The Origins of the Philistines May Soon Be Known

[Brother Mythos]

‘Bones unearthed in Ashkelon at only known Philistine cemetery may reveal ancient mystery’

Here’s the link to the article: http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Bones-unearthed-in-Ashkelon-at-only-known-Philistine-cemetery-may-reveal-ancient-mystery-459973

I posted this as a new, separate topic, as there should be additional news on this subject coming in the near future. My personal interest in this subject is the Philistines possible link to Crete, as mentioned in the following quotation from this article:

‘Several Biblical passages link the Philistines to ancient Crete. At the same time, archeologists have long noted dramatic cultural changes in the Ashkelon region in the early 12th century BCE, roughly at the time when ancient Egyptian texts mention “Sea Peoples” moving into the eastern Mediterranean.

Using these clues, scholars have argued that the Philistines emigrated from the Aegean in the early Iron Age, bringing the cultural practices of their homeland, which appear to have been pointedly different from those prevailing at the time in the area.’

In addition to the above mentioned Biblical references, pottery has also been found at Philistine sites in Israel that bear a striking similarity to the distinctive ‘Kamares ware’ pottery found on Crete.

And, as an added bonus, after reading this article you can also read the ‘Conversation’ section from the people of ‘The Promised Land’.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

So... Philistines may originally have been Cretins?

[Brother Mythos]

So... Philistines may originally have been Cretins?

I’m sure the Israelites called them worse than that.

Nevertheless, there appears to be some kind of a connection between Crete and the cities of the Philistines, based upon striking similarities in pottery found in both places. Perhaps the Cretans and Philistines were merely trading partners, but future DNA testing should be able to tell us something more about the origins of the Philistines.

Surprisingly, I couldn’t find a really good article about ‘Kamares ware’ on the Internet. Nor could I find anything about the treasure trove of ‘Kamares ware-like pottery’ (My words.) found at a Philistine archeological site back in the late ‘80s, or early ‘90s, that I distinctly remember seeing photographs of in the newspapers. And, my own photographs of Kamares ware from various Greek museums are still buried away on 35mm slides, that I have yet to convert into digital photographs. (Those along with a couple of thousand other 35mm slides.) If, however, you Google ‘Kamares ware’ in image mode, an array of distinctive pottery photos will come up. I think most people would agree that it is extremely unlikely that so distinctive a style could have developed independently by two separated cultures at about the same point in time.

And, there is an overlap between the Minoan civilization and the Mycenaean civilization on Crete. It would take a couple of pages for me to try to explain what I know, and what I don’t know, about the similarities and differences between the two civilizations. But, in short, I’ll just say that I would not be completely surprised if DNA testing finds that the Philistines have a Cretan origin. However, I believe it is more likely that DNA testing will reveal a more general Mycenaean origin. And, hopefully, in the near future, we will know for sure where the Philistines really came from. (Another distinct possibility is the Anatolian peninsula.)

[Brother Mythos]

Ancient DNA sheds light on the origins of the Biblical Philistines

As per the article:

“An international team led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and the Leon Levy Expedition have retrieved and analyzed genome-wide data from people who lived during the Bronze and Iron Ages (~3,600 to 2,800 years ago) in the ancient port city of Ashkelon, one of the core Philistine cities during the Iron Age. The team found that a European-derived ancestry was introduced in Ashkelon around the time of the Philistines' estimated arrival, suggesting that ancestors of the Philistines migrated across the Mediterranean, reaching Ashkelon by the early Iron Age. This European genetic component was subsequently diluted by the local Levantine gene pool over the succeeding centuries, suggesting intensive admixture between local and foreign populations. These genetic results, published in Science Advances, are a critical step toward understanding the long-disputed origins of the Philistines.”

Here's the link: https://phys.org/news/2019-07-ancient-dna-biblical-philistines.html

And, here's the link to the original scientific paper: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/7/eaax0061

Unfortunately, the latest research goes no further than identifying “a European-derived ancestry” as the origins of the Philistines. I do not believe this finding was in the realm of unexpected results. However, more work will need to be done to narrow their origins down from that large group of possible ancestors. It looks like this is going to take a while.