In the following video, we will be explaining what life was like after the Bronze Age collapse. During the Bronze Age, the world's most populous, prosperous, and technologically advanced empires were all located in close proximity to each other. However, around the beginning of the 12th century BC, these empires collapsed, leading to a mini-dark age that lasted for less than a hundred years. Some of the ancient civilizations that survived this era include the Shang Dynasty in China and the Nordic Bronze Age Culture. However, the Indus Valley Civilization, which had already collapsed over a century before the Bronze Age collapse, did not have a significant impact on the event. Before the collapse, there was very little trade between the civilizations of the interior of the Indian subcontinent and those in the Near East.

During the 800 years following the fall of the Neo-Sumerian Empire, an international system of trade, diplomacy, and the intermarriage of royal houses evolved and thrived. Wars were relatively civil, and the newly conquered people might even receive a temporary tax break. However, the Hittite destruction of Yamhad and Amorite Babylon was a major exception. After the mini-dark age, two mountain peoples, the Hurrians and the Kassites, moved into Mesopotamia and became the new ruling classes there, leading to a stronger international system than ever before.