The Philistines in History and the Bible

The Philistines stand out among the neighbors and enemies of Israel in the Bible. They are distinct from other Canaanites, though the differences are sometimes fuzzy, and they have a dominant presence in many familiar stories, especially those found in the books of Judges and 1 Samuel. The Philistines are often portrayed as the arch-enemy of Israel, and important Philistine characters like King Abimelech, King Achish, and the unforgettable giant Goliath play significant roles in the biblical narrative. In the realm of archaeology, the Philistines are a fascinating topic in their own right. Their origins are a historical mystery that has seen recent breakthroughs thanks to years of excavation and analysis. The Philistines are one of the enigmatic Sea Peoples of the Late Bronze Age, and their story shines a light on one of history's darkest periods. When we combine archaeology with the stories of the Bible, we arrive at some fascinating and often startling insights about the origins of Israel and biblical literature. It's even possible, according to some scholars, that several Israelite tribes originated as Sea Peoples like the Philistines. If that sounds interesting, stay tuned for an in-depth look at the Philistines in history and the Bible. The world ended in the mid-12th century BCE. Or at least, that's how it must have seemed to many people living around the eastern Mediterranean. A confluence of several factors, including wars, droughts, rebellions, migrations, and a series of major earthquakes, resulted in unprecedented turmoil and upheaval. Great cities were destroyed or abandoned, and major nations collapsed, often for reasons we still can't identify. From the ashes of this destruction, new nations were born. In the lands of the seafaring Mycenaeans, classical Greek civilization developed. In the territory of the former Hittite Empire, the Lydian and Phrygian kingdoms were established, while Neo-Hittite states emerged in the lands formerly ruled by the Mitanni Empire. In Canaan, the city-state system governed by Egypt fell apart, and Egypt withdrew its garrisons. Some of the largest cities, including Hazor, Megiddo, Lachish, Ekron, and Ashdod, were destroyed by enemies unknown. Then, over the following decades, some cities were rebuilt, and important new settlements appeared, such as Tel Kassil. Archaeology shows that a cultural shift also occurred at this time. Many of these early Iron Age cities, especially along the coastal plain, exhibited non-Canaanite material culture, including distinct pottery and architecture, suggesting that the new occupants were migrants from a distant land. Who were these newcomers to Canaan, and how did their arrival affect the indigenous Canaanites? Our search for answers begins in Egypt. In the year 1207, a few decades before the Bronze Age Collapse was in full swing, the Egyptians under Pharaoh Merneptah fought off a Libyan alliance that included mercenaries from across the sea. The Great Karnak Inscription describes this battle and names some of these mercenaries, As a side note, Merneptah is the same pharaoh who recorded the first known mention of a tribe called Israel during a separate campaign in Canaan. Forty years later, around the year 1177, another wave of invaders reached Egyptian territory. Some came by sea, while others came by land, and engaged with the forces of Pharaoh Ramses III in Canaan. A famous inscription on the walls of the Mortuary Temple of Ramses III records that these marauders had already sacked lands far and wide, including Syria and Anatolia. No land could stand before their arms, wrote Ramses. Their confederation was the Peleset, Sheker, Shekelesh, Danunah, and Weshesh, lands united. They laid their hands upon lands as far as the circuit of the earth, their hearts confident and trusting. The Peleset were none other than the Philistines, and they were part of a confederation of seafaring mercenaries or pirates, the so-called Sea Peoples, who began migrating to Palestine around this time. Their name might have originated as a Mycenaean Greek word, ploistoi, meaning sailors or mariners. The story of the Philistines is closely connected with some of the other Sea Peoples, so I will occasionally include them in the discussion. From what we can tell, most of these invaders came from Mycenaean Greece and western Anatolia. The Lucca were Lycians from southwestern Anatolia. The Akwesh were Achaeans. The Shekelesh and Sherdana might be related to Sicily and Sardinia, either as their homelands or as places they colonized. The Danunah might be the Danaoi, mentioned by Homer as one of the groups that besieged Troy. The Sheker might have been from Tauchia in northwestern Anatolia. The Peleset, Danunah, and Sheker were especially similar to each other. In Egyptian art, they are shown wearing distinctive feathered helmets. Other depictions of warriors with similar feathered helmets can be found around the same time in