Shardana: the Sea Peoples

Published in

· 13 Oct 2023

After the experience of the historical novel "SHARDANA" written with Vittorio Melis, we thought the time had come to collect the material in our possession regarding "The People of the Sea" and the Shardana in particular, catalog it and write an "essay" on this very important page in the history of the Mediterranean, which also touched the North Seas and in particular the Baltic.

However, we want to warn the reader that our way of telling things goes a little outside the traditional canons of the historical essay. That is, we prefer a more spontaneous and less technical language. This may not please the "experts", we're a little sorry, but we prefer that what we have to say is rather accessible to everyone. Even the topics covered take us outside the famous canons for some "revelations" that overturn what Classical History has given us up to now.

Talking about how subjugated peoples today (see the Phelets-Palestinians, the Shardana and Washasha themselves...) once dominated the known world for more than a millennium, destroying empires and cities... telling about the connections with the Exodus, the lost tribe of Dan, Moses... telling that Moses himself was not a Jew... leads the reader to believe that it was rather a work of pure fantasy.

Here we talk in particular about Shardana. The origin of this people from Asia Minor, now accepted by the majority of scholars, is what is argued in this book, with some distinctions. Their origin from the city of Sardis, the capital of Lydia, home of the legendary Croesus, would be the most logical hypothesis given the affinity of the two names and, we add, also due to a never lost habit of local and foreign scholars, of considering the Rather recent Sardinian history.

However, we believe Carta Raspi's thesis is more reliable, according to which they came from Asia Minor many years before the foundation of Sardis itself. For now, ignoring the fact that he also insists on specifying their Anatolian origin in any case, we note that some documents, especially from Egyptian sources, make a notable contribution to him.

The Sea Peoples and the Shardana in particular are spoken of on several occasions, already from the times of Amenophis I (1557 - 1530 BC) and Amenophis III and of Tuthmosis III (around 1400 BC). The inscriptions in the cave temple of Abu Simbel, Karnak and Medinet Habu, the Harris papyri and Wilbour's writings speak extensively about them... But the thesis of Sardis as the homeland of origin becomes untenable if one considers that Sardis, by logic, it would have been destroyed together with the Hittite Empire, of whose dominions it was part as it was located in the area of influence of Hattusa, during the last terrible invasion of the Sea Peoples around 1200 BC.

How could the Shardana (who were one of the leading components of the Sea Peoples) destroy their city of origin? In fact, there is no city spared from the devastating fury of this enormous invasion (with the exception of Athens). Furthermore, we must not forget that the date of this event is two centuries prior to the foundation of Sardis itself (around 1000 BC). The theory that it originates from Sardis is proclaimed by some scholars who refer to Eros, who reports an episode from the time of the pharaoh Psammetichus. Referring to the Cari and Jonian mercenaries sent to him by Ciger king of Sardis, the historian wrote:

"they were the first men of a foreign language to settle in that country"
(Herodotus: II, 154)

Linking the fact to the Shardana mercenaries in the pay of the pharaohs, our scholars maintain that Herodotus intended to refer to the period of Seti I (around the 14^th century BC), since many Greek sarcophagi and utensils were found in the Delta often together with objects from the 19^th dynasty and in this period formations of Shardana mercenaries were in the service of Seti the great, therefore… the Shardana are from Sardis!

Interesting theory. It's a shame that, to square the circle, it is first necessary to call Herodotus an idiot, who would have taken the Greeks (Cari and Joni) for Shardana and Psammetichus for Seti the great. Again Herodotus would have exchanged the 7^th century with the 14^th, and inserted Cyges and Ashurbanipal (the Assyrian king against whom Psammetichus employed Greek mercenaries) in the historical period of the Sea Peoples, who ended their deadly incursions at the end of the 2^nd millennium! What is not done to deny that even peoples like the Sardinian ones may have had an illustrious and glorious past. However, it is very probable that this people inhabited Sardinia as early as the second or even third millennium BC. We know, for example, that bronze, of which the Shardana had a monopoly, was worked in Sardinia already in the middle of the second millennium in artistic forms of rare beauty and that in the same period Corsica and the Balearics were conquered by peoples from Sardinia (1500-1400 BC).

