CHAPTER XXXIII - SYRIA, THE PHILISTINES, AND PHOENICIA

Summary

THE SEA PEOPLES IN PALESTINE

In the early twelfth century B.C. Syria and Palestine were flooded by an irruption of peoples from the coasts and islands of the northern Mediterranean. Unfortunately, we cannot fix the exact date of this invasion, since our chief pertinent sources are the reliefs and accompanying inscriptions of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu; the former are schematic and undated, while the latter consist almost exclusively of triumphal poems in a stereotyped and bombastic style. Moreover, the date of the reign of Ramesses III is uncertain within a possible range of a generation and a probable range of a decade, but the earliest and latest possible dates for his accession are now considered to have been about 1205 and 1180, respectively. To judge from the monuments, it would appear that the first attack on Egypt came by sea and land not long before the sixth year of the king. The first land onslaught is said to have been beaten back in Phoenicia (Djahy). The great triumphal inscription of the eighth year was composed in glorification of the second naval victory; land operations are also mentioned, but it is not clear how successful they really were.

While the inscription of the eighth year makes it certain that the Egyptians connected this migration with the movement which had brought an abrupt end to the Hittite Empire, it seems evident that they were both part of a greater upheaval. The Hittite Empire was overthrown by land peoples who struck deep into the heart of Anatolia and are said in the inscriptions of the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser I to have reached south-western Armenia about 1165 B.C. The migration with which we are concerned here included five different peoples, at least two of whom are represented as fighting in ships, some manned by warriors with feathered helmets while others have only warriors with low, horned helmets.