The Sea Peoples were allegedly a confederation of seafaring groups known to have attacked archaic Egypt before the Bronze Age collapse.
This concept, formulated in the 19th century, has become one of the most notable chapters of Egyptian history, linked to what Wilhelm Max Müller described as “the most important questions of ethnography and of the primitive history of classical nations.”
The origins of the individual Sea Peoples are a subject of much debate, with some arguing that they came from either western Anatolia or southern Europe.
Although archaeological inscriptions do not explicitly mention the migration, it is believed that the Sea Peoples sailed across the eastern Mediterranean, invading Anatolia, Syria, Canaan, Cyprus, and Egypt in the slow Bronze Age.
The Trojan War, often romanticized by Homer, may have had more earnest consequences than previously thought.
Some archaeologists believe it is one of the final acts of an event controversially dubbed “World War Zero” — an event that supposedly led to the collapse of the eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age civilizations some 3,200 years ago.
The mysterious and powerful Luwian civilization, overlooked by many archaeologists, may have been the catalyst for this war.
In the second millennium BC, civilization flourished throughout the eastern Mediterranean. The Egyptian New Kingdom coexisted with the Hittites of central Anatolia and the Mycenaeans of mainland Greece, among others.
But within a generation, these civilizations collapsed. The reasons for this sudden collapse remain controversial, with theories ranging from climate change to earthquakes to civil unrest.
Eberhard Zangger, head of the nonprofit organization Luwian Studies in Zurich, Switzerland, argues that a key piece of the puzzle is missing: another powerful civilization in western Anatolia played a key role in this collapse.
This theory, supported by archaic Egyptian texts, describes attacks on Cyprus and Syria by mysterious “Sea Peoples.” Zangger concludes that these mysterious attackers were in fact archaic Luwians.
According to Zangger theorythe invaders burned temples and buildings, driving out the ruling class and causing the Hittite civilization to fall into oblivion for three thousand years.
The Mycenaean kings, sensing an opportunity, built a huge fleet and raided the port cities of Asia Minor, ultimately destroying the Luvians, who were left unprotected by their enormous territory. The Mycenaean and Luvian forces eventually joined together for the notable siege of Troy.
Despite this, the Luwians have remained completely unknown archaeologically. They do not appear on any Aegean Bronze Age political map, and there are still virtually no prehistorians who have publicly stated that the Luwians ever exercised economic and political power.
Previously, it was believed that the Luwians had no “economic or political power” and were too dispersed among smaller kingdoms to pose a threat. In fact, it was previously believed that the Luwians' territory was inhabited only by nomadic “horse people” who had no political power.
Archaeologists studying the Luwian people note that the inclusion of the Luwians in Bronze Age battles is the only model that is fully consistent with the results of excavations, written documentation and traditions.
While not all archaeologists agree that the Luwians are the mysterious “Sea People,” many support the view that more research needs to be done in long-neglected western Anatolia.
Christoph Bachhuber, a professor at Oxford, says he is excited about the research results because they will draw greater attention to western Anatolia and potentially enable a better understanding of the area and the archaic civilisations that lived there.
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