PLEASE NOTE: I WOULD LIKE THE FINAL ANSWER EMAILED, RATHER THAN POSTED. IF INTERESTED IN PROVIDING A FINAL ANSWER, PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO wireless3gcell@yahoo.com [Backround before asking the real question…]
Introduction
The Philistines figure prominently in the Old Testament, above all as Israel's worst enemy. Their presence in southern Canaan in the days of the last judges and the first kings was a serious threat to the southernmost Israelite tribes in particular. After the defeats they suffered against David, the Philistines saw their powerful position weaken considerably, however.
In the past twenty years much has been written about the Philistines, primarily on account of the results of recent excavations in Ashdod, Ekron, and Ashkelon, well-known cities which together with Gath and Gaza constituted the Philistine Pentapolis.1 The excavations have produced new interpretations of literary sources describing the period when the Philistines were a strong military nation, as well as a new understanding of their culture, their origins, and their presence in Canaan and Egypt.
It may be said in general that the theories about the origins of the Philistines have not fundamentally changed in the course of time. The idea that the Philistines settled themselves during the mass migration of the 13th and 12th centuries B.C. and that they belonged to the 'Sea Peoples', as the invaders were named in Egyptian texts, is both found in recent and older literature.2 Recent excavations and views on literary sources have only completed and further underpinned the picture as far as the subject of this article is concerned.
The historical books of the Old Testament provide by far the most details about their origins.
The Old Testament
In the Old Testament the Philistines figured frequently during the period between judge Jephtah and the reign of king David. The Philistines constituted a threat to southern Israel and oppressed the Israelites notably during the days of judges Samson and Samuel. The main reason for their expansion was the superior quality of their weapons.3
In the days of king Saul (late 11th century B.C.) the positions of power kept changing, but it was only during the reign of king David - for some time a servant to Philistine king Achis - that the Philistines were thrown back, and even lost part of their territory. Afterwards David went so far as to incorporate many Philistine soldiers in his army.4 Until the Babylonian Captivity of Judah their role in history remained insignificant, and finally they disappeared altogether from the scene. The period of their greatest influence may be dated roughly between 1150 and 1000 B.C.
Nevertheless this was not the only period in which reference was made to the Philistines. They are also mentioned in the book of Genesis: first in the table of nations (Gen.10:14), as descendants of the Casluhites, and next, in Gen.21 and 26, as being ruled by king Abimelech of Gerar, with whom Abraham and Isaac came into contact. Were these the same Philistines that threatened Judah seven centuries later? Probably not. The settlement of the Philistines in the 12th century B.C. is clearly reflected in the type of pottery and architecture of south-western Canaan and in the historical sources from that period, which indicate that many peoples from the North (the Sea Peoples, and among them the 'Peleset' or Philistines) invaded the region and even reached the very border of Egypt. Egyptian annals do not refer to the Philistines previous to this period. Archaeological evidence of continuous Philistine occupation of this region has not (yet?) been found.
Of course this does not solve the question about the real identity of the people referred to as Philistines. It is possible that trading posts from the Minoic culture existed along the coast of Canaan already in the days of the patriarchs. These posts and their occupants may have become forgotten, and their name may have been replaced by that of the Philistines, who lived in the vicinity in later days. This could also apply to Ex.13:1718, where it is reported that the Israelites leaving Egypt were not led on the road through the Philistine country..... (but) by the desert road toward the Red Sea.5
Caphtor
The Old Testament also offers a clue as to the origins of the Philistines. In Jeremiah 47:4 they are named 'the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor', and Amos compares the exodus of Israel from Egypt with that of the Philistines 'from Caphtor'(Am.9:7)
The question remains what exactly is meant by 'Caphtor'? Usually it is identified with Kephtiu, which is known from Egyptian records, as well as from Ugarit and Mari.
Caphtor is generally taken as synonymous with Crete, but also with Cyprus and the southwest of Asia Minor. The Septuagint and other ancient translations of the Bible identify Caphtor with Cappadocia. The extensive literature on the subject can only be given here in summary.6
Crete
The oldest literature about the Philistines points to Crete as their original home. This idea is strengthened by the ancient name of the Philistine city of Gaza: Minoah; the same name was given to several trade stations started from Crete.7 It is furthermore known from the Odyssee that the island was inhabited around 1200 B.C. by a variety of peoples. An argument against Crete as the Philistines' homeland is the fact that iron is not found there at all and copper in no more than traces. Tin is absent as well.8 In their days the Philistines were known for their great skill at metal working, and they guarded their knowledge anxiously (1 Sam.13:19). This is hardly compatible with the available evidence that Kephtiu was a copper exporting country. Cyprus
Cyprus is named as the homeland of the Philistines especially in recent literature. J. Strange points out that both Cyprus and the Philistines were familiar with metallurgy at a high level and that pottery from Cyprus strongly resembles pottery from Philistea (Mycenaean III C:1b). It is furthermore known from literary references that Cyprus, like Crete, was inhabited in the 13th and 12th centuries B.C. by a variety of peoples.9 However, the many different names given to the island in the various cultures of that time make it very difficult to identify Cyprus as Caphtor.10
V. Karageorghis adds to the arguments in favour of Cyprus the evidence from excavations on the island (near Pyla and Maa): a mixed population (from Crete, Greece and Anatolia) appears to have lived here in fortified villages during 25 years. The inhabitants were wealthy, but clearly preferred a defendable place over a location that favoured trade and agriculture. After these 25 years both places were abandoned or burnt down. Maa was rebuilt by the conquerors who also manufactured type Myc. III C:1b pottery.11 Karageorghis moreover refers to Cypriotic myths about Greek heroes who founded cities on the island.12 Finally, Raban and Stieglitz showed that the architecture on the island was comparable with that of Philistea as far as the use of ashlars (large building blocks) was concerned.
