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Post by Admin on Aug 26, 2016 22:55:58 GMT
An unrivaled discovery on the southern coast of Israel may enable archaeologists to finally unravel the origins of one of the most notorious and enigmatic peoples of the Hebrew Bible: the Philistines. The discovery of a large cemetery outside the walls of ancient Ashkelon, a major city of the Philistines between the 12th and 7th centuries B.C., is the first of its kind in the history of archaeological investigation in the region. (Read more about ancient Ashkelon.)  While more than a century of scholarship has identified the five major cities of the Philistines and artifacts distinctive to their culture, only a handful of burials have been tentatively identified. Now, the discovery of a cemetery containing more than 211 individuals and dated from the 11th to 8th centuries B.C. will give archaeologists the opportunity to answer critical questions regarding the origin of the Philistines and how they eventually assimilated into the local culture.  Until this discovery, the absence of such cemeteries in major Philistine centers has made researchers' understanding of their burial practices—and by turn, their origins—"about as accurate as the mythology about George Washington chopping down the cherry tree," says Lawrence Stager, an emeritus professor of archaeology at Harvard University, who has led the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon since 1985. The Philistines are among the most notorious villains of the Hebrew Bible. This "uncircumcised" group controlled the coastal region of modern-day southern Israel and the Gaza Strip and warred with their Israelite neighbors—even seizing the Ark of the Covenant for a time. Among their ranks were the devious Delilah, who robbed Samson of his strength by cutting his hair, and the giant Goliath, who made King Saul's troops tremble in their tents until a young man named David took him down with a slingshot.  In the archaeological record, the Philistines first appear in the early 12th century B.C. Their arrival is signaled by artifacts that belong to what Stager calls "an extraordinarily different culture" from other local populations at the time. These include pottery with close parallels to the ancient Greek world, the use of an Aegean—instead of a Semitic—script, and the consumption of pork (as well as the occasional dog). Several passages in the Hebrew Bible describe the interlopers as coming from the "Land of Caphtor," or modern-day Crete. Many researchers also tie the presence of the Philistines to the exploits of the Sea Peoples, a mysterious confederation of tribes that appears to have wreaked havoc across the eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Late Bronze Age, in the 13th and 12th centuries B.C. A relief in the mortuary temple of pharaoh Ramses III depicts his battle against the Sea Peoples around 1180 B.C. and records the names of several of the tribes, among them the Peleset, who are featured with distinctive headgear and kilts.  An international team of researchers is currently conducting DNA research, isotopic analysis, and biological distance studies to determine the origin of the population of the Ashkelon cemetery, as well as their relation to other groups in the area. Since the majority of the burials date to at least two centuries after the initial arrival of the Philistines—which may have involved generations of cultural exchange and intermarriage—direct insights into their original origins may be complicated. While some other Philistine cities were destroyed in the late ninth to eighth centuries B.C., Ashkelon thrived until its destruction at the hands of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 604 B.C. The city was ultimately reoccupied by the Phoenicians, followed by the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, and Crusaders, and was ultimately wiped out by the Mamluks, Egypt's Islamic rulers, in 1270 A.D. |
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Post by Admin on Aug 27, 2016 21:41:51 GMT
 The Philistines were a group of people who arrived in the Levant (an area that includes modern-day Israel, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria) during the 12th century B.C. They came during a time when cities and civilizations in the Middle East and Greece were collapsing. Much of what we know about the Philistines comes from Egyptian and Assyrian texts as well as the stories told in the Hebrew Bible. The Book of Joshua claims that the cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron were controlled by the Philistines about 3,000 years ago.  The Philistines themselves left no texts and, as such, much of what we know about them comes from the people they encountered. These texts often describe them negatively and today the name “Philistine” is sometimes used to describe someone who is warlike or who doesn’t appreciate art or culture. In addition to the ancient texts, modern-day archaeologists have tried to identify Philistine burials and the artifacts that the Philistines used by excavating the cities that the texts say the Philistines controlled. However what constitutes a “Philistine” artifact or a “Philistine” burial is disputed by scholars.  