Who were the Flies, and where did they come from?

Philistine pottery Pottery fragments from Ashkelon decorate early Philistia. Photo: Levine Levy campaign to Ash Ashkelon.

The Philistines are known from the Bible as Israel’s enemies, but they were much more than that. Recent archaeological discoveries help inform our understanding of their culture, economy and even origins. In the spring 2022 issue A Review of Biblical ArchaeologyDaniel M. Master of Wheaton College looks at the biblical and archaeological evidence for Philistine roots in “Piece by Piece: Exploring Philistine Origins.”

Who were the flights?

In the Bible, the Philistines are remembered as an uncircumcised people with advanced technology and a strong army (Judges 14:3; 1 Samuel 13:19–20; Exodus 13:17). The Palestinians often encroached on Israelite territory, leading to some battles, including the famous confrontation between David, an Israelite, and Goliath, a Palestine (1 Samuel 17). They were condemned for being idolaters (1 Samuel 5:1–5) and soothsayers (Isaiah 2:6). In short, the Bible portrays the Philistines quite negatively.

They lived in the cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath, and Gaza, the heart of ancient Philistia on the southeast coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, and Gath have been excavated in recent decades. Findings from these cities show that the Philistines had distinct pottery, weapons, tools, and houses. They also ate pork and had extensive trade networks.

Philistine culture flourished during the Iron Age (12th to 6th centuries BC). Like the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the Philistines lost their sovereignty toward the end of the Iron Age. They submitted and paid tribute to the Assyrians, the Egyptians, and then the great powers of the region, the Babylonians, who severely punished the rebellion. For example, Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the desecrated Ashkelon and Ekron and took many Philistines into exile.

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Where did Palestine come from?

In his article, Daniel Masters looks at the archaeological and biblical evidence for the origins of the Philistines. He considers accounts in the mortuary temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habbo. In the twelfth century BC, during the reign of Ramesses III, a confederation of tribes from the “Islands” of the “Northern Countries” attacked Egypt – several times – on both sea and land. The Philistines, whom scholars associate with the Philistines, were named as one of these tribes.

Ships of war This relief drawing at Medinet Habbo shows a sea battle between the Egyptians and the people of the “islands”, who invaded Egypt in the 12th century BC. Image: Public domain.

En route to Egypt, the confederation traveled through the eastern Mediterranean and destroyed several cities on the Syrian coast, including Ugarit. Umorpi, the last king of Ugrit, had written to the surrounding kingdoms for help, when “seven ships of the enemy” arrived to destroy his kingdom. By the time help arrived, though, it was too late: Ugret lay in ruins.

Egypt defeated the confederacy, as recorded on a temple wall at Medinet Habbo. A relief from this temple also depicts a naval battle between the island tribes and the Egyptians. In it, the islanders wear distinct headdresses, which clearly set them apart from the Egyptians. After being defeated, some of these tribes settled on the southern coast of Canaan. It will become the land of the Philistines. Egyptian sources seem to record the migration of people from the “islands” to Philistia.

Philistine portrait? A confederation of island tribes including the Pelesites (Philistines) attacked Egypt in the 12th century BC, this relief recording a sea battle between the two forces. Photo: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Masters also examines the evidence for Philistine origins in the Bible. The biblical writers remembered Palestine as coming from a foreign land, “Captur” (Genesis 10:14; Deuteronomy 2:23; 1 Chronicles 1:12; Amos 9:7; Jeremiah 47:4). Scholars have long made a connection between Captor and Crete. It is largely based on Egyptian writings and paintings of “Cephto” from the 15th and 14th centuries BC, with Cephto being associated with the Minoan civilization, which was centered on Crete.

Migration map. Who were the Flies, and where did they come from? New archaeological evidence suggests that many Philistines originally came from Crete, known in the Bible as “Capter”. Map: © Society for Biblical Archaeology.

Excavations show that the Philistines had a distinct collection of artefacts. Masternotes parallels exist between some early Philistine objects, particularly those of the 12th and 11th centuries BCE, and Aegean and Cypriot artifacts. Elements of Philistine material culture, then, also indicate an Aegean or Mediterranean origin for the Philistines.

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New evidence from Ashkelon further supports this line. The Levine Expedition excavated in Ashkelon from 1985–2016 under the direction of the late Lawrence Stager at Harvard University. For the past decade, Daniel Master has co-directed the excavation. They found some infant burials from the 12th century BCE, as well as a Philistine cemetery from the 11th to 8th centuries BCE. When they looked at the DNA of infants from the 12th century, they discovered that the infants had some European ancestry. When all of their genetic material was considered, the crate turned out to be one of the best matches for the infants’ heritage. Yet other locations in the western Mediterranean, such as Iberia, also provided good matches.

Interestingly, among the later individuals from the Ashkelon cemetery, this European ancestry was so diluted as to barely register. Master explains that, by the tenth century BC, there had been enough intermarriage between the Philistines and the local Levantine population that the Philistines looked a lot like their neighbors.

Although there was some evidence of the same Western European hunter-gatherer genetic input for all statistical purposes, it could not be identified with certainty. The best models showed that these people [the tenth- and ninth-century individuals buried in Ashkelon’s cemetery] Both were descendants of the 12th century inhabitants And Early Bronze Age Inhabitants. These findings indicate that there has been so much intermarriage between the original immigrants and the people around them that the genetic makeup of Ashkelon’s inhabitants has been lost to that of its immigrant counterparts.

Yet the Master makes it clear that, at this stage in history, the Philistines still considered themselves separate, as is evident in a seventh-century inscription from the Philistine city of Ekron. The inscription names the king of Aekon as Akusu, meaning “Achaean” or “Greek”. Akasu (or Achish) also appears as the King of Song in 1 Samuel 21:10.

Philistines remember their foreign origins

Master concludes that new DNA evidence, combined with biblical and archaeological evidence, suggests that the Philistines originated in Crete. This does not mean that the Philistines were a homogenous group, all coming from the Aegean world, but it seems that many Philistines did indeed migrate there, bringing with them the replacement of Minoan culture. Learn more about this ancient people in Daniel M. Master’s article, “Piece by Piece: The Origins of the Palestinians,” published in the Spring 2022 issue. A Review of Biblical Archaeology.

Customers: Read “Piece by Piece: Finding the Origins of the Philistines” by Daniel M. Master in the Spring 2022 issue. A Review of Biblical Archaeology.

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This article was first published Bible History Daily On March 23, 2022.

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