End of the Bronze Age: Destructions and the Sea Peoples Phenomenon

Abstract

With the deciphering of the Egyptian hieroglyphic script followed by the reading of the inscriptionon the walls of the Medinet Habu Temple in 1881, Masperocalled the people mentioned here “TheSea Peoples”. Thus began a big controversy in the world of archeology: Who were the Sea Peoples?Where did they come from? Why did they come? How did they come? When did they arrive? Wheredid they go? The Sea Peoples attacked Egypt in the fifth year of the reign of Merneptah I (1207 BC)under the command of the Libyan king Meryde. After the first attack, the tribes began to regroup,and the assembly, feasibly more numerous than the first, marched on Egypt. In the fifth (1182 BC)and eighth (1177/1176 BC) years of the reign of Ramses III, the second wave of attacks was halted.Ramses III had this victory inscribed on the walls of the Medinet Habu Temple.According to thegeneral narrative, the Sea Peoples first entered northern Greece and all of Greece was subsequentlyinvaded. The tribes who passed on to Anatolia via Troy first plundered Troy and then the westernAnatolian cities. Growing like an avalanche, the tribes proceeded to invade southern Anatolia,Cyprus, and then Ugarit and Phoenicia. The King of Egypt, Ramses III, succeeded in stopping the SeaPeoples there during his land battle. Following that, he won the sea battle in the Nile delta. Afterthese two victories, the Sea Peoples were defeated.The purpose of this study in the light of newfinds, was to discuss who the Sea Peoples were, why they started such a campaign, the purposeof their destruction, their role in the fall of the Hittites and their situation after being defeated byRamses III.

Özet

With the deciphering of the Egyptian hieroglyphic script followed by the reading of the inscription on the walls of the Medinet Habu Temple in 1881, Masperocalled the people mentioned here “The Sea Peoples”. Thus began a big controversy in the world of archeology: Who were the Sea Peoples? Where did they come from? Why did they come? How did they come? When did they arrive? Where did they go? The Sea Peoples attacked Egypt in the fifth year of the reign of Merneptah I (1207 BC) under the command of the Libyan king Meryde. After the first attack, the tribes began to regroup, and the assembly, feasibly more numerous than the first, marched on Egypt. In the fifth (1182 BC) and eighth (1177/1176 BC) years of the reign of Ramses III, the second wave of attacks was halted. Ramses III had this victory inscribed on the walls of the Medinet Habu Temple.According to the general narrative, the Sea Peoples first entered northern Greece and all of Greece was subsequently invaded. The tribes who passed on to Anatolia via Troy first plundered Troy and then the western Anatolian cities. Growing like an avalanche, the tribes proceeded to invade southern Anatolia, Cyprus, and then Ugarit and Phoenicia. The King of Egypt, Ramses III, succeeded in stopping the Sea Peoples there during his land battle. Following that, he won the sea battle in the Nile delta. After these two victories, the Sea Peoples were defeated.The purpose of this study in the light of new finds, was to discuss who the Sea Peoples were, why they started such a campaign, the purpose of their destruction, their role in the fall of the Hittites and their situation after being defeated by Ramses III.