Subject: Re: Who were the Sea Peoples?
From:    Walter Mattfeld 
Date:    Tue, 7 May 2002 04:26:27 +0200
To:      ANCIEN-L@LISTSERV.LOUISVILLE.EDU

Dear Peter,

There are a number of theories about the origins of the Sea Peoples.

It is true that Gordon thought they (the Philistines) were Semites and that
they spoke a Semitic language, but most scholars disagree. They do
acknowledge, however, that they acculturated to the prevailing Canaanite
world and did adopt a Semitic language (with strong affinities to Hebrew)
while still retaining some words of the parent language.

Singer sums up the current state of research :

"Clear evidence for the origins of the Sea Peoples is still missing (survey
of views in Singer 1988). Disregarding some farfetched theories, the
admissible views may be roughly classified according to three main
geographical zones. (a) The N Balkans, particularly Illyria on the Adriatic
coast; the "Illyrian theory" is related with the identification of the
Philistines (*Palaisti may be the original form of the name) with the
Pelasgoi (sometimes spelled Pelastoi) of the classical sources, a
pre-Hellenic people who inhabited the Balkans and the Aegean regions
(Lochner-Hüttenbach 1960). (b) The W Aegean region, i.e., Greece, the Aegean
islands, and Crete; this theory relies on archaeological (mainly ceramic)
comparisons and on the biblical tradition, which brings the Philistines from
the island of Caphtor, i.e., Crete. (c) The E Aegean, i.e., Anatolia and the
offshore islands. This view, which is gaining increasing acceptance, is
supported by the most solid and diversified evidence. (1) At least two out
of the nine Sea Peoples mentioned in the Egyptian sources are undoubtedly
located in Anatolia-the Lukka in Lycia and the Danuna in Cilicia; a third
group, the Trs, is probably related to the Tyrsenoi (and biblical Tiras),
who, according to Herodotus, migrated from Lydia to Etruria. (2) The few
traces of Philistine words (seren, q/kobah) and names (Goliath, Achish)
appear to be etymologically connected with Anatolian languages. (3) The
Hittite texts provide ample evidence for serious upheavals in SW Anatolia
(the Lukka lands) in the second half of the 13th century b.c., which can
clearly be related with the emergence of the Sea Peoples (Singer 1983). (4)
Some of the classical traditions on W Anatolian heroes who trekked eastward
and eventually settled in Cyprus and the Levant (Teucros, Mopsus) may
reflect dim echoes of the migratory movements of the Sea Peoples
(Schachermeyr 1982).
Although the focal point of the turbulence appears to have been in SW
Anatolia (still a poorly explored region), the 'tidal waves' soon affected
the neighboring regions and disrupted the authority of the Hittite and the
Mycenaean empires. The major cause for the economic and political breakdown,
which motivated large populations to migrate, was probably the severe food
shortage, amply documented in contemporary Near Eastern texts and also
echoed in the classical and biblical sources. Whereas some of the Sea
Peoples poured down along the Levantine coast in search of land and food,
others turned westward and sailed as far as Sardinia (Serdani), Sicily
(Sikila or Skls), and Etruria (Trs/Tyrsenoi). Archaeological evidence from
the central Mediterranean, particularly from Sardinia, confirms the
classical traditions on these movements (Sandars 1978, chap. 4). Quite
extensive in itself, the diaspora of the Sea Peoples represents only a
fraction of much larger population drifts, which encompassed vast
territories in the E Mediterranean, the Balkans, Asia Minor, and the Levant,
and radically changed the face of these regions in the transition from the
Bronze Age to the Iron Age (see summaries in Deger-Jalkotzy 1983). Contrary
to traditional views which conceived of the Sea Peoples as barbarian raiders
spreading ruin and chaos, modern historical and archaeological research
increasingly appreciates their cultural role in the merging of the
Indo-European civilizations of the Aegean realm with the Semitic cultures of
the Levant.

