Free Republic

The Sea Peoples were a confederation of allied tribes who attacked Egypt, Anatolia and the Levant in the early-to-mid-12th century b.c.e. The identity and origin of this confederation’s members have been of great interest to archaeologists and historians for decades. Ramses iii listed the names of the Sea Peoples on the walls of his temple at Medinet Habu. Of particular interest among these tribes is one named Denyen. The identity and origins of the Denyen people have been much debated. Israeli archaeologist Yigael Yadin proposed that these Denyen people were linked with the Israelite tribe of Dan (see his...

On May 12, 1960, archaeologist Yigael Yadin, appearing at the Jerusalem residence of President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, announced the astounding discovery of a cache of 2,000-year-old letters... signed by the legendary Jewish warrior Shimon Bar Kochba, leader of a devastating second-century revolt against Rome, and had been found high up in a cave overlooking the Nahal Hever canyon, west of the Dead Sea. The news was received with great excitement, both internationally and in a State of Israel that was still searching for connections to the ancient Jewish presence in the land. The Bar Kochba letters, which were supplemented by additional...