The “Philistines” to the North
The Philistines in the Bible and the northern Sea Peoples
Who were the Philistines? In the Bible, the Philistines and the Israelites were enemies.
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’s slaying of a thousand Philistines (Judges 15) to David’s battle with the Philistine giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17) to King Saul’s impalement on the walls of Beth Shean 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 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.
The Philistines established the famous Pentapolis—Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron—in 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.
In “The Other ‘Philistines’” in the November/December 2014 issue of BAR, Ephraim Stern sheds light on the “Philistines” 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).
Reliefs at the Temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu depict the Egyptians in battle with three tribes of Sea Peoples: the Danunu, the Sikils and the Philistines. Photo: Leslie Anne Warden.
Capitalizing on the power vacuum left by the Egyptians and Hittites, the Sea Peoples launched a series of attacks in the Levant in the second half of the 13th century B.C.E. Pioneering archaeologist Trude Dothan describes this struggle in “What We Know About the Philistines”:
In wave after wave of land and sea assaults [the Sea Peoples] attacked Syria, Palestine, and even Egypt itself. In the last and mightiest wave, the Sea Peoples, including the Philistines, stormed south from Canaan in a land and sea assault on the Egyptian Delta. According to Egyptian sources, including the hieroglyphic account at Medinet Habu, Ramesses III (c. 1198–1166 B.C.) soundly defeated them in the eighth year of his reign. He then permitted them to settle on the southern coastal plain of Palestine. There they developed into an independent political power and a threat both to the disunited Canaanite city-states and to the newly settled Israelites.
We know about the different tribes of Sea Peoples not from the Bible but from Egyptian sources—and from archaeology. The famous sculpted reliefs at the Temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu depict the Egyptians in battle with three tribes of Sea Peoples: the Danunu, the Sikils and the Philistines (pictured above). In addition, the 11th-century B.C.E. Story of Wenamun papyrus describes an Egyptian priest’s journey to the Canaan/Phoenician coast to purchase Lebanese cedar trees and includes a reference to the Sikil settlement at Dor.
This cow scapula, or shoulder blade, with incised grooves from Dor has also been found at a number of other Sea Peoples’ sites and probably originated in Cyprus. Its purpose is unknown. Photo: Courtesy Ephraim Stern.
Archaeological investigations north of the Philistine Pentapolis have uncovered five significant sites inhabited by the northern Sea Peoples—Aphek, Tell Qasile, Tell Gerisa, Jaffa and Dor—of which Dor is the largest.
Excavations at the northern Sea Peoples’ site of Dor, which author Ephraim Stern directed for two decades, reveal that the Sikil city boasted a particularly strong defense wall and engaged in metallurgical activities. Cult objects discovered at Dor reflect Aegean and Cypriot origins and are also attested in the Philistine material record.
There are, however, some differences in the material culture of the northern and southern Sea Peoples. This monochrome strainer-spout jug from Dor (pictured below left) helped Stern distinguish between the pottery of the southern Philistines and the northern Sea Peoples. Although the jug is decorated with motifs similar to Philistine bichrome pottery, it is painted in only one color—red. Monochrome pottery, Stern concluded, differentiates northern from southern Sea Peoples’ vessels.
Northern Sea Peoples’ vessels, such as this one from Dor, are monochrome—they are painted in just red. Photo: Courtesy Ephraim Stern. Philistine vessels are bichrome—they are decorated with red and black paint.
Discover more differences in the material culture of the northern Sea Peoples and the southern Philistines by reading the full article “The Other ‘Philistines’” by Ephraim Stern in the November/December 2014 issue of BAR.
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Related content in Bible History Daily:
Where Did the Philistines Come From?
Philistine Cemetery Unearthed at Ashkelon
Adornment in the Southern Levant
The Philistine Marketplace at Ashkelon
Giant of the Persian Period: Ephraim Stern (1934–2018)
Queen of the Philistines: Trude Dothan (1922–2016)
Severed Hands: Trophies of War in New Kingdom Egypt
This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on October 13, 2014.
