How civilizations end

Climate shift or drought

8 civilizations in this dataset ended primarily this way — separated by as much as 4,750 years and thousands of miles, yet sharing the same underlying cause of collapse.

3,300 BCE 1450 CE

Old Kingdom Egypt

2,686 BCE–2,181 BCE

Akkadian Empire

2,334 BCE–2,154 BCE

Indus Valley Civilization

3,300 BCE–1,300 BCE

Minoan Civilization

3,000 BCE–1,100 BCE

Nazca Culture

100 BCE–800 CE

Classic Maya Civilization

250 CE–900 CE

Khmer Empire

802 CE–1431 CE

Kingdom of Zimbabwe

1220 CE–1450 CE

Old Kingdom Egypt

Nile Valley, North Africa · 2,686 BCE – 2,181 BCE

Centralized rule weakened amid prolonged low Nile floods and regional famine.

Akkadian Empire

Mesopotamia · 2,334 BCE – 2,154 BCE

Abrupt aridification around 2200 BCE is linked to agricultural collapse and unrest.

Indus Valley Civilization

Indus River Basin, South Asia · 3,300 BCE – 1,300 BCE

Weakening monsoon patterns and river shifts likely drove gradual urban decline and dispersal.

Minoan Civilization

Crete, Aegean Sea · 3,000 BCE – 1,100 BCE

Weakened by the Thera eruption's aftermath, then absorbed by Mycenaean expansion.

Nazca Culture

Southern coast, Peru · 100 BCE – 800 CE

Severe El Niño flooding and prolonged drought likely undermined their underground aqueduct agriculture.

Classic Maya Civilization

Yucatán Peninsula and Central America · 250 CE – 900 CE

A severe multi-decade drought is widely linked to the abandonment of major southern lowland cities.

Khmer Empire

Southeast Asia · 802 CE – 1431 CE

Tree-ring evidence points to severe drought-flood cycles straining the empire's hydraulic infrastructure before Ayutthaya's invasions.

Kingdom of Zimbabwe

Southern Africa · 1220 CE – 1450 CE

Likely declined due to soil exhaustion, deforestation, and a shift of trade routes away from the city.