The Philistines: An Essay

The Philistines are remembered in history as the archetypical enemies of Israel due to their conflicts with Israel during the reigns of Saul and David. The name ‘Philistine’ comes from the Hebrew pelisti(m) and occurs 228 times in the Old Testament. The term peleset (‘Philistia’) occurs eight times. The Egyptians knew the Philistines as the prst (‘Peleset’), and the Assyrians called them the pilisti and palastu. The Old Testament indicates that no language barrier existed between the Philistines and the Israelites, so it seems that the Philistines spoke a dialect of Canaanite after settling in Canaan. There is only one clearly Philistine word in the Bible, and that is seren (or ‘lord’). In modern English, ‘Philistine’ has come to refer to an uncultured person. The historical Philistines were far from uncultured, but the Bible’s biased portrayal of the Philistines lends to such an extrapolation. In reality the Philistines were a mixed group of peoples with various origins and whose material culture combined numerous influences, principally from Aegean and Canaanite sources. Aegean roots are deciphered in Philistine pottery, weaponry and military tactics, and in religious customs.

Goliath's 'war gear' was Aegean in style

Philistine pottery flourished around 1150-1000 BC and was influenced by many cultural styles that included Mycenaean, Egyptian, Cypriot, and Canaanite. Mycenaean pottery had been imported to the ancient Near East for many years, but at the beginning of the 12th century – during the period of the invasion of the Sea Peoples – the imports were abruptly cut off. Locally made pottery became dominant, and the type fashioned by the Philistines largely imitated the Mycenaean style. Despite these imitations, it was cruder stuff: Philistine pottery had thicker walls, rough decorations, and were often unfinished. Aegean influence is also detected in Philistine warfare. Goliath – the giant champion of the Philistines who was bested by the young and future King David – wore Aegean-style gear: his spear, helmet, coat of mail, and leg greaves were typical for Aegean warriors but out-of-style for the ancient Near East. The fact that the Bible identifies him as a ‘champion’ (or, literally, ‘a man of the between,’ in 1 Samuel 17.4) is telling: the term was used to designate a warrior from each side of opposing battle lines to step out and ‘do battle’; the winner would determine which army was the victor without spilling unneeded blood. Such ‘trial-by-combat’ was rare in the ancient Near East but common in the Aegean. 

a reconstruction of the Philistine temple in the city-state of Ekron

Further indications of Aegean roots appear in the Philistine religion: though their pantheon and deities conformed largely to the commonplace Canaanite religion of the area, some of their practices are decidedly Aegean in style. We know only of three Philistine deities, all with Semitic names: Dagon, Ashtoreth, and Baal-zebub. Dagon took center stage as the chief Philistine deity, and his temple is featured prominently in many biblical stories. Dagon isn’t unique to the Philistines, though: he’s known from the Early Bronze Age through to the Roman age. In some portions of Ugaritic mythology, he’s known as Baal’s father. Ashtoreth was a goddess of love and war, and she was a consort of Baal. Baal-zebub, the god of the Philistine city-state of Ekron, had an odd name meaning ‘lord of the flies’; it’s probable that his name was actually Baal-zebul (which would mean ‘Lord Baal’ or ‘lord of the [heavenly] dwelling,’ and that his name is purposefully corrupted by the biblical writers. The New Testament preserves his name as Beelzebub. The Philistines celebrated in the temples of their gods and utilized soothsayers and diviners. Several of these Philistine temples and at least two cultic buildings have been discovered. Their temples were supported by pillars – reminiscent of those from the Samson story in Judges 16 – and in one of the temples, the entrance was at a right angle to the axis of its two rooms, so that to approach the altar worshippers had to turn right after entering. This is interesting, because such a layout is unknown in Canaanite temples but common in Aegean ones. Philistine cultic buildings consisted of a large hall adjoined with small rooms; some of these small rooms had cultic platforms. Canaanite cultic platforms tended to be in free-standing buildings, unlike those in Philistine structures; the Philistine structures are echoed in discoveries from the Aegean. Further Aegean associations are found with the ‘Ashdoda’ cult figurines incorporating Mycenaean, Cypriot, and Canaanite styles; hollow pottery rings called kernos that have been discovered in a few Philistine cities but which are dominant in Cyprus; and the rhyton, a one-handled drinking cup with a lion’s head decoration that is present in Philistine sites and at Mycenae and Knossos. Another parallel is found in Philistine mourning customs that reflect a blend of Canaanite and Mycenaean cultures. 

