Posted on 07/10/2016 10:06:41 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The Philistines left behind plenty of pottery. But part of the mystery surrounding the ancient people was that very little biological trace of them had been found -- until 2013.
That's when archaeologists excavating the site of the biblical city of Ashkelon found what they say is the first Philistine cemetery ever discovered. They say they have uncovered the remains of more than 200 people there.
The discovery was finally unveiled Sunday at the close of a 30-year excavation by the Leon Levy Expedition, a team of archaeologists from Harvard University, Boston College, Wheaton College in Illinois and Troy University in Alabama.
The team is now performing DNA, radiocarbon and other tests on bone samples uncovered at the cemetery, dating back to between the 11th and the 8th centuries B.C., to help resolve a debate about the Philistines' geographical origins. The archaeologists have not announced any conclusions, saying they are taking advantage of recent advances in DNA testing to get the most accurate results...
Archaeologists and biblical scholars have long believed the Philistines came from the Aegean region, based on pottery found in excavations of Philistine sites.
But scholars have debated where exactly in the Aegean region the Philistines came from: mainland Greece, the islands of Crete or Cyprus, or even Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey.
The bones might hold the answers, said archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel, an Israeli expert on the period who did not participate in the dig. He called the cemetery find "a very significant discovery indeed."
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
Some place long ago I read something that attempted to link the Philistines to the Phoenicians. It would be interesting to compare the DNA.
I don’t think they were (at least initially) Phoenicians. The Phoenicians called themselves Canaanites and had moved from the Persian gulf around 2000 BC. The Philistines had a non-Semitic base, but what that base was is open for debate. They most definitely got assimilated with the local Semites (Judeans or Canaanites).
Maybe the DNA will tell their story.
true, but the thing is that we know that by the time of the Assyrians invasions around 700 BC they are no longer mentioned, so they were probably fully assimilated by then. A small force in the midst of different people would have taken wives etc. from the neighboring Canaanites. Also, if they came initially from Crete, there would have already been centuries of inter-marriage. I don’t think DNA would prove conclusively either way due to these reasons
It has been quite some time since SunkenCiv has posted. This is the last thread he posted, and his last post that I can find was July 11. I hope he is ok. Has anyone heard? His articles are treasures.
But how tall were they? the warriors, I mean. Really.
They were only ever a small population. They seem to have disappeared during the Assyrian invasions of 700 BC
The modern day "Palestinians" are again a mix of different peoples -- they will have some Judean, north Israelite, Philistine, Hittite, Egyptian, Roman, Persian, Greek, Arab etc. blood.
It's very interesting how nations are formed and die.
One thousand years ago you had a burgundian nation and then poof. five hundred years ago there was no Belarussian nation or indonesian etc.
also, the Philistines seem to have had Indo-European names — Philistine name Goliath (compare Lydian Alyattes, Greek Kalliades) (from Wikipedia) — which makes kind of sense. Perhaps the Dorian Greeks pushed the Ionians to go south?
2 metres tall (6’6”). Giants compared to the israelites who were 5 feet max
Found out by what method? Bones someplace? The only ones I recall were the graves around Qumran, a long time later.
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