Who were the Sea peoples?

Originally posted by archaiokapilos well I think that they were Greeks ( Ekwesh, Danuna ) Aegeans ( Tjekker/Peleshet ) and Anatolians    ( Sherden, Lukka ) who plundered the Mediterranean Sea after the destruction of Mycenean and Hittite Empires. They eventually got mixed with the natives in the places that they invated and formed a basic element in the creation of new nations ( like the Phoenicians and Israelites who were a mixture of Sea Peoples and Semites )

This is the view widely held today. Some people try to discount the Greek elements, but if so, where else would the displaced Greeks have gone? The old idea of the Sea Peoples being Dorians and other Balkans has been discounted.  

This is my personal opinion not a scientific fact allthough it has been proven that the Phoenicians started colonizing the Mediterranean only after the Sea Peoples invaded their land (and we all know that the Sea Peoples were maritme nations). Additionally, Mycenean pottery was found at Dor and Philistine area the exact place where the Sea Peoples settled. If you add the fact that the tribe of Dan was connected with ships in the song of Debborah (while original Semites were nomadic) it is quite a good case for my theory. Untill now people who relied in the Bible to identify ancient nations thought of the Greek Danaans as being of Israelite origin while the opposite seems to be true- it is the tribe of Dan which is of Hellenic extraction.

There are different views. I support the view that:

-the Ekwesh were Akhaians (Greeks)

-the Peleshet were Pelasgians from Crete and became the Phillistines in the Levant

-the Sherden/Sharden were Sardinians

The Pelasgians were not Greek but spoke a related Indo-European language.

   
Sherden

 

 

Sherden-like warriors are attested in Sardinia but the question is : are they attested earlier in Sardinia than the Levant ? The socalled bronzetti ( bronze figurines)  of Sardinia show warriors with horned helmets , round shields and long swords :

 

   

Sardinian bronzetti

 

 

 

Long sword from Sardinia,late second or early first millenium BC.

 

The problem is that these bronzetti are from c. 900-800BC, which is about 300 years after the Egyptian reliefs.  For some this serves as an argument that Sherden warriors went to Sardinia from the Levant.

On the other hand….the Sherden were described as sea-wanderers by the Egyptians and linked to isles. Also, there is evidence which is closer to the times of the Sea Peoples and indicates Sherden-like warriors in 13th century Sardinia. For example: The south of Corsica is about 10 km from Sardinia and had virtually the same culture (nuragic culture). Here we find menhirs depicting warriors with horned helmets and the long sword. They can be dated to c.1200 BC. which supports the view that the Sherden were from Sardinia.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Sander - 04-Apr-2011 at 16:03

Originally posted by seraphy Sea people? You probably mean the pirates coming from Scandinavia islands?

Good heavens, no. This was over 2000 years before the Vikings, in the time of Ramses II.
Link

These recent findings support the Minoans in Canaan circa 2000bc: http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/april-2011/article/archaeologists-uncover-evidence-of-a-minoan-presence-among-ancient-canaanites