Ancient History - Part 57: Slayers, Slavers, And Survivors

Not every tribe joined the Migrant Army. The Pulesati, for example, took one gander upon Egypt's fortifications and abandoned all cause to the multiconglomerate's land horde. This group instead chose to settle in Shepheleh, unclaimed land just outside of Palestine, where a century later found themselves at war with the Israelites, all of this supposedly referenced in the lost Book of Jasher.

Whilst the mighty empire of Egypt proved capable of repulsing these threats by land and sea, the Israelites were guaranteed no such safeguard. For centuries the Semitic people were subjected to being overrun and ruled by outsiders, first by the Hittites and Egyptians, and now extending to the Philistines, the Pulesati, and the Sea Peoples themselves.

Upon Egypt's defeat of the Sea Peoples (at the Battle of the Delta) and their Migrant Army (at the Battle of Djahy) the fates of many of the losing tribes varied. Two notable examples include:

• The Washasha tribe was one of the legions that was captured and enslaved to Egypt, sentenced to lifelong servitude, in the form of hard labor.
• A lesser known tribe, the Zakaray, disappeared for nearly a century before the last remnants of their civilization was found by Egyptian tradesmen, resettled in a field to the north.

Countless other tribes who fought amongst the Migrant Army are listed in the Harris Papyrus which heavily focuses upon these wartime events and documents the enemies of Egypt by name, though many are never referenced again in history, as they scattered and split apart into obscurity in the aftermath of the two battles.

The Sea Peoples successfully conquered many nations in their migration towards Egypt. Whilst the cultures of Syria and Israel survived, many other societies who lacked a system of commerce to serve up in offering, were eradicated mercilessly. Egypt and Israel's strengths by its people were not to cave to pressure, despite the seething array of threats by this foreign enemy. Whilst the power demonstrated by Egypt to defeat this opposition is the peak of the era's events, Israel's continued survival against overwhelming odds should not be overshadowed either.

[HARRIS PAPYRUS: Primary source for the events during Ramses III's reign]

Ancient History - Part 56: For Those Who Would Be Egyptian

[DARDANELLES - Entry point of the Bryges invasion of Asia Minor]

The initial migration of the Sea Peoples through the Levant differs greatly than their engagements compared to when the Hittites ruled the region. Those slow-building attacks whether by battlefield or sea piracy, largely endured by the indigenous Hittite allies, were not a forced march that Egypt had to later contend with in the aftermath of Hatta's fall. The Bryges, inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula, first invaded Thrace, and later crossed the Dardanelles to carve out a piece of Anatolia, and upon doing so, renamed themselves as "Phrygians".

This is how Egypt believed the kingdom of the Hittites fell.

Next, the Philistines fell to the newly renamed Phrygians, and Egypt began to suffer direct attacks from this new opposition, the same conquerors of Thrace and Hatta. Yet, there was one key difference: Egypt was aware of this pending invasion well in advance. This foresight allowed Egypt to prepare for war, but the opposition she faced was a challenge unlike any the Empire of the Nile had ever contended with before.

Since the dawn of the Middle Kingdom's inception, this New Kingdom of Egypt's wars of the past all dealt with her own foreign excursions and military adventurism of her day. She recognized the ripe lands of the Fertile Crescent and the lands beyond the Levant and fought many rival kingdoms over these interests. But no foreign entity ever struck precisely at the heart of Egypt, and with the Phrygians marching southward along the coasts of Cilicia, with many other allied tribes joining the ranks, the Migrant Army aimed to do just that.

Soon, Egypt stared across the lines upon an enemy horde. 

Preparation for war is always difficult. This not due to any actor being inept of their own duties that necessarily leads to the folly of ill decision-making, but rather the challenge of utilizing a short window of opportunity that quickly closes. Does one strike while the iron is hot? Or shall he rest in patient vigilance within the safety of his walls, waiting for a better development? Big talk is cheap when the battle is over with all critique now bearing the benefit of hindsight, and Egypt held no such benefit then against the continuing existential threats that plagued her kingdom's people.

[Typical Phrygian garb]