Ancient History and the Bible
Partly Adapted from:
Were the Minoans Jewish, Phoenicians, or Egyptians?
https://www.quora.com/Were-the-Minoans-Jewish-Phoenicians-or-Egyptians/answer/Yair-Davidiy
Reconstruction of Minoan Stye fresco excavated at Tel Kabri in the Western Upper Galilee on the northwest coast of Israel. See:
New Fragments of Aegean-Style Painted Plaster from Tel Kabri, Israel\
https://www.ajaonline.org/field-report/875
Extract: During the 2008 and 2009 excavations at Tel Kabri, more than 100 new fragments of wall and floor plaster were uncovered. Approximately 60 are painted, probably belonging to a second Aegean-style wall fresco with figural representations and a second Aegean-style painted floor. A date within the Middle Bronze II period, probably in the 17th century B.C.E., may be suggested for the Kabri frescoes, which makes them significantly earlier than the Tell el-Dab'a and Qatna frescoes and roughly contemporary with the Alalakh Minoan-style frescoes.
Contents:
1. Philistines and Minoans. Nick Deakin.
2. Biblical Sources and Philistine Origins
3. The Northern Palestine of Philistia.
4. The Dananu and Yadi of Dan and Judah Ruling over "Palestin."
5. Philistine and Canaanite Connections
6. Philistine and Phoenician-Canaanite Linkages.
7. Philistines from Caphtor
8. Early and Later Philistines
9. Philistines and Greeks
10. Philistines and Assyria
11. Who and What were the Minoans?
12. Conventional History of Minoan Civilization
13. Minoans, Philistines, and Others
14. Possible Israelite Links
15. European and Other Connections
16. Philistines and Phoenicians as Agents of Assyria-Edom
17. Philistines, Greeks, and the Exile of Judah
18. An Early Exile of Judah with the Ten Tribes?
19. Who Were the Greeks? Greeks in Early (Neolithic) Britain!
20. Other Philistine Possibilities. Poland, Italy.
21. The Irish Finding. The Tribes of Dan and Asher.
Source: A Philistine Seal in Ireland? By Christopher Eames
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1. Philistines and Minoans. Nick Deakin.
The Bible indicates that the Philistines came from Crete, i.e. they were Minoans. The word 'Caphtor' taken to mean Crete in Biblical and Egyptian writings may also refer to Cyprus, see: STRANGE, John. "Caphtor/Keftiu a new investigation," Leiden, 1980. In earlier times the Minoans ruled over Cyprus for several centuries.
The Bible relates to the Philistines as descendants of Mitsraim (Egypt) son of Ham son of Noah. Ancient Egyptian claims to rule over Canaan in the Time of Israelite Occupation may refer to mainly Philistine control on their behalf.
The Phoenicians lived to the north of Philsitia and Israel. Their main cities were Tyre and Sidon. They were mainly Canaanites. Both the Canaanites and Philisitines were descendants of Ham. They were therefore related to each other and are often recalled together. The Phoenicians and Philistines interacted one with the other.
We associate the Philistines with Monoans, at least from an archaeological point of view.
Nick Deakin on Quora and others have done a lot of interesting and valuable studies of the Minoans. Their conclusions concerning Minoan Origins may be much different in some ways from our own.
From a conventional historical point of view the Minoans were themselves and not especially related to any other group. Nick Deakin would seem to agree with this while acknowledging possible cultural connections between the two peoples.
Nevertheless, the Philistines may well have been representative of the Minoans and to have originated from them.
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2. Biblical Sources and Philistine Origins
Genesis (ESV) 10: 6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt [Mitsrayim], Put, and Canaan.... 13 Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.
1-Chronicles 1: 11 Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 12 Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.
The Midrash, Breishit Rabah, says that the Casluhim were a tall people whereas the Caphtorim were very short. They had the habit of stealing each others women and the Philistines came out as a result.
The term "Caphtor" could apply to Crete or Cyprus as well as to an area on the northern coast of Syria. Modern Scholars identify the Casluhim with Ancient inhabitants of Cyrenaica in Libya bordering on Egypt. In Roman Times Crete and Cyrenaica were ruled as the one province.
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3. The Northern Palestine of Philistia.
We find what may have been an enclave of Philistines on the northern coast of Syria.
