‘Sea People’ who waged war on ancient Egypt and ‘destroyed civilisations’

A mysterious group of "Sea People" could still be out there, centuries on from their war against ancient Egyptians.

The elusive society laid waste to civilisations, destroying dozens of homes and people as they took to the streets of what we now know as Cairo. Those Bronze Age warmongers could now see themselves living in the likes of Syria, Cyprus and Palestine.

Sea Peoples, based on Egyptian texts and illustrations, were believed to be from the Middle Eastern region and dominated the 13th century when records were all but destroyed and lost.

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Seemingly originating from Grecian sailors and pirates, the Sea Peoples began dominating the southwestern coasts of Egypt before waging war on those living there.

The undocumented peoples were believed to have launched a series of attacks between 1200 and 900 BC, with activities carried out by the group described as one of the "most important" periods by orientalist Wilhelm Max Müller.

Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II is believed to have brushed shoulders with the vicious and elusive group of Sea Peoples, who had his scribes write up an all-but-lost poem to recall the battle he survived.

He claims to have fended off the Sea Peoples from Egypt, allowing their warships to approach the Nile before launching an attack and sinking their ships according to worldhistory.

The Bulletin now rests in the temples of Abydos, Karnak, Abu Simbel and Luxor, though it is widely believed the naval raiders were not actually from the sea. Instead they were groups of pirates who found themselves nabbing prisoners from various Mediterranean cities.

Further battles with Ramesses III followed after the Sea Peoples destroyed a trading centre in Kadesh, which was then followed by an attempted invasion of Egypt. Said invasion was not successful.

In fact, the Sea People were finally defeated under Ramesses III just a few years on from their attempted taking of Egypt, with the last of the group killed and brought into captivity in the city of Xois on 1178BCE.

Sea Peoples were slain and taken captive by the Egyptian army, where they were then sold as slaves. Some reports, including research from Britannica, imply the surviving Sea Peoples may have settled in what is now known as Palestine.

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