Now, let’s look at a map of the Twelve Tribes of Israel and their territories after the conquest of the land. Only three tribes end up bordering the coast: Dan, Manasseh, and Asher. We established the Tribe of Dan as a contingent of the Denyen, and then established another group of Tjeker in Dor whom were never conquered by Manasseh despite falling in his territory. If the Weshesh represent the Tribe of Asher, then it would actually be that the twelve tribes' coastal contingents were entirely foreign sea peoples settled in Canaan by the Egyptians during the Bronze Age Collapse.
We additionally identified the settlement of Harosheth Haggoyim as the site of El-Ahwat, located in the territory of Zebulun. Obviously, this settlement isn’t on the coast, so one would think there is no association with sea peoples.....one little problem with that in the form of Genesis 49:13 “Zebulun will dwell on the coast of the seas; he [will be] at the harbor of the ships, and his boundary will be at Zidon.” So, did Zebulun dwell on the coasts? No, they never did as can be seen on the map, and if they didn’t have coasts then where was their harbor for these ships? Supposedly, their boundary will be at Sidon which is the tip of the Israelite nation bordering Phoenicia. However, it appears Asher actually occupied this region, and never Zebulun. What gives?
Furthering this mystery, Chazal teaches in Megillah 6a that Zevulun was the exclusive provider of the techeiles blue chilazon snail dye, only found on the coasts! Da’as Sofrim even maintains that Zevulun’s portion was entirely landlocked to the protest of those who insist a sliver of land toward the coast extended outward. Regardless of the territory, how did Zebulun monopolize the trade of the chilazon snail if Asher also had coastlines full of the chilazon?1
Once again, according to Da’as Sofrim, Zevulun’s connection with the sea was not geographic, but rather professional. They didn’t live on the coast, but were sailors, and fishermen by profession who made their wealth through trade which gave rise to their monetary abundance that enabled them to support Issachar - who did not perform work, but learned on behalf of Zevulun. They likely controlled a monopoly over the chilazon, in some sort of negotiation with Asher who controlled the majority of the territory containing the murex snail - and, also where Phoenicia overlapped where they produced their own version of the chilazon’s dye in a purple variant. Like Phoenicia, Zebulun was similarly a wealthy state due to the complete control over the techeiles dye trade.
Let’s take this even further, look down the coast. What are the next two coastal nations? Philistia, and then the fabled Amalek! We have also established Philistia as one of the Sea Peoples, but what if I told you the mysterious identity of the evil rival to the Israelite nation, Amalek, actually finds its ethnogenesis among the Sea Peoples? Let’s close out this section on the Bronze Age Collapse and the Sea Peoples with one final discussion about maybe the most important legacy from any nation.
Amalek are known to us as the perpetual, timeless enemy of the Jewish people based on three entire Mitzvot related to Amalek all from Devarim 25. Two positive commandments: “Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, as you left Egypt” (Devarim 25:17) and “Therefore, when the Lord your God grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven” (Devarim 25:19). In the same verse we get the second positive commandment we are also given a negative commandment “Do not forget”. While the first Mitzvah of remembering what they did is alive and well thanks to the Torah, and the second one is impractical without the arrival of Mashiach, what happened to the “Do not forget” part of Amalek? Who even are Amalek!
One strange aspect of the Lukka people in Hittite records is the persistent reference to them as “Lukka Lands” or “Lukka People”, explicitly designating the secondary terms when talking about the group in contrast to how they refer to any other nation. We don’t see other groups like the Peleset, or Tjeker referred to as the “Peleset People” or “Tjeker People”, why only the Lukka? Let’s break down the etymology.
In English, the term Lukka should really be spelled with a Q, to make Luqqa People. If we are to take these letters L-Q, translate them to Hebrew along with the term ‘people’ עם we end up with Lamed and Quf, לק. When we combined these terms in Hebrew, people comes first unlike with English, and we end up with the term “עם לק”. Remove the final mem and the space, and we end up with the term “עמלק“, none other than the exact Hebrew for the nation of Amalek.
Go check your online sources for the nation of Amalek for any actual identification, let alone with the Lukka people. Make no mistake, this is not some massive discovery, and I’m sure many great Rabbanim were aware of their true identity, but if they did, it has up till now remained a closed secret, only for the knowledgeable initiated. This is simple Hebrew grammar, no complex funny business involved, and should jump out to any scholars, but oddly of all the connections this one is seemingly avoided? I wonder why.
The following is my personal, exclusive chart for the Sea Peoples, and their ancient associations in Egypt, Greece, and Israel. This image is paywalled as it summarizes, and “spoils” the majority of the material presented over the last few sections. If you would like to see the image without paying, please comment below, or contact me.
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