Another argument in favour of Cyprus is a definite resemblance between Philistine and Cypriotic - Minoic writings from that period.13 The presence, though perhaps temporary, of Philistines in Cyprus or Crete is given wider perspective if the contemporary events in this part of the Mediterranean are also taken into consideration. Literary references and excavations from the Late Bronze period only demonstrate the great importance of such a widened perspective.
The Sea Peoples
It will be clear from the foregoing that a number of non-native peoples lived in Cyprus around 1200 B.C. and that the inhabitants of the eastern Mediterranean apparently were exposed to danger. The reasons for this unstable situation, which lasted from c. 1300 to c. 1170 B.C., are still uncertain. Egyptian relief texts speak about 'Sea Peoples' invading the coasts of Canaan and Egypt from the North and destroying whole kingdoms. Possible reasons for the mass migrations of those days could be, e.g., famine in Greece and Anatolia, invasions of tribes from the Balkans, and earthquakes.14
Anyway, the collapse of the Hittite empire (shortly after 1200 B.C.), the fall of Troy (1185 B.C.), and the invasions into Egypt (c. 1207 and 1175 B.C.) were all part of a major catastrophe that pushed peoples from the North to the South and caused large devastations among Late Bronze (c. 1550-1200 B.C.) cultures. When the mass migrations came to a halt, Greece was left impoverished, while prosperous and highly developed cultures seemed to have moved to the South.15 The Philistines arrived in the south-west of Canaan in the 12th century B.C., and this marked the end of Egypt's domination over the region. Here too Myc. III C: 1b pottery is found after their arrival.
Egyptian reliefs in Medinet Habu tell us that the Peleset (Philistines) were involved in the second raid on Egypt, during the eighth year of Ramesses III (c. 1175 B.C.). It was apparently after these raids that the Philistines settled down in the south-west of Canaan.
Odysseus And Goliath
Homer's epic poems are now increasingly being taken to be serious historiography. As a result of this, more connections are found between the Greek heroes who after the fall of Troy wandered round the eastern Mediterranean, and the Philistines. The Greek heroes wandered about and ended up in Crete, Cyprus, Libya, and Egypt. The fight between these wandering troupes and the Egyptians is described in Odyssee XVII, 420-460, and XIV, 250-290, where the pirates - who came in from Crete - destroyed Egyptian farmland, killed men and carried off women and children. Foot-soldiers and war-chariots soon intervened how-ever, and took vengeance.
Stager points to similarities between Greek heroes like Achilles and Odysseus on the one hand and leading characters from the late Judges period, viz. Goliath, Jephtah and Samson, on the other. The same could perhaps be said of Shamgar, who put an end to an early invasion of Sea Peoples/Philistines by means of an ox goad (Jdg. 3:31). Prominent features are an enormous strength (Goliath, Samson), loneliness (Samson) and the typically Greek suit of armour (Goliath).16 The 'disastrous' decisions of Jephtah could perhaps be added here. Regardless of the way this relationship is interpreted, it can at least be concluded that the stories from the Greek heroic age and the Biblical history describing the period directly thereafter, viz. 1150-1000 B.C., show remarkable similarities.
The Hittites
The Hittite empire, like many Mycenaean-Greek city-states, went down in the period of the invasions of the Sea Peoples. In the foregoing the Philistines were mainly associated with Mediterranean islands and the Mycenean-Greek culture. In a different theory that is certainly worth mentioning, the Philistines are supposed to be of Hittite origin.17 This theory, which is proposed by M. Riemschneider, is based on the following facts:18
1) Jewish and Christian translations of the Bible from the second to fifth century A.D. render Capthor as Cappadocia, a province within the Hittite empire;
2) in 711 B.C. Sargon II used the name Hittites to indicate the inhabitants of the Philistine city of Ashdod;
3) just like the Philistines in Canaan, the Hittites in Anatolia had a monopoly on iron, which was carefully protected;
4) the Hittites called their kings 'judges' ('tarawanas'), as did the Philistines and the tribes of Israel;
5) the Philistine principal god Dagon is also a god of the Hittites: 'Dagan-zipas', and their second god Baal-Zebub is paralleled in the Hittite god 'Zababa' of 'Ziparwa';
6) the types of pottery we call Philistine are found every- where along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, and thus can hardly be used as evidence.19
Summary
The Philistines are viewed as participants in the great migration of the period round 1200 B.C., which caused the fall of so many empires. Belonging to the Sea Peoples, they came from the North and, possibly through Crete or (much more likely) Cyprus, went to the South, where they caused devastation but also established a new culture.20
Philistine pottery, architecture, military power, and certain similarities with Homer's Greek heroes together point to Mycenaean Greece as their homeland.21 Other facts however strongly suggest a Hittite origin: their gods, their king-judges, and ancient translations of the Bible which render Caphtor as Cappadocia. Nonetheless the latter theory finds little support in recent literature.
