Global megadrought, societal collapse and resilience at 4.2-3.9 ka BP across the Mediterranean and west Asia

Abstract

Across the Mediterranean and west Asia, the effects of the 4.2-3.9 ka BP megadrought included synchronous collapse of the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia, the Old Kingdom in Egypt and Early Bronze Age settlements in Anatolia, the Aegean and the Levant.