Who Were the Philistines?

Throughout the Old Testament, a people called “the Philistines” appear repeatedly — always cast in the same role: as mortal enemies of God and His people.

But who were they, and how did they get to be so bad? This easy-to-understand 24-minute video provides some clues to the past — and also the present situation in the Middle East.

Editor’s Note: The transcript that follows was automatically generated and lightly edited, so please be aware there could be typos or other small errors. The Stream is working toward a transcription service that does fast, accurate, and reliable work; thank you in advance for your patience!

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Who were the Philistines? The Philistines were an ancient people who lived on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean during the Late Bronze to early Iron Age. Their civilization was centered around the pentapolis — the five cities of the Philistines, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath, and Gaza. The land that this confederation of city states inhabited is known as Philistine.

00:00:30:24 – 00:00:54:03
The Philistines are most known for their role in the biblical narrative, where they’re the long time rival of the Hebrew tribes and their later kingdoms, who were in a bit of context, who were who and before. So this deal was founded. The region was inhabited by the Canaanites. They were the indigenous people who lived along much of the eastern Mediterranean coast.

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The Canaanites were predominantly descended from the Neolithic farmers and city dwellers that had lived there long before written history began. People from Mesopotamia and Anatolia also migrated and assimilated into the Canaanite population, who went through conflict, migration and trade. Mesopotamian culture was the most significant outside influence on the early Canaanite civilizations. That was followed by an increase in Egyptian influence, especially in southern Canaan.

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Egypt’s first foothold in the region was a fortress built at the strategic chokepoint where Gaza would later be built. The site controlled the entry and exit point for the easiest, but still very difficult land route to Egypt. During the Middle Kingdom period of Egypt’s history, pharaohs campaigned in Canaan for the first time. They plundered cities, extracted tribute and made trade agreements there.

00:01:48:23 – 00:02:23:08
As Egypt exploited Canaan for its resources. Many Canaanites had a thought hey, Egypt seems like a nice place to live right now. So many moved to Egypt during the later Middle Kingdom. The mass migration of Canaanites to the Nile Delta seems to have been mostly peaceful, at least at first. Later, when the Egyptian Middle Kingdom was overthrown by the Hyksos, a foreign group that was either completely made up of Canaanite newcomers or in large part after a century of Hyksos domination of Egypt and rule in the Nile Delta, they were defeated and Egypt reunited.

00:02:23:11 – 00:02:54:21
The new Egyptian kingdom that emerged was far more militaristic than any that had come before it. Their main foreign policy goal was to dominate Canaan. They were successful. Egyptian armies moved at will throughout Canaan. They built fortresses and removed uncooperative kings, who were replaced with more friendly and pro Egyptian successors. In addition to creating a large buffer zone against the invading enemies, control of Canaan also brought control of trade, which created a lucrative source of revenue for Egypt.

00:02:54:23 – 00:03:29:11
During the 15th century BC. The city of Gaza was built as an Egyptian administrative and trade center, managed by an Egyptian royal governor. Egypt controlled Canaan for more than three centuries, although it did occasionally lose control and dealt with periodic rebellions. Despite the heavy handed Egyptian rule, there were some benefits, especially for the southwestern coastal plain. For the hundreds of years the Egyptian Empire controlled the region, it was far from the frontlines of Egypt’s wars, with neighboring empires to the north like the Mitani and the Hittite empires.

00:03:29:13 – 00:03:56:18
This allowed the region to focus on productivity and commerce. Numerous unrivaled agricultural settlements and cities thrived there. The city of Ashutosh became a commercial hub for producing and selling purple fabric and clothing. Ashkelon developed into a busy seaport, while all of southern Canaan became a bustling thoroughfare, as it was the last stop for merchants on both the busiest land and sea routes to Egypt.

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There, merchants could relax and stock up on some of the local Canaanite wine, filling any empty space they had in their ship or caravan before heading to Egypt, where they could exchange their various goods for gold. Mycenaean merchants from what is now Greece would have been among the most frequent visitors to southern coastal Canaan. This is evidenced by the large numbers of Mycenaean pottery found in the region at the beginning of the 12th century BC.

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Southwestern Canaan was one small, prosperous component within a large interconnected system of empires, and the good times were about to abruptly end. Chapter three The Bronze Age Collapse and the rise of the Philistines, who were in the early 12th century BC. The old international order dramatically collapsed in the span of a few decades. Ancient empires were reduced to rubble.

