The Ethnicity of the Sea Peoples - RePub - Erasmus Universiteit ...

I was the valiant Montu [= war-god], standing fast at
their head, so that they might gaze upon the capturing
of my two hands; King of Upper and Lower Egypt:
Usermare-Meriamon; Son of Re: Ramses III.
As for those who reached my frontier, their seed
is not, their heart and soul are finished forever and
ever. As for those who came forward together on the
sea, the full flame was in front of them at the Nile
mouths, while a stockade of lances surrounded them
on the shore, (so that they were) dragged (ashore),
hemmed in, prostrated on the beach, slain, and made
into heaps from tail to head. Their ships and their
goods were as if fallen into the water.
I made the lands turn back from mentioning
Egypt; for when they pronounce my name in their
land, then they are burned up. Since I have sat upon
the throne of Harakhte [= manifestation of Horus]
and the Great Enchantress [= uraeus] was fixed upon
my head like Re, I have not let the countries behold
the frontiers of Egypt, to boast thereof to the Nine
Bows [= Egypts traditional enemies]. I have taken
away their land, their frontiers being added to mine.
Their chiefs and their tribespeople are mine with
praise, for I am upon the ways of the plans of the All-
Lord, my august, divine father, the Lord of Gods.” 100
Text to the scene of the land battle (Fig. 5)
“His majesty sets out for Zahi like unto Montu, to
crush every country that violates his frontier. His
troops are like bulls ready on the field of battle; his
horses are like falcons in the midst of small birds before
the Nine Bows, bearing victory. Amon, his august
father, is a shield for him; King of Upper and
Lower Egypt, Ruler of the Nine Bows, Lord of the
Two Lands (…).” 101
Text to the scene of the sea battle (Fig. 6)
“Now the northern countries, which were in their
isles, were quivering in their bodies. They penetrated
the channels of the Nile mouths. Their nostrils have
ceased (to function, so that) their desire is
breathe the breath. His majesty is gone forth like a
whirlwind against them, fighting on the battle field
like a runner. The dread of him and the terror of him
have entered in their bodies; (they are) capsized and
overwhelmed in their places. Their hearts are taken
away; their soul is flown away. Their weapons are
scattered in the sea. His arrow pierces him whom he
has wished among them, while the fugitive is become
one fallen into the water. His majesty is like an enraged
lion, attacking his assailant with his pawns;
plundering on his right hand and powerful on his left
hand, like Set[h] destroying the serpent ‘Evil of
100 Edgerton & Wilson 1936: 53-6; cf. Breasted 1927: Vol. IV,
no. 64; Pritchard 1969: 262-3; Strobel 1976: 14; Drews 1993a: 51;
Peden 1994: 29-31.
101 Edgerton & Wilson 1936: 38; cf. Pritchard 1969: 263.
52
Character’. It is Amon-Re who has overthrown for
him the lands and has crushed for him every land under
his feet; King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of
the Two Lands: Usermare-Meriamon.” 102
Depicted prisoners of war (Fig. 7):
1. chief of Hatti, 2. chief of Amor, 3. chieftain of the
foe of the Tjeker, 4. Sherden of the sea, 5. chieftain of
the foe Sha[su], 6. Teresh of the sea, 7. chieftain of
the Pe(leset). 103
Südstele, year 12 (= 1172 BC).
Mention of Tjeker, Peleset, Denyen, Weshesh and
Shekelesh. 104
Stele from Deir el Medineh
Pharaoh boasts of having defeated Peleset and Teresh who
attacked Egypt. 105
Papyrus Harris
“I extended all the boundaries of Egypt: I overthrew
those who invaded them from (or: in) their lands. I
slew the Denyen in (= who are in) their isles, the
Tjeker and the Peleset were made ashes. The Sherden
and the Weshesh of the sea, they were made as those
that exist not, taken captive at one time, brought as
captives to Egypt, like the sand of the shore. I settled
them in strongholds, bound in my name. Numerous
were their classes like hundred-thousands. I taxed
them all, in clothing and grain from the storehouses
and granaries each year.” 106
The Wenamon story, as preserved on the Golenischeff
papyrus, informs us about the period after the wars with
the Sea Peoples, in which Egypt can no longer exert its
power in its former dependencies along the coastal region
of the Levant.
102 Edgerton & Wilson 1936: 41-2; cf. Pritchard 1963: 263.
103 Strobel 1976: 18; Sandars 1980: 106-7, afb. 68.
104 Kitchen 1983: no. 73, 9 f.; cf. Lehmann 1985: 23-4.
105 Lepsius 1900: Vol. III, 218c; Drews 1993a: 51.
106 Breasted 1927: Vol. IV, no. 403; Strobel 1976: 18.