Scientists propose a new explanation for the sudden collapse of the ancient Hittite civilization. After examining trees that were alive at the time, they found evidence of a three-year drought that could have led to crop failures, famine and unrest, reports The Guardian..

Around 1200 BC, mankind experienced a series of downfalls or declines of several empires in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean.. This event is called the collapse of the Bronze Age..

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One of the most powerful was the Hittite Empire, centered in modern Turkey, which also occupied parts of modern Syria and Iraq..

“Probably three years in a row there was an almost complete crop failure. Most likely, people had food supplies that would be enough for a year of drought. But when they suffered for three years in a row, they ran out of food that could sustain them,” said Brita Lorenzen, professor of anthropology at the University of Georgia and co-author of the study..

According to her, this led to the collapse of the tax system, the massive desertion of the Hittite military, and probably the mass migration of residents.. The Hittites also faced the problem of the lack of a port or other convenient way to bring food to the area..

The Hittite kingdom with its capital Hattusa was one of the great powers of the ancient world for five centuries.. The empire was Ancient Egypt's main geopolitical rival during the New Kingdom..

Scientists have long wondered what caused the fall of the Hittite civilization, as well as the kingdoms in Greece, Crete, the Middle East, as well as the weakening of the Egyptians.. Among the main hypotheses considered war, invasion and climate change. New research may shed light on the fall of the Hittite Empire.

The researchers studied the juniper that grew in the region at that time and was collected for the construction of a wooden structure southwest of Ankara around 748 BC.. It was probably a burial chamber for a relative of King Midas, who, according to legend, turned everything he touched into gold..

Scientists have identified a gradual transition to more arid conditions in the XIII-XII centuries BC. In addition, the researchers found evidence of the worst droughts in three consecutive years: in 1198, 1197 and 1196 BC, which coincides with the known time of the collapse of the empire..

Hattusa, surrounded by a monumental stone wall with a gate decorated with lions and sphinxes, was burned and abandoned. Texts written on clay tablets using the cuneiform script common in the region, detailing Hittite society, politics, religion, economics, and foreign affairs, were no longer updated..

Previously, scientists managed to decipher two tablets that were found in Iraq. With their help, researchers learned the features of the Canaanite language, which was considered lost..