00:04:49:23 – 00:05:19:04
Prosperity gave way to desolation, and a golden age gave way to a dark one. This devastating event had many causes, including but not limited to drought, famine, disease, civil unrest, and region wide prolonged imperial conflicts. But by far the most dramatic, enigmatic and emblematic contributing factor to the collapse was a mysterious maritime piratical band of apocalyptic marauders known as the Sea Peoples.

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They left a swath of destruction along the coast of the eastern Mediterranean, which culminated in the failed invasion of Egypt in their final assault on the Nile Delta. One of the Sea Peoples, called the Pella set, appear to have been the most numerous, based on how many times they are mentioned in inscriptions and the frequency they are depicted on temple wall reliefs.

00:05:38:27 – 00:06:02:11
After the Egyptian victory, Ramses the Third stated that he resettled captured Pella set prisoners of war in southwestern Canaan. The Pella set were garrisoned and fortresses bound in the pharaoh’s name. The intended goal was that the palace set would guard Egypt’s northeastern border there, who were the descendants of the palace that became the Philistines. Chapter four. Where did the Pella set come from?

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And what happened to the Canaanites who were living in southwestern Canaan before? Three decades before the final people’s assault on the Nile Delta. The pharaoh, or Netta, also defeated a major sea People’s coalition, which did not include the palace at around the same time. Raptor also campaigned with his army in Canaan. There he mentions the sack of three rebellious cities, including Ashkelon, which was one of the leading light cities of the time.

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Interestingly, he also makes the claim that during his campaign in Canaan, Israel was laid waste and his seed is not. Although apparently exaggerating. This is significant because the amber napkin inscription is the oldest written artifact mentioning Israel, which is not mentioned as a city, country, or region, but as a foreign people group, as signified by the hieroglyphic determinative of a throw stick beside male and female seated figures.

00:07:00:01 – 00:07:27:09
Although inept, I may have also slightly exaggerated when he stated that Canaan has been plundered into every sort of world. It is safe to say that at least some of Canaan was not in great shape after Neptune’s campaign. From the archeological record, it is apparent that almost all of the cities, towns, hamlets and small settlements on the southwestern coastal plain were destroyed immediately before, during or after the first decades of the 12th century BC.

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So what happened to the Canaanites of the coastal plain? Well, who? Most of them died. But it should be strongly emphasized that not all of them died. And even though only a small percentage of the earlier dense population on the coastal plain survived, they were still more numerous than the newly arrived Palestinian. The vast majority of scholars today believe that the Pella set originated somewhere around the Aegean Sea, with the island of Crete to be the most popular option, but more on that later.

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Who after five settlement. Modern estimates for the population at the time of their settlement in Canaan range anywhere from only a few thousand to a little more than 10,000 settlers. In contrast, Ramses claims to have captured and resettled hundreds of thousands. As with many things that concern the Philistines. There’s a great deal of scholarly disagreement concerning Ramses the Third’s claim to resettle the captured Pella, set in his strongholds.

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The traditional view is that these strongholds evolved into the five cities of the Philistines. There is some evidence to support this. Like an Ashkelon, where resettlement began on the ruins of the Egyptian fort there. This could also fit in the scenario where the Pella set were. The ones that destroy the fort, or the fort could have been destroyed during Neptune’s campaign and Canaan when he sacked Ashkelon and the palace that later reoccupied the abandoned ruin.

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Because the five cities of the Philistines were situated along the road of Horus, which was vital to Egypt’s military and economic success. It has been called into question whether Egypt voluntarily resettled the Pella, set in such a precarious position. Some have hypothesized that the Pella set either conquered southern Canaan not long before or after their assault on the Nile Delta, and Egyptians lied and claimed that’s all part of the plan.

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Whoever. It is unlikely that Egypt will try to get away with such a blatant lie. It is more likely that they just tried to stretch the truth a little bit. Another possibility is that a bankrupt and war weary Egypt negotiated a truce with the surviving palace that if they were not strong enough to benefit from continuing to fight, perhaps in return for captured prisoners of war, the palace would pay a token tribute to Egypt and accept the status of being an Egyptian vassal.

