The term "peoples of the sea" appeared in the ancient Egyptian language in the XIV century. BC e. So the inhabitants of the banks of the Nile called strangers who lived in the west of Asia Minor and in the Balkans. These were Teucres, Sherdans, Shekeles and Philistines. Some modern researchers identify them with the Greeks. The peoples of the sea, they were considered due to the fact that between them and the Egyptians was the Mediterranean Sea. The term was restored and introduced into the modern scientific language by the French scientist Gaston Maspero.
Catastrophe of the Bronze Age
In the XII century BC. e. the so-called catastrophe of the Bronze Age occurred. Many ancient civilizations collapsed. In the past, the Mycenaean culture remained, the center of which was the Aegean Islands. Literacy declined, the old trade routes faded. Under these circumstances, the Sea Peoples moved south and began to pose a serious danger to Egypt.
The hordes that left the gloomy north turned everything in their path into ruins. The splendor and we alth of ancient cities attracted marauders and barbarians. Order gave way to chaos, need and impoverishment took the place of abundance. The general ferment caused by migratory waves led to the famous Trojan War. Her events so farsince known from semi-mythological and semi-real sources. If, for example, the peoples of the B altic Sea and other inhabitants of the then Europe are practically unknown to us, then we can judge the Egyptians and their neighbors in the Mediterranean by rich historical material.
The Outlanders Approach
The mortal blow by the peoples of the sea was inflicted on the Hittite kingdom that existed in Anatolia. The first thing the aliens did was to cut off the northwestern trade routes. They moved down the Aegean coast south along the Mediterranean coast. On the way, another ancient kingdom was swept away, which had been at enmity with the Hittites for a long time - Artsava. Ephesus was its capital. Then Cilicia fell. Egypt was getting closer. Hordes of foreigners went to where the sea is. Few people of Cyprus survived the invasion. After him, the mining of copper ore ceased on the island. The catastrophe of the Bronze Age was generally characterized by the destruction of any infrastructure. The same thing happened to Northern Syria - it was devastated.
After that, another important economic artery of the Hittites was cut. Their ancient capital of Hattus, weakened by isolation, was unable to repel several attacks from the ubiquitous Sea Peoples. Soon the city was burned to the ground. Archaeologists discovered its ruins only at the beginning of the 20th century. Until that moment, the once prosperous capital had been forgotten for many centuries.
The Hittite Empire was the leading power in the Middle East for 250 years. She fought a lot with Egypt for a long time. One of the diplomatic treaties between the two countries becamethe oldest discovered document of this type in the history of mankind. However, neither the power nor the authority of the Hittites could oppose anything to the unknown barbarians.
Meanwhile in Egypt
Just a few years after the Trojan War and the fall of the Hittite state at the turn of the 13th-12th centuries. BC e. The Egyptians faced their new adversaries for the first time, which turned out to be the Sea Peoples. Who are they for the inhabitants of the Nile Valley? Unfamiliar hordes. The Egyptians had a poor idea of outsiders.
At that time Ramses III was the pharaoh. Researchers consider him the last great Egyptian ruler of the imperial era before the arrival of the troops of Alexander the Great and the Hellenization of the country. Ramses belonged to the twentieth dynasty. She, just like the eighteenth and nineteenth, survived her decline and apogee. At the turn of the XIII-XII centuries. BC e. came its heyday. Ramses began to reign around 1185 BC. e. The main event of his reign was the invasion of the peoples of the sea.
In all ancient times, Egypt was considered the cherished goal of any conquerors. The Persian Cambyses, the Assyrian Assurbanipal, Alexander the Great, the Roman Pompey tried to conquer this country. Later, the Ottoman Selim and the Frenchman Napoleon invaded there. Rushed to Egypt and the peoples of the sea. The Bronze Age was drawing to a close, and before moving on to iron, the Mediterranean had to endure many upheavals. The war of the Egyptians with the northern aliens, spurred on by victorious fervor, was one of them.