Anyway, the old theories about the origins of the Philistines have remained broadly unchanged, while new excavations and reinterpretations of ancient literary references have produced new evidence or brought nuance in existing views.
NOTES
1. T. Dothan, Ekron of the Philistines, BAR 16, 1990, 1, p. 26-36 and T. Dothan, What we know about the Philistines, BAR 8, 1982, p. 4, 20-44.
2. R. Kittel, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, II, Gotha 1922, p. 86-87 and A.R. Burn, Minoans, Philistines and Greek, 1400-900 B.C., London 1930, p. 145-165.
3. The struggle between Philistines and Israelites is often viewed as a struggle between iron and bronze. It was not until King David that the Israelites manufactured iron weapons.
4. Various heroes of David were Philistines. So e.g. Benaiah and the Kerethites and Pelethites, David's body-guards (2 Sam. 15:18).
5. C.C. Stavleu puts forward the view that the Philistines from the patriarchal time and those from the later days of the judges an kings belonged to the same people. Their absence from, e.g., Egyptian literature is understandable in view of their very small size as a people; C.C. Stavleu, De Filistijnen in het boek Genesis, in: Verkenningen in Genesis, Kampen 1986, p. 103-107.
6. A similar problem is presented by the very term Philistines. J. Strange argues that the Israelites called all Sea Peoples Philistines, whereas in Cyprus the Tjeker and Dananoi were the names remembered; J. Strange, Capthor/Keftiu. A new Investigation, Leiden 1980, p. 165.
7. Castleden, Minoans, Life in Bronze Age Crete, London 1990, p. 122.
8. J. Strange, op. cit., p.114
9. V. Karageorghis, Exploring Philistine Origins on the Island of Cyprus, BAR 10, 1984, p. 2, 28.
10. J. Strange, op. cit. p. 167.
11. V. Karageorghis, op. cit., p.18-27.
12. V. Karageorghis, op. cit., p.27.
13. A. Raban and R.R. Stieglitz, The Sea Peoples and their Contributions to Civilisation, BAR 17, 1991, 6, p. 34-42, 91-92.
14. J. van Gestel, Oude Beschavingen. De Egeïsche wereld, Amsterdam 1993, p.141-143.
15. V. Karageorghis, op. cit., p. 27-28.
16. L.E. Stager, When Canaanites and Philistines ruled Ashkelon, BAR 17, 1991, p. 40-42.
17. M. Riemschneider, Die Herkunft der Philister, Acta Antiqua IV, 1956, p. 17-29.
18. Septuagint, Vulgata, Peshita and Targum; M. Riemschneider, op. cit. p. 20.
19. It is not clear whether M. Riemschneider is referring to type Myc. III C:1b that was found in massive quantities in Philistine cities well after the appearance of her article.
20. The great significance of the Philistines is especially pointed out by Karageorghis, op. cit., and Raban and Stielitz, op. cit. The Philistines exceeded the surrounding nations in their high cultural level. Their high standard of living and novel technology were taken over later by Israel and the Phoenicians (Raban and Stieglitz, op. cit., p. 42).
21. An inscription that was recently found in Ekron may provide evidence that Achis, a Philistine king in the days of David, was named after Anchises, the father of Aeneas from the Ilias. See: S. Gitin, T. Dothan and J. Naveh, A Royal Dedicatory Inscription from Ekron, Israel Exploration Journal 47, 1997, 1/2, p. 1-16.
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As is evident from the previous excerpts, there is increasing speculation that the biblical Phoenicians have an Aegean origin. Please look into the general questions surrounding the Aegean/Philistine connection. As an “answer” I’m looking for a 4,000 word essay (+ or – 250 words), with parenthetical citations. While this may seen rather daunting, included below are 4300+ words of highly relevant notes (That’s in addition to the 2,500 word introduction and 3 specific websites which each provide a great deal of information. 7000+ words of notes are included in this posting alone!) So, in short, the essay shouldn’t be too hard to compile.
Some potential angles which may be of relevance for the answer include the following aspects… - What strong archaeological evidence, like characteristic poetry, Archaic Greek writing, Inscriptions in Linear B , or other artifacts to justify the theory of the origin of Philistines from the island of Crete?
- At the time of the arrival of the so called "sea people" in the lowlands of the Levant and Palestine, were there any settlements of Philistines in existence there?
- Could the Trojan War be a cause for Aegean immigration to the Palestine coastline?
