The Sea Peoples

Some time near the end of the Bronze Age, a coalition of maritime tribes known as the Sea Peoples emerged from the eastern Mediterranean. Over the course of decades, they participated in a series of naval and land invasions along the coast of the Levant, before finally being stopped by the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses III at the Battle of the Delta.

However, what we actually know about them is widely contested, and home to much speculation. To what extent were they responsible for the downfall of the Bronze Age civilizations? Who were the Sea Peoples made up of, and where did they come from? And what were their motivations? Maritime warriors, or desperate migrants? Like most things in history, the reality is not clear cut. Unfortunately, the archeological evidence for the Sea Peoples is relatively sparse, and much of what we know about them comes from the records of their enemies.