Sea Peoples
The groups named in Egyptian sources from the 14th to the 12th century BCE (Sherden, Lukka, Peleset, Denyen and others) and the modern term "Sea Peoples". Identities and origins are debated.
Category: Peoples
- c. 1350 BCESherden and Lukka appear in Egyptian records
Some names later grouped as Sea Peoples appear well before 1200 BCE. The Amarna letters mention the Lukka, Denyen and Sherden; Ramesses II claims to repel a Sherden attack on the Delta in his second year, then fields captured Sherden at Kadesh.
- c. 1208 BCEMerneptah repels the Libyans and their allies
In his fifth year (c. 1208 BCE; his reign is dated c. 1213-1203) Merneptah defeats Libyans backed by Sea Peoples in a six-hour battle at Perire, in the western Delta. He claims 6,000 enemy dead and 9,000 prisoners. The Great Karnak Inscription and the Athribis Stele record it.
- c. 1178 BCERamesses III records victories over invaders by land and sea
In his eighth year (c. 1178-1175 BCE) Ramesses III records an invasion by land and sea. He claims victory at Djahy on Egypt's eastern frontier and in the Battle of the Delta, where archers and ships trap the enemy fleet at the Nile mouth. His reign is dated 1186-1155.
- c. 1175 BCEPhilistine culture appears on the Canaanite coast
From about 1175 BCE a distinct culture with local versions of Mycenaean Late Helladic IIIC pottery appears at Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron and Gath. A 2019 study at Ashkelon found mostly local ancestry plus a southern European-related component. Origins are debated.
- c. 1174 BCERamesses III's temple at Medinet Habu
Ramesses III's mortuary temple, finished around his twelfth year, carries the main Egyptian pictorial record of the Sea Peoples. Its reliefs show the land and sea battles and name foes such as the Peleset.
- c. 1154 BCEThe Great Harris Papyrus
Commissioned by Ramesses IV, the Great Harris Papyrus lists Ramesses III's temple gifts and expeditions, including copper mining at Timna. An undated passage says he killed Denyen "in their isles", burned Tjeker and Peleset, and settled captured Sherden and Weshesh in Egypt.
- 1855The term "Sea Peoples" is coined
In 1855 Emmanuel de Rougé, working from the Medinet Habu inscriptions, proposes the name "Sea Peoples"; Gaston Maspero develops it in 1895-96. It is a modern term, and most of the groups it covers appear to have travelled by land.