The Ancients — The Sea Peoples

Podcast: The Ancients (History Hit)
Host: Tristan Hughes
Guest: Professor Eric Cline
Episode Date: August 28, 2025

Overview

In this captivating episode, Tristan Hughes welcomes back the eminent Professor Eric Cline, renowned for his work on the Bronze Age collapse, to delve into the enduring enigma of the Sea Peoples. Often painted as the principal architects of the Late Bronze Age collapse some 3,200 years ago, the Sea Peoples have been blamed for the downfall of great civilizations across the Eastern Mediterranean. This episode takes a methodical, evidence-based approach to the question: Who were the Sea Peoples? Raiders or refugees, villains or victims of circumstance? Drawing on archaeology, Egyptian inscriptions, and the latest DNA research, Eric and Tristan interrogate the complex web of sources and myths to get as close as possible to the historical truth.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: The Collapse of the Late Bronze Age

• Time Period: Circa 1200 BCE; a few centuries of intense trade and cultural exchange between major civilizations — Egypt, Hittites, Mycenaeans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Canaanites ("the G8 of the ancient world").
• The Cataclysm: Almost simultaneous collapse of these societies, ending a globalized era.

"Suddenly, in the decades after 1200 BC, everything comes crashing down... The globalized network that had connected them falls apart just within a matter of decades."
— Professor Eric Cline (04:51)

2. Sources: What Do We Know and How?

• Egyptian Inscriptions: The main sources on the Sea Peoples are Egyptian victory inscriptions by Pharaohs Merneptah (c. 1207 BCE) and Ramses III (c. 1177 BCE).
• Names: The term 'Sea Peoples' is modern; the Egyptians listed the actual groups involved (e.g., Shardana, Shekelesh, Peleset, Denyen).
• Archaeology and Texts: Scarce tangible evidence directly ties to the Sea Peoples except for Egyptian/Levantine contexts and suggestive destruction layers in multiple sites.

"We don't have nearly enough data, nearly enough evidence to actually solve this problem right now."
— Professor Eric Cline (07:51)

3. The Egyptian Accounts (1177 & 1207 BCE)

a. Fifth Year of Merneptah — 1207 BCE

• Inscribed on monuments at Karnak, Cairo, Heliopolis, and Athribis.
• Lists invading groups by name. Notes unusual cultural elements (e.g., Ekwesh were circumcised).
• Victory celebrated publicly, suggesting political importance for Merneptah.

b. Eighth Year of Ramses III — 1177 BCE

• Inscribed at Medinet Habu with dramatic reliefs depicting both naval and land battles.
• Groups named in this episode differ partially from Merneptah’s list, hinting at a shifting coalition or migrations.
• The “Papyrus Harris” describes resettling defeated groups in Egyptian and Canaanite strongholds.

"The foreign countries made a conspiracy in their islands... No land could stand before their arms, that is before their weapons. From Hatti, Kode, Carchemish, Arzawa, and Alashiya, on being cut off at one time."
— Professor Eric Cline reading Ramses III inscription (22:29)

c. The Visual Evidence

• Reliefs show detailed differences in dress and equipment between groups — distinct helmets, shield shapes, even depictions of families and carts.

"The details are so, well, the details are so detailed that we — it looks like there are different people here... They're portrayed very carefully in this huge picture."
— Professor Eric Cline (30:24)

4. Who Were the Sea Peoples? Theories and Uncertainties

• Linguistic Clues:
  • Shardana ~ Sardinia
  • Shekelesh ~ Sicily
  • Ekwesh ~ Achaeans (Mycenaean Greeks)
  • Denyen ~ Danaans (Greek or Anatolian)
  • Luca ~ Lycians (southwest Turkey)
  • Teresh, Tjekker, Weshesh — less certain
  • Peleset = Philistines (supported by biblical and archaeological data)
• Entirely Migratory?
  • Reliefs include images of families, women, children, and household goods — suggesting migrations, not mere raiding.
• DNA Evidence
  • Recent studies at Ashkelon cemetery (Israel): four Late Bronze–Early Iron Age infants show mixed Canaanite and Aegean/Western Mediterranean ancestry.
  • Models suggest origins in Crete, Sicily, or even Spain.

"I think this is a migration. There are people who moving in search of a better life, a better land. And whether it was drought and famine that caused them to move or whatever, there is in all of these what is called a push pull factor."
— Professor Eric Cline (46:51)

5. Archaeological Evidence: Cities in Flames?

• Multiple site destructions across Greece, Anatolia, Cyprus, Levant.
• Attribution often uncertain; could be Sea Peoples, local revolts, earthquakes, or accidents.
• Ugarit (northern Syria) is a key case: contemporaneous destruction, clay tablets describe “enemy ships” attacking and burning cities.

