Do we really know anything about the ancient history of Libya or its people?
Most of what we know about the ancient Libyans comes to us from ancient Egyptian sources. While some Libyans are occasionally depicted as having fair hair and blue eyes, not ALL of them were, and it is occassionally difficult in Egyptian depictions to distinguish Libyans from inhabitants of the Western Delta in Egypt. There is a long history of contact between the Libyans, called Tjehenu in ancient Egyptian, and the Egyptians – usually military contact going back at least as far as the 1st Dynasty and possibly even earlier. A scene of the king smiting Libyans became a major motif in Egyptian royal iconography. During the New Kingdom new groups are mentioned in connection with the area of Libya, including the Libu and Meshwesh and they apparently attempted to invade the western Delta on several occasions throughout the New Kingdom, eventually coming to be allied with the broader confederation called the Sea Peoples. Many of the prisoners taken by the Egyptians during the battles to defe