One of the earliest mentions of the Philistines is recorded by the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses III (reign ca. 1184–1153 B.C.) who engaged them in battle. In a papyrus Ramses III boasts that “the Philistines were made ashes” by the Egyptian forces, a claim that modern-day scholars doubt. Stories in the Hebrew Bible say that the Philistines clashed with the ancient Israelites many times. One of the battles supposedly took place between a Philistine force led by the giant man named Goliath and an Israelite force that included a man named David who would go on to become king of Israel. In the story David kills Goliath with a slingshot and the Israelites go on to rout the Philistine force. Whether David or Goliath ever existed — or if a series of wars between the Philistines and Israelites occurred — are matters debated by scholars.  The Philistines pop up again in Assyrian texts dating to the 8th century and 7th centuries B.C. when the Assyrian Empire ruled much of the Middle East. One text records a treaty between the Assyrian ruler Esarhaddon (ca. 681 – 669 B.C.) and the ruler of a city named Tyre. In the treaty, Esarhaddon’s control “of the land of Philistines” is acknowledged and the ruler of Tyre agrees that the cargo of any ships wrecked off this area belong to Esarhaddon. The Assyrian texts don’t specify exactly what the “land of the of the Philistines” encompassed during the 7th century B.C.; however, an earlier text, dating to the reign of Tiglath Pileser III (reign 745–727 B.C.) says that the Assyrian king had trouble finding a reliable vassal ruler who could control Ashkelon (a place which the Hebrew Bible says was a Philistine city). |
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Post by Admin on Aug 28, 2016 21:16:58 GMT
Philistines = Achaean Greeks?  The migration of the Philistines has been identified with the movements of the Achaean Greeks (Muhly 1984:52-53; 1992:15;Mazar 1985; 1988; 1992:266;Stager 1991:36-37; 1995:337): Since the groups which settled Philistia must be identified with the Philistines and since the Philistines are one of the 'Sea Peoples' as defined in Ramesses III's inscriptions, we must conclude that the 'Achaeans' of Cyprus and the 'Sea Peoples' are in fact part of the same group of peoples and that the settlement at both Cyprus and the Levant is part of the same historical process" (Mazar 1988:256).  This theory stemmed from the close resemblance between the Monochrome pottery found in Philistia and the Mycenaean IIIe: 1b pottery unearthed in Cyprus and Ras Ibn Rani near Ugarit, from the impression that both types date to approximately the same time, and from certain similarities between the settlement sequence in Philistia and Cyprus. However, dating the Monochrome Ware of Philistia and consequently the Philistine settlement to the late 12th century, casts doubt on this straightforward equation. This is not to say, of course, that the Philistines did not. originate from the Aegean, or rather from southwestern Anatolian stock (see recently Singer 1988a and bibliography), but that we are dealing here with a much more complex, and apparently longer process than what has been suggested in the past.  Scrutinizing the archaeological and textual evidence separately, one is compelled to reach two conclusions: 1. The exact location of the Egyptian forts mentioned in the text cannot be ascertained. 2. There is no evidence for settlement of Sea Peoples in Philistia prior to the late 12th century B.C.E.  Future research will need to bridge the geographical and chronological gap between the settlement of Philistines and other Sea Peoples in Egypt after the 8th year of Ramses III, and the settlement of the Philistines in the southern coastal plain after the reign of Ramses VI. As an interim solution, I would argue that contra to the description in the Egyptian texts of a single event, the migration of the Sea Peoples was a process which spanned at least half a century and comprised several phases (see also Cifola 1994:20; Na'aman 1994:241). The first assault of Sea Peoples, which may have spread destruction along the Levantine coast including northern Philistia in the beginning of the 12th century, was defeated by Ramses III in his 8th year.  Consequently, some of these groups were settled in Egyptian garrisons in the Delta. A later wave of Sea Peoples, in the second half of the 12th century, succeeded in terminating Egyptian rule in southern Canaan. After destroying the Egyptian strongholds (such as Lachish and Tel SeraC), they settled in Philistia and established their major centres at Ashdod, Ashkelon, Tel Miqne and other places. These groups - the Philistines of the later Biblical text - are easily identifiable by several Aegean-derived features in their material culture. Israel Finkelstein (1995) The Date of the Settlement of the Philistines in Canaan, Tel Aviv, 22:2, 213-239. |
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Post by Admin on Aug 29, 2016 21:19:31 GMT