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I would guess the cow scapula is used for music, raking a stick across the incised groves.
listen up its easy keftiu is said to be in asia minor syria ethiopia egypt babylon
why are all these nations carrying cretan bull head rhyton w
why are these so called pharoahs being buried with cretan religious artifacts ?
an egyptian pharoah prefers religious cretan ware rather then his own egyptian religion ware and especially for the after life ? who are these people and vwere are they all from ?
in greek mythology homer doesnt have that problem identifying place names with rulers
the greeks are not from this earth but certainly the first set foot on it
long live ZEUS your all his children take it or leave it is what it is
After reading the current article in BAR, and looking over the color drawing of the sculpted reliefs. I wonder about the ethnic origins of these people. The reliefs are showing Egyptians fighting from their boats with these sea peoples. One group has Broom like head dresses, and are caucasian looking. Then there are darker skinned “Africans” wearing helmets with bull horns, but also some caucasian prisoners with the same helmets in an Egyptian boat. Do these helmets represent a connection to Bull worship? A connection to Santorini? Where did this mixed ethnic group come from, and why did they coalesce together? There names may give something away… Dananu. Could they be worshipers of goddess Dianna?
WJs is new erudits pubblish the new history … ahahahahahaha
Kurt makes a good point about the alleged Phillistine presence at Gerar long before the arrival of the Sea Peoples in 1200 B.C.E., and it seems that the term “Phillistines” was applied to other Sea Peoples who disappeared from the historical record, like the Minoans who were also from the island of Crete. During the period of Hyksos domination the Minoans established relations with the Hyksos rulers in Egypt at Tanis, the biblical Zoan. Recently scholars have focused on an obscure reference to what may have been a tsunami on a stela of the Pharaoh who expelled the Hyksos from Egypt, Ahmose I. It has been suggested that this was the turning point that ended Hyksos domination in Egypt since their seaports were destroyed.
In Psalm 78:12-13 there is a connection between the “field of Zoan” and the parting of the sea though it doesn’t say which sea. It’s possible that in verse 43 the “miracles in the field of Zoan” is the act of God that would change the course of history. This was thought to have taken place around 1600 B.C.E., a thousand years before the culture of horseback-riding was introduced from the steppes of Eurasia, so that the references to horse and rider in the sea in Exodus 15:1,21 is likely an eye witness account of the remnants of the Hyksos forces in the flood waters.
http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/news//reinterpreting-the-tempest-stela/
The island of Crete (usually held to be identical with Caphtor), though not necessarily the original home of the Philistines, was the place from which they migrated to the coast of Canaan. (Jer 47:4; Am 9:7; Just when this migration began is uncertain. However, as early as the time of Abraham and his son Isaac, Philistines resided at Gerar in southern Canaan. They had a king, Abimelech, and an army under the command of a certain Phicol.—Ge 20:1, 2; 21:32-34; 26:1-18;
Some object to the Genesis references to Philistine residence in Canaan, arguing that the Philistines did not settle there until the 12th century B.C.E. But this objection does not rest on a solid basis. The New Bible Dictionary edited by J. Douglas (1985, p. 933) observes: “Since the Philistines are not named in extra-biblical inscriptions until the 12th century BC, and the archaeological remains associated with them do not appear before this time, many commentators reject references to them in the patriarchal period as anachronistic.” However, in showing why such a position is not sound, mention is made of the evidence of a major expansion of Aegean trade reaching back to about the 20th century B.C.E. It is pointed out that a particular group’s not being prominent enough to be mentioned in the inscriptions of other nations does not prove that the group did not exist. The conclusion reached in that New Bible Dictionary is: “There is no reason why small groups of Philistines could not have been among the early Aegean traders, not prominent enough to be noticed by the larger states.”
