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Concept
Shasu
Summary
The Shasu (from Egyptian šꜣsw, probably pronounced Shaswe) were Semitic-speaking pastoral nomads in the Southern Levant from the late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age or the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt. They were tent dwellers, organized in clans ruled by a tribal chieftain and were described as brigands active from the Jezreel Valley to Ashkelon and the Sinai. Some of them also worked as mercenaries for Asiatic and Egyptian armies.
Some scholars link the Israelites and YHWH with the Shasu.
The name's etymon may be Egyptian šꜣsw, which originally meant "those who move on foot". Levy, Adams, and Muniz report similar possibilities: an Egyptian word that means "to wander", and an alternative Semitic one with the meaning "to plunder".
Though their homeland seems to be in the Transjordan, the Shasu also appear in northern and southern Palestine, Syria and even Egypt.
The earliest known reference to the Shasu occurs in a 15th-century BCE list of peoples in the Transjordan region. The name appears in a list of Egypt's enemies inscribed on column bases at the temple of Soleb built by Amenhotep III. Among the details uncovered at the temple was a reference to a place called "Seir, in the land of Shasu" (ta-Shasu se
er, t3-sh3sw sr), a name thought to be related to or near to Petra, Jordan.
In 13th century BCE copies of the column inscriptions ordered by Seti I or by Ramesses II at Amarah-West, six groups of Shasu are mentioned: the Shasu of S'rr, the Shasu of Rbn, the Shasu of Sm't, the Shasu of Wrbr, the Shasu of Yhw, and the Shasu of Pysps.
The Shasu continued to dominate the hill country of Cis- and Transjordan between the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron age. The Shasu had become so powerful during this period that they were able to even cut off Egypt's northern routes through Palestine and Transjordan for a while. This in turn prompted vigorous punitive campaigns by Ramesses II and his son Merneptah. After Egyptian abandonment, Canaanite city-states came under the mercy of the Shasu and the Hab/Piru, who were seen as 'mighty enemies'.Official source
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