islands were inhabited by Shemitic race-. The wor- ship observed in them at this time shows a shemitic origin. The Shemitics gave place to the Hellenics — a change which dates from the time of Minos, who drove t hem out of the islands, giving the dominion to his son.
The expelled population settled on the Asiatic COaSt, This evidence, derived from heathen source-, gives a
representation which agrees with the scriptural account of the origin, the westerly wandering, and eastward return 61 the Philistines. But chronology creates a dif- ficulty. Minos probably lived about the year B.C. 1300. According to the « ». T. the Philistines were found in Palestine at an earlier period. In Gen. xx. 2; xxvi, 1. we find a Philistine kingofGerar. But this king (and
Others) may have been so termed, HOI because he was
of Philistine blood, but because he dwelt in the land which was afterwards called Philistia. There are other considerations which seem to show that Philistines did not occupy this country in tin- days of Abraham (con- sult Bertheau, p. 196). It is, however, certain that the Philistines existed in Palestine in the time of M a brave and warlike people- (Exod. xiii. 17)— a fact which places them on the Asiatic continent long before Minoa This difficulty does not appear considerable to
us. There may have been a return eastwards before the time of MillOS, a- will a- one iii hi- lime: or lie may have merely put the finishing stroke to a return
commenced, from some cause or otb< r w ar, over-popu-
lali etc. at a h earlier period. I he informa- tion found in the Bible is ca-ilv under-l I on the
showing that in the earliest ages tribes of the Shemitic race Bpread themselves over the West, and, becoming
PHILISTINE
103
PHILISTINE
inhabitants of the islands, gave themselves to naviga- tion. To these tribes the Philistines appear to have belonged, who, for what reason we know not, left Crete, and settled on the coast of Palestine.
2. The next question therefore that arises relates to the early movements of the Philistines. It has been very generally assumed of late years that Caphtor rep- resents Crete, and that the Philistines migrated from that island, either directly or through Egypt, into Pal- estine. This hypothesis presupposes the Shemitic or- igin of the Philistines; for we believe that there are no traces of Hamitic settlements in Crete, and consequently the Biblical statement that Caphtorim was descended from Mizraim forms an a priori objection to the view. Moreover, the name Caphtor can only be identified with the Egyptian Coptos. But the Cretan origin of the Philistines has been deduced, not so much from the name Caphtor, as from that of the Cherethites. This name in its Hebrew form (irn3) bears a close resem- blance to Crete, and is rendered Cretans in the Sept. A further link between the two terms has apparently been discovered in the term "n3, tori, which is applied to the royal guard (2 Kings xi, 4, 19), and which sounds like Carians. The latter of these arguments assumes that the Cherethites of David's guard were identical with the Cherethites of the Philistine plain, which appears in the highest degree improbable. See Chei!etihte. With re- gard to the former argument, the mere coincidence of the names cannot pass for much without some corroborative testimony. The Bible fur- nishes none, for the name oc- curs but thrice (1 Sam. xxx, 14; Ezek. xxv, 1G; Zeph. ii, 5), and apparently applies to the occupants of the southern district; the testimony of the Sept. is invalidated by the fact that it is based upon the mere sound of the word (see Zeph. ii, G, where keroth is also rendered Crete) ; and, lastly, we have to account for the introduction of the classical name of the island side by side with the He- brew term Caphtor. A certain amount of testimony is indeed adduced in favor of a connection between Crete and Philistia ; but, with the exception of the vague ru- mor, recorded but not adopted by Tacitus (Hist, v, .">), the evidence is confined to the town of Gaza, and even in this case is not wholly satisfactory. The town, ac- cording to Stephanus Byzantinus (s. v. Ta^a), was termed Minoa, as having been founded by Minos, and
this tradition may be traced back to, and was perhaps founded on, an inscription on the coins of that city, con- taining the letters MEINQ; but these coins are of no higher date than the 1st century B.C., and belong to a period when (iaza bad attained a decided Greek char- acter (Josephus, Wiir, ii, 6, 3). Again, the worship of the god Mania, and its identity with the Cretan Jove, arc frequently mentioned by early writers (Movers, Phoniz. i, 662); but the name is Phoenician, being the maran, " lord,'' of 1 Cor. xvi, 22, and it seems more prob- able that Gaza and Crete derived the worship from a common source, Phoenicia. Without therefore asserting that migrations may not have taken place from Crete to Philistia, we hold that the evidence adduced to prove that they did is not altogether sufficient. What is re- markable, and as if two distinct and unallied peoples bore the same appellation, on a tablet of Rameses III at Medinet Habii is sculptured a naval victory over the Sharutana, perhaps the Cherethites of Crete; while an- other nation of the same name, perhaps the Cherethites of the mainland, form a portion of the Egyptian army. We find also the name Pulusata in close connection with this Sharutana. See Crete.