Editing Shasu

{{Short description|Bronze–Iron Age nomads in the Southern Levant}}
[[File:Ramesses III captive tile from Medinet Habu.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Shasu prisoner as depicted in [[Ramesses III]]'s [[reliefs]] at [[Medinet Habu]].]]
The '''Shasu''' ({{langx|egy|[[:wikt:šꜣsw|šꜣsw]]}}, possibly pronounced ''šaswə''{{sfn|Redford|1992|p=271}}) were [[Semitic languages|Semitic]]-speaking [[nomadic pastoralism|pastoral nomads]] in the [[Southern Levant]] from the late [[Bronze Age]] to the Early [[Iron Age]] or the [[Third Intermediate Period of Egypt]]. They were tent dwellers, organized in clans ruled by a tribal chieftain and were described as [[brigands]] active from the [[Jezreel Valley]] to [[Ashkelon]], in the [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]] and in the [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]].{{sfn|Miller|2005|p=95}} Some of them also worked as mercenaries for [[Aamu|Asiatic]] and [[Egypt|Egyptian]] armies.{{sfn|Younker|1999|p=203}}

==Etymology==
The name's [[Root (linguistics)|etymon]] may be [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] ''šꜣsw'', which originally meant "those who move on foot". Levy, Adams, and Muniz report similar possibilities: the Egyptian word [[:wikt:šꜣs|šꜣs]] that means "to wander", and an alternative [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] [[triliteral root]], {{langx|he|שָׁסַס‎|šāsas}}, with the meaning "to plunder".{{sfn|Levy|Adams|Muniz|2004|p=66}}

==Land==
Though their homeland seems to be in the [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]], the Shasu also appear in [[Canaan]], [[Syria]] and [[Egypt]].{{sfn|Younker|1999|p=198}}

==History==
===Late Bronze===
The earliest known reference to the Shasu occurs in a 16th-century BCE list of peoples in the [[Trans-Jordan (region)|Transjordan region]]. The first occurrence of Shasu is in the biographical inscription of Admiral Ahmose found in [[Elkab]],<ref>R. Givéon, Les bédouins Shosou des documents égyptiens, Leyde, 1971.</ref> who claims to have taken Shasu prisoners while serving Pharaoh Aakheperenre [[Thutmose II]]. The Shasu were on his way as he led a punitive expedition north. Giveon (1971) argued that the only event that could account for the Shasu's appearance at that date was the expulsion of the [[Hyksos]] (around 1550 BC).<ref>R. Givéon, Les bédouins Shosou des documents égyptiens, Leyde, 1971.</ref>

In the year 39 of [[Thutmose III]], during his 14th campaign, the pharaoh fought the Shasu before reaching the [[Retjenu]]. Shasu are therefore found in southern Canaan. According to the Pharaoh's list, they are more specifically located in the [[Negev]] (No. 14 of the list).

The name appears in a list of Egypt's enemies inscribed on column bases at the temple of [[Soleb]] built by [[Amenhotep III]]. Among the details uncovered at the temple was a reference to a place called "[[Mount Seir|{{sc2|sʿrr}}]], in the land of Shasu" ({{sc2|tꜣ-shꜣsw sʿr}}), a name thought to be related to or near to [[Petra]], [[Jordan]].{{sfn|Grosby|2007|page= [https://books.google.com/books?id=aNuqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA109 109]}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nabataea.net/media/Names%20for%20the%20city%20of%20Petra.pdf |title=Names for the city of Petra |first1=Daniel |last1=Gibson |first2=Peter |last2=Harremoës}}</ref>