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If such an agreement took place, both parties received the benefit of recognition and legitimacy. This made Egypt falsely appear stronger and more stable, while the Philistines receive the prestige and legitimacy that came along with being the agent of the empire that had control Canaan for centuries. Again, if such a negotiation or something similar took place, then most that heard Ramses the Third’s lofty boasts probably believe them, because it wasn’t so far off from the truth or the word on the street.

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Who, in addition to possibly negotiating with the Egyptians, the palace had almost certainly successfully negotiated with the Canaanite survivors from what has been excavated so far at the Philistine site. It is abundantly clear that in addition to a new foreign element in the material culture, a local Canaanite population was an integral part of every Philistine settlement from its emergence.

00:10:41:05 – 00:11:12:24
The current general consensus is that at least 50% of the early population of these sites were Canaanites. It is possible that the Philistine settlements were established under Egyptian supervision or encouragement. However, given Egypt’s internal turmoil and economic woes in the 12th century BC, their involvement was likely minimal at best, if at all. After their failed assault on Egypt, another one of the key peoples, the two jacker, established themselves at the city of Dor, which they used as a base for their piratical operations.

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For over a century. Some of the trajectory that the Egyptians captured also seem to have been settled in what became the Philistine cities, because the Pella set were formidable warriors that would have been able to offer protection to some of the Canaanite survivors of the coastal plain. In return, they would have benefited from the extra manpower and the local knowledge of their new homeland.

00:11:35:09 – 00:11:54:19
In the Egyptian depiction of the battle of the Delta. There are a few ox carts shown with women and children inside, so it appears it would have at least been some females and a few whole families that arrived with the palace set. However, given the turbulent times and the great distance traveled, it is likely that a disproportionate number of the palace set were adult males.

00:11:54:25 – 00:12:26:19
Consequently, when the palace set initially settled in Canaan, finding wives was probably a top priority after survival. Which would have motivated them to negotiate with and incorporate anyone who had extra daughters. The speed that both Pella set and Canaanite cultures joined together to become a new Philistine culture is remarkable. This was undoubtedly expedited out of necessity, but another likely factor that aided the two peoples joining together so quickly was that they already knew each other well, who, after six.

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The and connection. For centuries, merchants from the Aegean had been traveling to southern Canaan. Because of this, there were likely some Canaanite survivors that were able to communicate in the palace at language and were familiar with their cultural customs, and vice versa as well. Almost every time in history, there are long term commercial contacts between two peoples. There is also intermarriage.

00:12:50:14 – 00:13:11:11
It is very possible that prior to the Bronze Age collapse, there was already a small hybrid Aegean and Canaanite community and culture in the region. The survivors from this community may have sped up the assimilation process between the two larger groups. One of the most solid pieces of evidence that suggests at least a partial Aegean ancestry for the Philistines is their pottery.

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The striking similarity between Mycenaean pottery from the Aegean and Philistine pottery inform style, and decoration is unmistakable in some pieces. The only way to detect a difference is that the Philistine pottery is made from local clay and not from Aegean clay. This piece of evidence on its own is not conclusive. Some have argued in the near post apocalyptic aftermath of the Bronze Age collapse.

00:13:36:01 – 00:14:02:15
The surviving Canaanites miss the Aegean pottery they used to import so much that they began to manufacture an imitation of it locally, which is possible but unlikely. In addition, the fascinating pottery fragments Philistine architecture also had some elements that suggest an age of origin. While earlier Canaanite homes cook their food in closed ovens, Philistine homes cook their meals over a centrally placed open circular hearth in the same manner as ag and homes.

00:14:02:18 – 00:14:28:05
What the Philistines ate again suggests energy and origin while digging through ancient Philistine garbage piles. Archeologists have discovered an unusually large amount of pig bones. The type of pig was not previously native to the Levant, but it was a native of the Aegean. In contrast to cows, sheep and other livestock, pigs do quite well. Let’s. They are hearty, low maintenance, and great at cleaning up any biological waste all over the ship.

00:14:28:07 – 00:14:49:18
The many philistine pork dinners may be directly related to their nautical origin, as Sea Peoples. Yes, this wine could have been imported not long before the Bronze Age collapse. But it is another piece of evidence that points towards energy and connection. The clothing, arms and armor of the palace also suggest, but do not confirm and Achaean origin like their iconic headgear.