Again, remember that the primary focus of the essay is to report on the “connections between the Aegean people and the biblical Philistines.”
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*** SOME RESOURCES FOR RESEARCH…
[ADDRESS] http://omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu/hyper-lists/anc-l/02-06-01/0005.html
[NOTES]
Perhaps the best way to understand the Sea Peoples is to accept that the name referred to an amorphous, non-unified collection of groups of peoples who were traveling about at the fall of the Bronze Age. The very specific "Sea Peoples" mentioned in the Medinet Habu amd Ramses inscriptions have names which appear to relate them to the Greeks (such as the Danunu, perhaps), and the Anatolians (such as the Lukka), as well as others not as easy to identify. The fact is that there were quite a few downfalls, quite a few relocations going on during this period, makes trying to find a specific ethnic for the Sea Peoples is rather pointless, not to mention obscuring the general brouhaha of the times. As Trude Dothan has noted (See her and Moshe's book: People of the Sea...), even with just one group, the Philistines, there is already a huge mixing of cultural elements in the artefactual remains (Mycenaean, Cypriot, Egyptian, Levantine). Perhaps it is best just to think of the Sea Peoples as "Mediterranean Migrants".
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[ADDRESS]
http://omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu/hyper-lists/anc-l/02-06-01/0007.html [NOTES]
-STATEMENT:-
If so, why were they so organized and forcell? Why were they able to destroy stable civilizations (Hittite , Egypt)? It seems that Egypt repulsed the invasion but never recovered after it.
-RESPONSE:-
The Hittite issue should, I think, be kept distinct from the Egyptian issue. With Egypt, the original invasion was organized by the King of Libya (going from memory, here), with the Sea Peoples serving as mercenaries. It does not take too much initial organization on the part of the Sea Peoples themselves to become a good fighting unit; merely their presence and willingness and the Libyan king's ability to arm, pay, motivate, etc. them. If you think of them as refugees who trade their ability to fight in for arms (?), money (?), and eventually land (as seems to be the case, as the reliefs show them with families and carts in tow), then there is no need to have them start out as a mighty, fighting force. Don't forget that after the Egyptians "held off" the Sea Peoples, they hired them to occupy the now mostly deserted southern Levant, reinforcing, in my opinion, that notion of mercenary.
As for the Hittites... I think the question here is whether you want to argue that "Sea Peoples" attacked the Hittites, or that the Hitties fell to pirate raids which they grew too weak to fend off. With the displacement of the Hittites following the collapse of the H. Empire, you start a domino effect through the Mediterranean, with former Hittites looking for new homes and/or sources of revenue, so they attack mainland Greece, displacing those people, and so forth.
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[ADDRESS]
http://omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu/hyper-lists/anc-l/02-06-01/0008.html
[NOTES]
Trude Dothan had linked some of the Sea People, the Peleset, back to Crete as earlier art work in Crete was similar to that found in Philistine ruins. The Greek Island civilization was looted and ruined by some army(s) and/or navy(s) attacking the region towards the end of the Bronze Age or early Iron Age as they had iron in some of their early settlements dug in Israel. There was evidence the Sea Peoples went over to Asia Minor, perhaps during a time Homer wrote about as he was attributed with recording the names of some of the tribes of Asia Minor who lived before his time. The confederated people of the Sea Peoples and some of Asia Minor moved down the coast. The king of Ugarit (Ras Shamra, Syria) recorded on clay tablets that were found in an oven in Ugarit that some of his own ship crews who had been with the Hittites had gone over to the Sea Peoples and they had turned to attack him. Ugarit was destroyed perhaps as early as 1200 although one date published was 1170. The Peleset, the Dananu, and the Sicala (Tjeker) settled along the Israeli coast. The Dananu were assimilated by some other group or disappeared rapidly. The Peleset were on the south coast and were later called Philistine during Greco/Roman times. The Sicala settled in the north near Mt. Carmel and persisted for some time. Part of this summary was from my notes of a recent symposium by Dr. Stieglitz of Rutgers about the Phillistines..
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[ADDRESS]
http://omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu/hyper-lists/anc-l/02-06-01/0012.html
[NOTES]
-STATEMENT:-
The Peleset, the Dananu, and the Sicala (Tjeker) settled along the Israeli coast. The Dananu were assimilated by some other group or disappeared rapidly. The Peleset were on the south coast and were later called Philistine during Greco/Roman times. The Sicala settled in the north near Mt. Carmel and persisted for some time. Part of this summary was from my notes of a recent symposium by Dr. Stieglitz of Rutgers about the Phillistines..
-RESPONSE:-
I don't keep up on the literature too closely these days, as I am working on other things, but I seem to recall an article by Yigael Yadin (Australian Journal of Biblical Archaeology, I think, 1957?) which made the case that the Israelite tribe of Dan had clear Aegean affinities, or at the very least were unique compared to other Israelite tribes in the represenatations of the early historical books of the Hebrew Bible: Dan "abiding with the ships" in the Song of Deborah, Samson as more Hellenic hero than Israelite judge, and Samson's taste for riddles which recalled the Greco-Anatolian Mopsus. Perhaps this view has fallen out of favor, but I believe the Dothans still thought the viewpoint worth featuring in *Peoples of the Sea*. What is the latest feeling about this?
