Denyen or Danuna 

Based on New Kingdom Egyptian text, The Danuna are considered one of the major groups of the Sea Peoples. The Danuna are known from Egyptian, Hittite, and classical sources. In the historical sources, the Danuna are known by many different names such as Denyen, Danunites, Danaoi, Danaus, Danaids, Dene, Danai, Danaian.

 The earliest Egyptian text is the El-Amarna letters (mid 14th c. BCE), which tells of Pharaoh Amenhotep IV vassal, the king of the Phoenician City of Tyre, Abimilki. The el-Amarna letter (no. 151) tells of the king of Danuna’s death and that his brother became king and his land is at peace (Moran 1992:238). The Danuna next appear during the reign of Ramesses III eighth year in 1188 BCE at his mortuary temple of Medinet Habu. The relief tells that their was a confederation of Philistines, Tjeker, Shelelesh, Denyen, and Weshesh that united to attack Egypt (Pritchard 1969:262-263). 

The other text that is dated to the end of Ramesses III reign in about 1164 BCE is the Papyrus Harris. Ramesses himself tell us his victory over the Sea Peoples: I slew the Denyen in their islands, while the Tjeker and the Philistines were made ashes. The Sherden and the Weshesh of the Sea were nonexistent, captured all together and brought in captivity to Egypt like the sands of the shore (Pritchard 1969:260-261).

The final Egyptian text that is associated with the Danuna is the Onomastica of Amenope. Amenope apparently lived during the 20th Dynasty. The text itself dates to the 22nd Dynasty. The text (No. 244) mentions the Dene and Gardiner(1968:125) suggests identifiying the Dene with the Danuna or Danaoi that may refer to a tribe living in the plain of Argos.

Besides Egyptian text, there are Hittite and Classical sources that mention the Danuna. The 8th century BCE bilingual inscription from Karatepe tells how king Azitwadda expanded the Plain of Adana and restored his people the Danunites (Pritchard 1969:262). The classical source that mention the Danuna is an aspect of Greek mythology where Egypt played an important part in the story of the wanderings of Io and the tragedy of her descendents, the Danaids ((Kakosy 1995:4-5)

There are several theories on where the Danuna came from: 1) Eastern Cilicia, 2) Mycenae, 3) Canaan. The first theory is that the Danuna came from Cilicia is based on the name of Adana, a city in the eastern part of Cilicia. Under the name Adaniya which, was named by Telepinus whose reign is now dated at 1525-1500 BCE (Wainwright 1963:150). According to Barnett (1975:10), the Danuna lives in Cilicia in the ninth century BC, and caused alarm to their neighbors Amanus, Kalamu of Sam’al . Not only the Danuna of el-Amarna, but the Dnn of the Egyptian sources as well were the inhabitants of the Cilician Adana, without any connection with Greece. The “islands” where Ramesses III situated the Danuna were tiny islets and capes of the Cilician coast . The Danuna are also known from the Karatepe inscription, which mentions the legendary Greek hero named Mopsus. Mopsus is said to have found Aspendos, which is identical to the town, that Azitawadda in Cilicia. The event according to the Greeks are supposed to happen after the fall of Troy in 1180 BCE (Barnett 1953:142).

A second theory associated with the Greek world equating the Danuna with the Danaoi from mainland Greece (Leahy 2001:257).Many scholars associate the Danuna with the Greeks because all Greeks were referred to as Danaans by Homer. The fact that Homer lends the name Danaans to the Greeks is a credible suggestion because the Danaans came from Mycenae. Greek tradition suggests that the Danaoi settled in Argos and were named after the Danaos. (Jones 1975:60)

The third theory that suggest the Danuna origins come from Canaan. The Danuna and other Sea Peoples return to the Levant as a counter migration. While many of the Danuna, went to the Aegean and Mycenae and became known as the Danaans. Others went to Asia Minor and some of the Sea Peoples return to the Levant. The Danuna were accepted into the confederation of the tribes of Israel called Dan (Jones 1975:23). The Danuna were part of a confederation in the Levant with other groups of Sea People especially the Philistines. They were part of the sea battle against the Egyptians, which is depicted on the relief at Medinet Habu (Barnett 1975:372).

The Biblical data shows that at a certain stage of its settlement the Tribe of Dan was very close to the People of the Sea. From the historical and mythological sources, it is possible to ascertain the following facts. The tribe of the Danai originated in the east, and the introduction of the alphabet to Greece is attributed to it. Its members were outstanding seamen who had special connection with sun worship. The association with the Tribe of Dan is because their was two different tribes (the Danites and the Danai) with identical names and similar characteristics which operated in the same geographical region and period or there is a link between the tribe of Dan and the tribe of Danai, and possibly a certain measure of identity (Yadin 1968:22).

In conclusion, although the Danuna are known from many different sources, they were a major part of the confederation that attacked Egypt with the other group of Sea People. The origins of the Danuna are many and not very unclear. I see the Danuna coming from the island Cilicia because many of the text are from that region. The Danuna were outstanding seamen, and warriors.

Primary Sources:

Gardiner, A. H. 1968 Ancient Egyptian Onomastica. Oxford, University Press

Moran, W. L. 1992 The Amarna Letters. Baltimore and London, Eisenbrauns

Pritchard, J. B. 1969 The Ancient Near East, Supplementary Text and Pictures relating to the Old Testament. New Jersey, Princeton University Press

Pritchard, J. B. 1969 The Ancient Near East Text. New Jersey, Princeton University Press.

Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture 2001 Osmaniye Karatepe-Aslantas, A Hittite Fortress http://www.kultur.gov,tr/english/bakanlik/b-a-osmaniye.html

Secondary Sources:

Astour, M. C. 1965 Hellenosmitica. Leiden, E. J. Brill The author mentions the origins of the Danuna.

Barnett, R. D. 1975 The Sea People. Cambridge of Ancient History vol. 2 part II. Cambridge, University Press The author mentions the different groups of the Sea Peoples and the strong Cypriot and Anatolia connections

Barnett, R. D. 1953 Mopsos. The Journal of Hellenic Studies 73: 140-145 The author discuss what the legend of Mopsos is and the connection to the Greeks.

Drew, R. 1993 The End of the Bronze Age, Changes in Warfare and Catastrophe ca. 1200 BC. New Jersey, Princeton University Press. The author mentions the Pharaoh’s that had contact with the Sea Peoples and the inscription and where they are mentioned.

Kakosy, L. 1995 Egypt in Ancient Greek and Roman Thought. Pp3-5 In: Civilizations of the Ancient Near East volume 1. edited by Jack M. Sasson, John Baines, Gary Beckman, and Karen S. Rubinson. London, Simon and Schoster and Prientice Hall International. The author discuss the Greek myth about Io and the tragedy of her descendents, the Danaids.

Leahy, A. 2001 Sea Peoples. Pp. 257-260. In: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. edited by Donald Redford., Oxford, University Press. The author mentions the different groups of Sea People and where each group may have come from. The author also mentions in what text the Sea Peoples are mentioned.

Sanders, N. K. 1978 The Sea People, Warriors of the Ancient Mediterranean 1250-1150 BC. London The author mentions the connections between Mopsus and Denyen. There is also a suggestion that links the Denyen of the Egyptian text with the Biblical tribe Dan.

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