FCSHASU! WHO?

THE SHASU OF PALESTINE IN THE EGYPTIAN TEXTS

Evangelical Theological Society Valley Forge, Pa 16 November 2005 By Kenneth R. Cooper Biblical Faith Ministries Fort Worth, TX Shasu. The name looks like a sound you would make when you sneeze. Actually, it is a name applied to a nebulous group of people in the Middle East by various Egyptian leaders in the ancient world. The shasu, according to Bienkowski and Millard, are mentioned only in Egyptian texts, mostly lists of conquered towns and enemies, between c. 1500 and 1100 BC.1 During this period of time, at least half a dozen or more pharaohs or their military generals encountered Shasu in their campaigns, enough times for the Shasu to be at the very least a nuisance. And enough times, you would think, for them to be identified. Yet, as William A. Ward notes, they have remained an elusive group for all the seeming importance accorded them in the extant documents. Were they an ethnic group or a social class, a political entity or scattered tribes, a major enemy or sometime foe?2 Levy and Holl suggest, it can be assumed that the Shasu people were not an ethnic group tied to only one specific region. Rather the Shasu seem to represent a social class of nomads who reflect an ancient equivalent of the term Bedouin, which crosscuts different ethnic groups and relates more to a generic socioeconomic subsistence organization devoted to pastoral nomadism.3 According to the Egyptian texts, the Egyptians encountered Shasu in Nubia and in Western Asia -- in the Transjordan, in Syria, as well as southern and eastern Palestine and in the Sinai. The Shasu in western Asia form the subject of this paper. We will begin by identifying the pharaohs who either encountered Shasu themselves or leaders of their armies encountered and took prisoners of the Shasu. John A. Wilson compiled a list of the Asiatics who came under the Egyptian empire through the conquests of Egypts rulers, beginning with Thutmose III.4 Thutmose III initiated the practice of listing the countries he had either conquered or over which he claimed dominion. Other pharaohs followed his lead at least through the reign of Sheshonk I, with whom Wilson ends his list. Wilsons list, consisting of selections from all of them, identifies ninety-nine such countries including Shasu Bedouin. Six
1

Piotr Bienkowski and Alan Millard, Dictionary of the Ancient Near East (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000):265. 2 William A. Ward, The Shasu Bedouin: Notes on a Recent Publication, Journal on the Economic and Social History of Egypt, 15 (June 1972): 35. Henceforth, referred to as Shasu Bedouin. 3 Thomas E. Levy and Augustin F. C. Holl, Migrations, Ethnogenesis, and Settlement Dynamics: Is raelites in Iron Age Canaan and Shuwa-Arabs in the Chad Basin, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 21 (2002): 96. 4 John A. Wilson, Lists of Asiatic Countries Under the Egyptian Empire, in James B. Pritchard, editor, Ancient Near Eastern Texts (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1969): 242-243. The reference to the Shasu is in the part of the chart on p. 243.

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of the nine pharaohs in Wilsons list, representing Dynasties Eighteen through Twenty-Two encountered Shasu during their reigns: Thutmose IV, Amenhotep III, Hor-em-heb, Seti I, Ramesses II, and Sheshonk I. Hor-em-heb in the Eighteenth Dynasty only encountered Shasu in Nubia, so we will not consider his record. In addition to the other five, two Pharaohs (or their generals) also encountered Shasu in their campaigns: Thutmose II in the Eighteenth Dynasty and Merenptah in the Nineteenth Dynasty. In fact, the first significant mention of the Shasu of Palestine in Egyptian texts may very well be the reference in a note written by a general of Thutmose II. In this text, Ahmose-PenNekhbet claims that he fought the Shasu in a brief battle as he followed the pharaoh north to fight at Niy in Syria. Ahmose claimed that he took many living prisoners of the Shasu, although he gave no specific number of prisoners, claiming, he did not count them. So, at least some group know as Shasu was identified possibly as early as 1510 BC, give or take a few years. But who were they? And where were they found? In this paper, we will examine the Egyptian texts to see what we can learn from them about the Shasu. We will also look at the term Shasu and at the territories of Palestine with which the Shasu were associated in an attempt to answer these questions. EGYPTIAN TEXTS THAT RECOUNT ENCOUNTERS WITH THE SHASU What do the Egyptian texts say about these Shasu? We have already noted the journal of Ahmose-Pen-Nekhbet, an officer in the army of Thutmose II. Breasted notes, It is probable that this defeat of the Shasu was only an incident in the northward march against Niy.5 In a footnote to this observation, Breasted notes that Thutmose II reigned for such a short time that he very likely made only one campaign into Asia and this was it. In this campaign, Ahmose-PenNekhbet took an unnumbered amount of prisoners from the Shasu. In this first recorded encounter, he doesnt even say how many there are except to say very many living prisoners and to identify them as Shasu. We do not know at this point where they came from or exactly where Ahmose encountered them; but it was north of Egypt and south of Syria, since he was on his way to Syria when he ran into the Shasu. Thutmose III, as one of his projects, rebuilt the temple of Semneh with the pious intention of restoring the brick sanctuary of his great ancestor (at least officially so), Sesostris III, in whose fortress of Senmeh the temple stands.6 At least twice among the inscriptions of Sesostris III, Thutmoses great ancestor referred to the god Khnum as binder of the (Nine) Bows, smiter of the Shasu.7 Apparently, Sesostris encountered a people called the Shasu at some time during his reign, making the earliest reference to the Shasu occur in the Twelfth Dynasty, somewhere between 1862 and 1843 BC, give or take; however, both of the inscriptions of Sesostris refer to the Shasu in Nubia, and so provide little help in identifying the Shasu in

James Henry Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt (1906 reprint, Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2001), 2:51. According to Alan Gardiner, Niy is a swampy area in the territory of Syria. See Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs. (London: Oxford University Press, 1961): 179. 6 Breasted, 2:69. 7 Breasted, 2:70-71.