"Now, the seven ships of the enemy which have been coming have done harm to us."
— Professor Eric Cline, quoting Ugarit tablet (60:53)

6. Larger Context: Causes of the Collapse

• The old model ("Sea Peoples did it!") is too simplistic.
• Eric Cline advances a multifactorial “poly-crisis/perfect storm”:
  • Drought, famine, earthquakes, rebellions, plus the Sea Peoples’ migrations, all destabilized the interconnected system.

"They're not responsible for 40% of what happens. But they are one of the factors. So I see a multicause...a perfect storm of everything, basically everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong."
— Professor Eric Cline (69:41)

7. Legacy and the Continuing Mystery

• Despite progress (especially with genetics), the origins and fate of most Sea People groups are still debated.
• One group — the Peleset/Philistines — has a strong archaeological and textual trail into the Iron Age.
• New discoveries (DNA, texts, sites) may soon unlock more answers.

"The Sea Peoples remain one of history's great mysteries. I think we'll solve it. One of these days somebody will find and excavate an archaeological site and we'll go, aha!"
— Professor Eric Cline (69:39)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Sea Peoples' Reputation

  "They are the bad guys everybody likes to point to, but I think they've been given a bum rap, basically. So I'm here to help argue their side today."
  — Professor Eric Cline (04:13)

• On Archaeological Evidence

  "There has not been any site anywhere that we can point to and say that's where the Sea Peoples came from."
  — Professor Eric Cline (33:06)

• The Shift From Raiders to Migrants

  "These are not just men... These are families. We see one picture which has carts, and on the carts are women and children and luggage."
  — Professor Eric Cline (46:51)

• On the Perfect Storm

  "There is a perfect storm of everything, basically everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong."
  — Professor Eric Cline (69:41)

• On Future Discoveries

  "The next time a cemetery is found...if they're able to retrieve the DNA...we now need to start building up a database."
  — Professor Eric Cline (55:49)

Key Timestamps

• 01:34 — Introduction: Who were the Sea Peoples and why does their mystery matter?
• 04:51 — The context of the Late Bronze Age and interconnected civilizations
• 07:51 — Surviving evidence: archaeology and texts
• 10:50 — Egypt’s power at the time and the importance of victory inscriptions
• 13:20 — The Karnak (Merneptah) texts: invasion details and identity clues
• 21:07 — Ramses III and the Medinet Habu inscriptions
• 30:24 — The extraordinary reliefs: Sea Peoples in art
• 33:06 — Theories about the Sea Peoples’ origins – Sardinia, Sicily, Greece, Turkey
• 42:10 — The Peleset/Philistines as the most identifiable group
• 46:35 — Migration, not merely conquest: evidence from reliefs and DNA
• 56:46 — Archaeological destruction: possible Sea Peoples’ attacks (notably Ugarit)
• 67:42 — The Sea Peoples’ real impact: one of several contributing factors
• 71:07 — Professor Cline talks about his books (1177 BC, after 1177, forthcoming 776 BC)

Further Reading from Professor Eric Cline

• 1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Revised/Expanded 2021)
• After 1177: The Survival of Civilizations (2024)
• Forthcoming: 776 BC: The Clashing of Civilizations (covers the first Olympic Games through Alexander the Great's era)

Tone & Style

The episode maintains a spirit of intellectual curiosity, skepticism, and enthusiasm. Professor Cline and Tristan Hughes avoid over-dramatization, opting for rigorous but engaging exploration that invites listeners to think like historians.

Summary

This comprehensive investigation debunks older, simplistic narratives about the Sea Peoples’ role in the Bronze Age collapse, replacing them with a nuanced picture. The Sea Peoples were real, possibly a coalition of groups from across the Mediterranean, but their causes, composition, and culpability remain stubbornly elusive. What we increasingly see — thanks to texts, archaeology, and ancient DNA — is a crisis of migration caused by a “perfect storm” of catastrophes, with the Sea Peoples perhaps both agents and victims of this historic unraveling.

Listeners leave with a sense of the scale of the mystery, the excitement of ongoing scholarly discovery, and the knowledge that, with each new scientific and archaeological breakthrough, we're one step closer to understanding one of the great puzzles of the ancient world.