Image Details

Cyprus Museum (left)/Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Cagliari, Sardinia (right)

Their double-horned helmets identify the bronzetti (bronze figurines) shown here as Shardana/Sardinian warriors. Described as fierce fighters in Egyptian texts, the Shardana/Sardinians acted both as mercenaries and as pirates. They were also possibly one of the Sea Peoples who migrated into the eastern Mediterranean towards the end of the second millennium B.C.

The 14-inch-tall, 12th-century B.C. bronze figurine shown at left was found on the island of Cyprus—perhaps indicating that Sardinian/Shardana migrants stopped at Cyprus on their way east. The 7-inch-tall, eighth-century B.C. “praying archer” statue, found on Sardinia, is clearly from the same artistic tradition.