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Palestine or Transjordan. However, it does seem to indicate encounters with nomads as early as Egypts Twelfth Dynasty. On the other hand, Thutmose III initiated a campaign to the northeastern frontier of Egypt after which he continued north to receive his usual tribute from Syria and to ensure supplies for his harbor towns. An inscription recorded by Breasted refers to this campaign: Year 39. Behold his majesty was in the land of Retenu on the fourteenth victorious expedition, after [his] going [to defeat] the fallen ones of shasu (-sw).8 Breasted introduces this inscription with a note explaining that the fourteenth campaign in year 39 was introduced by an excursion into the northeastern frontier of Egypt to punish Bedouin on this frontier. Following this excursion, Thutmose III continued northward to Syria to receive his tribute from Syria and to ensure supplies as already noted. Thutmose IIIs reference to the Shasu is followed by a detailed list of the Syrian tribute acquired by Thutmose III as a result of his journey north. The land of Retenu, of course, is the Egyptian name for Palestine and Syria.9 Thutmose encountered Shasu in the area of Palestine on his way north, apparently in enough numbers to consider them a problem. So, he defeated them and went on his way. However, he says rather little more about them and fails to identify where he encountered them except that it was on the way to Syria. And, interestingly, he does not include them in the list referenced by Wilson. Amenhotep II engaged in at least two campaigns into Asia and these campaigns were recorded on steles at Memphis and Karnak. In the ninth year of his reign, he proceeded to Syria where he completed a victorious campaign against the town of Apheq, capturing a number of additional settlements in the area. The inscription on the steles note that he brought back to Memphis over 89,000 prisoners, among them 15,200 Shasu.10 Unfortunately, nothing in these inscriptions notes where Amenhotep encountered the Shasu. It is fair to say somewhere in Palestine-Syria, but, again, an exact location or area cannot be determined. Thutmose IV also encountered Shasu in an engagement in Palestine-Syria. However, Breasted notes, The records of Thutmose IVs Asiatic war or wars are scanty and scattered. It is clear, however, that he still maintained the empire at its former northern limits.11 Giveon identifies a document of Thutmose IV containing a list of toponyms that include the Shasu with a group of five other peoples, among them Naharin and Qadesh.12 Again, Thutmose IV includes no specific information to pin down who are the Shasu or where he actually encountered them, except that here, too, it was evidently in the area of Palestine-Syria. The inscriptions of Amenhotep III include conquests both in the south (in Nubia) and in the north (in Palestine-Syria). At least two of these inscriptions address Shasu in Palestine-Syria, but neither of them identifies any specific localities within Palestine or Syria at which the
8

Breasted, 2:211. Note: Redford calls these annals of Thutmo se III at Karnak the single most important document for the creation of Egypts Asiatic empire. Donald Redford, Contact Between Egypt and Jordan in the New Kingdom: Some Comments on Sources, Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan , edited by Adnan Hadidi. (Amman, Jordan: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Department of Antiquities, 1982): 116. 9 Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs, 131. Gardiner spells it Retjnu, but it is clearly the same term. 10 Wilson, ANET, 247. 11 Breasted, 2:324. 12 Raphael Giveon, Les Bedouins Shosou des documents gyptiens. Documenta et Monumenta Orientis Antiqui 18 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1971): 15-16.

