Jump to content
Join the Unexplained Mysteries community today! It's free and setting up an account only takes a moment.
- Sign In or Create Account -

Philistines not Aegean pirates?


Kenemet

Recommended Posts

Note: site has a lot of annoying popups.  Be prepared to smite them before reading this interesting article.  It's a long article that's divided by many blocks of ads.  Just keep scrolling, okay?

Quote

Ancient Egyptian Records Indicate Philistines Weren't Aegean Pirates After All

Research into ancient Egyptian records from the 12th century B.C.E. is shedding new light on a mystery archaeologists have been debating for decades: the origin of the Philistines and other marauding “Sea Peoples” that appeared in the Levant during the late Bronze Age.

...

But there is a problem with that interpretation, Ben-Dor Evian notes. The papyrus literally says the defeated foes were “brought as captives to Egypt,” not Canaan, and “settled in strongholds” there.

Previous generations of scholars may have been too eager to interpret Egyptian texts to fit the Biblical narrative, she says
 

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/1.802928

The mystery of the Sea Peoples has another piece added to it -  Shirly Ben-Dor Evian, the curator of Egyptian archaeology at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, thinks that instead of being invading pirates, they may have been a group that was resettled in Egyptian cities (a common practice for Egypt's conquered enemies) and may be groups that Egypt called on to use as mercenary troops.

And Ramesses II may have been ...overinflating... the dangers and his heroic accomplishments. 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
What was the meaning of the ancient Egyptian word "teher"?
 
Quoting from the link in the Opening Post:  http://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/1.802928
 
A Levantine origin for the Philistines is further supported, she says, by the fact that the Medinet Habu inscriptions identify the Sea Peoples as teher  – the same term reserved to describe Syrian or Anatolian warriors allied with the Hittites during the battle of Kadesh, the great clash that Ramses II had won against his northern foes around 1274 B.C.E., nearly a century earlier.
“So, they were not this unknown group that suddenly appeared out of nowhere,” Ben-Dor Evian concludes.
 
......It is likely that the Philistine culture that emerged in southern Canaan was the result of various influences and migratory waves from different locations across the Mediterranean, says Aren Maeir, a professor of archaeology at Bar-Ilan University who heads the excavation at Tell es-Safi, the site of ancient Gath.
“In the material culture of the early Philistines we see something from Greece, from Cyprus, from Crete, from western Anatolia,” Maeir told Haaretz in a telephone interview.
The archaeologist does agree with Ben-Dor Evian that the Philistines appeared earlier than previously thought and have been unfairly characterized as particularly warlike invaders.
“We see many people of different origins who settled aside the Canaanite inhabitants,” he said. “Despite some localized destruction, most of the Canaanite sites continue to exist peacefully alongside the Philistine ones.”
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.