PETER M. FISCHER AND TERESA BÜRGE (eds.)
“SEA PEOPLES” UP-TO-DATE
NEW RESEARCH ON TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN IN THE 13TH–11TH CENTURIES BCE 001_004 bubenheimer.qxp 13.06.2012 20:28 Seite 2
ÖSTERREICHISCHE AKADEMIEAKADEMIE DERDER WISSENSCHAFTENWISSENSCHAFTEN DENKSCHRIFTEN DERDER GESAMTAKADEMIE,GESAMTAKADEMIE, BAND LXXXILXVIII
Contributions to the Chronology Contributionsof the Eastern to theMediterranean Chronology of the Eastern Mediterranean Edited by Manfred Bietak Editedand byHermann Manfred Hunger Bietak and Hermann Hunger
Volume XXVIII Volume XXXV PETER M. FISCHER AND TERESA BÜRGE (eds.)
“SEA PEOPLES” UP-TO-DATE
New Research on Transformations in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 13th–11th Centuries BCE
Proceedings of the ESF-Workshop held at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, 3–4 November 2014 Angenommen durch die Publikationskommission der philosophisch-historischen Klasse der ÖAW: Michael Alram, Bert Fragner, Hermann Hunger, Sigrid Jalkotzy-Deger, Brigitte Mazohl, Franz Rainer, Oliver Jens Schmitt, Peter Wiesinger und Waldemar Zacharasiewicz
The layout was supported by European Science Foundation EW13-107 and Swedish Research Council 2015-01192
Cover illustration: “Horned God Krater” from Stratum 2 at Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus (by M. al-Bataineh and T. Bürge)
Diese Publikation wurde einem anonymen, internationalen Peer-Review-Verfahren unterzogen. This publication has undergone the process of anonymous, international peer review.
Die verwendete Papiersorte ist aus chlorfrei gebleichtem Zellstoff hergestellt, frei von säurebildenden Bestandteilen und alterungsbeständig.
Alle Rechte vorbehalten. ISBN 978-3-7001-7963-4 Copyright © 2017 by Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien Grafik, Satz, Layout: Ing. Wolfgang Maier Planungs GmbH Druck: Ferdinand Berger & Söhne GmbH, A-3580 Horn http://epub.oeaw.ac.at/7963-4 http://verlag.oeaw.ac.at Printed and bound in the EU 5 Contents
Abbreviations ...... 7 Preface ...... 9 Reflections on the Outcomes of the Workshop: Problems and Desiderata Peter M. Fischer and Teresa Bürge ...... 11
Overviews: From Italy to the Levant
The Sea Peoples after Three Millennia: Possibilities and Limitations of Historical Reconstruction Reinhard Jung ...... 23 Causes of Complex Systems Collapse at the End of the Bronze Age Malcolm H. Wiener ...... 43 The Sea Peoples and the Collapse of Mycenaean Palatial Rule Helène Whittaker ...... 75
Climate and Radiocarbon The Climatic Context of the 3.2 kyr calBP Event David Kaniewski and Elise Van Campo ...... 85 Dating the End of the Late Bronze Age with Radiocarbon: Some Observations, Concerns, and Revisiting the Dating of Late Cypriot IIC to IIIA Sturt W. Manning, Catherine Kearns and Brita Lorentzen ...... 95
Theoretical Approaches on Destruction, Migration and Transformation of Culture
Sea Peoples, Philistines, and the Destruction of Cities: A Critical Examination of Destruction Layers ‘Caused’ by the ‘Sea Peoples’ Jesse Michael Millek ...... 113 Some Notes on Philistines, Migration and Mediterranean Connectivity Assaf Yasur-Landau ...... 141 The Appearance, Formation and Transformation of Philistine Culture: New Perspectives and New Finds Aren M. Maeir and Louise A. Hitchcock ...... 149 Anglo-Saxons and Sea Peoples: Comparing Similar Approaches for Tracking Ancient Human Migration Lorenz Rahmstorf ...... 163
Case Studies: Cyprus, Cilicia and the Levant
The 13th/12th Century BCE Destructions and the Abandonment of Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus Peter M. Fischer ...... 177 Flourishing amidst a ‘Crisis’: The Regional History of the Paphos Polity at the Transition from the 13th to the 12th Centuries BCE Artemis Georgiou ...... 207 The Late Bronze – Iron Age Transition and the Problem of the Sea Peoples Phenomenon in Cilicia Gunnar Lehmann ...... 229
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The Archaeological Ramifications of ‘Philistines’ in Aleppo Diederik J.W. Meijer ...... 257 The Impact of the Sea Peoples in the Central and Northern Levant in Perspective Francisco J. Núñez ...... 263 Fluctuations in Levantine Maritime Foci across the Late Bronze/Iron Age Transition: Charting the Role of the Sharon-Carmel (Tjeker) Coast in the Rise of Iron Age Phoenician Polities Ayelet Gilboa and Ilan Sharon ...... 285 The Late Bronze to Early Iron Age Transition in Transjordan – Between Tradition and Innovation: Evidence of Migration at Tell Abu al-Kharaz, Jordan Valley? Teresa Bürge ...... 299 Philistines and Danites Wolfgang Zwickel ...... 329
Material Studies
The Sea Peoples: A View from the Pottery Penelope A. Mountjoy ...... 355 How Aegean is Philistine Pottery? The Use of Aegean-type Pottery in the Early 12th Century BCE Southern Levant Philipp W. Stockhammer ...... 379 Weapons and Metals – Interregional Contacts between Italy and the Eastern Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age Mathias Mehofer and Reinhard Jung ...... 389 Shifts in Value? Exotica in the 13th–12th Centuries BCE Mediterranean Gert Jan van Wijngaarden ...... 401
005_010.indd 2 07.04.2017 16:29:23 7 Abbreviations
General Abbreviations BCE Before Common Era LH Late Helladic Period BP Before Present LM Late Minoan Period CE Common Era MB Middle Bronze Age EB Early Bronze Age MC Middle Cypriot Period IA Iron Age c . circa LB Late Bronze Age vs. versus LC Late Cypriot Period
Bibliographical Abbreviations
AASOR Annual of the American Schools of Orien- IstMitt Istanbuler Mitteilungen tal Research JAS Journal of Archaeological Science ADAJ Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Levant Levant: Journal of the British School of Jordan Archaeology in Jerusalem and the British Aegaeum Aegaeum: Annales d‘archéologie égéenne Institute at Amman for Archaeology and de l’Université de Liège History AJA American Journal of Archaeology NEA Near Eastern Archaeology (formerly ʿAtiqot ʿAtiqot: Journal of the Israel Department BiblArch) of Antiquities OJA Oxford Journal of Archaeology BAAL Bulletin d’Archéologie et d’Architecture OpAthRom Opuscula: Annual of the Swedish Insti- Libanaises tutes at Athens and Rome BAR-IS British Archaeological Reports, Interna- OREA Oriental and European Archaeology tional Series PEQ Palestine Exploration Quarterly BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Orien- RDAC Report of the Department of Antiquities, tal Research Cyprus Berytus Berytus: Archaeological Studies SIMA Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology BiblArch see NEA SIMA-PB Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology, BSA The Annual of the British School at Athens Pocket-Books DaM Damaszener Mitteilungen SMEA Studi micenei ed egeo-anatolici E&L Egypt and the Levant Syria Syria. Revue d’art oriental et d’archéologie IEJ Israel Exploration Journal ZDPV Zeitschrift des deutschen Palästina-Ver- eins
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005_010.indd 4 07.04.2017 16:29:23 9 Preface
This volume represents the outcomes of the European dau), the problem of interpreting destruction layers in the Science Foundation workshop (ESF Exploratory Work- Southern Levant (J. Millek), and a comparative study on shop EW13-107) “Sea Peoples Up-to-Date. New Re- migration (L. Rahmstorf). The papers of Session 7 dealt search on the Migration of Peoples in the 12th Century with pottery (P. Mountjoy; P. Stockhammer) and exotic BCE” convened by the editor Peter M. Fischer with the finds (G.J. van Wijngaarden). The final Session 8was support of the co-editor Teresa Bürge. The workshop on metallurgy (M. Mehofer and R. Jung), various factors was held from 3rd–4th November 2014 in the Johannes- influencing the end of the Bronze Age (M. Wiener) and saal at the premises of the Austrian Academy of Scienc- absolute chronology (E. Boaretto). This was followed by es, an impressive mid-18th century complex in the centre a general discussion and follow-up activities. of Vienna. In addition to the authors and organisers, Pe- As often occurs after scientific meetings, there are a ter Funke from the ESF Scientific Review Group for the few papers which were presented at the workshop but Humanities, and Barbara Horejs, the director of the In- which do not appear in this volume, for instance because stitute for Oriental and European Archaeology (OREA), of health-related problems or lack of time. These include under whose auspices the workshop was organised, and the papers by S. Deger-Jalkotzy, S. Münger, M. Bietak, numerous interested scholars were present. K. Kristiansen and E. Boaretto. In order to present an up- Our workshop, which is very much inter- and multi- to-date on radiocarbon, S. Manning with co-authors C. disciplinary in character, was divided into eight sessions Kearns and B. Lorentzen kindly accepted my invitation over two intensive days: on Day 1 Sessions 1–4, and on to contribute to the present volume. Another paper on cli- Day 2 Sessions 5–8. As in many symposia the sequence mate authored by D. Kaniewski and E. van Campo, who of the presentation of the individual papers mirrors a re- were not able to participate in the workshop, is also in- curring problem. The ambition of the convenor of this cluded in this volume. I am very grateful to the authors of two-day meeting has been to start each day with an intro- both papers. It should be pointed out that the language of ductory lecture followed by thematically or geographi- papers which were presented by native English language cally linked presentations. Nevertheless, with respect to speakers has not been subjected to linguistic editing. time-related individual wishes this was not always pos- Once again, we have to apologize for the fact that sible and the original order of presentations had to be ESF-regulations prevented us from inviting to the work- altered. shop scholars from outside the European Union, who are As a result, the introductory lecture of Day 1, “The specialised in this topic. Troubled water of Sea Peoples Research – A Retrospec- We would like to thank sincerely all the authors for tive Presentation” by S. Deger-Jalkotzy, was followed in their valuable contributions to this volume, which cer- Sessions 1 and 2 by papers dealing with the Southern Le- tainly bring us further in our quest to elucidate the riddle vant (A. Maeir), Mycenae (H. Whittaker) and two papers of the Sea Peoples Phenomenon. However, much more on Cyprus (P.M. Fischer; A. Georgiou). Session 3 dealt work has to be done on this challenging topic which has with Sea Peoples phenomena in Cilicia (G. Lehmann) fascinated people over a considerable period of time. and Syria (D. Meijer), and an overview over the situa- We would also like to thank the Austrian Academy of tion in the northern and central Levant (F.J. Núñez). The Sciences for hosting the workshop and Angela Schwab papers of Session 4 were exclusively allocated to the rel- and Barbara Horejs (all OREA) for their superb help evant circumstances in the Southern Levant (here south- with its organization. We would like to take the opportu- ern Lebanon, Israel and Jordan). These included presen- nity to draw attention to the encouraging work of the (un- tations by W. Zwickel, the joint paper by A. Gilboa, R. known) ESF-reviewers who top-ranked the convenor’s Jones and P. Waiman Barak, and the papers by S. Münger application and whose reviews resulted in the generous and T. Bürge. financial help of the ESF, which covered major- work The second day’s introductory lecture, “The Sea Peo- shop expenses. We are grateful to the reviewers of the in- ples after Three Millennia – Possibilities and Limitations dividual papers whose comments and suggestions were of Historical Reconstruction” by R. Jung, was in Session forwarded to the authors of the papers concerned. 5 followed by aspects of the situation in Egypt (M. Bi- etak) and a presentation connecting the Sea Peoples phe- nomenon to central Europe and Italy (K. Kristiansen). Gothenburg/Vienna, January 2017 Session 6 dealt with Philistine society (A. Yasur-Lan- Peter M. Fischer and Teresa Bürge
