The Battle of Perire was fought in 1208 BCE between the

New Kingdom of Egypt The New Kingdom, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the sixteenth century BC and the eleventh century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasties of Egypt. Radioca ...

, led by the pharaoh

Merneptah Merneptah or Merenptah (reigned July or August 1213 BC – May 2, 1203 BC) was the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He ruled Egypt for almost ten years, from late July or early August 1213 BC until his death on May 2, 1 ...

, and a coalition of

Libyan Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

tribes, along with a large contingent of

Sea Peoples The Sea Peoples are a hypothesized seafaring confederation that attacked ancient Egypt and other regions in the East Mediterranean prior to and during the Late Bronze Age collapse (1200–900 BCE).. Quote: "First coined in 1881 by the Fren ...

. The

Egyptians Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...

gained a decisive victory. This was the first of many encounters between Egypt and the Sea Peoples. Our main source of information about this battle comes from the

Great Karnak Inscription The Great Karnak Inscription is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic inscription belonging to the 19th Dynasty Pharaoh Merneptah. A long epigraph, it was discovered at Karnak in 1828–1829. According to Wilhelm Max Müller, it is "one of the famous ...

Prelude

In the late 13th century BCE a famine in Libya compelled many of the tribes in the region to unite under the leadership of a chief known as

Meryey Meryey was a king of ancient Libya (or the ''Libu''), during the late 13th century BC. He was the son of Ded. His reign was contemporary with pharaoh Merneptah of Egypt (1213-1203 BC). He is mentioned as the architect of a major military allianc ...

. Together these tribes prepared to invade Egypt. Their exact intentions are unclear but they most likely wished to set up a new Libyan dynasty of Egypt, or else set up a new state within the borders of Egypt. The Libyans were rich through control of trade from

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, ...

to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

and so were able to hire the Sea Peoples, who were currently raiders and mercenaries. The Libyans first captured an oasis to the west of Egypt, now thought to be

Siwa Oasis The Siwa Oasis ( ar, واحة سيوة, ''Wāḥat Sīwah,'' ) is an urban oasis in Egypt; between the Qattara Depression and the Great Sand Sea in the Western Desert (Egypt), Western Desert, 50 km (30 mi) east of the Libyan Egypt–Li ...

. There is also an apparent

Nubian Nubian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Nubia, a region along the Nile river in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan. *Nubian people *Nubian languages *Anglo-Nubian goat, a breed of goat * Nubian ibex * , several ships of the Britis ...

raid in southern Egypt around the same time, hinting at an alliance between the Libyans and Nubians, though nothing ever becomes of it. After capturing the oasis the Libyan army moved into Egypt proper where they were met by the pharaoh Mernephtah at Perire, most likely a city in the

Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...

region.

Battle

Not much is known about the exact details of the Battle at Perire except that the Egyptian

archers Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

spent 6 hours attacking the enemy before the Egyptian

chariots A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000 ...

then charged in and presumably caused a rout. This gives no details about what the

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

was doing at the time. The Sea Peoples made superior infantry than the Egyptians and so it is presumed that Merneptah never fully engaged his infantry, only using them to occupy the enemy while his archers done the real work. Then, after Merneptah thought the enemy lines had been suitably thinned, he sent in his chariots to finish the work. However the battle actually occurred, the Egyptians gained a decisive victory over the Libyans, killing 6,000 and capturing 9,000

Aftermath

Meryey was killed during the battle and without leadership the Libyan coalition returned home and promptly collapsed. Whatever Sea Peoples survived the battle would’ve left to find work elsewhere. The Sea Peoples would grow into a bigger problem in the coming years, and a major cause of the

Bronze Age collapse The Late Bronze Age collapse was a time of widespread societal collapse during the 12th century BC, between c. 1200 and 1150. The collapse affected a large area of the Eastern Mediterranean (North Africa and Southeast Europe) and the Near Ea ...

. They would clash with Egypt again, attempting to invade the country in either 1178 or 1175 BCE, until stopped at the twin battles of

Djahy Djahi, Djahy or Tjahi (Egyptian: ''ḏhj'', ''ḏꜣhy'') was the Egyptian designation for southern Retjenu. It ran from approximately Ashkelon in Israel to Lebanon and inland as far as Galilee.Steindorff, George. ''When Egypt Ruled the East.'' p. ...

and the Delta.

References

{{reflist Perire Ancient Egyptians Ancient Libya Mercenaries 13th century BC Perire