So, the invasion of the "Sea Peoples" was a massive migration of peoples, somewhat similar to today's exodus of Syrians and Africans to Europe. Only now the German schoolchildren are changing their bedding there (they themselves are too unhappy for this!), And volunteers are cleaning up the trash left behind, and then the uncivilized Egyptians met them with spears and swords, and they also cut off the copulatory organs of the defeated, and even portrayed it " event”on the walls of their churches. Do you know why? So that there is no forgery! After all, if you cut off your hands, then how can you figure out where yours are, and where are strangers and who will check the extra absence of a pair of hands from their own … And here everything is obvious: the Egyptians were circumcised, and the rest were not. So everything is here without forgery and overestimation of "indicators"!
Warriors at all times loved to flirt with pretty women! Artist J. Rava.
Well, we have already partially considered what the warriors of the "peoples of the sea" looked like in those materials where it was about the Trojan War itself. However, now we will talk about its consequences, especially since the spread of dates is quite large in 1250 - 1100. BC. However, this is great for us, and people of that time lived slowly, because mobile phones did not exist then.
So, the most complete information about the "sea peoples" we get from reliefs and inscriptions from Medinet Abu. This is a memorial temple that was built by Ramses III in Thebes, in Upper Egypt. The decoration of the temple consists of a series of reliefs and texts about the military campaigns against the Libyans and the "peoples of the sea". The events depicted date back to about 1191 or 1184 BC. And they also provide valuable information about the armor and ammunition of various groups of "sea peoples" with which the Egyptians fought, and they can also give clues to deciphering their ethnic origin. The depictions of battles on land and at sea provide a wealth of information about the weapons of the "sea peoples". In particular, reliefs depicting battles on earth show Egyptian troops fighting the enemy, who also uses chariots, very similar in design to the Egyptian chariots. Another famous relief at Medinet Abu depicts a sea battle. The Egyptians and the Sea Peoples use sailing ships as their primary means of transport at sea. And here is the text: “The peoples who came from their islands in the middle of the sea, they entered Egypt, relying on their weapons. But everything was prepared to catch them. Having stealthily entered the harbor, they found themselves locked in it …”Well, and then the Egyptians, apparently, defeated them due to their numbers and good military organization.
A warrior of the Shardana people with a blue horn and clearly in a metal, bronze helmet. Relief from a temple in Luxor.
Now let's turn to the armor and start with the helmets - "fortresses for the head". Reliefs from Medinet Abu, Luxor and Abu Simbel show us 22 types of horned helmets that belonged to the warriors of the Shardan people. Of these, one horn is shown only on two helmets, on all the others there are two, and their profiles are very similar. 13 helmets have a ball on a stick between their horns. Nine don't have it. 17 helmets are given only in outline (this is how children used to draw Germans in helmets with horns), four helmets are filled with horizontal stripes inside, one with "brickwork" and one with vertical stripes. This allows us to conclude that the horns and the ball were a kind of symbol of this tribe, and the helmets themselves could be solid-forged from bronze (and even cast - one such cast helmet was found in Central Asia), and assembled from "rings" from leather with padding like a children's pyramid.
Philistine from Medinet Abu.
Accordingly, the Philistines wore their characteristic "feather" helmet-tiara. The bas-reliefs show that the Shardans are fighting the Philistines, that is, the Egyptians, as civilized people, already knew how to work with someone else's hands!
Pharaoh's shardans fight the Philistines. Artist J. Rava.
The armor of the Shardans is shown very carefully in the reliefs. As a rule, it is a breastplate with rounded shoulders, made up of metal stripes. English historians call this type of armor the "lobster tail". It is clear that you cannot determine the material from the fresco. Therefore, it can be assumed that this armor could be A - leather, B - from fabric (glued flax), or C - mixed - from metal and non-metallic parts. Greek historian-reconstructor Katsikis Dimitrios, using images of Medinet Abu and artifacts of the Athens Museum of Archeology, restored one such armor, and it turned out that it is quite functional.
Shardan warriors from the temple of Medinet Abu in characteristic V-shaped "striped" robes. What is it? A drawing on fabric or an image of some elements of protective armor made of metal or leather?
Breastplate of Katsikis Dimitrios.
Katsikis Dimitrios' Shardan Leggings and Helmet.
The Philistines, judging by the reliefs from Medinet Abu, also wore similar armor, but their shoulder pads are not always shown. The general impression of the drawing was that they were very flexible, in any case, bodies in metal cuirass would not bend so much. This means that their "armor" was made of fabric, or it was just clothes with a characteristic striped pattern.
Philistines in battle. Midinet Abu.
The shields of the Shardans were round, large, with a central handle. On the surface, they had metal bolsters, and they themselves, most likely, were woven from a vine and covered with a bovine hide. The frescoes from Akrotiri, which were given in previous materials, gave the artist Giuseppe Rava the basis to depict warriors from Cyprus, who, apparently, also had to fight with the "sea peoples", in exact accordance with the image on these frescoes.
Warriors from a fresco in Akrotiri return from a campaign. "The women shouted hurray and threw their caps into the air!" Artist J. Rava.
Reconstruction of the appearance of the Shardan warrior Katsikis Dimitrios.
The weapons of the warriors of the "peoples of the sea" consisted of spears, long swords, axes, as well as bows and arrows. The swords were most likely similar in shape to such long blades of 90 cm. One of them was found near Jaffa and dates back to 2000 BC. Interestingly, this huge blade (very common in the images of Shardan warriors) is composed of almost pure copper with a small addition of arsenic. A remarkable number (about 30) of such swords (about 1600 BC) were also found in a cave on the island of Sardinia. So in this case, the composition of the metal was the same as that of the aforementioned sample. That is, Sardinia and Jaffa were connected … by sea, along which ships with warriors who had such long swords sailed back and forth already at that distant time.
Sword from Jaffa.
Axe. Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Reconstruction of the sword-rapier.
A very interesting bronze sword was found at Ugarit in Syria. And it is interesting, first of all, by the fact that a cartouche with the name of Pharaoh Merneptah is engraved on its blade near the handle, which means that this is the work of the Egyptians. But who it was intended for - the Egyptian soldiers themselves or the Shardan mercenaries, accustomed to "work" with such long swords - this is the question.
Well, in general, Medinet Abu is still the most important source for our acquaintance with the "peoples of the sea". On this day, when this source was discovered, one could only thank the ancient Egyptians who created this memorial temple, which gives us so much valuable information. And although his images are also confirmed by the reliefs in the temples of Luxor and Abu Simbel, it is he who remains a real visualized encyclopedia of the "peoples of the sea."
Phrygians with "swords from Jaffa". Medinet Abu.
And here is a map created on the basis of archaeological finds and text messages, which allows you to visually trace the migration routes of the "sea peoples". As you can see, this was a real exodus, not inferior in scale and modern crowded movements …
Movement of the "Peoples of the Sea". A. Sheps
In conclusion, it should be noted that not only numerous books are published abroad on the history of the Trojan War and weapons and armor of the Bronze Age in Greece and other regions of the Ancient World, but also military miniatures made of "white metal" are very popular. There are several international scales in which these figurines are cast and then … "played" with them.
Figures of Shardan warriors Michael and Alan Perry. Price £ 12. Height 28 mm. Sold unpainted.
