S8 Ep582: 5. The conversation details the collapse of the Hittite Empire in central Anatolia. Despite once being equal to Egypt, the Hittites suffered from poor leadership and internal rot, exacerbated by plagues and famine. Their capital, Hattusa, was eventually b
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 15 March 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
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Summary
5. The conversation details the collapse of the Hittite Empire in central Anatolia. Despite once being equal to Egypt, the Hittites suffered from poor leadership and internal rot, exacerbated by plagues and famine. Their capital, Hattusa, was eventually burned, possibly by local enemies rather than the Sea Peoples. While the main empire disappeared, "rump states" survived in northern Syria, becoming the Neo-Hittites mentioned in the Bible. Additionally, Cline mentions recent computer modeling that suggests the simultaneous collapse of the Hittites and the port city of Ugarit was sufficient to bring down the entire global trade network. (5)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is CBS Eye on the World. Here's John Batchelor. |
| 0:10.0 | This is CBS I on the World. I'm John Batchelor. |
| 0:15.0 | Continuing my conversation with Professor Eric Klein, his new book, After 1177 BC, The Survival of Civilizations, |
| 0:24.3 | a sequel to his original idea, 1177 BC, the year civilization collapsed, which is now revised |
| 0:32.1 | and updated for everyone to read both books together. |
| 0:35.5 | It's important to note that the Bronze Age was globalization. |
| 0:39.3 | Trade of seven or eight empires intermixed in the Eastern Mediterranean. |
| 0:45.3 | Trade routes established, making bronze tin from Afghanistan, |
| 0:49.3 | copper from Cyprus and other mines in the Mediterranean basin, the same for clothing, the same for spices, the same for gold, coming from all over. |
| 1:01.3 | Adam Smith would approve of the 13, the Bronze Age. However, it then crashed suddenly with a combination that the professor can list, but they were all bad things |
| 1:12.7 | happening at the same time. Some survived and some didn't. We talked about the survivors so far. |
| 1:18.4 | Now we're going to go to the failures. The Hittites. The reason you don't know that name is because |
| 1:23.6 | they failed. Professor, the Hittites were Turkey, were Anatolian Heights. |
| 1:28.8 | They had a vast area to develop. |
| 1:31.6 | They were a powerful empire, and they failed. |
| 1:35.4 | My reading of your explication, because there are a series of decisions that they make |
| 1:41.1 | and from their capital, Hatusausa is that they had bad leadership. |
| 1:45.4 | What else went wrong with them? |
| 1:46.8 | Thank you. |
| 1:48.4 | So they do have bad leadership at the end. |
| 1:51.4 | You're quite right. |
| 1:52.1 | But in their heyday, they were to be reckoned with. |
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