warriors of the Sea Peoples

The question, then, is, “Why the connection between the Philistines and the Aegean?” The answer has to do with the infamous Sea Peoples invasion of the 12th century BC. The Invasion of the Sea Peoples was a cataclysmic event (addressed earlier in this book) in which hordes of Aegean refugees swept through the coastal regions of the ancient Near East. The causes of the ‘invasion’ are unknown, but it seems apparent that the Philistines were Aegean refugees who eventually settled down, blended with the native Canaanite culture, and whom – over time – became more Canaanite than Aegean. In the Bible, the Philistines first appear sometime around the end of the third millennium BC or the beginning of the second millennium BC. The Bible tells us the Philistines came from the islands and coastlines of the Aegean Sea, including the island of Crete. At the same time, some biblical texts inform us that the Philistines came from Egypt. This apparent contradiction is reconciled by history, as we will see, so that the Philistines with whom the Israelites tangled in the era of the judges and the monarchy are actually an amalgamation of several different peoples. Some Philistines indeed came from the Aegean and Crete, and others indeed came from Egypt (though they were not Egyptian). The Philistines are first mentioned in Egyptian texts by Pharaoh Ramesses III (r. 1184-1153) in connection with infamous battles between the Egyptians and ‘the peoples of the sea’ (or Sea Peoples). Among these Sea Peoples was a group known as the ‘Peleset’, who are identified with the biblical Philistines. The Sea Peoples first appeared during the reign of Pharaoh Merenptah in 1208 as allies of a powerful group of Libyans who opposed the Egyptian king. They were a subset of a larger group of Sea Peoples foreign to north Africa and identified as ‘Sea Peoples’ because they came from island or coastal areas in the Aegean or Asia Minor. The Philistines joined a confederation of Sea Peoples in 1176 during the reign of Ramesses III. This wasn’t a military coalition but a refugee confederation; these people were looking for new land to settle and moving south towards Egypt. 

Egypt vs. the Sea Peoples

The Egyptians didn’t want them crossing their borders, so they opposed them and war erupted. The Egyptians and Sea Peoples fought on land and sea, and Egyptian reliefs commissioned by Ramesses III gives us a picture of the Sea Peoples. Their headgear consisted of distinct headbands that held the hair in a stiff, upright arrangement (called a ‘feathered’ headdress); this headdress wasn’t unique to the Sea Peoples, as it shows up throughout the Mediterranean and even in Jerusalem and parts of Canaan. The Sea Peoples wore ribbed body armor that covered their torsos and tasseled kilts that ended above the knees. The Sea Peoples’ ships were oared whereas Egyptian vessels were both oared and sailed, giving the Egyptians the advantage. Egyptian advantage at sea was offset by Sea People advantage on land: whereas Egyptian charioteers were armed with bow and arrow and fought long distance, the Sea Peoples utilized close-quarters charioteers. Sea People chariots had two six-spoked wheels, were pulled by two horses, and the chariots were operated by crews of three armed with long spears. Each Sea People foot soldier carried two spears, a round shield, and a long, straight sword; and they fought in groups of four. These Egyptian reliefs celebrate Egyptian prowess over the Sea Peoples: the Sea Peoples had overwhelmed cities in Asia Minor and Cyprus before heading east and then south towards Egypt where Ramesses III met them at the Egyptian frontier. A fierce battle ensued and the Egyptians were triumphant. Egyptian reliefs of this battle show vicious close-quarters combat among warriors and chariots, dead and dying Sea Peoples, and women and children in oxcarts. The Egyptians also trounced the Sea Peoples at the naval Battle of the Nile; the Egyptian relief shows four Egyptian ships overwhelming five enemy vessels, one of which had capsized. Ramesses III allowed the Peleset, along with other groups, to settle in southwestern Canaan, which was precisely the area in which the biblical Philistines were to be found during the days of the judges and the Israelite monarchy. Thus scholars agree that the Philistines with whom the judges and Israelite kings tangled were actually descendants of Sea Peoples who had fought and lost against Egypt before resettling in Egypt-controlled Canaan. 

