Who were the Sea Peoples and what role did they play in altering life in the Eastern Mediterranean?

It is actually not known exactly who the Sea Peoples were. They are supposed to have been an alliance of seafaring raiders who invaded the Eastern Mediterranean and attacked Ancient Egypt around the end of the Bronze Age. The uncertainty about the origins of the Sea Peoples comes from the fact that little has been recorded about them. We know from Egyptian inscriptions that they were formidable warriors who came by sea. Beyond that, they remain an enigma. Circumstantial archaeological evidence links them to the Philistines, the Minoans, the Anatolians, or the Italians. It is possible that they were even a combination of these peoples. There are even theories that they were refugees fleeing Troy. Whoever they were, historians have yet to come to a consensus.
That the Sea Peoples had a profound effect on the Eastern Mediterranean is certain. While Egypt was ultimately able to repel these sea-borne invasions, they did lose control over the Levant and Nubia in the process, significantly diminishing their kingdom and weakening their economy and political supremacy in the region. This essentially marked the end of the New Kingdom.
It was also during this period that Mycenae suffered a fatal disaster and disappeared as Greece's main power. It is not known for sure what led to Mycenae's collapse, but many historians contend that it could have been invasions from the Sea Peoples. The end of Mycenae marked the beginning of Greece's four-hundred-year Dark Age.
The destruction brought on by the invasions of the Sea Peoples caused widespread chaos in the region. Old borders were made obsolete as people fled and migrated to new places. It signifies the collapse of the Hittite civilization, the end the old order of Egyptian pharaohs, and the destruction of Greek cities and their cultures. This was the end of the Bronze Age and although historians still debate its causes, it is likely that the Sea Peoples played a significant part in it.
https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/199503/who.were.the.sea.people.htm

https://www.ancient.eu/Sea_Peoples/

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