The Battle of Delta A.K.A The Battle of Djahy
The Battle of Delta was an important field battle in the conquest of Egypt between the Egyptian armies of Pharaoh Ramses III (1184-1153) and the Sea Peoples. In the seventh year of Ramses III’s reign, a war erupted on Delta. Under the personal command of Ramses III, the Egyptians defeated the Sea Peoples who attempted to attack the kingdom by land and sea. The Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu has almost all of the information we have concerning the war. The fight and the prisoners are clearly chronicled on the temple walls, which also house the world’s longest hieroglyphic text. Much of the information about this war may be found in the bas-relief portraying the battle. They show Egyptian warriors and their chariots fighting an opponent with chariots as well.
King Ramses III Leading the Battle
Ramses III battled to protect Egypt against invasions by different Middle Eastern nations and the Sea Peoples, also known as the Lukka (or Luka, Loukou, or Lycians), who invaded the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean. In the fifth year of his reign, Pharaoh Ramses III had previously repelled a prior Libyan invasion west of the Egyptian frontier. But it was these groups of migratory peoples, the Peoples of the Sea, who posed the biggest threat, not the Libyans. Many ancient civilizations were destroyed by the crisis that hit the Mediterranean in the 12th century. Along with the Mycenaean civilization and other major cultures, the Hittites Empire collapsed, as did the kingdoms of Cyprus and Ugarit.
Organized Attack
Whatever their origins, the Sea Peoples attacked the coastlines of Anatolia, Cyprus, Syria, and Canaan before launching an assault on Egypt in 1180. Although the Sea Peoples were known to be fearsome fighters, there is evidence that they had a high degree of military organization and planning. One of the reasons Egypt was in danger was because the invaders want the land itself, not just the spoils and riches, and there was no country with more wealth than Egypt. As the inscriptions on Ramses III’s burial temple at Madinat Habu show, no kingdom other than Egypt was able to survive their invasions. A plot was devised by the sea peoples… Hattians, Qode, Carchemish, and Alashiya were all annihilated at one point because they couldn’t stand up to them. They wiped off the Amuru people, and the country was left desolate as if it had never seen the light of day. As they approached Egypt, a camp was being built to oppose them. The Sea Peoples had attacked the Amuru, which was close to the Egyptian border, before attacking Egypt. This allowed the Pharaoh enough time to prepare for the invaders’ impending onslaught. “I have armed my frontier of (Djahy) to prepare against them,” Ramses III writes in an inscription in his Madinat Habu burial temple.
The Battle of the Delta by Ramses III
“The Egyptian chariots are fighters… and all fine officers,” Ramses III says of his battle with the Sea Peoples. Strangers are about to be crushed under their hooves by their horses… Those who cross my boundary are not of their seed; their hearts and souls are dead for all eternity.”
It will be incredible to learn about Egypt’s ancient history, civilization, wars, and mythology while seeing temples and archaeological sites as part of your magnificent Egypt tour packages or Egypt Nile cruises.
