(Redirected from 1200 BC)
Events and trends
★
1204 BC —
Theseus, legendary
King of Athens, is deposed after a reign of 30 years and succeeded by
Menestheus, great-grandson of
Erichthonius II of Athens and second cousin of
Theseus' father
Aegeus.
Menestheus is reportedly assisted by
Castor and Polydeuces of
Sparta, who want to reclaim their sister
Helen from her first husband
Theseus.
Theseus seeks refuge in
Skyros, whose
King Lycomedes is an old friend and ally.
Lycomedes, however, considers his visitor a threat to the throne and proceeds to
assassinate him. (Other accounts place these events a decade earlier. See
1210s BC.)
★ c.
1200 BC — The
Cimmerians start settling the steppes of southern
Russia? (Undocumented conjecture).
★ 1200 BC —
Olmec civilization in
Mesoamerica started.
★ 1200 BC — Collapse of
Hittite power in
Anatolia with the destruction of their capital
Hattusa.
★ c. 1200 BC —
New Kingdom ends in
Ancient Egypt (Another date is
1075 BC).
★ c. 1200 BC -
Chariots appear in