In the [[13th century BCE]], copies of the column inscriptions ordered by [[Seti I]] or by [[Ramesses II]] at [[Amara, Nubia]], six groups of Shasu are mentioned: those of {{sc2|sʿrr}}, of {{sc2|rbn}}, of {{sc2|smʾt}}, of {{sc2|wrbr}}, of {{sc2|yhw}}, and of {{sc2|pysps}}.{{sfn|Sivertsen|2009|p=118}}{{sfn|Hasel|1998|p=219}} The Shasu continued to dominate the hill country of Canaan (Cis-Jordan) and Trans-Jordan regions. The Shasu had become so powerful during this period that they could temporarily cut off Egypt's northern routes. This, in turn, prompted vigorous punitive campaigns by [[Ramesses II]] and his son [[Merneptah]]. After Egyptian abandonment, Canaanite city-states came under the mercy of the Shasu and the [[ʿApiru]], who were seen as 'mighty enemies'.{{sfn|Younker|1999|p=203}}

The other documents of the 18th dynasty attest to the increasing importance of the Shasu in Canaan, by the large number of prisoners (at [[Amenhotep II]], a list of prisoners gives about half of those of [[Khor|Khor/Kharu]]), and then by their appointment to Egypt's greatest enemies, like [[Babylonia|Babylon]] or [[Ancient Libya|Tehenou]] (Libya).

During the reign of [[Amenhotep III]], the origin of the Shasu ("En-Shasus") is given as near the biblical city of [[Tel Dothan|Dothan]], a place where [[bedouin]]s brought their flocks. The story of [[Joseph (Genesis)|Joseph]] in the [[Hebrew Bible]] also mentions nomads who come to water their animals at a source near Dothan.

During the pharaoh [[Seti I]]'s campaign, primarily attested as a historic event by the presence of victory [[stele]]s found at [[Tel Megiddo]] and [[Beth Shean]], the Shasu live in a fertile, mountainous area between [[Tjaru|Sileh]] and Pa-Canaan (perhaps the [[Gaza City|city of Gaza]]).<ref>R. Givéon, Les bédouins Shosou des documents égyptiens, Leyde, 1971.</ref> The introductory text of the relief showing the Shasu under notes: "The Shasu enemies plot a rebellion, their tribal leaders are gathered, standing on the hills of [[Khor|Khor (Kharu)]], and they are engaged in turmoil and tumult. They don't respect their neighbours, they don't consider the laws of the Palace!" In this campaign, the pharaoh confronts the [[ʿApiru]] around [[Tel Megiddo|Megiddo]]. 

The Shasu would eventually be eclipsed by the [[Sea Peoples]].{{sfn|Younker|1999|p=203}}

== Shasu of ''Yhw'' ==
[[File:Ancient carving - Shasu spies being beaten by Egyptians.png|thumb|250px| Egyptians beating Shasu spies (detail from the [[Battle of Kadesh]] wall-carving)]]

Two Egyptian texts, one dated to the period of [[Amenhotep III]] (14th century BCE), the other to the age of [[Ramesses II]] (13th century BCE), refer to {{transliteration|egy|[[wikt:tꜣ šꜣsw yhwꜣ|tꜣ šꜣśw yhwꜣ]]}}, i.e. "The Land of the Shasu ''[[wikt:yhwꜣ|yhwꜣ]]''", in which ''{{transliteration|egy|yhwꜣ}}'' (also rendered as ''{{transliteration|egy|yhw}}'') or ''Yahu'', is a [[toponym]].{{sfn|Hen|2022}}

<hiero>tA-M8-M23-w-i-i-h-V4-A</hiero>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Hieroglyph!! Name||Pronunciation
|-
|<hiero>tA</hiero> ||[[List of Egyptian hieroglyphs#N|N16]] ||tꜣ
|-
|<hiero>M8</hiero> ||[[List of Egyptian hieroglyphs#M|M8]] ||šꜣ
|-
|<hiero>M23</hiero> ||[[List of Egyptian hieroglyphs#M|M23]] ||sw
|-
|<hiero>w</hiero> ||[[Egyptian uniliteral signs|w]] ||w
|-
|<hiero>i-i</hiero> ||[[Egyptian uniliteral signs|y]] ||y
|-
|<hiero>h</hiero> ||[[Egyptian uniliteral signs|h]] ||h
|-
|<hiero>V4</hiero> ||[[List of Egyptian hieroglyphs#V|V4]] ||wꜣ
|-
|<hiero>G1</hiero> ||[[Egyptian uniliteral signs|G1]] ||ꜣ
|}
Regarding the name {{transliteration|egy|yhwꜣ}}, Michael Astour observed that the "hieroglyphic rendering corresponds very precisely to the Hebrew [[Tetragrammaton]] YHWH, or [[Yahweh]], and antedates the hitherto oldest occurrence of that divine name – on the [[Mesha Stele]] – by over five hundred years."{{sfn|Astour|1979|p=18}} K. Van Der Toorn concludes: "By the 14th century BC, before the cult of Yahweh had reached Israel, groups of [[Edom]]ites and [[Midian]]ites worshipped Yahweh as their god."{{sfn|Van der Toorn|1996|p=282–283}}

