predecessors Merneptah (1213–1203). On the walls of his temple
at Medinet Habu, Ramesses tells us of the trail of destruction left by
these marauders, and his victory over them.^4
But even if we accept the basic truth of Ramesses’account, it’s
clear that the movements of these so-called Sea Peoples were not
merely military operations. They involved large masses of people,
including families and their portable possessions, who were seeking
new lands to settle. Very likely many of them had been displaced
from their original homelands, perhaps in western Anatolia as well
as elsewhere, in the widespread upheavals associated with the end
of the Late Bronze Age. Many were probably as much the victims as
the perpetrators of these upheavals, being forced to take on a
marauding aspect in their search for new homelands. Besides, it’s
possible that Ramesses has condensed into a single episode events
that may have taken place over many years, perhaps going back to
attacks on the coasts of Cyprus and Egypt during the pharaoh
Akhenaten’s reign 150 years earlier.^5
In any case, it’s very likely that as the Hittite kingdom became
increasingly unstable from the late thirteenth century on, ships
manned by enemy forces and pirates threatened severe disruption
to sea traffic in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as to seaports
along the Anatolian and Syrian coasts. Ugarit seems to have been a
highly vulnerable target, particularly when Suppiluliuma allegedly
stripped the vassal state of its defence forces by ordering their
reassignment to other areas under threat. This is what we’re told in
a letter despatched by Ugarit’s last king Ammurapi to the king of
Alasiya:‘The enemy ships have been coming and burning my cities
and doing terrible things in my country. All my troops and chariots
are in the land of Hatti, and all my ships are in Lukka. My land has
been left defenceless!’ Other letters too warn of the imminent
danger faced by Ugarit as large numbers of sea raiders approached
its shores.^6
Whether or not Ammurapi was exaggerating his plight, the
disruptions caused by enemy forces in the eastern Mediterranean
and its seaports were very likely prompts for the attacks on Alasiya
(which may well have provided bases, voluntarily or involuntarily,
for enemy ships) by both Tudhaliya and Suppiluliuma, and for
DEATH OF AN EMPIRE 261