Wikipedia, entry, Palistin, tells us:
Palistin (or Walistin), was an early Syro-Hittite kingdom located in what is now northwestern Syria and the southeastern Turkish province of Hatay. Its existence was confirmed by the discovery of several inscriptions mentioning Taita, king of Palistin. ..
The similarity between Palistin and names for the Philistines,[8] such as the Ancient Egyptian Peleset and the Hebrew Plishtim, have led archaeologists Benjamin Sass,[9] and Kay Kohlmeyer to hypothesize a connection.
... According to Galil, there are now eight inscriptions recently discovered at different sites indicating that a large kingdom named Palistin existed in this area, which included the cities of Hamath, Aleppo and Carchemish.[12]
The early French Egyptologist, Sir Gaston Camille Charles Maspero (1846 - 1916), suggested that the Philistines moved first from Crete to Caria (in Western Anatolia-Turkey) and from there to Northern Syria later continuing on to what became Philistia in southwest Israel. This scenario was not generally accepted in his time though in the light of later evidence it seems feasible.
Nick Deakin reports that the Carians supplied sailors and soldiers to Minoa in Crete.
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4. The Dananu and Yadi of Dan and Judah Ruling over "Palestin."
The area named "Palastin" in northwest Syria and southeast Turkey was that of "Smal,: the Kingdom of the Dananu, and of "Que," of Yadi. We have accepted the identification by others as being enclaves from the Israelite Tribes of Dan and Judah. The Bible tells us of conflict between the Philistines in the south with the Israelite Tribes of Dan (the story of Samson) and of Judah. A projection of this struggle may have led to the Philistine base of "Palastin" in the north also having been conquered. The same may apply to Cyprus which by Assyrian Times had become known as "Y-dnna" which has been explained (Albright, Yadin) to mean "Isle of the Dananu," i.e. of the Israelite Tribe of Dan.
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5. Philistine and Canaanite Connections
Joshua 13: (from the Shihor, which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, it is counted as Canaanite; there are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron), and those of the Avvim.
Judges 3: 3 Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3 These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath.
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6. Philistine and Phoenician-Canaanite Linkages.
The Phoenicians were Canaanites who inhabited settlements along the coast of Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. Their two major cities were Tyre and Sidon. In the verse below the Philistines are described as originating from the "Island of Caphtor" and as allies of Tyre and Sidon. In some translations the Hebrew word "Ey" ( ) meaning "Island" is misleadingly rendered as "coastland."
Jeremiah 47:4 because of the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper that remains. For the LORD is destroying the Philistines, the remnant of the Island of Caphtor.
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7. Philistines from Caphtor
Deuteronomy 2: 23 As for the Avvim, who had lived in settlements in the vicinity of Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.
Amos 9:7 'Are you not like the Cushites to me, O people of Israel?' declares the LORD. 'Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?'
Philistines referred to as Cherethites, i.e. Natives of Crete.
The Prophet Zephaniah referred to the Philistines as "Cherethites" meaning from Crete, i.e. as Minoans. Gaza, a major Philistine city, was also known as Minoa.
Zephaniah 2:5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.
Note that in this verse the expression 'Nation of the Cherethites' (i.e. of Crete) is apposite with 'Land of the Philistines'!
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8. Early and Later Philistines
In Genesis 21:22-27 and Genesis 26:28-29 the Hebrew Patriarchs, Abraham and his son Isaac, are described as interacting with local Philistine potentates. Recent Biblical Commentaries (e.g. "Daat Mikra") have noted cultural and behavioral differences between these early Philistines and those encountered at a later date.
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9. Philistines and Greeks
Crete (Minoa) was conquered by Mycenean Greece which itself had previously been heavily under Minoan influence. Even though the Philsitines originally came, at least in part, from Crete, their culture was more akin to that of the Myceneans. Early Philistine pottery, was a locally made version of the Greek Aegean Mycenaean Late Helladic IIIC, decorated in shades of brown and black. This later developed into the distinctive Philistine pottery of the Iron Age-1, with black and red decorations on white slip known as Philistine Bichrome ware. In the Philistine city of Ekron Myceanan type buildings and other features of Mycenean Civilization were uncovered. An excavation of a Philistine burial ground in Ashkelon showed the use of Mycenean Greek burial practices. The Philsitines in soem of their inscriptions also employed an Aegean (Greek)type script. One of these writings was in "Cypro-Minoan" associated with Cyprus but similar to to Linear A on Minoan Crete. The script has not yet been desciphered.
