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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 Mycenaean Greeks

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Some of the Sea People were Philistines of Greek extraction

Most scholars agree that the Philistines were Greek people based on considerable archaeological and written evidence. The Philistines are the one group of Sea People who are easy to identify in the sources. The Sea People were partly or mostly Greek.
Ancient History
Trude Dothan
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The Argument

The word ‘Peleset’ mentioned among the ethnicities of the Sea Peoples is thought to be the Egyptian word for Philistine. This is one of the only points of etymology in the Sea People debate which is not really disputed, it is widely agreed upon by most scholars. The Philistine state formed in this troubled period, around the 12th century BC. The timeline from the bible fits perfectly with the Egyptian sources. [1] Many scholars believe the Philistines were Greeks who settled in the Levant at this time. Early Philistine sites typically contain Greek finds, and Philistine buildings are similar to those found at Mycenae. [2] The bible claims that the Philistines were from Crete. There are many depictions of the Sea People in the Egyptian motifs wearing distinctive armor and helmets including a type of feather headdress. This same style of dress is depicted on the Phaistos disk on Late Bronze Age Crete. [3]These headresses are also well attested in Philistine graves in ancient Canaan. Recent DNA evidence seems to confirm that the Philistines were European settlers. [4] The Philistines were probably part of a Greek alliance of Sea People marauding the Mediterranean at this time, before they settled in the Near East. The depictions of Philistine people in the Sea People inscriptions support the hypothesis that these invaders were Greeks. The Philistines were Greeks from Crete who attacked Egypt before forming a state in the Levant.

Counter arguments

The assertion that Philistines were Greek migrants is still contentious. Herodotus says that the Lycians had feathered headdresses, which the Greeks later adopted. The Pelesets could have been Anatolians who influenced the Greeks, not the other way round. The Phaistos disk may not even be Greek. The Pelesets could have been indigenous to Anatolia or the Levant and only used Crete as a port. [5] The Philistines were from the Near East, not Greece.

Proponents

Premises

[P1] Egyptian sources seem to make reference to the Philistine people [P2] There is very strong evidence the Philistines were Greeks before they settled in the Late Bronze Age. [C] The Sea People were Greeks.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] Philistine culture may have influenced Greek culture.

References

  1. https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/1177_B_C_The_Year_Civilization_Collapsed.html?id=FGFQBwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y
  2. https://www.baslibrary.org/biblical-archaeology-review/19/5/9
  3. https://biblearchaeology.org/research/patriarchal-era/3640-the-genesis-philistines?highlight=WyJhbmF0b2xpYSJd
  4. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/07/ancient-dna-reveal-philistine-origins
  5. https://www.jstor.org/stable/624741?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=phaistos+disk+philistines+sea+people&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dphaistos%2Bdisk%2Bphilistines%2Bsea%2Bpeople&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_SYC-5462%2Ftest&refreqid=fastly-default%3Ab2d3a901429d419f7287d26a4b3a7eea&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

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This page was last edited on Monday, 30 Nov 2020 at 13:02 UTC

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