Sea Peoples of the Bronze Age Mediterranean c.1400 BC–1000 BC (Elite, 204)

When I was working on an MA in ancient history, the "Sea Peoples" were a big mystery. There was lots of speculation, particularly about origins, but it was mostly based on the various group names' and their similarities to the names of various locations around the Mediterranean. Mostly it all came down to, “We don ‘t know.” The cause of the migrations was also unknown, but “climate change,” even in the dark ages of my student days, was still the leading theory, not necessarily provable at the time.I won't say that this volume entirely clarifies the situation. I’m not sure that anything will, short of finding written records of the migrant’s own stories, which is doubtful but not impossible. What the author has done is collate the diverse sources of information that has actually come to light about this era of the Mediterranean world over the last several decades. Archaeological discoveries, and importantly, documents from literate societies like Egypt, the Levant, Turkey and Mesopotamia have been carefully combined and assessed, gleaning as much information as possible and weaving it into a more coherent proposal about the period. The story may change if more is discovered, but for now, it’s the closest to an understanding of the era we have had to date.Archaeology has yielded a great deal of information over the past several decades, and the discovery and translation of the records of the Hittite empire are among the most helpful. One of the things I found most interesting from this source was further support for the tradition of Homer’s Troy. Mentions of names of cities, troublemakers, and leaders in some of the Anatolian coastal sites in the Hittite hinterland, are mentioned. The linguistic analysis of these suggests that “Homer got it right,” at least in part, making it more likely that this and other activities in the Mediterranean world may be related. Just “how” is the question, one that may never be answered. This was definitely a turbulent time and many literate societies collapsed during it, silencing their voices thereafter. On the other hand, some of these migrant people settled in lands with a history of literacy. Egyptian sources also made it apparent that these people, even when captured during a battle, were often integrated into the working population of the country, often as specialists and high-status individuals. If one or more of them acquired the skill—not an easy task at the time—and decided to write the story of their people from their own perspective, we might actually find out more someday. Who knows? The Egyptian deserts have yielded a wide variety of historical material over the ages.I found the author's use of Egyptian art depictions of various Sea People Tribes from tomb and temple embellishments interesting. Especially the modern artistic reconstruction of different individuals that the author provides the reader. These definitely brought them to life for me. The Sherdan, Shekelesh, Meshwesh, Weshesh, Peleset, Tjerker, and others were different people from different regions of the world, and this is obvious from what is recorded. They weren’t all dressed or armed alike, and their preferred pottery styles suggest places they might have come from, traded with, or settled in later. Their intentions were also different, as some were looking for a place to settle while others seem to have been interested in plunder and/or work as mercenaries, which suggests that there were different causes for their migrations as well. The author notes that there was more to be gleaned from their apparel and weapons, especially when compared with archaeological finds from various locations in the Aegean and Mediterranean at large, and proposed locations of origin for these people have become slightly more certain by comparing physiognomy, dress, weapons and other attributes.Egyptian and other documents, also suggest they sometimes fought against the native people of a country and sometimes for them and against one another. “Turbulent” was the very essence of this time period. In my day it was believed that it was his mercenary army of sea people troops, the Ra or Re unit, that saved Ramses II’s ass at the battle of Kadesh, though the royal spin-doctor’s made much of his personal bravery to cover for his outrageous tactical blunder. This was well before the peak of these invasions in the age of Ramses III more than 50 or so years later in Dynasty 20, however, which suggests to me that climate may indeed have been a significant factor in starting mass movements. At the time I was studying the era, it was noted that during the period after the Egypt-Hittite peace treaty, the Hittite king requested Rameses send grain to mitigate a croup failure in Anatolia, and he apparently did so. This also suggests a spreading climate crisis. As the author notes, Ramses III probably had several low Nile episodes himself that brought food shortages to Egypt in his time and may have contributed to his assassination. Once Egypt was in trouble agriculturally, everyone was.I’m not certain we’ll ever know everything we’d like to know about this era and its enigmatic characters, but at least the information we do have has been well used and presented by the author.

This Osprey volume provides the reader with the most up to date research surrounding the mysterious group commonly referred to as the Sea Peoples; a confederation of migrants that played an influential role during the Late Bronze Age period of the Eastern Mediterranean. Prior to the release of this publication, the de facto often cited research was that of N.K. Sandars’ 1985 title, “The Sea Peoples: Warriors of the Ancient Mediterranean 1250 - 1150 BC. The problem with this title is that despite being an excellent source for the topic in question, it is a bit outdated. In recent decades we have unearthed many new clues on this most volatile period of ancient history. This is where this recent title comes into the picture.The authors of this latest research introduce the reader to the historical background of these Sea Peoples and the sources to which they derive. This is followed by the mostly inconclusive identification of each mentioned ethnic group or clan. The authors then highlight their appearances as it has been preserved in ancient artifacts and mostly Egyptian inscriptions. The rest focuses on their military tactics and exploits. Do not let the 60 pages fool you. It’s content is complete and to the point.It needs to be noted that none of this research is new but instead produces a consolidated and near complete source of what we know of these intriguing peoples. What we do know is that at random points during the Late Bronze Age, waves of migrants spread throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. Some brought wives and children to resettle and start new lives away from what may have been a troubled home. While others were simply looking for work, possibly as soldiers or mercenaries for hire. There was also a third group commonly identified as pirates and attacking trading vessels as they traveled along the Anatolian coastline. The origin of these groups, their eventual destination, and the reason for their migration has yet to reveal itself. In time, the archaeology of the region may yield more clues.

