Philistine Iconography

The Philistines were migrants from the Aegean and Cyprus who changed during the 12th century BC. settled on the south coast of Palestine / Israel. During the Iron Age (approx. 1200600 BC) they developed a distinguished culture. David Ben-Shlomo presents and discusses the stock of iconographic representations of Philistine culture. The investigation includes various types of objects, including Clay paintings, statues, iron carvings, glyptics. The figurative style and symbolism impressively reflect both the connection of the Philistine culture to the Aegean homeland and the ongoing process of interaction with the local guest cultures in the southern Levant. Iconography thus provides an important testimony that helps to better understand the social, ethnic, religious and ideological aspects of the Philistines and their neighbors in the eastern Mediterranean.

David Ben-Shlomo, PhD, ist Researcher am Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University und am Albright Institute for Archaeological Research in Jerusalem.

English summary: The Philistines were immigrants from the Aegean region and Cyprus arriving at the southern coast of Palestine/Israel during the 12th century BCE. They created a distinct material culture in this region during the Iron Age (ca. 1.200-600 BCE). This book presents and discusses the corpus of iconographic representations of the Philistine culture. The assemblage studied includes objects in various media: decoration on pottery, figurative pottery, figurines, ivory carving, glyptics and other items. The figurative style and symbolism represented in the culture of the Philistines reflects both their bonds with their Aegean homeland and the ongoing process of interactions with the local host cultures in the southern Levant. Iconography thus provides an important set of evidence for understanding social, ethnic, religious and ideological aspects of the Philistine society and its neighbours in the East Mediterranean. German description: Die Philister waren Migranten aus der Agais und Zypern, die sich wahrend des 12. Jahrhunderts v.Chr. an der Sudkuste Palastinas/Israels ansiedelten. Wahrend der Eisenzeit (ca. 1200-600 v.Chr.) entwickelten sie eine distinguierte Kultur. David Ben-Shlomo prasentiert und diskutiert den Bestand der ikonographischen Darstellungen der Philisterkultur. Die Untersuchung schliesst verschiedenartige Objekte ein, u.a. Tonmalereien, Statuen, Eisenschnitzereien, Glyptik. Der figurliche Stil und der Symbolismus spiegelt sowohl die Ruckbindung der Philisterkultur an die agaische Heimat als auch den laufenden Prozess der Interaktion mit den lokalen Gastkulturen in der sudlichen Levante eindrucklich wider. Die Ikonographie liefert so ein bedeutendes Zeugnis, das die sozialen, ethnischen, religiosen und ideologischen Aspekte der Philister und ihrer Nachbarn im ostlichen Mittelmeerraum besser zu verstehen hilft.

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