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An Up-To-Date Account of the Minoan Connection with the Philistine

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An Up-To-Date Account of the Minoan Connection with the Philistine ‘ALL THE CHERETHITES, AND ALL THE PELETHITES, AND ALL THE GITTITES (SAMUEL 2:15-18)’ – AN UP-TO-DATE ACCOUNT OF THE MINOAN CONNECTION WITH THE PHILISTINE Louise A. Hitchcock INTRODUCTION The ethnonyms Cherethite and Pelethite, and associations of the Philistines with Caphtor in the Old Testament point to a Cretan origin for them in literary tradition (Finkelstein 2002; Machinist 2000).1 This tradition, combined with the well-known Philistine production of Mycenaean style pottery,2 has been criticized by those reluctant to simplistically associate pots with peoples.3 Additional categories of evidence indicating an Aegean origin for the Philistines are well rehearsed. My contribution reviews the current state of understanding of the specific links between the Aegean and Philistia with regard to recent research, and with special reference to Crete. I will briefly discuss ritual action, contextual analysis, architecture, administrative practices, inscriptions, and methodology. Using a transcultural approach (Hitchcock 2011), it is proposed that some aspects of Minoan culture survived in Philistia, embedded among other cultural components associated with the Mycenaeans, Cypriots, Anatolians, and Canaanites. It is with great pleasure I present this contribution to Aren Maeir who I regard as a close friend, mentor, and collaborator.4 HISTORICAL LINK BETWEEN CRETE AND PHILISTIA As Deuteronomistic history was not written down prior to the 7th century BCE any description of pre-eighth century events would have been taken from oral histories and cultural memory, and then adapted to suit the agendas of later writers (Finkelstein 2002).5 For example, Finkelstein (2002: 148-50) argued that references to Cherethite and Pelethite were based on accounts of 7th century Greek mercenaries in Egypt and projected backwards in order to glorify the Davidic reign. In contrast, Maeir (2012) accepts that the Old Testament preserves a historical memory of the Philistines, as Gath, the city of Goliath, mentioned in I Samuel 17, was abandoned by the 7th century BCE. Current views of the Philistines are based on archaeology, which indicates 1 Gen 10:13-14; 1 Chr 1:11-12. They were called Caphtor in Akkadian and Aramaic, and Keftieu in Egyptian (Cline 2014), however, we do not know what the Minoans called themselves. 2 Mycenaean IIIC1, also known as Philistine I, followed by Bichrome or Philistine II, see Dothan and Zukerman 2004. 3 In general, see Jones 1997, Hitchcock and Maeir 2013. With regard to Philistia and Cyprus, see Sherratt 1998 and Hitchcock 2008. 4 Much new information has come to light since an earlier version of this paper was presented at Cretological Congress in 2011. Research for this paper was made possible through the support of the Faculty of Arts Special Studies Program at the University of Melbourne, the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Project funding scheme (project number 1093713), the Institute of Advanced Study at Hebrew University, the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. I am also grateful to Aren Maeir, Daniel Master, Linda Meiberg, the Tell es- Safi/Gath archaeological project, and my research assistant, Brent Davis. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed here do not necessarily reflect those I have acknowledged, including the National Endowment for the Humanities. 5 Others in modern Hebrew Bible research would suggest that various written sources also existed, from which "D" garnered information for the "D" narrative (e.g., Friedman 1987). L. HITCHCOCK/ Up-To-Date Account of the Minoan Connection 2 an intrusive, but entangled material culture in southern Canaan (Maeir et al. 2013). It remains a topic of debate as to how much migration occurred, and if any of it came from Crete. MYCENAEANS, ANATOLIANS, CYPRIOTS, CANAANITES, AND PHILISTINES In addition to the obvious pottery styles and shapes, which include cooking pots, deep bowls, kraters, stirrup jars, feeding bottles, annular rhyta, a rare hydria6 from Ashkelon, and a rare kylix from Ashdod (Ben-Shlomo 2005: 89), other Philistine features have been linked generically to the Aegean, which can be distinguished as Cretan, Mycenaean, or Cypriot. Features associated with the Mycenaeans include temple-style,7 the reappearance of hearths and bathtubs8 after a long gap in the archaeological record, spool-style loom weights,9 cultic items such as “Ashdoda” figurines (cf. Yasur-Landau 2010: 305-6, 324-5; Ben-Shlomo 2010: 31-51; Press 2007: 154-274; 2012; Ben-Shlomo and Press 2009), personal names such as Ikausu of Ekron10 and Achish of Gath (1 Sam 21:10-15; and see Maeir et al. 2016; 327-9; Davis et al. 2015: 152-3), a preference for pork, and culinary habits linked to pottery shapes (Maeir 2008). Pottery, animal