Articles

Pillagers and Plunderers: An Archaeological and Theoretical Approach to Piracy in the Islands of the Mediterranean

Pillagers and Plunderers: An Archaeological and Theoretical Approach to Piracy in the Islands of the Mediterranean From the Balearics to Cyprus; and its Suppression from Ramesses to Pompey

By Whit Schroder

Joukowsky Institute Archaeology Prize Paper (2008)

Mediterranean

Introduction: As for the foreign countries, they made a conspiracy in their islands. All at once the lands were on the move, scattered in war; no country could stand before their arms…they desolated its people, and its land was like that which has never come into being…They laid their hands upon the lands to the very circuit of the earth, their hearts confident and trusting: Our plans will succeed! ~ Year 8 Inscription, Medinet Habu

Pirates have always been elusive characters in the maritime world. Their swift ships have allowed these thieves at sea to escape detection, and their island lairs have provided refuge from the punishments of society. But pirates are equally elusive in temporal terms. The same ships that allow pirates to evade authorities disappear quickly into the bottoms of the sea, and the pirate settlements soon become settled by more lawful inhabitants. The Mediterranean Sea, rich in piracy throughout history, has provided virtually no evidence that corsairs were ever a problem in the ancient world. Archaeologists, therefore, are grateful for the abundant textual records that discuss the depredations of pirates beginning in the earliest times of sea travel. These texts along with an optimistic archaeology can be used to understand the origins of pirates, the reasons for their illicit behavior, their effects on ancient trade, and, ultimately, how their deviant behavior is suppressed. From the perspective of island archaeology, the Mediterranean Sea provides an ideal place of study.



In historical texts and romanticized fiction alike, pirates and islands have been inextricably linked. Pirates subsist as bandits of the sea, who, like any marauders, need not only vulnerable prey but also a relatively isolated hide-out. Pirates have evidently practiced their dark and sullen craft since the dawn of recorded history. The epigraph above, taken from the mortuary temple at Medinet Habu serves as an early reference to piracy. The Egyptians were clearly preoccupied with the mysterious Sea Peoples, a “conspiracy” of raiders who threatened the Nile Delta throughout the New Kingdom until their defeat by Ramesses III. Ramesses recognized the connection of pirate and island, an insight which helped him mount a successful strategy to rid the Mediterranean of the Sea Peoples.

Click here to read this article from Brown University

 

Sponsored Content