Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Ian Hutchesson <mc2499 AT mclink.it>]

Dear George,

Following your last post,

>> [...]
>> The arguments that people want to put forward regarding the Philistines 
>> seem
>> not to be based on evidence but on apologetic aims.
>
>??? This is an assumption on your part, Ian. Your assumption says that the
biblical
>literature is completely unreliable 

No, that's not my starting position. But, I am coming from the
archaeological and historical material that does apparently conflict with
the text we are talking about. That conflict needs to be understood in depth
rather than attempting to hide the conflict. The discovery of Daniel as a
second century BCE text has brought a lot of light to that text as well as
Judaism of the period including the Dead Sea Scrolls.

>so if we come up with any theories that vaguely
>resemble something like what the biblical literature says, it must
automatically be
>wrong, or there must be a certain dogmatic agenda. This seems to be an
anti-biblical
>apologetic to which you hold.

This I think is only rhetoric.

>> The sea peoples are
>> shown by the reliefs not to have been Semitic, not to have originated in
>> southern Palestine, and not to have borne cultural traits of local
>> populations into the Philistine area.
>
>Ian, perhaps you can tell us what is so non-Palestine-ish about the way the
Pereset
>are portrayed at Medinet Habu? What is it about the clothing? What is so
Aegean about
>their fashion? Why must we assume that they had to have a certain style of
clothing to
>be from S-W Palestine? Why couldn't they have their own style? Why must we
lump them
>with other groups from Palestine?

The important thing in the representations there is the fact that, in
contrast with numerous depictions of various Palestinian scenes of the
peoples that the Egyptians encountered in their hegemony over the area
(including S-W Palesstine) -- which was in their hands for a few hundred
years --, the Sea Peoples are very different from those depictions.
Seriously, if you would like to know, these reliefs are available in books
-- I have no titles to offer --, but seeing is believing. These peoples are
illustrated with bare shoulders, very strange headwear, small round shields
and long swords, shaven faces, no apparent hair. None of these features are
found in Canaanite illustrations.


Ian