The Collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean

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.