 A team in Israel has unearthed an ancient cemetery, which it says will unravel the mystery of the Philistines. DNA, radiocarbon and biological distance tests are being performed on bone samples found at the cemetery, dating from the 11th to 8th centuries BC, to help resolve a debate about the Philistines’ geographical origins.  Archaeologist Adam Aja, group supervisor at the Philistine Cemetery of Ashkelon outlined the significance of this discovery: “Never before have we found Philistines in a Philistine city. “We guessed that there might be Philistines out there, but no one had found them in the core. Where do they come from? And now that we have the core we can compare (it) with everything. We now know that this is Philistia, this is how Philistines treated their dead and it’s the code book to decoding everything around us.”  In the bible, the Philistines are depicted as the ancient Israelites’ arch enemy – a foreign people who migrated from lands to the west and settled in five main cities in Philistia, in today’s southern Israel and the Gaza Strip. Archaeologists have long believed the Philistines came from the Aegean region, based on the pottery found in excavations of Philistine sites. But did the Philistines come from mainland Greece? The islands of Crete or Cyprus? Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey?  The excavation of the cemetery has also shed light on Philistine burial practices as Adam Aja explained: “A pattern began to emerge over the several seasons that we’ve been running here of the burial practices, things that we just never knew before about how the Philistines treated their dead. “Many times we found some small ornaments on the body: earrings or necklaces, rings and bracelets, toe rings even – but for the most part it was a relatively simple set of objects: some perfume bottles placed near the face; some jars that probably held oil or wine or food near the legs.” |
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Post by Admin on Sept 8, 2016 21:00:27 GMT
 The monumental building dates to the 10th century BCE, the era associated with King Solomon, who is famed for bringing wealth and stability to the newly-united kingdom of Israel and Judah. The American archaeological team also found a layer featuring Philistine pottery, lending credence to the biblical account of them living in the city until being vanquished by King David. The complex features a large central courtyard, like contemporary palace-like buildings found throughout the southern Levant, including at Hatzor and Megiddo. Though there's no telling who ruled from there, if anybody did, the edifice is significantly larger than the size of ordinary houses of the time, excavation co-director Prof. Steve Ortiz, representing the Tandy Museum of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary of Fort Worth, Texas, told Haaretz. Among the features not found in usual domestic structures is ashlar masonry - large rectangular-shaped monolithic hewn stones-in the corners of rooms, Ortiz said.  Gezer, located in the Shephela (foothills) region of Israel overlooking the coastal plain, at the junction of a pass leading up to Jerusalem, goes back way before King Solomon. The site was occupied as far back as the Chalcolithic period (4th millennium BCE), and 3400 years ago, its Canaanite population was closely tied with far-off Egypt, as we know from cylinder seals and a large cartouche of Pharaoh Amenhotep III uncovered there in previous seasons. Excavations have proven that the city did suffer violent destruction at the hands of the Egyptians, who mention Gezer time and again in their records. Thutmose III recorded its capture on the walls of the temple at Karnak; The city later played a prominent role in the Amarna Tablets, mentioned by name at least nine times. Pharaoh Merneptah boasted on his stele that he "seized Gezer." Later an Egyptian pharaoh turned on Gezer, for reasons we no longer know, burning down the city and slaughtering its Canaanite population.  According to the Old Testament, the city was also associated with the Philistines in David's time: the king broke their power “from Geba to as far as Gezer” (2 Samuel 5:25; 1 Chronicles 14:16). This excavation season has proved the Philistine link too, when the archaeologists revealed a layer with Philistine bichrome pottery. The archaeologists also found a tell-tale fragment of a so-called "Ashdod figurine," long-necked, bird-faced female figures that many believe depict an Aegean goddess. Such figurines have been found associated with Philistine remains in other excavations, such as in Ashdod, Timna, Ekron and Ashkelon. The newly discovered palace is west of the so-called Solomonic Gate, a six chambered inner gate, although it is doubtful that a Jerusalemite king actually spent time at Gezer. The excavation team calls the building "Solomon’s Palace" because of the biblical tradition of Solomon building grand projects at Hatzor, Megiddo, and Gezer (1 Kings 9:15: "And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer").  The main feature is two parallel long rooms, or courtyards, surrounded on all sides by various rooms, numbering at least 15. The palace has two entrances from the east and west. The entrance from the west also connects this building to the monumental six-chambered gate associated by most scholars with Solomon. This entrance is more robustly built than the rest of the building: The walls are constructed with two to three rows of stones wide, built of roughly dressed field stones somewhat smaller in size than those used in the rest of the building. When Solomon died, his kingdom descended into chaos. With a mighty force of chariots and horsemen, Shishak attacked ancient Israel, seeking control of trade routes with Egypt and to extend his power and influence in the region. Ample evidence of his assault remains in Israel and Judah. A fragment of a stele found at Megiddo mentions Sheshonk (Shishak), possibly indicating that the stele was erected there to commemorate his victory. Also, a relief on a temple wall at Karnak (in the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes) lists numerous local cities or villages that Shishak conquered. |
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