In Search of the Origins of the Philistines

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By Petros Koutoupis

They would be immortalized as ancient Israel’s worst enemy in the scriptures of the Old Testament. They are the Philistines. Much like the ancient Israelites, the Philistines were strangers to the foreign land of Canaan. Although to date, their origins still remain a mystery. From where did they originate prior to their settlement in Canaan?

The Old Testament may shed a bit of light on this question. It is recorded in both the books of Genesis and Amos that the Philistines were from Caphtor.

Gen. 10:14 ...the Pathrusim, the Casluhim, the Caphtorim, whence the Philistines came forth.

Amo. 9:7 ...But also the Philistines from Caphtor...

Caphtor, also known as Kaptaru or Kaptara in ancient Akkadian sources and Keftiu in ancient Egyptian sources has been generally accepted by modern scholars to be the island of Crete situated in the southern region of the Aegean Sea.[1] Despite these Biblical references providing us with an answer, it beckons the follow-up question: “How credible of an answer is it?”

Some of our earliest references to the Philistines can be traced as far back as the 12th century BCE in ancient Egypt. It is from an inscription located at a mortuary temple in Medinet Habu, situated on the western side of Thebes in Egypt. Dating to approximately 1150 BCE and commissioned by the Pharaoh Ramesses III, the inscription speaks of the battle and defeat of a confederation of Sea Peoples.

Depiction of the Philistines at Medinet Habu. Courtesy of Wikimedia.