Philistines and the ‘Sea People’ who were they?

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The Mysterious Philistines

David vs. Goliath, by Gebhard Fugel (1863-1939)

In the half-century between c. 1200 and 1150 BC the Mycenean Kingdoms, the Kassite dynasty of Babylonia, the Hittite Empire, many Canaanite cities began to fall like dominoes. 

They (and Egyptian Empire) were caught up in mega-drought and famine, disruptive people movements, war, depopulation and ensuing illiteracy over much of the known world.

This was the time of the Bronze Age collapse (which is discussed in a separate blog). 

The origin of the Philistines and their arrival into Palestine occurred at this time and is caught up in the mystery of the 'Sea People', best known from Egyptian accounts as savage raiders attacking in great numbers along the Mediterranean coast for maybe a century through to 1178 BC.

 ‘The unruly Sherden (people of the sea) whom no one had ever known how to combat, they came boldly sailing in their warships from the midst of the sea, none being able to withstand them’ (from an inscription credited to Ramesses II ) 

The Egyptians  (and the Hittites) not only suffered from these marauders but more local raiders . In Egypt's case this  included people from Canaan and Libya,

By the time of Ramesses III 1180 BC, the Peleset (from Hebrew Peleshet (meaning Philistine)) were first included in the list, at time of unimaginable wide spread slaughter and collapse.

'No land could resist their arms, from Hatti, Kode, Carchemish, Arzawa, and Alashiya … They desolated its people and its land was like that which had never existed … They laid their hands upon the lands as far as the circuit of the earth, their hearts were confident …'  

Ramesses III's reliefs show carts loaded with women, children, and household goods amongst the attackers. They weren't just there to raid, they were looking for new lands to settle.

The Israelite term (Pelesheth) means a region on the S. Mediterranean coast of Israel, (similar in origin to Palestine) . Philistine simply means the people that lived in that region. So calling them ‘Philistines’ doesn’t tell us anything about who they were and where they originally came from.

In fact the early (and more friendly) Philistines (mentioned in Genesis) were simply local Canaanites, but that changed after the Bronze Age Collapse to be a new people who (according to the Bible at least) were both hated and feared by the Israelites. 

There has been great speculation around their origin. Some of which was spurious attempts to link them to similar sounding names . 

The similarity between ‘Peleset’ and ‘Pelasgoí’ caused speculation that the two might have been etymologically related. The Pelasgoí were only a power in the early Bronze Age until they were absorbed by the Minoans. Their small islands could not possibly support the great numbers described.

Some early archeologists tried to link the 'Sherden' to similar sounding names like Sardinia or Sicily which similarly seems unlikely. ) The Israeli archeologist Adam Zertal suggested that the ruins of El-Ahwat in Palestine had a (Sardinian) Nuragic influence. Zertal suggested it was the fortress of Harosheth Haggoyim, according to him a Sardinian colony, which was said to be defeated by the Israelites after a brief period of military dominance over the local area.

A few Israelite references point to Crete as the origin of the Philistines. A small number of artefacts found could have been influenced by bulls. Crete was conquered by the Myceneans after the ‘Minoan Eruption’ occurred in approximately 1600 BCE. 

Crete might have been a handy stepping off port for a fleet of ships but if there was a contingent from Crete, even a large one, this would be Mycenean, not Minoan culture.

The culture Of the Philistines was centred around the five city-states of the southwestern levant : Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron and Gatha. 

Wiki, public domain map , anonymous contributor

The last level of Canaanite occupation at these sites shows a layer of violent conflagration, and after a few decades there was reoccupation and a marked change in culture . 

Much of the archaeological record show Mycenean pottery (Late Helladic 111C) pottery, Mycenaean megaron buildings and Aegean burial, all supporting a Mycenean origin.

There were other significant migrations of Greek-speaking peoples to Sardinia and Sicily at the time and (as mentioned) the collapse of Mycenean society. Some have suggested this was the time of the somewhat discredited ‘Dorian invasion’ of Greece coming (initially) over land from the North.