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pharaoh or his armies encountered this elusive group. However, one inscription makes several references to the land of the Shasu.13 There is nothing in this text to tell us just what is or where is the land of the Shasu. But it is fair to say that it encompasses some part of the territory of Palestine-Syria in this context. Ward goes so far as to identify the land of the Shasu with Eastern Jordan. He notes that in Amenhotep IIIs Nubian Temple at Soleb, there are listed several localities situated in the Land of the Shasu, that is, East Jordan.14 In his commentary on the first toponym list, Giveon notes the presence of Dothan in with the Shasu and considers it remarkable. In fact, he notes that Dothan was on an important road connecting it with a cistern utilized by travelers and semi-nomads who benefited by the nearby pastures. Giveon also notes that this was the same route traveled by the Midianites who carried Joseph into Egypt. 15 Can he be hinting that, at least in this case, the Shasu encountered by Amenhotep III were Midianites? Seti I seems to have more to say about the Shasu. He devotes several reliefs on the wall at Karnak to the Shasu. In fact, Breasted notes that these reliefs provide the most important document we have from the reign of Seti I, providing also the only source for the wars of Seti I. Breasted notes, however, that the function of these reliefs is religious: the god grants pharaoh the power to prevail over other nations, while the pharaoh brings the captives and the plunder as an offering to the god. Interestingly, the only date noted in the reliefs is the date associated with Setis campaigns against the Shasu year 1. Breasted notes, It is absurd to suppose that Seti I completed a war with the Libyans, a campaign against the Shasu, the conquest of Palestine and some of southern Syria, and a war with the Hittites and finally accomplished the return to Thebes, all in one year.16 According to Breasted, the war against the Shasu as well as Palestine and southern Syria probably occurred in Year 1 of Setis reign. The other wars occurred in later campaigns. Seti numbered his campaigns, and this would likely be campaign 1. Hasel notes that both Gardiner and Faulkner agree with Breasteds assessment, and that Faulkner viewed the registers as representing a chronological order that began with the bottom register on the east wall from the doorway (the 3sw campaign).17 On returning from this campaign of Year 1, he hears of a rebellion and initiates another campaign to quell it. And so forth. The first scenes of the Karnak reliefs of Seti I portray the battle with the Shasu. As Seti moved through the Negev into southern Palestine, he scattered the Shasu, who occasionally managed to gather together in sufficient numbers to face him and pose a threat. On the Karnak relief, the inscription over the battle scene with the Shasu reads in part: The Good God, Sun of Egypt, Moon of all lands has extended the boundaries of Egypt as far as the heave ns on every side. The rebels, they know not how they shall [flee]; the vanquished of the Shasu, who were ---, --- --- his majesty; [becoming like] that which exists not.18 Breasted notes that Seti continued fighting Shasu all the way to Canaan, to a frontier town Seti calls Pekanan, The Canaan.
13 14

See Giveon, 27. William A. Ward, A Possible Link Between Egypt and Jordan During the Reign of Amenhotep III, Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, 18 (1973): 46. 15 Giveon, 23-24. 16 Breasted, 3:38. 17 Michael G. Hasel, Domination and Resistance: Egyptian Military Activity in the Southern Levant, ca. 1300-1185 B.C. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1998): 120. Hasels references are to: A. H. Gardiner, The Ancient Military Road Between Egypt and Palestine, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 6 (1920): 100, and R. O. Faulkner, The Wars of Sethos I, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 33 (1947): 35. 18 Breasted, 3:46.

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Scholars are not certain what this name actually means here, but it does indicate the territory of the war with the Shasu as Palestine-Syria in this case. The Egyptians did call the entire west of Syria-Palestine Canaan, and at this point, it is only certain that Seti is fighting somewhere in that territory. In addition to the Karnak inscriptions, Seti I constructed two steles at Beth-Shan in northern Canaan. On the smaller stele, he describes one group of Asiatic nomads (Shasu) attacking another group of nomads (Shasu). The attackers consisted of a people called Ha-p-ru, while the attacked people are called the people of Ruhma, but both groups, as noted, are called Shasu.19 Albright notes that scholars have been unable to locate the territory identified as Ruhma, but he places it in the vicinity of land later occupied by the tribe of Issachar, clearly supporting the idea that the Shasu were definitely encountered all over Palestine-Syria. Ramesses II left a great number of inscriptions in the eastern Delta, at Tanis, at Luxor and at Karnak. Some of these include specific place names where Ramesses encountered the Shasu. Therefore, we will reserve the examination of these texts until the discussion of the territories where the Egyptians encountered the Shasu. Following Ramesses II, Merenptah came to the throne of Egypt. Several inscriptions during Merenptahs reign also refer to the Shasu. For example, Frank Yurco notes that during the reign of Merenptah, Shasu were encountered in southern Canaan and the Sinai, as reflected in Papyrus Anastasi VI, 53-61. The Papyrus is considerably fragmentary, but the significant parts read: Another matter for the satisfaction of my lords heart [to wit]: We have finished passing the tribes of the Shasu (-sw) of Edom through the Fortress of Merneptah-Hotephirma, L. P. H., in Theku, (T-kw) to the pools of Pithom, of Merneptah-Hotephirma in Pl. 5 Theku, in order to sustain them and their herds in the domain of Pharaoh, L. P. H., the good Sun of every land.20 This record, notes Yurco, kept by frontier officials, shows a peaceful migration of Shasu shepherds for the purpose of watering their flocks.21 Yurco notes further that these Shasu are described as Edomites, and adds, But Shasu were found all over Canaan; and no doubt some of them who harried Merenptahs forces enroute to subdue the Canaanite cities and Israel, were captured and incorporated into the victory procession returning to Egypt. 22 Elaborating on this inscription, Dalman notes, A frontier official during [Merenptahs] reign reported that he had either completed or prevented the passing of Shasu bedouin through the border fortress to the pools of Pithom. Dalman notes that this frontier report adds some new details about the Shasu.
19

See William F. Albright, The Smaller Beth-Shan Stele of Sethos 1 (1309-1290 BC), Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 125 (February 1952): 27. 20 Breasted, 3:273. 21 Frank J. Yurco, Merenptahs Canaanite Campaign, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 23 (1986): 209. 22 Ibid.

