Shasu

's reliefs at Medinet Habu. The Shasu ( , possibly pronounced šaswə ) 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, in the Transjordan and in the Sinai. Some of them also worked as mercenaries for Asiatic and Egyptian armies.

's reliefs at Medinet Habu.]] The Shasu ( , possibly pronounced šaswə ) 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, in the Transjordan and in the Sinai. Some of them also worked as mercenaries for Asiatic and Egyptian armies. ==Etymology== The name's etymon may be Egyptian šꜣsw, which originally meant "those who move on foot". Levy, Adams, and Muniz report similar possibilities: the Egyptian word šꜣs that means "to wander", and an alternative Semitic triliteral root, , with the meaning "to plunder". ==History== ===Late Bronze Age=== The earliest known reference to the Shasu occurs in a 16th-century BCE list of peoples in the Transjordan region. The first occurrence of Shasu is in the biographical inscription of Admiral Ahmose found in Elkab, who claims to have taken Shasu prisoners while serving Pharaoh Aakheperenre Thutmose II. The Shasu were on his way as he led a punitive expedition north. Giveon (1971) argued that the only event that could account for the Shasu's appearance at that date was the expulsion of the Hyksos (around 1550 BC). Though their homeland seems to be in the Transjordan, the Shasu also appear in Canaan, Syria and Egypt. In the year 39 of Thutmose III, during his 14th campaign, the pharaoh fought the Shasu before reaching the Retjenu. Shasu are therefore found in southern Canaan. According to the Pharaoh's list, they are more specifically located in the Negev (No. 14 of the list). 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 " , in the land of Shasu" ( ), a name thought to be related to or near to Petra, Jordan. In the 13th century BCE, copies of the column inscriptions ordered by Seti I or by Ramesses II at Amara, Nubia, six groups of Shasu are mentioned: those of , of , of , of , of , and of . The Shasu continued to dominate the hill country of Canaan (Cis-Jordan) and Trans-Jordan regions. The Shasu had become so powerful during this period that they could temporarily cut off Egypt's northern routes. 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 ʿApiru, who were seen as 'mighty enemies'. The other documents of the 18th dynasty attest to the increasing importance of the Shasu in Canaan, by the large number of prisoners (at Amenhotep II, a list of prisoners gives about half of those of Khor/Kharu), and then by their appointment to Egypt's greatest enemies, like Babylon or Tehenou (Libya). During the reign of Amenhotep III, the origin of the Shasu ("En-Shasus") is given as near the biblical city of Dothan, a place where bedouins brought their flocks. The story of Joseph in the Hebrew Bible also mentions nomads who come to water their animals at a source near Dothan. During the pharaoh Seti I's campaign, primarily attested as a historic event by the presence of victory steles found at Tel Megiddo and Beth Shean, the Shasu live in a fertile, mountainous area between Sileh and Pa-Canaan (perhaps the city of Gaza). The introductory text of the relief showing the Shasu under notes: "The Shasu enemies plot a rebellion, their tribal leaders are gathered, standing on the hills of Khor (Kharu), and they are engaged in turmoil and tumult. They don't respect their neighbours, they don't consider the laws of the Palace!" In this campaign, the pharaoh confronts the ʿApiru around Megiddo. The Shasu would eventually be eclipsed by the Sea Peoples. ==See also== Hyksos ʿApiru Shutu Irsu Iah Ea ==References== ===Notes=== ===Citations=== ===Sources===

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