Also, an earlier post mentioned that the Sea Peoples were organized by the King of Libya, but I think that confuses the episode related in the Medinet Habu inscription of Ramesses III with the attack expelled by Merneptah some fifty years earlier, which did in fact include Shekelesh, Ekwesh, and Peleset as well and was indeed launched from Libya.
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[ADDRESS]
http://omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu/hyper-lists/anc-l/02-06-01/0014.html
[NOTES]
Some believe the Sea Peoples to have come from Mycenean Greece, and to be associated with the persistent enemies of the Jews, the Philistines, who settled in southern Palestine, or Philistia. Among the people mentioned in association with the Sea Peoples in the ancient records are the Peleset (the Philistines), Tjeker, Shekesh, Denyen, the Sikils, and Weshesh.
However, the Philistines were one part of the group called Sea Peoples by the Egyptians, but an earlier contingent of Sea Peoples fought the Egyptians under Pharaoh Merneptah in the late thirteenth century BC, and Egyptian records do not list the Philistines among them. More likely, the Philistines are related etymologically to the Pelasgians, the native population of Greece, said to have been displaced by the invading Danaans, usually identified with the Denyen, mentioned in the records of Ramses III.
According to Greek mythology, the Danaans themselves were of Phoenician or Egyptian origin. According to Greek myth, Danaus fled Egypt with his fifty daughter, and was chased to Greece by his brother Egyptus, and his fifty sons seeking wives. Scholars recognize that the Sea Peoples invasion may be connected with a Danaan people, known as the Dorians, and referred to in Greek myth as the Dorian Invasion, or the Invasion of the Heraklids. The ancestor of the Heraklids was Perseus, who was of known to have been of Syrian origin. The were named after Heracles, for whom, according to Burkert, ".since Herodotus, the equation of Herakles with the Phoenician god Melqart has been beyond question, which is why the Melqart Pillars in the temple at Gadeira/Cadiz became the Pillars of Hercules."
In any case, Heccataeus of Abdera, a Greek historian of the fourth century BC, and important source to Diodorus of Sicily, set out his view that the traditions of the Egyptian expulsion of the Hyksos, the Israelite Exodus and that of Danaus' landing in Greece, were three parallel versions of the same story. Referring to the Egyptians he says:
"The natives of the land surmised that unless they removed the foreigners their troubles would never be resolved. At once, therefore, the aliens were driven from the country and the most outstanding and active among them branded together and, as some say, were cast ashore in Greece and certain other regions; their teachers were notable men, among them being Danaus and Cadmus. But the greater number were driven into what is now called Judea, which is not far from Egypt and at that time was utterly uninhabited. The colony was headed by a man called Moses." (Diodorus Siculus. XL: 3.2)
Some have recognized that the Denyen Sea Peoples may have been one of the twelve tribes of Israelites, the tribe of Dan, or the Danites, one of two tribes, along with the tribe of Asher, whose characteristic mode of trade was seafaring. Furthermore, it has been proven archeologically that the conquests by the Israelites mentioned in the Bible, following the exodus from Egypt, took place in fact throughout the thirteenth and twelfth century BC, coinciding with the ravages of the Sea Peoples. Yet, as Stager mentions:
Archaeologists agree that dramatic cultural change affected not only parts of Canaan but also much of the eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1200 BC). How much of that change was brought about by the migrations and/or invasions of newcomers to Canaan, and specifically by invading Israelites, is still an open question. ("Forging an Identity", The Oxford History of the Biblical World, p. 128.)
A number of sites counted among the conquests of the Sea Peoples, are identical with those known to have been accomplished by the Israelites. Among them, Dor, on the coast of Palestine, mentioned in Joshua 12:23, taken by the Sikils in the twelfth century, and Aphek mentioned in Joshua 12:18.
Even the Trojan War itself may have been a conflict between Israelites and Hittites. The Sea Peoples were known to have devastated a broader territory than that described in the Bible, and though such conquests are not recounted in the Bible, the Jews were commanded to conquer all the lands of the Canaanites and their affiliate peoples, which included the Hittites, known to have inhabited most of Asia Minor, or modern Turkey, and if the Pelasgians were Philistines, perhaps as far as Greece.
Homer himself referred to the contingent of Achaeans hidden inside the Trojan Horse as Danaans. The ancient city was located in the region known as the land of Troy, or Troas, within which was also found, just several kilometers to the north, the city of Abydos, named after another city by the same name in Egypt, that had formerly been the capital of the Hyksos.