bones, and ritual material were deposited together in pits dating from Iron Age I-II at Tell es-Safi/Gath (Hitchcock et al. 2015), a practice also documented at Thronos-Kephala in the Amarai Valley in Crete in LM IIIC (D’Agata 2000: 353). The personal names, 'lwt and wlt (presenting non-Semitic forms similar to ‘golyat’), written in Semitic characters on a sherd discovered at Tell es-Safi/Gath and the ruler term seren in the Old Testament are regarded as having Anatolian links (Maeir et al. 2008; Yasur-Landau 2010: 313; Hitchcock and Maeir 2014; 2017a; Davis et al. 2015). Recent inscriptions from Tell Ta‘yanat, Anatolia and Aleppo, Syria, link Ta‘yanat, a site that also produced Mycenaean IIIC1 pottery, with the land of Palastin (Harrison 2009; Kohlmeyer 2009), and by extension with the Peleset (Hawkins 2009). Pottery motifs such as the Maltese cross, Egyptian lotus, ibex, and palm tree,11 occasional use of the Semitic alphabet, use of the tabun or oven, some ceramic styles, glyptic style, lamp and bowl foundation deposits (Stager et al. 2008: 272; Bunimovitz and Zimhoni 1993; Shai et al. 2011: 113, 120, 130), and chalices used for incense offerings (Maeir and Shai 2006) indicate the Canaanite entanglement in Philistine identity. Cyprus played an important role in mediating between Aegean and Levantine culture during the Late Bronze Age and Cypriot features occur in Philistine contexts. These include bathtubs (Collard 2008), bronze stands, bimetallic knives,12 notched animal scapulae (Webb 1985; 1999), clay recipes (Killebrew 1998a; 1998b; 1998c), the appearance of the Cypro-Minoan script at Ashkelon (below), possibly iron-working technology, imprecise transmission of Aegean architectural forms such as the 6 The hydria is thus far unique in Philistia (see Master and Aja 2011). I am grateful to Daniel Master for this information. 7 On the similarities between Philistine and Mycenaean temples, see Gilmour 1993; see also Hitchcock 2005. An intriguing similarity to Mycenaean and Philistine temples is evident in Room E6 of the multi-roomed LM IIIC temple at Kephala-Vasilikis as noted by Klein and Glowacki (2009: esp. 161, and references therein) who regard it as anticipating the Late Geometric temple at Dreros. Still earlier elite buildings of a similar style on Crete are found at Quartier Nu at Mallia and in Building C-D at Sissi (see Driessen and Fiasse 2011; Letesson 2011; Hitchcock and Maeir 2017b). 8 Hearths and bathtubs can just as easily be attributed to Cyprus (see Maeir and Hitchcock 2011 and Collard 2008, contra Karageorghis 1998, 2014). 9 The earliest and largest collection of spool-style loom weights in the Aegean is a cache of over fifty found at Late Minoan IIIB Sissi on Crete (e.g., Gaignerot-Driessen 2012; Cutler 2016: 178-81). 10 From the Ekron inscription, which also includes the non-Semitic divine name Pytho-Gaia (see Gitin, Dothan, and Naveh 1997; Schäfer-Lichtenberger 2000, esp. 89-91). While good Semitic parallels exist for Padi, the father of Ikausu, the name Pa-de (also rendered as Pa-ze, but read as Pa-de) is also attested in Linear B tablets from Knossos including Fp 1.4, Fp 48.2, Fs 8, Ga 456.1, and Ga 953.2. See Gulizio et al. 2000: 455 who regard Pa-de as the name of a non-Greek Minoan deity of uncertain origin (see also Hiller 1997: 211). 11 On Mycenaean and Canaanite motifs on Philistine pottery, see Dothan (1982: 198-217), Vanschoonwinckel (1999: 93), and Yasur-Landau (2012). 12 A bimetallic knife has an iron blade, bronze rivets, and an ivory handle with a suspension hole, thought to originate in Cyprus, but possibly also the Aegean, known from the earliest levels at Tell Qasile and from Tell Miqne-Ekron (see Waldbaum 1982; Mazar 1985: 6-8; Dothan and Dothan 1992: 225, 230, pl. 30). L. HITCHCOCK/ Up-To-Date Account of the Minoan Connection 3 megaron (cf. Hitchcock 2008), and the use of pebbles in hearth construction (Fig. 1; Maeir and Hitchcock 2011; now Kanta 2014a: esp. 12-13). Two new discoveries at Tell es-Safi/Gath strengthen the Cypriot connection with Philistia. The first is a metallurgical installation associated with a cult corner,13 located above the recently excavated temple, where both copper and iron working took place (Maeir 2012; Eliyahu-Behar et al. 2012). The relationship between cult and metallurgy on Cyprus is well established (see, e.g., Knapp 1986). The second, a horned altar, was uncovered in 2011 in the 9th century destruction levels of the lower city (Maeir et al. 2013: 13, 14, 20-21). It is unique for its date, size, and workmanship. Its finely worked front, but roughly worked back, indicate it was viewed from the front. The presence of just two horns with flat tops suggests Cypriot influence (cf. Hitchcock 2002).14 Fig. 1 Pebbled Hearth, Philistine, Area A2, Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel, Iron Age I, ca. 10th century BCE (Bar-Ilan University and University of Melbourne Excavations at Tell es-Safi/Gath).
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