Black Ships and Sea Raiders: The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Context of Odysseus Second Cretan Lie

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The end of the Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean was a time of social, political, and economic upheaval conditions reflected, in many ways, in the world of Homers Odyssey. Jeffrey P. Emanuel examines the Odysseys Second Cretan Lie (xiv 191 359) in the context of this watershed transition, with particular emphasis on raiding, warfare, maritime technology and tactics, and the evidence for the so-called Sea Peoples who have been connected to the events of this period. He focuses in particular on the heros description of his frequent raiding activities and on his subsequent sojourn in the land of the pharaohs, and connections between Odysseus false narrative and the historical experiences of one particular Sea Peoples group: the Sherden of the Sea.

Reviews

Black Ships and Sea Raiders is tour de force that picks up the story of the Trojan heroes where 1177, Homer's Odyssey, and Old Testament tales of the Philistines leave off, giving us new answers by redirecting emphasis to maritime technology and culture along with an astounding collection of Bronze Age textual sources. In doing so, it redirects us from the lopsided attention on the Philistines to the Sherden and other 'Sea Peoples.' While many questions continue to make the Bronze Age collapse a topic of intense fascination, Jeffrey Emanuel has written a page turner from start to finish. -- Louise A. Hitchcock, University of Melbourne
In this broad ranging and well-researched monograph, Jeff Emanuel illuminates the archaeological and historical realities of the 'Sherden,' one of the main groups of the so-called 'Sea Peoples' of the Late Bronze and early Iron Ages of the central and eastern Mediterranean. In doing so, he masterfully interweaves the Homeric epic, the ancient near eastern (and in particular Egyptian) written sources, and the archaeological evidence from various regions of the eastern Mediterranean. The result is commendable indeed, and is recommended for all those interested in the history and culture of the Bronze and Iron Age Mediterranean. -- Aren Maeir, Bar-Ilan University

Author Bio

Jeffrey P. Emanuel is associate director of academic technology and CHS fellow in Aegean archaeology and prehistory at Harvard University.