Militarization and Organization

It is essentially universally accepted that the Sea Peoples were made up of a series of different tribes, each with their own distinct pieces of culture. However, the extent to which they were organized and militarized is still a topic of debate. In older academic narratives, the Sea Peoples were often portrayed as a military coalition that went about raiding and pillaging, and brought about the collapse of the Bronze Age. Today, historians have moved away from this narrative, lending towards other more plausible explanations for their migration, as well as more nuance in their understanding. Today, some public sources still lead into this idea in the case of sensationalism.

[the Sea Peoples were] a shadowy multitude of many different tribes and cultures who roved violently across the near east upon a mighty fleet of bird-prowed ships.

Gordon Doherty, Death from the Waves - the Sea Peoples

Although Gordon Doherty goes on to clarify that this is not a likely interpretation of the Sea Peoples, this kind of sensationalism is still present in some narratives, though more subtly put. Additionally, because of the engagmenet that sensational narratives can bring, it is often that public sources will lean into this idea at first, which can lead to a misunderstanding of the Sea Peoples. However, despite wanting to believe that the Sea Peoples were a peaceful group who were simply victims of circumstance, the evidence is clear that the Sea Peoples were indeed militarized, organized, and had a significant impact on the Bronze Age civilizations.

Some scholars argue that the groups must have formed a somewhat unified military confederation; the textual sources from Medinet Habu (the location of Ramesses III's mortuary temple) do refer to the Sea People's as having 'leaders' or 'great ones', and scholars commonly attribute the two battles depicted at Medinet Habu as indicative of the Sea People's unified leadership; that is, without any sort of unified leadership, the level of military might necessary to even end up on the Egyptian coast would have been impossible to achieve. However, the extent to which the Sea Peoples were organized is still a topic of debate, and it is likely that the Sea Peoples were made up of a series of different tribes, each with their own distinct pieces of culture.

Once piece of evidence that supports the idea of a unified military confederation is the fact that in some of the reliefs at Medinet Habu, the Sea Peoples, while captured, are depicted as having more decorated handcuffs in more comfortable positions. This is likely indicative of the fact that Some Sea Peoples were more important than others, and that there was a hierarchy within the Sea Peoples. Similarly, because multiple leaders of tribes are mentioned, it is likely the overall confederation still remained somewhat decentralized. However, this is not conclusive evidence, and it is still a topic of debate.

Were these military attacks responsible for the downfall of the Bronze Age? This is yet another empty question, with no conclusive answer. Certainly the Sea Peoples destroyed many cities, but it is not clear if the military action was the cause or a sympton of the collapse of the bronze age. As Eric Cline writes in his book 1177 B.C., similar to how critical infrastructure faults today could lead to massive societal changes and potentially warfare, the same could have been true for the Bronze Age. Many factors of the downfall of the Bronze Age may have been self inforcing positive feedback loops that perpetuated each other in the collapse of the Bronze Age. Are the Sea Peoples scapegoated too much? It is unlikely we can make a conclusive answer about this question.

What would the world be like if the Bronze Age never collapsed? We won't know

Eric H. Cline, 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed: Revised and Updated