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This text, says Dalman, depicts the Shasu as having a tribal structure. They were depicted as having cattle, and as being associated somehow with Seir or Edom.23 Although, Breasted translates the text as the tribes of the Shasuof Edom, Hasel translates it as clansfolkof Edom.24 Either way, the Shasu seem to have some kind of communal structure. The same text refers to their herds (Breasted) or livestock (Hasel) indicating some kind of pastoral element within the Shasu people. Hasel notes that the designation Shasu clansfolk is accompanied with a determinative for man in the plural, indicating a translation of Shasu tribesmen is valid. He notes further, The reference here to livestock and the apparent migration from Edom to the Egyptian-controlled areas for subsistence points toward a possible pastoral element among the inhabitants of 3sw.25 In Papyrus Anastasi I, a kind of literary controversy between two Egyptian scribes, Amenemope and Hori, Shasu are found in many areas, ranging from southern Syria throughout Canaan.26 Battle reliefs at Karnak provide additional evidence of Shasu during Merenptahs reign. In several scenes, Merenptah is seen either binding Shasu prisoners or driving Shasu prisoners to Egypt before and under pharaohs chariot.27 The pastoral elements of the Shasu are confirmed by documents from the reign of Ramesses III who followed Merenptah. In the Papyrus Harris, in a section Breasted labels Edomite War, Ramesses claims, I destroyed the people of Seir (S--r), of the tribes of the Shasu (-sw); I plundered their tents of their people, their possessions, their cattle likewise, without number.28 Ramesses claims he took them captive as tribute to Egypt where he gave them as slaves to the gods. Hasel notes that both the terms Shasu and Seir have the same determinatives to indicate Ramesses is referring to the people identified by these terms as is also clear from the complete statements themselves. Hasel also notes that Edom and Seir were not just uninhabited wilderness. They contained enough people to create concern among the Egyptian officials. Hasel notes that in the Egyptian military documents of the Nineteenth Dynasty, the term Shasu mostly occurs as a geographic notation. In a number of cases, the term occurs without a determinative. Hasel notes, This indicates the overall consistency of Egyptian scribes in the military documents depicting 3sw as a geographical territory. Fewer contexts of the texts provide information regarding the social structure of the inhabitants of 3sw, i.e. their apparent pastoral background.29 Hasel notes further that the Shasu fought on foot only, with various hand weapons, such as axes and spears. They had no chariots, and apparently no horses. And they are not depicted as city dwellers. In some cases, such as the battle of Kadesh, they are portrayed as defending cities of others; but not cities of their own. Hasel notes, The Shasu Campaign of Seti I portrays these people as marauders who may be posing a threat to the Egyptian forts along the
23

Rodger Dalman, A People Come Out of Egypt: Studies in the Books of Exodus, Deuteronomy and Judges (New Hope, Minnesota: Dalman, 2002): 35. See also Eduoard Naville, Did Merenptah Invade Syria? Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 2 (October 1915): 198-199. Naville translates the phrase =Shasu of the land of Adima, but notes, Adima from which the Bedouins came has always been considered as being Edom. (p. 199). However, Naville argues against Edom here, but see Breasted and Hasel, note 32. 24 Breasted, 3:273; Hasel, 224. 25 Hasel, 224. 26 Yurco, note 36, p. 209. 27 Yurco, 195, 207. Note, p. 195 contains photographs of the reliefs. 28 Breasted, 4:201. 29 Hasel, 225.

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Ways of Horus.30 Furthermore, the actual location of these people is certainly a complex and debated issue. Recent proposals locate Shasu-land in Syria, southern Transjordan, the Negev and Sinai regions; and some see the term as a designation for all of Palestine. If we take all of the data together as previously discussed, we find Shasu in each of these locations during the reigns of different pharaohs. For example, during the reigns of Seti I and Merenptah, the Egyptians encountered the Shasu more frequently in the south. The fact that Egypts armies found them at Beth-Shan and at the battle of Kadesh indicates that at least their influence extended to the north. Early toponym lists, according to Hasel, seem to suggest a northern location for the Shasu early in the Eighteenth Dynasty. However, in the reign of Amenhotep III, a toponym list places the Shasu in northern Canaan in such places as Dothan. Nevertheless, Hasel notes that from the reign of Amenhotep III and during much of the Nineteenth Dynasty, most lists place the Shasu in Transjordan. And, as we shall see some texts contain references to Shasu in Moab, Edom, and Seir. SHASU WHAT DOES THAT WORD MEAN? Before discussing the territories of the Shasu in more detail, let us examine the term Shasu itself for a moment. The word Shasu seems to defy etymology or lexical derivation. Ward notes, for example, The derivation of the word is uncertain: it is related to the Eg yptian verb to wander or Semitic to plunder.31 Hasel agrees that the etymology of the word is uncertain, and adds, It has been suggested that it may either be related to the Egyptian verb 3s, to travel, to wander about or to the Semitic asah, asas, to plunder, to pillage. The etymology to some extent influences the meaning of the term as the Egyptians use it. This has led some to describe the 3sw as a nomadic elementor as an element of unrest and instability for the Egyptians.32 Hasel notes that others have suggested a Hurrian or Indo-Aryan origin for the word. So, a careful study of the semantic contexts is essential. Bartlett agrees with Hasel. Bartlett notes, The name shsu itself may derive from the Egyptian root s3s. To travel, to wander; or it may derive from a North-west Semitic root evidenced in the Hebrew ash and ass, to plunder, to pillage, in usume of Amarna letter 252:30, despoilers, plunderers, and tm, plunderers in the Keret epic from Ugarit.33 Ward suggests that the Egyptian derivation is most likely. The Egyptians reached into their own vocabulary to determine how to describe these people who frequently blocked their progress into Palestine. Bartlett seems to confirm this as he notes, If the word is Egyptian, it is probably a generic term for people popularly classed as wanderers, presumably in distinction from the settled people of the towns or the Nile valley as a whole, and also, perhaps, in distinction from other Asiatics such as the Huru and the Apiru.34 Bartlett adds that this category includes people from Edom and Seir, but that the term Shasu did not apply to a natural group known later to the Israelites as Edomites. According to Bartlett, the nation (in this case Edom) had not yet come into being, nor, as far as we can tell, had it acquired any sense of national identity. The name Shasu itself was apparently used in a much wider sense. As a result, in his early essay on the Shasu, Ward describes the Shasu simply as semi30 31

