[VadeRetro]

Looking at my own question about the Philistines: they were probably refugees ("sea people") from Crete after the big Thera volcanic popoff best remembered through a haze of legend as the downfall of Atlantis. (It was really the Minoans on Crete.) It looks from a cursory scan tonight as though their language hasn't been deciphered very far.

[blam]

Maybe refugees from the Black Sea flood in 5600BC?
Thera exploded in 1628BC. (...and in my opinion, provided the fireworks for the Exodus.)

[Eternal_Bear]

The usual theory was that the Philistines of the Coast were related to the Dorian Greeks and were part of the Sea Peoples who invaded Egypt but were defeated. They may conquered what was left of Minoan Culture. They introduced iron weaponry into Canaan. No wonder they were a tough group to beat.