Philistines

Map showing the location of Philistine land and cities of Gaza, Ashdod, and Ashkelon. Not shown is Gath, thought to be located approximately half way between Jerusalem and Ashkelon.

The historic Philistines (Hebrew plishtim פלשתים) (see "other uses" below) were a people who inhabited the southern coast of Canaan around the time of the arrival of the Israelites, their territory being named Philistia in later contexts. Their origin has been debated among scholars, but modern archaeology has suggested early cultural links with the Mycenean world in mainland Greece. Though the Philistines adopted local Canaanite culture and language before leaving any written texts, an Indo-European origin has been suggested for a handful of known Philistine words (See Philistine language). In the Hebrew Bible, the Philistines were usually portrayed as enemies of the Israelites who should have been driven out of the land of Canaan. At certain times, however, Israelite leaders allied themselves with the Philistines. King David, for exmaple, became a vassal and military captain of the Philistine king Achish, and the judge Samson married a Philistine woman in the town of Timnah.

History

Map of the southern Levant, c.830s B.C.E. Philistine-controlled area may have been considerably larger than indicated. ██ Kingdom of Judah ██ Kingdom of Israel ██ Philistine city-states ██ Phoenician states ██ Kingdom of Ammon ██ Kingdom of Edom ██ Kingdom of Aram-Damascus ██ Aramean tribes ██ Arubu tribes ██ Nabatu tribes ██ Assyrian Empire ██ Kingdom of Moab

If the Philistines are to be identified as one of the "Sea Peoples" (see Origins below), then their occupation of Canaan would have to have taken place during the reign of Ramesses III of the Twentieth Dynasty, ca. 1180-1150 B.C.E. Their maritime knowledge presumably would have made them important to the Phoenicians.

In Egypt, a people called the "Peleset", generally identified with the Philistines, appear in the Medinet Habu inscription of Ramesses III[1], where he describes his victory against the Sea Peoples. The Peleset also appear in the Onomastica of Amenope (late Twentieth Dynasty) and Papyrus Harris I, a summary of Ramesses III's reign written during the reign of Ramesses IV. Nineteenth-century Bible scholars identified the land of the Philistines (Philistia) with Palastu and Pilista in Assyrian inscriptions, according to Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897).

The Philistines occupied the five cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath, along the coastal strip of southwestern Canaan, that belonged to Egypt up to the closing days of the Nineteenth Dynasty (ended 1185 B.C.E.). Since Gath has been identified with Tell es-Safi in central Israel, this would make the actual Philistine terrority considerably larger than ususally indicated on biblically-based maps which tend to accept blbical claims regarding the borders of the Philistines' neighbors.

The biblical stories of Samson, Samuel, Saul and David include accounts of Philistine-Israelite conflicts. From these accounts we learn that the Philistines long held a monopoly on iron smithing (a skill they possibly acquired during conquests in Anatolia). The biblical description of Goliath's armor and weaponry is consistent with this iron-smithing technology.

This coalition of Philistine city-states made frequent incursions against the Hebrews. There was almost perpetual war between the two peoples. They sometimes held the Hebrews, especially the southern tribes, in servitude; at other times they were defeated with great slaughter, according the biblical accounts. The Philistine cities were ruled by seranim, "lords", who acted together for the common good, though to what extent they had a sense of a "nation" is not clear without literary sources.

The Bible describes an ebb-and-flow struggle between the Philistines and Iraelites particularly in the Book of Judges. During the time of the high priest Eli, Philistine forces even captured the Ark of the Covenant, the central religious icon of the Hebrew tribes. Later, during the time of King Saul, the Hebrew renegade and future king David became a mercenary general and vassal of the the Philistine King Achish of Gath. After Saul was killed during another Philistine victory at the Battle of Gilboah, David left Achish's service and turned against his former allies when he became king of Judah.

The Philistines lost their independence to Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria by 732 B.C.E., and revolts in following years were all crushed. Later, Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon conquered all of Syria and the Kingdom of Judah, and the former Philistine cities became part of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. All traces of the Philistines as a people or ethnic group disappeared. Subsequently the fromer Philistine cities were under the control of Persians, Jews (Hasmonean Kingdom), Greeks (Seleucid Empire), Romans, and subsequent empires.

