Around 1200 BCE, the interconnected civilizations of the eastern Mediterranean collapsed in fire and chaos. Palaces burned, ports were destroyed, and trade routes went silent. In Egyptian inscriptions, one shadowy enemy is blamed for much of the devastation: the Sea Peoples.
In this episode of History Declassified, we investigate who the Sea Peoples actually were, how they fought and migrated, and what role they played in the Late Bronze Age collapse. Drawing on Egyptian temple reliefs, letters from the burning city of Ugarit, and archaeological evidence from Mycenaean Greece and the Levant, we explore the different tribes behind the name – from the Sherden and Shekelesh to the Peleset (Philistines) and Lukka.
Were the Sea Peoples a confederation of naval raiders, displaced migrant communities, or just a convenient label used by collapsing kingdoms? How did their clashes with Egypt under Ramesses III reshape the map of the ancient Mediterranean?
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