If you are a military history or just an ancient history fan, this book is for you. It covers a time in the history of mankind that remains really obscure and that marked the beginning, believe it or not what of what can be called the first dark age... The most significant civilizations of this age disappeared during or close to these years marking the end of the Bronze age. The Sea Peoples are commonly blamed about it, but it is hard to believe that they were the only cause of this strange end. Nicely written and with a lot of nice pictures from original reliefs and tablets, it gives a lot of information and helps us very much to understand the end of a golden age of civilization long gone.

This is an excellent survey of current knowledge about the Sea Peoples. I had hoped for a brief broad introduction to the subject area and current thinking about it, unhampered by minutiae and lengthy discussions of the merits of various theories. That's exactly what this is and I couldn't be more pleased. The author very succinctly presents the various theories about the various elements of the subject, but withholds commenting directly on the technical merits of those arguments beyond occasional remarks of a "... this seems likely..." or "... it seems more probable that..." nature, usually supported by a reason for the comment. The fact is that we simply do not *know* much at all about the Sea Peoples, and he makes that clear, while explaining why some possibilities *seem* to be better supported by the evidence than are others. The bibliography and index are both quite decent, especially for a book this size. While there will be little or nothing here for specialists in the field, I expect to find it quite useful as a reference for a long time, and I believe other amateurs will, also.

It came in time and is well illustrated. More for children than a serious researched book.

The subject of the ‘Peoples of the Sea’ – or the ‘Sea Peoples’, as this book refers to them – is a fascinating one and Raffaele D’Amato and Andrea Salimbeti have done an excellent job of bringing together a wealth of valuable information, including some very illuminating line drawings and photographs. I was pleasantly surprised at how scholarly this book is and at the range of sources from which it derives its information. If you thought that the inscriptions and reliefs at Karnak, Medinet Habu and Abu Simbel were the last word on the subject of the Sea Peoples, then it turns out that you would be very much mistaken!After a brief introduction, the book considers the historical background and the principal sources concerning the Sea Peoples, then addresses the various peoples and groups who made up that loose confederation, before turning – as you would expect with an Osprey book – to the military aspects, which it covers at length (within the constraints of a 64 page book) and very effectively. It concludes with a useful bibliography. The book does have a weakness, however, in that the full-page colour plates which the illustrator prepared specially for this book are not very good. If the colour plates had been up to the standard of the text, I would have given this book five stars.

I bought this short book after reading "1177 B.C. The Year Civilization Collapsed" by Eric H.Cline. In it he states that we do not know a lot about the so called "Sea Peoples" that lived 3000 years ago. "Sea Peoples of the Bronze Age Mediterranean c.1400 BC - 1000 BC" makes an effort to present what we actually know.What we have here is a short book that put some light on who the Sea People were and how they dressed. We also get some information on where they lived or where scholars today believe they lived. Not very much is known about that and much is speculation. There are some nice illustrations and lots of references to more detailed sources.Reading this it is clear that we do know some about the Sea People but most of the information leads to more questions.It would have helped the presentation if there had been some maps to support it but all in all it is a short and interesting presentation about a very difficult subject. In order to solve the basic question who they were and where they came from we need a breakthrough and find far better sources. Somehow I think this is going to be a unsolved historical question for a very long time.

This is a terrific read and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in this very obscure period in Ancient history. The authors have reconstructed the armour, weapons and origins of various Mediterranean 'tribes' from many different sources, all described in the text. So little is known about the Sea Peoples, and almost all from accounts written or recorded by their enemies, (particularly Egypt) that a definite and comprehensive account becomes impossible. Indeed the variety in headgear, shields, swords etc. makes each tribe distinct and recognizable despite their obscure origins and the fact that many of the original sources were created by civilizations such as the 'Hittites' on the verge of their annihilation. This is another excellent Osprey book, illustrated with great skill by Giuseppe Rava. His colour plates are a delight, especially Plate D depicting warriors on board ship and Plate B of Sherden mercenaries marching to Kadesh. 5 Stars.

The authors have researched this very well.