Wherever the new Philistine settlers came from, in a few short centuries their culture became merged with and finally completely eclipsed by the local culture. They adopted Canaanite Gods, pottery, freely intermarried (usually more successfully than Sampson’s marriage to Philistine Delilah) . While they had their own (poorly attested language)  they were soon speaking a Phoenician dialect easily understood by the Israelites and many had Canaanite names.

One possibility might be that the original numbers of the Mycenean Greek settlers were relatively small and they welcomed Canaanites amongst them in considerable numbers until the Canaanite number and culture became dominant.

The archeologically record shows brilliantly organised and productive cities, wine, perfume, and interest in personal hygiene (They certainly were not 'Philistines' in the modern sense of the word).

Why didn’t the Israelites like them?

This is a very murky time and our best record is the Bible. Unfortunately some parts of the Bible were written and added to long after, and sometimes many centuries after, the events described. The Biblical description of the large, very rich ‘Golden Age’ United  Kingdom of Saul, David and Solomon emerging around 1030 BC (see map) isn’t supported by the archaeological record. Judah and Jerusalem were said to be thinly populated at the time.  

Putting this aside, if the Biblical record is accepted at face value, God promised the land of the Philistines to the Israelites and “you shall drive them out before you.” Exodus 23:31 . In Joshua 13:1–3 God lists them in the lands yet to be conquered.

Such war-like attitudes have not been uncommon throughout human history. While there is some evidence of good relations and intermarriage, perhaps some conflict with the Philistines was inevitable.

Fall of the Philistines

 The Philistines were already being absorbed into the local culture.

Unless David conquered them, they may have maintained their independence till they were forced to pay tribute to Adad-nirari III (810–782 BC), an Assyrian King.

By the early part of the 7th century BC they were vassals of the Assyrians. In the second half of that century, they became Egyptian vassals and they were conquered in turn by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar 11 (605 BC – c. 562 BC) after which they faded from history as a separate cultural or political group.

It was the same Nebuchadnezzar who besieged and looted Jerusalem, destroying its temple and taking some Israelites into captivity.

Links https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David#History and archeology

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philistines

https:// www.livescience.com/55429-philistines.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea Peoples

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The Search for Troy

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The Procession of the Trojan Horse into Troy

about 1760, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo

In my first three books I refer to ‘Greek Troy’, using the Greek name ‘Troia’. My Troia was a mythical city, but didn’t Troy disappear well before the Greek classical Age?

No, Troy was established in 3,000 BC by an Anatolian people (probably Luwians) who according to Homer could speak the same Greek as their Mycenaean foes so might have been related. 
From the very first Troy was a massive and wealthy fortress city controlling lucrative sea and land trade routes. It maintained its independence, possibly for thousands of years despite having many hungry neighbours and fighting several wars.

By classical Greek times (under the name Ilion) it was said to have dwindled, but it was still visited by Xerxes and Alexander the Great, to name a few. It was involved in that part of the wars between Athens and Sparta that were fought in Greek Turkey. It became large again in Roman and Byzantine times and was important in tourism, wars and local politics. It even had its own Bishop. Most of its functions were progressively taken over by ‘Constantinople’. It was finally abandoned maybe eight hundred years ago, as Christian Constantinople began its terminal decline, leading to its fall and the start of the so called ‘Dark Ages’. 

There may have been doubts about the historical accuracy of Homer’s classic, but there could never have been much doubt about the existence of Troy and its approximate location, despite some claims.

Heinrich Schliemann, who did the deepest excavation at Troy, perpetuated a lot of colourful myths around the ancient city and his own life, some of which linger today. Some of his more outrageous claims are still repeated uncritically (e.g. he had devised a method to learn any language in six weeks).

 Simply put, he was a conman, adventurer and self publicist, one who had become wealthy.