00:14:49:20 – 00:15:20:03
While helmets like these were used in the Aegean, similar helmets were first used in Mesopotamia as they slowly went out of style in the east. They became fashionable in the west. One theory about the Pella set is that they were members of a mercenary warrior cult, as similar headgear was most often depicted on gods or priests. According to the biblical account, a tribe of Canaanites called the Alawites lived on the southern coastal plain before the Philistines arrived from Calf Tor, the avatar later listed as living among the Philistines.

00:15:20:07 – 00:15:46:26
Most scholars identify calf Taurus Crete, but carrier Cilicia and Cyprus are also popular options. Cyprus has a compelling case for being the homeland, or the last stop for the palace set before coming to Canaan. Like southern Canaan, Cyprus was a long time trading partner of the Mycenaeans who would have been very familiar with the island. In times of danger, people often flee to somewhere familiar during and after the collapse of the kingdom of Alessia.

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Many Mycenaeans fled their own collapsing society to live on Cyprus. Mycenaeans, Cypriots, or a combination of both might have been one in the same with the Pella set, and maybe one or the other was the typical criticism of the Aegean connection. Two of the best arguments that the palace set were not from the Aegean region is that there is no clear evidence of a giant influence on Philistine language or religion.

00:16:11:20 – 00:16:32:08
The gods of the Philistines worshiped Baal, Astaroth and Dagon were already worshiping Kanon before the arrival of the Pella set. One obvious answer to why the palace had abandoned their old, possibly Greek gods is that they lived through the traumatic collapse of their own civilization, and then they suffered the humiliation of defeat at the hands of the Egyptians.

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Some would have been made slaves, their most beautiful women taken as trophies, and even more would have died along the way or in battle. The tiny group of survivors just likely lost faith in the gods of their fathers. Additionally, many ancient peoples viewed gods as being tied to a specific geographic territory, so they may have just believed that their old gods had no power in the land they settled in.

00:16:54:23 – 00:17:14:17
As for the language, this could be explained by one we know very little of the Philistine language, so maybe there was some words that linked to Mycenaean Greek or another Achaean language, but we just don’t know about it. Two. The palace has all the advantage of mastering the Canaanite language, which some of them probably already knew, so they could negotiate better.

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Three. While the Philistine men farmed their fields, drank wine with their friends, and waged war on their enemies, Philistine women, many of whom were probably of Canaanite origin, taught their children to speak and worship, became like gods. Most other theories not mentioned here heavily or completely rely on linguistic similarities to place names and the Pella set who out of them any possible homelands for the palace said somewhere near the Aegean fits best given the current evidence.

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Hooray hooray hooray hooray hooray hooray hooray! The collapse of the Bronze Age empires a complete restructuring of society took place. Nomads moved into the ruins of cities, and some surviving city dwellers took on a nomadic way of life. While in most areas of the Near East, a nomadic pastoralist lifestyle became the most common. One of the few places where urban life recovered and thrived was along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean.

00:18:09:22 – 00:18:35:07
For centuries, heavy handed imperial administrations regulated and taxed the flow of trade that went through. Following the Bronze Age collapse, independent city states became the leading traders as Egypt gradually abandoned the region in the 12th century BC. Even though at first there was only a small trickle of trade flowing through the region compared to the traffic of earlier times, it was more profitable for small, independent traders like the Philistines.

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Therefore, to fight, settlements rapidly expanded into cities, and their soldiers filled the power vacuum left by the Egyptians on the coastal plain. All of the Philistine cities were situated close to some of the best farmland in the region. In contrast to earlier Canaanite cities, were the farming communities that supported the city were spread out over a large area.

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Philistine farmers lived in the city and their cultivated land was nearby. This city plan reflected the times where marauders and invaders were a much more likely occurrence, and protecting farmers was a higher priority. The Philistines were an industrious people. Not only did they tax trade going to Egypt, they produced large amounts of wine and olive oil for export.

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Ekron, which was a small settlement during Canaanite times, developed into a large production center for olive oil at Ekron. 150 large olive oil prices have been excavated, which would have produced many tons more of olive oil than they could have needed for personal consumption. By the beginning of the 11th century BCE, Philip Steel was one of the most rapidly recovering regions in the entire Near East, while most other regions were still in turmoil, although over time there were a few other Philistine settlements and cities.