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005_010.indd 6 07.04.2017 16:29:23 Reflections on the Outcomes of the Workshop: Problems and Desiderata 11 Reflections on the Outcomes of the Workshop: Problems and Desiderata
Peter M. Fischer and Teresa Bürge
Introduction comes obvious that topics such as ‘migration’, ‘cultural and political changes’, ‘warfare’, ‘worsening climate’, The editors of this volume but also scholars who par- ‘drought, famine and epidemics’, ‘absolute and relative ticipated in the workshop use the term ‘Sea Peoples chronology’, ‘cultural synchronization’, and their mu- phenomenon’ in a broader sense to include not only the tual interactions dominate the discussion. This was also ‘Peoples of the Sea/Islands’ as they are called in nar- the case during our workshop. ratives. According to texts of the New Kingdom from In geographical terms, the Sea Peoples phenomenon the reigns of Merneptah and Ramesses III, and a letter is commonly associated with a quite vast area stretch- from Ugarit (RS 34.129) these seafaring peoples are re- ing from the Italian peninsula over the Balkans, the Ae- stricted to the designations Sherden-Shardana, Eqwesh gean, Anatolia and Cyprus, to the Levant and Egypt. and Tjekker-Shekelesh (Kitchen 1983: 104.13; id. It can be concluded from the present volume that the 1982: 22.8; Bordreuil 1991: no. 12). Other groups of workshop treated all these regions with the exception peoples included here are the Denyen-Danuna, Lukka, of the Balkans (although touched upon; e.g. Jung and Karkisha, Teresh, Peleset-Philistines and Weshesh – as Wiener in this volume), where in the future much more they are mentioned chronologically in Egyptian texts research has to be undertaken in order to bridge the area from the 18th to the 22nd Dynasties (see overview in between the Italian peninsula and the Aegean. Adams and Cohen 2013). Therefore, in this volume In the last two decades, research dealing with the the Sea Peoples phenomenon should be considered an Sea Peoples phenomenon has undergone a renaissance encompassing term, which – in addition to the written compared to the period between the 1960s and the records on mainly hostile activities of various groups 1990s when ‘any theory considering migrations and in the Eastern Mediterranean – is synonymous with the invasions in connection with the great upheavals of the consequences of the ‘crisis years’, the period around Eastern Mediterranean around 1200 BCE was banished 1200 BCE and most of the 12th century BCE, i.e. the and avoided’ (as pointed out by S. Deger-Jalkotzy in the last phase of the Late Bronze Age. Nevertheless, there first introductory lecture; not published in this volume). are several authors of papers which are published in The speaker rightly pointed to biased research, which this volume who use the term ‘Sea Peoples’ in the same started already in the 19th century, and highlighted pub- sense as our ‘Sea Peoples phenomenon’. lications of more or less well-founded hypotheses on The period of the advanced civilizations of the the Sea Peoples (phenomenon). Late Bronze Age has rightly been termed the first era In the following period of renewed interest and re- of ‘internationalism’. This ‘Golden Age’, which in the search dealing with the Sea Peoples phenomenon and Eastern Mediterranean lasted from roughly the 16th to related subjects three major meetings took place in or- the 12th centuries BCE, is characterized by far-reaching der to elucidate the riddle of the events at the end of intercultural connections involving large parts of to- the Late Bronze Age. One, entitled The Sea Peoples day’s Europe, Egypt, the Near East and areas beyond. and Their World. A Reassessment, was held in Phila- This highly developed and complex period ended in delphia in 1995 (ed. Oren 2000). This publication years of widespread crisis at the dawn of the Iron Age. provided a good overview of the state of research on It should, however, be highlighted that the outcomes the Sea Peoples some 20 years ago. However, many of events, for instance upheaval and migration, which problems remained unsolved and a number of hypoth- are generally accepted to have taken place at the out- eses to be proved. Six years later, in 2001, another im- going Bronze Age, are not mirrored uniformly around portant workshop entitled The Philistines and Other the Eastern Mediterranean. This postulate is clearly re- ‘Sea Peoples’ in Text and Archaeology was organised flected in the present volume. When studying literature in Israel (eds. Killebrew and Lehmann 2013). In the dealing with the outgoing Bronze Age, it instantly be- proceedings, which were published only shortly before
011_022 Introduction.indd 1 07.04.2017 16:32:32 12 Peter M. Fischer – Teresa Bürge our workshop, the editors emphasized the problem of by R. Jung and the other by M.H. Wiener. A third paper the ‘unidirectional and overly simplistic interpreta- by H. Whittaker is included in this section since it pro- tion of the Philistine phenomenon that has dominated vides a synopsis on the situation in mainland Greece at scholarship during the twentieth century.’ We agree and the time of the destructions of the Mycenaean palaces recommend extending this statement to embrace not and their aftermath. only the Philistines and their habitat in the Southern Jung presents the history of research approaches to Levant but also the entire Sea Peoples phenomenon. In clarify certain aspects of the Sea Peoples phenomenon: 2006 another meeting entitled Cyprus, the Sea Peoples one is to geographically locate the Sea Peoples’ eth- and the Eastern Mediterranean was held in Toronto nonyms by means of references to contemporary and (ed. Harrison 2006–2007). This meeting concentrat- later written sources. In order to achieve this goal two ed on the ‘Sea Peoples’ in the Eastern Mediterranean research trends can be discerned: one is an ‘economic- with specific emphasis on Cyprus and the northern and modernist’ and the other deals with the methodology southern Levant. of migration studies. The advocates of the former are Amongst the immense amount of literature on the profoundly skeptical towards written and archaeologi- Late Bronze to Iron Age transition in the Eastern Medi- cal evidence for the movement of population groups terranean and beyond the volumes edited by Ward and but recent archaeological research in the Levant dem- Joukowsky (1992), Gitin et al. (1998), and Bach- onstrates ‘that the (tremendous) changes in material huber and Roberts (2009) should also be mentioned. culture visible in these regions around and after 1200 Other important monographs include, inter alia, those BCE do not easily fit a predominantly economic expla- by Killebrew (2005), Yasur-Landau (2010) and nation’ (Jung in this volume), on which we, the editors, most recently Cline (2014). certainly agree. The latter, i.e. migration studies, tests Since then, new results from excavations and altered migration models against the archaeological evidence. interpretations of previously excavated material and re- There are various classes of material remains that can sults have added to our knowledge. All this and the fact be connected to immigrating peoples. These include ce- that in 2010 the convenor took over the excavations at ramic wares of Aegean type including kitchen ware, and the Cypriot key site of Hala Sultan Tekke, which flour- handmade and burnished pottery. This handmade and ished at the outgoing 13th and the first half of the 12th burnished pottery originates from southern mainland centuries BCE (Fischer and Bürge forthcoming), led Italy and more precisely from the so called Subapen- to the idea of arranging the Vienna workshop. The Vi- nine culture group of Recent Bronze Age date, but also enna workshop differs from the previous meetings in from the central Balkans which, so far, has been found that it covered a wider geographical area with a more exclusively in Troy. There are, however, also local vari- holistic approach. ants in some remote areas in central Greece. Much of Below, the editors present and briefly discuss all the this pottery, if not all in certain regions, is locally made papers included in this volume and distributed amongst from roughly around 1200 BCE and onwards. Other the five sections: Overviews: From Italy to the Levant finds from the Eastern Mediterranean, which were men- (R. Jung; M. Wiener; H. Whittaker); Climate and Ra- tioned by Jung in support of the migration hypothesis, diocarbon (D. Kaniewski and E. Van Campo; and S.W. are new types of bronzes, termed Urnfield bronzes or Manning, C. Kearns and B. Lorentzen); Theoretical Ap- bronzes of the metallurgical koiné, for example, fibu- proaches on Destruction, Migration and Transforma- lae, Naue II swords and spearheads with cast sockets. tion of Cultures (J.M. Millek; A. Yasur-Landau; A.M. Another group are ships of foreign design as they are Maeir and L.A. Hitchcock; and L. Rahmstorf); Case depicted on Egyptian reliefs. The second part of his pa- Studies: Cyprus, Cilicia and the Northern and South- per summarizes the state of research on the Sea Peoples ern Levant (P.M. Fischer; A. Georgiou; G. Lehmann; phenomenon in various geographical regions. D.J.W. Meijer; F.J. Núñez; A. Gilboa and I. Sharon; T. In the other overview, M.H. Wiener considers the Bürge; and W. Zwickel); and Material Studies (P.A. evidence for and possible interactions between potential Mountjoy; P.W. Stockhammer; M. Mehofer and R. causes of collapse at the end of the Bronze Age. These Jung; and G.J. van Wijngaarden). References are only include climate change, drought, famine, earthquakes, sporadically provided since they appear in each paper. epidemics, the evidence for major preparations for at- tacks followed by destructions and abandonments, mi- Overviews: From Italy to the Levant grations, the nature and movements of the Sea Peoples, As regards the presentation of the individual papers and the aftermath of the collapse and its implications, of this meeting, it should be helpful for the reader to and the role of Mycenae before the palatial collapse. As start with two overviews, which summarize published regards climate change, a number of studies point to research and which cover a vast geographic area: one is a period of extra-dry conditions around 3200 BP (e.g.