Evidence of war
The ancient history of the Sea Peoples is knownus thanks to the numerous illustrations carved in stone and historical texts that survived until the 20th century in Egyptian temples and tombs, when they were deciphered by modern archaeologists and linguists. These sources tell of the great war and the final victory of Ramses III. But there is almost no evidence of bloodshed in the Middle East or in Greece. Only based on indirect data, scientists concluded that the peoples of the sea destroyed not only the Mycenaean culture, but also the Hittite empire, as well as many other small kingdoms.
The most amazing thing is that where the wandering conquerors passed, life seemed to have completely disappeared. For example, there is no data on Greece and Crete in the period 1200-750. BC e. After the fall of Troy, the history of these lands was erased from all evidence for several centuries. Historians have called them the "Dark Ages". This period was the stepping stone of the transition from antiquity to classical antiquity, when Hellas entered its cultural and political zenith.
Egyptian victory
In the war of the northerners against Egypt, not only the army was important, but also the ships of the peoples of the sea. The land forces of the conquerors were encamped in Acre. The fleet was to head for the Nile Delta. Ramses also prepared for war. He fortified the eastern borders, where he built several new fortresses. The Egyptian fleet was distributed in the northern harbors and was waiting for the enemy. At the mouth of the Nile, "towers" were erected - unusual engineering structures, the likes of which the ancient era did not yet know.
The Sea Peoples pinned on theirfleet high hopes. At first they planned that the ships would pass through the Pelusian Estuary. However, realizing its impregnability, the invaders headed in the other direction. They chose another, the Mendus estuary, as their final goal. The ships broke through the Egyptian barrier. Three thousand troops landed on the shore and captured the fortress, located in the Nile Delta. Soon the Egyptian cavalry arrived there. A hot fight ensued.
The invasion of the Sea Peoples in Egypt is depicted in several bas-reliefs from the era of Ramses III. The opponents of the Egyptians in a sea battle are depicted on them in crown-shaped tiaras and horned helmets. One of the bas-reliefs shows how in the convoy of the troops of the peoples of the sea there were wagons filled with concubines. Women are extremely unlucky to be in the thick of the war. In the image, they raise their hands, beg for mercy, and one of the girls even tries to run, but falls.
Having captured the first fortress, the interventionists could not build on their success. Arguments arose between their leaders about strategy. Some wanted to go to Memphis, others were waiting for reinforcements. Meanwhile, Ramses wasted no time and moved from the eastern borders to cut across the enemy. He overtook the opponents and defeated them. The foreigners were also unlucky in the sense that they captured a fortress on the banks of the Nile on the eve of the flood of the river. Because of the organized resistance and discord in their own ranks, the peoples of the sea were defeated. Armor and weapons did not help them. Ramses III confirmed his status as a great monarch and confidently ruled the country until the end of his life.
Of course, the mysterious northerners have not disappeared. Unable to cross the Egyptian border, theysettled in Palestine. Some of them joined the Libyans who lived to the west of the country of the pharaohs. These neighbors, along with the adventurers of the Sea Peoples, also troubled Egypt. A few years after the battle in the delta, they captured the Khacho fortress. Ramses and this time led the army to repel another invasion. The Libyans and their allies - immigrants from the peoples of the sea - were defeated and lost about two thousand people killed.
Greek version
The poorly studied history of the Sea Peoples still attracts researchers and historians. It was a complex conglomeration of tribes and there is ongoing debate and discussion about its exact composition. Egyptian bas-reliefs depicting these strangers are found in the funerary temple of Ramses III. It is called Medinet Habu. The invaders in his drawings look very much like the Greeks. There are several more arguments in favor of the fact that the uninvited guests who tried to break into Egypt were Hellenes. For example, Ramses himself called them not only the peoples of the sea, but also the peoples of the islands. This may indicate that the invaders sailed from the Aegean, Crete or Cyprus.
