into 3 “kingdoms” (Old, Middle, and New) as well as “Intermediate Periods” that generally saw a more prosperous people, decreased centralization, and increased power of local authorities or religious figures over the Pharoh. Egyptian civilization is generally viewed as at the pinnacle of power during the New Kingdom, when their empire reached all through the Levant, part of Syria, and to the Euphrates river; as well as south into Nubia and the African continent.
Egypt is nominally a Bronze Age civilization. However, most of their soldiers (particularly in the early period) would probably have carried flint spears, stone maces, and cowhide shields. Later, stone maces were phased out for Bronze axes, which the Egyptians used extensively, but the Egyptians are generally mentioned as being poor in metals and relying on copper and lower-quality gear. However, the Egyptians did perfect their form of Composite Bow which was both widely available and powerful.
Egyptians used chariots extensively. Theirs was a light wooden chariot that was emphatically not used to engage in close combat: rather, chariots served exclusively as a platform for mobile archers.
The Egyptians also used a type of sickle-sword that had become popular in Assyria, Theirs, called a khepesh or khopesh, is somewhat ambiguous in that different finds appear to show the cutting edge on either the inside or the outside of the curve. (The standard Near Eastern sickle-sword had the blade on the outside of the curve, like a scimitar)
The New Kingdom population is estimated at 3,000,000 (3 million), which gives an idea of the population of the world and of large and powerful nations at this point in history.
Canaan
The Levant began the tradition of passing in bloody conquest from one nation to another during the Bronze Age. Pre-Israelite Canaan is believed to have been divided into small local rulers who were usually made vassals of different countries. It is known the that Philistines who appear in the Bible were among the Sea People that plagued the Hittites, Mycenaeans, and Egyptians, and that they settled in Palestine following the end of hostilities. Canaan itself had a pantheon of gods from which many common names, such as Michael, are derived. I'd recommend The Bible's Buried Secrets, a Nova PBS production, for background information and insight into late Canaan and Israel.
The Sea People
The Sea People are among the most mysterious elements of the Late Bronze Age. Towards the year 1200, the a series of cities were burned to the ground throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, moving in a generally southward direction. Frantic communiques from Mycenaean cities are provided in The Mycenaeans in History by Alan E. Samuel speaking of “watching the shoreline”, reinforcing defenses, and trying to get help. The Egyptians labeled the invaders “Sea People” as they swept south. It is clear from Egyptian records that the Sea People were a diverse lot, from multiple regions and probably lacking strong central direction. The Egyptians name the member tribes: Ekwesh, Shekelsh, Tjeker, Weshesh, Teresh, Sherden, Lukka, and Denyon. There are many theories as to who these tribes were: Denyon to Danoai (Homeric term for the Mycenaeans), Sardinians for the Sherden, West Anatolians for the Lukka, Sicilians for Shekelsh. The true nature of the Sea People or Peoples is unclear. What is known is that among the Sea Peoples that attacked Egypt, which repulsed them under Ramses III, were Libyans and people who “schemed on their islands”. Given that Exodus and the Iliad both describe incidents that, if they occurred, occurred around 1200 BCE, the identity of the Sea People provokes a great deal of thought an can be an excellent source for inspiration. There is no universal acceptance of any identification of tribes of the Sea People save that of their Libyan allied and the Philistines, who are mentioned in other texts and who themselves have a bizarre culture with clear Aegean elements. Some sources speculate that the migration or series of migrations may have been caused by climate cooling in the north, while the Ancient World at War floats the concept of a long-running cold war among the Mycenaean kings turning hot. The relationship between the disintegration of society in this time and the ascendency of the Assyrians is unclear.
The Philistines are identified in Egyptian texts as Peleset. The Egyptians, usually a very boastful kingdom, claim that “no land could stand before [the Sea Peoples]
Some regions, such as Cyprus, underwent multiple razings. Others, such as the city of Mycenae for which the Greeks of this time are named, survived an initial attack thanks to ferocious defenses but succumbed to another attack almost a century later.
Troy was a real city that was destroyed many times. One of the most total razings did occur about this time.
The Sea People are associated with the precipitous decline of the Hittites, who by year 1000 were a husk of their former empire. Though some successors dynasties survived in Syria, the Hittite kingdom was effective eliminated by the turn of the millennium.
The Egyptians under Ramses III defeated the Sea People in naval and land battles, repulsing them. However, the Egyptian state itself was collapsing, and succeeding kings grew weaker and weaker until they succumbed to invasion. The loss of the extended empire in the Levant was immediate, of course, as shown by the settlement of the Philistines in Palestine