011_022 Introduction.indd 2 07.04.2017 16:32:32 Reflections on the Outcomes of the Workshop: Problems and Desiderata 13 Kaniewski and van Campo in this volume; Weiberg et record, which has been demonstrated time and again by al. 2016). No doubt a worsening climate can result in more recent events in historical times. drought and famine and affect a weakened population During the meeting the identity of various groups of by epidemics. Drought has also been proposed as a fac- the Sea Peoples has been discussed by several scholars. tor in the collapse of the Terramare Culture of central- Some of these groups seem to have been professional northern Italy climaxing c. 1150 BCE based on several pirates or mercenaries of mixed background. Amongst studies of changes in water levels and other indicia the latter were displaced Mycenaeans from mainland (e.g. Cardarelli 2010: 468–470). The post-1200 BCE Greece (Wiener in this volume). Wiener argues with abandonment of the Po Plain involving the dispersal of a papyrus from the British Museum which appears far more than 100,000 people requires thorough con- to show Mycenaeans fighting alongside Egyptians sideration. It is obvious that in already overextended (Schofield and Parkinson 1994). In addition to traces and overexploited areas, minor climatological fluctua- of Mycenaeans in Cyprus, Minoans also seem to have tions even of limited duration could have had a major been present there judging, for instance, from finds of impact on economy and, ultimately, survival. It is not standing horns of consecration from, for instance, Ki- unlikely that warfare and migration followed the short- tion and Myrtou-Pigadhes, and from around 1200 BCE age or even total absence of essential foodstuffs. Wie- a structure at Hala Sultan Tekke with lead waterproof- ner rightly points to a cumulative effect with a picture ing and drainage and painted plaster resembling a lus- which can be portrayed as follows: food shortage leads tral basin which resemble Minoan counterparts of older to overuse of available land; to rebellions by troops, date (without the leaden sealing). populace, or captives; or to the loss of legitimacy of In her paper H. Whittaker summarizes the situation rulers believed to have lost divine favour. Lethal epi- in mainland Greece at the time when the palatial rule demics can more easily establish themselves among collapsed and describes the chaotic situation in its af- populations in the wake of famine and malnutrition. termath. According to Whittaker the present state of re- As concluded from the archaeological evidence search seems to offer little evidence on the Greek main- supported by contemporary texts, the movement of land of the settlement of new groups of people in the people mainly from north-west to south-east drastically post-destruction period. Again, the editors would like to increased and marked the end of the Bronze Age. Many refer to the observation that it is difficult to find traces sites in the Eastern Mediterranean suffer destructions of invaders in the archaeological record. It seems to during the 12th century BCE and were abandoned (see be a common position amongst Aegean archaeologists e.g. the situation in Cyprus, Fischer in this volume; as that the Sea Peoples are considered as diverse groups regards the Southern Levant see Millek in this vol- of pirates who originated from outside the Aegean ume; see also Cline 2014: 132–137). After the col- world. Eventually, Mycenaeans join them as the col- lapse of the Hittite empire, which includes the destruc- lapse of palatial rule resulted in them taking to the seas tion and abandonment of major sites such as Hattusa, and contributing to the general confusion and violence Alacahöyük, and Alişar, the Phrygians arrive from the that characterised the Eastern Mediterranean at the end Balkans (see references in Wiener this volume). Troy of the Bronze Age (e.g. Tartaron 2013: 64–65). Whit- was destroyed c. 1200–1180 BCE, and when it is sub- taker advances the hypothesis that if the Sea Peoples stantially reoccupied in the second half of the 12th cen- were responsible for the destructions that took place tury BCE new elements appear in the material culture. on the Greek mainland at the end of the Late Helladic These include Knobbed Ware, Handmade Burnished IIIB period, they did not stay to found viable communi- Ware, and multi-cell architecture with orthostates, all ties but moved on to other parts of the Mediterranean. with parallels in Thrace, the Balkans, and the Lower The archaeological record of the Argolid implies that Danube region. Egyptian narratives mention attacks the consequences of the destructions were less severe and destruction prior to the famous battle against in- there than at Pylos and in Messenia. It could be the case vading ‘Sea Peoples’ who at the end could be defeated that – although they caused much damage on the Myce- or at least brought to a halt in battles at the mouth of naean centres – invaders were often repelled. We agree the Nile in 1186 BCE (Wiener presents a higher date with Whittaker that a likely scenario could have been than that suggested, for instance, by Cline, viz. 1177 that some of the Mycenaean palatial elites were able to BCE; Wiener 2014; Cline 2014). Based on decades of organise enough military resistance against the invaders archaeological work in the field the editors agree with to force them to move on. The archaeological remains Wiener as regards migration which should be consid- of the Late Helladic IIIC period support this hypothesis. ered much more thoroughly than is often the case when One of the reviewers of the proceedings of our interpreting primary material from excavations: usual- meeting, who was selected by the Austrian Academy ly, invaders leave very little trace in the archaeological of Sciences, commented on some of the overviews that
011_022 Introduction.indd 3 07.04.2017 16:32:32 14 Peter M. Fischer – Teresa Bürge they summarize ‘well-known’ evidence rather than can be placed in the calibration curve in order to pro- presenting new solutions to old problems. We cannot vide a set of narrow date ranges (Bayliss 2009; Bronk agree with this remark because of the simple fact that Ramsey 2009). In their paper Manning et al. propose all scholars dealing with research on this turbulent pe- reconsidering (lowering) the radiocarbon dates from riod in human history must be familiar with earlier re- the Level 7A destruction at Tell Tweini, Syria, which search and hypotheses which these papers present in a has been attributed to the Sea Peoples, to somewhere condensed approach. In addition, the papers by Jung in the period from 1176 to 1108 calBC (from 1194– and Wiener in particular, provide readers with a vast 1190 BCE according to Kaniewski et al. 2011; see also bibliography based on which further studies can be un- Kaniewski and Van Campo in this volume). However, dertaken and which can be utilised even by ‘specialists’ Manning et al. incline to agree on the conventional ab- who are dealing with this topic but who are not spe- solute chronology, where Late Cypriot IIC starts in the cialised in all subjects nor greatly familiar with the evi- later/late 14th century BCE and ends when some major dence from geographical areas outside their expertise. coastal sites were abandoned around 1200 BCE and maybe some years or even decades later. Climate and radiocarbon As analysed and summarized by D. Kaniewski and E. Theoretical Approaches to Destruction, Mi- Van Campo in this volume, marine and terrestrial data gration and Transformation of Culture from the Southern Levantine coast, the Aegean Sea, the In the literature, destructions are very often inter- Dead Sea, the Levant, Cyprus, Egypt, Turkey, and Iran preted as caused by attacking forces. In his paper J.M. hint at a period of decreasing humidity from the end of Millek stresses that destruction layers in the Eastern the Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age. This climatic de- Mediterranean from around 1200 BCE are amongst velopment is commonly referred to as the 3.2 kyr calBP the most commonly cited explanations concerning the event (see also Weiberg et al. 2016). The exact dating collapse of the Late Bronze Age societies (see several of this climatic event, however, remains problematic papers in this volume). He examines the available ar- (see Manning et al. in this volume; Knapp and Man- chaeological records by studying assumed destruction ning 2016). Whenever a generally worsening climate layers of 16 sites in the southern Levant which are cited emerged, such an event was certainly one of several in various publications as having been destroyed (also factors resulting in the turbulent transformation of so- by the Sea Peoples). The aim of his paper is to exam- cieties from the Late Bronze to the Iron Age. Fischer ine whether any of the destruction events in the South- (in this volume) goes one step further and suggests – if ern Levant can be attributed to specific invaders and we accept that the 3.2 kyr calBP event, which for a con- more precisely to the arrival of the Sea Peoples. Millek siderable length of time struck the entire area from Italy comes to the conclusion that the majority of them can- over the Aegean to encompass all of the Eastern Medi- not be attributed to enemy attacks or more specifically terranean, and the available data seem to confirm this the Sea Peoples. situation – that a possible scenario could have been that From Millek’s paper it could be deduced that the this climatological change was not only a contributory end of the Bronze Age in the southern Levant was less factor but maybe the trigger for people to start to move violent than often quoted. One of the problems, as we south-eastwards during the latter part of the 13th cen- see it, is the limitations which are imposed by the ar- tury BCE in the hope of improved conditions. Climate chaeological evidence, i.e. the actual find context as does not change ‘overnight’, therefore it is obvious that the excavator uncovers it in the field. Such contexts this process was going on during a lengthy period of are often blurred by later activities and natural ero- time and is not confined to single years. sion and do not always reflect as clearly as one might One major problem, namely correlating these data wish the real events that took place. How much can we with other absolute or relative evidence, is thoroughly expect to find of a once substantial destruction layer discussed in the paper by S.W. Manning, C. Kearns and caused by a conflagration in an unprotected area which B. Lorentzen. Unfortunately, the radiocarbon resolu- has been exposed to erosion or in an area where post- tion around 1200 BCE is very poor because of a plateau destruction occupation disturbed the original context? in the calibration curve and a couple of wiggles which The minimalistic approach to such or similar contexts make the period from c. 1220 to 1110 BCE largely may lead to an under-interpretation of events which ac- very similar in apparent radiocarbon age. Considering tually took place, not to mention that ‘it is relatively the shape of the calibration curve it is at present only easy to demonstrate that each individual circumstance possible to employ Bayesian chronological modelling of alleged destruction could have been caused by other in order to get more precise dates. This means that a factors: equally, they are consistent with a horizon of stratigraphically defined sequence of radiocarbon dates destruction as implied by the Egyptian sources’ (with
