| Meshwesh inhieroglyphs | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mšwš.w /Mꜥ-šꜣ-wꜣ-šꜣ.w Meshwesh | ||||||||||||
TheMeshwesh (often abbreviated in ancientEgyptian asMa) was anancient Libyan tribe, ofBerber origin[2] along with other groups likeLibu and Tehenu/Tjemehu,[3] and also some of theSea Peoples.[4]
Early records of the Meshwesh date back to theEighteenth Dynasty of Egypt from the reign ofAmenhotep III (c. 1390 - 1350 BC). During the19th and20th dynasties (c. 1295 – 1075 BC), the Meshwesh were in almost constant conflict with the Egyptian state. During the late21st Dynasty, increasing numbers of Meswesh Libyans began to settle in the Western Delta region of Egypt. They would ultimately take control of the country during the late 21st Dynasty first underOsorkon the Elder. After an interregnum of 38 years, during which the native Egyptian kingsSiamun andPsusennes II assumed the throne, the Meshwesh ruled Egypt throughout the22nd and23rd Dynasties under manypharaohs asShoshenq I,Osorkon I,Osorkon II,Shoshenq III andOsorkon III.
That the Meshwesh were ofLibyan origin is explicitly stated in a genealogy contained on thestela of Pasenhor (dated to the reign ofShoshenq V), where the great chiefs of the Meshwesh (including the kings of the 22nd Dynasty) are stated to be the descendants of "Buyuwawa the Libyan." The Libyo-Berber origin of the Meshwesh is also indicated in their personal names (such as Osorkon, Takelot, Nimlot, Shoshenq, etc.) and a handful of non-Egyptian titles used by these people that are related to theBerber languages. After the Egyptians, the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines mentioned various other tribes in Libya. Later tribal names differ from the Egyptian ones but, probably, some tribes were named in the Egyptian sources and the later ones, as well. The Meshwesh tribe represents this assumption. Some scholars argue it would be the same tribe calledMazyes byHecataeus of Miletus andMaxyes byHerodotus, while the tribe was calledMazices andMazax in Latin sources.
The Meshwesh are known from ancientEgyptian texts as early as the18th Dynasty, where they are mentioned as a source of cattle provided to kingAmenhotep III's palace atMalkata. This indicates there may have been some trade relations between the Meshwesh and the Egyptians at the time. At the very least, it can be said that the Egyptians were familiar with the Meshwesh. For the remainder of the 18th Dynasty, information about Meshwesh or Libyans in general is sketchy. There are, however, representations of Libyans (perhaps Meshwesh) from the reign ofAkhenaten, including a remarkablepapyrus depicting a group of Libyans slaying an Egyptian. However, the papyrus is fragmentary, so it is not known what the historical context was. The Meshwesh or Ma were nomad hunter pastoralists, living off their goats, camels and other livestock while hunting and gathering at the same time. Milk, meat, hides and wool were gathered from their livestock for food, tents and clothing.
The first ancient Egyptian sources described the Meshwesh men with tattoos and long hair with longer side locks in the front, while centuries later they appear with shorter hair of Egyptian influence but braided and beaded, neatly parted in both sides from their temples and decorated with one or two feathers attached to leather bands around the crown of the head. They still used the same robes as before, a thin mantle of antelope hide, dyed and printed, crossing one of their shoulders and coming down until mid calf length to make an open robe over a loincloth with an adorned phallus sheath, being the only exception of the new addition of akilt above the knees and an animal tail in the Egyptian manner of kingNarmer and the phallus adornment over it. Men wore facial hair trimmed except at their chin and the older men kept their longer chin tufts braided. Women wore the same robes as men, plaited, decorated hair and both genders wore heavy jewelry. Later images showed them to have accepted and adapted some Greek or Macedoniantunics. Weapons included bows and arrows, hatchets, spears and daggers.
The relations between theLibyans and theEgyptians during theRamesside Period were typically one of constant conflict. Battle reliefs atKarnak from the reign ofSeti I depict the king in combat with Libyan masses; however the text only describes the Libyans as beingTjehenu, one of the generic terms for "Libyan" in theEgyptian language, rather than a specific tribal designation. During the following reign, that ofRamesses II, the Egyptians constructed a series of coastal fortresses running west to the region ofMarsa Matruh, including atal-Alamayn andZawayat Umm al-Rakham. The presence of these fortresses indicates a serious threat from the west, and Ramesses does claim to have overthrown Libyans in various rhetorical texts. However, as with Seti I, he does not specify if Meshwesh were involved or not.
During the reign ofMerneptah it seems that the early-warning system from his father's time had fallen into disrepair, as there was an unexpected Libyan invasion into the Nile Delta and the WesternOases in Year 5 of his reign. Unlike his predecessors, Merenptah states in his battle reliefs at Karnak that it was primarily theLibu tribe who led the conflict, but that Meshwesh andSea People allies were also involved. Indeed, Merenptah claims that "9,100 swords of the Meshwesh" were captured. (This conflict is also described on theMerneptah Stele, also known as theIsrael Stele.)
About twenty-five years later, during the reign ofRamesses III, the growing conflict between the Egyptians and Libyans came to a head. This time, it was the Meshwesh who instigated the conflict, though other Libyan tribes and theirSea People allies were involved in fighting two major campaigns against the Egyptian king, in Ramesses III's Regnal Years 5 and 11. The Year 11 campaign was concerned almost exclusively with the Meshwesh, however. Ramesses claimed victory, and settled the Meshwesh in militaryconcentration camps in Middle Egypt in order to force their assimilation into Egyptian culture and press them into military service for the Egyptian state. According toPapyrus Harris I, Ramesses "settled [them] in strongholds of the Victorious King, they hear the language of the [Egyptian] people, serving the King, he makes their language disappear."
A text from theThird Intermediate Period mentions there being at least five "Fortresses of the Meshwesh" in the area ofHerakleopolis Magna; these were probably the ones established by Ramesses. Throughout the20th Dynasty, various texts onostraca and papyri mention attacks by Meshwesh tribesmen as far south asThebes, where the workmen ofDeir el-Medina were forced to seek protection inside themortuary temple ofMedinet Habu.
During the late Third Intermediate Period, the Nile Delta hosted the four great chiefdoms of the Meshwesh, each ruled by a "Great Chief of the Ma", whose seats of power were in the cities ofMendes,Sebennytos,Busiris andPer-Sopdu respectively; other lesser chiefdoms, led by a simple "Chief of the Ma", were located atSais andPharbaithos.[6]
