Ramesses III (Egypt)

The last Egyptian pharaoh to wield major power in the eastern Mediterranean, Ramesses III repelled the Sea Peoples in land and naval battles recorded on his temple at Medinet Habu. He maintained Egyptian garrisons in Canaan, including at Beth She'an, during the period when Israelite settlement was beginning in the highlands. His reign saw the first recorded labor strike in history, among the tomb workers at Deir el-Medina. He was assassinated in a harem conspiracy, and Egyptian power withdrew from Canaan shortly afterward — the vacuum in which both Philistine and Israelite polities took shape.