Confirmation the Philistines were Pelasgian Greeks
Archaeologists find first-ever Philistine cemetery in Israel
Cemetery in ancient Ashkelon, dating back 2700-3000 years, proves the
Philistines came from the Aegean, and that in contrast to the
conventional wisdom, they were a peaceful folk.
A huge Philistine cemetery some 3000-years-old has been found in the
Mediterranean seaport of Ashkelon. The manner of the burials proves, for
the first time, that the Philistines had to have come from the Aegean
Sea region, and that they had very close ties with the Phoenician world.
“Ninety-nine percent of the chapters and articles written about
Philistine burial customs should be revised or ignored now that we have
the first and only Philistine cemetery,” says Lawrence E. Stager, Dorot
Professor of the Archaeology of Israel, Emeritus, at Harvard University.
The cemetery was found just outside the city walls of Tel Ashkelon, one
of the Philistines' five primary cities in ancient Israel.
The cemetery was found to have more then 150 individual burials dating
from the 11th to 8th century BCE. The undisturbed graves have shed fresh
light on a mystery bedeviling archaeologists for decades: the
Philistines' real origins.
US anthropologist and pathologist, Sherry Fox shows a skull discovered
at the excavation site of the first Philistine cemetery ever found in
Ashkelon, on June 28, 2016. Menahem Kahana, AFP
“The basic question we want to know is where this people are from," said
Dr. Sherry Fox, a physical anthropologist who is sampling the bones for
analysis, including for DNA studies, and radiocarbon and biological
distance studies.
How the Philistines lived: Not like Canaanites
The unprecedented discovery of the Philistine cemetery allows the
archaeologists not only to study Philistine burial practices for the
first time, but also to gain insights on Philistine characteristics and
lifestyle. With this discovery, the archaeologists finally have a data
set not on one or two individuals but a whole population, explains
Daniel M. Master, professor of Wheaton College and co-director of the
Leon Levy Expedition. That in turn will enable them to talk about what’s
typical and what’s not typical, he explains.
“This forms a baseline for what 'Philistine' is. We can already say that
the cultural practices we see here are substantially different from the
Canaanites and the highlanders in the east," Master says.
Archaeologists investigating the first unmistakably Philistine burial
ground found in Israel, in Ashkelon. Philippe Bohstrom
The bodies can also provide information about Philistine dietary habits,
lifestyle and morbidity.
One conclusion the archaeologists have already reached is that these
particular individuals seemed to have been spared from strife.
“There is no evidence of any kind of trauma on the bones, from war on
inter-personal violence,” Fox told Haaretz.
Unlike the typical burial practice in the region - family burials or
multiple burials, where the deceased were laid on raised platforms or
benches - the practice in Ashkelon was markedly different.
The deceased were, for the most part, buried in oval pits. Four out of
the 150 were cremated and some other bodies were deposited in ashlar
burial chamber tombs. These are burial practices well known from the
Aegean cultural sphere - but certainly not from the Canaanite one.
Artifacts found with the skeletons in the Philistine graveyard in
Ashkelon are indicative of Philistine culture, not Canaanite. Philippe
Bohstrom
A peaceful lot
Other finds that accompanied the deceased typically included storage
jars, bowls and juglets, and in some rare cases fine jewelry - as well
as arrowheads and spear points.
A hoard of iron arrowheads was discovered by the pelvis of one man, the
amount one would expect to find in a quiver.
“The same arrow was not repeated, but a variety of forms and sizes,
which is interesting," Dr. Adam Aja, assistant director of the
excavation, told Haaretz, and added, “Perhaps the archer could choose
the arrows he needed to penetrate flesh, armor or wood.”
Spear-points and some jewelry were also found next to the Philistine bowman.
Pottery artifacts found in the Philistine graveyard in Ashkelon, dating
back c. 3000 years. Philippe Bohstrom
In other instances, small vials that had contained perfume were found
next to the deceased (probably an olive oil based with different
fragrances) . In two cases the bottle was found at the nostril, pointing
to the nose, presumably so that the deceased could smell perfume
throughout eternity.
In addition to the 150 individual pit graves found at the cemetery, six
burial chambers with multiple bodies were found (when the bodies were
found at all). A magnificent rectangular burial chamber was discovered
inside the cemetery, built with perfectly hewn sandstones. But the
large stone door that once stood at its entrance evidently could not
hinder grave robbers from looting the tomb of its treasure and its
occupants' skeletal remains.
