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Who were the Sea People who attacked Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age Collapse? Who were the Sea People who attacked Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age Collapse?
The Sea People were Mycenaean Greeks The Sea People were Mycenaean Greeks
The Sea People were migrants fleeing famine. The Sea People were migrants fleeing famine.
The Sea People were an emerging Anatolian power The Sea People were an emerging Anatolian power
The Sea People were created by invaders passing through the Balkans The Sea People were created by invaders passing through the Balkans
The Sea People were bandits and raiders. The Sea People were bandits and raiders.
The Greeks turned to piracy after the Trojan War The Greeks turned to piracy after the Trojan War
Some of the Sea People were Philistines of Greek extraction Some of the Sea People were Philistines of Greek extraction
The Teresh, Sherden, and Shekelesh fled Anatolian famine to live in Italy The Teresh, Sherden, and Shekelesh fled Anatolian famine to live in Italy
Scientific and written evidence proves there was severe drought and famine Scientific and written evidence proves there was severe drought and famine
The Luwian People from Asia Minor are the mythical Trojans The Luwian People from Asia Minor are the mythical Trojans
Some of the ethnic groups in the sources can be traced to Anatolian lands Some of the ethnic groups in the sources can be traced to Anatolian lands
Archaeology from the Balkans indicates a crisis prior to the Bronze Age Collapse Archaeology from the Balkans indicates a crisis prior to the Bronze Age Collapse
The Sea People were pirates, they cannot be identified as an ethnic group. The Sea People were pirates, they cannot be identified as an ethnic group.
The other causes of the Bronze Age Collapse created widespread piracy The other causes of the Bronze Age Collapse created widespread piracy
Changes in Late Bronze Age warfare led to extensive raiding Changes in Late Bronze Age warfare led to extensive raiding
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Who were the Sea People who attacked Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age Collapse?
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The Sea People were an emerging Anatolian power

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Some of the ethnic groups in the sources can be traced to Anatolian lands

The Sherden, Shekelesh, Teresh, and Lukka can all be linked to places in Anatolia. The Anatolian connection is particularly strong for the Lukka, who are mentioned quite frequently in antiquity.
Ancient History
Gaston Maspero
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The Argument

The word “Lukka”, appears in multiple Near Eastern texts which appear to describe a region of Anatolia.[1] Although it is uncertain which part, Lycia is one strong candidate, as the Greek word Lykaeonia, could easily be a transliteration of Lukkawani (literally the people who live in Lukka).[2] Whoever the Lukka were, they appear to have had frequent conflicts, including religious disputes, with the Hittites, whose power was based in Eastern Anatolia. The Hittite capital Hattusa is one of the sites destroyed in this period.[3] It has been proposed that the Shekelesh might have come from the Shekha river region in western Anatolia. The Sherden may be from Sardis in Western Anatolia, based on the origins of others Sea People in Anatolia, the word Sherden may have come from Mount Sardena, or the Sardanion plain.[2] The Teresh are the Tyrrhenians who according to Herodotus came from ancient Lydia (Western Anatolia) to Italy.[4] There are multiple compelling theories that the names of at least some of the Sea People derive from places in Anatolia. The Lukka, in particular, are identified by name in Near Eastern sources. The Sea People were likely a coalition of peoples from Anatolia.

Counter arguments

Many of the etymological arguments are weak, and there are multiple equally plausible variations on many of the names, especially for the Shekelesh and the Sherden. We do not really know where they were from and many archaeologists have resorted to guessing based on similar soundings names.[5]There is stronger evidence, based on written material and archaeology that the Sea People were mostly Greek. The story in Herodotus about the Etruscans is believed by many to be inaccurate, or date to a much later period in history.[6] The Egyptian sources say that the Sea People came from the islands, which makes it unlikely they came from mainland Anatolia. There are better explanations for the origins of many of the ethnic groups which are backed up with source material and archaeology.

Proponents

Premises

[P1] The words Lukka, Shekelesh, teresh and Sherden can all be connected with lands in Anatolian. [C] The Sea People were Anatolian.

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/545499?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=lukka+land&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dlukka%2Bland%26filter%3D&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_solr_cloud%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3Acd75de29af5ffc03f469f2907f4fb28a&seq=10#metadata_info_tab_contents
  2. https://www.jstor.org/stable/545499?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=lukka+land&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dlukka%2Bland%26filter%3D&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_solr_cloud%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3Acd75de29af5ffc03f469f2907f4fb28a&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
  3. https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1498/88/1498880873171.pdf
  4. https://www.ancient.eu/article/47/pirates-of-the-mediterranean/
  5. https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1498/88/1498880873171.pdf
  6. https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/1177_B_C_The_Year_Civilization_Collapsed.html?id=FGFQBwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y

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This page was last edited on Monday, 30 Nov 2020 at 13:19 UTC

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