Hasel, 227. William A. Ward, Shasu, Anchor Bible Dictionary, edited by David Noel Freedman. (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 5:1165. Henceforth referred to as Shasu.. 32 Hasel, 220. 33 John R. Bartlett, Edom and the Edomites (Sheffield: JSOT, 1989): 80 34 Ibid.

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nomadic shepherds who had at least some interests in common with the urban population of Canaan.35 Although some have suggested that semi-nomadic is a rather useless term, seminomadic shepherds does seem to fit the situations the Shasu often found themselves in, leaving a sedentary life to move from place to place seeking pasture for their flocks. 36 Meanwhile, another term used by Ward, Giveon, and others to tag the Shasu with the description wanderers is the word Bedouin. Although the term bedouin is usually associated with camel breeding, Redford clarifies, The resultant 3sw (*shasue), the Shasu came to be used of wandering groups whom we would call bedu, with the significant distinction that unlike their modern counterparts they lacked the camel.37 Kenneth B. Hoglund simply notes, The Egyptian term Shasu designates a nomadic group.38 William F. Albright, in a footnote on the word Shasu, notes, On this word, which meant originally in Egyptian nomad was taken into Canaanite before our period [the reign of Sethos I] in the sense marauder, bandit (Heb. sh).39 Finally, Dalman describes the Shasu as a collection of tribal Bedouin groups who lived in the semi -arid regions around the Levant.40 It is safe to say that a consensus of scholars sees the Shasu as either nomadic or seminomadic, at least from the Egyptian perspective; and after all, the Egyptians did coin the phrase, so to speak. At the same time, based on some of their encounters with the Shasu, they may also have been considered marauders or bandits as has also been noted. At the very least, then, we may see the Shasu as wandering nomads, who may or may not be marauding bandits, but who do range over a certain wide geographical territory from the Sinai to Syria seeking pasture for their flocks. SHASU THEYRE EVERYWHERE! THEYRE EVERYWHERE! Now we can ask just what is the geographical territory associated with the Shasu? Can we pin it down? The Shasu were apparently prevalent in the southern area of Palestine for some time during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties of Egypt, and some even into the Twentieth Dynasty. The majority of the references to the Shasu appear in military documents, as the Egyptian commanders or pharaohs on military campaigns encounter them. Significantly, Hasel notes that in the documents previously quoted of Ahmose-Pen Nekhbet and Thutmose III, the term Shasu is accompanied with a determinative that means hill country, thus designating a geographic notation. Hasel notes, The prepositions hr, from and n, of preceding the subject 3sw indicate that in this instance the writer was referring to a place
35

Ward, Shasu Bedouin, 50. Ward derived this definition from Raphael Giveon, Les bedouins Shosou des documents gyptiens. Documenta et Monumenta Orientis Antiqui 18: 240f. Ward goes on to note, It must be kept in mind that the only picture we have of the Shasu themselves and their place of origin is seen through Egyptian eyes so that our question must be posed in a slightly different way: what kind of people did the Egyptians consider the Shasu to be and from whence did the Egyptians believe they came? (Ibid.) 36 See the discussion of territory associated with the Shasu later in this paper. 37 Donald B. Redford, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1992): 271. Henceforth, Egypt, Canaan. 38 Kenneth G. Hoglund, Edomites, in Peoples of the Old Testament World, edited by Alfred J. Hoerth, Gerald L. Mattingly, and Edwin M. Yamauchi. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994): 335. 39 Albright, 29. 40 Dalman, 35.