When the chamber was built and used is anybody’s guess. “The latest
pottery is trash from the 7th century BCE, but the chamber might have
been built and used somewhat earlier,” Master told Haaretz.
The roughly 3000-year old skeletons found in the Philistine graveyard in
Ashkelon have clear hallmarks of Aegean customs, not Canaanite. Philippe
Bohstrom
Linen, papyrus and slaves
Ashkelon became a flourishing trading hub during the Bronze Age because
of its location on the Mediterranean Sea and its proximity to Egypt. It
was through Ashkelon, which was situated just north of Gaza, that Egypt
sold linen and papyrus – and also slaves – to the rest of the ancient world.
Other goods distributed through Ashkelon during the Iron Age (ca.
1185-604 BCE) included wine and textile. There is also evidence of grain
imports from Judah, again attesting to the Philistine city as an
important gateway between the East and the West.
Ashkelon would remain a key trading center up to Crusader times. But it
was destroyed by the Mamluk sultan Baibars in 1270 CE, a blow from which
it never recovered.
The Philistines execute a pincer maneuver
According to the Bible, the island of Crete (usually held to be
identical with Caphtor Jeremiah 47:4; Amos 9:7), though not necessarily
the original home of the Philistines, was the place from which they
migrated to the Canaan coast.
That the Philistines were not indigenous to Canaan is indicated by
ceramics, architecture, burial customs, and pottery remains with writing
– in non-Semitic languages (several inscribed stamp handles, as well as
a pottery sherd with a Cypro-Minoan script, all dating to around
1150-1000 BCE).
Pottery sherd with Cypro-Minoan writing, found on the floor of a house
in Philistine Ashkelon, dated to the 11th century BCE. Zev Radovan,
courtesy of the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon
The ancient DNA-analysis may be the final nail in the coffin that
settles the debate of the Philistines origins.
Meanwhile, Lawrence E. Stager of Harvard has long been convinced that
the Philistines came by ship, sailing from the Aegean area, perhaps
Cyprus, to the South Canaan coast, and established themselves there
before their great assault on Egypt.
One of the earliest references to the Philistines is Ramesses III´s
mortuary relief at Medinet Habu. The relief portrays the Battle of the
Delta, the grand struggle between the Egyptians and the Sea Peoples that
took place at the mouth of the Nile during the early 12th century BCE
(1176-75 BCE).
Since the relief depicts oxcarts, chariots and ships, some scholars
assume the Philistines came overland from Anatolia to Egypt. Stager is
skeptical. “There is no way you can come with oxcarts from Anatolia,
down through all the hills," he explains. "It makes much more sense if
they came with ships, loading and offloading these vehicles."
He also points out that the Battle of the Delta was the one known epic
battle between the Egyptians and Philistines or Sea Peoples. There
weren't two. If the Philistines attacked the Egyptians, they would
likely have sent a navy down the Mediterranean - and an army of land
troops, effectively creating a pincer maneuver against Ramesses III,
Stager speculates.
Stager suspects the Philistines had to have been well entrenched in
south Canaan before the Battle of the Delta. Ashkelon would have been
one of the first strategic points the Philistines would have settled,
securing as sort of “bridgehead”, before they launched their armada and
infantry against the Egyptians in the Nile Delta.
“Ramesses III tried to contain them in their five Philistine cities, but
obviously he could not control them or drive them out," says Stager.
Daniel Master differs: “I think Egypt was still in control of the
region, even Philistia, and that the Philistines settled with Egyptian
acquiescence. This is become a broader consensus over the last few
years due to work at Megiddo, Jaffa, and Ashkelon itself, where we find
many Egyptian objects from this period,” he told Haaretz.
At this point, we do not know if the Egyptians managed to subdue the
Philistines. But we do know that the Philistines did eventually have
their comeuppance.
In early December 604 BCE, the Babylonians swept through Philistia,
destroying the cities and exiling its inhabitants. The Babylonian ruler
Nebuchadnezzar torched Philistia in early December 604 BCE, yet within
the massive destruction, architecture, ceramics and even foods remained,
providing the archaeologists with a snapshot of life in a Philistine
city during the 7th century BCE.
2016 marks the final season of the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon,
where they have been excavating since 1985.
read more:
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/1.729879
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