The Greek version is opposed by the fact that the people living between the two seas are depicted by the Egyptians as beardless. This contradicts the knowledge of historians about the Hellenes. Ancient Greek men grew long beards until the 4th century BC. BC e. This is also evidenced by the images on the Mycenaean vases of that period.
Shekelesh
The theory about the Greeks in the army of the peoples of the sea is debatable. But there are ethnic groupswhich all historians are sure. One of them is shekelesh. This people is described in many sources of Ancient Egypt during the New Kingdom. There are mentions of him in such important places as the Temple of Karnak and Athribis. For the first time, these inscriptions on the walls appeared under the predecessor of Ramses III Merneptah, who ruled in 1213-1203. BC e.
Shekelesh were allies of the Libyan princes. On Egyptian bas-reliefs, they are depicted in armor with spears, swords, darts and round shields. Shekelesh sailed to Egypt on sailboats with images of bird heads on the bow and stern. In the XI century. BC e. they settled with the Philistines in Palestine. Shekelesh are mentioned in the "Journey of Unu-Amon" - a hieratic papyrus of the XXI dynasty. Now this artifact belongs to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow. Shekelesh traded in piracy. In Palestine, they captured the Karmal coast - a narrow coastal strip between the Carmel mountain range and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the Sharon plain.
Sherdans
Sherdans are an important part of the conglomerate that formed the peoples of the sea. Who are they? Like the shekelesh, these sailors were formidable pirates. Many historians consider them to be the ancestors of modern Sardinians. According to another version, this people of the sea was related to the Dardanians - the inhabitants of Troy and the whole northwestern Anatolia.
The capital of the Sherdans was considered the Palestinian city of Hakhvat, which, among other things, was mentioned in the Book of Judges of Israel. The first information about them refers to diplomatic clay tablets,belonging to the Tel el-Amarna archive, which is important for Egyptologists. This people, living between two seas, is mentioned by Rib-Addi, the ruler of the city of Byblos.
Sherdans have proven themselves not only as sea robbers, but also as reliable mercenaries. They began to appear in the Egyptian army during the XVIII dynasty. Ramses II defeated these strangers, after which they began to enter the service of the pharaohs even more. The mercenaries fought alongside the Egyptians during their subsequent military campaigns in Palestine and Syria. Under Ramses III, the Sherdans were "split". During the most important war of the Egyptians against the peoples of the sea, some of them fought on the side of the pharaoh, some against him. The classic Sherdan sword is long and straight. The inhabitants of the Nile Valley used sickle-shaped blades.
Tevkry
In ancient Troy lived not only Dardans and Sherdans. Their neighbors were the Teucers, another people of the sea. They were not Greeks, although their nobility spoke Greek. The Teucrians, like other Sea Peoples in Egyptian history, did not belong to the Indo-European group of peoples who later dominated the Mediterranean. Although this is known exactly, a more detailed ethnogenesis has not been elucidated.
According to one of the unconfirmed versions, the Teucrians are related to the Etruscans from Italy (it is interesting that ancient authors considered Asia Minor to be the ancestral home of the Etruscans). Another theory connects the Teucres with the Mysians. The capital of the tribe was the city of Dor, located in Palestine on the Mediterranean coast in what is now Israel. For the XII century BC. e. tevkry developed ita tiny settlement into a large and rich port. The city was destroyed by the Phoenicians. Only one name of the Tevkrian ruler is known. It was Beder. Information about him is contained in the same "Journey of Unu-Amon".
Philistines
The origin of the Philistines is not exactly known. The ancestral home of this people of the sea, settled in Palestine, may be Greece or Western Asia Minor. In the Bible it is called Crete. In the temple of Ramses III, the Philistines are depicted wearing Aegean robes and feathered helmets. Similar drawings from the Late Bronze Age have been found in Cyprus. The war chariots of the Philistines did not stand out for anything remarkable, but the ships were distinguished by an unusual shape. They also had unique ceramics, as well as anthropoid sarcophagi.
