by AP and Israel Hayom Staff
Archaeological discovery in southern Israel may provide answer to enduring biblical question: Where did the ancient Philistines come from? • Tests being conducted on bone samples uncovered at what is said to be first Philistine cemetery ever found.
Archaeologists excavating an
ancient Philistine cemetery near Ashkelon, June 28
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Photo credit: AP  |
An archaeological discovery announced on
Sunday in Israel may help solve an enduring biblical mystery: Where did
the ancient Philistines come from?
The Philistines left behind plenty of pottery.
But part of the mystery surrounding the ancient people was that very
little biological trace of them had been found -- until 2013.
That's when archaeologists excavating the site
of the biblical city of Ashkelon found what they say is the first
Philistine cemetery ever discovered. They say they have uncovered the
remains of more than 200 people there.
The discovery was finally unveiled Sunday at
the close of a 30-year excavation by the Leon Levy Expedition, a team of
archaeologists from Harvard University, Boston College, Wheaton College
in Illinois and Troy University in Alabama.
The team is now performing DNA, radiocarbon
and other tests on bone samples uncovered at the cemetery, dating back
to between the 11th and the eighth centuries BCE, to help resolve a
debate about the Philistines' geographical origins. The archaeologists
have not announced any conclusions, saying they are taking advantage of
recent advances in DNA testing to get the most accurate results.
"After decades of studying what Philistines
left behind, we have finally come face to face with the people
themselves," said Daniel M. Master, professor of archaeology at Wheaton
College and one of the leaders of the excavation. "With this discovery
we are close to unlocking the secrets of their origins."
A few human remains at Philistine sites had
been discovered in past years, but they provided too small a sample to
draw conclusions, he added.
The archaeologists kept the discovery a secret
for three years until the end of their dig because of a unique hazard
of archaeology in modern-day Israel: They did not want to attract
ultra-Orthodox Jewish protesters, Master said.
"We had to bite our tongues for a long time," Master said.
In the past, the ultra-Orthodox have staged
demonstrations at excavations where human remains are found, arguing
that the remains could be Jewish and that disturbing them would violate a
religious prohibition.
The Leon Levy Expedition itself faced
ultra-Orthodox demonstrators in the 1990s, during the excavation of a
Canaanite burial site.
In the Bible, the Philistines are depicted as
the ancient Israelites' archenemy, a foreign people who migrated from
lands to the west and settled in five main cities in Philistia, in
today's southern Israel and the Gaza Strip.
The most famous Philistine was Goliath, the
fearsome warrior who was slain by a young King David. The Philistines'
legacy lives on in the name Palestine, the term the Romans gave to the
region in the second century, and which is used today by Palestinians.
Archaeologists and biblical scholars have long
believed the Philistines came from the Aegean region, based on pottery
found in excavations of Philistine sites.
But scholars have debated where exactly in the
Aegean region the Philistines came from: mainland Greece, the islands
of Crete or Cyprus, or even Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey.
The bones might hold the answers, said
archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel, an Israeli expert on the period who did
not participate in the dig. He called the cemetery find "a very
significant discovery indeed."
The excavation of the cemetery has also shed light on Philistine burial practices.
The Philistines buried their dead with perfume
bottles, placed near the face. Near the legs were jars that likely held
oil, wine or food. In some cases, archaeologists found the dead were
buried wearing necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and even toe rings. Some
were buried with their weapons.
"This is how Philistines treated their dead,
and it's the code book to decoding everything," said archaeologist Adam
Aja, a participant in the dig.
Finds from the cemetery went on display Sunday in an
Israel Museum exhibition held at the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum
in Jerusalem.
AP and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=34871
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