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200274451
[…] an article titled, “The ‘Philistines’ to the North,” published in Bible History Daily, Robin Ngo gives an overview of these Northern Philistines. Below is an excerpt taken from Ngo’s […]
That is Popeye and Bluto, not Brutus (which makes me seem brutish and uncultured for not getting that right). I don’t think it’s farfetched to use Popeye the Sailor to denote the status of Sampson as hailing from a seafaring culture or at least his tribe of Dan as being identified with the Sea Peoples since the name Dan is akin to the Denyen mentioned in Egyptian sources. Sampson was in his element when he tried to assimilate with the Phillistines by marrying a woman from Timnah within the territory of Dan (Joshua 19:46) before the Danites migrated north. So it was in Sampson’s time when the Phillistines controlled Joppa and the Sikil controlled Dor and if you wanted to be a success, the lifestyle of the Sea Peoples was likely your ticket, as was sung by Deborah; “and Dan – why did he linger by the ships?” (Judges 5:17). Joppa was the early Israelite’s link to the world and it was here that the apostle Peter received a vision to spread the gospel to the gentiles (Acts 10:8-23).
There is a record preserved on papyrus of an Egyptian military officer’s account of taking control of Joppa during the reign of Thuthmose III. The people of Joppa were deceived into thinking the 200 baskets given them was tribute while the soldiers hid inside. A similar tactic was used in the Arabian tale, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.” In the animation, “Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba’s Forty Thieves,” Popeye is on guard duty when he hears an alert about a thief and after flying around the globe in his boat/plane, he crashes in the desert. Popeye, Olive Oil and Wimpy eventually make it to a city where they find a cafe where Popeye (under his breath) orders a “desert with no sand.” Then the thieves arrive on horseback and the leader of the thieves, Abu Hassan, is played by Bluto who sings about what a terrible guy he is and who captures Olive Oil and makes her do the laundry. What does this have to do the Sea Peoples? Nothing.
[…] The “Philistines” to the North – Bible History Daily […]
It is interesting how only one tribe of Sea Peoples is mentioned in the bible; the Phillistines. If not for Egypt’s dry climate that preserves the papyrus writings that mention other tribes like the Sikil (Sicily) who established themselves as a maritime power at the city of Dor (which the author of this magazine article excavated).
“Apart from its significance in establishing the Sikil presence at Dor, ‘The Tale of Wen-Amon’ is the single most important source for the history of Palestine in the 11th century B.C.E., otherwise considered a Dark Age because of its lack of textual evidence” (“The Many Masters of Dor; Part 1, When Canaanites Became Phoenician Sailors,” by Ephraim Stern, BAR, Jan./Feb. 1993, p.26).
Though the Sea Peoples who settled in Canaan borrowed some local cultural traditions along with those they brought from the Aegean world, the last holdouts of traditional Canaanite culture were reduced to the portion of coastline along what is modern Lebanon. So while the Phillistines were more advanced than the Israelites in metallurgy (1 Samuel 13:19-22), they lacked the artistic refinery of the Phoenicians with whom David and Solomon had trade relations (1 Kings 5:15) and possibly a military alliance (2 Chronicles 1:16-17) that eventually put the squeeze on the Sea Peoples’ monopoly of northern Canaan.
Perhaps the story of the ark of the covenant being captured by the Phillistines alludes to the cultural superiority of the Israelites, who borrowed the pattern of the cherubim that adorn the ark from the Phoenicians. It has been suggested that the affliction of the Phillistines was not hemorrhoids but impotence. as has been hinted at when they were required to atone for their theft by offering golden “ophalim” (1 Samuel 5:17) that represent the phallus statues found in Gaza of which some appear to show that the Phillistines did practice circumcision, contrary to the popular term “uncircumcised Phillistine” (1 Samuel 17:26) that was slung at Goliath. It has also been noted that Sampson acquired the attributes of the Greek hero Heracles when he carried the gates of Gaza and set them down facing Hebron (Judges 16:3), like the Pillars of Heracles at the Strait of Gibraltar. To me this signifies that it is cultural stagnation on the part of the Phillistines (likely orchestrated by the Phillistine lords known as “seren” from which we derive the word “tyrant”) that they have to all act in concert just to frustrate Sampson’s love life, as if the contest between Popeye and Brutus wasn’t enough (Judges 14:20).
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