1. My primary historical source for
most of the following account is the material from the Medinet Habu temple
of Ramesses III, translated by J. H. Breasted (1906: 33-49).
2. The word usually interpreted as "islands" in the context of the Medinet Habu inscriptions is actually more accurately translated as "sealands" (Drews 1995: 52). rww does not specifically mean island, and is often used to refer to coastal lands of any sort.
3. The reliefs of the land-battle at Medinet Habu depict women and children of the Philistines transported in sturdily built ox-carts, but there are no references to these in the texts.
4. It is unclear where and when the battles of year 8 actually took place. Ramesses III's word "Djahi" is a very general and vague term indicating the north, meaning anything from Egypt's Delta to Syria (Redford 1992: 255). Barbara Cifola (1991: 55) suggests that the vagueness of Ramesses III's account, both in terms of geographical references and temporal references, can be explained if one sees the war with the Sea Peoples not as a single, localized event, but as an ongoing, widely distributed situation. At any rate, references to river mouths suggest that some of the Sea Peoples did manage to penetrate the Delta to some extent. This is the view that I have taken for the purposes of this story.
5. This is the monochrome Mycenaean IIIC: 1b pottery that dominates Philistine sites of the early Iron Age, approximately contemporary with the year 8 inscriptions of Ramesses III (Killebrew 1998a).
6. The Shardana were working as mercenaries for Egypt as early as the reign of Ramesses II, according to the Kadesh inscriptions, and possibly earlier. There are references to Shardana in Egyptian garrisons in Phoenicia dating to the Amarna age (EA 81, EA 122, EA 123 in Moran 1992: 150-1, 201-2).
7. According to the Papyrus Harris (in Breasted 1906: 87-206), after the battle with the Sea Peoples, Ramesses settled his captives "in strongholds, bound in my name."
8. Beder is a Tjekker name, according to the tale of Wenamun (Pp. 224-230 in Lichtheim 1976). However, in the Medinet Habu reliefs, the Tjekker and the Peleset are indistinguishable. Therefore, one might postulate that these two tribes (?) shared a common culture.
9. Alashiya, a major center of trade between Egypt, Canaan, and the Aegean, has been identified as Cyprus (Redford 1992: 243). The overwhelming similarities between the material culture of Cyprus and Western Anatolia and the material culture of the Philistines have led to the identification by some scholars of these regions as the origins of the Philistines (Killebrew 1998b: 33).
10. Cyprus underwent a significant Aegeanization around the time of the 13th century BCE, with Aegean-style pottery suddenly appearing in large quantities at Cypriot sites (Sandars 1985: 74 ff.). Whether this was a result of actual Aegean colonization at Cyprus or mere emulation by the Cypriots of Aegean customs is a matter of debate. However, the Mycenaeans and the Cypriots had a long and intense cultural and economic relationship with one another, and it is likely that the Philistine culture could have resulted from some melding of Cypriot and Aegean cultural traditions.
11. Cyprus and Ugarit had a close trade relationship at the end of the Bronze Age (Sandars 1985: 44).
12. The nature of the problems affecting the Hittite empire at this time is unclear. However, the state was weakened to the extent that the empire and its capital city of Hattusas were completely decimated around 1200 BCE (Redford 1992: 254-5; Sandars 1985: 45).
13. These trade items are mentioned in tablets from Knossos (Sandars 1985: 57).
14. The people of the Aegean were highly specialized agriculturalists, and their economy depended very much on the import of raw materials from other countries. A brief interruption in their agricultural cycle could have had disastrous effects. Herodotus and Diodorus also preserve a memory of famine in the Aegean and the Mediterranean (Redford 1992: 244).
15. According to Sandars, there are signs of both internal strife and threat from the outside world in the archaeology of Mycenaea and the Aegean. The center of Pylos was never fortified, suggesting that the collapse was internal (Sandars 1985: 58-62).
16. Mycenaea and Tyrins were heavily fortified in the late 13th century BCE, apparently in anticipation of some sort of attack. In spite of the fortifications, these and other Mycenaean centers suffered extensive destruction in the 1220s BCE, for causes that are still uncertain (Sandars 1985: 58-69; Redford 1992: 245).
17. A Philistine royal dedicatory inscription from Ekron dating to the 7th century BCE makes reference to a goddess named "Ptgyh." It is possible that this is the same goddess found in figurines from Philistine sites dating back to the 12th century BCE.
18. King Suppiluliumas II was the last of the Hittite kings. The empire fell and Hattusas was destroyed under his reign. His records speak of fleets of enemy ships from Cyprus moving to attack him (Redford 1992: 254). The following account is based on these records, as well as the letters from Ugarit describing the fall of the city.
19. Hattusas, Tarsus, Alalakh and Ugarit all suffered extensive -- and final -- destruction at this period, according to both archaeological and historical records (Redford 1992: 255).
20. These places (as well as Hatti) are said to have been destroyed by the Sea Peoples in the Medinet Habu texts.
21. Most information on the sea battle comes from the reliefs at Medinet Habu, discussed in detail by Trude Dothan (1982: 5-13) and Barbara Cifola (1991).
22. The following tale was preserved on a tablet from Ras-Shamra at Ugarit, copied down by the scribe Ilimilku in the service of king Niqmaddu II, who reigned ca. 1375-1345 BCE. This account of the story is based on a translation by Michael Coogan (1978: 27-47).
23. The tablet breaks off at this point
in the story, so the following is a postulated ending.