The name of the region of Palestine comes, via Greek and Latin, from the Philistines; see History of Palestine. However, there is no reason to believe that the Palestinians are descendants of the Philistines.

Origin of the Philistines

Most authorities agree that the Philistines did not originate in the regions of Israel/Palestine which the Bible describes them inhabiting. The Bible contains roughly 250 references to the Philistines or Philistia, and repeatedly refers to them as "uncircumcised," unlike the Semitic peoples, such as Canaanites. (See, e.g., 1 Samuel 17:26, 17:36; 2 Samuel 1:20; Judges 14:3). The Philistine religion, in which the chief deity is called Dagon, also differs from the Canaanite tradition, in which the chief God is El, or his son, the storm god Baal, also called Hadad.

A prominent theory is that the Philistines formed part of the great naval confederacy, the "Sea Peoples," who had wandered, at the beginning of the 12th century B.C.E., from their homeland in Crete and the Aegean islands to the shores of the Mediterranean, where they repeatedly attacked Egypt during the later Nineteenth Dynasty. They were eventually defeated by Ramesses III, and he then resettled them, according to the theory, to rebuild the the coastal towns in Canaan.

Archaeology

Papyrus Harris I details the achievements of the reign of Ramesses III. In the brief description of the outcome of the battles in Year 8 is the description of the fate of the Sea Peoples. Ramesses tells us that, having brought the imprisoned Sea Peoples to Egypt, he "settled them in strongholds, bound in my name. Numerous were their classes like hundred-thousands. I taxed them all, in clothing and grain from the storehouses and granaries each year." Some scholars suggest it is likely that these "strongholds" were fortified towns in southern Canaan, which would eventually become the five cities (the Pentapolis) of the Philistines (Redford 1992, p. 289). Israel Finkelstein has suggested that there may be a period of 25-50 years after the sacking of the Philistine cities and their reoccupation by the Philistines. It is quite possible that for the initial period of time, the Philistines were housed in Egypt, only subsequently late in the troubled end of the reign of Rameses III would they have been allowed to settle Philistia.

The connection between Mycenean culture and Philistine culture was made clearer by finds at the excavation of Ashdod, Ekron, Ashkelon, and more recently Tell es-Safi (probably Gath), four of the five Philistine cities in Canaan. The fifth city is Gaza. Especially notable is the early Philistine pottery, a locally-made version of the Aegean Mycenaean Late Helladic IIIC pottery, which is decorated in shades of brown and black. This later developed into the distinctive Philistine pottery of the Iron Age I, with black and red decorations on white slip. Also of particular interest is a large, well-constructed building covering 240 square meters, discovered at Ekron. Its walls are broad, designed to support a second story, and its wide, elaborate entrance leads to a large hall, partly covered with a roof supported on a row of columns. In the floor of the hall is a circular hearth paved with pebbles, as is typical in Mycenean buildings; other unusual architectural features are paved benches and podiums. Among the finds are three small bronze wheels with eight spokes. Such wheels are known to have been used for portable cultic stands in the Aegean region during this period, and it is therefore assumed that this building served cultic functions. Further evidence concerns an inscription in Gath to PYGN or PYTN, which some have suggested refers to "Potnia", the title given to an ancient Mycenaean goddess. Excavations in Ashkelon and Ekron reveal dog and pig bones which show signs of having been butchered, implying that these animals were part of the residents' diet.

Philistine language

There is some limited evidence in favor of the assumption that the Philistines did originally speak some Indo-European language. A number of Philistine-related words found in the Bible are not Semitic, and can in some cases, with reservations, be traced back to Proto-Indo-European roots. For example, the Philistine word for captain, seren, may be related to the Greek word tyrannos (which, however, has not been traced to a PIE root). Some of the Philistine names, such as Goliath, Achish, and Phicol, appear to be of non-Semitic origin, and Indo-European etymologies have been suggested. Recently, an inscription dating to the late 10th/early 9th centuries B.C.E. with two names, very similar to one of the suggested etymologies of the name Goliath (Lydian Alyattes/Wylattes) was found in the excavations at Tell es-Safi. The appearance of additional non-Semitic names in Philistine inscriptions from later stages of the Iron Age is an additional indication of the non-Semitic origins of this group.