The Philistines were quite sophisticated.
Wikipedia tells us:
# Cities excavated in the area attributed to Philistines give evidence of careful town planning, including industrial zones. The olive industry of Ekron alone includes about 200 olive oil installations. Engineers estimate that the city's production may have been more than 1,000 tons, 30 percent of Israel's present-day production.[68] #
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10. Philistines and Assyria
# In 712 BC, a local usurper, Iamani ascended the throne of Ashdod. That same year, he organized a failed uprising against Assyria. The Assyrian King Sargon II invaded Philistia which effectively became an Assyrian province. Though he allowed Iamani to remain on the throne, Gath was conquered, and possibly also destroyed in the same campaign in 711 BC. #
The Philistines, like the Phoenicians and a portion of the Edomites together with some Israelites, were to be delegated as minor partners in Assyrian colonial enterprises, as discussed beowl.
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11. Who and What were the Minoans?
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Wikipedia entry Minoa tells us:
Minoa was the name of several Bronze-Age port cities on the coasts of the Aegean islands Crete, Paros, Siphnos, Amorgos and Corfu in Greece, as well as the Italian island of Sicily. There was also a Minoa in Gaza, whose name was a later introduction, brought by the Philistines in 1200 BC.[2]
[2] Steph. Byzantios: s.v Gaza and Minoa: F. Schachermeyer (1964). Die Minoische Kultur des alten Kreta. W. Kohlhammer Stuttfgart. p.303
There may be a connection with the mythic king of Crete, Minos, during the bronze-age Minoan civilization which flourished in Crete and in the Aegean islands in Greece between 2000-1470 BC. The inhabitants of Crete were named Minoans by Arthur Evans, after the legendary king.
Wikipedia entry Minoan Civilization adds:
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, flourishing from c. 3000 BC to c. 1450 BC and, after a late period of decline, finally ending around 1100 BC, during the early Greek Dark Ages.
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DNA and the Minoans
DNA [mt] reveals origin of Greece's ancient Minoan culture
Ancient Minoan DNA:
showed particular genetic affinities with Bronze Age populations from Sardinia and Iberia and Neolithic samples from Scandinavia and France.
See the article in Nature, 23310, 'Genetic origins of the Minoans and Mycenaeans.'
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12. Conventional History of Minoan Civilization
Minoa is associated with Ancient Crete. The Bible speaks of the Philistines as having in part come from Crete and being related to the Egyptians. In the Bronze Age after ca. 2500 BCE (Conventional Reckoning) several locations on the island had become centers of commerce and handiwork. Local Kingdoms probably existed. In ca. 1700 BCE the palaces at Knossos, Phaistos, Malia and Kato Zakros were destroyed for unknown reasons. In the 1600s and 1500s BCE the population increased again, the palaces were rebuilt on a larger scale and new settlements were built across the island. The Greek mainland was strongly under Minoan influence.
In ca. 1600 BCE another catastrophe occurred often attributed to an eruption of the Thera volcano. Around 1450 BC, many important palaces were destroyed. This was connected to, or followed by, the rule of Mycenaean Greeks. Crete however, until ca. 1200 BCE, remained an important locality in its own right and continued to spread a modified version of Minoan Culture. Minoan influence has been found in Mycenean Greece, in Egypt, Canaan, and Philistia.
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13. Minoans, Philistines, and Others
The Philistines were of Minoan descent. DNA findings show input from Southeast Europe in the early stages but this peters out later. The Philistines intermarried with the local Canaanites and were culturally similar to them though having their own distinctive features. They were heavily influenced by Mycenean Greek culture.
Towards the end of Mycenean Civilization in Greece in the 1100s BCE a large influx of immigrants from the Greek-Aegean area entered Philistia adding to those already there. The newcomers were to comprise up to 50% of the local Philistine Population in some areas.
See: Asaf Yasur-Landau, Assaf. "The Philistines and Aegean Migration at the End of the Late Bronze Age," U.K., 2010.
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14. Possible Israelite Links
The name Danaioi (perhaps relating to the Israelite Tribe of Dan) is found on Mycenean inscriptions in Crete. Cyprus which was linked with Crete was also known as the Isle of the Dananu i.e. of Dan.