The Egyptians give the Shardana and their allies a very precise geographical location, calling them the kings of the Western Islands, this is, in fact, the position of Sardinia with respect to Egypt, which however is not the case with regards to the city of Sardis, which in addition to the fact of not being an island, is clearly located in the East (or at least in the North). On the other hand, according to an archaeological investigation conducted in Turkey, Sardis was founded around 1000 BC, while the latest discoveries between Haifa and Tel-Aviv confirm Shardana settlements in Asia Minor as early as 1150 BC. It was also located approximately 150 km away. from the sea and for a population of sailors and pirates this is rather unusual. Some might argue that after all the Western Islands could also be the Aegean islands. In fact, Lemnos, Crete, Cyprus and others are located to the North-West of Egypt (More North than North-West), but remember that the Egyptians added the word "unknown" every time they spoke of the Sea Peoples, while we know that they had always had commercial relations with the Aegean islands, which they therefore knew quite well. We therefore believe we can also exclude (at least in part, and we immediately explain why) the Aegean hypothesis and we specify, with the help of the ancient chroniclers, that Crete was occupied by the Sea Peoples in 1400 BC (Plutarch), but the Shardana had already conquered the islands of Lemnos and Imbros, from where they then passed into Greece, kidnapped the women of the Athenians and went in Crete where they governed themselves. Simonides of Ceos recounts that during the first attempt to land in Crete, some Sardinians were captured and led to die in the red-hot arms of the bronze statue of Talos. They went to their deaths with a mocking smile on their lips that he called sardonic laughter, Homer's sardus gelo.

We deduce that the Aegean Islands, they could host some members of the Sea Peoples (the Bible says that the Phelets or Philistines came from Kaftor, Crete) and mainly of the Heraclids (Shardana, or Pelasgians, or Tyrrhenians), but the original and most important headquarters were the Mediterranean Islands Western (Sardinia, Corsica, Balearics, Sicily...) because, if they had been inhabitants of the Aegean islands, the Egyptians would have called them by their name and not: the kings of foreign countries or: kings of the Western Islands.

The Egyptians knew the Greeks and Cretans well, having quite frequent cultural and commercial exchanges with them. Numerous Egyptian documents confirm the existence of the Shardana from the most remote times and it is widely believed that the mysterious Hyksos, who invaded Egypt around 1700 BC, are to be identified with the Sea Peoples.

Let's do a historical dating:

2450 (2350): Sargon of Akkad founds the Sargonid dynasty (Sardonid-Sandanid? A dynasty of this name existed in Lydia).
2300-2000: around this time, in Mesopotamia, a terrible famine broke out which lasted more than 300 years, causing emigration to the West (including Sardinia?). Biblical Period: Following these events, the Tribe of Abraham leaves Ur of the Chaldeans and after wandering through the mountains of Syria settles on the shores of the Dead Sea.
1800: Stonehenge, a megalithic temple, was built by populations arriving from Asia Minor(?).
1700: the Hiksos, of Indo-European race with mixtures of Semitic race, invade Egypt. Are they the "Sea Peoples"? In the same period, a catastrophe occurred in the Balearic Islands which wiped out a Civilization residing there and at the same time the destruction of the first Cretan Civilization took place and, approximately in 1800-1750, the fire of Troy IV (by the Sea Peoples themselves?). Biblical Period: Famine, Jews in Egypt, Jacob.
1600: Hattusilis founds the Hittite empire. Birth of Mycenae (Akwasa, Akaiasa, Achaeans).
1568-1545: Pharaoh Amun-Mose (Amasi) drives the Hyksos out of Egypt.
1530-1520: Tuthmosis I (Toth-Mose) defeats Mitanni and Syria whose ranks include Shardana contingents.
1500-1400: bronze is worked in Sardinia with techniques already of rare beauty and perfection. Corsica and the Balearics are conquered by a people from Sardinia.
1500-1470: The island of Thera (Santorini) disappears following a volcanic eruption, the decline of Crete begins.
1400: The Akawasa and their allies destroy Crete and the Minoan Empire (Plutarch). The Shardana conquer Lemnos and Imbros, pass into Laconia, kidnap Athenian women, and settle in Crete. Some of them are captured during the first landing and are led to die in the red-hot arms of the bronze statue of Talos. They meet their death laughing (Simonides of Ceos).
1355: ambassadors from the Sea Peoples bring gifts to Pharaoh Amenophe IV and Queen Nefertiti, inviting them to return to the worship of the One Great God (of the Great Goddess).
1294: battle of Qadesh: Ramesses II (Ra-Mose) saves himself from the attack of the Hittites with the help of a contingent of Shardana mercenaries. Other Shardana fight alongside the Hittites themselves, Rameses calls them Shardana of the sea, with a rebellious heart.
1290: a deadly attack is brought to Ramesses' Egypt by the Sea Peoples.
1278: Exodus. A large group of religious persecuted people and some Semitic tribes settled on the eastern borders, under the command of an Egyptian prince, perhaps a follower of the cult of Akenathen, leave Egypt. With them probably leaves a large contingent of Shardana (Danai) and Tjeker (Teucri) mercenaries who will defend them on the long journey. Moses includes them in the mysterious tribe of Dan. The Tjeker (Teucrians) will form the tribes of Issachar and Asher. But Zebulun also belongs to the Sher-Dana.
1250: an incursion by the Sea Peoples destroys Tiryns and another devastates the town surrounding Mycenae.
1235: a great famine devastates Anatolia following the incursions of the Sea Peoples, Meneptah sends ships loaded with grain.
1231: Meneptah faces a war with the Libyan kings supported by some tribes identified as the Sea Peoples: Akawasa (Achaeans), Thursha (Etruscans), Sakalasa (Sicilians), Wasasha (Corsicans?) and Shardana. The latter also provide supplies and transport troops by sea.
1210: Meneptah wins a decisive victory in the Western Desert over the Libu and their allies in the Outer Isles.
1200-1180: the most devastating and definitive invasion of the Sea Peoples, (probably lasting more than 50 years), to the usual Shardana, Akawasha etc. in the meantime Denen, Sakssar, Phelets (Philistines) were added. Ugarit and Corinth are destroyed, the Hittite and Mycenaean empires are obliterated, entire cities are razed to the ground and the inhabitants put to the sword (Athens will strangely be spared). The Shardana and their allies poured into Asia Minor, putting everything on fire. Egypt itself is attacked (1183), but Rameses III finds an agreement with the mediation of the Shardana mercenaries in the pay of the royal troops.
1180: we prefer to lean towards an earlier date of about 30 years in which Troy VII is destroyed by a coalition of peoples coming from the West (Greece and the Mediterranean islands), around 1220-1200 BC. Indeed, the dating of the various cities is rather uncertain, but we believe we can partially reconstruct them: - Troy I existed in ancient bronze, around 2700 BC - Troy II was burned down in 2300 BC - Troy III, IV and V existed from 2300 to 1700 BC - Troy VI, rich and powerful, was reborn from their ruins and was destroyed by an earthquake around 1280 BC - Troy VII lasted almost a century and is probably the city of Priam sung by Homer. The poet mentions in his work Tjeker (Teucrians) and Liku (Lyci) on the Trojan front, and Akawasa (Achei) and Danai (Denen, Danuna, Shar-dana), on the Greek front. Biblical Period: Judges, settlement of the Phelets (Philistines) and Tjeker (Teucrians) in Palestine.
1100: "the Name Day of Amenemope" speaks of the presence in Palestine of the Sea Peoples and in particular of the Pheleset (Philistines), Shardana (Sardinians) and Tjeker (Teucrians).
1080: "The Voyage of Wenamun" calls the city of Dor, on the coast of Palestine, "city of the Tjekker".
1050: the Phelets colonize the territory that will take the name of Palestine from them, they settle in Gaza, Ashdod, Gath, Ekron, sack Shiloh and defeat Saul, king of Israel, in 1005. Biblical period: the Judges.
1000: foundation of Sardis and reconstruction of the Phoenician cities, which will begin their adventures on the ancient routes traced by the Sea Peoples, founding new colonies.
945: a general of the Libu (Libyan) mercenaries belonging to the Sea Peoples, Shesonk, seizes the throne in Egypt and establishes the XXII dynasty. The Shardana mercenaries are aligned with the Libu.
900: the Lydians (a part of the population), governed by the Heraclids, land in Italy and join the Umbrians (Herodotus) - Their lucumoni are designated among the Sardinian dignitaries (Strabo), Reges soliti sunt esse Etruscorum, qui Sardi appellantur (Festus).
814: foundation of Carthage by colonizers from Tyro in Phoenicia.
753: Rome is founded by a group of young shepherds, including Romulus who will be its legendary founder.
685: Gyges seizes power in Lydia, killing Candaules the last of the Heraclid kings (Herodotus).
616-509: Rome is subjugated and governed by Etruscan kings (Thursha, Tyrrhenians).
540: Malchus, a Carthaginian general, landed in Sardinia with a powerful army of 80,000 men and was defeated in a pitched battle by a Sardinian army. In the same period, the naval battle took place in the Sardinian Sea between the inhabitants of Aleria (Alalia), a Greek colony in Corsica, and the Etruscan fleet of 60 ships, reinforced with another 60 Carthaginian ships.
530: Tartessos is destroyed by the Carthaginians.
480: Hasdrubal and Hamilcar, sons of Magone, land in Sardinia with a powerful army. Hasdrubal dies in combat (Justin).
350: Sacking of Rome by the Celts (Keltoi, Gauls, Galatians), their origin was, according to Herodotus, in the upper DANubian.
325: An embassy of the Sardinians to Babylon gives gifts to Alexander the Great (Justin). It is a sign of the sovereignty of the Sardinians still existing in Sardinia, despite the presence of Carthage.
279: Sack of Delphi by the Celts (Gauls) commanded by Brennus (namesake of the destroyer of Rome).
215: The Shardana cities, led by Cornus whose "judge" was Ampsicora, attack the Roman legions stationed in Karalis. They were joined by the Sardinian Pellites, including Ilienses and Balari, while the Gallilenses, inhabitants of Marmilla-Trexenta, continually plundered the armies sent as reinforcements to Sardinia by the Roman Senate.

