The Ethnicity of the Sea Peoples - RePub - Erasmus Universiteit ...
The Ethnicity of the Sea Peoples - RePub - Erasmus Universiteit ...
The Ethnicity of the Sea Peoples - RePub - Erasmus Universiteit ...
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About <strong>the</strong> origin <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Shekelesh we have only circumstantial<br />
evidence that <strong>the</strong>ir homeland is unlikely to be<br />
situated in Anatolia, as <strong>the</strong> last <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Hittite great kings,<br />
Suppiluliumas II, is unfamiliar with <strong>the</strong>m. As opposed to<br />
this negative evidence, an association with Sicily in <strong>the</strong><br />
central Mediterranean can be underlined by <strong>the</strong> fact that<br />
<strong>the</strong> latter island was in contact with Greece, Crete, and<br />
Cyprus during <strong>the</strong> Late Bronze Age. A representative <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Shekelesh involved in trade with Cyprus and <strong>the</strong> eastern<br />
Mediterranean singles himself out as mastering <strong>the</strong><br />
Cypro-Minoan script and <strong>the</strong> Luwian language, but this<br />
does not help us very much in determining his native Sicilian<br />
language about which we only know that in <strong>the</strong> archaic<br />
period it was closely related to Oscan. For <strong>the</strong> question<br />
whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> Sicilians had a pronounced idea about <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
ethnicity we can only draw back to <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong> Egyptians<br />
depicted <strong>the</strong>m with a special type <strong>of</strong> headdress, <strong>the</strong><br />
“nach hinten gebogene Mutze”, which, to say <strong>the</strong> least, is<br />
meagre evidence.<br />
<strong>The</strong> identification <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Weshesh with <strong>the</strong> Oscans is<br />
crucial for our understanding <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> catastrophic events at<br />
<strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Bronze Age. <strong>The</strong> invasion <strong>of</strong> Italy by bearers<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> European Urnfield culture, which we have seen<br />
reason to identify with <strong>the</strong> speakers <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Italic dialects or<br />
languages Osco-Umbrian and Latin-Faliscan, entails a true<br />
mass migration which caused serious disruption <strong>of</strong> peoples<br />
living in <strong>the</strong> region, whose displacement in turn formed <strong>the</strong><br />
“prime mover” for what we call <strong>the</strong> upheavals <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Sea</strong><br />
<strong>Peoples</strong>. Even though <strong>the</strong> Oscans may have been numerically<br />
a relatively small party among <strong>the</strong> coalition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>Sea</strong> <strong>Peoples</strong>, <strong>the</strong>y none<strong>the</strong>less may be considered like <strong>the</strong><br />
leaven in <strong>the</strong> Biblical bread. Thus <strong>the</strong> ships <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Sea</strong><br />
<strong>Peoples</strong> with bird-head devices at both <strong>the</strong> bow and <strong>the</strong><br />
stern <strong>of</strong> a typically Urnfield type, <strong>the</strong> spread <strong>of</strong> handmade<br />
barbarian ware <strong>of</strong> proto-Villanovan Italian or European<br />
Urnfield backgrounds, and <strong>the</strong> growing popularity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
rite <strong>of</strong> cremation during and after <strong>the</strong> catastrophic events<br />
may be attributed to <strong>the</strong> influence <strong>of</strong> our Oscan participants.<br />
Considering <strong>the</strong>ir highly specific cultural and linguistic<br />
traits, <strong>the</strong> Oscans are likely to be considered a<br />
coherent ethnic entity according to our protohistoric criteria.<br />
By means <strong>of</strong> conclusion, we seem to be confronted<br />
with various ethnic groups, each having <strong>the</strong>ir own specific<br />
material culture – though Late Helladic IIIC1b appears to<br />
be a combining factor, being attested for <strong>the</strong> homeland <strong>of</strong><br />
almost every <strong>Sea</strong> People, from western Anatolia (Pitane<br />
119<br />
and Larisa Phrikonis) in <strong>the</strong> east to Sardinia (nuraghe Antigori)<br />
in <strong>the</strong> west – and language. That <strong>the</strong>se ethnic groups<br />
were indeed cohesive entities appears from <strong>the</strong> fact that,<br />
after <strong>the</strong>ir abortive attempt to conquer Egypt, <strong>the</strong>y settled<br />
separately in various locations in <strong>the</strong> Levant: <strong>the</strong> Peleset or<br />
Philistines in <strong>the</strong>ir pentapolis, <strong>the</strong> Tjeker or Teukroi in<br />
Dor, <strong>the</strong> Sherden or Sardinians in Akko, Denye(n) or Dan<br />
in Joppa and later in Laish, European Urnfielders likely to<br />
be identified with <strong>the</strong> Weshesh or Oscans in Hamath, and<br />
Ekwesh or Akhaians in <strong>the</strong> Cilician plain. Never<strong>the</strong>less,<br />
this conglomerate <strong>of</strong> cultures and languages was able to<br />
work toge<strong>the</strong>r very effectively for some time, as <strong>the</strong> downfall<br />
<strong>of</strong> palatial empires caused by <strong>the</strong>m may illustrate. In<br />
order to demonstrate that a multi-lingual coalition is a priori<br />
possible, one may point to <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong> Trojan side<br />
in Homeros’ Iliad consisted <strong>of</strong> a multi-lingual coalition as<br />
well. 606<br />
In his <strong>Ethnicity</strong> in eastern Mediterranean protohistory:<br />
Reflections on <strong>the</strong>ory and method (forthc.), chapter<br />
6, Wim van Binsbergen formulates three hypo<strong>the</strong>ses<br />
which are <strong>of</strong> relevance to our subject.<br />
HYPOTHESIS 1. In <strong>the</strong> Late Bronze Age, by <strong>the</strong> time <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> appearance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Sea</strong> <strong>Peoples</strong>, <strong>the</strong> geographical<br />
space <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> eastern Mediterranean was ethnically<br />
structured in this sense, that an overall system <strong>of</strong> ethnic<br />
classification was generally known and generally<br />
subscribed to.<br />
<strong>The</strong> validity <strong>of</strong> this hypo<strong>the</strong>sis can be underlined by<br />
<strong>the</strong> fact that some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> groups <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Sea</strong> <strong>Peoples</strong> are referred<br />
to by <strong>the</strong> same ethnonym in various sources, like <strong>the</strong><br />
Ekwesh as A®®iyawa in Hittite and Shekelesh as Šikaly<br />
in Ugaritic and as Sikeri- in Cypro-Minoan: this proves<br />
that we are not dealing with <strong>the</strong> whim <strong>of</strong> an individual<br />
Egyptian scribe, but a classificatory system with a wider<br />
geographical range shared by <strong>the</strong> Egyptians with <strong>the</strong> Hittites,<br />
Ugaritians, and Cyprians. Even <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong>re are<br />
competing indications for <strong>the</strong> same ethnic group, like in<br />
case <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Egyptian preference <strong>of</strong> Tanayu or Denye(n)<br />
“Danaoi” over Ekwesh “Akhaians”, or <strong>the</strong>ir indication <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Trojans as Drdny alongside Tjeker does not undermine<br />
such a conclusion, as it ra<strong>the</strong>r signals <strong>the</strong> sophistication <strong>of</strong><br />
this classificatory system. As to <strong>the</strong> origin <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> different<br />
ethnonyms, it is interesting to note that Sherden and Sheke-<br />
606 Iliad II, 804; IV, 437-8. Note that in this respect <strong>the</strong> title <strong>of</strong> my<br />
book <strong>The</strong> Language <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Sea</strong> <strong>Peoples</strong> is oversimplifying <strong>the</strong> reality.