22ND CENTURY BC DROUGHT

The '22nd century BC drought' was one of the most severe climatic events of the Holocene period. Starting in about 2200 BC, it probably lasted the entire 22nd century. It is very likely that it caused the collapse of the Old Kingdom in Egypt as well as the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia.

Contents

Ancient Egypt

Further Reading

Ancient Egypt

In ca. 2150 BC the Old Kingdom was hit by a series of exceptionally low Nile floods, which was instrumental in the sudden collapse of centralized government in ancient Egypt. Famines, social disorder, and fragmentation during a period of approximately 40 years were followed by a phase of rehabilitation and restoration of order in various provinces. Egypt was eventually reunified within a new paradigm of kingship. The process of recovery depended on capable provincial administrators, the deployment of the idea of justice, irrigation projects, and an administrative reform.

Further Reading

★ A severe centennial-scale drought in midcontinental North America 4200 years ago and apparent global linkages, Robert K. Booth ''et al.'', , , The Holocene, 2005

★ An Andean ice-core record of a Middle Holocene mega-drought in North Africa and Asia, Mary E. Davis & Lonnie G. Thompson, , , Annals of Glaciology, 2006

★ Late Holocene drought responsible for the collapse of Old World civilizations is recorded in an Italian cave flowstone, Russell Drysdale ''et al.'', , , Geology, 2005

★ How the Akkadian Empire Was Hung Out to Dry, Ann Gibbons, , , Science, 1993

★ Sea-Floor Dust Shows Drought Felled Akkadian Empire, Richard A. Kerr, , , Science, 1998

★ Nile flow failure at the end of the Old Kingdom, Egypt: Strontium isotopic and petrologic evidence, Jean-Daniel Stanley ''et al.'', , , Geoarchaeology, 2003