Tacitus reported the tradition that the Jews came from Crete. He cited the fact that the name of sacred mountain of Crete, "Mount Ida," sounds similar to the word for "Jew." According to Homer, there was a river in Crete named "Jardanus" like the River Jordan in Israel. The Cretan lawgiver Minos, "would go up, every nine years, as it appears, to the cave of Zeus, and come back with commandments drawn up in writing, which he alleged were ordinances of Zeus" (Strabo 10;4;8). This tale may have been derived from the story of Moses.
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15. European and Other Connections
Some of the natives of North Africa had traditions that they were of Philistine and Canaanite Ancestry.
Local traditions in Venice indicated Philistine origins.
Don Isaac Abarbanel (1437-1508) reported ancient writings saying that the Italian inhabitants of both Florence and Venice had Philistine ancestry.
Early 20th century researchers (based on linguistic similarities) found traces of the Philistines in the Adriatic area east of Italy. There was a region known as Palaeste near present-day Palase in Albania.
Minoan finds have been found in Edomsharde (Pellworm Island, Runghold) Germany, near the border with Denmark. 'Edomsharde' really is the actual name of the location and it connotes 'Border of Edom.'
A settlement had existed there in 500 BCE and before that still deeper layers revealed ceramics from the Eastern Mediteranian and Middle East, dating back to 1400 BCE. See: Sea-Links
See Also:
The Minoans in Germany
http://allempires.com/forum/printer_friendly_posts.asp?TID=27250
The article talks about Hans Peter Duerr (Culture Historian) who 11 years ago started searching for a certain settlement, Rungholt, mentioned in legends. He has found that the settlement was destroyed by a flood in 1362, and he presented an even more provocative thesis He claims to be able to prove that the people living at the coast of the Northsee (Friiesland) had direct trade-relations with the cultures from the Mediterranean area, 3000 years ago. Rungholt was not a city strictly speaking, but in the trade-season, there could be up to 4,000 people gathered there....
The Minoans in Sweden
Many consider the large Bronze Age settlement of Middle East culture of Sweden to have been a Minoan colony or at least subject to Minoan influence.
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16. Philistines and Phoenicians as Agents of Assyria-Edom
The Prophet Amos chapter 1 condemns the Edomites, Phoenicians, and Philistines (inhabitants of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Ekron) for having assisted "Edom" in the Exile and transportation of Israelites.
e.g.
Amos (ESV) 1:
6 Thus says the LORD:
For three transgressions of Gaza,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they carried into exile a whole people
to deliver them up to Edom.
7 So I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,
and it shall devour her strongholds.
8 I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod,
and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,
says the LORD God.
In Amos 4:1-3 the Hebrew text speaks of Israelites being exiled both overland to Armenia, and across the sea in ships.
Amos (Independent Translation) 4:
1 'Hear this word, you cows of Bashan,
who are on the mountain of Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
who say to your husbands, 'Bring, that we may drink!'
2 The LORD God has sworn by his holiness
that, behold, the days are coming upon you,
when they shall take you away in large-ships [Hebrew 'tsinot' ( ),
and your little ones in fishboats (Hebrew: 'sirot-dugah,' ) [large boats shaped like a fish known from Cyprus]
3 And you shall go out through the breaches,
each woman straight ahead;
and you shall be cast out towards the Mount of Armon,
declares the LORD.
The words usually translated above as 'large-ships' and as ''fish-boats" are usually translated in Christian editions as "hooks" and as "fishhooks." Actually the terms refer to types of boats! See the Metsudat David Commentary. Our own rendition is closer to the original. See: Welsh Hebrews.
The Assyrians used the seafaring Phoenicians and Philistines as proxies in their overseas colonization endeavors. The Phoenicians were Canaanites. Rabbi Abraham Iben Ezra (1089-1167) in a Commentary (Obadiah 1:18) quoted a tradition that Canaanites had settled in Germany at an early date. The German linguist, Theo Vennemann, also believed that Phoenicians and Carthaginians (descended from Phoenicians) had settled in north Germany. Their presence may have been associated with the Assyrian endeavors to establish an overseas presence and use Phoenician and Philistine agents to do it with. The Philistines could be identified with either Minoan or Mycenean finds.