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of origin for the captives or rebels encountered by the Egyptians.41 Hasel also notes that in the reliefs of Seti I, quoted above, the term Shasu is also accompanied with the determinative hill country. This indicates that the vanquished of the Shasu come from or belong to a land or region of the Shasu, making the term a geographical designation rather than an ethnic one. The spoils referred to are from the land of the Shasu, and the captives depicted in the relief also come from the land of the Shasu, which would appear to be the hill country of Palestine in this case. Or at least some part of that hill country. Furthermore, Spalinger seems to think that these inscriptions indicate from their content the semi-nomadic nature of the Shasu.42 Kenneth A. Kitchen notes that inscriptions during the reign of Ramesses II are of little help in locating the Shasu very specifically. One stele in the eastern Delta, for instance, states of Ramesses: Making great slaughter in the land of (the) Shasu, He plunders their tells, Slaying their people and building (sc. Anew?) with towns bearing his name.43 This reference is too general, however, even to tell us where the land of the Shasu might be located. But Kitchen notes another inscription of Ramesses II that may be of some help. Obelisk I at Tanis reads: Terrible and raging lion who despoils the Shasu-land, Who plunders the mountain of Seir with his valiant arms.44 Kitchen notes that Shasu-land is in a poetic structure of parallelism with Seir, which itself is equated with the land of Edom. Thus Shasu-land, at least in these inscriptions, is located in the area of Edom, and possibly surrounding territory. Kitchen also discusses some inscriptions of Ramesses at Luxor that refer to Dibon located in Moab as one of the towns plundered by Ramesses. He notes another town, B(w)trt that is described as in the land of Moab, but scholars have as yet not pinpointed its specific location, nor found a corresponding name in any other texts, Egyptian or Canaanite, that would help locate it. Kitchen notes that a text of a much later date may provide a hint. This text, the Tabula Pentingeriana, names a station about 62 Roman miles south of Ammn, called Rababatora. Kitchen notes that this Raba-batora may be identified philologically with B(w)trt; however, no archaeological excavations have uncovered any evidence from the thirteenth century B. C. to corroborate this suggestion. Nevertheless, Kitchen argues, we have evidence for the activity of Ramesses II (or at least of his forces) in both Edom and Moab.45 Whether or not this activity consisted of one campaign for both or at least two, we do not know. But we do
41 42

Hasel, 221 Anthony J. Spalinger, The Northern Wars of Seti I: An Integrative Study, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 16 (1979):30. 43 Kenneth A. Kitchen, Some New Light on the Asiatic Wars of Ramesses II, journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 50 (December 1964) 66. 44 Ibid. 45 Kitchen, New Light, 67.

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know Ramesses or his forces carried on a campaign or campaigns in both Edom and Moab and encountered Shasu in these territories. Furthermore, Ramesses II, in his war with Kadesh in Syria, encountered a couple of Shasu spies, indicating the Shasu could be found as far north as Syria, at least sometimes. In his account of the battle of Kadesh, Ramesses refers to the Shasu spies and reports, Now, these Shasu spake these words, which they spake to his majesty, falsely, (for) the vanquished chief of Kheta made them come to spy where his majesty was, in order to cause the army of his majesty not to draw up for fighting him, to battle with the vanquished chief of the Kheta.46 Ramesses had not only captured these spies who served the Hittites, he also defeated the Shasu in a minor skirmish. Later, in an inscription at the Temple in Abu Simbel, Ramesses claimed that he settled Shasu to the land of Nubia. He has placed the Shasu (k-sk) into the land of ---, he has settled the Tehenu on the heights, filling the strongholds, which he built, with the captivity of his mighty sword, [slaying] Kharu (Hk rw), [wasting] Retenu (Rtnw), which his sword overthrew.47 Ramesses boasted that he filled the storehouses of Egypt with Shasu slaves, captives from Syria and Palestine. Furthermore, at least four different inscriptions at Karnak, Luxor, and Tanis, Ramesses lists Shasu in the toponym lists of the peoples plundered by Ramesses II.48 In addition, Ramesses refers either to the Land of the Shasu or to Shasu Land over ten times in eight inscriptions at Amarah, Memphis, Tanis, and other locations in which he provides lists of places he conquered and/or plundered.49 One of the main locations identified in the texts we have discussed, locations where Egyptian armies ran into Shasu was Edom or Seir. Interestingly, Bartlett notes, however, that there are no references from the period of Egypts New Kingdom to either Edom or Seir as place names for the major area of southern Palestine east and south of the Dead Sea; but rather, In the period stretching from the second quarter of the fourteenth century B. C. to the reign of Ramesses III in the eleventh century B. C. we hear only of the shasu peoples Bedouin of these places.50 Bartlett notes that during this time period, the Biblical accounts, too, lack any precise reference to Edom or Seir. When Israel departed from Egypt and first approached the Promised Land, they encountered a people Moses identified as Edomites. Bartlett notes, however, that even the Biblical accounts offer no sure evidence that Edom was united under any kind of central rule such as a monarchy at this time. Consequently, it is fair to suggest that the references in the Bible as well as the Egyptian texts are likely referring only to the general territory or the land with these designations, places where unspecified peoples were encountered. However, in this context, Bartlett does seem to be indicating that the Edomites thus encountered by Israel at the time of the exodus were possibly Shasu.
46

Breasted, 3:144, see also, Kenneth A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1996), 2: 103, 12-16. 47 Breasted, 3:198. 48 See Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions, 163,14; 184,9; 186,15; 406,6. 49 See Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions, 194,15; 217,10 (four references); 289,15; 300,2; 304,14; 409,1; 413,8; 465,7. 50 J. R. Bartlett, The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Edom, Palestine Exploration Quarterly 104 (January June 1972): 26.

