Digging Up the Bible: A Philistine Relief

DIGGING UP THE BIBLE
Important Archeological Finds that help Us Understand Scripture
pdf
Linda Manuel—1996
 

Philistine Relief from Temple at Medinat Habu
(12^th century BC)

This portrait is a close-up of one of the many captured Philistines carved on the walls of the Medinat Habu temple at Thebes in Egypt (the mortuary temple of Ramesses III).

 

 

The battle on the mural took place in 1177 B .C. and pits the Sea Peoples against Egyptian forces. In the hieroglyphic text accompanying the reliefs, Ramesses III claims to have repelled the Sea Peoples, including the Philistines.

 

 

That victory (in 1177 B .C.) must have been a partial one, however, because in the 12th and 11th centuries there were Philistine colonies in the Nile delta, along Egypt's southern frontier with Nubia, and in Canaan.

 

The Bible first mentions the Philistines in the patriarchal narratives. Both Abraham and Isaac dealt with Abimelech of Gezer, king of the Philistines. At that time, the Philistines lived in and around Beersheba. They were generally peaceful—not yet the enemy of Israel.

 

 

Eventually, most of the Philistines settled in the southwestern part of Canaan and took possession of five major cities, subjugating or displacing the Canaanite population.

The territory of the five Philistine rulers [was] in Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron.... (Josh 13:3)

Not content to remain on the coast, they expanded inland. The first mention of the Philistines as Israel's principle foe appears in the days of Samson, about the beginning of the 11^th century when they already controlled much of Dan and Judah:

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. (Judg 13:1)

Though eventually beaten back, the Philistines continued to harass God's people through several administrations of the Judean monarchy until the Babylonian invasion when Nebuchadnezzar's forces finally destroyed them.

 

Significance for Biblical Studies: A Philistine relief from the temple at Medinat Habu depicts one of the Sea Peoples who battle the Egyptians for control of Canaan. The relief shows how the Philistines may have appeared and explains, in part, how they came to be in the land. This find adds color and definition to what the Bible says about the Philistines and their eventual contact with the Israelites.

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