011_022 Introduction.indd 4 07.04.2017 16:32:32 Reflections on the Outcomes of the Workshop: Problems and Desiderata 15 reference to one of the reviewers of this paper). This cooking habits and new technology, all of which were position can be equated with the interpretation of a set non-local features of a wide diversity from various re- of radiocarbon dates: it would certainly be wrong not to gions in the Eastern Mediterranean. The authors por- present the most likely date within a series of other pos- tray the Philistine culture as ‘entangled’ and define it sible and presented dates based on the author’s overall as based on a relatively wide set of material attributes research outcomes. (see the discussion of this term above and in Yasur- The paper by A. Yasur-Landau reports on recent ad- Landau in this volume). It is now clear from the ex- vances in the theoretically informed study of intercul- cavations at the major Philistine city of Gath that the tural contact and migration in the Eastern Mediterra- Philistines continued to exhibit foreign traits and prac- nean. The use of terms such as hybridity, creolization, tices for some hundreds of years until the late Iron Age and entanglement when studying changes in material and not – as earlier suggested – until Iron Age IIA, viz. culture ‘emphasized the complexity of the outcomes of roughly the 10th century BCE. To summarize, following intercultural contacts, and acted, to a degree, as a deter- the collapse of the Late Bronze Age political systems, rent to simplistic reconstructions of past contacts’. He during the early Iron Age in Philistia a complex process continues to argue on these terms and whether they have of cultural negotiation between various foreign and lo- outlasted their usefulness which in the author’s view is cal groups took place, resulting in a mixed cultural still open to debate. It seems that new theoretical ap- identity. The authors point to the unsolved problems of proaches to the study of interactions require at least a re- defining who belonged to which group(s), whether a contextualization of these terms within new frameworks. region can be defined as ‘Philistine’ or not, and how The study of nuances in migration in order to create a these processes developed. Ethnic identities existed typology of migration by comparative migration studies during the Iron Age but according to the authors they could be one way to go (van Dommelen 2012: 395 and are difficult to define. New results from ongoing exca- further references in Yasur-Landau’s paper). It is evident vations and innovative approaches will certainly bring that the study of migration, including the study of the us further in the study of these complicated issues. Philistines, based on a theoretical framework dealing In the final part of this section L. Rahmstorf discuss- with migration alone and its identification in archaeolo- es and compares the migration processes of two popu- gy is certainly not enough considering the complexity of lations: the Sea Peoples in the Eastern Mediterranean the situation around 1200 BCE and later additional phe- in the 12th century BCE and the Anglo-Saxons immi- nomena such as trade, piracy and warfare must be taken grating from north-western Germany and Denmark to into account. Yasur-Landau presents six parameters con- England in the 5th and 6th centuries CE. In his compara- cerning any ‘interaction event’ including the number of tive approach he analyses written sources, scientific involved peoples, the duration of the event, the cultural analyses such as DNA and strontium isotope studies, distance between these peoples, the segment of popula- as well as data from settlements, burials and specific tion involved, and the balance of power between the in- groups of artefacts. In general, the data for the Anglo- volved cultures and the level of pluralism and tolerance Saxon migration are far more plentiful than those avail- within the interacting societies. It may be that the two able for the Sea Peoples phenomenon. The former in- main tools at our disposal, namely the material remains cludes plenty of detailed written sources – especially and historical sources, are not enough to assess the sig- as regards the point of origin from which the migra- nificance of each of his presented parameters as valuable tion started –, linguistic studies, DNA studies and well as they may appear. documented data from cemeteries, which may help in A.M. Maeir and L.A. Hitchcock present new results understanding which information is missing for the re- on the appearance, formation and transformation of construction of the Sea Peoples’ migration. However, Philistine Culture. Their paper begins with a summary Rahmstorf shows that the Anglo-Saxon migration, too, of the profound changes which started to take place in is far more difficult to reconstruct than we may expect. the Southern Levant at the beginning of the 12th century This applies for instance to the style of domestic archi- BCE. These include the gradual waning of the Egyp- tecture which settlers may take from their countries of tian control of Canaan, a drawn-out process of destruc- origin. However, it also undergoes rapid changes and tion and/or depopulation of many of the Canaanite city adapts to the new environment, the landscape, climate states, the appearance of ‘new groups’ in the region in and available resources, also depending on a possible the inland and along some of the coastal regions, and transformation of social organisation. Another issue the advent of so-called Sea Peoples represented by the is assimilation of newcomers and indigenous popula- Peleset in the southern Coastal Plain of Canaan. In this tion, their interaction and acculturation, which can be region, Philistia, the new immigrants adapted and de- traced in Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon burials. veloped foreign material culture including architecture, As regards the study of the Sea Peoples phenomenon
011_022 Introduction.indd 5 07.04.2017 16:32:32 16 Peter M. Fischer – Teresa Bürge one should have this situation in mind. To sum up, the the inhabitants of Hala Sultan Tekke followed in their comparative approach of the Anglo-Saxon and the Sea wake after their city had been destroyed. The Levant and Peoples’ migration offers the possibility of discussing Egypt may have been their goal. common phenomena and problems of migration pro- A. Georgiou presents her view from the Paphos re- cesses and shows in what way such processes can be gion of southwestern Cyprus at the transition from the traced in archaeological (and historical) records. 13th to the 12th centuries BCE. According to her, the 12th century BCE saw a phase of unprecedented flourishing Case Studies: Cyprus, Cilicia and the Levant for the regions of Palaepaphos and similarly of Kition Cyprus certainly played a crucial role in and was on the southeast coast, expressed by the monumental heavily affected by the transformations in the Eastern expansion of their respective sacred urban structures. Mediterranean around 1200 BCE due to its central geo- This is explained by Georgiou as an effect of the aban- graphic position and its long tradition as a hub in trade donment of the urban centres to the east of Paphos, at of a variety of products and the export of, in particu- Alassa-Paliotaverna, Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios and lar, copper, pottery and textiles (Fischer and Bürge Maroni-Vournes, together with the regional econom- forthcoming). An overview of possible destruction ic systems of the Kouris, Vasilikos and Maroni river events and abandonments of Late Cypriot settlements valleys respectively. Following the eradication of the in this period with a special focus on Hala Sultan Tekke regional economic systems to the east of Paphos, the is provided by P.M. Fischer. The sites, which in addi- polity was empowered by internal population move- tion to Hala Sultan Tekke are discussed by the author, ments and monopolised the resources over an enlarged include Tomba tou Skourou, Maa-Palaeokastro, Palae- territory. The abandonment of the neighbouring urban paphos, the Kourion area, Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios, centre at Alassa and the depletion of the regional sys- Maroni-Vournes, Kition, Pyla-Kokkinokremos, Sinda tem of the Kouris river valley may also have resulted in and Enkomi, and destructions and/or abandonments in the inclusion of this territory in the polity of Paphos. At the transitional period from the LC IIC to IIIA, roughly the dawn of the 12th century BCE, the Paphian centre around 1200 BCE, are listed. However, these events do remained the only territorial polity on the western half not need to have been contemporary across the whole of the island’s southern coast, and together with Kition studied area and are not points of events but rather pe- and Enkomi had a prominent role in the new commer- riods of time of varying lengths at various sites. Thus, cial strategies that ensued from the collapse of the Late the transitional Late Cypriot IIC/IIIA can be character- Bronze Age state-level economy according to author. ized as a period of destructive events along the south- She states that ‘the events cumulatively referred to as ern Cypriot littoral from Maa-Palaeokastro to the west the ‘crisis years did not have a uniform, nor, by exten- over Hala Sultan Tekke to Enkomi to the east. sion, a devastating, impact on the island’. At Hala Sultan Tekke, on the south-eastern coast, two The acceptance of the dominating position of the destruction layers could be demonstrated supported by Paphos polity in the western part of the island in this radiocarbon: the older was dated at around 1200 BCE period as a result of the abandonment of nearby urban at roughly the start of the transitional Late Cypriot IIC/ centres must lead to the question, why the nearby ur- IIIA (see though the dating limitations of absolute dates ban centres of Alassa-Paliotaverna, Kalavasos-Ayios because of the plateau in the calibration curve pointed Dhimitrios and Maroni-Vournes were abandoned? We out by Fischer in this volume; see also Manning et al. see an effect of events but research has not yet succeed- in this volume); the more recent layer of destruction is ed in explaining the causes behind them. More research dated in Late Cypriot IIIA1/2 around the middle of the is certainly needed. 12th century BCE. At the same time there is evidence of One of the regions which has often been neglected in silting up of the economically essential harbour of the the discussion of the Sea Peoples phenomenon is Cili- city (Devillers et al. 2015) which in combination with cia (see though the contribution by French 2013). In likely climatic changes led to the abandonment of the his paper G. Lehmann discusses new results from the city around 1150 BCE. Again, climate change around excavations at Kinet Höyük, which in the Late Bronze 1200 BCE as argued by Kaniewski and Van Campo in Age belonged to the province of Kizzuwatna, one of this volume leading to drought and damage to crops was the most important provinces of the Hittite empire. The most likely only a contributory factor which finally led province is strategically located between Anatolia, Syria to the abandonment of this large city, and migration. One and Cyprus. The region went through profound cultur- cannot rule out that both destructions of Hala Sultan Tek- al and political changes in the transition from the Late ke might have been caused by migrating people. Fischer Bronze Age to the Iron Age, i.e. approximately during forwards the hypotheses that the population left togeth- the 12th century BCE. The archaeological evidence in- er with or were forced to leave by the invaders, or that cludes continuing, yet declining elements of the material
