Changes

Seafaring made a major contribution to the Bronze Age economy in the Near East and broader Mediterranean. In addition to trade, seafaring also incorporated aspects of piracy and war that also formed aspects of the Bronze Age seafaring economies. Ships were designed to accommodate a variety of activities, including moving cargo or for speed for raiding. This book shows the types of shipping and their role in the Bronze Age Mediterranean.

The Middle and Late Bronze Ages were ages of consumerism in many respects. We see heavy use of wine, olive oils, bronzes, perfumes, and other luxuries. The ports along the Levant, such as Byblos and Ugarit, played critical roles in trade network that brought luxury goods to a wide consumer market and also provide the produce of the region to other areas. While this had a benefit in commerce, this also provided the mechanism for the spread of the alphabet and intermingling of Near Eastern and Greek/Aegean ideas. Consumerism began to be more than simply something for the elites but the masses, what we might call the middle class, began to be active participants.