The Papyrus Harris, the largest
extant ancient Egyptian papyrus, dates to early in the reign of Ramesses
IV, the successor of Ramesses III. The document is unique not only in its
size, but also in its remarkable abundance of valuable historical documentation.
The Papyrus Harris is essentially
a summary of the important events of Ramesses III's reign, prepared by
Ramesses IV, but written from the point of view of Ramesses III. Breasted
(1906: 92) divides the Papyrus up into seven basic sections. The first
is an introduction stating the ending date of Ramesses III's reign, along
with his name and titles, and the purpose and dedication of the document
(Breasted 1906: 110-111). The next three sections detail the contributions
made by the king to the townships of Thebes, Heliopolis and Memphis, respectively,
along with dedicatory prayers to the gods of these towns and lists of donations
made by the king to the local temples (Breasted 1906: 111-177). Following
is a general section detailing the king's contributions to smaller temples
(Breasted 1906: 177-191), and a summary of the total contributions made
by Ramesses III (192-198).
Section VII is the historical section,
recounting the accession of the king, his organizational policies, his
military campaigns, and his death (Breasted 1906: 198-206).
The Sea Peoples are mentioned in the
historical section in the context of the northern wars of year 8 (Breasted
1906: 201). Ramesses describes the northerners as invaders of Egypt's borders,
and describes their place of origin as "islands." The specific peoples
mentioned in the text are Danuna,
Tjekker,
Peleset, Shardana
and Weshesh.
The Shardana and Weshesh are singled out as being "of the sea," which is
consistent with their depiction in other sources of the time as oceanic
nomads and pirates (Redford 1992: 244).
The most interesting aspect of this
brief passage on the year 8 battles is the description of the fate of the
Sea Peoples. Ramesses tells us that, having brought the imprisoned Sea
Peoples to Egypt, he "settled them in strongholds, bound in my name. Numerous
were their classes like hundred-thousands. I taxed them all, in clothing
and grain from the storehouses and granaries each year" (Breasted 1906:
201). It is likely that these "strongholds" were actually fortified
towns in Canaan -- that is, the towns that would eventually become the
Philistine Pentapolis (Redford 1992: 289).
The Papyrus Harris passage concerning
the Sea Peoples, while largely overlapping with the information provided
in the Medinet
Habu inscriptions, also provides some important details lacking in
the Medinet Habu texts. Both sources taken together provide the most complete
historical picture of the Sea Peoples at the end of the 13th century BCE.
Bibliography:
Papyrus Harris, Ramesses III-IV, late 13th century-early 12th century BCE. Pp. 110-206 in:
Breasted, J. H.
2001/1906 Ancient Records
of Egypt, vol. 4. Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
Redford, D. B.
1992 Egypt, Canaan
and Israel in Ancient Times. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.