the Aegean and in Cyprus, suggesting Aegean origins for these groups. The victory of Ramses III over the Sea Peoples was short-lived, and by the late 12th century, Egypt had retreated from Canaan, leaving a power vacuum that the Peleset and their allies soon filled. Archaeologist Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University believes this migration took place in phases throughout the 12th century as Egypt gradually withdrew. It appears that several of the Philistines' confederates joined them as they settled in Canaan. An Egyptian document called the Onomasticon of Amenemope associates the Philistines, Sheker, and Shardana with the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Gaza. Another text called the Report of Wenamon, which dates to the early 11th century, says that the coastal city of Dor was ruled by the Sheker. Though the story it contains is likely fictional, it is thought to accurately represent the political situation in the Levant at the time. The late archaeologist Ephraim Stern, who excavated Tel Dor in the 1980s and 90s, identified a large portion of northern Canaan as being occupied by the Sheker and Shardana during the early Iron Age, based on material remains. Another fascinating find is an 11th or 10th century inscription from Tayinat, further north, depicting a king named Tayitah, whose country was called Palestine. In other words, Philistia. This is the only kingdom actually known to have called itself Philistia. Later, it became a Syro-Hittite state called Patina, a name that was derived from the earlier Palestine. Danel Kahn of the University of Haifa argues in a 2011 paper that the land battle between Ramses III and the Sea Peoples actually occurred here, on the northern frontier of what was still Egyptian-held Canaan at the time. Some of our best physical evidence for a large-scale migration of people from Mycenae to Canaan comes from the sudden appearance of a type of pottery known as Mycenaean 3C, or late Helladic 3C, at several sites in southern Canaan, especially in cities associated with the Philistines. This pottery was fineware intended for handling food and drink at banquets, and it featured distinctive dish types, shapes, and decorative motifs that were, for the most part, identical to the Mycenaean 3C pottery found in the Aegean and on Cyprus during this time. It was produced locally, but using Aegean pottery techniques. Aegean-style cooking hearths, loom weights, and architectural styles also appeared at this time. While an earlier generation of scholars assumed that the Philistines had conquered Canaan through violence, the evidence uncovered over the years appears to show the opposite. The Philistines chose existing, unfortified cities with farmland in which to settle, rather than locations they could defend against hostile locals. Archaeologist Assaf Yassou Orlando argues that the Philistines came as friends rather than foes, allying themselves with the local populace as a buffer against the political and economic insecurity that brought about the Bronze Age collapse. Archaeologists generally believe that the Philistines and allied Sea Peoples were the dominant political force in Iron I Canaan. Their power was significantly weakened, however, by the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshank I around the year 925. When the Egyptians withdrew, the vacuum was filled by new polities such as Aram Damascus and Israel with its capital at Samaria. In the 730s and 720s, the Assyrian Empire conquered most of Palestine. Establishing Dor, Megiddo and Samaria as Assyrian provinces. The southern Philistine cities became Assyrian vassal states and were referred to as Philistia in Assyrian documents. Ekron was probably the most important Philistine city-state under a new dynasty founded by King Paddy. Early in his rule, the people of Ekron switched their allegiance to Egypt and expelled Paddy to Jerusalem, where he was imprisoned by King Hezekiah. However, Assyrian King Sennacherib invaded in 701 and restored Paddy to the throne. The Philistine economy flourished under the Assyrians during the following century. Assyria lost its hold over the region in 640, and the Philistine cities became vassals first of Egypt and then of Babylon. When they rebelled against Babylon, however, King Nebuchadnezzar invaded their lands, destroying their cities and exiling the survivors to Babylon. After the year 604, the original Philistines were no more. During the Persian period, Philistia was resettled by Phoenicians who applied the name Palashtine to themselves. In 135 CE, Emperor Hadrian changed the name of the Roman province of Judea to Palestina, from which we get Palestine today. We have very little evidence regarding the languages spoken by the early Philistines. In Aegean cultures, writing was an exclusive activity limited to palace administration. And there was little need for it following the destruction of the Aegean palace systems. The few early inscriptions