THE ‘ADMINISTERED’ SYSTEM OF TRANS-MEDITERRANEAN MARITIME RELATIONS AT THE END OF THE 2ND MILLENNIUM BC: APOGEE AND COLLAPSE

In the work presented here, a historical analysis is made of the phenomenon of 'collapse' that characterised the “administered” commercial network in the Mediterranean in the decades between the 13th and 12th centuries BC. This phenomenon is accompanied by the increasing relevance of maritime groups, variously identified in contemporary historical sources (Shekelesh/Shikaloi, Sherden, Lukka, Eqwesh/Ahhijawa etc.) and defined in modern historiographical literature as: "freelance mariners", "nomads of the sea" or "sea peoples". In this framework, particular attention is given to the concept of "port" as a place of encounter and acculturation. The emergence of international ports, not always directly controlled by the administrations of territorial states, was accompanied by a development in navigation techniques and the affirmation of new and widespread craft production. Moreover, in the course of these decades, the port underwent a process of transformation, becoming a "built port", i.e. equipped with construction works (quays, anchorage basins, arsenals, warehouses for storing goods, etc.).