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[ADDRESS]
http://omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu/hyper-lists/anc-l/02-06-01/0026.html [NOTES]
-SOME CLARIFICATION ON THE PREVIOUS LISTING:-
> Some believe the Sea Peoples to have come from Mycenean Greece They do. But the term 'believe' is not accurate, as it tends to imply that this is an opinion unsupported by any evidence, while there is in fact such evidence: the pottery of the Philistins has Mycenean similarities, some words in the Hebrew text of the Bible can be traced to Greek origins (Philistins, Anakim, makera (sword), kurranos (tyrrant), koba (helmet). Also EUAIOI (Hivites) in the LXX, considered as Greeks, is an Indoeuropean name.
> Tjeker
They could be related to the TEUKRIDES (Tefkrides), a Greek tribe. TEUKROS (Tefkros) was the founder of Salamis in Kypros.
> According to Greek mythology, the Danaans themselves were of Phoenician or Egyptian origin. According to Greek myth, Danaus fled Egypt with his fifty daughter
The 50 daughters of Danaos were not the Danaans, but the DANAIDAI, Danaids or Danaeads (or whatever form this name has taken in English). This can be see from something you also written:
> the Pelasgians, the native population of Greece, said > to have been displaced by the invading Danaans,
This implies that the Danaans must have came from a direction appropriate to push the Pelasgians to the coast of Syria, Canaan and then to Egypt. So, if the Pelasgians were pushed as far as Egypt, it is rather difficult that those who pushed them came from there. I don't recall having met the term 'invasion' before.
> a Danaan people, known as the Dorians
Actually, DANAOI (Danaans) was a collective name for the Greeks. The Dorians were one of the main Greek tribes. Another name was ACAIOI (Achaeans). Later, they became known as ELLHNES (Hellenes), GRAIKOI (Greeks), RWMHOI (Romans, Rum), then back again to ELLHNES after the Greek Revolution of 1821...
What is know in English as "Beware of the Greeks even bearing gifts" it is known in Greek as "beware of the Danaans": FOBOU TOUS DANAOUS KAI DWRA FERONTAS.
> and referred to in Greek myth as the Dorian Invasion (Actually: 'the KAQODOS of the Dorians' the Descent of the Dorians.) Well, I'm not (*yet*!!) an expert on Greek history and myths. But then, I will be surprised if the historical evidence included in the Greek myths was so much as to include not only a panoramic, total picture of the events at the fall of the Mycenean era, but even a special term for these events. And still further, a term describing things in a historical rather than mythological way.
> it has been proven archeologically that the conquests by the
Israelites mentioned in the Bible, following the exodus from Egypt Indeed, there is archeological evidence for the destruction of sites in Palestine at the end of Late Bronze period. But are you claiming as proved that these events were conquests, eventually by a newcomer to Canaan? And, mainly, that they happened _after an Exodus from Egypt?_ As far as I know, this is not so.
> Even the Trojan War itself may have been a conflict between Israelites and Hittites.
It sounds shocking and interesting. But how can we base it?
> The Sea Peoples were known to have devastated a broader territory than that described in the Bible...
The Bible makes no reference to Sea People --or to an area devastated by them. But it does include evidence which we interpret as having to do with Sea People. So, anything about Sea People is our modern interpretation.
> ...and though such conquests are not recounted in the Bible, the Jews were commanded to conquer all the lands of the Canaanites and their affiliate peoples, which included the Hittites, known to have inhabited most of Asia Minor, or modern Turkey, and if the Pelasgians were Philistines, perhaps as far as Greece.
The Bible is not a book of history, it is not a recording of historical events. Rather, it is an effort to explain and justify events later than the historical time attributed to the explaining or justifying event.
But then, the Jews weren't actually "commanded to conquer all the lands of the Canaanites and their affiliate peoples". They were (ok, supposedly) commanded to conquer the Land of Canaan, which was the land of these and these peoples.
The Bible gave itself more than a few chances to describe the area of this Promised Land. And the description was "from Dan to Beersheba", meaning: 'all the land'. (But there is also "from the great river [Euphrates] to the river of Egypt"). The available evidence allows only the understanding that Hittites, for example, are reffered because some of them lived in Canaan, not because all the land inhabited by them was to be conquered.
> Homer himself referred to the contingent of Achaeans hidden inside the Trojan Horse as Danaans.
Homer uses many times the name Danaans. It was one of the names for the Greeks. Why make a special point from the refference to the Trojan Horse?
> the land of Troy, or Troas, within which was also found, just several kilometers to the north, the city of Abydos, named after another city by the same name in Egypt, that had formerly been the capital of the Hyksos.
Are you implying that Abydos was built by the Sea People, after they flew from Egypt? But, isn't your proposal that the Sea Peoples were those not defending but attacking Troy?
Abydos is reffered in Iliad, rapsody II836, IV500, XVII584.
ooOO—Oooo [ADDRESS]
http://omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu/hyper-lists/anc-l/02-06-01/0009.html
[NOTES]
There are a number of theories about the origins of the Sea Peoples. It is true that Gordon thought they (the Philistines) were Semites and that they spoke a Semitic language, but most scholars disagree. They do acknowledge, however, that they acculturated to the prevailing Canaanite world and did adopt a Semitic language (with strong affinities to Hebrew) while still retaining some words of the parent language.