Assyrian interests would have included agricultural food-producing estates in south-east Spain, the mining of silver in southwest Spain, the mining of tin in Cornwall, copper in Wales, possibly gold in Ireland, and settlements further north.
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17. Philistines, Greeks, and the Exile of Judah
The Prophet Joel upbraided the Phoenicians and Philistines.
[In the system employed by most printed Hebrew texts Joel chapter 2 goes up to 2:27 and then begins chapter 3. Chapter 3 goes from Joel 3:1 to Joel 3:5. These passages of chapter 3 in the Christian Translations are numbers as continuations of chapter 2 up to 2:32 which in the Hebrew is 3:5. The Hebrew then begins chapter 4 whereas the Christian Translations begin chapter 3. The verses quoted below according to the Christian version are 3:4-7 whereas in the Hebrew they are 4:1-7.
Towards the end of ch.3 eternal damnation is threatened (Joel 3:19) on Egypt and Edom for the violence done to Judah
Joel (ESV) 3:
4 'What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5 For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. 6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7 Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will return your payment on your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the LORD has spoken.'
Here the Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon are associated with "all the regions of Philistia," i.e. the Philistines. They are accused of selling the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the "Yavanim" i.e. the Greeks.
What exactly these events are referring to is unknown.
The Hebrew-Language Academic Commentary of Avraham Kahana relates the passage to First Temple times.He suggests it relates to the time of Ahaz (father Hezekiah) shortly before the Ten Tribes were exiled:
2-Chronicles (ESV) 28:
16 At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help. 17 For the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried away captives. 18 And the Philistines had made raids on the cities in the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there. 19 For the LORD humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah act sinfully and had been very unfaithful to the LORD. 20 So Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him.
Daat Mikra associated the events of Joel 3:4-7 to the attacks of Assyria and Babylon. On both these occasions the smaller nations (such Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia) around took advantage of the vulnerability of Judah to join in the attack.
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18. An Early Exile of Judah with the Ten Tribes?
The possibility exists that when the Ten Tribes were exiled most of Judah and Benjamin were also taken away.
First the Assyrians took the area east of the Jordan, then the northern Galilee, then Samaria. After that Sennacherib invaded Judah. He took the cities.
2-Kings 18:
13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.
Sennacherib boasts of taking more than 200,000 men, women, and children into captivity. At that time this could have been most of the population.
'The devastation of the Judahite cities can be seen in almost every mound excavated in the Judean hinterland,' Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, "The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts," 2001.
The Midrash says that those taken away were all the Tribe of Simeon.
The Assyrians depicted on a wall illustration the siege and capture of Lachish and show its inhabitants being taken into Exile.
# Panels 11-13: Sennacherib, on a magnificent throne, watches as prisoners are brought before him and sometimes executed. There is a tent behind him, his chariot is in the foreground, and his bodyguard are stationed around. The King's face has been deliberately slashed, perhaps by an enemy soldier at the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC. #
https://www.thenotsoinnocentsabroad.com/blog/the-true-story-of-the-assyrian-conquest-of-judah
Later Sennacherib used Judean soldiers from Lachish as part of his personal bodyguard.
Sennarcherib appears to have conquered all of Judah apart from Jerusalem. He beseiged Jerusalem on two occasions. The second time his army was smitten by an angel.
2-Kings (ESV) 19:
35 And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. 37 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
It may be that one way or another most of Judah and Benjamin in the physical demographic sense were taken away by the Assyrians. The Bible does not emphasize this for the reason explained by Nachmanides, i.e. Judah was to fulfill its destined task through those Jews who remained and stayed faithful to the Law.
Physically many of the people whom we identify as Israelite may be descended not only from the Ten Tribes but also from Judah and Benjamin!
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19. Who Were the Greeks? Greeks in Early (Neolithic) Britain!
As for the Greeks who bought captives from Judah mentioned in Joel 3:6, who were they?
# The Greeks are referred to in ancient Neo-Babylonian inscriptions as early as the 7th-century b.c., and the Cretan Linear B tablets indicate the beginning of the Greek civilization and language from about 1500 b.c. #
DNA may give us more of a clue.
DNA is transmitted by Heredity.
DNA also changes due to environmental influence.