Shardana migration map

historical chronology we therefore deduce that: around 2,300 BC something catastrophic happened in Asia Minor, which forced a large number of populations to flee. One part moves towards the North (Anatolian Peninsula) to continue in different directions, both by sea and by land; part of them invades central Europe. Going up the Dniepr and the Dvina, some groups reach the Baltic (Gulf of Riga) and settle in the Scandinavian peninsula, Frisian Islands, Denmark and Ireland, others follow the path of the Danube (note the root DN in all these toponyms), giving rise to the Celtic tribes (Celts, Gauls, Galatians).

But what had happened that was so catastrophic as to force a people, then at the height of their splendor, to flee in search of other, more hospitable lands? A recent discovery made by the geologist Sharad Master, of the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) of a 3.4 km crater. in diameter, located at the confluence of the Tigris with the Euphrates, is proposing the "Deluge" solution. According to what the geologist asserted, it would be the crater dug by the fall of a meteorite, which fell to Earth around 2300 BC, whose impact was catastrophic. Compared to tens of thousands of atomic bombs. The impact shook the entire planet, causing a gigantic wave that would have submerged everything. The debris thrown into the air blotted out the sun, causing temperatures to drop below freezing and causing drought and desertification. While accepting the thesis supported by the prof. Sharad Master on the cause that caused the Flood (the universal one), we think that this happened much earlier and that the catastrophe that occurred in Mesopotamia during Sargon's empire was not of those proportions; simply because, until 2000 BC, the migration period, there still existed a historically documented ruling dynasty.

The Sumerian cities had, in fact, regained power, expelling the Semitic kings of Sargon's dynasty. The advent of the third dynasty of Ur, hegemonic city, is dated 2124 BC and we also have the name of the first sovereign: Urnammu. It is the biblical period of Abraham, who "came out of Ur", perhaps due to the return to power of the Sumerians. Abraham was, in fact, a Semite. However, there was undoubtedly a famine, and geological traces of a great drought have been discovered, also thanks to the studies of Harvey Weiss, of Yale University (USA), while recent studies on the sediments of the seabed of the Gulf of Oman have given results surprising on the concentration of Ancient Bronze minerals typical of desert environments, at least six times higher than normal. it is dated 2124 BC and we also have the name of the first ruler: Urnammu.

