The Philistines, well-known as enemies of the Israelites in biblical texts, appear in the southern coastal plain (‘Philistia’) of the southern Levant (modern Israel/Palestine) during the early twelfth century BC. They are first mentioned as one of the groups of Sea Peoples described in the reliefs on the walls of the temple at Medinet Habu from the early twelfth century BC, in which land and sea battles between the Egyptian army under Rameses III and these Sea Peoples are depicted. It is assumed that from this time onward, the Philistine culture appeared in southwestern Israel/Palestine.
New interpretations of Philistine origins
While in the past the appearance of the Philistine culture was seen as a rather monolithic migration of peoples of Aegean origin (e.g. Dothan 1982; Yasur-Landau 2010), more and more recent evidence – and new interpretations – indicates that this was a much more complex and multi-faceted set of processes.
In the past, it was assumed that when the Philistines arrived, they conquered the southern coastal plain (Philistia), destroying the existing Canaanite cities and re-founding