But what of the Philistines with whom the Jewish patriarchs interacted? Both Abraham and Isaac had encounters with Philistines in Genesis 20, 21, and 26. These encounters took place in Philistine territory at Gerar. Both Abraham and Isaac tried to pass off their wives as sisters for fear that the Philistine king would take them for himself; the Philistine king, however, acted honorably, and both Abraham and Isaac came off looking foolish. They would later clash with the Philistines over water rights, but the conflict would be amicably resolved. Thus the Bible indicates that the Philistines were in Canaan at the beginning of the second millennium BC, even before the Invasion of the Sea Peoples. Given what we know above, how do we make sense of this? The Bible tells us that these ‘early’ Philistines were centered at Gerar under a ‘king’ and were not organized into a five-city ‘pentapolis’ as they were during the days of the judges and monarchy. These Philistines were a relatively peaceful people, a far cry from the Philistines recounted in Egyptian and later biblical texts. It’s possible that both the earlier and later Philistines both traced their roots back to the Aegean or Anatolia; such contacts with the eastern Mediterranean are known from as early as 2000 BC. It’s also likely that the biblical term ‘Philistine’ encompassed more groups from overseas than just the Peleset of the Egyptian texts; thus a ‘Philistine’ may be any of a number of coastal Canaanite peoples. The term ‘Philistine’ may reflect the dominance of the Peleset among those who later settled at Canaan. Archaeology informs us that there were other peoples in Philistia besides the Philistines, such as the Tjeker at Dor and the Sherden at Acco. All this to say that the Philistines who interacted with the patriarchs probably weren’t the genetic relatives of the later Philistines. The ‘early Philistines’ may have been peoples with genetic roots across the Mediterranean, but the later Philistines – primarily the Peleset – supplanted them after their defeat and relocation by Ramesses III in the upper half of the 12th century. Following their settlement in southern Canaan, the Philistines of the biblical narrative were a warrior race with Aegean ties who sought and eventually acquired land after the Sea Peoples Invasion. Their culture and lifestyle was markedly different from the ‘Philistines’ with whom the patriarchs interacted.

an avenue in the Ashkelon marketplace

The Philistines encountered during the era of the judges and the monarchy were thus those whom Ramesses III fought and resettled. They were of a different breed than the honorable and peaceful Philistines with whom the patriarchs dealt. By this time, around 1200 to 1000 BC, the Philistines were centered around five city-states, the so-called ‘Pentapolis of Philistia.’ Beginning in the 12th century BC, the resettled Philistines established five city-states in southern Canaan: Ekron and Gath in the Shephelah; and Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Gaza along the Mediterranean seacoast. Each city was headed by a ‘lord’ (seren) called ‘kings’ in the biblical accounts; and under these seren were the Philistine commanders (sarim). These cities were well-planned and laid-out, and all but Gath were walled. Ashkelon was a thriving seaport more than 150 acres in size; another city, Lachish, would become the main Philistine hub in the hill country of the Shephelah in the second half of Israel’s monarchial period. In the 12th-11th centuries, Ekron extended over an area of almost fifty acres and developed into a large city. It was destroyed at the end of the 11th century but survived as a small city during the 10th and 9th centuries before expanding yet again in the 8th and 7th centuries into a central site reminiscent of its earlier glory days; but it would be destroyed by the Babylonians in 603 BC.  Though Gath was a small site during the 12th-11th centuries, it developed into a major city with nearly 100 acres during the 10th-9th centuries. Gath was destroyed in 830 BC by Hazael of Aram-Damascus. These Philistine cities were typical Canaanite cities, and though the Philistines carried a lot of their Aegean culture into them, by 1000 BC they had become all but completely absorbed into the local Canaanite culture.

