Some of the most dramatic include:

Ugarit: The great Syrian trading city shows a massive destruction layer dating to approximately 1185 BCE.

The city was never rebuilt, suggesting that the destruction was not simply a military setback but a terminal event.

The tablets found in the destruction layer — including the famous “final letters” describing an imminent threat from the sea — have become iconic representations of the collapse.

Megiddo: The great Canaanite city at the strategic pass through the Carmel range shows a destruction layer at this period, though the site was subsequently rebuilt rather than abandoned.