Singer sums up the current state of research :
"Clear evidence for the origins of the Sea Peoples is still missing (survey of views in Singer 1988). Disregarding some farfetched theories, the admissible views may be roughly classified according to three main geographical zones. (a) The N Balkans, particularly Illyria on the Adriatic coast; the "Illyrian theory" is related with the identification of the Philistines (*Palaisti may be the original form of the name) with the Pelasgoi (sometimes spelled Pelastoi) of the classical sources, a pre-Hellenic people who inhabited the Balkans and the Aegean regions (Lochner-Hüttenbach 1960). (b) The W Aegean region, i.e., Greece, the Aegean islands, and Crete; this theory relies on archaeological (mainly ceramic) comparisons and on the biblical tradition, which brings the Philistines from the island of Caphtor, i.e., Crete. (c) The E Aegean, i.e., Anatolia and the offshore islands. This view, which is gaining increasing acceptance, is supported by the most solid and diversified evidence. (1) At least two out of the nine Sea Peoples mentioned in the Egyptian sources are undoubtedly located in Anatolia-the Lukka in Lycia and the Danuna in Cilicia; a third group, the Trs, is probably related to the Tyrsenoi (and biblical Tiras), who, according to Herodotus, migrated from Lydia to Etruria. (2) The few traces of Philistine words (seren, q/kobah) and names (Goliath, Achish) appear to be etymologically connected with Anatolian languages. (3) The Hittite texts provide ample evidence for serious upheavals in SW Anatolia (the Lukka lands) in the second half of the 13th century b.c., which can clearly be related with the emergence of the Sea Peoples (Singer 1983). (4) Some of the classical traditions on W Anatolian heroes who trekked eastward and eventually settled in Cyprus and the Levant (Teucros, Mopsus) may reflect dim echoes of the migratory movements of the Sea Peoples (Schachermeyr 1982).
Although the focal point of the turbulence appears to have been in SW Anatolia (still a poorly explored region), the 'tidal waves' soon affected the neighboring regions and disrupted the authority of the Hittite and the Mycenaean empires. The major cause for the economic and political breakdown, which motivated large populations to migrate, was probably the severe food shortage, amply documented in contemporary Near Eastern texts and also echoed in the classical and biblical sources. Whereas some of the Sea Peoples poured down along the Levantine coast in search of land and food, others turned westward and sailed as far as Sardinia (Serdani), Sicily (Sikila or Skls), and Etruria (Trs/Tyrsenoi). Archaeological evidence from the central Mediterranean, particularly from Sardinia, confirms the classical traditions on these movements (Sandars 1978, chap. 4). Quite extensive in itself, the diaspora of the Sea Peoples represents only a fraction of much larger population drifts, which encompassed vast territories in the E Mediterranean, the Balkans, Asia Minor, and the Levant, and radically changed the face of these regions in the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age (see summaries in Deger-Jalkotzy 1983). Contrary to traditional views which conceived of the Sea Peoples as barbarian raiders spreading ruin and chaos, modern historical and archaeological research increasingly appreciates their cultural role in the merging of the Indo-European civilizations of the Aegean realm with the Semitic cultures of the Levant.
Bibliography
Alt, A. 1944. Ägyptische Tempel in Palästina und die Landnahme der Philister. ZDPV 67:1-20. Repr. KlSchr 1:216-30.
Astour, M. C. 1965. New Evidence on the Last Days of Ugarit. AJA 69:253-58. Barnett, R. D. 1975. The Sea Peoples. CAH3 2:359-70.
Brug, J. F. 1985. A Literary and Archaeological Study of the Philistines. Oxford.
Bryce, T. R. 1974. The Lukka Problem-and a Possible Solution. JNES 33:395-404.
Deger-Jalkotzy, S., ed. 1983. Griechenland, die Äqäis und die Levante während der "Dark Ages" vom 12. bis zum 9. Jh. v. Chr. Wien.
Dothan, T. 1982. The Philistines and their Material Culture. Jerusalem.
Dothan, T., and Gitin, S. 1987. The Rise and Fall of Ekron of the Philistines: Recent Excavations at an Urban Border Site. BA 50:197-222.
Güterbock, H. G. 1981. The Hittites and the Aegean World: Part 1. The Ahhiyawa Problem Reconsidered. AJA 87:133-43.
Karageorghis, V., and Muhly, J. D., eds. 1984. Cyprus at the Close of the Late Bronze Age. Nicosia.
Lehmann, G. A. 1970. Der Untergang des hethitischen Grossreiches und die neuen Texte aus Ugarit. UF 2:39-73. ---. 1979. Die Sikalayu: Ein neues Zeugnis zu den "Seevölker" Heerfahrten im späten 13. Jh.V.Chr. (RS 34.129). UF 11:481-94.
Lochner-Hüttenbach, F. 1960. Die Pelasger. Vienna.
Macalister, R. A. S. 1911. The Philistines. London. Repr. Chicago, 1965.
Malamat, A. 1971. The Egyptian Decline in Canaan and the Sea Peoples. WHJP 3:23-38; 294-300.