the Philistines capture the Ark of the Covenant

During Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, the Philistines weren’t eradicated. Judges 2 tells us that God left the Philistines in Canaan to ‘test’ the Israelites. The judge Shamgar killed 600 Philistines with an ox-goad in Judges 3, and later on the Philistines managed to subject most of the tribes to their control. This Israelites labored under heavy tribute to the Philistines, and Israelite freedom began with their ‘freedom-fighter’ Samson around the beginning of the 11th century. Samson warred against the Philistines and died when tearing down one of their temples. Samson may have curtailed Philistine power, but he didn’t extinguish it; the Philistines continued oppressing Israel, and by around 1050 BC they had a major military advantage over Israel that lasted for decades. By maintaining control of metalworking and weapons, the Philistines rendered the Israelites impoverished and ill-equipped. This hegemony over resources would be broken by the early 10th century when Samuel, Saul, and then David subdued the Philistines. At that point, blacksmiths in northern Palestine began producing carburized iron (steel), and Philistine sites show no corresponding technological advances. Before this change of fortunes, however, the Israelites were bested by the Philistines time and again. When the Israelites and Philistines clashed at Aphek, the Israelites were defeated and the Ark of the Covenant captured. The Ark’s presence among the Philistines had a deadly affect on them; the Philistine cities traded it back and forth, and plague followed the Ark’s progress. Desperate to get rid of the negative effects, they returned the Ark to the Israelites. The last Israelite judge, Samuel, led the Israelites in repelling another Philistine incursion near Mizpah. Israel triumphed and recovered several cities that the Philistines had captured.

King Saul kills himself to avoid capture and torture by
the Philistines

It was to this last judge, Samuel, that Israel petitioned for a king. The tribes’ request for a king was undoubtedly spurred by their ongoing conflict with the Philistines. The Philistines, after all, were somewhat united, and they were able to keep the Israelites under their heel. If Israel had a king under which the tribes could unite, then they could deal with the Philistines once and for all. Israel’s first king, Saul, fought relentlessly against the Philistines. The early part of Saul’s reign saw triumph after triumph against them: a garrison of Philistines was defeated by Saul’s son Jonathan at Geba (1 Samuel 13), and when the Philistines amassed a vast army to exact vengeance for their slain garrison, they were defeated at the Battle of Michmash Pass in 1 Samuel 14. It was during Saul’s reign, in the midst of the back-and-forth conflict with the Philistines, that the future king David slew the Philistine champion Goliath in the Elah Valley near Bethlehem. The Philistines were routed, and David was granted command over part of Israel’s armies. Again and again David bested the Philistines. When Saul turned against David, the Philistines began getting the upper-hand against Israel. Twice David sought refuge from Saul among the Philistines. King Saul and his son Jonathan were slain fighting against the Philistines at the Battle of Mount Gilboa in 1 Samuel 31. Saul’s head was head cut off, his body exposed upon the wall of Beth-shan, and his armor hung in the Philistine temple of the goddess Ashtoreth.

David was King of Judah for seven years before being made king of all Israel, and after capturing Jerusalem from the Jebusites, the Philistines came against him. He defeated them in two battles in the Rephaim Valley just west of Jerusalem. During the course of his reign, David was able to almost completely subjugate the Philistines and capture much of their territory. He and his ‘mighty men of valor’ defeated them and four of their ‘giants’ later on. David had no qualms about employing Philistine mercenaries in Israel’s armed forces, and one of his most loyal commanders was a Philistine from the city of Gath. Though David didn’t eradicate the Philistines, his campaigns effectively crippled them: the five-city Philistine coalition was broken, and later appearances of the Philistines show them weakened and fighting by themselves. During the Divided Monarchy, they were adversaries of Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17), Jehoram (2 Chronicles 21), Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26), Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28), and Hezekiah (2 Kings 18). The Philistines were heavily bloodied by the Arameans from Damascus, and they were snuffed out by the Babylonians. Philistine culture and practice became essentially Greek after the conquests of Alexander the Great, so that – in a twist of fate – the Aegean refugees who had adopted Canaanite culture and practices were, in effect, reverted back to Aegean ways. History can be funny like that.