011_022 Introduction.indd 6 07.04.2017 16:32:32 Reflections on the Outcomes of the Workshop: Problems and Desiderata 17 culture of the Late Bronze Age along with new influ- dence from Tel Dor can clearly be associated with the ences from the Mediterranean in general and the Ae- ‘Phoenician’ cultural sphere of the early Iron Age. The gean and Cyprus in particular. These include ‘LH IIIC’ Egyptian term Tjeker, designating one of the ‘Sea Peo- pottery, which replaces Cypriot pottery imports of the ples’ groups, should be regarded as congruent with the Late Bronze Age. This new pottery is locally produced early ‘Phoenicians’ (or their ‘predecessors’) and per- or imported from Cyprus and the east Aegean (see haps does not indicate an intrusive ethnic population in e.g. Mommsen et al. 2011). Other items which originate the Levant but should rather be seen as a geographical in the Aegean, such as cooking jugs, loom weights or term, namely regions (and peoples) in the Syro-Phoeni- fibulae, only occur in small numbers and were partly lo- cian sphere of culture. cally produced and partly imported from the Aegean or As regards the Southern Levant, the region east of Cyprus. From the early Iron Age on there are strong sty- the Jordan River has not received much attention in the listic connections of locally produced pottery with Cy- debate on the ‘Sea Peoples phenomenon’ nor, in gen- priot elements, which bear witness to intense economic eral, on transformations from the Late Bronze to the contacts with Cyprus. Neither the amount nor the char- early Iron Age. This is partly due to the state of research acter of Aegean-type objects can as yet provide evidence and published evidence (see though e.g. Fischer 2013) of large-scale Aegean migration during the 12th and 11th and partly due to the relative ‘remoteness’ of this re- centuries BCE. A somewhat contrasting view has been gion from the eastern Mediterranean although the Jor- forwarded by Janeway (2013, 2017) who argues for the dan Valley is less than 80 km from the Mediterranean traditional migration model and against the socio-eco- littoral. The earliest Iron Age phase at the site of Tell nomic paradigm, a view based on his conclusions of the Abu al-Kharaz in the Jordan Valley – presented in a study of the ceramic material from Tell Taʿyinat in the paper by T. Bürge – contradicts in many respects the neighbouring Amuq Valley of the northern Levant. prevailing view of a cultural decline in the early Iron D.J.W. Meijer rejects in his contribution a direct Age. There is evidence of planned and organised archi- association of the presence of ‘LH IIIC’ pottery at a tecture which hints at a rather complex and hierarchical specific site or region – regardless of the amount – social organisation. The finds indicate a high degree of and the presence of Sea Peoples. Other archaeologi- continuity from Late Bronze Age tradition, at the same cal evidence of ‘Sea Peoples’ in the Northern Levant time a number of innovations could be traced, which is as yet scarce, except for the Hieroglyphic Luwian reflect an amalgamation of new, mainly ‘western’, and inscription of King Taita in the Storm-God temple in traditional, local traits. This combination of continuity the Aleppo citadel, where – according to D. Hawkins’ and innovation is consistent with finds from other sites interpretation (2011) – he claimed to be the ruler of an in the Jordan and the Jezreel Valleys. The innovations entity called ‘Palistin’. Meijer points out the difficulty may be explained by movements of a limited number of interpreting historical sources, especially if they are of peoples starting around 1200 BCE from the East- unique and fragmentary, and of connecting these sourc- ern Mediterranean through the Jezreel Valley to Tran- es with the archaeological evidence. sjordan, which eventually also became affected by the F.J. Núñez provides a detailed overview on the his- ‘Sea Peoples phenomenon’. Much more research and torical and archaeological situation in the Central and accessible publications from other sites dealing with Northern Levant just before the end of the Late Bronze the Transjordanian archaeological evidence are needed Age, the available sources for studying the transition- in order to understand the general situation in this vast al period and the role and impact of the ‘Sea Peoples’ area at the transition from the Late Bronze to the early as part of the transformations from the Late Bronze to Iron Age (see though e.g. Fischer et al. 2015). the Iron Age. There is a clear continuity from the Late W. Zwickel discusses the settlement history and the Bronze Age to the early Iron Age, which in fact is often acculturation of the northern so-called Philistine terri- regarded as an ‘epilogue’ of the Late Bronze Age. How- tory from a mainly historical point of view. He seeks an ever, considering a more holistic approach, the region explanation for the different degree of ‘visibility’ of the certainly was influenced – economically, politically, and/ Philistines and Danites in historical and archaeological or culturally – by the Sea Peoples phenomenon, even if – sources and comes to the conclusion that the Danites so far – clear-cut archaeological traces are lacking. integrated themselves and assimilated with the new The paper by A. Gilboa and I. Sharon highlights the tribal society, which developed during the Iron Age I intense maritime traffic between the Carmel coast and in the Southern Levant. In contrast, the Philistines re- Cyprus during the Early Iron Age as reflected in the mained foreigners in the eyes of the indigenous people pottery and discusses the impact of the ‘Sea Peoples trying to establish their own independent social and phenomenon’ on commercial spheres in the Mediter- political entity in the area (cf. the paper by Maeir and ranean. The authors argue that the archaeological evi- Hitchcock in this volume).
011_022 Introduction.indd 7 07.04.2017 16:32:32 18 Peter M. Fischer – Teresa Bürge Material Studies the spread of the Urnfield bronzes and the migration of peoples can be directly linked and subsumed as ‘Sea In addition to its importance for establishing relative Peoples phenomena’. chronologies, pottery is the most important single class The role of exotic artefacts, particularly ivory, is of material remains which is currently used to trace discussed by G.J. van Wijngaarden. The spread and ap- cultural transformations, economic patterns, interac- preciation of these objects, especially to Italy, the Ae- tion, migration and other issues. P.A. Mountjoy traces gean and Cyprus, before the end of the Late Bronze the provenance of motifs on Philistine pottery and con- Age and the collapse of palatial systems was character- nections of different ‘Aegean-style IIIC’ pottery styles ized mainly by the value of distance (see also Burns between various regions: There are stylistic affinities 2010; Steel 2013). Towards the end of the Late Bronze between the East Aegean/West Anatolia and Philistia, a Age we can observe an increased local production in all strong connection to Cyprus, and a group of Philistine three regions. In the case of ivory this cannot be simply motifs which originate from Crete and came to Phil- explained by the collapse of trade routes, since the raw istia via Cyprus, whereas direct connections from the material has had to be imported from far away in any Greek mainland to Philistia seem to be rare. Supported case, but the role and value of these objects changed. by the results of NAA of Aegean-style pottery the im- In addition, local production of exotica required infor- portant role of large Cypriot ports, such as Hala Sultan mation about materials, styles and techniques, specific Tekke (see Fischer in this volume) or Kition, could be skills and know-how, which were possibly transmitted confirmed. The trade routes from Cyprus to the Levant – at least partly – by population movements. may also have been followed by migrants. P.W. Stockhammer also includes the use of specific Concluding remarks vessel types on specific occasions and in various- re Regardless of the multitude of methods and approaches gions and societies during the later part of the 13th to employed, and the regional differences and contrasting the first half of theth 12 centuries BCE. He comes to views considered in the attempt to elucidate or solve the conclusion that in regions outside Philistia, i.e. the the riddle of the causes behind and the effect of the Jezreel and the Jordan Valleys, specific Aegean-type ‘crisis years’ around 1200 BCE and later, there are a pottery was used by different groups, partly in connec- number of unanswered questions and problems which tion with trade by highly mobile people with close con- we would like to address and summarize: nections to Cyprus as part of an ‘international’ material (1a) Terminology: The term ‘Sea Peoples’ is still culture and partly in burial contexts where these ves- widely used, although it is not entirely clear whether sels imitate Cypriot and Northern Levantine practices. the identity or origin of these ‘peoples’ can be estab- In contrast, in Philistia, where specific Aegean vessel lished with any certainty. Some scholars include in shapes such as kylikes, cups or stirrup jars, are almost this term a number of (in)homogenous ethnic groups; totally missing, but bowls are extremely frequent, it others consider ‘them’ simply an effect of various, of- seems that Canaanite practices were simply transferred ten disastrous, events; others again combine consid- into Aegean shapes and styles by the inhabitants of the erations of ethnicity and origin with migration and Philistine settlements. cultural transformations and their effects. As outlined Next to pottery, other groups of objects have also above we would suggest agreement on the all-embrac- received attention in the ‘Sea Peoples’ debate. The con- ing term ‘Sea Peoples phenomenon’, which does not tribution by M. Mehofer and R. Jung focuses on swords exclude any of the prevailing hypotheses until we find of Naue II-type, which belong to the Urnfield bronzes, a final solution to this problem, which at present is not also referred to as metallurgical koiné. These swords to hand. spread together with other bronze objects from north- (1b) Terminology: Another terminological problem ern/central Europe, Italy and the Balkans to the eastern concerns the locally made Aegean-style pottery types Mediterranean during the end of the 13th and the 12th which appear around 1200 BCE in various regions of centuries BCE. In contrast to the dominating opinion the Eastern Mediterranean. This represents a recurring that these bronzes originate from the Balkans, Mehofer problem. Depending on regions and research traditions and Jung were able to demonstrate, that they can in fact in the volume authors use the term Aegean-style, (lo- be traced back to Italy. Interestingly, these weapons – cal) LH IIIC with subdivisions, locally made Mycenae- of which some were produced in Italy and others in oth- an pottery and additional subdivisions, Philistine with er regions according to Italian prototypes – were spread subdivisions, and the unfortunate term White Painted during the same period and in the regions where groups Wheel-made III which is used in Cypriot pottery stud- of Sea Peoples are attested in Egyptian, Hittite, Cypriot ies but which the editor (P.M. Fischer) replaced with and Ugaritic sources. The question remains whether two subgroups, White Painted Wheel-made Geometric
011_022 Introduction.indd 8 07.04.2017 16:32:32 Reflections on the Outcomes of the Workshop: Problems and Desiderata 19 Style (similar to the original Mycenaean decorative the Iron Age. These changes include many factors and scheme) and White Painted Wheel-made Pictorial Style manifest themselves over decades and not years: One (a local decorative invention; Fischer 2012). single wave of migration, one general military cam- (2) The amount and availability of material and paign and other simple explanations can and should be written sources are not consistently distributed over dismissed. The breakdown of Late Bronze Age socie- all areas, which suggests that a number of hypotheses ties and the transformative processes that followed in and explanations are somewhat tendentious (see e.g. its wake occurred in a vast area – on that we all agree the scarce evidence from the central Levant). In ad- – but they are mirrored in differing ways at local level. dition, the intensity of research varies significantly Future research, which should be based on con- between different regions. One example is the consid- tinued careful excavation of relevant sites, scientific erable number of publications on the era of the Phil- material investigations including DNA and Strontium istines in the Southern Levant, where we have both isotope analyses, and sequencing of radiocarbon dates written and archaeological evidence and intense on- based on firm stratigraphical evidence, followed by im- going research. However, this can lead to a distorted mediate publication, will certainly bring us further in and perhaps also prejudiced picture of the ‘Sea Peo- our assignment to advance the state of research on the ples phenomenon’. Peoples phenomenon. (3) Unfortunately, depending on the plateau in the As regards the editor’s (P.M. Fischer) research in calibration curve together with wiggles which start in the coming four years, in which also the co-editor (T. the second half of the 13th century and continue into Bürge) is involved, we are very happy to announce the the second half of the 12th century BCE, the absolute receipt of an advanced grant from the Swedish Re- chronology of this period suffers from a wide range of search Council to P.M. Fischer, which enables us to possible dates. At present, this makes our understand- continue to study the Sea Peoples phenomenon (with ing of the sequence of certain events or their possible focus on Cyprus) supported by a team of international synchronism, such as destructions or the appearance specialists. In the course of this project radiocarbon and use of certain objects and styles, quite ambiguous. dating, INAA, MC-ICP-MS, petrography, climatol- In conclusion, it became clear at the end of the con- ogy, Strontium isotope and DNA analyses, in addition ference and during our final discussion that we are deal- to conventional archaeological and historical methods ing with very complex changes from the Late Bronze to will be utilized.
