Historical Biblical Archaeology and the Future

Historical Biblical Archaeology and the Future The New Pragmatism

edited by Thomas E. Levy

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Equinox Publishing Ltd

e~ulnox London

Oakville

PENNSTAIT HARRrSBURG lIBRARY­

MIDDLETOWN, PA 17057

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The Philistines and their Material Culture in Context Future Directions of Historical Biblical Archaeology for the Study of Cultural Transmission Ann E. Killebrew

Abstract This paper reviews different methodological and theoretical approaches to culture transmission in general and as applied to the Philistines in particular. Recent archaeological evidence is then summarized that challenges simplistic 20th-century Eurocentric hyper-diffusionist migration interpretations and linear narratives that portray the Philistines as a group of 'Mycenaean' refugees fleeing the Greek mainland and/or the western Aegean. New directions for future research regarding the transmission of Aegean-style material culture in the eastern Mediterranean are proposed and their implications for the biblical Philistines. In this way, this paper contributes to efforts to forge a more pragmatic historical Biblical Archaeology for the southern Levant.

The Philistines, well known in biblical lore as one of ancient Israel's most treacherous enemies, have fascinated biblical scholars, archaeologists and the general public for well over a century. During the . 20th century, the search for the Philistines centered on mounds associated with the Philistines in the biblical account-Tel Miqne (Ekron), Tell es-Safi (Gath), Ashdod, Ashkelon and Gaza. 1 At these five sites, often dubbed the 'Pentapolis' cities, an especially elegant Aegean-style material culture was uncovered that scholars have unanimously attributed to the Philistines. This incongruity of the

1. The identifications of Tel Miqne (Khirbet el-Muqanna) with biblical Ekron (Dothan and Gitin 2008), Tel Ashkelon (Tell el Khadra) with biblical Ashkelon (Avi-Yonah and Eph'al 1993; Stager 2008) and Tel Ashdod (Isdud) with biblical Ashdod (M. Dothan 1993) are accepted by most scholars and confirmed byexca­ vations at these sites. Recent excavations at Tel es-Safi (Maeir 2008b) also seem to confirm its identification with Gath. Several sites have been suggested as the location of biblical Gaza, including Tell el-'Ajjul and Tell Harube, the latter situated under the modern city of Gaza. Most scholars today accept the largely unexcavated Tell Harube as the location of ancient Gaza (see, e.g., Albright 1938; Kempinski 1974; Ovadiah 1993).