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Thread: Discovery of Philistine Cemetery May Solve Biblical Mystery

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    Discovery of Philistine Cemetery May Solve Biblical Mystery

    -An unrivaled discovery on the southern coast of Israel may enable archaeologists to finally unravel the origins of one of the most notorious and enigmatic peoples of the Hebrew Bible: the Philistines.

    The discovery of a large cemetery outside the walls of ancient Ashkelon, a major city of the Philistines between the 12th and 7th centuries B.C., is the first of its kind in the history of archaeological investigation in the region. (Read more about ancient Ashkelon.)

    While more than a century of scholarship has identified the five major cities of the Philistines and artifacts distinctive to their culture, only a handful of burials have been tentatively identified.

    Simply put, archaeologists have found plenty of pots, but very few people.

    Now, the discovery of a cemetery containing more than 211 individuals and dated from the 11th to 8th centuries B.C. will give archaeologists the opportunity to answer critical questions regarding the origin of the Philistines and how they eventually assimilated into the local culture.

    Until this discovery, the absence of such cemeteries in major Philistine centers has made researchers' understanding of their burial practices—and by turn, their origins—"about as accurate as the mythology about George Washington chopping down the cherry tree," says Lawrence Stager, an emeritus professor of archaeology at Harvard University, who has led the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon since 1985.

    "The search [for a cemetery] became so desperate that archaeologists who study the Philistines began to joke that they were buried at sea like the Vikings—that's why you couldn't find them," explains Assaf Yasur-Landau, an archaeologist at Haifa University and co-director of the Tel Kabri project.

    The Philistines are among the most notorious villains of the Hebrew Bible. This "uncircumcised" group controlled the coastal region of modern-day southern Israel and the Gaza Strip and warred with their Israelite neighbors—even seizing the Ark of the Covenant for a time. Among their ranks were the devious Delilah, who robbed Samson of his strength by cutting his hair, and the giant Goliath...

    *Video and pics at link:

    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...y-sea-peoples/

  2. #2
    Senior Member Colonel's Avatar
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    There was no mention of unusually large skeletons among the 211. Then Ashkelon isnt one of the Philistine cities where the remnant of the Anakim were found :

    Joshua 11:22 None of the Anakim were left in the land of the children of Israel; they remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod.

    But even so, the Anakim were a different tribe who originated from the hill country rather than the coastal area of the Philistines and may have been buried separately, in other cemeteries.

    Some claim that everyone in the land of Canaan was a Nephilim, that would make the abcense of large skeletons rather odd.

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    Senior Member Tehilah Ba'Aretz's Avatar
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    Hundreds of Philistine sarcophagi have been found in the coastal areas of southern Israel. It's hard to imagine why this archaeologist does not seem to be aware.

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    Any giants ? How about people more than 2 meters tall ?

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    Senior Member Tehilah Ba'Aretz's Avatar
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    Well, some of those clay sarcophagi are taller than me so... Maybe? I'm not 3 meters of anything like that but I am taller than the average Israeli.

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    No skeletons ?

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    Senior Member Tehilah Ba'Aretz's Avatar
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    I believe skeletons where found. In particular, there were baby skeletons found near some of the ancient temples.

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    Yeah, I read about that earlier, they had been sacrificed to the gods. They were also of quite normal size.

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