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Overviews: From Italy to the Levant
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011_022 Introduction.indd 12 07.04.2017 16:32:32 The Sea Peoples after Three Millennia: Possibilities and Limitations of Historical Reconstruction 23 The Sea Peoples after Three Millennia: Possibilities and Limitations of Historical Reconstruction
Reinhard Jung
Abstract studies. The overview continues by presenting the discussions cen- tered on different traits of material culture that might be connected This paper presents a description and critical discussion of recent to the Sea Peoples. These are certain categories of Aegean-type research on the so-called Sea Peoples in two thematic chapters. pottery – especially kitchen vessels – as well as handmade pottery The first deals with research issues and starts with the continuous of Italian type, but also offensive weapons and protective armor as attempts to geographically locate the Sea Peoples’ ethnonyms by well as specific types of ships (all depicted in Egypt and compared means of references to contemporary and later written sources. Re- by archaeologists to contemporaneous artefacts). The second part garding the proposed reasons for the presence of those groups of of the paper proceeds by geographical region in an anti-clockwise persons in the eastern Mediterranean and their activities, we can manner, from Egypt and the Levant to Cyprus and Asia Minor, to single out two current trends of research, an economic-modernist the Balkans and Greece, in order to end in the central Mediterranean one and a second one influenced by the methodology of migration regions of Italy.
Introduction historians. Current theories oscillate between the cen- The intention of this paper is to give a short overview of tral Mediterranean, the Aegean and Asia Minor, which is in principle not totally different from the start of the recent research on the Sea Peoples. However, this con- th tribution can only highlight some selected aspects and debate in the 19 century. A recurrent feature of those provide some thoughts: many more issues are treated in discussions to this very day is the connection that schol- the papers collected in this volume. As this workshop ars try to establish between group designations found in has shown, the subject of the Sea Peoples touches upon inscriptions on architecture and on clay tablets from the 2nd millennium BCE to texts of the classical Greek and a wide array of archaeological, philological and histori- st cal issues. Some of the most debated ones are Latin sources dating mainly to the mid and advanced 1 millennium BCE – the earliest texts being of course the – the origin of the different groups of Sea Peoples Homeric epics of the 8th or 7th centuries BCE. – our understanding of the social and historical phe- As a recent example one may cite ‘Turša’ and ‘Pele- nomenon of the Sea Peoples set’ known under Merneptah and Ramesses III that – the impact the actions of the Sea Peoples had on the are again connected to ‘Τυρσηνοί’ and ‘Πελασγοί’ or state societies of the eastern Mediterranean ‘Πελαστοί’. In doing this the late Itamar Singer contin- ued a research tradition going back to the 18th century, – problems related to the detection of migration by ar- while he enriched it with a number of new details from chaeological methods current research in a paper published in 2013 (Sing- – settlement dynamics of migrants in various areas of er 2013). Basing himself on Homer and later authors, the eastern Mediterranean Singer argued that both groups Turša and Peleset origi- – the role different Mediterranean and South-Euro- nated in western Asia Minor and they spread to Thes- pean regions played at the onset or the end of the saly, Crete and ultimately to Italy, where they became activities of the Sea Peoples (Italy, the central Bal- known as Pelasgians and Tyrsenians. Other scholars, by kans, Greece, Asia Minor, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, contrast, hold that Italy has not been the destination, but Palestine and Egypt). the land of origin of these or other Sea People groups (Drews 1993: 48–72; Cline 2014: 8). Research Issues To my knowledge, even today, after many decades The puzzle of assigning a region of provenance to the of excavation in the Near East, it remains a fact that multitude of ethnonyms that are reported by the texts contemporary written sources of the 2nd millennium found mainly in Egypt and Syria (Adams and Cohen BCE provide information on the provenance of the Sea 2013) is still exerting its fascination on philologists and Peoples only in one certain and two further possible in-
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stances. We are on secure ground in the case of the Luk- ers of pottery and bronze objects are thought to have ka that are named under pharaoh Merneptah (for the undermined the centrally organized palace economies Great Libyan War Inscription at Karnak see Kitchen that were characterized by politically staged exchange 2003: 2–10) and can be linked to Lycia in southwest- mechanisms between kings, in which copper, tin and ern Asia Minor with the aid of Hittite tablets (Hawkins gold were traded. The advocates of that interpretative 1998: 1; Gander 2010). A geographic localization may model locate those private, freelance traders preferably also be feasible in the case of the Aqajawaša – again on the island of Cyprus, from where they sailed around listed under Merneptah (see Kitchen 2003: 2–10; 16– the eastern Mediterranean bypassing rigid state control 19 [“Athribis Stela”]). However, this is possible only and contributing to the breakdown of the inflexible pal- if the connection between Aqajawaša and Aḫḫhiyawa ace economies, thus setting free energies for the cre- known from Hittite inscriptions and located in Greece ation of a new form of market economy leading into the (Hawkins 1998) is regarded as philologically accept- Iron Age. Reminding ourselves that these papers were able (Stadelmann 1968: 157–160; Lehmann 1985: published in the 1990s and in the first decade of the 21st 50–55; Bryce 2005: 336, 338; Singer 2006: 252). century, we may not help to recall the breakdown of the Finally, the Dnu
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modernist interpretation would have it (Dothan and most debated finding was the presence of pig bones (of Zukerman 2004: 45). Similar observations could be domestic pigs) in the earliest strata of the Iron I settle- made in southern and northern coastal Syria and in Cy- ments, as it seemed to show that the diet of the pre- prus on locally produced pottery that adheres to Myce- sumed newcomers differed in at least one animal spe- naean prototypes (Jung 2011a, 2011b). It is true that on cies from the traditional diet in many Late Bronze Age Cyprus Mycenaean-type and Mycenaeanizing pottery settlements (Hesse 1990: 209–218; Hesse and Wapnish was already locally produced during LC IIC, in the 13th 1997). Indeed, the progress of archaeozoological re- century BCE, but it is important to stress that the large search showed that from Ashkelon in the south up to increase in production of such locally produced My- Ugarit in the north the Late Bronze Age populations of cenaean-type pottery did not continue previous trends. the Levantine coastal regions consumed domestic pig Rather this production introduced a new repertory with rarely, if at all (see Vila and Dalix 2004; Chahoud completely new percentages of vessel types. and Vila 2011–2012 – both also including the central A fresh wind came into the debate on Philistine ma- and northern Levant). By contrast, pork was consumed terial culture, when modern migration studies were used in the Aegean, the hypothetical home region of the Phi- to classify models of migration and test them against listines, and in Cyprus during LC IIIA, the phase in the archaeological evidence at the different settlements which a similar immigration originating in the Aegean (Yasur-Landau 2007). It was realized that food prepa- affected the island according to some scholars (Yasur- ration and consumption habits are often preserved by Landau 2010a: 295–299). immigrants in their new cultural milieu, even when they Regarding changes in kitchen ware, very similar try to adopt many other habits of their region of immi- observations could subsequently be made in Cyprus. gration. This is when the study of cooking pots, a class Both, in Cyprus and in Philistia the new Mycenaean- of pottery that had previously rather been neglected in type cooking pots replaced earlier round-bottomed virtually all countries around the eastern Mediterranean, cooking pot types to a considerable extent during LC became an important indicator of social change. Some IIIA and Iron Age IA, i.e. during the first half of the 12th stimulus came from feasting and consumption debates century. In 13th century Cyprus handmade round-bot- in Aegean archaeology and especially from scholars tomed cooking pots of Cypriot tradition were directly working on Minoan Crete, where kitchen pottery had set into the hearth fire, as burning marks attest. During been analyzed in order to trace