People of the Sea: The Search for the PhilistinesThe Philistines are among the most maligned peoples of ancient history. The Bible characterized them as cunning pagan warmongers, the ancient Egyptians as pirates and marauders. In today's language, a "philistine" is an uncouth, uncultured person. Thanks to the work of Trude Dothan and Moshe Dothan, three thousand years of bad press are at last giving way to a wholly different picture of the Philistines. Through their excavations and other studies, these two eminent archaeologists have unearthed startling answers to some of the great mysteries of biblical history, revealing the Philistines as a highly civilized people. They were advanced artisans and craftsmen, sophisticated architects and ecologically minded town planners. One of the Aegean Sea Peoples who settled on the southern coast of Canaan at the end of the twelfth century B.C., the Philistines entered history as the main adversaries of the Israelites, stigmatized by the wicked Delilah and the arrogant Goliath. While the nature of their written language is still a mystery, the nature of their civilization is not. The remains of monumental buildings, a flourishing olive-oil industry, cast bronze, iron, and ivory artifacts, weaving looms, wine presses, and a wide range of artistically distinctive pottery urge us to make a historical reassessment. In People of the Sea, the world's preeminent authorities on Philistine history and culture provide the first popular account of their ground-breaking work. Handsomely illustrated with line drawings, photographs, and maps, the book interweaves a fascinating history of the rise and fall of the Philistines with the first-person experiences of archaeologists at work. The result is a work thatnot only dramatically changes our understanding of an important and legendary era but also serves to illuminate an ancient civilization long lost to history. |
Contents
OUR SEARCH BEGINS | 75 |
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE PHILISTINES | 97 |
Threefold Confirmation | 137 |
Copyright | |
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acropolis Aegean Afula Akko ancient anthropoid coffins apparently archaeological artifacts Ashdod Ashkelon Assyrian Athienou Azor Beth Shean Beth Shemesh biblical bowls burial Canaan Canaanite cemetery city's clay coast connection courtyard Crete cult cultic Cypriot Cyprus decorated Deir el-Balah Department of Antiquities destruction digging discovery Dothan earlier Early Iron Age early Philistine eastern Mediterranean Egypt Egyptian Ekron eleventh century B.C. evidence excavations figurines finds fortifications fragments Gaza Greek Hebrew University Iron Age Israel Israelites Jerusalem kilns king kraters Late Bronze Age later layer listine Mackenzie Mazar Medinet Habu Medinet Habu reliefs Minoan mound mudbrick Mycenaean IIIC:1b Mycenaean pottery northern Palestine period Petrie Philistine capitals Philistine city Philistine culture Philistine pottery Philistine settlement Phythian-Adams Plate Ramesses Ramesses III scholars seemed Shardana sherds storejars Stratum structure style Tell el-Farah Tell Qasile temple thirteenth century B.C. tombs trade tradition twelfth century B.C. uncovered vessels walls