[[Donald B. Redford]] has argued that the earliest Israelites, semi-nomadic highlanders in central [[Canaan]] mentioned on the [[Merneptah Stele]] at the end of the 13th century BCE, are to be identified as a Shasu enclave. Since later Biblical tradition portrays Yahweh "coming forth from Seʿir",<ref>[[Book of Judges]], 5:4 and [[Deuteronomy]], 33:2</ref> the Shasu, originally from [[Moab]] and northern Edom/Seʿir, went on to form one central element in the amalgam that would constitute the "Israel" which later established the [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|Kingdom of Israel]].{{sfn|Redford|1992|p=272–3,275}} Per his analysis of the [[Amarna letters]], [[Anson Rainey]] concluded that the description of the Shasu best fits that of the early Israelites.{{sfn|Rainey|2008}} If this identification is correct, these Israelites/Shasu would have settled in the uplands in small villages with buildings similar to contemporary [[Canaanites|Canaanite]] structures towards the end of the 13th century BCE.{{sfn|Shaw|Jameson|2008|p=313}}

Objections exist to this proposed link between the [[Israelites]] and the Shasu, given that a group of people in relief at [[Karnak]], which has been suggested as depicting the victory over the Israelites, are not described or depicted as Shasu.{{efn|However, Yurco's interpretation of these relief also has been contested. See [[Merneptah Stele#Karnak reliefs|Merneptah Stele §&nbsp;Karnak reliefs]] for further information.}} [[Frank J. Yurco]] and Michael G. Hasel would distinguish the Shasu in Merneptah's Karnak reliefs from the people of Israel since they wear different clothing and hairstyles and are determined differently by Egyptian scribes.{{sfn|Yurco|1986|p=195, 207}}{{sfn|Hasel|2003|p=27–36}} The Shasu are usually depicted hieroglyphically with a [[determinative]] indicating a land, not a people;{{sfn|Nestor|2010|p=185}} the most frequent designation for the "foes of Shasu" is the [[hill-country (hieroglyph)|hill-country determinative]].{{sfn|Hasel|2003|p=32–33}} Thus, they are differentiated from Israel, which is determined as a people, though not necessarily as a socio-ethnic group; and from (the other) Canaanites, who are defending the fortified cities of Ashkelon, [[Gezer]], and [[Yenoam]].{{sfn|Stager|2001|p=92}} [[Lawrence Stager]] also objected to identifying Merneptah's Shasu with Israelites, since the Shasu are shown dressed differently from the Israelites, who are dressed and hairstyled as Canaanites.{{sfn|Stager|2001|p=92}}{{sfn|Ahlström|1993|p=277–278}}{{efn|If the Egyptian scribe was not clear on the nature of the entity he called "Israel," knowing only that it was "different" from the surrounding modalities, then we can imagine something other than a sociocultural Israel. It is possible that Israel represented a confederation of united, but sociologically distinct, modalities that were joined either culturally or politically via treaties and the like. This interpretation of the evidence would allow for the unity implied by the endonymic evidence and also give our scribe some latitude in his use of the determinative.{{sfn|Sparks|1998|p=108}}}} Scholars point out that Egyptian scribes tended to bundle up "rather disparate groups of people within a single artificially unifying rubric."{{sfn|Nestor|2010|p=186}}{{sfn|Sparks|1998|p=105–106}}