One name the Greeks used for the previous inhabitants of Greece and the Aegean was Pelasgians, but no definite connection has been established between this name and that of the Philistines. The theory that the Sea Peoples included Greek-speaking tribes has been developed even further to postulate that the Philistines originated in either western Anatolia or the Greek peninsula.

Statements in the Bible

The Hebrew tradition recorded in Genesis 10:14 states that the "Pelishtim" (פלשתים, Standard Hebrew Pəlištim, Tiberian Hebrew Pəlištîm) proceeded from the "Patrusim" and the "Casluhim", who descended from Mizraim (Egypt), son of Ham. The Philistines settled Philistia (פלשת, Standard Hebrew Pəléšet / Pəlášet, Tiberian Hebrew Pəléšeṯ / Pəlāšeṯ) along the eastern Mediterranean coast at about the time when the Israelites settled in the Judean highlands. Biblical references to Philistines living in the area before this, at the time of Abraham or Isaac (e.g. Gen. 21:32-34), are generally regarded by modern scholars to be anachronisms.

The Philistines are spoken of in the Book of Amos as originating in Caphtor: "saith the Lord: Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?" (Amos 9:7). Later, in the 7th century B.C.E., Jeremiah makes the same association with Caphtor. "For the Lord will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor, (Jeremiah 47:4). Scholars variously identify the land of Caphtor with Cyprus and Crete and other locations in the eastern Mediterranean.

Scholars have also noted a number of anachronistic references to the Philistines in the Bible. Genesis refers to the Phistines being "in the land" already when Abraham arrived, supposed around the second millennium B.C.E. Both he and Isaac reportedly received protection and rewards from a "Phisitine" king called Abimelech of Gerar, after allowing their wives to become part of Abimelech's harem. If indeed the Philistines did not arrive in Canaan under around the 12th century B.C.E., then references to the presence during the time of Abraham and Isaac are out of place.

Other uses of the term 'Philistine'

• British writers of the 19th century and very early 20th century sometimes referred to the Arabs of Palestine as "Philistines". This was apparently not due to a belief in a strong connection with the ancient Philistines, but merely reflects the former convention that "Philistine" simply denotes "native of Palestine".

• In non-historical usage, the word philistine refers to a person deficient in the culture of the liberal arts or can also connote a smug and intolerant opponent of the bohemian who exhibits a restrictive moral code. See Philistinism.

• The term "Philistines" also refers to an elite unit of the South African Defence Force (SADF). The Pathfinder Company was the official name of this elite unit. Counter-insurgency was the primary mission assigned to these troops.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Dothan, Trude Krakauer. 1982. The Philistines and Their Material Culture. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society
• Dothan, Trude Krakauer, and Moshe Dothan. 1992. People of the Sea: The Search for the Philistines. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company
• Ehrlich, Carl S. 1996. The Philistines in Transition: A History from ca. 1000–730 B.C.E. Studies in the History and Culture of the Ancient Near East 10, ser. eds. Baruch Halpern, and Manfred Hermann Emil Weippert. Leiden: E. J. Brill
• Gitin, Seymour, Amihai Mazar, and Ephraim Stern, eds. 1998. Mediterranean Peoples in Transition: Thirteenth to Early Tenth Centuries B.C.E.. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society
• Maeir, Aren M. 2005. Philister-Keramik. Pp. 528–36 in "Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie", Band 14. Berlin: W. de Gruyter.
• Oren, Eliezer D., ed. 2000. The Sea Peoples and Their World: A Reassessment. University Museum Monograph 108. Philadelphia: The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
• Redford, Donald Bruce. 1992. Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times. Princeton: Princeton University Press
• Claude Vandersleyen, "Keftiu: a cautionary note," Oxford Journal of Archaeology 22/21, 2003, 209-212.
• Mendenhall, George E. The Tenth Generation: The Origins of the Biblical Tradition, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973. ISBN.

External links

• List of biblical references to Philistines or Philistia
• Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project website
• Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project blog
• the Sea Peoples and the Philistines. A course at Penn State University
• Neal Bierling, Giving Goliath his due:new archaeological light on the Philistines 1992
• The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran (Chronology for Israel's Period of the Judges 1412 B.C.E. to 1039 B.C.E.)
• The Philistines: Raiders of the Ark or Cultural Goliaths?

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