The Sea people and Israel's History
The cultures and the political status of the Levant (Syria-Palestine and the eastern Mediterranean area) are disrupted around 1200 BCE by mass, armed invasions of Egypt, Syria-Palestine, and Anatolia by groups collectively known as the Sea Peoples. The Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses III (1184–1150 BCE) left written records and temple reliefs depicting how the Sea Peoples were defeated in naval and land battles, but other areas were not as lucky. For example, the important seaport city of Ugarit in northern Syria was destroyed by the invaders, leaving an economic and political vacuum that is eventually filled by the Phoenicians and their Mediterranean seaports at Tyre and Sidon. The Hittite kingdom in Anatolia is also defeated by the Sea Peoples and was never able to recover. This in turn allowed encroachment on their territory by the Assyrian and Amorite dynasties in northern Mesopotamia. Egyptian hegemony over Canaan was severely affected, although archaeological evidence suggests that