It is the biblical period of Abraham, who "came out of Ur", perhaps due to the return to power of the Sumerians. Abraham was, in fact, a Semite. However, there was undoubtedly a famine, and geological traces of a great drought have been discovered, also thanks to the studies of Harvey Weiss, of Yale University (USA), while recent studies on the sediments of the seabed of the Gulf of Oman have given results surprising on the concentration of Ancient Bronze minerals typical of desert environments, at least six times higher than normal. it is dated 2124 BC and we also have the name of the first ruler: Urnammu. It is the biblical period of Abraham, who "came out of Ur", perhaps due to the return to power of the Sumerians.

Abraham was, in fact, a Semite. However, there was undoubtedly a famine, and geological traces of a great drought have been discovered, also thanks to the studies of Harvey Weiss, of Yale University (USA), while recent studies on the sediments of the seabed of the Gulf of Oman have given results surprising on the concentration of Ancient Bronze minerals typical of desert environments, at least six times higher than normal. It is the biblical period of Abraham, who "came out of Ur", perhaps due to the return to power of the Sumerians. Abraham was, in fact, a Semite. However, there was undoubtedly a famine, and geological traces of a great drought have been discovered, also thanks to the studies of Harvey Weiss, of Yale University (USA), while recent studies on the sediments of the seabed of the Gulf of Oman have given results surprising on the concentration of Ancient Bronze minerals typical of desert environments, at least six times higher than normal. It is the biblical period of Abraham, who "came out of Ur", perhaps due to the return to power of the Sumerians.

Returning to the Egyptian sovereigns, they described the Shardana from time to time as allies or as terrible enemies, calling them the kings of the islands that are in the heart of the Great Sea - The leaders of foreign countries - Shardana np iam (Shardana of the sea) - who came from islands and from the mainland located on the great circle of water (Ramses II). And again: they came from the ninth arc (52°-56° parallel) and from Basileia Island, high, with red, white and black rocks, rich in copper". We point out that, for those who disembarked on the eastern Sardinian coasts, in the gulf of Orosei, would certainly find a high coast overlooking the sea, with red, white and black granite rocks. We also know that Sardinia is rich in copper mines. While the reference to the ninth arch is clearly aimed at the allies Danuna (or Danen) and the Saksar (Saxons?), probable inhabitants of the Nordic countries, called by the Greeks by the name of Hyperboreans. Or even to the Sher-Dana themselves: The islands of the North Sea were, in fact, inhabited by the Tuatha de Danan, literally "Sons of Dan" or "Tribe of Dan", therefore Sher-Dan. On several occasions the Shardana, at the head of a coalition known in antiquity as the Sea Peoples, attacked and devastated the territories of the eastern Mediterranean and Egypt itself. The last invasion, the most terrible, annihilated the Hittite and Mycenaean empires, razed Ugarit and Mycenae, Byblos and Tiryns, invaded Laconia and spread into Asia Minor, burning and destroying everything, while a part of the fleet led by the Shardana themselves fell on the Delta with the clear intention to invade Egypt too.

Ramesses III faced them, managing to stop them and convincing them to desist, also due to the probable mediation of the mercenaries who had long served under the orders of the pharaohs. After this invasion some groups settled in the conquered lands: Shardana, Akwasha, Phelets and Tjeker settled in Lebanon and Palestine, in Cyprus and Crete, in Laconia and Anatolia, where around the year 1000 BC they founded Sardis.

One group settled on the Delta, founding cities and creating fortifications on behalf of the pharaohs. Another contingent returned to the Sardinian cities loaded with loot, while the Tursha settled in Lydia, from where they then left for modern Tuscany following a famine around 900 BC, then extending to Umbria and Lazio and sharing the areas with the Shardana of Mediterranean influence. They gave their name to the sea to the east of Sardinia, while the Shardana continued their trade to the west, in the sea which still takes their name today. As long as the Shardana held a monopoly on the bronze trade, the Tursha had an attitude of almost subservience, even accepting the fact that their kings were chosen from among the Sardinian dignitaries. Later, with the spread of iron, the balance changed and the Sardinian cities began a slow but inexorable decline.