we do find are in a Cypro-Minoan script based on Linear A that remains undeciphered. However, by the end of the Iron Age, the Philistines had adopted a Canaanite language similar to Hebrew and Phoenician. As for religion, the cultic activity of the Philistine settlements was initially quite different from the Canaanites. Aegean-style figurines called Ashdodah are known from several early sites, and a temple inscription from Ekron refers to a goddess spelled Pe-tau-gimol-yod-he, a name that scholars believe is derived from the Greek earth goddess Gaia. Based on iconography and other factors, Yasser Landel believes that the Ashdodah figurines are also depictions of an Aegean earth goddess. Figurines aside, bovine shoulder blades or scapulae are commonplace at Philistine and Shaker cultic sites, though their purpose is debated. We also find clay drinking cups in the shape of a lioness head at several Philistine and Shaker cultic sites. Cypriot-style wall brackets with bovine shapes have been found at some northern sites associated with the Sea Peoples, particularly Megiddo. Their function and the early religious practices of the Sea Peoples in general remain a mystery. Later, around the 7th century BCE, we see more Phoenician and Judahite influence on Philistine religion, including female figurines that might represent Astarte, and Judahite pillar figurines that are usually taken to represent Asherah. Four-horned incense altars of the type used in Israel and Judah are also quite widespread in 7th century Ekron, though they are found only in domestic dwellings, not in temples. As I mentioned in my video on the Canaanites, the Bible's memory horizon does not extend back to the Bronze Age collapse or the Egyptian administration that preceded it. This is evident in how the Bible views the Philistines, treating them as a people already settled in the land during the Exodus and Conquest narratives, even though the Bible's internal chronology requires these events to have taken place well before the arrival of the Sea Peoples. This problem is evident in the earlier patriarchal narrative as well. In Genesis 26, Isaac settles in Garar and encounters Philistine king Abimelech. This is the story where Isaac attempts to protect himself from the locals by pretending his wife Rebecca is his sister. This episode, which is a near-exact repeat of an incident that happened twice to Isaac's father Abraham, is ostensibly set in the Middle Bronze Age, many centuries before the Philistines arrived, and has long been regarded as anachronistic since the timeline is impossible. However, something more interesting is going on, for we now know that there was a Philistine king named Abimelech, Ahi-Milki to be more precise, and most scholars think that Abimelech of Genesis is based on this person. However, Ahi-Milki lived during the 7th century and was the king of Ashdod. Furthermore, the city of Garar, identified with Tel Haror, was only an insignificant village during the early Iron Age, but became an important stronghold in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. Thus, the Isaac story seems to be a literary creation that reflects the actual situation in a much later time, during the late Judahite monarchy. The story of David during the time of King Saul shows the same pattern. In 1 Samuel 27, David gives his allegiance to Philistine king Achish of Gath in return for protection from Saul, and Achish grants the city of Ziklag to David and his descendants. We know from Assyrian and Philistine records that there was, in fact, a famous king of Ekron named Achish during the 7th century. He was the son of King Paddy, whom we mentioned earlier, and a contemporary of King Ahi-Milki. Historians often call him Ikaosu, but it is the same name. Furthermore, the name Achish apparently comes from the Mycenaean word akaios, which literally means the Achaean. Even in the 7th century, the Philistines still celebrated their Achaean roots. The purpose of both stories, scholars believe, was to justify and legitimize the occupation of Ziklag and Gerar by the kingdom of Judah in the late Iron II. The constant antagonism and warfare between Judah and the Philistines in the time of Saul and David also most likely points to the political dominance that the Philistine city-states enjoyed under the Assyrian system. I hope to more fully explore the politics between the Philistines and the houses of David and Saul, as well as the defeat of Goliath, in another video. An earlier memory of the Sea Peoples might be found in Judges 5, a passage called the Song of Deborah, which most scholars think is the Bible's oldest text. It recounts an ancient battle between Israel and the so-called kings of Canaan led by someone named Sisera. Sisera is a non-Semitic name, and the story is set in the days of Shamgar, a hero famous for killing 600 Philistines. Some scholars, such as Łukasz Niszowowski-Spano of the University of Warsaw, believe this story is really about