The Collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean
Climate Change and the Decline of the East, 950–1072

A provocative study of the devastating impact of climate change across the eastern Mediterranean in the tenth and eleventh centuries.

Ronnie Ellenblum (Author)

9781107688735, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 5 December 2013

284 pages, 15 b/w illus. 8 maps 2 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.38 kg

'The study of environmental history in the early Middle Ages is still very much in its infancy; thus Ronnie Ellenblum's contribution, not least because it argues so lucidly for a real climatic impact in various areas of human activity, is to be welcomed wholeheartedly.' Mark Humphries, Early Medieval Europe

As a 'Medieval Warm Period' prevailed in Western Europe during the tenth and eleventh centuries, the eastern Mediterranean region, from the Nile to the Oxus, was suffering from a series of climatic disasters which led to the decline of some of the most important civilizations and cultural centres of the time. This provocative study argues that many well-documented but apparently disparate events - such as recurrent drought and famine in Egypt, mass migrations in the steppes of central Asia, and the decline in population in urban centres such as Baghdad and Constantinople - are connected and should be understood within the broad context of climate change. Drawing on a wealth of textual and archaeological evidence, Ronnie Ellenblum explores the impact of climatic and ecological change across the eastern Mediterranean in this period, to offer a new perspective on why this was a turning point in the history of the Islamic world.

Part I. The Collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean: 1. Presenting the events
2. Deconstructing a 'collapse'
3. 950–1027 - an impending disaster
Part II. Regional Domino Effects in the Eastern Mediterranean, 1027–60 AD: 4. The collapse of Iran
5. The fall of Baghd?d
6. A crumbling empire: the Pechenegs and the decimation of Byzantium
7. Egypt and its provinces, 1050s–1070s
Part III. Cities and Minorities: 8. Jerusalem and the decline of classical cities
9. Water supply, declining cities and deserted villages
10. Food crises and accelerated Islamization
11. Reflections.

Subject Areas: Social impact of environmental issues [RNT], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1], European history [HBJD], History [HB]