The Sea Peoples

Ancient Greek History: The Dark Ages: The Sea Peoples

Geography

            The geography of ancient Greece included a land of mountains, hills, city-states, forests, and rivers. The land of Greece is and was good for trading, Democracy, subsistence farming, strong navies, and wars. Greece was mostly made up of city-states that traded with one another. However, they eventually came together under the Macedonians, the Romans, and then finally under the Byzantine Empire.

Dark Age

The Dark Age collapse in Europe during ancient Greece started in 1400 BCE with large-scale volcanoes, environmental destruction, floods, and environmental disasters. It then proceeded with invasions from the “Sea Peoples.”  The Sea Peoples were migrants who wanted to migrate to the Mediterranean and caused widespread destruction. The Sea Peoples destroyed everything but a small portion of Ancient Egypt, which was extremely powerful at the time. The actual invasion happened around 1200 BCE. The Dark Ages led to the collapse of Mediterranean civilization. The Minoans, Egyptians, and Mycenaean centers were either destroyed or eliminated. The Greek cities that survived included Athens and others. Most of the rest of the Greek cities in Greece came from the Dorians who passed through afterward. The Dark Ages led to the collapse of Mediterranean civilization; writing disappeared for centuries. The Dorians were northern Greek settlers who moved south to settle cities in Southern Greece. In ancient Greece, there were multiple different languages in Europe.

The Odessey

The Sea Peoples are referenced in the Odyssey as the soldiers that return from the Trojan War. The story of the Trojan War actually happened in reality. It was proven by archaeology in Turkey that there was a real city where Troy was. The rest of the facts are less clear.

Who Were the Sea Peoples

The Sea Peoples came from a group of people called the Sherden. The Sherdens were ancient mercenaries. #1 Another one of the major Sea People groups was called the Denyan. #2. The Denyan were outstanding seamen and warriors. The Sea Peoples invaded the Mediterranean, causing widespread destruction. The only civilization that survived was Egypt; however, they were still extremely weakened.  According to a source, most of the Sea Peoples came from Libyan Tribes. #3 The Sea Peoples were an interesting part of history when the full world wasn’t fully known yet.

Bibliography

Cline, Eric H. 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014.

  D'Amato, Raffaele, and Andrea Salimbeti. Sea Peoples of the Bronze Age Mediterranean c. 1400 BC–1000 BC. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2015.

Goldsworthy, Adrian. Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2020.

 Haynes, Dominic. A Brief History of Ancient Greece. London: Robinson, 2015.

 Rodgers, Nigel. Ancient Greece. London: Southwater, 2007.

#1. Raffaele D'Amato and Andrea Salimbeti, Sea Peoples of the Bronze Age Mediterranean c. 1400 BC–1000 BC (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2015), Pg. 12

#2. D'Amato and Salimbeti, Sea Peoples of the Bronze Age Mediterranean, page number. Pg. 20

#3.  D'Amato and Salimbeti, Sea Peoples of the Bronze Age Mediterranean, page number. Pg. 8