the Sea Peoples. What's fascinating is that the tribes listed in the song do not match the official twelve of later tradition. We glimpse an earlier time when there was no Judah, and Benjamin, as its name implies, was the southernmost tribe. In the tale, Deborah summons the tribes to battle against Sisera at Megiddo. The tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, Machir, Zebulun, Issachar, and Naphtali heed her call. Dan and Asher, described as seafaring tribes, are among those that refuse to help. The Egyptian onomastokon of Amenemope I mentioned earlier lists two unidentified names alongside the Philistines Shaker and Shardana in Canaan. According to a theory by the late Semiticist Giovanni Garbini, these names refer to Asher and Zebulun. Furthermore, some scholars think that Issachar is derived from Shaker. Interestingly, the wording of Joshua 1711, though confusing, suggests that Dor belonged to either Asher or Issachar before it was allotted to Manasseh. Although these connections are speculative and not widely accepted, it is possible that at least some Israelites originated as Sea Peoples rather than indigenous Canaanites. The tribe of Dan is an enigma. The strip of coastland allotted to Dan in Joshua 19 was actually Philistine territory, and Joshua never tells us about Dan conquering its allotment, unlike the other tribes. The only significant Danite character in the Bible is Samson, who lives among and interacts with the Philistines in Judges. Also in Judges, we have a story about the Danites migrating northward to the city of Dan. Here again, archaeology shows that Philistine bichrome pottery was produced at Tel Dan. It is difficult to resist the idea that the tribe of Dan might have been the Danuna, one of the Sea Peoples allied with the Philistines. The case for Dan as the Danuna was originally made by Near Eastern scholar Cyrus H. Gordon in the 1960s, and it was further popularized by Michael Astore and Yigael Yadin. An updated defense of this view was published by M.J. Corpman in 2020. After noting the similarities between the Danite migration of Judges 18 and various Greek migration legends, as well as the well-known parallels between Samson and the Greek myth of Hercules, Corpman turns to the archaeology of Tel Dan. He cites Aegean pottery, ritual items, and cultic structures as evidence that the city was originally inhabited by the Sea Peoples. David Ilan, one of the lead excavators of Tel Dan, supports this view, proposing that the city contained a mixed Egyptian Canaanite population that hired Danuna mercenaries for protection. The result was a hybrid society that, in time, became the Biblical Danites. Tel Dan was probably not incorporated into Israel until Assyrian king Adad-Nirari III conquered it from the Arameans around 800 BCE and gave it to Israelite king Joash. Despite the Bible generally treating the Philistines as indigenous Canaanites, some passages show awareness of their distant origins. Amos 9-7 and Jeremiah 47-4 say that the Philistines originated from Kafdor, which most scholars think means Crete. According to Finkelstein, this is inaccurate. Crete did not share the same Mycenaean material culture as early Philistia. However, there may be a connection with the mysterious Kerathites and Pelathites, who are depicted as mercenaries in the time of David. The Kerathites are equated with the Philistines in Ezekiel and Zephaniah, and they are thought to have been Cretan mercenaries who were first active in the 7th century BCE. Similarly, the Pelathites were the Peltasts, Greek warriors armed with a type of shield called a pelte, who appeared in the 6th century BCE. Here too, then, we see the cultural reality of the late Judahite monarchy projected onto earlier times. As Finkelstein summarizes, the stories about foreign mercenary troops in the service of David cannot be accepted as reliable historical testimony, nor even as a genuine memory from early times. The idea that the Philistines came from Crete is due to the activity of Greek mercenaries in the 7th century or later. To summarize, the Philistines and their Sea People allies migrated to Canaan during the Bronze Age collapse of the 12th century. They enjoyed two periods of political dominance. During the early Iron I, before the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshonq, and later in Iron II, when they dominated southern Palestine as vassals of Assyria. It is this later period that is reflected in nearly all of the biblical passages that concern the Philistines and their political relations with Israel and Judah, with the main exception of the Song of Deborah in Judges. And although the Philistines are usually depicted as the enemies of Israel, several of the regions and tribes described as a core part of Israel in the Bible might have originated as Sea Peoples related to the Philistines. Thanks for the hospitality. Think nothing of it. After all, any friend of Goliath's is a friend of the Philistines.