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The Peleset (Egyptian: pwrꜣsꜣtj) or Pulasati were one of the several ethnic groups the Sea Peoples were said to be composed of, appearing in fragmentary historical and iconographic records in ancient Egyptian from the Eastern Mediterranean in the late 2nd millennium BC. During the Bronze Age collapse, a seafaring coalition known as the Sea Peoples are recorded as conducting a number of raids and invasions in the East Mediterranean. After sacking numerous empires along the basin, the Sea Peoples engaged Ancient Egypt during the reign of Ramesses III, most famously at the Battle of the Delta, during which the invading force was decimated by the Egyptian army. One such group of the Sea Peoples recorded as participating in the Battle of the Delta were the Peleset, who, according to Ramesses' own mortuary temple at Medinet Habu, were forcefully relocated by the pharaoh to southern Canaan, which at that time was upon the frontiers of the Egyptian Empire. Archaeology has not been able to corroborate this apparent mass-relocation of the Peleset. After this point in time, the Sea Peoples as a whole disappear from historical records, the Peleset being no exception. Today, historians generally identify the Peleset with the Philistines, or rather, vice versa. The origins of the Peleset, like much of the Sea Peoples, are not universally agreed upon - with that said, scholars have generally concluded that the bulk of the clans originated in the greater Southern European area, including western Asia Minor, the Aegean, and the islands of the Mediterranean. Fellow Sea Peoples clans have likewise been identified with various Mediterranean polities, to varying acceptance: the Ekwesh with the Achaens, the Denyen with the Danaans, the Lukka with the Lycians, the Shekelesh with the Sicels, the Sherden with the Sardinians, etc. The geographical confluence of the Sea Peoples' origins in the Aegean area implies the Peleset had similar origins.

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Related concepts (6)

Late Bronze Age collapse

The Late Bronze Age collapse was a time of widespread societal collapse during the 12th century BC, between 1200 and 1150. The collapse affected a large area of the Eastern Mediterranean (North Africa and Southeast Europe) and the Near East, in particular Egypt, eastern Libya, the Balkans, the Aegean, Anatolia, and the Caucasus. It was sudden, violent, and culturally disruptive for many Bronze Age civilizations, and it brought a sharp economic decline to regional powers, notably ushering in the Greek Dark Ages.

Tjeker

The Tjeker or Tjekker (Egyptian: ṯꜣkꜣr or ṯꜣkkꜣr) were one of the Sea Peoples. Known mainly from the "Story of Wenamun", the Tjeker are also documented earlier, at Medinet Habu, as raiders defeated by Pharaoh Ramesses III of Egypt in years 5, 8, and 12 of his reign. They are thought to be the people who developed the port of Dor in Canaan during the 12th century BCE from a small Bronze Age town to a large city. As with other Sea Peoples, the origins of the Tjeker are uncertain.

Sherden

The Sherden (Egyptian: šrdn, šꜣrdꜣnꜣ or šꜣrdynꜣ; Ugaritic: šrdnn(m) and trtn(m); possibly Akkadian: šêrtânnu; also glossed “Shardana” or “Sherdanu”) are one of the several ethnic groups the Sea Peoples were said to be composed of, appearing in fragmentary historical and iconographic records (ancient Egyptian and Ugaritic) from the Eastern Mediterranean in the late 2nd millennium BC. On reliefs, they are shown carrying round shields and spears, dirks or swords, perhaps of Naue II type.