Claiming sole credit, he took over the careful archaeological excavations of his ‘partner’ Frank Calvert with money, dynamite and brash ignorance. He assumed Priam’s Troy would be at the lowest level, and his workers hastily blasted down to a level which would have been a thousand years before Homer’s tale. In doing so, they discarded any upper levels that would have included ‘Priam’s Troy’ and maybe his palace. He left a massive trench which forever destroyed much of the archaeological evidence. Even the shy Calvert was appalled and publicly denounced his conclusions, referring to the pottery record.

Still Schliemann for all his faults, inflamed popular enthusiasm for Aegean archaeology and (partly by setting a bad example) drew attention to the need for more careful archaeological excavation and the importance of ‘strata’ in a dig. Later he did improve his techniques and listen to advisors. 

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Heinrich-Schliemann

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The Pelasgoí, the forgotten people of Greece

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 Today, a short (pre-)history lesson about a little known people mentioned in Books 1 and 2. The Neolithic and early Bronze Age occupants of Greece, the ones that later Greeks called ‘Pelasgoí ’ (people of the sea).   

It was they who first established and named many of the important southern Greek cities (Athens, Thebes, Mycenae). They survived through to the Classic Greek Age on islands and in small mainland enclaves and were described as speaking a ‘barbaric’ language (not ‘Greek’).

Greece is rocky and mountainous. Many of the choicest areas, and those easiest for transport and trade are connected to the sea. So it is no accident that the Neolithic revolution (animal husbandry and farming), arrived in Greece by island hopping across the Aegean around 7,000 BC (from Anatolia/ Turkey).

By 3,200 BC the new arrivals had established a thriving and advanced seafaring civilisation that we now call the ‘Cycladic Culture’ after the maze of small islands north of Crete. At the same time many of the cities in southern Greece (occupied since Neolithic times) showed major advances.

The larger Minoan Civilization (Crete) came about 500 years after, they also did not speak Greek (see Eteocretan below). They invented writing (linear A, not yet deciphered) and absorbed the smaller Cycladic Culture around 2,000 BC. At about this time (2,000 BC) there was a sudden economic and political decline in southern Mainland Greece which some have blamed on an invasion by the Greek speaking Mycenean Indo-Europeans, though others have pointed to the lack of widespread destruction or sudden change in culture. 

This points to an important gap in our knowledge, where and when did the Greek Indo-Europeans (the ones we call 'Greeks') arrive? The current accepted theory is that Indo-Europeans (mainly nomadic pastoralists) evolved in the Great Steppe north of the Greater Caucasus Mountains and spread out overland to arrive in the Balkans/ north of Greece about 4,000 BC. Linguistic evidence has been used to suggest (Indo-European) proto-Greek speakers had settled throughout the river valleys and the few plains ( e.g. Thessaly) that can be found in Northern Greece, by around 2,200 BC.

Their arrival to the south didn’t have to be massive hordes burning everything in their path (as seen in later history). It is more likely they joined and dominated the earlier people of Greece.

For instance, in Anatolia/ Turkey the Indo-Europeans (Hittites) took something like 2,000 years from the time they arrived to when they finally absorbed and partly built upon the indigenous early Bronze Age Hattian civilization of Anatolia. 

The decline in Southern Mainland Greece (2,000 BC) may have been caused by the absorption of the land starved Cycladic Culture by the larger Minoan Culture and a new focus on Crete, leaving the former mainland colonies as isolated backwaters. The takeover by the vigorous but less civilised northerners, as I said, may then have been less catastrophic than first pictured. 

 

However it happened, when the dust settled (1600 BC) the warrior culture of the Myceneans was firmly in control, often in cities occupied since Neolithic times, and everyone was speaking the new Indo-European language. 

In 1650 BC, 100 kilometres from Crete, the island of Thera exploded in one of the largest volcanic explosions in recorded history, leaving a massive Caldera, part of which is modern day Santorini. It caused a massive Tsunami that devastated the maritime Minoan empire, maybe inspiring the legend of Atlantis. The Myceneans arrived to take charge in Crete not long after that.

Links;  Pelasgians here

Pre-Greek loan words here 
Etocretan, probable  Minoan language here

Illustration from  here

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