Last updated on: 5/2/2008 | Author: ProCon.org

The Philistines

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Hanoch Reviv, the late professor of History at Hebrew University, in A History of Israel and the Holy Land, “The Cannanite and Israelite Periods (3200-322 B.C.),” wrote:

“The origin of the Philistines is not at all clear. It is generally accepted that they were ethnically akin to the pre-Hellenic elements in Asia Minor and Crete. In the Bible, they are described as coming from Caphtor, which is Crete. Their affinity to Aegean civilization is further confirmed by twelfth and eleventh century pottery of a special style discovered along the coastal plain, in the Negev, and in the mountain region and elsewhere. In Palestine they formed an aristocratic minority which, thanks to its sophisticated military organization and plentiful iron weapons, surpassing anything known in the country before, was quickly able to overcome the Canaanite population.”

2001 – Hanoch Reviv