Prior to the Sea People Invasion There Is a Balance of Power Between the Hittites and The

1299-1250 Prior to the Sea People invasion there is a balance of power between the Hittites and the Egyptians. The Mycenaean rule in the Aegean world and Canaan cities retain their cultural uniqueness under Egyptian lordship

1250 - 1200 At about the same time that the Israelites arrived in Canaan another group also arrived – the Sea People. As the name suggests, they were a group of distinct peoples of diverse origins, not a single culture. Archaeologists have put some pieces of the puzzle together, but there are still some big gaps in our knowledge of them.

The Egyptians originally coined the name "Peoples of the Sea" for the foreign contingents that the Libyans brought in to support their attack on Egypt in c. 1220 BC during the reign of Pharaoh Merneptah. He killed 1000’s of them. In the records of that war, five Sea Peoples are named: the Shardana, Teresh, Lukka, Shekelesh and Ekwesh, and are collectively referred to as "northerners coming from all lands" The Philistines are the only group that remained and survived until the Babylonian exile.

The Great Migration The Dorians (a people who migrated to Greece via the Balkans) eventually destroyed the Mycenaean culture and pushed the Sea Peoples out. Traces of Mycenaean culture are found in early Philistine artifacts supporting the Biblical notion that the Philistines came from Caphtor (i.e. Crete). The Sea Peoples arrive with all their families in the great migration by sea and land in Northern Syria and Egypt. They destroy the cultures on their way down including Ugarit and other important culture centers. The Sea People invaded from the west in 1210 towards the end of Merneptah’s reign. The Philistines capture the 3 coastal centers of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Gaza. Some claim that a global warming created the drought that brought a famine and the great migration that lead to the collapse of kingdoms from the Balkans to the Aegean Sea towards the end of the 13th C. It seems that the most logical explanation for the collapse of the Canaanite culture was an implosion. The fortified cities themselves turned into death traps and a type of siege because of the famine Egyptian evidence of the Sea Peoples Rameses III defeated various armies later at sea and on land (relief Medinat Habu). Details here are seen of the Sea Peoples dress, chariots, iron weaponry and the fact they came with women and children. Rameses II – Papyrus Harris A also records that they served as mercenaries in the Egyptian armies in the Battle of Kadesh (1274) Van Amon an Egyptian clerk records being robbed in Dor by the Sea Peoples.

What happened when the Sea Peoples and the Israelites arrived? The Hittite empire disappeared due to Sea Peoples and other cultures. The Hittite state secretes of how they made their weaponry with iron was learned by peoples such as the Philistines who brought the “Iron Age” to Israel. The vacuum created by the collapse of the Hittites in the north and weakened Egyptian empire in the south was filled by the Israelites from the East and the Sea Peoples from the West. Canaanite towns were left simply as city-states and as a result Egyptian rule ceased in Canaan from the 1150 onwards.

Fighting the Philistines Settlement stopped in central Canaanite towns such as Lachish and Hatzor, trade ceased with Cyprus and the Aegean world mostly because of the battles with the Philistines. Battles were about access to roads and waters, which characterized the battle at Ebenezer (Aphek). During the early days the Israelites settled on the mountain and the Philistines on the coastal areas.

Aphek (ark stolen) (1 Sam 4) Shamgar (Judges 4:1) Samson (Judges 14 – 16) Saul – Battle of Michmash (1 Sam. 13) David – Goliath (1 Sam. 17)

The Ekron Seige (Tell Mikneh) 2 Chronicles 28: Towards the end of the Kingdom of Israel, the Philistines had conquered the city of the lowlands and the northern Negev. Ahaz king of Judah asks help from Assyrian king Tiglat Pileser III who takes Israel into exile in 721 –722. The siege of Ekron in 712 BC is depicted on one of Sargon II wall relief in his palace. Ekron revolted against Sennacherib and expelled Padi, his governor. Sennacherib marched against Ekron and took the city by storm. He put to death the leaders of the revolt and carried their adherents into captivity. This campaign led to the famous attack of Sennacherib on Hezekiah and Jerusalem, in which Sennacherib compelled Hezekiah to restore Padi, who was reinstated as governor at Ekron.

Finds in Philistine towns Tell Tzapit besides Kfar Menachem is the Biblical Gat. Many decorative artifacts were discovered at Tell Kasria including pottery with ducks and figurines with breasts with holes in to pour oil. Also 4 temples there one built on top of the other. Ashdoda a chair- like figurine was discovered at Tell Ashdod, also a beer cruse (pach bira) with strainer type system. Many 4 horned altars were also discovered which were similar to the Israelite altars. Philistines were buried in anthropoids reminiscent of Egyptian shapes.

Eben Ezer (Izbat Tzarta) - Aphek Ebenezer – (1 Sam. 3) the place where the Israelites camped and lost the ark to the Philistines in battle next to Aphek. Identified today with Izbat Tzarta just north of Rosh HaAyin, A series of Israelite houses were discovered, Beit Arba’at Mirchavim – a 4 (sometimes 3 or 5) roomed house where one room laid perpendicular to the others. One of the mirchavim is also a Hazter usually half covered with a roof of wooden logs. They are placed next to each other, forming a defence wall, with the door on the inner side of the circle. Dug cisterns were also discovered, covered with hewn stone. Also discovered here was a potsherd with the earliest ever recordings of the Hebrew alef bet (ca 1200) – possibly an attempt by a pupil to practice his ABC