Sea Peoples - Sherden

More 28mm Sea Peoples, this time miniatures representing the Sherden contingent from Wargames Foundry, and instantly recognisable by their horned helmets. The Sherden attacked Egypt during the reign of Rameses II around 1175 BC, and these ferocious people were later present in the forces of the Egyptian New Kingdom being used as bodyguards by the Pharaohs. 

 

The Sherden have historically been seen as one of the nine groups that form part of the confederacy of Sea Peoples, with their origins traditionally being identified as Sardinia. There are numerous alternative theories about the origins of the Sherden. A theory put forward by the historian Michael Wood is that they are in fact Mycenaeans left free to raid with impunity after the collapse of Minoan stability. Other theories are that the Sherden originated from the Levantine coast, or in Asia Minor where associations with the Sardinian plain and the city of Sardis have been drawn. A recent theory by Dimitri Antonio Vallejo has proposed that the Sherden are in fact native inhabitants of the Nile Delta, and as such are not culturally linked to the Sea Peoples at all, this theory sees them taking advantage of the general disruption caused by the Sea Peoples to raid and attack Egypt. What we do know is that the Sherden eventually became assimilated into Egyptian society. For the sake of wargaming I'm still going to classify my Sherden as Sea Peoples, but it makes an interesting case for a Sherden army perhaps allied with Libyans. 

If anyone is interested in exploring the origins of the Sherden, I can thoroughly recommend reading Who are the Sherden reassessing the identity of the ancient Sherden ‘Sea Peoples’, 1300-900 BCE by Dimitri Antonio Vallejo, Columbia University please find the link below:

https://www.yalehistoricalreview.org/who-are-the-sherden-reassessing-the-identity-of-the-ancient-sherden-sea-peoples-1300-900-bce/