On etymological grounds, the Denyen are also identified with Adana , in Cilicia , where a people of this name may have settled in late Hittite Empire times. They are also believed to have settled in Cyprus . These areas also show evidence of close ties with the Aegean as a result of the Late Helladic IIIC 1b pottery found in these areas. Most Biblical Scholars now believe that the Tribe of Dan originated as one of the groups of Denyen, who according to the Bible are believed to have settled with their ships in the area between Ekron and Joppa , hence ''remaining on their ships'' in the early Song Of Deborah , and not having Israelite land to their name''Australian Journal of Biblical Archaeology'', Yigael Yadin, ''And Dan, Why Did He Remain in Ships?'' 1968'' Biblical Archaeology Review '', ''When Canaanites and Philistines Ruled Ashkelon'', March/April 1991. Others claim that they were forced to move away from the Mediterranean coast by the Philistine s, moving as a group to conquer Laish subsequently becoming known as ( Tel Dan ), from the Sidonian Phoenicians who formerly ruled the site. The Book of Exodus describes how the Danites were the largest group in the Exodus from Egypt , and the story of Samson has been suggested to be a classic solar Aegean tale, retold from a Yahwistic point of view. The Danites also preserved stories of their genealogy from the family of Moses down to historic times.
Regarding the Denyen connection in Cilicia, who also appears in an eighth-century bilingual inscription from Karatepe in Cilicia, which traces the kings of Adana from the "house of Mopsos ", given in Hieroglyphic Luwian as Moxos and in Phoenician as Mopsos, in the form mps. The area also reports a Mopsukrene (Mopsus' fountain) and a Mopsuhestia (Mopsus' hearth), also in Cilicia.
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