Mycenaean influence the 12th century flat-bottomed cooking pots of Myce- during the Minoan post-palatial period (Borgna 1997). naean type were used on carefully constructed hearth Scholars realized that a new shape of cooking pot and platforms that were introduced to the island contempo- new types of fixed hearth installations made their- ap raneously with those cooking jugs and amphorae (Jung pearance in the early phases of the Philistine sites. The 2011a) (Fig. 1). new cooking pot shape was without predecessors in the In other Levantine regions, the picture is different. region and could be directly related to Mycenaean pro- Although in Cilicia and along the Syrian and Lebanese totypes, namely the cooking jug FT 65 and the cooking coasts Mycenaean-type pottery had been locally pro- amphora FT 66. These flat-bottomed cooking pots had duced since the early 12th century, this phenomenon to be used in a totally different way from the round-bot- remained largely limited to fine-ware pottery. Only oc- tomed cooking pots of Canaanite tradition. They were casionally were cooking pots of Mycenaean type pro- adapted to a use on the fixed hearths (Killebrew 1999). duced and used. A regionally much diversified picture At Ekron, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Gath technological emerges in terms of pottery use (Fig. 1). This is also and petrographic analyses showed that also the manu- true in quantitative terms, although even today excava- facture of the Mycenaean-type cooking pots was differ- tion publications often do not provide sufficient statis- ent from that of the Late Bronze Age Canaanite cook- tical data to enable direct site-to-site comparisons. In ing pots in terms of clay paste preparation by the potters general, it seems that the locally produced Mycenaean (Ben Shlomo 2011: 277–278; Master 2011; Kille- and Mycenaeanizing pottery classes make up a large or brew 2013). The same applies to the few Mycenaean- even dominant part of the whole pottery repertoire at type cooking pots manufactured at Tell Kazel in Syria Iron IA sites in the historical Philistine pentapolis and when compared to the round-bottomed cooking pots of in many settlements on Cyprus. local tradition (Badre et al. 2005: 19; 25; 27, fig. 3; 28, The same seems to be true for a few settlements in fig. 4,1; 34, fig. 9,2; Jung 2011b: 124, fig. 4,2; 127). northern coastal Syria and in the north Orontes valley At the Iron Age I sites in Philistia archaeozoologists such as Ras Ibn Hani (du Piêd 2011) and Tell Taʿyinat supplemented the pottery evidence by zoological data (Janeway 2011). However, in these cases we are deal- in order to reconstruct the diet of the inhabitants. Their ing nearly exclusively with painted Aegean-type pot-
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Fig. 1 Mycenaean-type cooking pots (FT 65 and 66) from settlements east of present-day Greece. Presence among the cooking pots in the single settlements: – exclusive; – predominant; – frequent; o – rare (mapping R. Jung, graphics M. Börner): 1. Ashkelon, Iron Age I (Master 2011: 261–263); 2. Ekron, early 12th century (Dothan and Zukerman 2004: 30; Dothan et al. 2006: 78; 87–88; Ben-Shlomo 2011: 276); 3. Enkomi IIIA, LC IIIA (R. Jung); 4. Liman Tepe, LH IIIC (Mangaloğlu-Votruba 2011: 47; 69, fig. 2,b and personal communication by S. Mangaloğlu-Votruba, who made a cautious remark regarding the small extension of the excavated LH IIIC strata); 5. Maa-Paleó- kastro, LC IIIA (R. Jung); 6. Qubur el-Walaydah VII, Iron Age IB, Field 1 (Lehmann 2011: 290–295); 7. Ras Ibn Hani (du Piêd 2006–2007: 180 with n. 15); 8. Tarsus, LB II (Goldman 1956: 217, fig. 324,1220. 1221; fig. 389,1220. 1221, and personal communicationA. Özyar and E. Ünlü); 9. Tell ʿArqa, Phase 11 (Charaf 2011: 207; 215–216, fig. 5,5 and 6); 10. Tell es-Safi (Gath), Iron Age I Early–Middle (Zukerman 2012: 286–290, fig. 13.4); 11. Tell Kazel, LB II/IA I and IA I R.( Jung); 12. Tell Taʿyinat, Field Phase 5, Iron Age I (Janeway 2011: 176–177; 185, fig. 3,7. 8)
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tery. At Tell Kazel in southern coastal Syria the situa- argument appears analogous to the one used in the Le- tion is again different. Here we find about one third of vant and Cyprus to explain the presence of the slightly unpainted pots among the local Mycenaean table wares. later locally produced Mycenaean and Mycenaeaniz- However, in contrast to Ras Ibn Hani, the whole of the ing pottery of the Iron Age I period. local Mycenaean pottery makes up only a small per- Once the problem of origin seemed to be solved for centage of the pottery total at the beginning of the Iron a major part of the Handmade and Burnished pottery, Age (Jung 2011b). detailed topographical studies, first at Tiryns, later at Comparing the Aegean to the Levant we may note Khaniá and other sites, started with the aim of illu- an interesting fact. While along the eastern Mediter- minating the social position of the people using those ranean coasts various fine and coarse-ware classes of vessels in the context of Mycenaean society. Studies pottery of Aegean type or inspiration are taken to rep- covering a large part of the settlement, including dif- resent one of the most visible correlates of Sea Peoples ferent quarters and preferably houses with secure floor settlement, in the Aegean other artifacts come into deposits, are still a desideratum for new archaeological discussion, when scholars try to find traces of those fieldwork. The debate is going on, and opinions still di- invaders. The identification of a non-Aegean pottery verge (Kilian 2007: 50–52; Stockhammer 2008 vol. class at several Late Bronze Age sites on the Greek I: 288–294; Rahmstorf 2011: 316–318; 328–329, figs. mainland dates back to the late 1960s and early 1970s. 2–4; D’Agata et al. 2012). For more than two decades the search for the origin of The earliest appearance of the Italian-type Hand- that pottery class called Handmade Burnished Ware or made and Burnished pottery during the last phases of Handmade and Burnished Pottery developed in vari- the palace period was found to coincide both chrono- ous directions including Troy, the central Balkans, the logically and topographically with the appearance of Adriatic coasts and southern Italy. At the beginning of new bronze types termed Urnfield bronzes or bronzes the 1990s Klaus Kilian was able to demonstrate that of the metallurgical koiné, such as fibulae, Naue II at LH IIIB and IIIC Tiryns the main inspiration for swords, spearheads with cast sockets and other items. the potters of that Handmade and Burnished Pottery A debate evolved around the question of the way in came from southern Italy (Kilian 2007: 54–55; 75–80 which pottery and bronzes were related to immigrant [printed posthumously]). A similar result had been groups and whether these immigrants can be seen as reached by Birgitta Hallager for LM IIIB–C Khaniá warriors that eventually became involved in some of (Hallager 1983). Others followed that approach and the Sea Peoples’ groups attacking Egypt and the king- added discussions of further sites on the Greek main- doms of the Levantine coasts. Some would rather see land and on Crete.1 It turned out that at most of the late an involvement of traders (recently Iacono 2013, who palatial and early post-palatial sites the Handmade and does not, however, deny the presence of Italian immi- Burnished Pottery can be connected to Recent Bronze grants in Greece), while others interpret these objects Age southern Italy, while there are a number of sites as related to some warrior groups and their followers, with a second handmade pottery class, the types of who were present as immigrants at several Mycenaean which cannot be convincingly related to any region settlements. Such a presence of warriors originating in outside the Mycenaean orbit (Fig. 2). Nearly every- Italy is explained in different ways, supported also by where in the Aegean, where either chemical or pe- sociological models of migration studies (Peroni 1983: trographic analyses have been undertaken, the Hand- 258–271; Bettelli 1999: 468–472; Jung 2009a; Jung made and Burnished Ware of Italian type was found and Mehofer 2013). to be of local manufacture (Jung 2006a: 24 with Several classes of Handmade and Burnished Pottery bibliography). Regarding the fact that its whole tech- are still sometimes mapped together without differen- nology differs from Aegean potting traditions, which tiation between their different typological repertoires were using the fast wheel, and that its typology has (Rahmstorf 2011: 319, 330, fig. 6; Broodbank 2013: barely any relation to Mycenaean and Minoan shapes, 463–464, fig. 9.15; Iacono 2013: 64, fig. 5.2). It could this pottery is now commonly taken to have been used be shown, however, that in the Aegean we may differ- by people of foreign – in this case Italian – origin, entiate between technological and typological traditions who preserved some of their consumption habits. This of different origin: One tradition of handmade pottery –
1 Bettelli 1999: 117–127, figs. 54–56; Jung 2006a: 32–39; 179–187; 199–204; 208–210, pl. 26; Bettelli 2009; D’Agata et al. 2012.
