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

14. THE CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN CONTRIBUTION
Sherden
The Sherden541 are first mentioned in the correspondence
of the king of Byblos, Rib-addi, with the Egyptian pharaoh,
presumably Akhenaten (1352-1336 BC), as preserved
for the El-Amarna archive. Thus a Shirdan-man is staged
in the context of a futile assault on Rib-addi, possibly as
the latter’s body-guard. 542 Furthermore, Rib-addi complains
that people of Sutu – a contigent of mercenaries of
the Egyptian pharaoh – have killed men of Sherdan. 543
The use of Sherden for their fighting skill in the Levant
can be further illustrated by texts from Ras Shamra/Ugarit,
roughly dated to the 14th or 13th century BC, where in alphabetic
form trtnm they occur in the context of tnnm
“hand-to-hand fighters or skirmishers”, mrjnm “chariot
fighters” and mdrglm “guardians”. 544 Interesting detail is
that when specified by name, as in case of Amar-Addu, son
of Mutba‘al, the Sherden can be shown to be fully acculturated
to their new Semitic milieu. 545
After the El-Amarna interlude, the Sherden appear as
seaborne raiders of Egyptian territory in the reign of
Ramesses II (1279-1213 BC), who in the Tanis stele
speaks of “the rebellious-hearted Sherden” “in their warships
from the midst of the sea”, “none [being] able to
stand before them”. 546 This information coincides with the
text of a stele from Assuwan, dated to the second year of
Ramesses II (= 1277 BC), in which the pharaoh claims to
have “destroyed warriors of the Great Green (= the Mediterranean
sea)” so that “Lower Egypt spends the night
sleeping (peacefully)”. 547 As it seems, then, Ramesses II
had to deal with piratical raids by the Sherden early in his
reign. Having defeated them, he next enlisted the survivors
541 Gardiner 1947: 194-7; Strobel 1976: 190-4; Lehmann 1979:
485; 488; 493-4, note 49; Lehmann 1983: 80-5; Drews 1993a:
152-5.
542 Moran 1992: 150 (EA 81: 16); Mercer 1939: EA no. 81.
543 Moran 1992: 201-2 (EA 122: 35; 123: 15); Mercer 1939: EA
nos. 122-3.
544 Loretz 1995: 128-32; cf. Drews 1993a: 155 (RS 15.103).
545 Drews 1993a: 155.
546 Gardiner 1961: 259; Drews 1993a: 153; cf. Breasted 1927:
Vol. IV, no. 491.
547 Gardiner 1947: 195.
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as mercenaries in his army, for in the memorial of the battle
of Kadesh, which took place in the fifth year of his
reign (= 1274 BC), Ramesses II reports that a contingent of
Sherden fought on his side (“His Majesty had made ready
his infantry and his chariotry, and the Sherden of His Majesty’s
capturing whom he had brought back by victory of
his strong arm”). 548 On the basis of close scrutiny of the
Egyptian reliefs from the reigns of Ramesses II to
Ramesses III, Robert Drews attributed the introduction in
the orient of innovations in infantry warfare, like the round
shield, the javelins, and the long slashing sword, which,
when deployed in sufficient numbers, could outmatch the
up to that moment unchallenged chariotry, to the Sherden,
identifiable as such by their characteristic horned helmet
(see Fig. 22). 549
(a)
(b)
Fig. 22. Sherden in the Egyptian reliefs from the reigns of
Ramesses II and Ramesses III with (a) long slashing swords and
round shields, and (b) javelins (from Sandars 1980: 29, afb. 12 and
32, afb. 14).
548 Gardiner 1960: P25-30; Drews 1993a: 131; cf. Breasted 1927:
Vol. III, no. 307.
549 Drews 1993: 178-9; 184 (with reference to Sandars 1980: 32,
afb. 14); 199 (with reference to Sandars 1980: 29, afb. 12).