Concept

Philistines

Summary
The Philistines (Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: Phulistieím) were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age. The Philistines originated as an immigrant group from the Aegean that settled in Canaan circa 1175 BCE. Over time, they gradually assimilated elements of the local Levantine societies while preserving their own unique culture. In 604 BCE, the Philistine polity, after having already been subjugated for centuries by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, was finally destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar II of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. After becoming part of his empire and its successor, the Persian Empire, they lost their distinct ethnic identity and disappeared from the historical and archaeological record by the late 5th century BCE. The Philistines are known for their biblical conflict with the Israelites. Though the primary source of information about the Philistines is the Hebrew Bible, they are first attested to in reliefs at the Temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu, in which they are called (accepted as cognate with Hebrew ); the parallel Assyrian term is , , or . They also left behind a distinctive material culture. The English term Philistine comes from Old French Philistin; from Classical Latin Philistinus; from Late Greek ; ultimately from Hebrew Pəlištī (פְּלִשְׁתִּי; plural Pəlištīm, פְּלִשְׁתִּים), meaning 'people of Pəlešeṯ (פְּלֶשֶׁת)'; and there are cognates in Akkadian (aka Assyrian, Babylonian) and Egyptian ; the term Palestine has the same derivation. The native Philistine endonym is unknown. The Hebrew term occurs 286 times in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible (of which 152 times are in 1 Samuel). It also appears in the Samaritan Pentateuch. In the Greek version of the Bible, called Septuagint, the equivalent term Phulistieím (Φυλιστιείμ) occurs 12 times, again in the Pentateuch. In secondary literature, "Philistia" is further mentioned in the Aramaic Visions of Amram (4Q543-7), which is dated "prior to Antiochus IV and the Hasmonean revolt," possibly to the time of High Priest of Israel Onias II; Jubilees 46:1-47:1 might have used Amram as a source.
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