Once the changes kick in, they stay, after that they are against passed on through heredity, until the next change.
DNA can therefore help us in some instance traces peoples from one place to another.
The early inhabitants of the British Isles may have come from Greece and therefore been Greeks!
cf.
Ancient genomes indicate population replacement in Early Neolithic Britain
Selina Brace,
Yoan Diekmann,
]
Ian Barnes
Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 3, pages 765-771 (2019)
https://neoskosmos.com/en/134946/aegean-farmers-replaced-hunters-of-ancient-britain/
Published: 15 April 2019
The study findings 'reveal persistent genetic affinities between Mesolithic British and Western European hunter-gatherers. We find overwhelming support for agriculture being introduced to Britain by incoming continental farmers, with small, geographically structured levels of hunter-gatherer ancestry. Unlike other European Neolithic populations, we detect no resurgence of hunter-gatherer ancestry at any time during the Neolithic in Britain. Genetic affinities with Iberian Neolithic individuals indicate that British Neolithic people were mostly descended from Aegean farmers who followed the Mediterranean route of dispersal.'
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20. Other Philistine Possibilities. Poland, Italy.
Orjan Svenssun ("Philistines in Poland?"tells us:
# A Polish author claims that the alternate/old name of Poland, Lechia, see Lechia, may have something to do with Ramat-Lechi of the Philistines mentioned in Judges 15:9. #
Philistines in Poland? [4595]
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/gis/poland.html
Craig White quotes Lempriere that at the mouth of the Po River in Italy there was a place name "Fossae Philistinae?"
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21. The Irish Finding. The Tribes of Dan and Asher
Source:
https://watchjerusalem.co.il/1061-a-philistine-seal-in-ireland
In the region of Dublin, Ireland, a Philistine seal was found.
It is written in the Phoenician-Canaanite-Hebrew script and says:
Belonging to Abdi-Eliab
Son of Shebat
Servant of Mittitti
Son of Sidka
# Near East records that it must have been Philistine: Assyrian annals attest to two matching Philistine kings of Ashkelon-Mittinti ii and his father Sidka. #
Sennacherib wrote:
# But Sidka, the king of Ashkelon, who had not submitted to my yoke, the gods of his father's house, himself, his wife, his sons, his daughters, his brothers, the seed of his paternal house, I tore away and brought to Assyria. #
Sir Henry Rawlinson in 1865 wrote that the seal 'is said to have been found in Ireland, a relic, it is supposed, of the old Phoenician colonists.'
The British Museum bought the seal in 1861 from a certain "Miss Walsh" who was a relative of Robert Walsh (1772-1852), a historian and clergyman of County Dublin,
# Walsh himself conducted excavations in Ireland and wrote of impressive discoveries, including a very early Christian amulet containing a Hebrew inscription, dug up by a potato farmer in County Cork. #
# In 2017, tin ingots discovered in the Israeli port city of Haifa were chemically analyzed. The results were astounding: They revealed that the tin had been mined in Cornwall, England, before being shipped to Israel. And these were not late-era artifacts. The ingots date to the 13th to 12th centuries b.c.e. Someone, somehow, was trading between the British Isles and Israel centuries before the creation of this Philistine seal. #
# A number of interesting biblical passages are related to this 13th-to-12th-century b.c.e. period. One in particular describes the Israelite tribe of Dan sojourning in ships (the Hebrew indicates long-distance vessels, Judges 5:17). The same passage also describes the tribe of Asher 'in his harbors' (New Living Translation). The territory of Asher included the Haifa port, and the tribe had a known association with the metal industry (Deuteronomy 33:24-25). ... Dan is also identified as a trading tribe (Ezekiel 27:19). .... The Greek poet Homer wrote about the Danaan participating in the Battle of Troy from their ships. ...
# Irish histories (note especially the 11th-century c.e. Lebor Gabhala Irenn) record the migration to Ireland of an eastern Mediterranean group called Tuatha de Danann (which can be translated as 'tribe of Danann')..... The Lebor Gabala Irenn affirms that this tribe had been constantly embattled with the Philistines. Whose territory bordered ancient Philistia? The tribe of Dan. Included among the recorded Danann migrants are numerous Semitic-Hebrew names, such as Iarbonel (Yair, son of El) the Soothsayer, Bethach ('Brother's house') and Semeon... #