The Empty Land

The sixth century, particularly the first half, from the Assyrian collapse of 614–610 to the formation of the empire of Cyrus the Great in 550–539, is a period of deep depression for a large part of the Near East, similar to the great crisis that in the twelfth century had marked the change from the Bronze to the Iron Age. However, while the crisis of the twelfth century is now established as a major feature of the history of the Near East and the eastern Mediterranean in ancient times, the crisis of the sixth century has not yet been similarly recognized. Its explanatory potential is nevertheless enormous, though less for the material conditions of existence (as in the Bronze-Iron Age transition) than for ideological features.

Not all of the Near East experienced the crisis as a quantitative reduction (of population, land use, exploitation of resources); in this respect huge differences are evident between one region and another. Generally, one can say that the two vast and enduring empires of Assyria (until 610) and Persia (from 550) were responsible for a generalized development of the entire region; while the interlude between 610–550 witnessed two quite different kinds of scenario: growth in the strong core areas and depression elsewhere.