Denyen

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The Denyen are one of the groups constituting the Sea Peoples.
Origin
They are mentioned in the Amarna letters from the 14th century BC as possibly being
related to the "Land of the Danuna" near Ugarit.[1]
The Egyptians described them as Sea Peoples.[2]

Hittite Empire
The Denyen have been identified with the people of Adana, in Cilicia who existed in late
Hittite Empire times. They are also believed to have settled in Cyprus. A Hittite report[3]
speaks of a Muksus, who also appears in an eighth-century bilingual inscription from
Karatepe in Cilicia. The kings of Adana are traced from the "house of Mopsos," given in
hieroglyphic Luwian as Moxos and in Phoenician as Mopsos, in the form mps. They were
called the Dananiyim.[4] The area also reports a Mopsukrene (Mopsus' fountain in Greek)
and a Mopsuhestia (Mopsus' hearth in Greek), also in Cilicia.
Egyptian raids and settlement
They were raiders associated with the Eastern Mediterranean Dark Ages who attacked
Egypt in 1207 BC in alliance with the Libyans and other Sea Peoples, as well as during the
reign of Rameses III.[2] The 20th Egyptian Dynasty allowed them to settle in Canaan, which
was largely controlled by the Sea Peoples into the 11th century BC. [2] Mercenaries from the
Peleset manned the Egyptian garrison at Beth-shan,[2] and the Denyen shared the same
fashion[clarification needed] as them which some archeology suggests signifies a shared cemetery
there.[5]
Aegean Sea
These areas also show evidence of close ties with the Aegean as a result of the Late
Helladic IIIC 1b pottery found in these areas. Some scholars argue for a connection with
the Greek Danaoi ()alternate names for the Achaeans familiar from Homer.
Greek myth refers to Danaos who with his daughters came from Egypt and settled in
Argos. Through Dana's son, Perseus, the Danaans are said to have built Mycenae.
Tribe of Dan

Main article: Tribe of Dan

There are suggestions that the Denyen joined with Hebrews to form one of the original 12
tribes of Israel. No strong evidence support this view, however.
A minority view first suggested by Yigael Yadin attempted to connect the Denyen with the
Tribe of Dan, described as remaining on their ships in the early Song of Deborah, contrary to
the mainstream view of Israelite history. It was speculated that the Denyen had been taken
to Egypt, and subsequently settled between the Caphtorite Philistines and the Tjekker,
along the Mediterranean coast with the Tribe of Dan subsequently deriving from them. [6]
The most famous Danite was Samson, whom some suggest is derived from Denyen tribal
legends.[7]
References
1 Les nuits attiques. Aulus Gellius, Ren Marache. Les Belles lettres, 1991. p. 39
2 "A dictionary of archaeology", Ian Shaw, Robert Jameson. Wiley-Blackwell, 2002.
ISBN 0-631-23583-3, ISBN 978-0-631-23583-5. p. 515
3 Burkert, Walter (1992). "The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on
Early Archaic Greece" (Cambridge:Harvard University Press) p 52.
4 The journal of Egyptian archaeology, Volumes 47-49. Egypt Exploration Fund, Egypt
Exploration Society. 1961. p. 80
5 "The northern cemetery of Beth Shan", Eliezer D. Oren. Brill Archive, 1973. ISBN 9004-03673-3, ISBN 978-90-04-03673-4. p. 138
6 Mark W. Bartusch, Understanding Dan: an exegetical study of a biblical city, tribe and
ancestor Volume 379 of Journal for the study of the Old Testament: Supplement series,
Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003
7 "Samson: the hero and the man : the story of Samson", Peter Lang, 2006. ISBN 303910-852-2, ISBN 978-3-03910-852-7. p. 278-282