The great empires of the Late Bronze Age – the Hittites, Egypt, Mycenae, and more – all collapsed as the Bronze Age ended and were succeeded by the new powers. However, the shift of power, from bronze empires to new iron empires, was not like anything else seen in history.
Both the Hittite and Mycenaean Empires were wiped off the map of the ancient Mediterranean Sea only within 56 years (1260 to 1150 BCE). Civilizations on Cyprus were also burnt to ashes. Only the Egyptian Empire survived the catastrophic demolition but was reduced to Egypt, losing all of its foreign territories. Every city on the coastline of Greece, Crete, Cyprus, Turkey, Levant, and Egypt was destroyed and burnt with nothing left to tell what happened.
Who were the Sea People?
Sea People – the mysterious group of invaders – brought ruin to the Hittite and Mycenaean empires and demolished civilizations in Cyprus, Canaan, and Egypt. Carpet bombing to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea dismantled peace managed by each regional empire and catalyzed another dark age to cast upon the ancient world. Civilizations halted progress until new empires came to power a hundred years later. Who were the Sea People? There is much more to uncover to solve the mystery, but we can at least make conjectures based on remnants and records; the Sea People were the confederation of pirates and minor kingdoms from the Mediterranean Sea who sought resources from the great famine.
First of all, the mysterious Sea People were a united confederation of different groups of peoples, instead of being one dominant power. Some dominant civilizations of the Late Bronze Age were the Hittites (Anatolia), the Egyptians (Egypt and Levant), and the Mycenaeans (Greece). While there is much more to learn about the prehistoric era of the Mediterranean Sea, there have been no peoples or states strong enough to fight the Hittites, the Egyptians, and the Mycaeneans at the same time. Mediterranean regions besides Egypt, Levant, Turkey, and Greece were still going through the prehistoric era. For instance, Italy of the late bronze age had just begun to create settlements under Proto-Villanovan culture, but the settlements were scattered all around Italy, which prevented the formation of one strong state. Iberia, much like Italy, was going through a prehistoric era, transitioning from El-Argar civilization to Proto-Celtic urnfield culture. Well-known sailors of Phoenician culture have shown prominence in the Mediterranean Sea and established multiple cities around the coastline, but the Phoenicians were one of the victims of the sea people’s incursion, excluding them from the suspect list. Instead of being one single force, the Sea People were likely to be a union of pirates and other minor kingdoms spread all over the Mediterranean Sea.
The Sea People were a confederation of multiple different groups of people, but where were they from? They likely originated from Asia Minor and other Mediterranean islands. The first invasion of the Sea People took place in Egypt in 1206. Egypt survived the first wave of raids and recorded, “the pirates from Sherden, Shekelesh, Eqwesh, Teresh, Lukka, Tjeker, and Peleset” invaded Egyptian coasts but were repulsed by Ramses II. Sherden is modern-day Sardinia, and Shekelesh is modern-day Sicily. Other locations are still ambiguous, but we assume Eqwesh directs Greece, Teresh directs Italy, Lukka to Anatolia, Tjeker to the Levant, and Peleset to Palestine. Lukka, a small kingdom in Asia Minor, stands among other lists of raiders, infamous for their piracy since 2000 BCE. Other evidence also supports the idea, as the 3200 year old stone slab recently deciphered by the archeologists “tells of how a united fleet of kingdoms from western Asia Minor raided coastal cities of eastern Mediterranean.” The Script is suggested to be from the ancient Luwian kingdom named Mira, and based on the records, Mira likely was one of the confederations of the Sea People. Dutch linguists Zangger and Fred Woudhuizen revealed, “Luwians from western Asia Minor contributed decisively to the so-called Sea People’ invasions – and thus to the end of the Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean”.
Lastly, the Sea People were mainly composed of Anatolian kingdoms and pirates from other Mediterranean islands. The motive of this catastrophic invasion is also in veil; but looking at the records of dwellers in the region, it can be inferred that the famine and lack of resources have led the people to join the Sea People and raid empires. Egyptian records of Ramses II show how the Hittite Empire asked for food aid because of the great famine. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus also writes about the Lydian migration due to famine and food depletion. The rich trading city of Ugarit also mentions the long-lasting drought in the Anatolian region. Famine and food depletion fits perfectly into how the invasions of the Sea People did not end in any conquest. The Sea People pillaged nearby states to gain resources, but they did end up conquering many territories for their own.
There are still unsolved mysteries regarding the Sea People such as; even if unified, how were groups of fleets able to annihilate the whole coastline of the eastern Mediterranean Sea in less than a century, or, why did they burn down all the buildings and artifacts if their primary goal of the raid was food. There are more sites to be excavated, but it is very hard to determine the truth since all the civilizations that encountered the Sea People were destroyed except for the Egyptians. However, a bit of evidence and tablets give us a glimpse of who the Sea People were: a confederation of pirates and minor kingdoms from the Mediterranean Sea who sought resources during the great famine.