Bibliography
Alt, A. 1944. Ägyptische Tempel in Palästina und die Landnahme der
Philister. ZDPV 67:1-20. Repr. KlSchr 1:216-30.
Astour, M. C. 1965. New Evidence on the Last Days of Ugarit. AJA 69:253-58.
Barnett, R. D. 1975. The Sea Peoples. CAH3 2:359-70.
Brug, J. F. 1985. A Literary and Archaeological Study of the Philistines.
Oxford.
Bryce, T. R. 1974. The Lukka Problem-and a Possible Solution. JNES
33:395-404.
Deger-Jalkotzy, S., ed. 1983. Griechenland, die Äqäis und die Levante
während der "Dark Ages" vom 12. bis zum 9. Jh. v. Chr. Wien.
Dothan, T. 1982. The Philistines and their Material Culture. Jerusalem.
Dothan, T., and Gitin, S. 1987. The Rise and Fall of Ekron of the
Philistines: Recent Excavations at an Urban Border Site. BA 50:197-222.
Güterbock, H. G. 1981. The Hittites and the Aegean World: Part 1. The
Ahhiyawa Problem Reconsidered. AJA 87:133-43.
Karageorghis, V., and Muhly, J. D., eds. 1984. Cyprus at the Close of the
Late Bronze Age. Nicosia.
Lehmann, G. A. 1970. Der Untergang des hethitischen Grossreiches und die
neuen Texte aus Ugarit. UF 2:39-73.
---. 1979. Die Sikalayu: Ein neues Zeugnis zu den "Seevölker" Heerfahrten im
späten 13. Jh.V.Chr. (RS 34.129). UF 11:481-94.
Lochner-Hüttenbach, F. 1960. Die Pelasger. Vienna.
Macalister, R. A. S. 1911. The Philistines. London. Repr. Chicago, 1965.
Malamat, A. 1971. The Egyptian Decline in Canaan and the Sea Peoples. WHJP
3:23-38; 294-300.
Mazar, A. 1985. The Emergence of Philistine Culture. IEJ 35:95-107.
Mazar, B. 1971. The Philistines and Their Wars with Israel. WHJP 3:164-79;
324-25.
---. 1986. The Philistines and the Rise of Israel and Tyre. Pp. 63-82 in The
Early Biblical Period. Historical Studies. Jerusalem.
Müller-Karpe, H., ed. 1977. Geschichte des 13. und 12. Jahrhunderts v. Chr.
(Jahresbericht des Instituts für Vorgeschichte der Universität Frankfurt
A.M. 1976.). Frankfurt.
Nelson, H. H. 1930, 1932. The Earliest Historical Records of Ramses III,
Medinet Habu. 2 vols. Chicago.
Sandars, N. K. 1978. The Sea Peoples. London.
Schachermeyr, F. 1980. Griechenland im Zeitalter der Wanderungen. Vienna.
---. 1982. Die Levante im Zeitalter der Wanderungen. Vienna.
Singer, I. 1983. Western Anatolia in the Thirteenth Century b.c. According
to the Hittite Sources. AnSt 33:205-17.
---. 1985a. The Beginning of Philistine Settlement in Canaan and the
Northern Boundary of Philistia. TA 12:109-22.
---. 1985b. The Battle of NihÉriya and the End of the Hittite Empire. ZA
75:100-23.
---. 1987. Dating the End of the Hittite Empire. Hethitica 8:413-21.
---. 1988. The Origin of the Sea Peoples and Their Settlement on the Coast
of Canaan. Pp. 239-50 in Society and Economy in the Eastern Mediterranean
(c. 1500-1000 B.C.), ed. M. Heltzer and E. Lipinski. OLA. Louvain.
Strobel, A. 1976. Der Spätbronzezeitliche Seevölkersturm. Berlin.
Young, D. Y., ed. 1981. Ugarit in Retrospect. Winona Lake, IN.
  Itamar Singer
Freedman, David Noel, ed., The Anchor Bible Dictionary, (New York:
Doubleday) 1997, 1992.

All the best, Walter

Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld
Walldorf by Heidelberg
Baden-Wurttemburg, Germany
www.bibleorigins.net


----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Myers" 
To: 
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 12:34 AM
Subject: Who were the Sea Peoples?



> Dear Ancient-L,
>
> Who were the Sea Peoples?
>
> Cyrus H Gordon says in his bok Before Columbus that they were north-west
> semites (Minoans of the type before the Greek invasion, Phoenicians
> etc). They invaded Egypt & Palestine because the Greeks were pushing
> them.
>
> Geddes & Grosset, Ancient Egypt: Myth & History says that the Sea
> Peoples were largely Europeans (Greeks etc):
>
> "partly of Alpine and partly of Northern descent" (p. 279).
>
> I hope someone can clarify this.
>
> --
> Peter Myers
> 21 Blair St
> Watson ACT 2602
> Australia
> http://users.cyberone.com.au/myers
> ph +61 2 6247 5187
>
> Copyright © ANCIEN-L 2002.
> All rights reserved.
>


Copyright © ANCIEN-L 2002.
                          All rights reserved.

Back to Cover