Various documents and reliefs from the Egyptian 19th Dynasty (13th century BC) offer a detailed account of tall warriors in the region of Canaan. These archaeological finds coincide with biblical accounts of tribes of giants in the Levant and provide a historical basis for these chronicles, according to a publication by Associates for Biblical Research.
He Papyrus Anastasi Icurrently kept in the British Museumconsists of a letter sent by the army correspondent, Hori, to a scribe named Amenemope. In this text, the author reproaches his recipient for his supposed lack of precision and leadership on the battlefield.
A specific passage in the document describes an encounter at a mountain pass in Canaan. Hori claims that the region is infested with Shasu warriors and he points out directly that “some of them are four cubits or five cubits, from nose to foot.”
This measure is equivalent to a height between 2 and 2.6 meters according to the Egyptian royal cubit, which has an approximate length of 20.65 inches. The original text highlights the importance of accuracy in calculating supplies and descriptions, giving greater weight to data on the height of these adversaries.
Another relevant visual record appears in the relief of the battle of Kadeshwhere Pharaoh Ramesses II faced the Hittite forces. This stone carving shows the capture of two Shasu spies who are beaten by a group of Egyptian soldiers.
Historians analyze the unusual size of those captured in this artistic representation. Christopher Eames indirectly indicates that, unlike other works where size denotes political dominance, this relief realistically shows Shasu males of higher dimensions in front of their captors.
The Bible mentions various groups of imposing stature such as the Anakim, Nephilim y Rephaim. According to the book of Numbers, the Israelite spies reported with fear that “we were like grasshoppers in comparison” in the presence of the children of Anak.
Ritual practices and their link with the giants
Los Texts of Execrationdating back to 2000 BC, reinforce this historical connection through a ritual practice. Religious leaders inscribed names of enemies on clay objects and then destroyed them to ensure the opponent’s defeat. These fragments contain enchantments against “Iy Aneq”whom the Egyptians considered a people of great stature.
The extrabiblical record also alludes to rey And they Bashándescribed as the last of the Rephaim. A Canaanite tablet from Ugarit mentions a great king named Rapiu, a name etymologically linked to the Rephaim, who ruled in the same cities cited in the Scriptures.
Egyptian texts from the 13th century BC identify at least six Shasu tribes present in the southern Levant. This group, who dressed in a Canaanite manner, disappears from the archaeological record during the Early Iron Age, the same period in which biblical references to these people cease.
The association of Papyrus Anastasi I with a region of valleys agrees with the location of the Valley of Rephaim near Jerusalem. In this way, ancient war chronicles and epigraphic finds validate the existence of individuals with exceptional statures in ancient Canaan.