The usefulness of the determinatives has been called into question, though, as in Egyptian writings, including the Merneptah Stele, determinatives are used arbitrarily.{{sfn|Miller|2005|p=94}} Gösta Werner Ahlström countered Stager's objection by arguing that the contrasting depictions are because the Shasu were the nomads, while the Israelites were sedentary, and added: "The Shasu that later settled in the hills became known as Israelites because they settled in the territory of Israel".{{sfn|Ahlström|1993|p=277–278}}
Moreover, the hill-country determinative is not always used for Shasu, with the [[Thomas Schneider (Egyptologist)|Egyptologist Thomas Schneider]] connecting references to "Yah", believed to be a short form of the Tetragrammaton, with the writings in the Shasu-sequence at [[Soleb]] and Amarah-West.{{sfn|Adrom|Müller|2017}} In an Egyptian ''[[Book of the Dead]]'' from the late [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|18th]] or [[Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt|19th]] dynasty, Schneider identifies a [[Northwest Semitic]] [[theophoric name]] ''ʾadōnī-rō‘ē-yāh'', meaning "My lord is the shepherd of Yah", which would be the first documented occurrence of the god Yahweh in a theophoric form.{{sfn|Schneider|2007}}

On the other hand, [[Lester L. Grabbe]] offers a synthesis of hypotheses, arguing that while the Israelites were a Canaanite people, Shasu contribution cannot be excluded. The highlands were largely uninhabited in the [[Late Bronze Age]], and the settlers would have included former [[Pastoralism|pastoralists]], farmers moving to less settled areas, migrants from outside [[Canaan]] and people in general seeking a new land and life. According to Grabbe, archaeology suggests that those who settled in the hill country had a pastoralist background, but one in which they lived near settled communities, perhaps forming a [[Symbiosis|symbiotic relationship]] with the agrarian communities whereby they traded their animals for grain.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grabbe |first1=Lester L. |title=The Dawn of Israel: A History of Canaan in the Second Millennium BCE |date=17 November 2022 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-567-66324-5 |pages=277–279 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MUGXEAAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Hyksos]]
* [[ʿApiru]]
* [[Shutu]]
* [[Irsu]]
* [[Iah]]
* [[Ea_(Babylonian_god)|Ea]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist|20em}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|2}}
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*{{cite journal |last=Schneider |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Schneider (Egyptologist) |title=The First Documented {{as written|Occu|rence [sic]}} of the God Yahweh? (Book of the Dead Princeton "Roll 5") |journal=Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions |volume=7 |issue=2 |date=2007 |pages=113–120 |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/156921207783876422 |doi=10.1163/156921207783876422|url-access=subscription }}
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*{{cite book |last1=Adrom |first1=Faried |last2=Müller |first2=Matthias|chapter=The Tetragrammaton in Egyptian Sources – Facts and Fiction |editor-first1=Jürgen |editor-first2=Markus |editor-last1=Van Oorschot |editor-last2=Witte |title=The Origins of Yahwism |publisher=De Gruyter |date=2017 |pages=93– |doi=10.1515/9783110448221 |url=https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110448221|isbn=9783110448221}}
* {{cite book |last1=Younker |first1=Randall W. |editor1-last=MacDonald |editor1-first=Burton |editor2-last=Younker |editor2-first=Randall W. |title=Ancient Ammon |year=1999 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-10762-5 |page=203 |chapter=The Emergence of the Ammonites |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Sm7BOubDYcC}}
* {{cite journal |last=Yurco |first=Frank J. |author-link=Frank J. Yurco |date=1986 |title=Merenptah's Canaanite Campaign |journal=Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt |volume=23 |pages=189–215 |doi=10.2307/40001099 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40001099 |jstor=40001099|url-access=subscription }}
{{Refend}}

[[Category:Foreign contacts of ancient Egypt]]
[[Category:Semitic-speaking peoples]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples of the Near East]]
[[Category:Ancient Levant]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]
[[Category:Third Intermediate Period of Egypt]]
[[Category:Jezreel Valley]]