Israel and the Palestinian Territories/History: Philistines

As mentioned above, Philistines, or Pelishtim, who lived in Philistia(Peleshet) an area that included the modern-day Gaza Strip and Ashqelon subdistrict of Israel, had been one of the major rivals of the Israelites. Being one of the Sea Peoples, most likely from Crete, Philistines founded several cities in the area. Philistines originally spoke a non-Semitic(probably Indo-European) language, but gradually adopted a Canaanite language.

Throughout the Biblical period, Philistines were in frequent conflict with the Israelites. Having brought the metal-smitting skills from the Aegean, they had highly developed weaponry. Their culture, included their diet and the city plans, reflected connections to the Aegean peoples. In the beginning, they were ruled by lords, or sarne. Later, after their defeat by David, the Philistines disintegrated into individual cities, and the cities began to be ruled by kings. The Philistine cities continued to be in conflict with Israelites, until all of them were conquered by Assyrians and Babylonians, and the Philistines gradually ceased to exist as a distinct nation. The term Peleshet, however, gave birth to the Greek term Palaistíni and Latin term Palaestina, and ultimately the term Palestine.