Did Anyone

Post by **Minimalist** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 10:54 pm

see the History International show on the Sea People, tonight?

Interesting stuff but I wonder about the military tactics.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 10:45 am

I don't get HI here - wish I did. I've never tried to pick it up on the satellite dish on the RV. Maybe. Good I hope?

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 11:05 am

HI does some great stuff.

They were making the point that LBA military tactics involved chariots shooting at each other and then foot soldiers running in to do the real heavy lifting. As I recall from the battle of Kadesh, though, while the nobles rode in chariots the bulk of Rameses' army was four infantry divisions. I don't know about the Hittites.

In any case, they speculated that the Sea Peoples arose from 'out of work foot soldiers' once the Hitties and Egyptians had made peace. As a result the foot soldiers revolted, overwhelmed the chariots, and burned the cities to the ground.

The biggest problem with that seems to be that chariots were in their hey-day later, in the Iron Age. Assyrian records give the number of Israelite/Aram-Damascus forces at the battle of QarQar.

Anyway, aside from the chariot problem I thought they overlooked two problems.

One, the known military weakness of Canaan in the LBA. Egypt dominated and maintained control with limited force. The Canaanites had no capability to resist.

Second, they minimized the effect of the Sea People's ability to raid a coastline and withdraw (Viking-like) before any useful military force could be gathered. In WWII, we developed that capability with aircraft carriers which could be massed for an attack, isolate a particular target, and pound it into rubble and withdraw before the Japanese Navy could mount any sort of effective response.

Still. It was an interesting show about a neglected period.

Barracuda · Post by **Barracuda** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 1:52 pm

Really sorry I missed that! It is a subject of very special interest to me. I think there is a lot to be learned about a crucial point in history.

I grew up on the Aegean in Turkey and it has special significance for me. I plan to take a sabbatical and sea kayak across the Aegean in a few years to retrace their steps.

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 2:18 pm

This was it and it will be re-broadcast next Sunday morning.

http://www.historyinternational.com/glo ... twCode=HCI

Secrets of the Aegean Apocalypse.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 2:28 pm

i wish i could view it. the history channel and international are not options here unless it is available in seoul, which may have more options than small towns.

i get the asian discovery channel but that is about it for that type of prgramming.

Barracuda · Post by **Barracuda** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 2:36 pm

Thanks Min!

I will be at 7,000 feet in the Sierra Nevadas on Sunday morning. We don't get cable up there!

I will keep an eye out for a re-run. The History Channel is pretty much the only TV I watch.

Did the special say anything about the boats they used? That is of particular interest to me. I imagine them to be much like the Viking longboats in basic design, as they served basicly the same function

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 4:47 pm

That's why they invented VCRs, man.

I don't recall anything specific about the boats. They did suggest that the Egyptians, having been warned they were coming, did fight them at sea.

Of course, in spite of Rameses III's boasts, the fact is that he could not stop the Philistines from occupying Canaan which had been an Egyptian vassal up to that time.