The original language of the Philistines is unknown to historians. With their coming to Israel, these people of the sea adopted the dialect of Canaan (the western part of the Fertile Crescent). Even the Philistine deities remained in the chronicles under Semitic names.
Almost all the peoples of the sea in the history of ancient Egypt remained little studied due to lack of sources. The exception to this rule is the Philistines. Firstly, they were distinguished by their multiplicity, due to which in the ancient era several small peoples assimilated at once. Secondly, there are many testimonies about the Philistines (the Bible stands out in particular). They did not have a centralized state. Instead, in Palestine, there were 5 city-states. All of them (Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, Gati), except for Ekron, were conquered by the Philistines. About itevidenced by archaeological layers that do not belong to their culture. The policies were managed by the elders who made up the council. David's biblical victory over the Philistines ended this order.
The people living on the sea gradually disappeared. Even the Egyptians, after the death of Ramses III, entered a period of prolonged loss. The Philistines, on the contrary, continued to live in prosperity and contentment. As mentioned above, after the catastrophe of the Bronze Age, mankind gradually mastered iron. The Philistines were among the first to do this. The possession of unique technologies and secrets of smelting iron daggers, swords, sickles and plow elements made them invulnerable for a long time to opponents stuck in the Bronze Age. The army of this people consisted of three backbones: heavily armed infantry, archers and war chariots.
At first, the culture of the Philistines had some Crete-Mycenaean features, as they maintained stable contacts with Greece. This relationship is clearly seen in the style of ceramics. The affinity begins to fade after about 1150 BC. e. It was then that the ceramics of the Philistines acquires the first features that differ from the Mycenaean tradition. The favorite drink of the Philistines was beer. During the excavations, archaeologists have found many characteristic jugs, the peculiarity of which is a filter for barley husks. 200 years after the resettlement in Palestine, the Philistines finally lose touch with the Greek past. In their culture, there were more and more local Semitic and Egyptian features.
End of the Sea Peoples
After the defeat in the war against Ramses III, the Sea Peoples settled in Palestine and completely subjugated the southern coast of Canaan. In the middle of the XII century. BC e. the large cities of Lachish, Megiddo, Gezer, Bethel were conquered. The Jordan Valley and Lower Galilee fell under the control of the Philistines. Cities were first destroyed, and then rebuilt in their own way - it was easier to establish power in a new place.
In the XI century BC. e. Ashdod became the key center of Philistia. It constantly expanded and strengthened. Trade with Egypt and other neighbors was highly profitable. The Philistines managed to gain a foothold in a strategically important region where many merchant routes intersected. Tel-Mor appeared in Ashdod - a fortress around which a port grew up.
The main enemy of the Philistines, apart from the Egyptians, were the Jews. Their conflict continued for several centuries. In 1066 BC. e. there was a battle at Aven Ezer, during which the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant (the main relic of the Israelites). The artifact was moved to the Temple of Dagon. This deity of the people of the sea was depicted as a half-fish, half-man (it patronized agriculture and fishing). The episode with the Ark appears in the Bible. It tells that the Philistines were punished by the Lord for their transgression. A mysterious disease began in their country - people were covered with ulcers. On the advice of the priests, the Sea People got rid of the Ark. During another conflict with the Israelites in 770 BC. e. Azariah, king of Judea, declared war on the Philistines. He took Ashdod by storm and destroyed its fortifications.
Philistinesgradually lost territories, although they retained their culture and identity. The most terrible blow to this people was inflicted by the Assyrians, who captured Palestine in the 7th century. BC e. It finally disappeared during the time of Alexander the Great. This great commander subjugated not only Palestine, but Egypt itself. As a result, both the inhabitants of the Nile Valley and the peoples of the sea underwent significant Hellenization and lost their unique national features that were characteristic of them during the memorable war of Ramses III with northern strangers.
