page_title: Sherden
hierarchical_section_title: Sherden
caption_attribution_description: The battle between the Sea Peoples and the Egyptians (Medinet Habu)
context_page_description: The Sherden are one of the several ethnic groups the Sea Peoples were said to be composed of, appearing in fragmentary historical and iconographic records from the eastern Mediterranean in the late 2nd millennium BC.
  On reliefs, they are shown carrying round shields and spears, dirks or swords, perhaps of Naue II type. In some cases, they are shown wearing corselets and kilts, but their key distinguishing feature is a horned helmet, which, in all cases but three, features a circular accouterment at the crest. At Medinet Habu the corselet appears similar to that worn by the Philistines. The Sherden sword, it has been suggested by archaeologists since James Henry Breasted, may have developed from an enlargement of European daggers and been associated with the exploitation of Bohemian tin. Robert Drews suggested that use of this weapon by groups of Sherden and Philistine mercenaries made them capable of withstanding attacks by chariotry and so made them valuable allies in warfare, but Drews's theory has been widely criticised by contemporary scholars.
context_section_description: The Sherden (Egyptian: šrdn, šꜣrdꜣnꜣ or šꜣrdynꜣ, Ugaritic: šrdnn(m) and trtn(m), possibly Akkadian: še–er–ta–an–nu; also glossed “Shardana” or “Sherdanu”) are one of the several ethnic groups the Sea Peoples were said to be composed of, appearing in fragmentary historical and iconographic records (ancient Egyptian and Ugaritic) from the eastern Mediterranean in the late 2nd millennium BC.
  On reliefs, they are shown carrying round shields and spears, dirks or swords, perhaps of Naue II type.  In some cases, they are shown wearing corselets and kilts, but their key distinguishing feature is a horned helmet, which, in all cases but three, features a circular accouterment at the crest. At Medinet Habu the corselet appears similar to that worn by the Philistines. The Sherden sword, it has been suggested by archaeologists since James Henry Breasted, may have developed from an enlargement of European daggers and been associated with the exploitation of Bohemian tin. Robert Drews suggested that use of this weapon by groups of Sherden and Philistine mercenaries made them capable of withstanding attacks by chariotry and so made them valuable allies in warfare, but Drews's theory has been widely criticised by contemporary scholars.
caption: The Sherden in battle as depicted at Medinet Habu
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