Mazar, A. 1985. The Emergence of Philistine Culture. IEJ 35:95-107.
Mazar, B. 1971. The Philistines and Their Wars with Israel. WHJP 3:164-79; 324-25. ---. 1986. The Philistines and the Rise of Israel and Tyre. Pp. 63-82 in The Early Biblical Period. Historical Studies. Jerusalem.
Müller-Karpe, H., ed. 1977. Geschichte des 13. und 12. Jahrhunderts v.
Chr. (Jahresbericht des Instituts für Vorgeschichte der Universität Frankfurt A.M. 1976.). Frankfurt.
Nelson, H. H. 1930, 1932. The Earliest Historical Records of Ramses III, Medinet Habu. 2 vols. Chicago.
Sandars, N. K. 1978. The Sea Peoples. London. Schachermeyr, F. 1980. Griechenland im Zeitalter der Wanderungen. Vienna. ---. 1982. Die Levante im Zeitalter der Wanderungen. Vienna. Singer, I. 1983. Western Anatolia in the Thirteenth Century b.c. According to the Hittite Sources. AnSt 33:205-17. --. 1985a. The Beginning of Philistine Settlement in Canaan and the Northern Boundary of Philistia. TA 12:109-22. ---. 1985b. The Battle of NihÉriya and the End of the Hittite Empire. ZA 75:100-23. ---. 1987. Dating the End of the Hittite Empire. Hethitica 8:413-21. ---. 1988. The Origin of the Sea Peoples and Their Settlement on the Coastof Canaan. Pp. 239-50 in Society and Economy in the Eastern Mediterranean (c. 1500-1000 B.C.), ed. M. Heltzer and E. Lipinski. OLA. Louvain.
Strobel, A. 1976. Der Spätbronzezeitliche Seevölkersturm. Berlin.
Young, D. Y., ed. 1981. Ugarit in Retrospect. Winona Lake, IN.
Itamar Singer
Freedman, David Noel, ed., The Anchor Bible Dictionary, (New York: Doubleday) 1997, 1992.
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Sea People, from: http://i-cias.com/e.o/sea_people.htm
People or clans of seafarers that invaded eastern Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus and Egypt in the 2nd millenium BCE. The exact ethnic origin, culture and language is not known.
The Sea People could well be a branch of another people of the region, and there have been several suggestions to this: Ekmesh (a name the Hittites used for the Ahhiyawa), Teresh, Tyrrhenians (ancestors of the Estruscans), Sardinians, Shekelesh of Sicily or Pelest. Another theory is that they could have been a deserted army, or even survivers after a lost war. Another third theory point at the rise of the Sea People to the first fall of the city Troy in Asia Minor around 1250 BCE (the famous battle with the Troyan Horse is a later battle, possibly 60-70 years later).
Despite their name, their main military campaigns were overland. The started near Ugarit (its location corresponds to modern Latakia, Syria) and continued south, until they ran into Egyptian forces. The Sea People are known for waging 2 wars against Egypt which probably had disastrous effects on the Egyptian society. But other great states were even worse hit, like the Hittite kingdom, which was destroyed.
We have received important information on the Sea People, principally what they looked like, from Egyptian temple reliefs, like the temple of Ramses 3 at Medinatu Habu near Luxor.
When the Sea People attacked different countries, they attacked capitals and cities important to administration. In these cities they destroyed government buildings, palaces and temples, while leaving residential areas and the surrounding countryside untouched. By doing this, they destroyed the local leadership, and could win fairly easy victories.
The Sea People were in almost all ways a negative and destructive force for the region. Even if the Sea People destroyed much through their campaigns, it is believed that they were the founders of the Philistine and Phoenician civilizations, which soon grew to some of the most important forces in the eastern Mediterranean.
HISTORY
1231 BCE: The Sea People attacks Egypt, and fights the forces of King Merneptah. According to the Victory Stela found near Thebes, the Sea People consisted of the following peoples or clans: Shardana, Lukka, Meshwesh, Teresh, Ekwesh and Shekelesh. While Merneptah claimed victory over the Sea People, this is perhaps not true, since Egypt entered a period of much internal unrest following this battle,.
Early 12th century: The Sea People sacks the city of Ugarit. The destruction by them, was so heavy that Ugarit was abandoned forever. — Attacks from the Sea People, brings the Hittite kingdom to its final end. The power of the kingdom had deteriorated for decades, but it is believed that it was the Sea People that hit the final strike. But the Sea People attacked other countries too, like Kizzuatna, Carchemish, Arzawa and Alasiya.
1191 BCE: Attack on Egypt, where the Sea People meet the forces of king Ramses 3.
1881 CE: The term 'Sea People' is introduced by the French Egyptologist Gaston Maspero.
IN ADDITION TO THE NOTES LISTED ABOVE, HERE IS A LISTING OF GREAT SOURCES:
-*-*- http://www.mediasense.com/athena/philistines.htm
-*-*- http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~maeira/word_files/philistines.htm
-*-*- www.fas.harvard.edu/~semitic/wl/white_levy_dothan.html
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