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In the essay noted above (see note 33, also note 50), Bartlett has suggested that the Shasu occupied the area of Edom. In another essay, he notes that Edom and Moab were mainly seminomadic, and some occasional permanent settlements began to appear in their territories here and there.51 Dalman had already noted the Shasu lived around the Levant. He adds, They could be found in several areas south and east of Israels territory, but they were associated primarily with the Region of Seir and Edom.52 Hoglund agrees, and he limits the Shasu to the territory of Edom, noting, Egyptian records are the earliest (from the fifteenth century on), occasionally noting encounters with groups from Edom and Seir called Shasu.53 Other scholars place them in Edom and Seir but some add Moab to the geography of the Shasu. Gerald L. Mattingly, for example, includes Moab as a home for the Shasu along with Edom. He notes, there is enough evidence to demonstrate that the pharaohs of the New Kingdom were interested in and on occasion directly involved in the affairs of the peoples east of the Jordan Rift Valley. If the Shasu Bedouin mentioned in an account of Thutmose IIs campaign were natives of Transjordan, this reference would be especially important because of the texts early date.54 The territory of Transjordan includes Ammon and Moab, as well as Edom and Seir. As such, we should not be surprised that Redford also places the Shasu in both Edom and Moab. Redford notes, Lists from Soleb and Amarah, ultimately of fifteenth century origin, suggest that an original concentration of Shasu settlements lay in southern Transjordan in the plains of Moab and northern Edom.55 Kenneth A. Kitchen, in a discussion of the stele of Ramesses II at Luxor, notes that an inscription in the Lower register contains a scene explicitly located in the land of Moab and supports the contention that Ramesses campaigned in eastern Palestine at the Moabite location of Dibon.56 Furthermore, George Landes notes that Biblical tradition indicates that another group originated in the area of Transjordan. Although there is little evidence to demonstrate it historically, Landes claims the Ammonites originated in the area east of the Jordan. He does note, however, in all probability [the Ammonites] began as nomadic clans who would leave behind no evidence of their existence.57 While this also proves little about the early identity of the Ammonites, it does suggest that they, too, could be among the Shasu identified in the Egyptian texts. Moreover, Randall Younker notes that during this time period, the population of the area of Ammon was a virtual reversion to non-sedentary occupation end of the settlement continuum not seen since EB IV. In addition, Younker notes, While there does not seem to be indications of any settlements in Ammon during the LB IB-IIA, there is evidence that people
51

J. R. Bartlett, The Moabites and Edomites, Peoples of Old Testament Times, edited by D. J. Wiseman. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973): 232. 52 Dalman, 35. 53 Hoglund, 335. 54 Gerald L. Mattingly, Moabites, in Hoerth, et al, Peoples of the Old Testament World, 323. Mattingly, of course, refers to the part of Transjordan later known as Moab after the Moabites dwelling there. 55 Redford, Egypt, Canaan, 272. 56 Kenneth A. Kitchen, Two Notes on Ramesside History, Oriens Antiquus 15 (1976): 313-314. Henceforth, Two notes. 57 George M. Landes, The Material Civilization of the Ammonites,Biblical Archaeologist 24 (September 1961): 67.

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were living in the area.58 Younker notes further that a group of six names listed in a toponym as located in the Land of the Shasu are names actually located in Edom and Moab and sometimes located within Ammon. Younker concludes, If the inhabitants of LB IIA Ammon were not Shasu, they must have strongly resembled them.59 The steles of Ramesses at Tanis and Luxor, taken with the claim of Ahmose-Pen Nekhbet mentioned earlier, tend to reinforce the idea that the Shasu lived in Moab as well as Edom, and perhaps even had some settlements there. This also supports the idea that the Shasu were at least a semi-nomadic and possibly even somewhat semi-sedentary group of peoples, associated with settlements that they ranged near, wandered from and returned to the vicinity of or at least were associated with in some tangible way. Ahituv tends to support this idea of semi-nomadism. Ahituv notes that Ramesses II plundered towns in Moab called bwtrt and tbn (this latter town Ahituv notes was identified as Dibon by Kenneth A. Kitchens-see Notes 56 and 61).60 Kitchen notes that Ramesses account of this plundering of Dibon occurs in a stele at Luxor depicting Syrian battle scenes of Ramesses II and specifically identifying the town of Dibon, which is north of the River Arnon and East of the Dead Sea.61 Furthermore, Kitchen cites an inscription of Ramesses that indicates that this area east of the Jordan River was called by Ramesses Shasuland. So, while some Shasu were definitely located in Edom and Seir, pharaohs may also have encountered them further north in the land of Moab. In addition, Redford locates some Shasu north and west of the Transjordan in the area of Dothan and Beth-Shan, where the Shasu posed a major threat to principle trade routes.62 Albright, in his study of the smaller stele of Sethos I at Beth-Shan, places Shasu in this location. In his analysis of the smaller stele of Sethos I at Beth-Shan, Albright identifies two tribes of Asiatic nomads called Tayaru and Ruhma respectively, whom he locates in the general vicinity of later Issachar and the Egyptian fortress at Beth-Shan. Albright distinguishes these two tribes from the Apiru. Then he notes, We may safely assumethat the Tayaru and Ruhma would have been called sut in cuneiform texts and either by the archaic designation 3mw or by the contemporary term Shsu in the Egyptian inscriptions.63 It seems fairly clear, then, that the Shasu concentrated their activities mainly in the territories of Edom and Moab, at least for a time. The associations of the Shasu, however, did reach beyond these territories. Some scholars identify the Shasu at least by implication with the Midianites who harassed Israel during the period of the judges. For instance, Dalman notes, At harvest time, these Bedouin from the desert fringe passed through Israels territory as far as Gaza. They came through the land with many livestock and camels.64 According to Dalman, as they traveled through Israel, these Bedouin devastated the land like locusts, perhaps justifying the Semitic explanation of marauder
58

