"PEOPLES OF THE SEA" IN THE ANCIENT EAST IN THE XIV-FIRST HALF OF THE XIII CENTURY BC.* The article examines the early contacts between the states of the Ancient East and individual tribes of the "sea peoples" before their large-scale invasions in the late XIV-early XII centuries BC. On the basis of Egyptian, Hittite and Ugandan written sources, an attempt is made to reconstruct the nature of the penetration of the "sea peoples"in the XIV — first half of the XIII century BC. to ancient Eastern communities. Key words: "the peoples of the sea", Egypt, Byblos, el-Amarna ' luku, Shardana, Ramesses II, Hittites, Madduvattas. Egyptian inscriptions of the XIX-XX dynasties, which mention the attack of the "peoples of the sea" on Egypt, either refer to them generically as "northerners who came from all countries" [Manassa, 2003, pl. 2:1], or refer to them as "northern foreign countries (literally, "highlands"), which are located on the islands they are" ( ) [Kitchen, 1983, p. 32:6-7, 33:4] and localized "in the midst of the Great Green/Sea" (). The modern term "peoples of the sea", introduced in the 19th century by Gaston Maspero [Maspero, 1897, p.432], is rather arbitrary, since it creates an illusion of a single community of tribes attacking Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean, which in fact never existed. It is customary to distinguish two main waves of "sea peoples": the first refers to the 5th year of the reign of Merneptah (1219 BC in the middle line of the New Egyptian chronology), the second-to the 5th and 8th years of the reign of Ramesses III (1193 and 1190 BC, respectively). However, as letters from the diplomatic archive of el-Amarna show, certain tribes of northerners who later participated in the invasions of the" sea peoples " of the late XIII - early XII centuries BC. e. on Egypt, appeared in the Eastern Mediterranean as early as the XIV century BC. e. In addition, the threat to the Egyptian coast from the Mediterranean Sea existed since the XV century BC, as ... Читать далее