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Political and economic power was concentrated in the pit. On top of this, the League of City States was governed by a council of five Lords. They gathered to deliberate on matters where collective action might be necessary. For most of the 11th century BC, the Philistines dominated the entire Canaanite coastal plain. According to the biblical account, the Philistines were able to defeat and vassalage the Hebrew tribes to their north and east multiple times, in one instance for 40 years.

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This was partially due to the Philistines technological advantage. They had chariots which were very effective on the flat coastal plain, but not so much in the hills, and they enjoyed an early monopoly on iron weapons in the region. Iron armor and weapons would have been a significant advantage over the bronze armor and weapons used by the Hebrews and other people in the region.

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One of the major motivating factors for the Philistines to expand their territory eastwards would have been the control of trade routes. In addition to the sea route, if the Philistines controlled all the major land routes going to Egypt, they could charge significantly higher tariffs. Philistine aggression and expansionist aspirations probably played a role in the Hebrew tribes uniting into a kingdom.

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According to the Book of Samuel, Israel’s first king, Saul was killed in battle against the Philistines before Saul’s death. His successor David, famous for killing a large fellow from Gath, fled Saul and lived in Gath. There he worked as a mercenary for the Philistines. Interestingly, after becoming king, David had 600 Philistines from Gath in his personal retinue. In addition to some Cherith items and eight who some think are a subset of Philistines, when David’s son rebelled and he had to flee Jerusalem, his Philistine soldiers were some of the few that remained loyal to him who I know.

00:21:35:21 – 00:22:02:01
The Philistines are most well known for being the frequent antagonists in many of the Bible’s most intense narratives. The many not as exciting instances of cooperation, collaboration, and somewhat peaceful coexistence are often overlooked. Intermarriage between the two groups is mentioned as being common, and, in contrast to most of the other Canaanites, intermarriage with the Philistines was not outright banned, although it was frowned upon who were who were, who were who were.

00:22:02:06 – 00:22:23:07
Around early 10th century, Philistine territory shrank to around his core region. The loss of the port of Joppa was a major blow to the Philistines. This allowed merchants to easily bypass the Philistine coast on their way to Egypt, including the Canaanites to the north, who were allied with the Hebrews. Today, these candidates are more commonly known by their Greek name, Phoenicians.

00:22:23:09 – 00:23:02:06
Their commercial ascendancy coincided with a slow Philistine economic decline. The 10th century BC also saw the split between Israel and Judah, and a short lived but triumphant return of Egypt under the Libyan pharaoh. Show shake. He sacked cities and collected tribute throughout Canaan before returning to Egypt with a large caravan full of loot. A few decades later, at the beginning of the ninth century BC, the army and King Hazel of Damascus successively campaigned against Israel, Judah, and Felicia, where he destroyed the city of gas, which never fully recovered afterwards and became a dependency of I start.

00:23:02:09 – 00:23:31:25
Over the next century, Calista gradually recovered, and then the Judean successfully besieged Ashdod and Gath and destroyed their city walls, and then the Assyrian sealed up. They destroyed the Kingdom of Israel and made Judah a tributary. In the later eighth century, Assyria took the Philistine cities one by one, populated to set up at Akron, Ashkelon, and Gaza. Ashdod became a fully incorporated Assyrian province, while Gath became a backwater under Assyrian rule.

00:23:32:01 – 00:23:57:19
Philistine A much better seventh century than its eighth as Assyria controlled the whole region. Philistine got down to business and did well. That is, until the very end of the seventh century, as the Assyrian Empire was beginning to fall apart. Gaza sought to assert its independence. Then Egypt, which was trying to assert its loyalty to Assyria, sacked to Gaza, then the Babylonian Empire that superseded the Assyrian invaded Philistines.

00:23:57:27 – 00:24:21:12
Nebuchadnezzar, the second of Babylon, destroyed Ekron, and the port city of Ashkelon was the last to hold out against Nebuchadnezzar before also being destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar deported some of the Philistine population to Babylon. This allowed the Phoenician Canaanites to come in and fill the void. Over the following centuries, the new amalgamated population that formed lost all of its Philistine characteristics.

00:24:21:14 – 00:24:43:17
While the region was dominated by a series of empires, after unsuccessfully revolting against the Romans, Judea was renamed Palestine after their old nemesis. The Philistines are often a footnote in other people’s histories. So I wanted to do a little bit of a longer video just focused on them. This has been Epimetheus, a big thanks to my patrons and to you for watching until the end of the video.