The armies of the Sea Peoples

The Sea Peoples were a large confederation of warrior-seafarers who, in the 12th century BC, destabilised ancient Egypt and the Near East. Who were these men of mysterious origin, and what did they do? They probably came largely from the Aegean, Asia Minor and the Mediterranean islands. They effectively brought about the collapse of the Bronze Age. Their arrival coincided with the fall of great empires, such as the Hittite Empire. They took over the attack on Egypt from these empires. They were repelled with great difficulty by the pharaohs Merenptah and Ramses III. Egyptian sources refer to them by names such as Peleset, Sherden and Shekelesh, as well as Lukka, Denyen and others. Cultural legacy: some of them, the Peleset, settled in Canaan, becoming the famous biblical Philistines.