The Papyrus Harris, the largest extant
ancient Egyptian papyrus, dates to early in the reign of Ramesses IV, the
successor of Ramesses III. The document is unique not only in its size, but also
in its remarkable abundance of valuable historical documentation.
The Papyrus Harris is essentially a summary
of the important events of Ramesses III's reign, prepared by Ramesses IV, but
written from the point of view of Ramesses III. Breasted (1906: 92) divides the
Papyrus up into seven basic sections. The first is an introduction stating the
ending date of Ramesses III's reign, along with his name and titles, and the
purpose and dedication of the document (Breasted 1906: 110-111). The next three
sections detail the contributions made by the king to the townships of Thebes,
Heliopolis and Memphis, respectively, along with dedicatory prayers to the gods
of these towns and lists of donations made by the king to the local temples
(Breasted 1906: 111-177). Following is a general section detailing the king's
contributions to smaller temples (Breasted 1906: 177-191), and a summary of the
total contributions made by Ramesses III (192-198).
Section VII is the historical section, recounting the
accession of the king, his organizational policies, his military campaigns, and
his death (Breasted 1906: 198-206).
The Sea Peoples are mentioned in the historical section in the context of the
northern wars of year 8 (Breasted 1906: 201). Ramesses describes the northerners
as invaders of Egypt's borders, and describes their place of origin as
"islands." The specific peoples mentioned in the text are Danuna,
Tjekker,
Peleset, Shardana
and Weshesh.
The Shardana and Weshesh are singled out as being "of the sea," which is
consistent with their depiction in other sources of the time as oceanic nomads
and pirates (Redford 1992: 244).
The
most interesting aspect of this brief passage on the year 8 battles is the
description of the fate of the Sea Peoples. Ramesses tells us that, having
brought the imprisoned Sea Peoples to Egypt, he "settled them in strongholds,
bound in my name. Numerous were their classes like hundred-thousands. I taxed
them all, in clothing and grain from the storehouses and granaries each year"
(Breasted 1906: 201). It is likely that these "strongholds" were actually
fortified towns in Canaan -- that is, the towns that would eventually become the
Philistine Pentapolis (Redford 1992: 289).
The Papyrus Harris passage concerning the Sea
Peoples, while largely overlapping with the information provided in the Medinet
Habu inscriptions, also provides some important details lacking in the
Medinet Habu texts. Both sources taken together provide the most complete
historical picture of the Sea Peoples at the end of the 13th century
BCE.
Bibliography:
Papyrus Harris, Ramesses III-IV, late 13th century-early 12th century BCE. Pp. 110-206 in:
Breasted, J. H.
2001/1906 Ancient Records of Egypt, vol. 4. Illinois:
University of Illinois Press.
Redford, D. B.
1992 Egypt, Canaan and Israel in Ancient Times. New Jersey:
Princeton University Press.