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{{Short description|Poorly understood ancient Mediterranean group}}
{{disputed|date=February 2009}}
[[File:Pulasti (Philistine) and Tsakkaras (painting).png|thumb|right|300px|The Tjeker and [[Peleset]] battling the troops of [[Ramesses III]] during the [[Battle of Djahy]]]]
{{original research|date=February 2009}}
The '''Tjeker''' or '''Tjekker''' ([[Egyptian language|Egyptian]]: ''ṯꜣkꜣr'' or ''ṯꜣkkꜣr'') were one of the [[Sea Peoples]].
[[Image:Seapeople.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ramses III]] defeating the Sea Peoples, sunken [[relief]] at [[Medinet Habu (temple)|Medinet Habu]].]]


The '''Tjekker''' or '''Tjeker''' were one of the [[Sea Peoples]] and are known mainly from the ''[[Story of Wenamun]].'' The name tkr/skl has been transliterated variously as Tjekru, Tjekker, skl, Sikil, Djekker, etc.<ref>Grabbe, Lester L. ''Israel in Transition'' T.& T.Clark Ltd (1 Aug 2008) ISBN 978-0-567-02726-9 p97 [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tR0Qpz2zRogC&pg=PA97&dq=She+opposes+a+%22Sea+People%22+ethnic+component+at+Dor+and+defines+the+archaeological&num=100&ei=dMeZSdyrEorONa3X8aQJ&client=firefox-a]</ref> and they are thought to be the people who developed the port of [[Tel Dor|Dor]] during the 12th century BCE from a small Bronze Age town to a large city. They are also documented at [[Medinet Habu (temple)|Medinet Habu]] as raiders defeated by [[Pharaoh]] [[Ramesses III]] of [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] in years 5, 8 and 12 of his reign.<ref>The campaigns are covered under [[Sea Peoples]] and are not repeated here.</ref>
Known mainly from the "[[Story of Wenamun]]", the Tjeker are also documented earlier, at [[Medinet Habu (temple)|Medinet Habu]], as raiders defeated by [[Pharaoh]] [[Ramesses III]] of [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] in years 5, 8, and 12 of his reign.<ref>The campaigns are covered under [[Sea Peoples]] and are not repeated here.</ref> They are thought to be the people who developed the port of [[Tel Dor|Dor]] in [[Canaan]] during the 12th century BCE from a small [[Bronze Age]] town to a large city.


==Origin==
==Origin==
The origins of the Tjeker are uncertain. A possible identity has been suggested with the ''[[Teucri]]'', a tribe described by ancient sources as inhabiting northwest Anatolia to the south of [[Troy]].<ref>The identification of Tjeker and Greek Teukroi, Latinized to Teucri, was first made by Lauth in 1867, and was repeated by François Chabas in his ''Études sur l’Antiquité Historique d’après les sources égyptiennes et les monuments réputés préhistoriques'' of 1872, according to the Woudhuizen dissertation.</ref><ref>Sandars Page 170, "The Tjeker."</ref> However, this has been dismissed as "pure speculation" by [[Trevor R. Bryce|Trevor Bryce]].<ref>[[Trevor R. Bryce|Bryce, Trevor R.]]''The Kingdom of the Hittites.'' Oxford University Press, 1998 & 2005. ISBN 978-0-19-924010-4 p.339 [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ySQz9MW1Q0AC&pg=PA338&dq=Tjekker+Teucri&num=100#PPA339,M1]</ref>
As with other Sea Peoples, the origins of the Tjeker are uncertain. Their name is an Egyptian [[exonym]], usually romanized as ''tkr'', and expanded as ''Tjekru'' or ''Djekker''. As such there is no consensus on the original form or etymology of the name, or the origin of the people. They have sometimes been identified with the [[Sicels]] of Sicily, who are also linked to ''[[Shekelesh]]'': another exonym attributed to a different group amongst the Sea Peoples. Another theory, put forward by [[Flinders Petrie]], links the ethnonym to [[Zakros]], in eastern Crete.<ref>James Baikie mentioned it on pp. 166, 187 of his book ''[https://archive.org/details/theseakingsofcre19328gut The Sea-Kings of Crete]'', 2nd edition (Adam and Charles Black, London, 1913).</ref> Some other scholars have accepted the association.<ref>Redford, p. 252.</ref> A possible identity has been suggested with the [[Teucri]], a tribe described by ancient sources as inhabiting northwest Anatolia to the south of [[Troy]].<ref>The identification of Tjeker and Greek Teukroi, Latinized to ''Teucri'', was first made by Lauth in 1867, and was repeated by François Chabas in his ''Études sur l’Antiquité Historique d’après les sources égyptiennes et les monuments réputés préhistoriques'' of 1872, according to the Woudhuizen dissertation.</ref><ref>Sandars Page 170, "The Tjeker."</ref> However, this has been dismissed as "pure speculation" by [[Trevor R. Bryce|Trevor Bryce]].<ref>[[Trevor R. Bryce|Bryce, Trevor R.]]''The Kingdom of the Hittites.'' Oxford University Press, 1998 & 2005. {{ISBN|978-0-19-924010-4}} p.339 [https://books.google.com/books?id=ySQz9MW1Q0AC&dq=Tjekker+Teucri&pg=PA338]</ref>

