Who were the Sea People of the Hittites?

Question

Were they the ancestors of confederation of raiders that tried to invade Egypt, or are they something different?

Answer 1

The Sea People, who we are told of on reliefs at Medinet Habu and Karnak, as well as from the text of the Great Harris Papyrus (now in the British Museum), are said to be a loose confederation of people originating in the eastern Mediterranean. From their individual names, we believe that they may specifically have come from the Aegean and Asia Minor. However, regardless of their organization as a "loose confederation", they did manage to invade Egypt's northern coast and apparently mounted campaigns against the Egyptians on more than one occasion.
The 12th century brought dramatic changes that permanently affected Asia Minor and the civilized world of that time. Between 1200 and 1176 BC, the chaos that occurred in that region was probably a direct outcome of Sea People activity, and may be one reason why we find it difficult to find historical documentation beyond that date in Asia Minor.

We actually believe that the Sea People became active as early as the reign of Akhenaten. These were probably the Denen, Lukka and Sherden. The Lukka and Sherden are also recorded, along with the Peleset as serving as mercenaries in the army of Ramesses II, especially at the Battle of Qadesh. In fact, Ramesses II had earlier been forced to defend himself against attempts by the Sherden to establish a chain of efforts to the west of Egypt. They had arrived in that area almost a century earlier, and are said to have included the Libu, who would eventually give their name to Libya. An inscription of Ramesses II relates in the 8th year of his reign (which is dated c. 1176 BC):

Answer 2

Many were not listed as Sea Peoples. Among them were the 'prw (Habiru) of Egyptian inscriptions, or 'apiru of cuneiform ("bandits"), and the Mariyannu, who had Indo-European names. Sandars uses the analogous name, "land peoples."[7] Some people, such as the Lukka, were in both categories. Some scholars suspect that the Habiru are the same as the Hebrews, who receive excellent mention in the Old Testament, but the Philistines, who were among the sea peoples, are seen as the enemy in that source.

Answer 3

These were the Phoenicians or Philistines, Raiders who spread across from North Africa to ancient Palestine. Carthage was one of their sources.

Answer 4

We just don't know.
Some say the Sharda are Sardinians.
The Danuni have been identified as Danaans ie Greeks, but on the bas reliefs we can see they were circumcised! Maybe they were Danites, the Israelite tribe. The book of Judges says 'Dan abode in ships'.

Answer 5

The Pelasgians ('sea people' in Greek) were probably the Philistines.

Answer 6

www.touregypt.net/featurestories/seapeople.htm

quite a lot of info on them if you google sea people hittites but this link seemed to be one of the more detailed.

Answer 7

The Phonecians. Look it up on History Channel.

Answer 8

They were the Philistines - or the modern day Palestinians