The Bronze Age Lukka (Lugga) people occupy part of the glimmering Turquoise Coast in southern Turkey by the 3rd millennium BCE. Tribal warriors, mercenaries and pirates, they're among the groups of sea peoples named in the the monumental Bronze Age collapse of c. 1250 - 1170 BCE.
READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Adventure
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The Bronze Age place name Lukka is considered the forerunner of Lycia of later classical antiquity. As a people the Lukka are known for aggressive military presence and mercenary ideals.
READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Adventure
The Hittites are friendly enough with the mercenary troops to engage them in the fight for Kadesh, a long disputed border town between Hittites and Egyptians in the Levant. Soldiers of Lukka ally with the Hittites against the Egyptian pharaoh, Ramesses II, at the Battle of Kadesh (1274 BCE).
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The Battle of Kadesh is famous for the use of chariots, numbering in the thousands, on both Hittite and Egyptian sides. Egyptian chariots are smaller and lighter, and the Hittite three-wheeled chariots can carry more people and weaponry. The Battle of Kadesh involves the most chariots ever used in battle 'til then, up to 10,000.
Despite plenty of bloodshed nobody wins that conflict. Ramesses II assures everyone he's the winner. He has victory stele made proclaiming his conquest. Sherden sea people appear among his personal bodyguard.
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As the Lukka push borders during the early Iron Age or late Bronze Age (c. 1250 - 1150 BCE), both Hittite and Egyptian texts describe the Lukka as hostile. Not long afterward the Lukka are fighting against the Hittite Empire.
The last Hittite king, Šuppiluliuma II (ruling c. 1207 - 1178 BC), battles the Lukka but their forces are overwhelming and he cannot win. Once a few warlike tribes on a small piece of coves and coastline, the Lukka are a major reason for the fall of the Hittites in c. 1180 BCE.
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When the mythical sea peoples slash and ravage their way along the Mediterranean coasts, the Sherden and Lukka are among them. Texts of ancient Egypt name the Lukka as one of the tribes of Sea Peoples who invade Egypt, Greece, Syria and parts of the Levant in the 12th century BCE.
Civilizations are wiped out and kingdoms destroyed. Greece falls into a dark age as attackers pulverize Crete, the Cyclades and Mycenae.
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The Hittites, already weakened by internal rebellions and harassed by former allies, break down all systems by the dawn of the 2nd millennium. They scatter and vanish. The Kingdom of Arzawa crumbles and the c. 6500 BCE Canaanite city kingdom Ugarit is razed to the ground.
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