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]