3 – Battle of Djahy – 1178 BC?
This battle took place in the eighth year of the reign of Rameses III and occurred at Djahy which is in modern day Lebanon. While the battle is said to have taken place in 1178 BC; this date is in dispute which some historians claiming it happened in 1175 BC. A seafaring confederation of groups known as the Sea Peoples was making incursions into Egyptian territory by the beginning of the 12th century BC.
It was an extremely difficult time for the Pharaoh who also had to contend with crop failures, drought, and a reduction in population among other things. Three years before Djahy, Rameses had defeated Libyan enemies on Egypt’s border but the Sea Peoples were a much more dangerous threat. It was a dark period as several Mediterranean civilizations such as the kingdoms of Ugarit and Cyprus and the Hittites and Mycenaeans were destroyed by the Sea Peoples and other invaders.
The Egyptians were helped by the fact that the Sea Peoples had already sacked the Hittite territory of Amurru which was on the Egyptian border. This gave Rameses time to prepare for the inevitable attack. Details of the battle are sketchy and we are relying on the account of the Pharaoh which would obviously be biased. Rameses spoke of how his fearless troops stood ready to crush the invaders.
While the details of the battle aren’t clear (Rameses suggests his chariots saved the day), we do know that the Egyptians managed to defeat the Sea Peoples at Djahy. Yet this was far from being the end of the war. The Sea Peoples continued to attack with their naval fleet and Rameses had to defeat them at sea in order to end their threat.