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PHILISTINES

(Heb. pĕlištîm)

A Pelester (Philistine) prisoner, with feathered headdress. Relief from main temple of Rameses III (20th Dynasty; 1183-1152 b.c.e.), Medinet Habu, West Thebes (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, N.Y.)

An Aegean people who migrated to the southern coast of Palestine in the late 13th and early 12th century b.c.e. and became one of the Israelites’ fiercest rivals. One of five peoples defeated by Rameses III in his 8th year, they settled on the plain from Raphia north to Joppa. According to the Bible, the Philistines had a league of five major cities (Pentapolis): Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron (Tel Miqne; Khirbet el-Muqannaʿ), Gaza, and Gath. Other sites in the Philistine Plain include Tell Qasile, Tel Gerisa, Tel ßafit/Tell eṣ-Òafi, Tell Jemmeh, and Tell el-Farʿah. Elsewhere in Palestine evidence of the Philistines has been found at Megiddo, Beth-shean, and Deir ʾAlla. The modern name Palestine is derived from the Hebrew term for the people and their territory.

The history of the Philistines can be traced from the period of the judges to the fall of Jerusalem. The Song of Deborah (Judg. 5:6) mentions Shamgar ben Anath, who killed 600 Philistines (3:31). The Samson stories (Judg. 13–16) further relate the tension heightened by Philistine expansion eastward. When Egypt withdrew their control over Palestine ca. 1070, the Philistines filled the power vacuum and within several decades engaged in full-scale war with the Israelites. During the time of Samuel, Israel was defeated at the battle of Ebenezer (1 Sam. 4:1–7:1), Shiloh was destroyed (Jer. 7:12-14), and the ark of the covenant captured. It was the Philistine threat that fired the Israelites’ demand for a king. Saul fought the Philistines throughout his reign (1 Sam. 14:47, 48, 52). Israel was victorious at the Battle of Michmash (1 Sam. 13:2-7, 13-23; 14:16-30). David defeated Goliath at Socoh (1 Sam. 17:1-54); the description of Goliath with his weapons and armor matches that of Aegean warriors. Saul was killed when the Israelite army was defeated at the battle of Mt. Gilboa (1 Sam. 31:1-13). His successor, David, pursued the Philistines “from Geba all the way to Gezer” (2 Sam. 5:17-25). Through a series of victories he broke the Philistines’ strength (2 Sam. 8:1; 21:15-18) and drove them back to the coastal plain and broke the Pentapolis alliance. Solomon received Gezer as dowry from the Egyptian pharaoh (1 Kgs. 9:16). Nevertheless, war with the Philistines continued during the Divided Monarchy (e.g., 1 Kgs. 15:27; 16:15; 2 Chr. 26:6-7; 28:18; cf. Isa. 9:12[MT 11]). In 712 the Assyrian king Sargon II ordered an attack on Ashdod (Isa. 20; ANET, 84-87) and captured Gath. The Philistines rebelled upon Sargon’s death, but Sennacherib recaptured Ashdod in 701 and went on to take Ashkelon, Ekron, and Gaza (ANET, 287-88). Under Esarhaddon the Philistine cities were reduced to vassals of Assyria (cf. ANET, 291). Although Egypt under Pharaoh Neco II reasserted control over Philistine territory in 612, the end for the Philistines came in 604 with the attack of Nebuchadnezzar II and subsequent deportation (Jer. 25:20).

The main literary source for information about the Philistines is the Bible, which can be supplemented by Egyptian, Assyrian, and Babylonian records. Most important have been the numerous archaeological discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean basin, particularly in Palestine.

Philistine occupation can easily be identified by the distinctive pottery which differs from Egyptian, Israelite, and Canaanite styles. Philistine pottery has been identified as Mycenaean and classified as Myc (Late Helladic) IIIC 1b, dating to the 12th century. The repertoire of forms follows that of Mycenaean pottery, with bell-shaped bowls that have two horizontal handles, large kraters with profile rims and handles, stirrup jars (small globular jars with two handles and a false spout), large globular jars with strainer spouts, pyxides, and two types of bottles. Decoration on the pottery initially copied the monochrome style of Myc IIIC ware, but later the Philistines developed their own style of bichrome ware using black and red on a white slip. The decorations were painted in bands around the body of the pottery and divided into panels. Some of the artistic motifs included looped spirals, concentric circles, half circles in a fishscale pattern, checkers, net design, and stylized birds.

A large monumental building discovered at Tel Miqne features a large hall with two pillars and a freestanding hearth; three square rooms on the east open to the hall. The freestanding hearth was an architectural feature otherwise unknown in Palestine, but characteristic of the Aegean, Anatolia, and Cyprus. Excavations at Tell Qasile (1309.1678) uncovered three stages of a Philistine temple, again reminiscent of Mycenaean form.

1 Sam. 13:19-21 has been interpreted to mean that the Philistines had a monopoly on smelting iron. However, iron was not widely used in Palestine until the 10th century. Excavations at Tel Miqne (Ekron) indicate that under Assyrian rule the city was a major center for the production of olive oil.

Excavations at Deir ʿAlla found in the Philistine level a clay tablet inscribed with a linear script containing 50 characters, grouped into 15 words in a writing tyle related to Minoan A. Two seals (from Ashdod and Tel Batash) also contain letters of a linear script. These short inscriptions have defied translation. A few Philistine loanwords can be identified in the Bible. The lords of the Philistines are called seren, which is probably cognate with Gk. týrannos, “tyrant.” The -yat ending of the name Goliath (Heb. golyāṯ) is cognate with Hittite -wattas. Scholars do not agree on the derivation of the name Achish, king of Gath.

The Bible records three gods in connection with the Philistines. Dagon (1 Sam. 5) was more than a grain-god, having broader powers of weather and fertility. Ashtaroth (Judg. 10:6; 1 Sam. 31:8-13) was a mother goddess. Baal-zebub (2 Kgs. 1), “Lord of the Flies,” may be a corruption of Baal-zebul, “Baal-Prince” (cf. Ugar. zbl b{l). Excavations have produced several cultic vessels, including a clay figurine called Ashdoda, which depicts a seated goddess in the Mycenaean tradition. Other cult objects include kernoi (tubular rings with attached spouts in the shape of animals), kernos bowls (with tubular rims), and a female-shaped libation vessel.

Bibliography. W. F. Albright, “Syria, the Philistines and Phoenicia,” CAH³ (Cambridge, 1975) 2/2:507-136; M. Dothan and T. Dothan, People of the Sea: The Search for the Philistines (New York, 1992); T. Dothan, The Philistines and Their Material Culture (New Haven, 1982); A. Mazar, “The Emergence of Philistine Material Culture,” IEJ 35 (1985): 95-107; B. Mazar, “The Philistines and the Rise of Israel and Tyre,” Proceedings of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities 1/7 (Jerusalem, 1964): 1-22; T. C. Mitchell, “Philistia,” in Archaeology and Old Testament Study, ed. D. W. Thomas (Oxford, 1967), 405-27; G. E. Wright, “Fresh Evidence for the Philistine Story,” BA 29 (1966): 70-86.

Lawrence A. Sinclair

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PHILISTINES

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)