As a last resort the early scholars in the field turned to modern names; specifically, [[Flinders Petrie]] proposed a linguistic relation to ''[[Zakros|Zakro]]'', the name of a place in eastern Crete.<ref>James Baikie mentioned it on pp. 166, 187 of his book ''[http://ia600309.us.archive.org/35/items/theseakingsofcre19328gut/19328-h/19328-h.htm The Sea-Kings of Crete]'', 2nd edition (Adam and Charles Black, London, 1913).</ref> Some modern scholars do accept the association.<ref>Redford, p. 252.</ref>


==Settlement at Dor==
==Settlement at Dor==
[[Image:Syro-Ephraimite War.jpg|thumb|right|Israelite Dor (yellow), 8th century BCE.]]


The Tjeker conquered the city-state of [[Tel Dor|Dor]], on the coast of [[Canaan]] near modern [[Haifa]], and turned it into a large, well-fortified city,<ref>Dor XII, c. 1150-1050)</ref> the center of a Tjeker kingdom that is confirmed archaeologically in the northern [[Sharon plain]]; it was violently destroyed in the mid-11th century BCE, firing the mud bricks red and depositing a huge layer of ash and debris. Ephraim Stern<ref>Page 31.</ref> connects the destruction with the contemporary expansion of the [[Phoenicia]]ns, which was checked by the [[Philistines]] further south and the [[United Monarchy|Israelites]]. No mention of the Tjeker is made after that time, the period of archaeological and literary silence. The Tjeker are one of the few of the Sea Peoples for whom a ruler's name is recorded — in the 11th-century papyrus account of [[Wenamun]], an Egyptian priest, the ruler of Dor is given as "[[Beder (ancient ruler)|Beder]]".
The Tjeker may have conquered the city [[Tel Dor|Dor]], on the coast of [[Canaan]] near modern [[Haifa]], and turned it into a large, well-fortified city (classified as "Dor XII", fl. c. 1150–1050), the center of a Tjeker kingdom that is confirmed archaeologically in the northern [[Sharon plain]]. The city was violently destroyed in the mid-11th century BCE, with the conflagration turning the mud bricks red and depositing a huge layer of ash and debris. [[Ephraim Stern]]<ref>Page 31</ref> connects the destruction with the contemporary expansion of the [[Phoenicia]]ns, which was checked by the [[Philistines]] further south and the [[United Monarchy|Israelites]].
The Tjeker are perhaps one of the few Sea Peoples for whom a ruler's name is recorded — in the 11th-century papyrus account of [[Wenamun]], an Egyptian priest, the ruler of Dor is given as "[[Beder (ancient ruler)|Beder]]".

According to [[Edward Lipinski (orientalist)|Edward Lipinski]],<ref>Page 96</ref> the Sicals (Tjekker) of Dor were seamen or mercenaries, and ''b3-dỉ-r'' (Beder) was the title of the local governor, a deputy of the king of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]].


No mention of the Tjeker is made after the story of Wenamun.
There were two more occupations, the earlier of which has yielded imported [[Cyprus|Cypriote]] ceramics as well as Phoenician wares<ref>Dor XI-X</ref> and is followed by a well-stratified and important Phoenician presence<ref>Dor IX</ref> in the early 10th century. Biblical chronology touches on the city's history at this point, as it states that Dor fell to the [[Israelites]] under [[David]].


==Notes==
==Notes==
Line 22: Line 23:


==References==
==References==
*{{cite book | author= Redford, Donald B. | authorlink=Donald B. Redford |year=1992 | title=Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times | publisher= Princeton University Press | location=Princeton, New Jersey | isbn=0-691-03606-3}}
*{{cite book | author= Lipiński, Edward | authorlink= Edward Lipinski (orientalist) | year=2006 | title=On the Skirts of Canaan in the Iron Age: Historical and Topographical Researches | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=837DDbYsxAoC&pg=PA96 | accessdate=1 May 2013 | publisher=Peeters Publishers | isbn=978-90-429-1798-9 | pages=96–}}
*{{cite book | author= Sandars, N.K. | year= 1987 | title= The Sea Peoples: Warriors of the ancient Mediterranean, Revised Edition | publisher= Thames and Hudson | location= London | isbn= 0-500-27387-1}}
*{{cite book | author=Redford, Donald B. | authorlink=Donald B. Redford | year=1992 | title=Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times | publisher=Princeton University Press | location=Princeton, New Jersey | isbn=0-691-03606-3 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/egyptcanaanisrae00redf }}
*{{cite book | author= Sandars, N.K. | authorlink1= Nancy Sandars | year= 1987 | title= The Sea Peoples: Warriors of the ancient Mediterranean, Revised Edition | publisher= Thames and Hudson | location= London | isbn= 0-500-27387-1 | url-access= registration | url= https://archive.org/details/seapeopleswarrio00sand }}
* [[Ephraim Stern]] "New Evidence from Dor for the First Appearance of the Phoenicians along the Northern Coast of Israel" ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'' No. 279 (August 1990), pp.&nbsp;27–34.
* [[Ephraim Stern|Stern, Ephraim]] (August 1990). "New Evidence from Dor for the First Appearance of the Phoenicians along the Northern Coast of Israel" ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'' No. 279, pp.&nbsp;27–34.
*{{cite book | author=Woudhuizen, Frederik Christiaan | year=1992 | title=The Language of the Sea Peoples | location=Amsterdam | publisher=Najade Press | isbn=90-73835-02-X}}
*{{cite book | author=Woudhuizen, Frederik Christiaan | year=1992 | title=The Language of the Sea Peoples | location=Amsterdam | publisher=Najade Press | isbn=90-73835-02-X}}
* Woudhuizen, Frederik Christian. April 2006. ''[http://hdl.handle.net/1765/7686 The Ethnicity of the Sea Peoples]''. Doctoral dissertation; Rotterdam: [[Erasmus Universiteit]] Rotterdam, Faculteit der Wijsbegeerte.
* Woudhuizen, Frederik Christiaan (April 2006). ''[http://hdl.handle.net/1765/7686 The Ethnicity of the Sea Peoples]''. Doctoral dissertation; Rotterdam: [[Erasmus Universiteit]] Rotterdam, Faculteit der Wijsbegeerte.


[[Category:Sea Peoples]]
[[Category:Sea Peoples]]

Revision as of 00:38, 28 October 2023

The Tjeker and Peleset battling the troops of Ramesses III during the Battle of Djahy

The Tjeker or Tjekker (Egyptian: ṯꜣkꜣr or ṯꜣkkꜣr) were one of the Sea Peoples.

Known mainly from the "Story of Wenamun", the Tjeker are also documented earlier, at Medinet Habu, as raiders defeated by Pharaoh Ramesses III of Egypt in years 5, 8, and 12 of his reign.[1] They are thought to be the people who developed the port of Dor in Canaan during the 12th century BCE from a small Bronze Age town to a large city.

Origin

As with other Sea Peoples, the origins of the Tjeker are uncertain. Their name is an Egyptian exonym, usually romanized as tkr, and expanded as Tjekru or Djekker. As such there is no consensus on the original form or etymology of the name, or the origin of the people. They have sometimes been identified with the Sicels of Sicily, who are also linked to Shekelesh: another exonym attributed to a different group amongst the Sea Peoples. Another theory, put forward by Flinders Petrie, links the ethnonym to Zakros, in eastern Crete.[2] Some other scholars have accepted the association.[3] A possible identity has been suggested with the Teucri, a tribe described by ancient sources as inhabiting northwest Anatolia to the south of Troy.[4][5] However, this has been dismissed as "pure speculation" by Trevor Bryce.[6]

Settlement at Dor

The Tjeker may have conquered the city Dor, on the coast of Canaan near modern Haifa, and turned it into a large, well-fortified city (classified as "Dor XII", fl. c. 1150–1050), the center of a Tjeker kingdom that is confirmed archaeologically in the northern Sharon plain. The city was violently destroyed in the mid-11th century BCE, with the conflagration turning the mud bricks red and depositing a huge layer of ash and debris. Ephraim Stern[7] connects the destruction with the contemporary expansion of the Phoenicians, which was checked by the Philistines further south and the Israelites.

The Tjeker are perhaps one of the few Sea Peoples for whom a ruler's name is recorded — in the 11th-century papyrus account of Wenamun, an Egyptian priest, the ruler of Dor is given as "Beder".

According to Edward Lipinski,[8] the Sicals (Tjekker) of Dor were seamen or mercenaries, and b3-dỉ-r (Beder) was the title of the local governor, a deputy of the king of Tyre.

No mention of the Tjeker is made after the story of Wenamun.

Notes

  1. ^ The campaigns are covered under Sea Peoples and are not repeated here.
  2. ^ James Baikie mentioned it on pp. 166, 187 of his book The Sea-Kings of Crete, 2nd edition (Adam and Charles Black, London, 1913).
  3. ^ Redford, p. 252.
  4. ^ The identification of Tjeker and Greek Teukroi, Latinized to Teucri, was first made by Lauth in 1867, and was repeated by François Chabas in his Études sur l’Antiquité Historique d’après les sources égyptiennes et les monuments réputés préhistoriques of 1872, according to the Woudhuizen dissertation.
  5. ^ Sandars Page 170, "The Tjeker."
  6. ^ Bryce, Trevor R.The Kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford University Press, 1998 & 2005. ISBN 978-0-19-924010-4 p.339 [1]
  7. ^ Page 31
  8. ^ Page 96

References

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