The Tjekker

by Liam McManus & Megaera Lorenz

The Tjekker people are identified as one of the “Sea Peoples” of the ancient Near East. The Tjekker represented a large contingent of the invading peoples in the battle against the Egyptians in year eight of Ramses III. They, along with the Philistines, were a major group depicted in the battle reliefs and texts at Medinet Habu (Pritchard 1969: 261-62).

The Tjekker are also mentioned in the Wen-Amon story of the 11th century BCE, set in the reign of Ramesses XI (Lichtheim 1976: 224-230). Wen-Amon, an assistant to the high priest of Amun, is sent on a mission to retrieve wood from Byblos. Along the way, he stopped in the city of Dor, “a town of the Tjeker” (Lichtheim 1976: 225). The prince of Byblos himself is named Tjekerbaal.

The Tjekker appear in classical texts as the Teukroi, a people of Western Cilicia whose domain, according to legend, was established by Ajax, son of Teucer (Wainright 1963: 148).

In artistic depictions, the Tjekker are nearly indistinguishable from the Philistines (Wainwright 1963: 146). The Tjekker warriors are depicted with “Hoplite-like plumes” on their helmets, and are armed with long swords, spears, segmented body armor, and rounded shields (Redford 1992: 251-252).

Modern scholars trace the origins of the Tjekker to the Troad, the eastern coast region of Asia Minor. N. Sandars (1978: 158) connects the Tjekker with the Teucri people of the Troad, possibly having been displaced after the Trojan War. Sandars also suggests a connection to the hero Teucer, the traditional founder of Salamis on Cyprus.

R. D. Barnett (1975: 376) also traces the Tjekker through Cyprus. He cites archeological evidence in depictions of warriors found on Cyprus. These depictions, found in tombs in Enkomi, show warriors wearing what he calls “Philistine type” headdresses. Barnett suggests that the Tjekker may have destroyed and rebuilt the city sometime in the 12th century BCE.

Recent excavations at Tel Dor directed by E. Stern, and more recently by I. Sharon and A. Gilboa, have uncovered small quantities of Philistine style bichrome pottery on the site. In addition, the excavations revealed cow scapulae and bone-handled iron knives similar to those found at Philistine sites. Stern believes this is evidence of a Tjekker (or Sikel) settlement (Stern 2000: 198-203). However, the evidence is slight (there is certainly not enough present to suggest any massive settlement of Sea Peoples at Dor), and it is impossible to be certain whether the Sea Peoples represented by these remains were even Tjekker as opposed to Philistines or some other related group.

G. A. Wainwright (1963: 146-151) argues on the basis of a combination of artistic evidence from Cyprus, later classical legend, and archaeological evidence, that while the Tjekker invaded Salamis ca. 1200 BCE, their origins were in fact Anatolian. The legend of Teucer placed the Teukroi in Westen Cilicia in the 16th century BCE (Wainwright 1963: 148). Wainwright also points out that the Danuna, some of the Tjakker's closest relatives, were present in Cilicia in the 16th century (1963: 150).

From the evidence discussed above, it appears that, while the Tjekker migrated into Cyprus, Phoenicia and Canaan in the Iron Age, they came originally from Anatolia.

Primary Sources

Medinet Habu Inscriptions, year 8 of Ramesses III, in:

Pritchard, J.B.

1969 Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Tale of Wen-Amon, reign of Ramesses XI, in:

Lichtheim, M.

1976 Ancient Egyptian Literature. Volume II: The New Kingdom. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Secondary Sources

Barnett, R.D.

1975 The Sea Peoples, Pp. 359-78 in I.E.S. Edwards, C.J. Gadd, N.G.L. Hammond, and E. Sollberger, eds.: The Cambridge Ancient History, 3rd edition, volume II part 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Redford, D.B.

1992 Egypt, Cannan, and Israel in Ancient Times. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Sandars, N.K.

1978 Sea Peoples: Warriors of the Ancient Mediterranean.London: Thames and Hudson.

Stern, E.

2000 Settlement of Sea Peoples in Northern Israel. Pp. 197-212 in E. Oren, Ed.: The Sea Peoples and Their World: A Reassessment. Philadelphia: The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania.

Wainwright, G. A.

1963A Teucrian at Salamis in Cyprus. Journal of Hellenic Studies 83: 146-151.

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