Abstract
This article focuses on issues related to political liminality in the environment of the Levant in the Late Bronze Age. It first defines the term and then identifies key population groups that can be considered politically liminal.
The main focus is on the so-called Sherden (Akk. šerdanu, širdanu), a group of persons and individuals, which are found in ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian sources spanning several centuries during the second half of the second half of the second millennium BCE. Whether as incoming enemies or as individuals settled on Egyptian soil, they represent one of the key phenomena of the Egyptian New Kingdom.
But who were the Sherden and how did their role in the ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian societies change over time?