Denyen

The Denyen are one of the groups constituting the Sea Peoples.

Origin

They are mentioned in the Amarna letters from the 14th century BC as possibly being related to the "Land of the Danuna" near Ugarit.^[1]

The Egyptians described them as Sea Peoples.^[2]

Hittite Empire

The Denyen have been identified with the people of Adana, in Cilicia who existed in late Hittite Empire times. They are also believed to have settled in Cyprus. A Hittite report^[3] speaks of a Muksus, who also appears in an eighth-century bilingual inscription from Karatepe in Cilicia. The kings of Adana are traced from the "house of Mopsos," given in hieroglyphic Luwian as Moxos and in Phoenician as Mopsos, in the form mps. They were called the Dananiyim.^[4] The area also reports a Mopsukrene (Mopsus' fountain in Greek) and a Mopsuhestia (Mopsus' hearth in Greek), also in Cilicia.

Egyptian raids and settlement

They were raiders associated with the Eastern Mediterranean Dark Ages who attacked Egypt in 1207 BC in alliance with the Libyans and other Sea Peoples, as well as during the reign of Rameses III.^[2] The 20th Egyptian Dynasty allowed them to settle in Canaan, which was largely controlled by the Sea Peoples into the 11th century BC.^[2] Mercenaries from the Peleset manned the Egyptian garrison at Beth-shan,^[2] and the Denyen shared the same fashion as them which some archeology suggests signifies a shared cemetery there.^[5]

Aegean Sea

These areas also show evidence of close ties with the Aegean as a result of the Late Helladic IIIC 1b pottery found in these areas. Some scholars argue for a connection with the Greek Danaoi (Δαναοί)—alternate names for the Achaeans familiar from Homer. Greek myth refers to Danaos who with his daughters came from Egypt and settled in Argos. Through Danaë's son, Perseus, the Danaans are said to have built Mycenae.

Tribe of Dan

There are suggestions that the Denyen joined with Hebrews to form one of the original 12 tribes of Israel. No strong evidence support this view, however.

A minority view first suggested by Yigael Yadin attempted to connect the Denyen with the Tribe of Dan, described as remaining on their ships in the early Song of Deborah, contrary to the mainstream view of Israelite history. It was speculated that the Denyen had been taken to Egypt, and subsequently settled between the Caphtorite Philistines and the Tjekker, along the Mediterranean coast with the Tribe of Dan subsequently deriving from them.^[6]

The most famous Danite was Samson, whom some suggest is derived from Denyen tribal legends.^[7]

References

1. Les nuits attiques. Aulus Gellius, René Marache. Les Belles lettres, 1991. p. 39
2. "A dictionary of archaeology", Ian Shaw, Robert Jameson. Wiley-Blackwell, 2002. ISBN 0-631-23583-3, ISBN 978-0-631-23583-5. p. 515
3. Burkert, Walter (1992). "The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Early Archaic Greece" (Cambridge:Harvard University Press) p 52.
4. The journal of Egyptian archaeology, Volumes 47-49. Egypt Exploration Fund, Egypt Exploration Society. 1961. p. 80
5. "The northern cemetery of Beth Shan", Eliezer D. Oren. Brill Archive, 1973. ISBN 90-04-03673-3, ISBN 978-90-04-03673-4. p. 138
6. Mark W. Bartusch, Understanding Dan: an exegetical study of a biblical city, tribe and ancestor Volume 379 of Journal for the study of the Old Testament: Supplement series, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003
7. "Samson: the hero and the man : the story of Samson", Peter Lang, 2006. ISBN 3-03910-852-2, ISBN 978-3-03910-852-7. p. 278-282