Randall W. Younker, The Emergence of the Ammonites, Ancient Ammon, edited by Burton MacDonald and Randall W. Younker. (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1999): 194. 59 Younker, 199. 60 S. Ahituv, Did Ramesses II Conquer Dibon? Israel Exploration Journal 22 (1972): 141-142. 61 Kenneth A. Kitchens, Some New Light on the Asiatic Wars of Ramesses II, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 50 (December 1964): 53. Kitchen notes the town as Tbnw (= Dibon). 62 Redford, Egypt, Canaan, 274f. 63 Albright, 30. 64 Dalman, 34.

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for Shasu. Dalman notes, however, that in the famous Merenptah Stele, containing the first clear reference to Israel in the Egyptian texts, there is no mention of a seven-year-long Midianite invasion of Palestine as recorded in Judges 6.1-7. Dalman, therefore, places the Midianite oppression immediately before the reign of Seti I. During the first year of his reign, Seti sent his army north into Palestine. Dalman notes, This campaign may provide a historical context for Gideons battle [against Midian] because of a people described in the Egyptian texts as the Shasu.65 This clearly implies that the Shasu and the Midianites were possibly the same people at this time. Giveon had already hinted as much in his study of the Shasu. 66 Both were Bedouin. Both roamed Palestine with livestock. And both formed a menace to any they met along the way. Concerning the Midianites, William J. Dumbrell notes, they are also related or associated with the Edomites, Kenites, Ishmaelites, Hagarites and Kennizites while there are at least connections with Amalekites and Moabites, and perhaps with Ammonites. All in all, they are an amorphous and complex grouping.67 Dumbrell argues that the Midianites covered a wide geographical range, that they ranged freely through the Transjordan area, and that the Scripture in particular the Joseph narratives in Genesis places them astride the main trade routes to and from Egypt.68 Since Dumbrells list includes Amalekites and Ammonites, among others, as associated with Midianites, the territory covered by this amorphous and complex grouping ranges from the northwest side of the Levant to a territory east of the Dead Sea, and from the southernmost point east of the Gulf of Aqaba to as far north as the Sea of Chinnereth. Levy and Holl note, the term Shasu refers to different groups occupying widespread locations in Moab and Edom in southern Transjordanian land and in northern and southern Palestine as well as Syria.69 As we have seen from the texts, when the Egyptians encountered nomads or seminomads in these territories, they identified them all as Shasu. SOME CONCLUSIONS Who then are the Shasu? Apparently, we cannot limit them to any precise geographical boundaries at this time. However, from the documents we have, it is fair to conclude that the Shasu were a people who were most frequently found within the area of Moab and Seir/Edom in central and southern Transjordan along with the northern Sinai, so far as we can tell. Their wanderings, however, definitely took them to other locations all over Palestine. References to the nature of their culture and lifestyle are rather scanty compared to geographical notations. However, although only a brief single notation, the Papyrus Harris of Ramesses III provides at least a clue as to the sociopolitical structure of the Shasu society, as well as its indication of the focus of Egypts military activities. This included, says Hasel, the pillaging of their sources of shelter (tents), their economic base (property), and their subsistence system (livestock/animal husbandry).70 These elements provided the core elements of their
65 66

Ibid. See note 15 above. 67 William J. Dumbrell, Midian a Land or a League? Vetus Testamentum 25 (May 1975): 323, italics here are mine. 68 Dumbrell, 327-331, the quotation is from 331. 69 Levy and Holl, 98. 70 Hasel, 238.

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subsistence and their economy. Life in the wilderness regions would have been impossible without these elements. The fact that the Shasu are depicted fighting outside of walled fortresses out in the open supports this interpretation. Were the Shasu Edomites? Were they Midianites, or Moabites? Or were they Ammonites or Amalekites? There is no way to know for certain. As several scholars have noted, they were likely not an ethnic group as such, but rather a social class in the ancient Near East. They were certainly a pastoral people living in tents with their livestock. They were a Bedouin-type people nomads, sometimes semi-sedentary -- who wandered all over the area wherein they were encountered foraging for pasture for their livestock. They were a loosely structured tribal people. They were a fierce people. They were a fighting people, defending their territory and flocks from perceived intruders. They were at times a marauding people. And to the Egyptians, they were frequently a major thorn in the flesh requiring swift extraction. It is clear, nonetheless, that Egyptians encountered Shasu over a wide geographic range during the years of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties. Dumbrells observations concerning the Midianites and their associations with so many of the various peoples of the territory of Palestine, suggests that they, too, ranged over a wide geographic territory. Therefore, while we cannot be absolutely sure, it is reasonable to conclude that this amorphous and complex grouping Dumbrell identifies as Midianites were the same amorphous and complex grouping the Egyptians called Shasu, who may have perhaps incorporated other peoples (Moabites, Ammonites and others) into their tribes as they wandered into and all through the territories of Palestine searching for pasture.

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