{"id":35426,"date":"2018-07-07T09:00:33","date_gmt":"2018-07-07T13:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/?p=35426"},"modified":"2019-06-11T11:22:44","modified_gmt":"2019-06-11T15:22:44","slug":"the-philistines-to-the-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/daily\/ancient-cultures\/ancient-israel\/the-philistines-to-the-north\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cPhilistines\u201d to the North"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Who were the Philistines? In the Bible, the Philistines and the Israelites were enemies.<\/p><\/div>\n

To accuse someone of being a philistine today implies that that person is crass, unintellectual and lacking in culture. Where did this term come from? Who were the Philistines? In the Bible, the Philistines were the enemies of the Israelites. The Biblical conflict is well-attested, from Samson\u2019s slaying of a thousand Philistines (Judges 15) to David\u2019s battle with the Philistine giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17) to King Saul\u2019s impalement on the walls of Beth Shean<\/a> at the hands of the Philistines (1 Samuel 31). Through archaeology, however, we have learned that the Philistines were just one tribe of Sea Peoples<\/a> who invaded Canaan in the 12th century B.C.E. and settled along the coast. The Bible refers to all of these tribes collectively as the Philistines.<\/p>\n

The Philistines established the famous Pentapolis\u2014Gaza, Ashkelon<\/a>, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron\u2014in the southern coastal plain. Archaeological excavations at each of these sites, save for Gaza (due to the modern buildings constructed atop its tell), reveal a rich material culture with origins in the Aegean. The Philistines were far from lacking in culture as the modern derogatory term suggests.<\/p>\n

In \u201cThe Other \u2018Philistines\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/a> in the November\/December 2014 issue of BAR<\/strong>, Ephraim Stern sheds light on the \u201cPhilistines\u201d in the Bible who lived in the northern region of Canaan. These settlers may be called the northern Sea Peoples to differentiate them from the Sea Peoples who lived in the south (the Philistines).<\/p>\n\n\t\t

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