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Fig. 2 Handmade and Burnished Pottery in the eastern Mediterranean from the later 14th to the early 11th century BCE (northern and north- western Greece not mapped; Submycenaean contexts excluded): – Italian mainland types; – Sardinian types; – Sicilian types; – Balkan types; – local and non-classifiable types (bibliography as quoted and according to Jung 2006a: 255–256; so-called céramique à la stéatite of northern Syria not mapped, cf. Rahmstorf 2011: 319; 330, fig. 6) (mapping R. Jung, graphics M. Börner): 1. Achaia Clauss (Paschalidis and McGeorge 2009: 85); 2. Acrocorinth (Jung 2006a: 255, pl. 26); 3. Aeyíra (Jung 2006a: 255, pl. 26); 4. Aghreliá (Jung 2006a: 255, pl. 26); 5. Athens (Jung 2006a: 255, pl. 26); 6. Ayía Pelayía (Jung 2006a: 255, pl. 26); 7. Bademgediği Tepe (Jung 2006a: 255, pl. 26); 8. Beirut (Badre 1998: 76–77, fig. 4a–b; Jung 2009a: 134–135, fig. 3:3); 9. Delphi (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 10. Dhiakáta (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 11. Dhimíni (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 12. Emborió (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 13. Enkomi (Pilides 1994: 87–88, cat. nos. 23–26, fig. 19,1–4; Pilides and Boileau 2011: 117; 124, fig. 1; 126, fig. 4); 14. Exálofos (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 15. Kalapódhi (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 16. Kastélli, Pedhiádha (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 17. Kastrokefála (Kanta and Kontopodi 2011: 130; 141, fig. 8g); 18. Khaniá (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26; Hallager 2011: 371–372, pl. 128,80-P1046+. 77-P2049; D’Agata et al. 2012: 299–309); 19. Kítion (Pilides 1994: 85–87, cat. nos. 1–22, figs. 16–18); 20. Knossós (D’Agata et al. 2012: 308–309, fig. 7B); 21. Kommós (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 22. Korákou (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 23. Lakkíthra (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 24. Lefkandí (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26; Po- pham et al. 2006: 215–218, fig. 2.42,2–4, pl. 49–50; Bettelli 2009: 113–114, fig. 12,6); 25. Maa-Palaeókastro (Pilides 1994: 88–89, cat. no. 28, fig. 20,1); 26. Menelaion (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26; Catling 2009 I: 380–383; II: 235, fig. 239,PE272; 236, fig. 240,PE276; 297, fig. 301,A266. A268); 27. Metaxáta (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 28. Midea (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26; Demakopoulou et al. 2003: 10–11, fig. 9; 14–15, fig. 22); 29. Mítrou, SH IIIC (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 30. Mykene (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 31. Nichória (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 32. Pánormos, Tholosgrab A (Despinis 1981: 235, pl. 142α. γ); 33. Pellána (Demakopoulou 1982: 116–117, cat. no. 13, pl. 59,135); 34. Peratí (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 35. Pyla-Kokkinókremos (Karageorghis 2011; Hermon et al. 2011); 36. Sínda (Pilides 1994: 88, cat. no. 27, fig. 19,5); 37. Teichos Dymaion (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 38. Tell ʿArqa (Charaf 2011); 39. Tell Kazel (Badre 2006: 83–89; 91 with figs. 14; 16,1. 2. 5.6; 17,1–6; 19,1–5); 40. Tel Qasile (Mazar 1985: 43–44; 198–199, fig. 29,20–22; 208–209, fig. 34,12.13); 41. Thebes (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26); 42. Thrónos Kephála (D’Agata et al. 2012: 310–316 with figs. 9 and 11,2. 3. 5); 43. Tiryns (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26; Kilian 2007); 44. Troy (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26; Hänsel 2008; Hnila 2012); 45. Vólos, Kástro/Paliá (Jung 2006a: 256, pl. 26)
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which is present at the largest number of sites – is relat- either to their non-specific shape or to their fragmentary ed to southern mainland Italy and more precisely to the preservation (cf. Pilides 1994; Jung 2009b: 78; Kilian so-called Subapennine culture group of Recent Bronze 2007: 67–68). In view of this rarity in Cyprus, the larger Age date. A second tradition of handmade pottery has quantities found at two sites in the Akkar Plain, i.e. of a central Balkan origin and, so far, is confined to Troy dozens of sherds and vessels at Tell Kazel and six at (for recent studies on the Trojan finds seeHänsel 2008; Tell ʿArqa, are remarkable and cannot be explained by Hnila 2012). A third one is probably a local invention a simple model suggesting that all of the pottery classes at several sites in central Greece and perhaps related of western derivation must have come via Cyprus. The to people living in remote areas barely known through handmade and burnished pottery from the Akkar Plain archaeological research (Jung 2006a: 40–47; for a dif- compares very well with the repertoire of southern con- ferent yet also local explanation of this category see Lis tinental Italy – note especially the carinated cup and 2009). Detailed distribution maps of these categories bowl shapes (Charaf 2011: 204; 212, fig. 2,1. 2;Badre are available today (Jung 2006a: 46–47 pl. 25–26; Lis 2006: 87–88, fig. 17,6; Fig. 3:1). Only at a few Aegean 2009: 150–157 fig. 18.2;D’Agata et al. 2012: 296–297 sites such as Tiryns, Dhimíni and the Spartan Menelaion fig. 1A; for an update see Fig. 2). provide us with similar quantities and a comparable ty- One may note that the chronological and geographic pological variety. In the Near East Tell Kazel and Tell distribution of both the handmade pottery of Italian ʿArqa are the only sites that yielded Recent Bronze Age type and the bronzes of the metallurgical koinè fol- Italian-type handmade pottery (the handmade pots from lowed a west-east direction, reaching Cyprus and the Tel Qasile being unrelated to Italian pottery traditions, Levantine shores slightly later than Greece. The so- see Fig. 2:40), while it is especially remarkable that at called Urnfield bronzes are not numerous in the Levant, both sites this class had been locally produced accord- but this scarcity may very well be due to the fact that ing to petrographic and chemical analyses (Badre et we know only few tomb contexts dating to early Iron I al. 2005; Boileau et al. 2010; Mommsen 2011). The in those regions. technology of some pots from Tell Kazel even exhibits It is further important to remark on the fact that the specific characteristics paralleled in southern Italy, but distribution of Italian-type handmade pottery is very un- not among the local pottery classes, e.g. grog temper. It even to the east of Greece. At two sites in Cyprus some even seems that the predilection for carniated bowls in single sherds or vessels conform to the Subapennine ty- the Subapennine pottery manufacture inspired potters at pological repertoire, at one site to a Nuragic type, while Tell Kazel to produce similar shapes on the wheel by us- a few more pieces from those and other sites might be- ing technology and style otherwise reserved for the local long to this group (Fig. 2), but are difficult to classify due Mycenaean pottery (Fig. 3:2).
1
2
0 10 cm
Fig. 3 Pottery from Tell Kazel: 1 – handmade carinated bowl of Subapennine type from Tell Kazel (first published inBadre 2006: 88, fig. 17,6 – but restored with two handles); 2 – wheelmade and painted carinated bowl of local Mycenaean style (Scale 1:3, drawings R. Jung and R. Yassine)
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Contemporaneously with the Italian-type handmade not be convincingly explained as products of the in- pottery, locally produced Mycenaean-type pottery ap- vaders mentioned in Ramesses’ III year eight inscrip- peared at both sites in the Akkar Plain (for Tell ʿArqa tion at Medinet Habu for stratigraphical reasons (for see Charaf 2007–2008: 76–80, fig. 4,i. k). In addition, Ramesses’ III regnal years see now Schneider 2010: at Tell Kazel there is a second pottery class of Italian 402: 1195–1164 BCE). The inscription refers to a de- derivation, so far not found at Tell ʿArqa. In discussions struction of Amurru, i.e. the region of the Akkar Plain, of the Tell Kazel material it has sometimes been over- by the Sea Peoples, who subsequently set up their en- looked that two distinct classes of Grey Ware are pres- campment in this region (Edel 1985: 225, 235–236). ent at the site. One consists of Trojan shapes (a kylix A connection of the Aegean- and Italian-type artifact and amphoroid kraters with incised wavy line decora- classes to the wider phenomenon of the Sea Peoples tion) known from several Levantine sites. According may nevertheless exist, if one keeps in mind that mi- to chemical analyses by NAA these vessels had indeed grants tend to move where they find contact persons, been imported from the Troad (Badre 2006: 87–88, fig. people that can transmit knowledge to them about the 16,8; Badre et al. 2005: 19; 31, fig. 7,3. 4; Mommsen goal of emigration, perhaps some first adventurers, and Pavúk 2007). The second Grey Ware category of ‘pioneers’ that have emigrated earlier (c.f. Burmeis- Tell is of unknown provenance (the NAA results did ter 1996; Yasur-Landau 2007). If the current picture not match any known chemical group), differs clearly is not heavily distorted by certainly existing research in terms of technology from the Trojan fabrics and has gaps, these early immigrants to this central Levantine no parallels at other Levantine sites so far (Badre et al. region ought to have come by sea from the Aegean 2005: 19; 31, fig. 7,1.2; Badre 2006: 87–88, fig. 17,7. and Italy or perhaps from Italy with a subsequent lon- 9. 10. 12; Jung 2012: 111, fig. 10.4,3. 5. 8. 10). The ger or shorter intermediate stay in the Aegean, as in shapes of this second Grey Ware class are either My- the wider region of the central to northern Levant and cenaean (deep bowl FT 284/285) or Subapennine Ital- Cyprus there is nowhere a comparative assemblage of ian ones (carinated bowls, carinated cup and jug), and western-type artifacts belonging to the realm of every- they seem to functionally supplement the handmade day life. A basically maritime expansion starting from Subapennine vessels, together with which they were the central Mediterranean and from the Aegean is also found in the same stratigraphic contexts (Badre 2006: in agreement with the laconic information of the writ- 87; Jung 2012: 109–112, fig. 10.4). They add another ten and iconographic sources,2 and has been convinc- remarkable element of Italian derivation and moreover ingly argued with regard to the exceedingly difficult one that can be specifically related to the Ionian coasts land routes leading through Asia Minor (Mountjoy of southern Italy. In the Aegean this class has parallels 2015: 64; 70–71, figs. 21–22). in a comparable variety and with similar quantities es- Coming now to the weapons carried by the Sea pecially at Dhimíni. Peoples on the Egyptian reliefs, a short comment The discussion of the evidence from the Akkar may suffice. Similarly to what has been written about Plain serves to highlight with an example that the lo- the hairstyles of the Sea Peoples’ women at Medinet cal material culture and thus the historical processes Habu (Sweeney and Yasur-Landau 1999), one can took very different paths in the various regions along state that the weaponry consists of a mixture of differ- the Levantine coasts between Antioch and Gaza. In ent military traditions. Few types have good parallels contrast to the stratigraphic appearance of local My- among Levantine and among Mycenaean weapons cenaean and Mycenaeanizing pottery at the southern respectively (Mehofer and Jung, in the present vol- coastal sites of Palestine (in Iron Age I strata), at Tell ume), but many of them cannot be related to 14th and Kazel the locally produced Mycenaean-type ceramics early 13th century warrior equipments from the Ae- and the handmade Italian-type pottery were not only gean, Asia Minor, the Near East and Egypt. Instead, found in Iron Age I contexts, but also inside the fi- they are new in all of these regions. This is true for nal LB II destruction level – in both cases in small the long or short swords with tapering shoulders and percentages compared to the local ceramic repertoire. converging cutting edges (Jung 2009a: 130–135, figs. Although they appear to be products of some small 1–2 – quoting Sicilian and southern continental Italian groups of immigrants with an Aegean and a central parallels); for the round shield (with the earliest east- Mediterranean cultural background, these vessels can- ern Mediterranean attestations in Mycenaean Greece
2 Except for the land battle scene, which, however, shows the land transport only for the way from a Levantine region to Egypt.
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